The way forward

Leon had a decision to make. He knew next to nothing about this world, and the city he was in.

He couldn't just go out and look for trouble, unprepared for the dangers that will definitely occur. How should he spend his karmic points and how many of them? That was the main problem he had to solve, and he had to do it fast. He then checked his stats one more time:

-Name: Leon Swain

-Affiliation: Earth realm (Realm perk: 0/10)

-Title: None

-Job proficiency: None

-Attributes

Health: 100/100

Stamina: 100/100

Mana: N/A

Strength: 5

Vitality: 5

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 5

Willpower: 7

-Weapon proficiency

Guns (Basic proficiency: 16/100)

Knife (Advanced proficiency: 687/1000)

Sword (Advanced proficiency: 73/1000)

-Talents and skills

Cooking (Advanced proficiency: 589/1000)

Swordsmanship (Basic proficiency: 84/100)

-Bonus perks

Irene's gift (Unique)

-Karmic points: 84.358

The first thing Leon checked were his attributes. Every one of them had its own description

-Strength

Description

Important for causing and enduring physical damage. Affects all physical actions.

Cost: 10.000 karmic points per 1 attribute point.

-Vitality

Description

Important for Health and stamina regeneration. Gives a slight boost to poison and disease resistances

Cost: 10.000 karmic points per 1 attribute point.

-Agility

Description

Important for attack and movement speed. Affects reflexes and reaction time.

Cost: 10.000 karmic points per 1 attribute point.

-Intelligence

Description

Important for learning, understanding and using skills and magic. Affects Mana capacity and regeneration.

Cost: 10.000 karmic points per 1 attribute point.

-Willpower

Description

Important for mental and soul attacks and resistances. Affects the ability to control Mana, spells and skills in an efficient way

Cost: 10.000 karmic points per 1 attribute point.

'The cost for improving my attributes is insane. I wonder if there is a way to increase them through training of some sort, because I have no idea how much does 1 attribute point improve my ability to fight' Leon contemplated, feeling bummed out. He then changed his focus on to the proficiencies.

'The proficiency in Guns is probably due to that mandatory military training' He thought. 'Which means that Knife and Cooking proficiencies come from my job as a chef back on Earth. And damn, other than for cleaning and restoration I haven't touched a sword in almost 40 years. No wonder my skills are rusty'

In his youth, Leon's hobby was Kendo, or Japanese swordsmanship. As an army brat, his father being an officer of the BCOF, Leon spent his childhood days all over Japan. There, he was secretly introduced to Kendo, and other martial arts which were forbidden during the occupation. Years after the occupation of Japan was lifted, and Kendo became an international sport, Leon traveled there many times, mostly as a participant in local Kendo competitions. It was during one of his last competitions that he had met Irene. She was obsessed with Eastern culture and tradition and spent most of her vacations traveling all over East Asia. After that faithful encounter because of an earthquake, they soon started dating, and later married in 1977. For their one year anniversary, other than the news that she was pregnant, she gifted Leon a real Japanese katana that he cared for until the day of his death.

'I will have to retrain myself before using a sword in battle' He thought. It was then that another stat caught his eye, because it was grayed out.

-Mana: N/A

Intrigued, Leon searched the store for 'Mana' and the system soon displayed this:

-Mana-

-Description

Magical energy needed for casting spells, activating arrays, runes and devices. Can be imbued into objects. Mana capacity and ability to control it are determined by the intelligence and willpower attributes

-Costs

-Ability to wield Mana:

Cost: 10.000 karmic points

-Mana control proficiency

Cost: 100 karmic points per 1 proficiency point.

'Mana seems to be quite important in this world, but I should wait before unlocking it, at least until I gather more information' Leon concluded, once again astonished by the cost. He then checked weapons and talents, but the cost of proficiency was the same all over. Then he decided to research items and skills in the store.

The system showed him an endless list of all types of weapons, ranging from low quality common ones to the legendary and unique ones. He even saw the freaking Excalibur, a unique weapon on the list, though it was grayed out, meaning that someone currently owned it.

After a few minutes of checking the store, he understood that there were 5 types of items: common, rare, magical, legendary and unique, the cost for them rose exponentially for each tier.

When it came to skills he definitely found some useful ones, like stealth, that he set his eyes on for a later date. Many of the skills were related to a certain weapon and required mana or stamina to be used. Magic spells were the same, each spell had its own proficiency and mana cost. The choices Leon had were immense. The problem he faced was that the store didn't provide information about the world. How could he know what was actually effective on the battlefield, or useful in one on one combat with mythical creatures such as the Dragons? Just what kind of skill set one needed in order to fight the Demons? What other creatures existed in this world that he never even heard of?

For every answer he got, two more questions arose.

Leon recognized his weaknesses. His slightly higher number of starting karmic points meant absolutely nothing compared to the bigger picture. He needed to be cautious, and not jump into danger right away or any chance of meeting Irene again would disappear forever. That is why he decided to start from the bottom, or from the safest place he could.

He closed his system, and walked towards a small group of people that were listening to one sturdy man's speech. He was just in time to hear a small part of it.

"...and that is why our Earth realm's fortified city of Artelien is relatively safe. It takes an incredible army to breach defenses of someone's fortified city, so no realm dares to try and send so many forces because the risk of being attacked by someone else at the same time is too great to ignore. It happened many times in the past, and many armies went on conquering spree, only to find their own city in ruins after returning. That is why now every realm focuses on the defenses of their fortified city the most. " The sturdy man explained.

"Then what are we fighting for?" Someone from the group in front of him questioned.

"Well the biggest incentive are the resources. As you may have noticed, even though you can buy everything in the store, the prices are not affordable for the 99% of beings in the whole of Soul war plane. Our realm perk is still at 0 after so many years, which means we don't have any discount in the store yet. Another problem we face is agriculture which is impossible in the fortified city, so every realm has to create colonies or villages outside of it in order to gather food, and materials such as ores to create equipment, items and artifacts. This is where our Auxiliary Association comes into light. We are an important part of the system that makes it possible for our soldiers, adventurers and mages to fight on the front lines and either guard our villages or plunder theirs or simply discover new and unexploited resources. The downside, as you may have heard from that loudmouth woman just recently, is that you won't be able to gather a lot of karmic points, if any, for a very long time, which may affect your personal agenda".

"But aren't we souls? Why do we need food?" Another person from the crowd asked.

"Didn't you listen earlier? You got a body when you entered here, once again you are a human in every way imaginable, just like back on Earth." Slightly annoyed individual answered.

"Yes, that is right, the only upside is that you won't be terminated from 'old age' but I've seen people go back to Cleansing due to starvation, it is not a pretty sight" The sturdy man, already used to this added, and then ended his answer with a question:

"Is there anyone among you that wants to join the Auxiliary Association? Depending on the job you chose, you will receive adequate training from our experts that is not easily affordable in the store, of course for a little bit of fee on your part" He blurted out.

It was then that Leon walked out in front of the group with his question:

"Can you tell me more about the profession of a chef?"