2 Creation

The outline around Humans lit up and the light began to move down the line faster than I could see with a beeping noise going about as fast as a hummingbird. Gradually the light and sound began to slow down and I knew it was about to stop. Goblin as lit up and I began to sweat a bit and that feeling of disappointment started to rise.

Beep.

It moved! Dwarf isn't so bad just a shorter version of a human I can live wit..

Beep.

Hafling was now highlighted and flashing with little bits of confetti falling on my screen and the distant sounds of people cheering. While I liked the idea of a Dwarf better, Halfling wasn't horrible either. Suddenly the screen began to shake and the words on the Halfling tab disappeared. The background of the tab began to change to a light purple and almost as if I was watching someone write on it new words in cursive started to appear along with a projection of a short, feral-looking midget.

*~~*

Name: Wyldling (Rare)

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 40

Constitution: 25

Magic: 0

Wisdom: 30

*~~*

(Wyldlings, a rare sub-race of nomadic Halflings who have been forsaken by the God of Magic Breim. Though every creature is born with the ability to use mana the Wyldlings are the exception. They lack the proper biological outlets and due to this, the mana has saturated within their bodies. Thus increasing their physical capabilities but prevents them from learning magic and using most abilities.)

*~~*

I had a good feeling after seeing the stats and now this sinking feeling in the pit of my gut is starting to surface as I read the information on them. I knew the answer to the question before the words left my mouth but I needed to hear it from someone else.

"Nevea, what does it mean I'm prevented from learning magic and most abilities?"

"Though your body has mana you cannot outwardly use it, so things that would require mana such as spells and most abilities are unavailable to you. You should still be able to use most magical artifacts, potions or anything that does not require mana to activate"

I can feel a headache start to rise and can't believe this is happening. New world, a fresh start with amazing things and I'm getting shafted right off the get-go. I feel like a kid playing laser tag with others but given a rubber band gun. I wasn't a huge gamer but I do remember abilities like Super Duper Triple Slash being a key point when it comes to the strength of a character. Before I can bitch, complain or see what my options are the screen automatically slides to the right and new settings have appeared.

"Please select three of your allotted six traits, you can narrow down the results by asking to search via keywords or removing tags"

The list is enormous and though I'm still frustrated I did try to gamble and obtained a rare sub-race. May not be what I wanted but no point in crying over spilled milk now. As I'm randomly clicking on categories and browsing I can see that this is getting me nowhere.

"Are there recommended traits?"

The list shrinks to about ¼ of the size and there are a few categories with stars next to them. It didn't take long to pick out the three that I felt would be the most useful.

*~~*

[Perception] - Heightens your senses, raising your natural awareness

[Pinpoint] - You are able to identify weak spots on your target

[Ecologist] - You are quite knowledgeable when it comes to plants and animals of the wild

*~~*

[Confirm?]

*~~*

My train of thought was this, as a Wyldling I'm nomadic which means lots of time outdoors right? So being able to sense things before you get ambushed is a plus. Then because I won't be able to use most if any skills, Pinpoint will give me that extra edge and last but not least knowledge is always power. Pressing the confirm button I'm once again met with the whole shaking screen thing as another trait fades into view below Ecologist.

*~~*

[Racial: Mask of the Wyld] - Gives you +1 to your Sneak/Hide Rank when in any form of cover be it light or dense.

*~~*

"What are ranks?"

"Ranks are the different breakpoints for the various skills. Every skill starts out at Novice, once you have reached the required amount of levels it will advance to the next rank. Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master and Grandmaster."

"So with this last trait if I had the Master Rank and entered cover it would be raised to Grandmaster?"

"That is correct"

Not bad at all, if I could use mana and learn abilities I would be godlike. Another flash of my screen and there were three big buttons labeled Warrior, Thief and Mage with the word Main Skills in bold above and Crafting Skills below. Clicking on those with a star labeled next to them brought up a sub-list of related choices.

*~~*

Main Skills Presets - 5/10

*~~*

Warrior:

*Weapon

*Armor

Shield

Athletics

Parry

*~~*

Crafting Skills:

*Gathering

*Profession

*~~*

Thief:

*Weapon

Light Armor

Dodge

Sneak/Hide

Lockpicking

*~~*

Crafting Skills:

*Gathering

*Profession

*~~*

Mage:

*Staves/Wands

*Primary Magic Branch

*Secondary Magic Branch

*Elemental Focus

*Language

*~~*

Crafting Skills:

*Gathering

*Profession

*~~*

Selecting the Thief option I went ahead and filled in the starred boxes with Knives for my weapon because I don't foresee myself running around with normal weapons the same size as me as I appear rather short. And for the Gatherings, I chose Hunting and Herbalism with Alchemy and Cooking as my Profession. I figure I'll be running across lots of wild game so Hunting will come in handy for pelts, meat and components for a source of income. Herbs should also be plenty so Herbalism was an easy choice. Alchemy and Cooking because with Hunting and Herbalism I should be able to become self-sufficient. Though I hoped this wasn't some kind of class choosing as well because I don't exactly want to be a Thief.

"When I choose this I'm not going to be given a Thief Class am I?"

"Classes are only available once you are on Te'luna, the selections here are just a group of general skills for the more popular styles. All skills can be changed with others as you explore the world but only 10 active Main Skills and 5 active Craft Skills are allowed. Once you remove a skill you lose all ranks in it"

"You have completed the character creation process, please quickly look over your Status Card to check for any mistakes"

*~~*

Name: Reginald

Race: Wyldling

Level: 1

Class: None

Title: None

Wealth: 0

Health: 50

Stamina: 50

Mana: N/A

Exp TNL: 500

Points Available: 0

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 40

Constitution: 25

Magic: N/A

Wisdom: 30

Fame: 0

Traits:

[Perception]

[Pinpoint]

[Ecologist]

[Racial: Mask of the Wyld]

[Empty]

*~~*

Main Skills:

[Dodge] Novice 1/10

[Knives] Novice 1/10

[Light Armor] Novice 1/10

[Lockpicking] Novice 1/10

[Sneak/Hide] Novice 1/10

[Empty] N/A 0/10

*~~*

Crafting Skills:

[Alchemy] Novice 1/10

[Cooking] Novice 1/10

[Herbalism] Novice 1/10

[Hunting] Novice 1/10

[Empty] N/A 0/10

*~~*

"Everything looks correct on my end"

"Great, a few things to update you on so you're not totally weirded out. First and foremost your Status Card will remain a secret once you leave here, the knowledge is wiped from my mind by System once I leave this place. So unless you show it to someone... the information will always remain private, I suggest you never reveal it except when prompted by System but that is your own choice"

"Secondly any friends or family could be out there, all souls that were 'alive' so to speak before entering Purgatory have slowly been reborn on Te'luna. A few of the cities have begun to create lists of names and old locations from Earth but it's a hit or miss at this point of early of exploration. You won't find any glorious castles or major cities yet, most of what's out there are small, barely fortified towns with the exception of the capitals but things are growing and quick"

"And last but not least the Adventurer Class is handed out by System upon arrival. Once you level up to 10 you are free to accept any Class change from a Master, Quest or Special Event. The exception to this rule are those who wish for a non-combat class. They can request a change from System as soon as they awaken by finding a Master of the Trade they wish for"

"So there you have it, any questions? No? Good luck!" there was a small sound of a door opening, closing and then nothing.

I actually did have a few questions but I was given the basics and I did take up a ton of her time it sounds like… even if it wasn't exactly my fault. My screen beeped as I put the questions to the back of my mind and a giant map appeared with tons locations marked red. Pressing one of them brought up a closer view of what looked to be a small rural medieval town.

*~~*

[Haven Oaks]

Village - Tiny - Elected Leader - Craft Classes in Demand

A small starting Village in the Stapleton Duchy, Temperate Rainforest Biome.

*~~*

Population: 27

Age: 15 Days

Morale: Good

Level Range: 1 - 25

Resources: High

Woodcutting: Very High

Herbalism: High

Hunting: High

Farming: Medium

Fishing: Medium

Mining: Low

Mana Stones: Low

*~~*

[Start Here?]

*~~*

Doesn't seem to be too bad of a place to start, high Herbalism and Hunting which is perfect for me. Seems to be a bit smaller than the other choices and is far out in the woods but it's new and has a good location near the border between the Capital Stapleton and the Hawthorn Duchy. So a possible place for a trading hub between the two. A quick prayer to whoever is listening and I let my fingers drop down onto the [Start Here?]. The screen disappears from my view and a bright blue vortex begins to swirl and glow beneath me. As I slowly start to sink it occurs to me that I should be panicking right now but for some reason, I'm as calm as can be.

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