Plain but heavy-looking wooden door, there I go.

That took some effort, though.

Which... maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but if Brawn is tied to physical strength, a 3 must be below-average.

And if that's true, that means...

... you know what, maybe I shouldn't theorycraft just yet. Let's maybe figure out where this is and what's going on. After that, maybe then inquire-with-brackets.

The circular room I'd been in has opened up into a much larger circular room, and this one is even worse shape than the last. Sunlight is pouring through holes in the walls and ceilings, rubble is strewn across the floor. Pieces of stone and wood, enough that I need to watch my step.

There's dust in the air, but not on the floor.

This place has taken a beating, and only recently.

I don't hear anything, though, so it's probably safe for the moment.

It doesn't look like there was much else in here. Might have been a mirror, but if it was, it's just a pile of glittery glass, now. There's some carvings on the floor and the inner walls. I'm doing a pace around, and it looks like this building is just concentric circles so far.

There's another door leading out, placed on the opposite side of the ring from where the center door came in. This one's even bigger, a double-door that looks like it's very nearly been battered in by something.

Don't like the look of that one bit.

If there's something bad happening out there, I'd at least like to get my bearings first.

Wasn't there supposed to be something to help me out here? Something about a helpdesk?

... hell, I think I just spotted it.

A pair of furniture legs, anyway.

They're sticking out from under a piece of heavy stone.

Along with a lot of splintered wood.

Aw, jeez, this poor thing.

I try to wedge the stone away, but it's about the size of an armchair. Nothing doing.

Next, I try to tug some of the larger pieces of wood out from beneath - I manage to get a few scraps before the stone shifts its weight and collapses with a crunch and a quiet ping!

Something flew out from under there, I guess maybe moved by the wood or the falling stone. It ricocheted off of my shoe (a simple slipper made of soft fabric, which I hadn't really noticed before) and then off the chunk of masonry, before coming to rest.

When I lean down to look, it appears to be a polished, dark green stone about the size of a pea. I pick it up, and-

This time, the blue screen doesn't obscure my vision - it's just a kind of thought, a picture in my head. Clear enough, but not nearly as distracting.

Okay, so. The thing that could have given me answers has been destroyed. This implies that there's more of them out there, though. And it doesn't look like I'm totally without help, since it looks like I can still interact with that inquiry thing. Actually, what if I ask about this helpdesk thing?

So... I'm in a whole other world than I'm used to? And a different body, apparently. 

Oh, dang, as soon as I think about that, I notice half a dozen details about myself that I'd been trying not to pay attention to.

The lightness of my steps, the shape of my hands, the movement of hair on my neck when I walk, the weight on my -  of my - chest, the shape of my teeth, even. 

None of it feels bad, exactly, just terribly unfamiliar.

Trying not to think about it is trying not to breathe manually after thinking about breathing manua-shit, now I'm breathing manually.

I need a distraction.

What if I just... start [Inquiring] about all these terms that showed up earlier?

Gee, thanks. Guess a Grit of 6 isn't bad, then. I'm doing... okay.

Good to know I can get better at these things, at least.

Carrying on...

Woo, that's a lot to take in.

If I'd been in that first room, that could have been enough of a wall of text to blind me completely.

Investment sounds important, and also sounds like I'm going to get exactly no new information on it here. So, moving on.

It seems as if a lot of this is geared towards combat, which means I should probably expect to have to fight whether I want to or not and whether I'm good at it or not. I'm not very brawny, and upon thinking about it I have no desire to be brawnier even if there are ways to increase stats, so I should probably consider a weapon that relies more on finesse. I'll think about that for a moment.

Picking an aptitude seems less immediate, at least. I can save that until I find something I want to be good at quickly.

I inquire about general skill selection, and what I find is that there's a lot. I could theoretically pick up a weapon or aptitude proficiency, but I'd have to have spare points to improve. The cool thing about the Potential skills is the instant gratification part, I think. And the immediate access to useful tools for the skill.

There's a lot of other things I could pick up, though. And that's not even getting into personal skills.

Ugh, choice paralysis is real.

Still, I can't just leave all of this and go out into the world with no real self-defense, right?

After giving it a bit of thought, I wind up selecting daggers for my weapon proficiency - they're simple, plentiful, you can throw them in a pinch, and they're small enough that I can probably make illusory ones later. Maybe I'll pick up other weapons later, but for now, something that I don't have to lug around is good.

When I activate the Weapon Potential skill - a process done just by thinking real hard about it with brackets and all - a shimmer appears in the air, which resolves itself into a simple-looking dagger. Complete with a sheath, to tie to my - oh, I've got a belt wrapped around the waist I'm trying not to think too much about. Great!

I've got a general skill and a personal skill left.

After browsing the general skills, I decide to pick up a skill which just... makes me faster, apparently. I figure if I'm not very strong or tough, my best bet for surviving is simply not getting hit. It's not a large boost, but it'll get better as I put more points into it. Presuming I survive long enough to get any stronger, that is.

Given what I've got, I'm otherwise going to have to wield a lot of misdirection - so until I know how that works, I want to hedge my bets.

That's also why I'm looking at a single direct spell attack - something that can do some magical damage, and also distract and disorient. Plus, I like the sound of it.

When I'm done, my skill page looks a little different:

Alright!

That looks good, if I do say so myself.

Once I've selected the skills, they just sort of... click, in my head. A casual revelation of something I can do now.

It's exactly like waking up.

I have no idea what's waiting for me out there, but I have a weapon, I have some basic skills, and I have the determination to put myself into potential danger rather than contemplate certain facts about my life.

Let's do this.