5 - Theorycraft

Lele dragged his feet and rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" The voice of Finn, Albert's younger brother came out from the intercom.

"It's me." Samuel answered with an unusually low tone.

Finn and Lele were only 1 year apart in age, on top of that they were both jokesters making them an inseparable duo. Thanks to their chemistry, Finn immediately understood that something was wrong. Usually, when Lele replied to the doorphone he always made-up some funny joke.

"Just come upstairs."

Lele reached the second floor of the small villa and opened the door.

"AAAAAAAAAH! WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN BLOOD?" The two brothers screamed in unison.

"Well it's a long story so… Can I please take a shower first?"

"Go ahead, I can lend you some clothes, but I doubt they are going to fit you." Finn replied

"It's a temporary solution, I'm sure it's going to be fine." Lele said while entering the bathroom.

As soon as he disappeared from sight, Finn's expression became grim. 'I have never seen him so messed up, not even at his grandpa's funeral.'

Finn was a 16 years old teneger, he had blonde hair and heterochromic eyes. His right eye was light blue while his left one was deep green. Finn was around 175 cm, his body wasn't particularly muscular however, he was still decently athletic since he was part of the track-and-field team together with Lele.

Ten minutes later Samuel came out from the bathroom with his hair still wet. Then he proceeded to tell what he experienced before reaching the brothers' house. He left out a few details. Lele's memory was a bit fuzzy, probably due to the stress he faced.

"Hmm… Your story kinda confirms a lot of my theories. Besides, I think you probably have a particularly high starting status." Albert stated.

"Status?" Lele replied in confusion.

"Hmm? You are telling me that you don't know what status is?"

"Well, I know what it means in a video game context, but I don't know what my status is."

"You are telling me that you defeated those wolves without even opening your stat window?"

"Um, yes, why is it weird"

Finn replied with an astonished expression "Of course it is! It means that you defeated those monsters without using any skills! It also means that you probably used magic subconsciously!"

"For now try saying 'Status' aloud." Albert calmly chipped in.

"Status."

"Can you read it for us to hear?"

"Sure:

[Name: Samuel Borge ][Mana Density:???]

[Class: Invictus]

[Passive: Painkiller, Endless Stamina]

[Skills: Damage Reduction LV1, Taunt LV1, Mana Coating LV1]" Lele listed.

"What the heck is that class?" Finn pouted in jealousy.

"Shut up you got two classes." his brother replied.

"Guys, could you tell me your status since I told you mine?"

"There you go."

[Name: Albert Bianchi][Mana Density:???]

[Class: MMO Grandmaster]

[Passive: Gamer Grindset]

[Skills: MMO System LV1]

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[Name: Finn Bianchi][Mana Density:???]

[Class: Aspect of Wind, Cleric]

[Passive: Mana Regeneration, Duo]

[Skills: Fly LV1, Wind ManipulationLV1, Small Heal LV1]

"I don't get it. What's Mana Density? Also, how are we supposed to know what our abilities do?"

Albert put on his glasses and smiled. "I have a few theories to share, should I enlighten you block heads?"

"Very funny mono-passive prick." Finn rebutted.

Albert's tone changed, becoming serious. "It's safe to assume that we are currently in a situation similar to many novels and video games. Using that as a base, I think that fractures like the one Lele encountered are pocket dimensions with monsters in it. Seeing that the world isn't in total shambles can only mean a couple things: One, the monsters can't get out from rifts freely. There must be some kind of condition to fulfill, probably a cooldown of some sort. Two, The number of Awakened must be very low. Not low enough to be addressed as fake and suppressed by the newscasts, but also, not high enough to send society into an anarchic state. Three, Almost no one has figured out how to use their skills, otherwise, there would be videos all over the internet. Four, the few that managed to use their abilities are either familiar with this kind of setting, or they are natural born monsters that activated their magic subconsciously. Now, about mana density. I think it's some kind of quality level of the mana used, I'm sure it's different from Mana Pool, but I can't really grasp in what way yet. Finally, I've already figured out how to identify the skills and learn how to use them effectively."

A grin appeared on Finn's face as he started floating.

"Well at least I figured that part out as well."

Lele looked at him with sparkling eyes "So cool!!!"

"Hehe, I can finally look down on you."

"Albert, explain it to me! please!" His eyes glowing more than ever

"Sure sure, settle down for a second. First thing first focus on a passive or class that you own, then ask in your mind what that class/passive does, if you concentrate enough the information should appear inside your head."

"Oh, It worked, but it's kinda weird there is no information on my class."

Mella started scratching his chin.

'Yep that's what I thought. My class gives me access to the MMO System skill, which allows me to do any action that is usually performed in MMOs. One of the abilities included with MMO System skill is the character inspection. This sub-skill allows me to see all the character skills,classes,passives,equipment and even additional stats compared to status. For example if I use it on Finn...

[Name: Finn Bianchi][Mana Density:???]

[Class: Aspect of Wind, Cleric]

[Passive: Mana Regeneration, Duo]

[Skills: Fly LV1, Wind ManipulationLV1, Small Heal LV1]

[Equipment: Standard Clothes]

[Stats: Strength: 4, Intelligence: 16, Mana Pool: 23, Perception:7, Vitality: 5, Stamina: 8, Agility: 8]

However, when I use it on Lele…

[Blocked, the difference in strength is unfathomable, impossible to retrieve any information]

He really must be special.'

"With the newfound understanding of your skills, activating them should be easy. Simply give it some thought. Wait Lele!, maybe it's better if you don…"

Albert sentence was cut in half.

"Mana Coating!"

A yellow light enveloped Lele, the floor under his feet started cracking.

"STOOP! You are breaking the floor MAN!" Finn shouted.

Lele deactivated the skill."He He He, Whops."

"Don't He He He me! Who is going to tell mom and dad!"

After scolding Lele, Albert turned on the TV. The same program was running on every channel.

"Ladies and gentlemens, I'm sure that everyone has caught on to the appearance of people using otherworldly powers."

Footages of strange phenomenons were displayed on the screen.

"As of now, almost every country has sealed or has expressed the intent of sealing their borders."

"Shit, mom and dad are on their anniversary trip." Finn said, clearly distressed by the situation.

"Shh..We can comment later. Let me hear the news." Albert complained.

The reporter kept talking: "The nations around the world have come to the decision to host an unprecedented meeting in the history of mankind. The G(195) a conference where every country, democratic or not, has been invited to participate. The goal is to figure out how to handle this extraordinary situation. Various billionaires as well as prominent figures of the scientific community have been invited as well."

Albert was still processing the information, but Lele interrupted his thoughts.

"By the way…Where are Mase and Deimos?"