1 The first Half
James opened his eyes and immediately shut them again he was blinded by a shining white light and his unadjusted pupils didn't take kindly to the treatment, He sat up squinting at his unfamiliar surroundings and the familiar people groaning on the ground around him, James did not remember much of how he got here, one moment he was sitting in class suffering through the tail end of another drab and boring day, the next, a bright light flashed and he was here. Managing to open his eyes more, he took in his surroundings with widen eyes, he was sitting in what could only be called a throne room, decorative marble covered the floors and pillars of gold lined the edges of the room leading up to the steps of a massive black throne engraved with the figures of mighty beasts and heroic fighters, not matching the man who sat upon it. Situated in the middle of the grand space James and his class were surrounded by armored nights each wielding a silver poleaxe taller than themselves James couldn't help but be awed by the room's opulence taken in by the detailed marble underfoot and the mural covered ceiling above. James's avid admiring was however interrupted by a cough from a newly appeared figure, garbed in robes and religious finery the man stood at the foot of the throne arms spread wide in welcome.
"Welcome hero's, I am the High Priest Zaren and I humbly welcome you to Axedale, the kingdom of Faith and prosperity." High Priest Zaren said welcoming us to this strange new place with a wide grin on his old, wizened face. James and his class just stayed still for a moment processing the old man's words, a couple of things happened then. First there was shouting, the indignant among James's class raising their voices in hopes of answers, then there was the sobbing mostly from the few girls in the class but also from a couple boys who had seen enough anime to understand the situation they were in, Then there was James who was just standing there still, grinning like the cat that got the canary his hands trembling ever so slightly in excitement. You see James was a rather big Otaku not the shut in type but the kind that was in the thick of it embracing the culture, in fact James was rather athletic, a D-lineman on the high school football team James was at a good 6'4 in height broad shouldered with a mess of wavy brown hair and an above average face, having a good bit of muscle and little fat only served to make him seem even bigger. James was excited for a reason, he had always dreamed of this happening to escape from his dull and boring life and finally that chance was here coming down from his excitement high James started to listen to the old man that was talking.
"Please Hero's calm yourselves, everything will be explained in a moment" Said the Priest waiting a moment for the class to calm down.
"I must first apologize for bringing you here so suddenly, but I'm afraid that the kingdom is in dire straits and needs brave powerful heroes like yourselves to save it. The demon king has grown stronger and we are unable to combat his growing strength so please brave and strong heroes save this country and its people" After he finished his little speech muttering broke out among the class whispering back and forth about the Priests request, James however was once again an outlier, still grinning James could barely contain his chuckle at the mans words his eyes shining with an inner light as he looked around the throne room wryly noting the gold inlays and well maintained finery that was certainly indicative of a struggling Kingdom.
"Alright, we will help but I'm not sure of what good we will be. We are not as strong as you seem to think we are not all of us any way" said one of James's classmates Haden, seeming to speak for them all, except James.
"Do not worry young hero you are far stronger than you think, you simply have not discovered your strength, please say the word Status. You will understand more if you do." There was slight hesitation in the air before people began to comply with the old man's words. James too said "Status" and as soon as he did a blue semi-transparent window appeared in front of him filled with white text.
Name: James Harrow Level: 1 Titles: From Another World
Class: Not yet chosen
Hp:160/160 Mp:140/140
Str:17 Con:16 Agi:15
Int:14 Wil:15
Unique Skill: Heart of Evolution
Skills: None
[Not bad] thought James as he looked over his Status sheet. [But what does Heart of Evolution do? And what are my title effects?] Curious James first focused on his unique skill to get its details.
Heart of Evolution: (Passive): Increases the body's strength at a constant rate. Current improvement rate: +1 to all stats every hour. Aka: 24 hours equals a +24 to all stats
Heart of Evolution: (Active): Absorb the heart of slain monsters to gain some of their stats, and biology. Can toggle different biology's to be active. Active biology's give bonuses and affects physical appearance.
From Another World: Gained from being summoned to another world. Effects: Gain 2x stats upon leveling up
[Color me happy as a sunrise] thought James as he read through the two parts of his unique skill and appreciatively nodded at the title's effects. His attention was once again brought back to the Priest as he began to speak again.
"As you can see each of your Status sheets display your information such as your name, level, titles, class, pool sizes, basic stats, and finally your unique skill. Everyone is Level one at the moment and should have basic stats of around ten points, for thoughts with stats under ten points you will have to work extra hard to catch up with the rest now if any of you have stats above ten then that is very promising so please let us know". James of course stayed silent at this but some of his classmates were not so wise and raised their hand in order to indicate their above averageness including Haden. Seeing the fair few hands that went up the Priest grew excited and quickly called over a pair of knights from the side sending them over to each of the candidates with raised hand talking to each a moment before jotting down there stats finally they reached Haden and after a moment of talking they gasped and shouted out in surprise.
"Did you say a Will of thirteen?!!" At these words the guards along the walls seemed to jump almost in surprise, the priest's smile widening as he ran over to Haden to check himself even the king who up until now had just been sitting on his throne brooding perked up looking towards Haden. James was also surprised but for a different reason, [thirteen that's it?] he questioned. [If this is how they're reacting over a thirteen then it's doubly good I didn't say anything] James thought. After the throne room's little freak out over Haden was over the priest once again began to speak.
"Now heroes, as you probably have scene the place where you class is states that you have yet to choose a class please do so tonight for information of each class just focus on it and some will appear, I know each of you must be tired so I will have our staff lead each of you to a room where you can rest tonight, tomorrow we will further discuss our Kingdom's situation." With that the priest jested his hand and 2 maids appeared, guiding them to their rooms which were on the western side of the castle in a long corridor. Getting into his room James closed the door and smiled excitedly to see what would come next looking around the room James appreciated the simple elegance of it. A bed was placed next to a window, a wardrobe on its other side and a desk with a lit candle on the far side, deciding to take a seat at the desk James walked over and took his seat relaxing for a minute giving himself sometime to truly process all that has happened so far. His calm reflection was interrupted however by a knock on his door, curious James got up and walked towards the door opening it to see one of his classmates and the only friend he had in the class, Emile.
"Hey Emile, how are you doing?" said James, his gaze traveling over her to see if anything had happened. Emile was a frail girl, skinny and small, only about 5 feet tall, with pale skin like porcelain emerald, green eyes and long flowing fire red hair, a large contrast to James's large size and tawny complexion. Despite her frailty however she was a beauty, like a frozen rose beautiful to look at but fragile to the touch.
"Hey James, Can we talk?" Emile asked. James agreed and let her in, closing the door behind her as he took a seat back at the desk chair motioning her to take a seat on the bed.
"So, what's up Emile?" asked James, looking towards Emile. "I don't trust them, this kingdom of Axetale or that priest" said Emile. "That makes two of us," responded James. She smiled at his answer and nodded her head. "Thought so, especially when you didn't raise your hand when the called for anyone with an attribute over ten" "yea thought that might give me away, so what do you want to do about it, our situation that is" "I was thinking about leaving tomorrow before we get too wrapped up in this, when they call for us we simply say that we want no part in this and ask for a small amount of currency each before we leave" "That could work but…no it will if they want to keep the whole noble front up in front of the other heroes then they will allow it, ok i'm onboard I assume I'll be doing the talking?" "yes, if you don't mind, you demand a bit more presence than me" "Are we going to be sticking together afterwards?" "I was planning on it if you don't mind, I'll be a drag for a bit until I level up some though, due to my poor physical stats" "That's fine due you mind showing me your status sheet?" "Sure, as long as you show yours ;) '' Lifting up her hand, Emile swiped right and her status sheet appeared before James' eyes.
Name: Emile Grosman Level: 1 Titles: From Another World
Class: Mage
Hp:50/50 Mp:170/170
Str:4 Con:5 Agi:6
Int:17 Wil:16
Unique Skill: Lightning Monarch
Skills: Ice Bolt Lvl:1, Fire Bolt Lvl:1, Earth Wall Lvl:1
[Expectedly high Intellect and Will with a strong sounding Unique skill, and she's already chosen her class] thought James deciding to see if he could James focused on her Unique Skill: Lightning Monarch
Lightning Monarch:(Passive): Gives the user Control over lightning and its creation allowing them to use it at there will from attack to defense. Power and range scale of the Int and Wil attributes
"Not bad at all, especially that unique skill the description is simple but open ended, meaning that your versatility is likely very high" stated James witch made Emile beam in pride before she quickly motioned for James to show her His, he complied quickly, swiping right, sending his status sheet to Emile.
Name: James Harrow Level: 1 Titles: From Another World
Class: Not yet chosen
Hp:160/160 Mp:140/140
Str:17 Con:16 Agi:15
Int:14 Wil:15
Unique Skill: Heart of Evolution
Skills: None
"Well James" she said "you're a bit better than I thought you'd be, high stats across the board and.." before she could finish a low drum sounded and James's status sheet updated.
Name: James Harrow Level: 1 Titles: From Another World
Class: Not yet chosen
Hp:170/170 Mp:150/150
Str:18 Con:17 Agi:16
Int:15 Wil:16
Unique Skill: Heart of Evolution
Skills: None
"James…what the hell was that?" questioned Emile with wide eyes looking at his status sheet with shock. "It's part of my unique skill" answered James "examine it and you'll understand" nodding Emile did just that examining Heart of Evolution.
"Holy shit James, your going to be a monster in no time I mean a free 120 stat points a day plus the skills active effect its enough to wet a girls panty's with desire" Said Emile, yes if you hadn't noticed yet Emile was crude not that James was complaining he rather liked her crudeness and thought her cute for it but anyway.
"Thanks Emile" responded James, a wry smile on his lips as he looked at her. "Find me tomorrow morning before breakfast. I would like to be out of here before then" said James. "Alright" responded Emile Jumping of his bead and heading to the door opening it and slipping out but not before turning and flashing James a sincere smile saying "Thank you, James I don't know if I could of done this alone, good night" right before she disappeared, the door shutting behind her. James couldn't help but smile and wave at the closed door slightly before turning towards his desk and resting his head in a hand and he reopened his status sheet selecting his empty class slot and looking through the options.
Available Classes:
Mage: Skills: Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt, Earth Wall
Defender: Skills: Chop, Block
Swordsman: Skills: Focused Strike, Swordsmanship
Cleric: Skills: Heal, Prayer
Rouge: Skills: Stealth, Backstab
Looking through the class choices James could really only see two viable options Defender, and Swordsman but in the end James chose Swordsman his reasoning was simple he didn't want to carry around a shield everywhere especially when fighting so without further ado he selected Swordsman on his Status sheet. Three "ding's" rang out one after another accompanied by three windows appearing before him.
Congratulations: You have gained the class Swordsman. Let thine enemies fall beneath your blade.
You have obtained: Basic Iron Longsword
You have obtained: Basic Leather armor set. ( Chest piece, Shin guards, Boots, Gloves)
Reading over the notifications James was wondering where all the Items were until he noticed a new tab on his status sheet and opened it.
Inventory
x1 Basic Iron Longsword
x1 Basic Leather Armor set
[Neat, I have an inventory, this will be useful] thought James, [I wonder what my new skills do though] with this thought he examined his two new skills.
Focused Strike Lvl:1:(Active): Focus your power into your blade dealing increased damage. Has a small chance to stun the opponent. Cost:10 Mp
Swordsmanship Lvl:1:(Passive): A proficiency skill that increases your knowledge and skill with a blade. Cost: none
[Coool] thought James. as he got up and undressed, storing his clothes in his new inventory before crawling into bed and falling asleep.
