Star peered out the window of her small apartment in abject terror. She couldn’t look away from the scene despite her screaming mind and shaking body. She took a shaky breath looking down to her hand held tightly by another, her best friend, until the end. An end rapidly approaching by the look of it. The end is inevitable and it is upon them. With no way to stop it.

Star’s vision became unfocused as she watched a little cat be swallowed by the rifts below them on the street. She couldn’t stop looking. Why couldn’t she stop looking? Across the street the Green’s light up, bright swirling light emitting from the window, a light created by the rifts. They came at random, it could take anyone at any moment. Each second that passed another rift appeared. They were getting closer now.

“What should we do?”

“What cAn we do Salem?” Star’s voice broke.

A warm arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her into Salem’s side. “I’ll see you on the other side.” Salem whispered softly into her ear. Star could only respond with a chocked sob.

The world shifted, her vision swirled, overtake by a million colors. It’d of been beautiful in another situation. Star squeezed her eyes shut, flinging herself the rest of the way into Salem’s body clinging to her like a life line, baring her face in her chest as she cried. Salem’s arms wrapped around her, hugging her close as she pressed her head to Star’s. Star could feel her hair began to grow damp with tears.

Star felt the ground fall away from under her. She cried out, her scream primal and blood curling as she screamed in fear and anguish at what she’d lost, what she was currently losing. She tightened her grip around Salem they feel together.

Friends until the end.

------------------

Star opened her eyes. “...What?” She gaze up to see a blue sky. She looked down to see green grass. She looked to the mass on top of her. “Salem?” She called, pushing herself slowly up to a sitting position.

Salem groaned eyes fluttering open, “...Star, Are we… dead?” She asked blinking slowly up at her as she pushed herself up off her.

Star took another glance around, picking up the smaller details, like the clouds no more then ten feet above them and a run down farm house. “I… think so.”

Slowly the duo picked themselves up. “Should we look around maybe?” Salem suggested.

“Yeah I think-- AH!” Star nearly jumped out of her skin as transport window appeared before her eyes. “Salem?”

“Yeah?” Salem’s voice shock.

“Are you seeing the… window screen?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Is it also asking you to choose a class.”

“Uhuh.”

 

Please choose a class:

• Alchemist

• Druid

• Bard

• Cleric

 

“Why do I only have four options?” Star muttered to herself, noting three were typical DND classes.

“You get four? I got three.”

“Well, I have alchemist, druid, bard, and cleric. What about you?”

“Paladin, fighter, wizard.”

“What, you get to be a wizard!?”

“Abso-fuckin-lotly.”

“Your picking that right, obviously your picking that one.” Star’s eyes shinned as she put her hand on Salem shoulders. “You have to be a wizard!”

Salem chuckled, “Of course I’m gonna be a wizard, pick out your class now, we’ll chose them together ok?”

Star gave Salem a firm nod, turning her attention back to her option. Bard was out, she didn’t have any musical talent, and she wouldn’t have anyone to share it with anyway. Cleric was also a no, Star was never the religious type nor was she one to stay back and heal or whatever clerics did.

That left Druid and Alchemist. Druids could shape shift and talk to animals, couldn’t they? They also tended to have nature based powers. It seemed like the obvious choice, but alchemist… Star squinted at the class destination, trying to decipher what all entailed in being an alchemist. From what she remembered from the games she played and the shows she watched alchemist were kinda like wizards, they could use magic to create pills and other objects given the ingredients. Alchemist could create pills that could grant immortality, or super strength, or whatever else she desired.

Well then the correct option seemed quite clear.

“I’m going with alchemist.”

Salem nodded, a thoughtful look on her face, “That’s a good one, ready?”

“Ready! On the count of three.” Star raised her hand to hover just before the alchemist option.

“One…” Salem started, taking a deep breath.

“Two,” Star continued, palms sweating in anticipation

“THREE!” They shouted together slamming their fingers on their respected options.

 

Congratulation! You have chosen the class Alchemist with Alchemist you have been automatically given:

• Synthesis [1]

• Deconstruct [1]

 

Star furrowed her brow at the notification. Synthesis, what would that do? The system, shockingly enough, actually gave her the answer to that. Synthesis would allow her to actually do alchemy. Useful. Star stared at the screen, focusing on the next skill she’d been given. Deconstruct was the exact opposite of synthesis, instead of fusing things together it took them apart.

Star looked to the last mystery displayed on the screen, the number displayed next to the skill. Once more the system feed her the information needed. Level huh? Well that sounded right, naturally she would start at level one. Satisfied with the information given, Star nodded to herself. With a wave of her hand she dismissed the screen only for a second to pop into place.

 

Please choose three [3] boons!

[Search….]

• action manipulation

• acid immunity

• acid resistance

• adhesion

• air affinity

• animal affinity

• …

 

Star frowned at the list of abilities, they didn’t seem quite what she was looking for and a few looked down right useless. “What kind of boons are these? They’re all so… weird.” Her eyes flickered to the search bar at the top. Well maybe they list could still have something useful. Her finger tapped the little engine, a keyboard popped into her sight.

 

[Search: Luck]

Loading…

Success! You have three [3] results.

• Lucky

• Luck absorption

• Luck manipulation

 

To be successful in alchemy you needed luck. Especially if you had extremely limited knowledge of plants and their effects in alchemy. Besides luck, an alchemist needed two other things, a way to get resources, and the know how to create useful pills and potions. Perhaps an inspect skill will the knowledge fill that gap.

 

[Search: Inspect]

Loading…

Success! You have four [4] options.

• Detect

• Inspect

• Investigate

• Scan

 

Star stared at the options for a long moment considering each. As she did so the system began filtering information into her head about each skill. Detect would let her choose a target to ‘detect’. In application it would look like detect: apple, then the boon would search a target area for an apple. It wouldn’t give her information on the apple it would simply find the apple.

Investigate, from what the system was telling her at least, was similar but opposite to detect. It required prior information such as: a fruit, often of a red color, that grows on tree. Using the given conditions the boon would investigate a given area for an object that fit the description.

Next was scan. This ability would allow Star to ‘scan’ an area or object. In the case of scanning an area the ability would give information about the area in general, when scanning an object the ability would give information unique to the object. Inspect was nearly the same, it could be used on a single object, but not on an area. To make up from this the ability displayed stats the averages of the object.

Star reviewed the information given to her. Investigate and detect were out. They would not be able to give her the information she’d need to create potions. While inspect would give her sightly more information when used then scan would, scan would allow her to detect things previously unseen. Star looked between the two skills. Slowly nodding to herself she dismissed the screen.

She had one more thing to consider before choosing her boons. How to gather resources that would have been unavailable to her.

 

[Search: Gather]

Loading…

Success! You have two [2] options.

• Gather

• Gacha gather system

 

Star froze, her heart starting to race in anticipation. A gacha system? One that would allow her to randomly get resources that she wouldn’t have accus to otherwise? It’s perfect. Without a second more or hesitation Star chose the gacha gathering system.

 

Congratulations! You have gain the gacha gathering system.

Current skills:

• Deconstruct [1]

• Gacha gathering system [1]

• Synthesis [1]

 

Star looked to her new skill, focusing on it. A new screen appeared.

 

Current points: 0

Points generated per day: 5

Exchange

Out of simple curiosity Star hit the exchange button.

Exchange

• F tier: 5

• D tier: 10

• C tier: 30

• B tier: 120

• A tier: 600

• S tier: 3600

Current points: 0

 

Star winced at the brutal rate increase of the upper levels in comparison to her meager point gains. Star’s mind trailed back to the current level of her skill, level one. Perhaps when it leveled up her point gain would be higher? Or at least the points need to exchange would be lower. She could still hope.

Star waved the screen away pulling up the boon screen. Typing in her next boon picks.

 

[Search: Luck]

Loading…

Success! You have three [3] results.

• Lucky

• Luck absorption

• Luck manipulation

Congratulations! You have gain the Lucky.

Current skills:

• Deconstruct [1]

• Gacha gathering system [1]

• Lucky [1]

• Synthesis [1]

[Search: Inspect]

Loading…

Success! You have four [4] options.

• Detect

• Inspect

• Investigate

• Scan

Congratulations! You have gain the Scan.

Current skills:

• Deconstruct [1]

• Gacha gathering system [1]

• Lucky [1]

• Scan [1]

• Synthesis [1]

 

Star couldn’t help but smile in pride as she look at the display before her eyes, it seemed so fantastical yet her she was, alive. She could help but squeal in joy. “Salem, Salem, guess what I got!”

Salem snapped out of her trance, “Oh yeah, what?”

“I got a gacha system AND luck AND a scanning ability. What about you what did you get!?”

“Well I haven’t decided yet, I’m still trying to figure out what my affinities will be.”

“Oh? Can you let me see?”

“I can try…” Salem trailed off.

A few tense moments passed before; poof! A new screen appeared.

“Hey I can see it now!” Star bounced on the balls of her feet pointing to the screen in front of Salem.

Salem smiled down at her friend, “Awesome!”

 

Please choose three [3] affinities.

• Water

• Fire

• Earth

• Air

• Dark

• …