System Change

Thomas was still staring in awe at how abrupt the man’s departure was. Eventually, he could see the man walking back towards camp, wolf in hand. He looks a little mad. After getting a good look at the man, Thomas noticed that he was wearing a slight frown and was not nearly as enthusiastic as he was before.

The man returned to camp and sat a few feet away from Thomas, not taking his eyes off of him. What did I do? Thomas was getting nervous. The man was at least talking to him before he left. Now he just glared.

Finally, the man broke his silence. “Kid, what’s your name?”

Thomas released a breath he had not known he was holding and spoke. “It’s Thomas.” Thomas was relieved to see that the man’s sullen expression was lessening.

“Alright Tommy, I’m Derek.”

“It’s Thomas, not Tommy.” Thomas muttered, seemingly upset that Derek was calling him Tommy.

“That’s what I said. Anyway, Tommy, you were talking about the requirements that a person has to meet to unlock the use of the system.” Derek didn’t care if Thomas didn’t like being called Tommy. You lost me 15% of my stats, I’ll call you whatever I want. He was still pissed that his ‘Solo King’ title had not been activated at the time that the new system had taken over.

“It’s Thomas.” The boy quipped, but seeing the deadpan stare he received back, he knew that arguing with Derek was a lost cause. “Fine, you’ve clearly already checked your status and were able to see your level and relevant stats, correct?” Thomas asked.

“Yes,” Derek answered, still looking expectantly at Thomas.

“Well, I don’t know what level you are, but those that have not unlocked the ability to use the Great System are all level 0.” Thomas did not really feel like explaining this. Clearly he has already unlocked the Great System and is a relatively high level. Thomas could not help but think of how easily he had been handling the ferocious wolf.

Derek did not say anything in return. He just continued staring at the boy.

“Anyway, like I said, it is both easy and hard to unlock the Great System, depending on who you are.” Thomas began lecturing Derek. “In order to unlock the Great System, you have to kill something, it can be anything, as long as it is above level 0. Also, you must be the only person to inflict damage.”

“Nobles have it easy when it comes to unlocking the Great System. They will have their guards go out and capture a beast. Then they will cage it or tie it up so the noble can get the kill without chance of injury.” As Thomas said this, Derek noticed the loathing in Thomas’s voice every time he said the word ‘noble.’

Thomas continued. “There are many adult level 0s. This is because not all people have the courage or ability to hunt a monster by themselves. There is no one that is going to provide them with the same treatment as a noble. That is, unless there is a strong person in their family willing to risk it.”

Thomas got excited as he continued. “My grandpa said he would find a monster that’s level ten for me to kill to unlock the Great System. That will allow me to get awarded a skill point before I choose a class. Then…”

“Hold on.” Derek cut him off. “What do you mean ‘get awarded a skill point?’” Derek had seen the ‘Awards’ row when studying his stat sheet and was curious.

“Oh, if you kill an enemy ten levels above your own, you get a kill award called ‘Lesser Giant Slayer’ that grants you a free skill point. There’s one for killing an enemy 25 levels above your own too, that’s the ones that the higher nobles try to get. I’ve heard that there’s one for 50 levels, but it’s just hearsay, I’ve never heard of anyone actually doing it.”

“Really?” Derek was excited to try this out. So, the only reason I haven’t unlocked the system is because I haven’t killed anything yet. The ‘Awards’ seem to be like ‘Titles,’ but they give skill points instead of bonuses, or maybe just this award gives skill points. Thoughts were racing through Derek’s head.

“Hey, kid,” Derek said. "Can other things besides skill points be awarded?"

“Of course. Though, I don’t know specifically. I think if you kill enough monsters at or above your own level, you can get awarded a bonus to Endurance even.” Thomas was excited to talk about the ‘Award’ system.

Derek became quiet, deep in thought. So, ‘Awards’ are like ‘Titles’ but with more diversity. I wonder… A dagger suddenly appeared in Derek’s hand and he jabbed it into the wolf’s neck.

The wolf let out an agonizing scream before going silent.

Thomas jumped up and backed away, falling over a log along the way. “What!” Thomas’s mind was racing, not understanding what just happened or why. “Why did you kill it? You were playing with it.” He found himself unknowingly standing up for the beast that had been trying to kill him for days.

Derek looked at Thomas like he was an idiot. “Kid, I thought you were smart for your age. Turns out you’re still naïve.” He shook his head and continued. “Do you have a Beast Master class, or a Tamer class, or any class with a taming skill? Because I sure as hell don’t. This little guy was still trying its hardest to rip me apart. What do you think would have happened if I would have let it go?”

Thomas realized that he had been defending a monster. His face turned red in embarrassment, but he didn’t give up. “Then why were you treating it so nice earlier? I thought you were going to tame it.”

“No, it’s just been a long time since I’ve seen any kind of animal, much less a dog-like one. I was messing around with it, gauging its strength, and it was fun playing for a bit, but I never planned on letting it go.” He smiled at the boy. “Now, hold on and give me a second.”

Derek noticed that there were now notifications in his vision. He thought about them and they popped up.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Great System!

Level Increased to 1

The first notification that greeted him was a basic message introducing the system.

You have killed level 53 Forest Wolf.

347 Experience Gained

Level Up

Level Up

105/139 Experience to Next Level

From the one kill, Derek leveled up twice, increasing his level to 3. He checked his next notification.

You have earned 20 Stat Points.

Current Stat Points 30

Derek guessed that he got an automatic 10 Stat Ponts for reaching level 1. It’ll be nice getting Stat Points from Level 1 again. Derek went to the next message.

Congratulations! You have slain a creature 10 levels above your own.

Congratulations! You have slain a creature 25 levels above your own.

Congratulations! You have slain a creature 50 levels above your own.

Award ‘Giant Slayer’ Unlocked

3 Skill Points Received

Derek was excited to see what he could use these ‘Skill Points’ on, but he noticed that there were still more notifications that remained unopened.

Invading system contained…

Eliminating invading system…

Failure to eliminate threat…

Suppressing threat…

Threat Successfully Suppressed

Oh shit. So it wasn’t able to completely eliminate the other system. I wonder what would have happened to me if it would have? Derek was glad that the other system was still there but dormant. He feared that he would have lost all of his stats if it was completely erased. He decided that it’s better not to dwell on it and decided to check his ‘Status.’

Status

Name

Derek Hunt

Age

29

Level

3

Experience

105/139

Class

N/A

Race

Human (Modified)

Health

4000

Mana

1950

Stamina

4910

Defense

49 (Armor + 135)

Attack

46 (Weapon + 0)

Stats

Strength

343

Dexterity

241

Endurance

491

Vitality

400

Intelligence

203

Wisdom

195

Stat Points Remaining

30

Skills

No Skill Learned

Skill Points Remaining

3

Awards

Giant Slayer

Derek focused on ‘Giant Slayer’ and a new window appeared.

Giant Slayer: Awarded for slaying a creature 50 or more levels higher than your own.

1 Skill Point awarded for each increase in tier

“Hey, kid. What’s the name of the award for killing something 25 levels above you? You said that it was called ‘Lesser’ for 10 levels, right?” Derek asked Thomas, hoping to understand tiers better.

“I think they call it ‘Minor Giant Slayer.’” Thomas answered his question.

So, there’s a lesser and minor, I got the award with no modifier, I’m guessing the others are greater and major, that’s all that makes sense. There may be more, or it could only go up to tier three. Derek pondered over the ‘Award’ system.

Derek had noticed that his new ‘Status’ sheet had added tabs for Experience, Skill Points, and Stat Points. I don’t really know much about this system, so I’ll save the Stat Points for now. I need to see what the kid knows about Skill Points. In my old system, you just purchased skills from the System Shop, then leveled them by using them.

Derek was going to ask Thomas about skills when he heard a growl come from the kid. “You hungry?” Derek asked. He said he’s been out here for days, I doubt he’s had much to eat or drink.

“Starving!” Thomas was ecstatic at the question. He was starving two days ago, he doubted there was a word for what he was now.

“Alright, I’ll throw the wolf on the fire and let it cook while we chat. Prolly won’t taste great, but it’s food.” Derek took his dagger, sliding it up the belly of the deceased wolf, careful not to puncture any of the organs and taint the meat. After, he pulled the innards out and put them in a pile. Soon, the wolf had been cleaned and he was making a spit that could be used to roast it over the campfire.

Derek moved his hands, and a bottle appeared. He cleaned his mouth with the liquid inside. Noticing the boy staring at the bottle, he tossed it to him. “Drink,” He said.

Not holding back, the boy turned the container up and drank, not stopping until there was nothing left. Realizing that he had drunk all the water, he looked up sheepishly, preparing to be scolded.

“Don’t worry about it, I got more if I need, but you probably shouldn’t drink so much at once like that, you’ll get sick.” Derek held his hand out and received the empty bottle. “Now, while the meat’s cooking, tell me what you know about Skill Points.

Skill Points. Thomas thought to himself. “Skill Points are used to buy skills from the Great System. One Skill Point can buy one skill, though I’ve heard that some skills require more points. When you’re looking at your Status, concentrate on the points to see what skills you can buy.” Thomas stopped talking, thinking about skills.

“Some ‘Awards’ give points, and you usually get five points every time you upgrade your class. Five points for getting your class at level 10, five for your level 25 upgrade, and five for your upgrade at level 50, other than that, I’m not sure.” He tilted his head up trying to remember more of what his grandparents had told him. “Oh, there are two types of skills you can get. General Skills and Class Skills.”

“What are General Skills?” Derek asked.

“General Skills are skills that can be learned by all classes. Skills like Meditation and Identify are General Skills.” Thomas replied.

“Meditation.” Derek muttered. It’s probably one of, if not, the most useful skills I used to have. I’ll test out this new system by spending one of my points on it, no matter what, it should be useful as long as it’s anywhere near as good as the other. Derek opened his ‘Status.’