After going back to the rooms Asher knocked door to door to give everyone their new Comms. He didn’t expect Syscos back, but Vincent and Ming insisted. Asher sure felt a whole lot richer with the 2 Syscos, but the government people were still a little awkward around him. He hoped to break them out of their shells soon enough.
Kytor also have a sound dampening accessory, for a measly 5 Syscos. Asher liked them so much he bought 2. He set one in his room with Tiff, and after throwing a shoe at his parent’s door they opened up and he gave them the other. His mother took it unashamedly and shut the door. Asher did not want to know what they were doing in there.
The only people he couldn’t find were Atalanta and Abby. After wandering around a little he asked some passing elves and they directed him to the Training Room. The door was nondescript, but inside was the biggest room on the ship. The dome top was at least 50 feet up. The walls were white this time, and on opposite ends stood Atalanta and Abby.
They fought what appeared to be holograms. Featureless forms that resembled elves, but had no nose or mouth, just eyes. The girls dodged or hit the holograms causing them to flicker for a split second.
Still a little awkward around Atalanta, Asher walked to Abby. Abby noticed him. Channeling some Ki in her palm she used it to push back the dummy. “Helion, end,” she said. The hologram around the AI sparring partner disappeared to show a metal mannequin. “Whats up?” She asked.
“Wanted to give you your new phone,” he said. “You too, Atalanta.” He knew she could hear them. She had slowed down her hits as he spoke the words. She ended the spar as well. Looking over she cursed as he waved the thin screen at her. After a quick walkthrough on how they worked he soon had their linked Comms saved in his own. Before they could get back to their own thing he said, “How about we all spar instead?”
“I’m not doing any more duels with you,” Atalanta said.
“Not a duel,” he said. “A spar. Look, we are the strongest people in the group. Physically, I mean. We need to get to know one another better. I don’t know about you but I still have trouble understanding my stats. Sparring has been the best way to figure out how to do that.”
“You’re not wrong,” Abby said. “Free for all?”
“Restrictions on skills?” Asher asked.
“None of your sex stuff,” Abby said. “I saw your Ahegao skill.”
“It doesn’t do that…most of the time,” he said. “Look, how about we just fight physically. If you get pushed to use skills, then I’ll do the same. But no weird sex stuff I promise.”
“Alright. What about you, Trinity? Should we beat this high level bitch up?” Abby asked.
“Don’t call me that,” Atalanta ordered angrily. Instead of going for Abby she threw a punch at Asher. Then the fight was started. Asher slapped her fist away easily. Only for another to follow. Backing up, Abby tried to kick out his legs. Asher barely pushed up to dodge the kick but flew 6 feet in the air. He landed awkwardly.
When he caught himself he looked to Atlanta and said, “I know kung fu.” If she wasn’t pissed off before, she was then. She leapt at him with a yell. Asher focused his strength and pushed her away as she was in the air. Abby jumped in then and began pummeling him in the gut. He took the blows. They didn’t hurt as hard as he remembered. Those extra 55 stats had done him wonders.
Abby, shorter than him, he raised his hand up and swatted down. She was thrown into the metal floor below but caught herself on her elbows. Asher turned back to see the wood sword coming for his head.
Atalanta had grabbed one of the practice swords on a wall. He ducked just in time only for his face to be blasted with Ki by Abby. He took a step back. The blast had taken him right in the nose, he thought it was bleeding, but it was just snot.
“Skills now eh?” He asked. Abby stood up and nodded. Ki balls in each hand he used Mesmerizing Gaze. The energy balls dissipated instantly. Asher took a step forward and Sparta kicked her in the abs. Abby flew through the air a dozen feet. Turning back he noticed Atalanta facing him. She held herself in a karate stance. Her hand opened and called for him just like in the movie.
Asher smiled as he lunged forward. His fist drew back and he threw a right at her. A foot away his fist lost all momentum, stopping suddenly. She kicked him. Asher took the blow and threw another punch. Again it stopped a foot away and she kicked him in the side.
“That the Kinetic Absorption skill of yours?” He asked. She simply smiled. Asher began another punch but used Mesmerizing Gaze again before throwing it. Her eyes relaxed as the skill took hold for a split second. Enough time for the punch to the gut.
Her body bent over his fist as she took the full force. She cursed in pain as she doubled over on the ground. “Good warm up,” he said. They were both on the ground. He was not really out of breath. Guess Kytor was right. 12 levels was a big difference, he thought.
“I’m gonna get the others. We can continue when I get back,” he said whistling as he stepped out. When he was out of the Training Room he happened on Tyranis.
“Hey, Tyranis, I was wondering. What are the ethics of training prior to our trials?” Asher asked.
“Not too many restrictions. Why do you ask?”
“I was hoping you had a good trainer with you. Maybe someone in your military? I’d like someone that could teach us basic techniques that we should know,” Asher said.
“Ah yes. Of course. I have someone. But he would charge you. Most all help is available, but when you deal with masters it takes a little more to get them moving,” Tyranis said.
“Like how much?” Asher asked.
“I would say 1 Sysco an hour is standard,” Tyranis said. “You have to remember that’s enough for one of my people to live for a month. So that is considered a lot.”
“Ah well. I mean if he’s worth it…” Tyranis nodded. “Then please send him to the Training Room.”
Tyranis bowed slightly and walked off. Asher headed to their block of rooms. He was able to rouse most everyone to the Training Hall. The last room he picked was the most important. Keera stood next to him as they waited for him to answer.
“Hey, Vincent,” Asher said as his door opened. “We are all training, and thought it best if you join us,” he said. “First we should stop at Kytor though.” He and Keera shared a smile as they led the way.
—
“Alright, how have you gone your entire life without playing one of the greatest RPGs ever made? I feel sorry for you,” Asher said. Keera nodded.
“Final Fantasy VII was a masterpiece in its time,” she added. “Not only graphically speaking, but the story as well.”
“Truer words have never been said,” Asher agreed. “And you have been lucky enough to awaken the System for it. Let me guess. Lose your memories? Pretend to be someone else?”
“You’re not far off…” Vincent said. He did not elaborate.
“Doesn’t matter. Limit Breaks are a nice part of your Strife System. But you have to take damage to build up to them, don’t you?” Vincent nodded. “Which do you have?”
“Braver and Cross Slash,” he admitted.
“Holy hell that’s cool,” Keera said under her breath.
“We will need to see those later,” he said more to Keera. She nodded excitedly. “Make sure you take videos.”
“Always,” she answered.
“Good,” he said. “To begin, one of the coolest parts of your system is your materia. Can we see them?” Asher asked.
Vincent hesitated but soon 3 small green marble sized materia appeared in his palm. Asher used Identification on them. They read Restore Materia, Ice Materia, Lightning Materia. “Smaller than I imagined,” Keera admitted as she moved closer. Asher agreed.
“You’ve just been keeping them stored away since you got them?” Asher asked.
“Yeah. I mean there was no real explanation. I tried googling materia but it kept autocorrecting to material.”
“Ok, pull out the sword,” Asher said. A bright light appeared in Vincent’s hand. It lengthened until it took the form of an overly large sword. 2 feet wide and almost 6 feet long, the Buster Sword was as glorious as Asher remembered. He cast Identification on it.
| Buster Sword (Growth) | |
| Cost | 150 Syscos |
| Slots | 2 |
The weight of the heavy sword about toppled Vincent over. He had to shift his stance to hold onto it. “Perfect,” Asher said. “Cast identification on it. You see how it says 2 slots? That tells you how many materia can be attached to your weapon. Junction them to it.”
It took Vincent a while to get it right. Eventually they figured out he had to hold the materia over the weapon and cast Junction. Then the materia would slide in one of the slots at the hilt of the blade.
“Ok,” Asher said, hiding his excitement. “You see that target?” There was a mannequin 20 feet away on the wall. “Cast ice on it.” This was already more for Asher than it was Vincent, but he didn’t care.
“Uhhh how do I cast it?”
“I don’t know. Are they in your skills now?”
“Oh. Yeah,” he said, reading the invisible screen. It took a few seconds but when Asher was about to turn around the area next to the mannequin became covered in ice instantly. There was no cheap graphic, suddenly it simply frosted over.
“Oh my god,” Keera said. Bouncing as she clapped her hands.
Asher hid his joy. “Work on your aim, but use lightning,” he demanded not looking away. Instantly a bolt of lightning shot out from Vincent into the mannequin. It jerked as if suddenly alive but then stopped moving.
“Freakin amazing,” Asher said aloud. He turned to see Vincent thoroughly shocked as he stared at his hands. “Well done. I hope you know what this means.”
“Um what?” Vincent asked, still in a daze.
“Welcome to the team,” Asher said with a big smile.
Suddenly the FFVII victory tune played. Asher turned to see Keera with her phone in her hand playing it. “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Asher commented. Now facing the other people training they caught his eye. “Keera educate this noob more please.” Keera saluted and began talking about the history and lore of the game. She may have strayed off topic but it would be good information to know. Hopefully she would stress the other cool materia.
Asher was finally coming down from the high of seeing the magic. He looked over to the other groups. Atalanta and Abby sparred together now. They refused to fight him for some weird reason. Asher’s parents cast their holy magic on target dummies or practiced with the wood swords. Though they resembled wood, Asher had tried his strength on them and they wouldn’t bend.
Batman fought his own target dummy as did Ming. They flowed through martial arts techniques never tiring. Batman was back in his suit since he gained very minor XP being in the suit. Ming wore a white karate gi.
“Hey, Nadir,” Asher said, walking up to him. He was lightly sparring with his own practice dummy.
Nadir never strayed his eyes from it. “Hello,” he said. He was sweating profusely. His movements were fluid, no stiffness as he moved from punching to kicking.
“I uh, was curious why you have been so quiet,” Asher admitted.
“I’ve been a little distracted,” Nadir admitted. Still focused on the dummy. “I think I’m more worried about my wives than I thought I would be,” he said.
“Ah of course,” Asher said. “Thought it was more about the System Store and space travel.”
Nadir laughed. “That did not help,” he said. “Helion: end.” A white light formed into a towel in his hand. He began wiping sweat off of his forehead. “Of course I forget that your Zora is going to be fighting for her System. My wives already have theirs. You must be much more worried.”
Asher noticed the pit in his stomach with the reminder. “I am. Terribly. I almost fought harder on not coming here because of it,” Asher admitted. “But then one of my friends reminded me that I needed to trust in her own strength to save herself. I don’t have to always be the one saving her.”
“Wise words,” Nadir said. “Much harder to do than say though.”
“You’re telling me,” Asher said. “Let’s try to help each other out. I’m glad you came.”
“Oh me too. I foresee many money making opportunities on this trip,” Nadir admitted.
They stood there in silence for a bit. Asher noticed his wife near them. “I gotta go,” he said, getting up with a groan. Nadir nodded and went back to his dummy.
“Babe,” Asher said, annoyed. “Do you have this thing set on low?” The target dummy barely moved at her. It was like slow motion.
“For now,” she said, not looking at him.
“I really need you to take this seriously,” he pleaded. “There will be things out there trying to kill us. You’re strong. I know you can defend yourself.”
She eyed him annoyed. “You think I don’t know that? I’ve never thrown a punch before Asher. I literally don’t know what I’m doing. Look at this thing, it has perfect form. There’s a lot more going on in the mannequin than you noticed. I’m watching its movements to better understand how to throw my own punch,” she said angrily.
Asher focused more on the dummy. The slow motion of the body made it easy to see. The twist of the torso, pivot of a foot, turning of the fist. It did look like perfect form. Asher hadn’t noticed. He had never really thought about how to throw a stronger punch. He just did it.
“Ha, I like her,” someone loudly said. Asher turned to see an older elf at the entrance.
Must be the trainer, he thought. “I’m sorry for my ignorance. I’ll make it up to you later,” he said to Tiffany.
“You better,” she whispered as he jogged off.
“Are you the trainer Tyranis mentioned?” Asher asked.
“I am. But I’m not cheap, kid,” the older elf said. He had a lot more facial expressions than most of the other elves. With graying hair and wrinkles, Asher couldn’t help but wonder how old he was.
“How much?” Asher asked.
“2 Syscos an hour,” he said like it was a lot of money.
“I’ll do 1,” Asher said without missing a beat. “But a minimum of 2 hours a day. If we don’t want to train, you still get the Syscos.”
The old elf grimaced but nodded. “Alright. Call me Isyant,” he said.
“I’m Asher,” he said, extending his hand.
The old man didn’t take it. “Well, what do you want to start with?” Isyant barked. “Clocks already started.”
Asher wasn’t sure if handshakes were a thing for them so he ignored it. “I don’t know where to start. I’d like to make sure we know basic techniques that everyone should know with the System. Like controlling skills and weapon use.”
“Fair enough. Start from the ground up,” Isyant said walking to a wall. He picked up a wooden sparring sword. “Throw a few punches in the air,” he ordered.
Asher did so. “Terrible form, your girl is right,” Isyant said. “Take this,” he threw the practice sword at him. Asher barely caught it before it hit his head. “Attack the air with it till I tell you to stop.”
Asher gulped but did as ordered. First slowly, but then Isyant yelled, “like you mean it.” Then Asher put his strength into it. He could hear the wind part as he sliced down with the blade. “Not terrible instincts,” Isyant noted. “What’s the matter? Don’t have any power skills?”
“No, I do,” Asher said.
“Then why aren’t you using them?” He barked. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch. Asher sweated as he cast Powerstrike. Mana leaked into his blade as he swung it. The wind roared as he hit invisible targets.
“Stop stop stop,” Isyant finally said. With a long sigh he turned to the rest of the group. “Everyone gather round.”
The others reluctantly did. “You too tree,” he said to Asher. “Take a seat, I’m not looking up to you lot.” The old elf was a good 5’-6”, shorter than most everyone but Keera. “Alright, all of you have mana. And after a few short glances I see that you are using it incorrectly.” He took the practice sword from Asher. “You should always be powering your attacks with Powerstrike.” He pointed at Batman, “You have some sort of shadow skill, you need to be using it at all times.” Then Nadir. “You, an illusionist, should never ever be where people expect you to be.” His blade waved at his parents. “You 2 with your holy crap, should be filling every attack with the stuff.”
“Mana is everywhere people. I doubt you’ve noticed but this ship has more mana in it than your entire world did. You will be refilling your mana pools practically as you use it. As will most other planets you will travel to. Thus you will be able to put more mana into your attacks. Those levels are there for a reason, you are all attacking like you are still on a Tier 0 planet. Not only can you learn to channel more mana into your System skills, but also your normal attacks. You girlie. I don’t sense any powerful moves in you,” he said pointing at Tiff. “But there’s no reason you couldn’t beat up tree trunk here. Mana is the great equalizer. If you learn to channel it into a punch fully you’ll hit much harder than a 50 strength will get you. Now, don’t get me wrong if he learns to channel it better as well it will make his attack stronger. But that is the difference between me and you lot. A level 10 on my planet could beat all of you because they are taught at a young age how to channel and control their mana.”
“Now, what can you tell me about your skills?” He asked.
“What do you mean?” Nadir asked him.
“What is a skill?” Isyant asked. No one answered. “At least you don’t pretend to know anything,” he whispered to himself. “A skill is what the System deems you are worthy of. There are no unique skills out there. Someone else out there has it as well, and I can guarantee they have it at a higher level than you lot. A skill is the System’s way of converting mana into action. You spiky hair,” he said pointing at Abby. “You have some sort of energy skill, correct?” Abby nodded. “Wrong. You have a mana skill that your System converts into energy. Why else would your mana pool drop as you use the skill? Let me guess, you all think the name of the skill before you use it too?” A few nods went out. “The name of the skill is irrelevant. That only makes you hesitate a split second more. Let me tell you, that split second is important in a fight. You don’t think ‘arm’ before you extend your arm, people. Every one of your skills should be an extension of your body.”
Asher was starting to see the sense of this. He was slowly admitting that the 2 hours a day may not be enough.
“Who can guess why you don’t get skills at every level?” Isyant asked.
“Too overpowered,” Batman offered.
“Close, but no. The System, in all its benevolence, knows that people are stupid. If you received too many abilities too quickly you would forget some in a pinch. Some of you I can tell shot up in levels quickly. That hurts you in the long run. Most every one of your skills should be level 10 prior to receiving new skills.”
“How often should we receive skills?” Vincent asked.
“Everyone gets a skill at level 1. No matter the System. Then normal Systems receive them every 2 levels, then every 4, and eventually every 8. Custom Systems like yours receive them every 3, then 6, then 9.”
“Are there any other types?” Asher asked as he remembered what levels he got his skills at.
“No…other than the Primes of course,” he said.
“The what?” Asher couldn’t help but ask.
“The Primes. Glitches in the System. They receive skills at every prime level. 1,2,3,5,7,11, etc.”
Asher zoned out as he slowly remembered all the levels he had gained his skills. Every single one was on a prime level. He began to sweat.
“But they’re super rare,” Isyant said.
“Why are they glitches in the System?” His mother asked.
“Their skills can come out at Max Level. System doesn’t like that. Everyone starts at level 1. It tries to kill Primes when it notices them,” he said.
Asher began to sweat more. Tiff eyed him fearfully. Batman soon joined her. They were the only 2 he had admitted his Max levels to. Joon had hinted at something like this. It became more important to keep it a secret. He caught each of their eyes and shook his head, they nodded. Asher forced himself to listen to Isyant.
“First thing, we will start with learning Mana Sight,” he said.
“Can I ask why?” Ming interjected.
“Because you need to learn to see before you can walk,” he said like it was obvious. “Everyone here is using mana in some way. Your illusion friend here,” he pointed at Nadir. “If you learn mana sight and keep it active you could see when something in front of you is made of mana. Granted he could learn to hide it, but it is still a must for anyone with a System to learn.” People nodded with the explanation.
“Also, with Sight you will be working on channeling your mana. From powerful to weak to channeling it for long periods of time. You have 12 days to learn something that takes elves years to learn in their childhood. You’re all going to need every second you can get,” he said. Asher agreed with him.
After going back to the rooms Asher knocked door to door to give everyone their new Comms. He didn’t expect Syscos back, but Vincent and Ming insisted. Asher sure felt a whole lot richer with the 2 Syscos, but the government people were still a little awkward around him. He hoped to break them out of their shells soon enough.
Kytor also have a sound dampening accessory, for a measly 5 Syscos. Asher liked them so much he bought 2. He set one in his room with Tiff, and after throwing a shoe at his parent’s door they opened up and he gave them the other. His mother took it unashamedly and shut the door. Asher did not want to know what they were doing in there.
The only people he couldn’t find were Atalanta and Abby. After wandering around a little he asked some passing elves and they directed him to the Training Room. The door was nondescript, but inside was the biggest room on the ship. The dome top was at least 50 feet up. The walls were white this time, and on opposite ends stood Atalanta and Abby.
They fought what appeared to be holograms. Featureless forms that resembled elves, but had no nose or mouth, just eyes. The girls dodged or hit the holograms causing them to flicker for a split second.
Still a little awkward around Atalanta, Asher walked to Abby. Abby noticed him. Channeling some Ki in her palm she used it to push back the dummy. “Helion, end,” she said. The hologram around the AI sparring partner disappeared to show a metal mannequin. “Whats up?” She asked.
“Wanted to give you your new phone,” he said. “You too, Atalanta.” He knew she could hear them. She had slowed down her hits as he spoke the words. She ended the spar as well. Looking over she cursed as he waved the thin screen at her. After a quick walkthrough on how they worked he soon had their linked Comms saved in his own. Before they could get back to their own thing he said, “How about we all spar instead?”
“I’m not doing any more duels with you,” Atalanta said.
“Not a duel,” he said. “A spar. Look, we are the strongest people in the group. Physically, I mean. We need to get to know one another better. I don’t know about you but I still have trouble understanding my stats. Sparring has been the best way to figure out how to do that.”
“You’re not wrong,” Abby said. “Free for all?”
“Restrictions on skills?” Asher asked.
“None of your sex stuff,” Abby said. “I saw your Ahegao skill.”
“It doesn’t do that…most of the time,” he said. “Look, how about we just fight physically. If you get pushed to use skills, then I’ll do the same. But no weird sex stuff I promise.”
“Alright. What about you, Trinity? Should we beat this high level bitch up?” Abby asked.
“Don’t call me that,” Atalanta ordered angrily. Instead of going for Abby she threw a punch at Asher. Then the fight was started. Asher slapped her fist away easily. Only for another to follow. Backing up, Abby tried to kick out his legs. Asher barely pushed up to dodge the kick but flew 6 feet in the air. He landed awkwardly.
When he caught himself he looked to Atlanta and said, “I know kung fu.” If she wasn’t pissed off before, she was then. She leapt at him with a yell. Asher focused his strength and pushed her away as she was in the air. Abby jumped in then and began pummeling him in the gut. He took the blows. They didn’t hurt as hard as he remembered. Those extra 55 stats had done him wonders.
Abby, shorter than him, he raised his hand up and swatted down. She was thrown into the metal floor below but caught herself on her elbows. Asher turned back to see the wood sword coming for his head.
Atalanta had grabbed one of the practice swords on a wall. He ducked just in time only for his face to be blasted with Ki by Abby. He took a step back. The blast had taken him right in the nose, he thought it was bleeding, but it was just snot.
“Skills now eh?” He asked. Abby stood up and nodded. Ki balls in each hand he used Mesmerizing Gaze. The energy balls dissipated instantly. Asher took a step forward and Sparta kicked her in the abs. Abby flew through the air a dozen feet. Turning back he noticed Atalanta facing him. She held herself in a karate stance. Her hand opened and called for him just like in the movie.
Asher smiled as he lunged forward. His fist drew back and he threw a right at her. A foot away his fist lost all momentum, stopping suddenly. She kicked him. Asher took the blow and threw another punch. Again it stopped a foot away and she kicked him in the side.
“That the Kinetic Absorption skill of yours?” He asked. She simply smiled. Asher began another punch but used Mesmerizing Gaze again before throwing it. Her eyes relaxed as the skill took hold for a split second. Enough time for the punch to the gut.
Her body bent over his fist as she took the full force. She cursed in pain as she doubled over on the ground. “Good warm up,” he said. They were both on the ground. He was not really out of breath. Guess Kytor was right. 12 levels was a big difference, he thought.
“I’m gonna get the others. We can continue when I get back,” he said whistling as he stepped out. When he was out of the Training Room he happened on Tyranis.
“Hey, Tyranis, I was wondering. What are the ethics of training prior to our trials?” Asher asked.
“Not too many restrictions. Why do you ask?”
“I was hoping you had a good trainer with you. Maybe someone in your military? I’d like someone that could teach us basic techniques that we should know,” Asher said.
“Ah yes. Of course. I have someone. But he would charge you. Most all help is available, but when you deal with masters it takes a little more to get them moving,” Tyranis said.
“Like how much?” Asher asked.
“I would say 1 Sysco an hour is standard,” Tyranis said. “You have to remember that’s enough for one of my people to live for a month. So that is considered a lot.”
“Ah well. I mean if he’s worth it…” Tyranis nodded. “Then please send him to the Training Room.”
Tyranis bowed slightly and walked off. Asher headed to their block of rooms. He was able to rouse most everyone to the Training Hall. The last room he picked was the most important. Keera stood next to him as they waited for him to answer.
“Hey, Vincent,” Asher said as his door opened. “We are all training, and thought it best if you join us,” he said. “First we should stop at Kytor though.” He and Keera shared a smile as they led the way.
—
“Alright, how have you gone your entire life without playing one of the greatest RPGs ever made? I feel sorry for you,” Asher said. Keera nodded.
“Final Fantasy VII was a masterpiece in its time,” she added. “Not only graphically speaking, but the story as well.”
“Truer words have never been said,” Asher agreed. “And you have been lucky enough to awaken the System for it. Let me guess. Lose your memories? Pretend to be someone else?”
“You’re not far off…” Vincent said. He did not elaborate.
“Doesn’t matter. Limit Breaks are a nice part of your Strife System. But you have to take damage to build up to them, don’t you?” Vincent nodded. “Which do you have?”
“Braver and Cross Slash,” he admitted.
“Holy hell that’s cool,” Keera said under her breath.
“We will need to see those later,” he said more to Keera. She nodded excitedly. “Make sure you take videos.”
“Always,” she answered.
“Good,” he said. “To begin, one of the coolest parts of your system is your materia. Can we see them?” Asher asked.
Vincent hesitated but soon 3 small green marble sized materia appeared in his palm. Asher used Identification on them. They read Restore Materia, Ice Materia, Lightning Materia. “Smaller than I imagined,” Keera admitted as she moved closer. Asher agreed.
“You’ve just been keeping them stored away since you got them?” Asher asked.
“Yeah. I mean there was no real explanation. I tried googling materia but it kept autocorrecting to material.”
“Ok, pull out the sword,” Asher said. A bright light appeared in Vincent’s hand. It lengthened until it took the form of an overly large sword. 2 feet wide and almost 6 feet long, the Buster Sword was as glorious as Asher remembered. He cast Identification on it.
| Buster Sword (Growth) | |
| Cost | 150 Syscos |
| Slots | 2 |
The weight of the heavy sword about toppled Vincent over. He had to shift his stance to hold onto it. “Perfect,” Asher said. “Cast identification on it. You see how it says 2 slots? That tells you how many materia can be attached to your weapon. Junction them to it.”
It took Vincent a while to get it right. Eventually they figured out he had to hold the materia over the weapon and cast Junction. Then the materia would slide in one of the slots at the hilt of the blade.
“Ok,” Asher said, hiding his excitement. “You see that target?” There was a mannequin 20 feet away on the wall. “Cast ice on it.” This was already more for Asher than it was Vincent, but he didn’t care.
“Uhhh how do I cast it?”
“I don’t know. Are they in your skills now?”
“Oh. Yeah,” he said, reading the invisible screen. It took a few seconds but when Asher was about to turn around the area next to the mannequin became covered in ice instantly. There was no cheap graphic, suddenly it simply frosted over.
“Oh my god,” Keera said. Bouncing as she clapped her hands.
Asher hid his joy. “Work on your aim, but use lightning,” he demanded not looking away. Instantly a bolt of lightning shot out from Vincent into the mannequin. It jerked as if suddenly alive but then stopped moving.
“Freakin amazing,” Asher said aloud. He turned to see Vincent thoroughly shocked as he stared at his hands. “Well done. I hope you know what this means.”
“Um what?” Vincent asked, still in a daze.
“Welcome to the team,” Asher said with a big smile.
Suddenly the FFVII victory tune played. Asher turned to see Keera with her phone in her hand playing it. “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Asher commented. Now facing the other people training they caught his eye. “Keera educate this noob more please.” Keera saluted and began talking about the history and lore of the game. She may have strayed off topic but it would be good information to know. Hopefully she would stress the other cool materia.
Asher was finally coming down from the high of seeing the magic. He looked over to the other groups. Atalanta and Abby sparred together now. They refused to fight him for some weird reason. Asher’s parents cast their holy magic on target dummies or practiced with the wood swords. Though they resembled wood, Asher had tried his strength on them and they wouldn’t bend.
Batman fought his own target dummy as did Ming. They flowed through martial arts techniques never tiring. Batman was back in his suit since he gained very minor XP being in the suit. Ming wore a white karate gi.
“Hey, Nadir,” Asher said, walking up to him. He was lightly sparring with his own practice dummy.
Nadir never strayed his eyes from it. “Hello,” he said. He was sweating profusely. His movements were fluid, no stiffness as he moved from punching to kicking.
“I uh, was curious why you have been so quiet,” Asher admitted.
“I’ve been a little distracted,” Nadir admitted. Still focused on the dummy. “I think I’m more worried about my wives than I thought I would be,” he said.
“Ah of course,” Asher said. “Thought it was more about the System Store and space travel.”
Nadir laughed. “That did not help,” he said. “Helion: end.” A white light formed into a towel in his hand. He began wiping sweat off of his forehead. “Of course I forget that your Zora is going to be fighting for her System. My wives already have theirs. You must be much more worried.”
Asher noticed the pit in his stomach with the reminder. “I am. Terribly. I almost fought harder on not coming here because of it,” Asher admitted. “But then one of my friends reminded me that I needed to trust in her own strength to save herself. I don’t have to always be the one saving her.”
“Wise words,” Nadir said. “Much harder to do than say though.”
“You’re telling me,” Asher said. “Let’s try to help each other out. I’m glad you came.”
“Oh me too. I foresee many money making opportunities on this trip,” Nadir admitted.
They stood there in silence for a bit. Asher noticed his wife near them. “I gotta go,” he said, getting up with a groan. Nadir nodded and went back to his dummy.
“Babe,” Asher said, annoyed. “Do you have this thing set on low?” The target dummy barely moved at her. It was like slow motion.
“For now,” she said, not looking at him.
“I really need you to take this seriously,” he pleaded. “There will be things out there trying to kill us. You’re strong. I know you can defend yourself.”
She eyed him annoyed. “You think I don’t know that? I’ve never thrown a punch before Asher. I literally don’t know what I’m doing. Look at this thing, it has perfect form. There’s a lot more going on in the mannequin than you noticed. I’m watching its movements to better understand how to throw my own punch,” she said angrily.
Asher focused more on the dummy. The slow motion of the body made it easy to see. The twist of the torso, pivot of a foot, turning of the fist. It did look like perfect form. Asher hadn’t noticed. He had never really thought about how to throw a stronger punch. He just did it.
“Ha, I like her,” someone loudly said. Asher turned to see an older elf at the entrance.
Must be the trainer, he thought. “I’m sorry for my ignorance. I’ll make it up to you later,” he said to Tiffany.
“You better,” she whispered as he jogged off.
“Are you the trainer Tyranis mentioned?” Asher asked.
“I am. But I’m not cheap, kid,” the older elf said. He had a lot more facial expressions than most of the other elves. With graying hair and wrinkles, Asher couldn’t help but wonder how old he was.
“How much?” Asher asked.
“2 Syscos an hour,” he said like it was a lot of money.
“I’ll do 1,” Asher said without missing a beat. “But a minimum of 2 hours a day. If we don’t want to train, you still get the Syscos.”
The old elf grimaced but nodded. “Alright. Call me Isyant,” he said.
“I’m Asher,” he said, extending his hand.
The old man didn’t take it. “Well, what do you want to start with?” Isyant barked. “Clocks already started.”
Asher wasn’t sure if handshakes were a thing for them so he ignored it. “I don’t know where to start. I’d like to make sure we know basic techniques that everyone should know with the System. Like controlling skills and weapon use.”
“Fair enough. Start from the ground up,” Isyant said walking to a wall. He picked up a wooden sparring sword. “Throw a few punches in the air,” he ordered.
Asher did so. “Terrible form, your girl is right,” Isyant said. “Take this,” he threw the practice sword at him. Asher barely caught it before it hit his head. “Attack the air with it till I tell you to stop.”
Asher gulped but did as ordered. First slowly, but then Isyant yelled, “like you mean it.” Then Asher put his strength into it. He could hear the wind part as he sliced down with the blade. “Not terrible instincts,” Isyant noted. “What’s the matter? Don’t have any power skills?”
“No, I do,” Asher said.
“Then why aren’t you using them?” He barked. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch. Asher sweated as he cast Powerstrike. Mana leaked into his blade as he swung it. The wind roared as he hit invisible targets.
“Stop stop stop,” Isyant finally said. With a long sigh he turned to the rest of the group. “Everyone gather round.”
The others reluctantly did. “You too tree,” he said to Asher. “Take a seat, I’m not looking up to you lot.” The old elf was a good 5’-6”, shorter than most everyone but Keera. “Alright, all of you have mana. And after a few short glances I see that you are using it incorrectly.” He took the practice sword from Asher. “You should always be powering your attacks with Powerstrike.” He pointed at Batman, “You have some sort of shadow skill, you need to be using it at all times.” Then Nadir. “You, an illusionist, should never ever be where people expect you to be.” His blade waved at his parents. “You 2 with your holy crap, should be filling every attack with the stuff.”
“Mana is everywhere people. I doubt you’ve noticed but this ship has more mana in it than your entire world did. You will be refilling your mana pools practically as you use it. As will most other planets you will travel to. Thus you will be able to put more mana into your attacks. Those levels are there for a reason, you are all attacking like you are still on a Tier 0 planet. Not only can you learn to channel more mana into your System skills, but also your normal attacks. You girlie. I don’t sense any powerful moves in you,” he said pointing at Tiff. “But there’s no reason you couldn’t beat up tree trunk here. Mana is the great equalizer. If you learn to channel it into a punch fully you’ll hit much harder than a 50 strength will get you. Now, don’t get me wrong if he learns to channel it better as well it will make his attack stronger. But that is the difference between me and you lot. A level 10 on my planet could beat all of you because they are taught at a young age how to channel and control their mana.”
“Now, what can you tell me about your skills?” He asked.
“What do you mean?” Nadir asked him.
“What is a skill?” Isyant asked. No one answered. “At least you don’t pretend to know anything,” he whispered to himself. “A skill is what the System deems you are worthy of. There are no unique skills out there. Someone else out there has it as well, and I can guarantee they have it at a higher level than you lot. A skill is the System’s way of converting mana into action. You spiky hair,” he said pointing at Abby. “You have some sort of energy skill, correct?” Abby nodded. “Wrong. You have a mana skill that your System converts into energy. Why else would your mana pool drop as you use the skill? Let me guess, you all think the name of the skill before you use it too?” A few nods went out. “The name of the skill is irrelevant. That only makes you hesitate a split second more. Let me tell you, that split second is important in a fight. You don’t think ‘arm’ before you extend your arm, people. Every one of your skills should be an extension of your body.”
Asher was starting to see the sense of this. He was slowly admitting that the 2 hours a day may not be enough.
“Who can guess why you don’t get skills at every level?” Isyant asked.
“Too overpowered,” Batman offered.
“Close, but no. The System, in all its benevolence, knows that people are stupid. If you received too many abilities too quickly you would forget some in a pinch. Some of you I can tell shot up in levels quickly. That hurts you in the long run. Most every one of your skills should be level 10 prior to receiving new skills.”
“How often should we receive skills?” Vincent asked.
“Everyone gets a skill at level 1. No matter the System. Then normal Systems receive them every 2 levels, then every 4, and eventually every 8. Custom Systems like yours receive them every 3, then 6, then 9.”
“Are there any other types?” Asher asked as he remembered what levels he got his skills at.
“No…other than the Primes of course,” he said.
“The what?” Asher couldn’t help but ask.
“The Primes. Glitches in the System. They receive skills at every prime level. 1,2,3,5,7,11, etc.”
Asher zoned out as he slowly remembered all the levels he had gained his skills. Every single one was on a prime level. He began to sweat.
“But they’re super rare,” Isyant said.
“Why are they glitches in the System?” His mother asked.
“Their skills can come out at Max Level. System doesn’t like that. Everyone starts at level 1. It tries to kill Primes when it notices them,” he said.
Asher began to sweat more. Tiff eyed him fearfully. Batman soon joined her. They were the only 2 he had admitted his Max levels to. Joon had hinted at something like this. It became more important to keep it a secret. He caught each of their eyes and shook his head, they nodded. Asher forced himself to listen to Isyant.
“First thing, we will start with learning Mana Sight,” he said.
“Can I ask why?” Ming interjected.
“Because you need to learn to see before you can walk,” he said like it was obvious. “Everyone here is using mana in some way. Your illusion friend here,” he pointed at Nadir. “If you learn mana sight and keep it active you could see when something in front of you is made of mana. Granted he could learn to hide it, but it is still a must for anyone with a System to learn.” People nodded with the explanation.
“Also, with Sight you will be working on channeling your mana. From powerful to weak to channeling it for long periods of time. You have 12 days to learn something that takes elves years to learn in their childhood. You’re all going to need every second you can get,” he said. Asher agreed with him.
