Arc Origin - Book 1 - Chapter 1 - Awakening (Patreon)

Obviously, the one time notices are only for the first opening of his status. So don't worry about that. The statuses will be a lot less cluttered after the first one since they won't have those notices.

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                                                                                   Year 2167
                                                                                  Month 12

                                                                                The Present

                                                                                Archer Frost

I grunt as Roland’s training sword smacks into the back of my shoulder, leaving a miniscule amount of damage marking in its place before I lose my grip on my sword and feel the Rah’s boot kicking at my back, sending me sprawling forwards into the sand of the training field.

“Is that all you got?” the man says in his usual gruff tone of voice, ignoring the light cheering coming from the gathered Ley watching us from the edges of the training fields; each of them always happy to enjoy watching someone else getting their ass handed to them by their captain, other than themselves. “Where did all of that blusterin about ‘never being taken advantage of again’ go? Because at your level of skill-”

Before he can finish, I kick out at my fallen practice blade with my foot, sending it flying into Roland’s own bare foot to knock him off balance. After that, I throw the handful of sand that I had grabbed from the ground into his face as I get back up to my feet before throwing a punch at his gut, followed quickly by grabbing his arm and putting it into a lock.

However, Roland isn’t even phased by my punch, nor does my arm lock manage to force him into dropping his sword as he instead kicks out at my own legs, forcing me off balance and into the ground. Again.

That said, this time, Roland doesn’t criticize me.

Instead, he just laughs.

In between bouts of laughter, the man manages to say, “Bloody hell, boy! Now that is fightin dirty! And it woulda worked too, if it weren’t for my level!”

I grit my teeth in frustration before relaxing again with a sigh.

“He’s right, kid!” “You did great!” “You’ll do well n’ the military!”

All of the Ley of the barracks shout out their support as Roland reaches his hand out to help me up. The man has on nothing but trousers and an iron helmet, with sweat dripping down from the tips of his black hair and the stubble on his chin. He has the well-built frame of a warrior – despite how much alcohol he drinks – and is completely barefoot.

At least I made the man sweat a bit. Assuming that isn’t just from the hot sun beating down on us from above.

I reach up to grab his offered hand before climbing to my feet with his help.

“Thanks,” I answer before spitting out a bit of sand that had gotten into my mouth.

Roland Heartfelt – a Rah in the military of Athrea, the second lowest ranking out of the five military ranks within the military kingdom – saved me from slavers when I was only about eight years old. From what I can remember, the man almost immediately took an interest in me. Why he did so, the man never told me. Not even to this day. But he did. And so, he decided to bring me with him after he and his unit finished clearing out the slavers den of slavers.

The Athrean military doesn’t tolerate slavery within the kingdom, but that doesn’t mean that they are nice towards the slaves that still end up here. Normally they would just wipe out the slavers before leaving all of the slaves behind without doing almost anything for them, outside of breaking their shackles. But Roland ended up taking me in and training me amongst the soldiers in his barracks.

I really don’t like owing anyone any favors, so when he offered to train me in fighting and send me as his pupil to the military academy, I kind of jumped at the chance to pay him back. Because, while that would be a large boon for me – going as his pupil and receiving training from a Rah – it’s obvious that he wants this as well. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked, nor would he have saved-

“You okay there, boy?” Roland asks with one eyebrow raised in amusement, breaking me out of my reverie as he lets go of my hand. “Because ya look a little lost in yer head.”

I simply shake my head before answering, “I’m fine,” and picking up my training sword once again. However, before I can get into position for the next round, a loud noise rings in my head, causing me to drop it again as I fall to my knees in pain.

“Is it happenin?” I hear one of the Ley shout before scuffling sounds begin to come from the sand as the soldiers all rush over to us.

As if in response to his question, a second loud noise – one similar to the sound of a bell tolling – echoes in my head and a wave of blue light briefly flashes over my entire body.

“Looks like it,” Roland answers cheerfully. “It’s finally time to see what yer class is!”

Right after he finishes speaking, an orb of blue energy forms around me before flaring outwards slightly, only to suddenly shrink into my body, vanishing completely in the process. Following this, the very anticipated status screen appears overlaying my eyes.

                                                            <| --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- |>

                                                                         Name: Archer Frost

                                                                         Cumulative Level: 1

One Time Notice: Cumulative Level is the total level added up between every character the person has.

                                                                                      Level: 1

One Time Notice: Every level increases the character’s stats by an amount determined by which general class they have. Level-ups will also freeze the age of the person’s physical body for a time equal to their cumulative level in years.

                                                                                Characters: 1

One Time Notice: A person can only have up to five characters total in their lifetime, one of each general class, and even if a character were to die off, then they may not have any replacements of that general class. Only one stat is affected by each character on the other characters, and that stat is determined by what general class the character has.

Every time a new character is made, the age of the person’s physical body is reverted by twenty five years to a minimum of twenty five years old, and a new character can only be made once with each character after the character has reached level 10, excluding the last of the five characters.

                                                                                        Mana: 10

                               One Time Notice: Mana is the resource used to activate skills.

                                                                            General Class: Mage

One Time Notice: Mage general classes gain 0.5 Resistance, 0.25 Physical, 1 Magic, 0.5 Mana Regen, and 0.25 Health Regen each level. Mage general class grants Magic to every other character for each level the Mage character has depending on what rarity class the Mage has.

                                                                   Specific Class: Gravity Mage

One Time Notice: Uncommon class, Gravity Mage, grants 0.2 Magic to every other character for each level the Mage character has.

                                                                                    Physical: 1.75

One Time Notice: Raising the physical stat increases the person’s strength, speed, dexterity, and overall physical prowess.

                                                                                         Magic: 2.5

One Time Notice: Raising the magic stat increases the effects of each and every skill owned by the person, including their duration, power, and overall effectiveness, while also increasing the total mana capacity of the person.

                                                                          Mana Regeneration: 2.25

One Time Notice: Raising the mana regen stat increases the regeneration of the person’s mana.

                                                                          Health Regeneration: 1.75

One Time Notice: Raising the health regen stat speeds up the regression of the damage marking on the person.

                                                                                       Resistance: 2

One Time Notice: Raising the resistance stat decreases the amount of force attacks of any nature apply onto the person, while also increasing the person’s resistance to damage marking.

                                                                                  Anti-Resistance: 0

One Time Notice: Raising the anti-resistance stat increases the amount of force attacks of any nature apply onto the person, while also decreasing the person’s resistance to damage marking.

The anti-resistance stat raises by one point every time the person’s physical body ages a single year past the age of 75 years old, not including the time frozen in between level-ups.

                                                                                                Skills

                                                                                              Quests

                                                                                   Change Character

                                                                     <| --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- |>

My eyebrows raise as I see my uncommon class.

That’s a very welcome surprise. I don’t think there’s a single person in the barracks that has an uncommon class, outside of the Rah; and even for him, it wasn’t his first class, but his second if I remember correctly.

“So, Archer?” Roland asks as I read through the one time notices. “What’s yer class?”

“Uncommon class, Gravity Mage,” I answer without stopping reading through the one time notices.

A commotion immediately breaks out amongst the Ley as I vaguely notice a smile spreading across Roland’s face, but I ignore it all to finish reading through the notices. Seeing as they are all one time and will never be shown again after this one time.

Although it’s pretty damn unlikely that I’ll be able to memorize all of that in just this short time frame. Especially considering that the status is already beginning to fade.

I continue ignoring the idiots as they fuss about my class until the Rah orders them to all shut up so that I can focus.

Fortunately, I manage to at least read through all of it before it all disappears. After it does, another menu appears to take its place in front of my eyes.

One a lot less pleasant to see than the last one…

                                                              <| --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- |>

                                                                                 Level 2 Quest

             Tier III Limit Break: Defeat someone who is one level above you in a fair fight.

                                                              <| --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- |>

“I got…” I begin with a frown, “a Tier III quest as my first quest?”

The excitement immediately drains from the men’s faces around me as my words sink in.

Roland just stares at me before shaking his head with a look of pity as he says, “You were either born to some powerful people, or you have some bloody awful luck. Take yer pick.”

“Which one is it?” Robert – one of the Ley that I have trained with – asks with a look of curiosity on his face. “Which quest, I mean.”

I turn to look at him before focusing on the quest again as I answer, “Tier III Limit Break.”

Roland actually sighs in relief at my answer, along with several of the other men before he says, “It could’ve been much worse, kid. If it were Tier III Mana Use, then ya wouldn’t have reached Level 2 for years!”

“Not unless you happen to have a bunch of mana cores layin around,” one of the other Ley – a man named Jeffrey, who also happens to be the ‘runt’ of the barracks, with the lowest level out of all of the soldiers here – comments with a faint grin.

Suddenly, a grin appears on Roland’s face before he turns to look at Jeffrey. He then begins to reach for the man, who only manages to turn around and see what he’s doing right as Roland’s hand is about to make contact with his collar.

“Actually, that reminds me,” Roland says, his grin widening even further, “weren’t ya able to beat Jeffrey in a fight? He’s level three, so have at im!”

At that, he casually lifts the man and tosses him at me as Jeffrey sputters, “Wait a second! I’m just a Support! I ain’t supposed to have much physica-*oof*”

The man cuts off as he lands on the ground. Meanwhile, Roland just rolls his eyes and says, “Well, that works out great then! Because the boy is a mage, so it’s a fair fight!”

After hearing the Rah’s words, a grin of my own begins to spread across my face.

This quest might just turn out to be a boon instead of a curse after all.

“Now then! Let’s have this one last training bout before we send im off to the military academy!” Roland shouts, stepping back with his arms crossed and a smile on his face as all of the Ley – Jeffrey excluded – begin to roar their approval.