Chapter 8: Side Chapter 1- Awake

Soon, all of you will be joining the workforce and you need to know, among other things, what you should pick as your Traits. It is for this reason that I am here to teach you about the system and how you can use it to gain an edge in the job market.

Most of you have already chosen [Bloodlust Containment] as your first Trait, which is a necessary choice for a scholar. Others, however, have chosen the exact opposite, enhancing our species’ natural propensity for violence with [Bloodlust Enhancement]. Doing that, you have made a choice to join the military, be a hunter, or go into any other violence-related job. 

The reason I say this is that it is the first time most of you have made a choice that will impact your career choice. This, however, is the base of your skills. For those of you who will be scholars, [Memory Retention], [Higher Focus], and [Enhanced Mind] are all things that you should think about. By contrast, those of you who want to join the military may want to choose [Rugged Discipline] or [Steel Mind]. 

There is, however, a work-life balance that must be maintained in everything you do. That includes your Traits. The general rule of thumb is that you should, out of ten Trait slots, use five of them for your profession and five for your personal quirks and desires. 

You will never know how much you need a second thumb until you have one. A shame about gloves, though.

-Noctian Verluc, speaker at the Green Oasis College of Scholars

 

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Philip’s mind slowly emerged from the deep, painful sleep he had been taken by. His mind was groggy and slow, and he felt like he had the worst hangover in his life. He lay there for a while, feeling the bedding beneath him and hearing the soft breathing of people around him. 

Eventually, he mustered the energy to open his eyes and took in the room he found himself in. The large room was made almost exclusively out of some sort of stone with blankets lined up and down the room, unconscious people lying in them. Hanging on a hook in the was a lamp of some sort, glowing soft blue. Under the lamp was a door, a wooden one made out of nothing more than planks. Apart from the people lying unconscious there was nobody else in the room, making Philip a bit concerned. 

As he was wondering about why they were in the stone room and how they even got there, a blue box appeared in front of him. Hanging in the air a half a foot away from him, the box glowed blue with white letters written across the front. It called him an 'extradimensional,’ and determined that he was receiving the ‘Sa’rk system’ for the first time. It ended by welcoming him to the world, Granulous.

‘What the hell…’ he thought to himself, ‘What the hell is this? What the hell is an “extradimensional?” And how the hell did I get here?’ The questions swirled endlessly in his mind and he idly tapped the box in front of him. It vanished, being replaced by another box before long. The new box explained what the ‘Sa’rk system’ was and how it worked. Every time he ‘leveled up,’ he would gain one Trait slot in both the spiritual and physical categories. It also explained to him how, as he leveled up and gained new knowledge or unique experiences, he would be able to pick new Traits.

With his mind once again listless, he tried to absorb the information. It took a while to process, but he soon tapped the box, letting a new one take its place. The new box simply told him that, if he wished to rise in levels, then he would need to perform feats of skill. It did not explain what ‘performing feats’ meant, but he could come up with a few theories. In the end, he tapped the box once more, which showed his ‘Status Page.’

[Name: Philip Peterson

Species: Human

Variant: Earthborn

Level: 1 (0%)

Physical: (Free Slot)

Spiritual: (Free Slot)

Granted Traits: (Universal Soul Language), (Adaptive Physiology)]

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The page itself seemed basic, but there was mention of the ability to inspect certain Traits, Species, and Variants, so he inspected the Traits first. Of them, [Universal Soul Language was, by far, the more useful one. While he did wonder if [Adaptive Physiology] could let himself survive underwater or something similar, he found the ability to speak and read the languages of Granulous much more important. With his Traits examined, he moved on to his Species and Variant.

[Human: An intelligent, hair-deficient primate capable of high cognitive functions and great feats of both mana and might, depending on genetics. What humans lack in biological weaponry they make up for in cunning and innovation. Humans require food, but may consume any type of food (classified as omnivores). Their weakness is their tendency towards betrayal and deception, being easily influenced into evil acts, and having the possibility to inherit problematic personality quirks from their parents.]

[Earthborn: Born on (^# ($ &!^^ , an Earthborn is a functional baseline for humanity. Without any edges in survival, they are a blank canvas that may be altered to suit the individual's desire.]

Once done reading, Philip took a moment to think, ‘Alright, so… something is being censored it seems. I mean, all I see there are just a bunch of squiggly lines, so it’s either encrypted, or written in an alien language. But… “blank canvas?” That seems a bit concerning. Well, I’ll just-’ As he thought, the door opened quietly and a large man walked into the room. He wore a pair of unassuming pants and a shirt much the same, with a white lab coat on top of it all. The new man quickly scanned the room and locked eyes with Philip. 

The man slowly walked over to him, taking care not to disturb the sleeping people around him, which gave Philip ample time to notice the scar that ran across the man’s neck. Once the man was next to him, he sat down and looked into his eyes. He pointed to Philip, then made a thumbs up, and alternated between the two for a few moments before giving a questioning expression. 

Philip calmed down and took a moment to puzzle out what the man was trying to communicate. After he understood, he nodded, “Ah, yeah, I’m fine. Do you know… where we are? I’m just a bit jumpy is all…” he asked nervously.

The man smiled and nodded, motioning for him to follow. He stood and made sure Philip was well enough to do so as well. Philip found himself entirely capable of walking and followed the man out of the room, into the stairwell beyond the door, up a few flights of stairs, and to a door on the top floor. The man knocked on the door, and the gruff voice of a woman replied, “Come in.” Invitation received, the man opened the door and walked in, beckoning Philip to follow. 

Inside the room three people were sat around a table, looking over maps and charts. The only woman in the room, a being that Philip could only describe as a western-style fantasy orc, took a double take, “Look who woke up!” she shouted, standing. Her tall stature nearly dwarfed the man, making him look tiny in comparison, “One o’ the sleepin’ beauts finally came to visit!” 

The man at the far end of the room, a generally unassuming man in a long coat and fine shirt and pants, sighed, “Helga, please avoid making fun of our guests. They are likely not having a very good day, so please let the man go without your snarky comments,” he remarked to the orc. Turning, he gave a welcoming smile, “Good evening to you, friend. I believe introductions are in order: My name is Ductur Eaner, otherwise referred to as the ‘captain.’ The man who has led you in is Alex Veren, the doctor of our group. This is Helga, the head of security. And finally, that is Soren Hignu, the mechanic and artificer. I suppose the proper thing to say is… well, welcome to Granulous,” he greeted, leaving Philip a bit listless.

He tried to respond in some way, but found that no words came out. Eventually Soren, the short dog-like humanoid, spoke, “I hope you do not mind, but we salvaged a number of things from the craft you arrived to our world in. Not the least of which being the strange rectangles you have on the back of your chairs and in your pockets; I believe that the smaller rectangles belong to you individually, but what about the larger ones? Do any of you own them, or can I have them?” he asked, stunning Philip even more.

The captain, Ductur, sighed, “I apologize for his… straightforwardness. He is rather passionate on the topic of mechanics and any related fields. We were able to scavenge many things from the craft you were in before we were driven off and the odd rectangles were such things. We promise to return anything that you own, but I request we receive anything else salvaged from the site as payment. Is that acceptable?” 

Philip continued in his attempts to speak, but still found it impossible. He eventually took a deep breath and sighed, “That works… Sorry, but… all this is a bit much to take in. The system, other sentient species, magic, all of it… But as for your question, Soren, The smaller ones belong to us. The bigger ones are probably broken if you took them off the chairs, so you can keep them.” Soren gave a toothy grin and scampered out of the room.

“Ha!” Helga laughed, “As soon as he gets a new toy, he’s all over it. ‘Least he does it in his own room. Anyway, Capt'n, I think we gotta have that talk we were meanin’ to have. We gotta get that bit a info to the guys on high. Clockworks runnin’ ‘round the desert is no good for us or Green Oasis,” she said with deadly seriousness. The word Clockworks reminded Philip of one of the boxes he read earlier -the fact that the system wanted them gone stood out to him.

Ductur nodded, “Indeed, we do. Sending out scouting parties is a bad sign already, but having armed transports means that the hive expanded to a dangerous degree. It is only a matter of time until they produce Soldiers. After that, maybe even Headhunters,” he muttered more to himself than to those around him, “I agree with you, Helga, but we must make sure that they send out the proper force to deal with the threat. And to make sure that we are able to make a profit from the arrangement,” he stated with a sly grin.

Helga simply sighed, “Fine, Capt’n. I get it, we need to make money, but can’t we ‘least get the info in soon?”

He nodded, “We will. Once the Town Hall opens up tomorrow.”

“Ah…” Helga muttered, “I forgot ‘bout that…”

Alex smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Ductur turned his attention to Phillip once more, “Before we bore you anymore than we have already, I would like to make an offer: join my caravaning crew. That offer extends to any others with you, by the way. As I understand it, extradimensionals start at level 1, yes? Well, few would hire someone at such a level due to their lack of Traits, not to mention the fact that such a thing is impossible. What do you say?”

The offer gave Philip pause for a long while as he tried to estimate the worth of the offer. After a while, he sighed, “Can I take the night to think about it?” he asked, hopeful.

The captain nodded sagely, “Of course. You may stay here until we leave for our next destination in a week. For now, get some rest,” he said as Alex brought Philip to the door. Following the mute man, Philip looked forward to sleeping; he had a lot to think about and he needed a fresh mind to think.

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