Building a magic system on threat of destruction

Jack came back to a flurry of worried questioning. "What happened?" "Where did the cloud go?" "What took you so long?"

The rapid-fire questions were jarring but endearing. The bore-bots, Jeler, and Riniox were all gathered around the usual table in the basement. Jack held up a hand to stall the questions and sat up. "First off, sorry I took so long." He hopped off the short table and shook himself loose. "I was doing some work while I was up there, the cloud situation should be resolved for now."

Everyone seemed relieved except Riniox. The demon spoke her concerns aloud. "What did it want? Is there a chance that this will happen again?"

"It wanted to meet me. It had questions about who I am, and where I came from. I think...that it's every cloud across Drowl. It gathered itself from around the world to try and observe me."

Riniox seemed to ponder this, and Reph took the chance to jump into the conversation. "So the weather should go back to normal? There have been reports of drought from all over."

Jack nodded, "That's what it said. Though, it hinted that things were worse than we thought."

Everyone paused to absorb this revelation. "What is that supposed to mean?" Jeler mused. "Drought is already pretty scary for lots of people. I hope nothing too bad happens."

"Well, I expect we will find out soon enough." Riniox put a hand on Jeler's shoulder. "For now, back to business as usual. Jack, do you want to go out and meet some people? Or do you need a break?"

Jack sighed but nodded. "Yeah, I can go out." He followed Riniox and Jeler upstairs and went out of the house for the first time in over a week. Greetings rang out as Jack walked out of the house, the mercenaries coming up and clapping him on the back.

Jack greeted people easily, feeling the easy sense of belonging wash over him. It was incredible how simply the mercenaries had accepted him...most of them anyway. There were holdouts of course, as well as people who were outright hostile toward him. Some of the mercs were still very uncomfortable with his bore-bot body and were not shy about showing it. Glares or muttered insults were uncommon, but not alien to Jack by this point.

Jack ignored these people for the most part. He was far too busy to care about what some random people thought about him, between granting statuses and experimenting with the system Jack worked at least twelve hours a day. He had no need to eat and his body was very slow to tire, so he was able to work incredibly efficiently.

When Jack made his way to the designated meeting area, a crowd of people had gathered and were waiting for him. Granting statuses in the house had been slow and mentally draining. Most small groups wanted privacy and peace to consult with Jack about the details of the system. Out here though, Jack was able to grant statuses to large groups of people and then field questions at his own pace, giving people time to consult and explore their screens.

Jack addressed the crowd, calling out the details of what he would be doing. He gave people a chance to opt out before he began, making sure that everyone was comfortable with his magic being used on them. When everyone consented, Jack used [Multi-Status Granting] on a portion of the assembled crowd. Once he finished, blue screens appeared over the assembled crowd and people gasped and peered at them.

Status screens had become more common around the camp and in the nearby town, but many travelers were still surprised when given their own. The blue boxes were such an alien experience to people, unlike anything that existed in their world. Not for the first time, Jack felt that magical systems were stupid. He had committed to making one, and he would do his best to make it useful, but it really had no place in the real world.

Jack granted statuses to two more groups before needing to take a break. He stretched out his body, more as a force of habit than out of actual need, then told people that they could consult him if they had questions. Jack mentally chided fantasy stories where people didn't understand the system they were using. Why would some god make something as instrumental as a magic system and not explain it to the people using it?

There were the usual questions, things like "What do these numbers mean?" or "Why do I have a [Pooping] skill?" and Jack carefully explained the process he was working through. He reassured people that the system was changing and becoming more efficient all the time and that he and the High Deity wished for it to be as helpful as possible.

When most of the people in today's group had been dealt with, a draconid approached Jack from the rear of the group. She appeared to be a woman, though Jack had a hard time distinguishing between the draconid genders. More often than not, only clothes seemed to indicate any form of gender as their body shapes didn't really change as far as he could tell.

The draconid approached and spoke in a gravelly yet feminine voice. "Greetings, chosen of the High Deity." She bowed respectfully.

"Greetings. Did you have some questions for me?"

She nodded. "I have observed some of the people gathered here and asked after their status. I am very intrigued by these 'stats' and I was hoping for a more in-depth explanation."

This kind of questioning was common, but most people asked about skills rather than stats. Aside from general comparison and boasting, most people chose to ignore their stats. Jack smiled before answering her. "Of course, what do you wish to know?"

"You spoke briefly about the maximum a stat can be, forty I believe?" When Jack nodded his affirmation she continued. "Is it possible to raise someone's stats that high? Or are there other factors like natural talent involved?"

Jack looked at this woman curiously. She was asking some very pointed questions, things he hadn't thought many people would latch onto quickly. "It is possible, or at least it should be in theory. Great effort is required to raise stats, but that is because it takes great effort to improve oneself." Jack tapped his head. "People aren't born inherently smart, they need to study and be taught. The same is true for the physical side of things, the harder you work, the more you are likely to improve,"

The draconid nodded her understanding. "But is it possible to use the system to improve stats?"

Jack stared at her. This was technically information that a person could put together, but Jack hadn't even hinted that such a thing was possible to people. He spoke slowly and carefully. "Yes, at a certain point, when the system is more well spread and understood I intend to allow such a thing."

She nodded again, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I wonder what such a person would look like, with every stat maxed out. Perhaps they would become a grand tyrant, more powerful than everyone around them."

Jack calmed slightly. If this is what the woman had been getting at, there was no real need for concern. "I don't see much of a problem in that. It will be difficult to amass too many stat boosts, and besides that, high stats don't mean a person is unstoppable. It's the same as the way the world is now, there are powerful people everywhere and none of them are very close to conquering the world."

The draconid woman seemed surprised at that. "There are many who would disagree with you. The Queen of all Demons is said to be controlling the world from the shadows."

Jack chuckled. "Well, she can't be doing that if I've never met her. The High Deity basically made me the center of attention the world over, but I haven't even gotten a missive from her." Though if he thought about it, Frox had probably been working for the Queen of all Demons. He suddenly chilled slightly, had that been her way of getting his attention?

Before he could dive deeper into those dark thoughts, the draconid spoke again. "May I ask what your stats are, servant of the High Deity?" Her expression was hard to read, but Jack could tell there was an intense curiosity there.

"I only have a strength stat. The High Deity did not see fit to grant me a completed status sheet, so I have been gradually filling it in."

"Truly?" she seemed surprised. "Could you not give yourself any stats you wished?"

"No. Attempting to inflate my stats previously caused my body some...issues." The memory of his arms snapping off was still vivid in his mind. "I am attempting to use others as a reference point for myself, but I fear mislabeling my stats could have side effects."

"Side effects?"

"Placing stats too high could harm my body, placing them too low could hamper my ability to act. In particular, my mental stats are hard for me to gauge."

She seemed to consider this, nodding slowly after a moment. "Perhaps there is wisdom in the course. It would not do for you to be...unlike yourself."

Jack smiled at her, "Stats are important, but only represent a part of a person. I hope that my answers brought you some clarity."

"Indeed. I learned much about the path I should take regarding this system." She bowed slightly as if to take her leave.

"Ah, actually I was hoping to see your status screen. Would that be alright?" It was rather personal, but Jack liked to see the status of people as insightful as this woman.

She paused, seeming to consider his question. Then she nodded and spoke the word. "Status." Her screen emerged, and Jack only made it as far as the name before he froze.

[Name: Queen of all Demons]

His eyes darted up to meet hers, and she playfully held a finger to her lips. Jack couldn't move, something seemed to physically restrain him in place as he gazed at her, terrified. Jeler was a small ways away, often choosing to give privacy to those who had questions about their status and didn't appear to see anything wrong. The draconid woman, though he knew she must be a demon in disguise, leaned down to him and whispered in his ear. "Thank you for your advice, Jack. I'll be sure to put it to good use."

She turned and walked away. Jack remained where he was, unable to move until she was out of sight.