NOVEL NEXT B1 | Chapter 2 - Changes
Alexia Knight
I soon find myself in a strange room. Just a single large white cube with some sort of unknown material that I can’t identify making up the walls, floor, and ceiling. And before I can so much as wonder where I am, a System Notification appears in my vision.
System Reset has occurred.
All users' levels have been reset to 1, their classes removed, and all of their skills removed along with any Legendary Feats that were not their selected Legendary Feat.
I wince before quickly checking my status.
Name: Alexia Knight
Species: Human(T1)
Level: 1
Class: N/A
Health: 10/10
Mana: 10/10
VIT: 1
DEX: 1
STR: 1
MAG: 1
MEN: 1
Racial Skills
Active Skills
Passive Skills
General Skills
That’s painful to see, even if I knew it would happen. Not as painful knowing everyone else is in the same boat though.
A System Message, a personalized version of a notification for messages from the System to a specific user, appears in my vision in the place of the notification as I close out of my status.
[Tutorial now commencing.]
I frown at that, only to physically jump when someone appears in front of me. Someone I very much recognize even if they look very different when not poked full of tubes.
“Hello, new user! This is a memory of me, The System’s Architect, that I placed inside of the System itself!” the System’s Creator says with a smile, speaking out loud this time as he stares at me with his creepy eyes. “I don’t think I’ll be explaining much, especially since this is just a reset and not an initialization. So let’s get on with the basics, shall we?”
I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. So I tilt my head slightly as I mutter, “Sure?”
“Great!” he exclaims, making me realize that he’s more than just a hologram or a fake. He can actually interact with me. Although probably in a limited manner. “To begin, let’s give you a rundown of the stats!”
[Health represents a user’s overall life energy, which will rejuvenate their body should they take injury and contains their overall strength and power. If a user should ever completely run out of this, their body will quickly begin to lose any enhancements they have from their level eventually bringing them down to the same strength as a level 1 until it is restored.]
[VIT stands for Vitality, and it’s the representation of a user’s overall physical health. This also includes their body’s speed at which it can use health to rejuvenate itself, the speed they regenerate their health, and the amount of health their body has in the first place.]
[DEX stands for Dexterity, and it’s the representation of a user’s overall maneuverability and flexibility. The speed at which they can move. The flexibility that they can move with. And how fast they can react to something or someone.]
[STR stands for Strength, and it’s the representation of how strong a user is. How much force they can put out, and how much force they can take back. The overall durability of their body.]
[MAG stands for Magic and represents the amount of mana a user can have, the speed it regenerates, and the strength of their mana.]
[MEN stands for the strength of a user’s mind, both figuratively and literally. The speed at which a user can think, the clarity that they can think with, and the overall defense of their mind against offensive mental attacks.]
Nothing I didn’t already know.
“Continue,” I tell the memory.
The memory seems to understand that I already know this stuff as they shrug and comment, “I know, I know, sorry for wasting your time telling you things you already know. But it’s protocol, so I don’t have a choice. So here’s the rundown of skills. It’s not as long, so don’t worry.”
[Everyone can have twenty total skills slotted at a time. Five Active Class skills, five Passive Class skills, and ten General Skills.]
[Everyone gets one Class skill every five levels until they reach Tier 2, and they can switch out their active and passive skills at a System Terminal located at the center of every Safe Zone.]
“Next,” I tell him with my arms crossed.
“Now this part you will probably be interested in,” the memory says with a smile, seemingly growing more and more like a normal person every time they speak and less like a memory. “Next up is the Class Selection Process!”
[Class Selection Process Beginning…]
[Please choose your class from the following opt-]
[Warning. User’s Legendary Feat ‘The Reaping’ has interfered with the Class Selection Process.]
[Recalculating Class Options…]
I blink, simply staring at the words in confusion.
Huh?
The memory in front of me glitches out for a moment before frowning at me and stating, “So you’re the one who did me in, huh? Interesting choice.”
I alternate my gaze between the memory who I don’t think is a memory anymore and the words flashing in the corner of my vision.
“Yes, you’re right,” the memory says, reading my mind just like the original did. “I am not a memory anymore. The Reaper protocol that you just activated on accident has summoned one of the various clones I left in hibernation. Clones that aren’t strong enough to live past ten minutes each outside of hibernation. Not without the original providing them energy.”
I blink at that.
“Wait, so that means you’re going to die after this?” I ask, surprise by this turn of events.
He nods, only for his eyes to widen slightly as he says, “Looks like it’s done.”
[Recalculation Complete. Please choose your class from the following options. If you would like to stall your Class Selection till a later moment in time, you must simply speak the word, ‘Stall,’ and it- Error. Stalling is not an option for user Alexia Knight. Please choose your class from the following options.]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Quantum Reaper
Description: You have reaped the life of the System’s creator, the Quantum Architect, and have been blessed by him upon his death.
Stats Per Level: +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, +2 MEN
Requirements: User must be of the Quantum Reaper species.
Confirm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I stare at the words, not sure which I should be more shocked about. The fact that I am being offered an epic rarity Class, the third highest rarity in existence and the highest rarity possible for a Tier 1 being, or the fact that I only have one Class option despite it telling me to choose a class.
There isn’t exactly much to choose from. Especially considering that requirement.
Then again, most people don’t have a Legendary Feat locking them into choosing only a single Class.
Also, in hindsight, epic is to be expected when you have a Legendary Feat.
“Go ahead and choose your class from the options available!” the clone says with a smile on his face, making my eye twitch in irritation.
“There’s only one option,” I state the obvious.
His smile just grows wider.
I’m really starting to hate this guy.
“Even though I don’t fit the requirements for the Class?” I point out, but he just continues smiling.
I look at him for a few seconds before sighing and mentally selecting confirm. And as soon as I do so, I feel a burning sensation spread all across my body along with a sense of weakness leaving me unable to control my legs, making me drop down to the floor. And while I’m meeting face first with the floor, another System Message appears in my vision.
[User does not fit the requiremen-]
[Warning. User’s Legendary Feat ‘The Reaping’ has interfered with the Class Selection Process.]
[User’s species is now changing from Human to Quantum Reaper…]
“Oh,” I mutter, only for the pain to get significantly worse. And soon I can hear my own voice screaming as faint purple lights of varying shade shine from my skin and eyes, illuminating the white room, and making it look more purple than white.
The pain continues for several seconds before it finally begins to fade, leaving me lying on my back covered in sweat.
[Congratulations, your species has changed from the Class B Species Human to the Class S Species Quantum Reaper. Rejoice.]
I try to sit up, only to find that the floor is a lot more comfortable when a strong wave of vertigo hits me in the attempt. Then I hear the clone’s voice, “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Just stay down there while we finish the rest of this tutorial. You should be fine by the end of it.”
“I hate you,” I state out loud, my voice coming out weak and slightly scratchy before I clear my throat.
“Nah, you don’t,” he says while kneeling next to me. “You know as well as I do that most humans would sell their own kidney just to upgrade their species and I just handed it to you. Or, my original did.”
I don’t say anything in response, but I do manage to roll over and turn my gaze to stare up at the ceiling.
“Alrighty, onto the next matter!” he continues, standing up again. “Your new racial skill!”
[*New Racial Skill* – Quantum Body: Reduces physical damage dealt to the user by 80% and increases magic damage dealt to the user by 50%.]
My eyes widen at that, and I find myself letting out a whistle of appreciation.
“Of course, there’s the matter of your first Active skill as well,” he says, still with an annoying grin on his face.
[*New Active Skill* – Quantum Bolt: Releases a bolt of pure quantum energy at a target. This bolt will rip apart the target on a quantum level. Skill is automatically slotted due to free open slots.]
Okay, yeah, this class is totally worth it. Even if it doesn’t involve my sword.
Although, reaper or not, I’m not getting a scythe.
The clone snorts at that and says, “Right. I forgot that you were from Earth. Or what used to be Earth.”
Earth? What’s that?
“Nevermind,” he says while waving his arm. “Aside from mentioning that there will be some small changes to the System, I’d say that’s about all for my little introduction. You have another five minutes before you’re evicted from this room and sent to the tutorial where you will compete with others for points that you can use to get some rewards after the tutorial.”
I glance at him again to find his eyes looking at the wall for no apparent reason before he turns to me and says, “One last suggestion. You should check your status, because a quantum being does not have health or mana. Instead they have Soul, which is basically a combination of the two.”
Then he vanishes in a glitchy flash of purple light without so much as a goodbye.
Wait a second, no health or mana?
I quickly open my status to check.
Name: Alexia Knight Species: Quantum Reaper(T1)
Level: 1 Class: Quantum Reaper
Soul: 25/25
VIT: 1 DEX: 1 STR: 1 MAG: 1 MEN: 1
Racial Skills Active Skills
Passive Skills General Skills
Huh. It’s true.
I close out of my status again to stare up at the ceiling.
This has been a strange day.