Icarus Awakens

Curiosity got the better of Daniel. His phone, in addition to having been hacked, could now read his mind. “Are you magic now too?”

For more information on Concept: Focus, consult Function: Encyclopedia

Some of the words, ‘Concept: Focus’ and ‘Function: Encyclopedia’ in the most recent notification, had a blue text color that would normally indicate a hyperlink. That, plus the mention of an encyclopedia, drew an obvious conclusion that did not pay off at all. Touching the blue text only made the notification go away. Slightly confused, Daniel investigated a little more. Encyclopedia was one of the four icons on the screen, an open book on a brown background. Tapping it brought him to an image of a bookshelf, the spines of four books displayed.

• Lore

• Monsters

• System

• World

It wasn’t immediately obvious which would lead to information about his ‘Focus’ or the fear effect. That being said, the world book should be able to tell him more about where he was. He pressed on the book and it opened with just a disappointingly short paragraph inside.

Information on the world you are inhabiting is limited. Magic exists. There is a strong likelihood you are not on World: Earth. The means of how you found yourself here is unknown.

Not Earth? Daniel sighed. He’d guessed as much but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge the suspicion. Some encyclopedia. This just tells me what I already know. Like the notifications, some terms were blue. Would they lead to a new page or just get his hopes up again? Another alert came through at the top of the screen.

For more information on Function: Encyclopedia, consult the encyclopedia

“Great, thanks,” Daniel said sarcastically. He tried tapping the hyperlink on the alert itself, but it went away as soon as he touched it. The world book didn’t have much to tell him, and he was guessing the lore book was similarly scant in detail. Of the other two, System seemed more promising.

Daniel returned to the bookshelf and selected the system book. Instead of opening, it revealed a long menu. “Abilities, advancement, attacks…” Daniel’s eyes ran down the long list and settled on one that seemed most helpful. “Index!” That led to an even longer list, though it had a search bar at the top. Encyclopedia was his first choice.

Encyclopedia (Function: Artificer, Domain: Knowledge, ???)

An artificer Focus function that stores all information known to the user in an accessible and orderly fashion. Knowledge displayed may include information the user has forgotten and/or information they could, but don’t, know, so long as the user has directly encountered the subject matter.

This function is a Magical Power. Magical Suppression prevents new knowledge from being recorded until the suppression is removed. Knowledge already stored may be accessed so long as the vessel can overcome the suppression.

“That’s more helpful. Magic.” Daniel’s tone was pensive. It was the simplest explanation for this insanity. The text was displayed in a familiar way, describing things like he was in an role-playing game. Further, this Encyclopedia seemed to function like an in-game knowledge base, adding entries as he discovered more. The part about having information he could, but didn’t know made a bit more sense in that light. Videogames usually gave help text on new abilities to help players understand them.

“This is a game.” Daniel looked around again. “This is a game?” He saw his reflection in the rippling water, burned arm prominently displayed. “I’m bad at this game.” An attempt at a self-deprecating chuckle was made, but it died in his throat as he was reminded of his pain. Still, he felt better.

Alert: Effect: Fear on you has ended

“Huh.” Knowing he was in a game helped frame things. Games always had a way forward, when they didn’t softlock at least. Since he’d just gotten here that would be unlikely, and it would also make this whole area the tutorial. “Normally the sky levels are end game. Act 2 at least.” His complaints did not have any meaningful impact on the surroundings.

The alert on his phone timed out. The hyperlinks on those didn’t work anyway. Focus seemed like an important topic, so he looked that up next and was happy to find that hyperlinks in the Encyclopedia worked as expected.

Focus (Concept: Item, Domain: Universal, ???)

The item through which Powers: Class are channeled. A focus’ nature is unique to its bearer, though similarities exist within classes. Focuses may physically evolve as their bearer Advances, and can gain new Functions from awakened powers. Non-Intrinsic foci may be lost or destroyed, and must be remade for powers reliant on them to be restored.

You are an Artificer. Your focus has taken the form of a smartphone. No current Abilities require your focus to function. No current Attacks require your focus to function. No current attribute-enhancing Effects require your focus to function. No Familiars are bonded to your focus. You have one or more Spells that require your focus to function. Use of Function: Encyclopedia, Function: Maps, Function: Music, and Function: Settings require a functioning focus.

???

The last paragraph was a wall of text and hyperlinks. It was overwhelming, though the gist of the ability was easy to understand. His phone had somehow become a nexus of whatever abilities he’d woken up with. He had a suspicion about at least one of the spells his Focus provided him and asked a more pressing question. “How did I get these abilities? Wait, no, how did I get here?” Daniel looked at his phone expectantly.

For more information on Classes, consult Function: Encyclopedia.

Class was a hyperlinked word near the top of the Focus entry, allowing Daniel to reach the page despite the notification not linking there directly.

Classes (Concept, Universal, ???)

???

Daniel tapped the question marks, confused.

Unidentification (Concept: Effect, Domain: Illusion, ???)

Unidentification prevents Creatures and Domain: Knowledge Powers of the same level or lower from accessing designated information. This effect cannot remove knowledge known to intelligent creatures, but sufficiently powerful unidentification can prevent them from remembering it.

Your Function: Encyclopedia currently possesses unidentified knowledge requiring a power of Level: 10 or higher to identify.

Is that what happened to my memories? He placed the phone gently on the ground. I could spend all day reading this stuff, but that won’t help my arm. In the real world, there was plenty of time to study a game, dig into its mechanics, and come out with the best build possible even before character creation. That’s how Daniel played at least. In this world, he had an arm with cracked flesh and a constant dull ache that distracted him from even the holes in his mind.

He picked the phone back up. “Last question for now. Can you heal me?”

For more information on Domain: Restoration, consult Function: Encyclopedia.

-

Restoration (Concept: Domain, ???)

???

Recovery of injuries occurs at a natural rate dependent on a Creature’s physiology and Attribute: Endurance. Recovery rate may be increased, decreased, negated, or otherwise altered by the use of Powers.

???

“Time to find a cleric then.” The sheer drop of the island’s edge casually reminded him of its existence. “Right.”