Enigmatic Crusade

The white light around him began to colorize, causing him to dismiss the screens. People all around him once more, he was back in front of the Town Hall. Claire on one side of him and Peter on the other he waved his hand over the girl’s eyes. They were open and sightless, staring into nothing. He assumed she was still picking her class so he turned to Peter who was smiling wide at an invisible screen in front of him. 

“Warrior?” Valen asked.

“Of course,” Peter said, waking up from his reverie of his very own screen. “Already put the points into strength.” He flexed his bicep and Valen thought that there really was a distinct difference in the man’s physique. Unable to push back the excitement any longer Valen brought up his own status screens. 

The first thing he noticed was that his race was low tier. He had heard whispers of this throughout his life. Your race dictated how strong you could become. After a certain point low tier humans wouldn’t be able to assign stat points without increasing the rank of their race. Fruits and other items helped to evolve one’s race, but they were rather expensive. If Valen had been lucky and his parents were Mid or even High Tier it could have passed on to him. But this was proof enough that his parents had not been so lucky before he was conceived. 

Letting out a sigh he was used to being disappointed. Next he looked through his stats. He knew most all of the stats from talking to people. For the body stats strength was of course how powerful you were, endurance was how long you could keep going, agility was your speed, dexterity was how easily you could move, intelligence was your knowledge, and wisdom was how well you were at using that knowledge. 

Fate was a whole other matter. Supposedly his luck or destiny, it was a stat that could not be changed with free points. Most people were vague on how it could be raised. Either through achievements or god’s blessings, he wasn’t exactly sure. The fact that it was so low wasn’t a surprise, he had never been very lucky. 

Everyone needed these stats of course. The real trouble was that the only way to level your body up was to kill monsters. A class was raised by using the skills of that class. Which meant that there could easily be a level 10 warrior with a level 1 body. Rich people could level up their classes with special items, but the only way to level the body was by killing monsters. Yes, they could just buy monsters to kill, but still, the Body level was always the most important. 

The Class stats were of course useful as well. Oftentimes rich kids would raise those levels up before venturing out, giving them a huge advantage over monsters. Vitality increased how much health you had, defense was how breakable your skin and bones were, charisma was how much people liked you, comprehension was an offshoot of Wisdom but somehow it’s own stat. Valen wasn’t exactly sure how that worked, but he wasn’t about to question the System. Empathy was how attuned to others and nature you were. Psyche was your mental strength. Lastly, Anima was the strength of your soul. 

Valen knew all this but not exactly what they meant. Looking over the numbers he knew that 5 was average for everyone in all stats. He wasn’t surprised he was low on the Strength stat. For months he had promised himself to start running and doing push ups to get stronger, but he kept putting it off. Maybe if he hadn’t been so lazy he would have average strength and wouldn’t have had to put a point in Strength to raise it up. 

As he moved through the stats and numbers he was happy to see how high his Anima was. 8 was far above the average, but he wasn’t exactly sure how helpful it was. Something about having a stronger soul made him a little pleased with himself. Although he wasn’t positive how it could help him, any stat was welcome in his eyes. 

Letting out a sigh he was about to look at where to put his points, but stopped as Jane spoke. “Congratulations,” the representative said from her perch at the front of the building. “You are all part of the System now. Able to venture out and become as strong as you can imagine. I wish you all the best in your next great adventure.” With a nod she turned around, walked into the double doors, and disappeared inside. 

As if her leaving was some sort of sign, the crowd let out an immediate cheer. People beyond excited they sported the support packs, swords and shields, wizard staffs, and daggers. Each with their own item denoting their class. Valen caught himself smiling as they talked excitedly amongst one another. His hand idly running over the front stitching of the Priest robes. 

“Let’s go, my parents have already secured us monsters to fight,” a voice said. Valen noticed the pompous rich boy as he pushed his way through the crowd. His face appeared almost bored by the whole ordeal. Valen knew the man would far surpass his level in less than a day. Annoyed, he pushed the feeling away as he turned to Claire. On her back was a brown leather backpack. 

“Support?” He asked, surprised. 

“Yep,” she said with a smile. Reaching behind her into the pack she pulled out a wand. The black wood staff had a clear stone ball on the end. 

“What did you get?” Surprised that she had received not only the pack, but something specific to her Class. 

“I got Tamer,” she said. 

“Tamer? What the hell is that?” Peter asked, finally drawn away from his screen as people dispersed around them. 

“Something about taming monsters,” she said with a smile. 

“Oh no, it’s that wildcat instance all over again,” Valen said, recalling when she brought a stray to the orphanage. 

“She could have been a house cat,” Claire said quickly. “Fiona was just being a bitch.”

“The small cougar monster tore up all of your stuff,” Valen laughed. 

“She wasn’t house broken,” Claire said with a sniff. “Besides, now it looks like I have a skill to actually tame them.” Her eyes turned from the wand to him. “You went Priest?” 

“I did,” he said, his hands running along the front of the white robes again. The robes felt like silk and were far finer than any clothes he had ever owned, and he was the first to wear them for once. It felt right to him. After seeing so much pain and suffering around him becoming a Priest was his own way of trying to help fix what he could. Yes, healing was often free in the city, but that meant you had to be well enough to get to a Healing House. He wanted to be able to help people around him. Being able to heal would be a big part of that. 

Claire gave him a smile. Not asking any more of him. Grabbing onto his hand the warmth of her touch put a smile on his face. “I picked Warrior,” Peter announced to her, flexing his arms again. 

“Of course you did,” she said with a smirk. “Guess we are almost our own party. Care to venture out into the world? Shall we strike it rich by finding some dungeon and conquering it together?”

Valen couldn’t help but laugh. “Pretty sure we would have to go a long way to find a dungeon that the local guilds didn’t own,” he said. With that thought he turned to the three buildings next to the Town Hall. They were gray wood like the Hall, but each had a sigil painted at the front. The three buildings were the recruitment houses for the three main guilds in town. 

Preternatural on the end, Raging in the middle, and Monster Bash last. Raging of course had the longest line, but the other guild lines weren’t too short either. The majority of people there most likely already had agreements with the guilds. Pulling in favors from family and friends to get bonuses and better terms. Valen and his other orphan pals were low on the pecking order, but every guild was recruiting. 

“Shall we?” He asked, pointing at Raging. Their adventure the day before only solidified with Valen that he would rather be with the strongest guild than any others. Since he knew they were recruiting healers, he really wanted to try his luck with them. 

“Are we sure?” Claire asked again. “We said we would stick together. I’m willing to leave town, strike it out on our own, if you are.” She locked eyes with him. Saying far more than he knew how to process. 

“This was the plan,” he said, confused. “Join a guild. Get stronger. You really want to try it out in the wilds? No idea what route is safe? If we are coming across a level 50 den rather than a level 1? A guild would be able to help all of us.”

Claire chewed her lip. With a frown she hesitated but said, “You’re right. Let’s…get in line.”

Still a little confused by her reaction he moved to the end of the line for Raging. People talked excitedly still, some played with their new System-crafted items, others prayed nervously, perhaps to their new gods. 

“You three look like you want a good guild,” a man’s voice said. Valen turned to see a shorter man. Long dark hair, black clothes, he looked like a stereotypical rogue. 

“What gave that away?” Valen asked sarcastically. He wasn’t sure what it was, but having a level made him feel a lot more confident. He didn’t want to start his new life as an adventurer by bowing and stammering to some nobody. 

“Lucky guess,” The man said with a smile. He eyed the line in front of him. “I know these big guilds are enticing. But why not go with my guild, The Lost. We are new, and looking to recruit. You’re a Priest. We are in the need of some. I promise the best terms. Better than this lot. Levels, monsters, resources, any and every-” Valen stopped listening. 

He had heard too many stories of small guilds going under over the years. Mostly they bit off more than they could chew. A group of adventurers would often break away from the three main guilds, but 90% of them were killed off or they were broken up within a year. The idea of being part of something from the ground up was tempting, of course. He would be another small fish in a pond at a big guild. But the small guilds simply didn’t have the resources to guarantee success. 

“No thanks,” Valen said. The man didn’t seem too heartbroken. Claire asked a few questions, but he was quickly on his way to another group. He wouldn’t be too surprised if some people signed up, but Valen didn’t want to risk it. His life was too precious for him to go out on his own. With Raging he could be assured to get experience. 

While the line moved slowly in front of him, he stared at his status screen. He wanted to make all of his stats at least average at 5, but he hesitated. For all he knew, you couldn’t reset stats. The most important stat increases were the early ones. Valen wanted to get some more guidance before he sunk them into his stats that he may or may not need.  

His indecision stuck with him. Finger hovering over the stats he wanted to change until eventually he was at the front of the line. 

“Priest? Looks like Holy,” a man behind a desk said. There were a few members of the Raging guild inside, discussing terms with new recruits. Some talked about their professions and what their level should raise up to when the System was done evaluating their skills. Others simply signed without reading anything. “Did you choose a god to worship?”

Valen shook his head. Priests were one of the few Classes asked to worship gods. Valen hoped that hadn’t been a requirement. 

“Good,” the man said, letting Valen sigh. “These are Priest terms.” He slid a piece of paper over. “You can read, right?”

“Yep,” he said. Aunt Fiona had made sure all of them could read and at least do simple math. Though books were very rare, she still stressed how important the skills were. 

“Perfect. In plain and simple terms. You join up, you’re on probation for 6 months. During that time you do what you’re told, prove you’re a team player, then you get a nice bonus and become a full member.” The man pointed to different areas in the contract. The bonus was one full Aurous plate. More money than Valen had ever seen. 

“Do I get any resources? Profession guidance?” He couldn’t help but ask as he scanned the document. 

“Standard resources to begin with. More when you’re a full member,” the man said then sent him to go read the contract. Valen had more questions to ask, but others in the small building were diligently reading through the contracts.

Having had the short end of the stick his entire life, Valen knew he was lucky to even get probationary terms with Raging. In the past during peaceful years they had closed shop on recruitment. People were forced to leave town to find work, and the roads were not anywhere as safe back then. As humans got used to the System and way of this new world the population dropped and every hand was needed to progress the cities as wars were waged and monsters were killed. 

Reading through the contract it was fairly simple. He could leave at any time and they could kick him out with no reason given. He would be assigned a job based on his class, so most likely healing. They would house and feed him and every other waking hour was to be spent doing what he was told. Valen was fine with that. It had mostly been that way with the orphanage, but at least this way he had a chance of getting paid. Whether with aurous, opportunities for levels, or gear. It all depended on where he found himself in the guild in the next six months. 

“Ready?” He asked Claire and Peter on either side of him. They had received their own contracts. Valen resisted the urge to look at whatever bonuses they could earn. 

“Are you sure about this?” Claire asked, still hesitant. 

“Do you remember Olley and Fel?” Valen asked slowly. They had been given their classes two years ago. “They left on their own. Left town. Though they promised to write, they haven’t.” He didn’t say they were probably dead, because they all knew it was true. “You know this is our best bet to make it.” 

“I already signed,” Peter said as if bored, showing off the chicken scratch signature on the contract. 

Claire sighed. Valen nodded. A part of him did want to break off. Go on his own, but that was a fool’s dream. There was safety in town. Being part of a guild. Though he wouldn’t be part of the guild just yet, he had already made it 16 years in this unforgiving world. What was another 6 months? He slowly signed and dated the contract, 1/1/17 of the new world calendar. Contract in hand he joined the line of people waiting to be taken to the guild headquarters. 

It was almost freeing for Valen. He had picked his class. Was part of a guild. He was somebody now. A short while ago he had been a level zero orphan. Now he was a Priest with his own skill. He could supposedly control Essence to heal people. He had his friends with him, and despite the fear setting into his gut, he knew it was the best decision for him. 

He wouldn’t be able to rise up like those Rankers he heard stories about. Break away from the masses to shoot up in levels. Valen would learn the ways of the world. Gain a few levels here and there, and reevaluate from there. Maybe breaking away from the town would be an option in the future. Maybe he would get lucky and chance upon a bunch of low level monsters to level up. Like how the new world used to be before the cities wiped out all the good starting zones. 

There were so many possibilities left open to him now. He was like any other person in the world worth anything. And it felt good. 

trying some new things with this serious. Not put out so much at once. Go more slowly. Not focus so much on smut. The story does pick up. But I feel it’s interesting that it feels more like what would happen in a world where everyone could gain super powers. The whole class choice felt like picking a Pokémon too. So I like where it’s going. [/author]