Jamie woke up as she heard some sort of commotion towards the bathroom. “Fucking Brandon”. Did his drunk ass just fall and hit his head on the counter or toilet? I love that guy, but he can definitely drink too much sometimes. He did have a great game yesterday, so him drinking too much wasn’t exactly a surprise.

Well, she better get up. She looked around for some underwear but everything was in a pile on the ground so she givave up and decided she had better check on him before she worried about clothes.

“Bran? You okay?” She didn’t hear anything at all. That was not a good sign. If he was still drunk and hit his head, he could be in real trouble.

She quickly opened the door and everything went black…

She found herself in an empty stone walled room and heard a calm male voice in her head say.

Welcome Jamie Williams! You are one of the one million people who have been summoned by the god Lorian to take part in this round of seeding for the planet Talan. Talan is a system planet that is stocked with sentient races regularly in order to help bolster the native population and bring new sentient beings into the System. You are one of one hundred thousand humans brought in during this round of seeding.

Your UI should be initialized and you will be able to customize and optimize it as soon as you have chosen your class. Once you have chosen your class, we will find the optimal group to put you with in order to ensure your introduction into the System is as smooth as possible.

Your starting stats will be 6 Strength, 7 Constitution, 7 Endurance, 7 Dexterity, 9 Intelligence and 4 Wisdom. These stats are above average for a human and make you suitable for any of the 5 starter classes available to you.

I am an AI designed by the System in order to help you integrate. You may ask me a variety of questions over the course of the Intro Dungeon and I will do my best to accommodate your questions if it is knowledge that I am able to provide. I will only be available when you are not in a combat situation. While you are in combat, you will be on your own. I will help you with character selection and choosing traits and abilities each time you level up. I will also be able to provide limited information about the world you have been brought to and the system that it is a part of.

We are now ready to proceed with the Class selection process. You may choose from one of five general base classes: Mage, Healer, Warrior, Rogue, and Ranged attack.

At level 10, you will choose your first class evolution. Your second class evolution will occur at level 25. Intro Dungeons are designed so that you should hit level 25 by the time you complete the final boss fight. You will also be able to evolve your class at Level 50, level 100, and level 200. You can choose a profession once you have left the dungeon.

Holy fuck this is overwhelming. What in the fuck is going on and where is Brandon?

“Uh, whoever you are? Jamie calls out loud, “where is Brandon? He's my boyfriend and he went to the bathroom, uh portal, before me.”

You have been transported to the planet Talan. It is a Tier 1 System planet in the First Universe. There are many universes in the multiverse that are a part of the System with different level caps. First Universe System planets have a level cap of 250. The purpose of the System is to help the sentient races level up and develop their full potential. The System believes that you are best able to reach your full potential through struggle and strife. Your home planet does not contain enough magical potential to be integrated. The System sometimes chooses people from planets that could not be integrated in order to provide new stock for starter planets.

You were the target of the portal and Brandon is not one of the one million people who were chosen by the System.

Alright, she doesn’t know what the fuck is going on still, but for some reason she is feeling really calm about all of this. The description of what is happening right now sounds like it’s right up Brandon’s alley. He should have been chosen, not her. What the fuck happened to Brandon?

Jamie had always been an athlete and was planning on going to med school after undergrad. She was always really tall for a girl, a full six feet and she’s in great shape. She has played basketball, volleyball, and softball basically since she could walk. She probably could have played at the collegiate level in any of the three sports, but softball was always her real love, so that’s what she chose.

As busy as she has always been with sports and with all the AP classes she took, she had never really had the time, or inclination, to get into video games or the “nerd books” that Brandon liked to read. Honestly, his video game addiction was always more of an irritation than something she embraced, since they were always so busy and had limited time together. He was always making her watch sci-fi and fantasy shows. A few were good, but most were just not her thing. It’s not like she was watching reality television instead of what he wanted. She just didn’t have a ton of free time.

Even intro level biology classes were a real bitch and required a ton of homework time. Brandon chose History, and it was a subject he loved. For some reason he could just easily remember historical facts on the first read. She had a pretty good memory too, but when one is trying to remember every goddamned bone, ligament, muscle, and so on in the body, it takes some real work. The epidemiology class that she had to take in the fall was designed to weed out anyone who can’t hack it as a doctor and is probably harder than anything Brandon will have to take all the way through undergrad time wise. If he had been chosen instead of her, he would probably be loving this.

You are probably wondering why you feel so calm and collected. It is because the System has enacted an emotional block on you that will be in full effect for thirty days. It will slowly dissipate over the course of one hundred days. The System feels that by then, most people have been able to adjust to their new realities.

Now it is time to choose your class. I can help you make your decision. Once you have chosen your class, you will be placed in a complimentary group with a mix of the other Sentient races that have been included in this round of seeding.

“When you say other races are we talking Lord of the Rings type stuff here or Star Wars?”

I believe Lord of the Rings. There are many races in the System, but on Talan among the Sentient races there are Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Orcs, Drakes, Halflings, Minotaurs, and Centaurs in numbers. There are large tribes of Gnolls, Goblins, Lizardfolk, and Kobolds, but they are not a part of the faction system and are antagonistic towards the System races. There are some additional races, but their populations are very low and not significant.

“So if I am choosing one of these classes, and I have stats and can level up, how does that all work?”

Let me explain leveling to you, Jamie. There are six base stats that you can change with each level. They are; Strength, Constitution, Endurance, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. Strength makes you stronger. Intelligence gives you mana and affects your ability to remember spells and cast magic. Wisdom helps with mana regeneration and increases your perception and willpower. Constitution is your hit points but also helps determine how hard it is to damage you. Dexterity gives you agility and skill with things like wielding a weapon or picking a lock. Endurance gives you stamina, which is used for physical activities and skills. There are many more nuances, but this is the basic information with each stat. Certain evolutions will give more base stats than others. These better evolutions can be achieved by performing well and completing Achievements.

“Alright let’s get the class selection out of the way then. They were Healer, Mage, Rogue, Warrior, and what else again?”

Ranged Attack.

“So bow and arrow?”

Yes

Does the Healer cast spells to heal?

Yes, the Mage also casts spells to cause damage. The Rogue specializes in sneak attacks and a Warrior can either be a damage dealer or a “tank”, someone who specializes in being the one who takes the focus of a monster’s attack and who wears heavy armor.

Hmm, she was planning on being a doctor, but Jamie was guessing there wasn’t a large need for doctors in this world if there were healing spells.

“You said there are a million people, does the System not want a certain percentage of people to fill each role? Seems like that would make the most sense.”

The System would certainly prefer if there is an equitable split between the classes, but it will not force you to choose a class that does not fit you. At level 10, if you decide that you have chosen in error, you will be given the opportunity to choose a class that more closely aligns with your preferred style of adventuring.

Being a Healer might make sense since she was planning on being a doctor, but if this is anything like one of Brandon’s games, then Jamie just didn’t think she wanted to stand back in a robe and use healing spells. She was a physical person, and she’d rather be swinging a weapon. She didn’t feel like a Rogue, she was just too big and loud for that to be the case.

“Real quick, what should I call you? You aren’t exactly the System right?”

Correct. I am an AI that is connected to the System in order to help you through the upcoming Tutorial Dungeon. Please call me AI.

“Alright AI, I’m going to choose Warrior.”

Light, Medium, or Heavy Warrior?

“Haha, I think I know what this means thanks to Brandon telling me things I didn’t care about in the slightest. So Light and Medium do damage and a Heavy Warrior is a “Tank” correct?

Yes Jaime, that is correct.

“You mentioned that we will be able to evolve our classes a bit at level 10, 25 and then some later levels. If I want to become some sort of hybrid, is that still possible if I choose Heavy Warrior?”

Yes, Paladins begin as Heavy Warriors who choose a healing spell to go along with their tanking skills. Some choose a healing spell before level 10 but many more choose one after their level 10 Evolution to maximise their tanking skills. If you should choose a healing spell from the beginning, then you will be put in an appropriate group.

“Are there different types of dungeons for these Intro Dungeons and are they configured differently depending on your group composition?

Yes, there are several different archetypes and you will be put in a dungeon that will provide the appropriate level of difficulty to your group.

“K. I’m going with Heavy Warrior.”

Congratulations! You are now a Level 1 Heavy Warrior! You have 3 General Skills and 3 Warrior Skills and will receive an additional Warrior Skill at level 5 and 3 more at level 10 with your class evolution. At levels 10, 20 & 25 you will also get free general skill points.

You have gained the following Proficiencies: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor. 1H/2H Swords, 1H/2H Maces, 1H/2H Axes, Daggers, Polearms, and Shields

Each level you will receive the following stats:

3 Strength, 3 Constitution, 3 Endurance, 2 Dexterity, 1 Intellect, 1 Wisdom & 2 Free Points

“AI that is a huge selection of General Skill points. It’s honestly overwhelming, do you have any suggestions for what I should choose for all of my warrior skills if I’m looking to tank?”

I do. Here are my suggestions for your general skill points.

Basic Pathfinding - This skill lets you see a mini map on your UI that fills in as you explore a location.

Identify Item Basic - this enables you to see the item stats of any item within 50 levels of your own highest level class. It also shows you a suggested value of the item.

Universal Translation - this skill is chosen by every person and monster capable of thought within the System. It allows you to understand anything that is capable of speech.

“Alright I will take those three skills then. Any suggestions for my warrior skills?”

I am confirming your intention to be a tanking warrior?

“Yes and I think I’d like to become a Paladin at some point.”

Then I would recommend the following skills:

Taunt - Force an opponent to focus on you for at least ten seconds. This Skill can be used once every thirty seconds. At level 1, it targets one enemy. At higher levels, it can target multiple enemies.

Shield Bash - This skill costs 100 stamina and has a 30 second cooldown. Knocks an opponent backward 5’ and has a 10% chance of stunning your target if it is within 5 levels of you. Chance goes up 2% per level below you.

Shield Wall - This Skill costs 50 Stamina and will block all physical damage for 5 seconds. This Skill can be used once every minute at this level.

“This doesn’t include a healing spell, how will I begin moving towards Paladin right now?”

I would recommend holding onto your extra skill point at level 5 and then adding a group healing spell at level 10 and then depending on your skill you can either choose 2 more warrior skills or use 2 points and upgrade a weapon skill or Improved Constitution. You should receive another tanking skill as long as you perform well at your role. There will be between 3 & 5 Choices at your evolution.

“Alright I’m going to go with your advice here then.”

Great. I am now activating your inventory system. Please pull up your User Interface now. All you need to do is think of it and it should appear.

“Alright, it looks like a video game interface to me. I see a level notification in the upper left, a place for other notifications on the upper right as well as an XP bar up there. On the bottom I see my HP in the middle and on the left of that I see 5 empty boxes and on the right 5 more empty boxes.”

The Empty Boxes to your left are your inventory hot buttons. Think “inventory” and a representation of your new spatial storage inventory should pop up.

“Okay, oh wow! It looks like I have a set of heavy plate armor and a sword and shield! There are also 5 basic healing potions and 5 basic stamina potions”

Now place your potions and weapons in the slots that you feel they fit best so they are easily available to you.

Now click on your level up icon and you should be seeing your Leveling Screen, also commonly called the Character Screen by many people. You will see an image of yourself, your name and level as well as your gear.

“Wow! I can see myself wearing heavy plate armor with a sword and shield! Thank god it also seems to have given me clothes underneath the armor.”

Yes, it is impossible to know what an adventurer will be wearing when they are summoned into the System so proper clothing is provided.

This now concludes the Character Selection Tutorial! You will now be transported to an Intro Dungeon where you will meet your new team, who you will hopefully be spending the next 25 levels with as you clear out your Intro Dungeon.

Immediately after hearing these words, Jamie suddenly had a lurching feeling in her stomach and she found herself peering at five other people.