NOVEL NEXT Chapter 107: Rules
Walker quickly withdrew all of the resources, bringing him a little higher than he was to start, and then asked Ulysses to send him back. A portal opened in front of him, and Walker felt space harden just beneath his feet. Two quick steps later, and he was back in the white room.
“Any surprises,” Ulysses said as he waited.
“You’re bigger than you were,” Walker commented, bringing a grin out of the Universal Personality, “And it said there were two more lifeforms than before.”
The nondescript man nodded, “Yes. But you don’t need to worry about them. I am keeping a close eye on everything.” He nodded at a screen that wasn’t there before. It showed a great swirling of dust in the darkness of space. The only reason he could see anything at all was the mini-star Ulysses had moved to the center of it. “My work is proceeding apace at a speed I find adequate.” A portal ate the star just before the screen disappeared, “How are you feeling about your own?”
“My work?” He considered everything he’d done since arriving here. The Territory seat was nice, but it wouldn’t have an impact on him until he moved everyone from Symphony. Absorbing the Bounty system manual would take quite a bit of time as well. But his work with systems, especially the Communication system, was chugging right along. Overall, he was pretty satisfied with the work he’d completed in the last few days of time. He said as much to Ulysses.
“I see. Then, let us look again at the Profession system,” he pointed at the board in front of them. Beside it was another board that hadn’t been there before. It held only a few rules by comparison.
[Professions]
Profession options become available through Milestone unlocks
Professions do not have a level cap
Only three skills are allowed immediately following incipience
At Incipience, if the Profession system is chosen, the entity may choose a Mastery after reaching an average level of five in their skills
If a Profession is chosen by a Master, Trailblazer options will appear, with further options for guidance
Professions may unlock at any time through their Overlay
A sapient may choose to create a Profession from nothing
Professions cannot be changed without a special item
Professions and Masteries may form a synergistic relationship
All Professions should relate to non-combat oriented skills, excluding roles of martial leadership
He noticed a couple of new things that hadn’t been there before, “What’s the item?”
Ulysses shrugged, “Whatever you want it to be. I figured it could be another Event system reward, or something to further build an economy on Symphony, similar to your plans for Territories and Factions. A Profession reset, if you will.”
Walker nodded, “Smart, alright. What about the synergistic relationship?”
Ulysses smiled, “One of my parts thought of that. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re a hammer-wielding or blunt weaponry Master.”
“Okay.”
“Now, you’ve worked hard, developed techniques, and really gained a ton of levels in your Mastery. Now, you decide you want to relax or build a sustainable profession. So, what are you going to pick?”
“Blacksmithing,” Walker said as he realized what Ulysses was getting at, “So, you pick a Mastery that fits you, then a profession that fits the Mastery.”
Ulysses snapped his fingers, “Exactly. It should offer choices within the Profession that involve hammers or blunt instruments, and naturally, the Master gets to double-down on whatever skills they’ve already developed. I imagine this next rule will throw you for a loop.”
The board updated again.
Synergistic Profession and Mastery skills can combine
“I thought that as the skills developed, they burned into their mana veins. That way, skills wouldn’t disappear when they get nullified.”
Ulysses nodded, “That they do. But I believe I can build the skill system to memorize the burnt-in portion of their mana veins and, working with the Sapient, find a way to transfer some of the skill over to another. It would free up space for a new skill on the Sapient and empower one of their other skills.”
That was a shocking thought, “Fuck me, that’s cool. But you said you believe you can do this. So, it’s not guaranteed?”
“It will be with time,” Ulysses replied with a grin. “I told you, Walker. I’m going to devote a good amount of my parts to this process. If I am working on something, you better believe I will iron out all of the kinks in the system.”
Walker shared his grin as he looked at the board. Everything was coming together like he’d planned, and with even more besides. He dove into the Milestone system for the first time in a while. Without access to the Remote system, he couldn’t change or build any new ones, but what was already built could still be viewed.
In particular, he wanted to look at one important Milestone series.
Series: Human Growth: Limited, Complete
Basic milestone- Imagine: Reach two years of age. 1 point.
Apprentice milestone- Adulthood: Reach the age of 13. 5 points.
Skilled milestone- The First Job: Take a job and gain access to the Profession system. 10 points.
Advanced Milestone- The First Kill: Kill a monster for the first time. 25 points.
Epic milestone- Titled: Earn a title. 50 points.
Reward: Obtain six points or more in the human growth series to unlock the Class system.
Limited to human beings only
It had been a while since he’d first looked at the milestone series. Hell, it’d been some time since he’d seen what Cagna had added since he’d gained power over the strands.
While the series was still good, many updates needed to occur. It had been some time ago, but he still hadn’t created a Title system. Classes were now Masteries and the points didn’t have a purpose…yet. He had his work cut out for him.
Pulling out of the screen, he blinked his eyes a few times to readjust to the board next to Professions.
[Masteries]
Mastery options become available through Milestone unlocks
Masteries do not have a level cap
Only three skills are allowed immediately following incipience
At Incipience, if the Mastery system is chosen, the entity may choose a Profession after reaching an average level of five in their skills
If a Mastery is chosen by a Professional, Trailblazer options will appear, with further options for guidance
Ulysses gave him a look, “You got something on your mind?”
Walker smiled, “I was just wondering how you’re going to get access to the Leveling system I built a while ago.”
“Ah,” Ulysses said, nodding, “You created that for…yes, for Territories and the two systems we’re working on right now. I see.” He looked at the board again, “I’m not an Assistant, nor am I truly connected to the Evolver Multiverse. Yes, I can influence Symphony’s entities and whatever systems we have interconnected through our new Omniversal options, but I do not have true control over any systems I do not create.”
“Yeah, but we can still do the same visual effects, right?”
Ulysses pointed at his eyes, “Share them with me. While I believe I’ve recovered most of your memories, I would like to be certain.”
Levels 0-100:
Color: Red
-Opacity increased with visual representation every five levels.
Visual representation: A small burst of non-harmful color around the subject.
Transition from Level 100-101:
Visual representation: A light will rise from the subject, shifting from the color red to orange.
Levels 101-200:
Color: Orange
-Opacity increases with visual representation every five levels.
Visual representation: A small burst of non-harmful color around the subject.
Transition from Level 200-201:
Visual representation: A light will rise from the subject, shifting from the color orange to yellow.
Levels 201-300:
Color: Yellow
-Opacity increases with visual representation every five levels.
Visual representation: A non-harmful halo will rise from the top of the subject.
Transition from Level 300-301:
A light will rise from the subject, shifting from the color yellow to green.
Levels 301-400:
Color: Green
- Opacity increases with visual representation every five levels.
Visual representation:
A series of non-harmful green colors will pulse from the subject.
Transition from Level 400-401:
A light will rise from the subject, shifting from the color green to the color blue.
Levels 401-500:
Color: Blue
-Opacity increases with visual representation every five levels.
Visual representation: A great amount of non-harmful blue light will rise, surrounding the subject.
“Yes…it is the same as I can recall.”
Walker noted a hesitance in his speech, like he didn’t enjoy what he was seeing. “What’s wrong?”
“Your goal is to make your Sapients feel achievements, correct? With each level, they should feel something powerful, yes?”
“Yeah, that’s the idea, thus,” He pointed at his eyes, “All the visual stuff.”
“Yes, then why not consider…more?
Walker scratched his chin, “Okay, shoot. What would be more?”
Ulysses waved his hands, “The visual is nice, as it allows others to see progress made manifest. However, you should consider allowing them to turn it off at will, as a form of protection. Notifications will be necessary to show the progress of Masteries and Professions, and I am of the opinion that you should consider alerting the general vicinity when grand achievements occur.”
Walker shook his head. “But that makes no sense. Finding new methods of use is going to level their skills.”
“Initially, that’s true,” he replied with a nod. “But when Potential Energy begins to enter the fray, the alterations of their skills will be broader and much more complicated. Additions of the Life strand will be the same. I’m not telling you that you must make these changes, only giving suggestions for what could further empower the feeling of success when regarding these systems.”
Walker spoke while considering it, “So, notifications, I can get behind, and we already decided to put that in with the quest system.” Ulysses nodded in agreement. “But if you’re thinking about announcements to the general area through the Communications system, then just like the level-ups, you have to give them the option to turn them off.”
Ulysses grinned, “So, you agree with me concerning grand announcements?”
Walker shrugged, “If you think it’s important. But just so I understand it better, what kind?”
Ulysses held up a finger as he ticked down multiple ideas, “A territory levels, you have an announcement. A sapient creates a new Mastery and reaches a specific plateau, such as level three hundred, you have an announcement. A non-sapient monster breaches Tier 6, and you have a regional announcement.”
Walker grinned, nodding his head with him, “Yeah, that I can get behind. But,” He looked at his abilities, “I’m pretty sure the only way to do that would be to either spend a ton of resources on the Communications system, activating one of the upgrades, or-”
“Or sacrificing your Broadcast ability, yes. I had the same thought. That leaves the question of, Is this something you’re willing to do?”
“Sacrifice another ability?” Walker considered it. He’d only used the ability a few times. Yes, it’d been important to warn his citizens about the sun rising and the changes coming to the world, but it hadn’t been very impactful thus far. If he could just sacrifice the ability and tie it into pre-designed global announcements, it may be more useful that way.
But they wouldn’t be messages from him. Rather, they’d be messages from what he was sure would feel like an all-powerful system—something that was an enigma to the Sapients and Monsters treading Symphony’s ground—a powerful entity with a purpose that wasn’t known—something alien. That would have to be changed.
His Scripture, while starting out weird, had a lot of value in it. He’d placed everything he could think of about how to survive nature, politics, and life in general. Plus, the all-important comma. But it wasn’t enough, and there were no guarantees that people would follow the Unending Summit. It wasn’t a true religion but a way of life.
In fact, it specifically told its followers not to treat Walker or those he put in charge with too much reverence. But it, too, wouldn’t truly inform people of the purpose of the system. That meant they needed to do so now, during an event that every free-thinking individual would experience. During Incipience.
Making up his mind, Walker nodded, “How about a trade? I can’t sacrifice the Broadcast ability yet, but I can when I get back to the Evolververse. That’ll give you the grand announcements you’re so interested in. However, I want a few things to balance out the power of the system. I’m betting you can include the basics of my leveling system in both Masteries and Professions.”
Ulysses nodded, “I can. That would not be a problem.”
“Okay, the same with the notifications since you already have access to the quest system?” Another nod, “Then I also want to include something during the initial experience of both systems.”
“What would that be?”
“I want to include either a video explaining the system or at least a small handout—something that, at its heart, explains the purpose of everything related to Symphony.”
“I see,” Ulysses said as he gave a curious look, “I may be able to do you one better, Walker.”
He held out an empty palm, which was quickly filled with something small and white. Lifting his hand, he tossed it over to him, “That is a Crystal lattice designed by the Omniverse. Similar to the weapons and equipment my parts have been testing, we’ve also taken a look at what the Omniverse has to offer regarding media technology. You should feel a soft depression near the top; please press on it.”
Walker felt around for a moment before finding it. After he pressed, an image of Ulysses appeared in front of him, beamed from the crystal in a manner similar to what Virgil had first shown him when the Protocol started. The projected Ulysses was over ten feet tall, a big smile plastered on his face as sound began to emit from the hard object in Walker’s hand: “Hello, Citizen. It seems you’ve found a Crystal Imager. How lucky for you. This wonderful bit of technology can be used by anyone who holds it, so be careful with this priceless possession.” It held up a copy of the crystal,” For the moment, please look at the rock in your hand.”
Walker looked at Ulysses rather than the rock, who gave him a sharp glare, “What? Follow the instructions.” Walker shrugged and looked at the rock while the projection continued to speak.
“The Crystal Imager has an extreme amount of storage within it. In order to add new information, you will need to insert a storage crystal directly into the object through the round hole near the front.”
Walker rotated it until he found a small cylindrical hole near the front, and a few seconds later, the projection started up again. “That hole is where you insert the crystal, which will then be absorbed by the Imager, allowing you to call on new images at your leisure. Don’t worry about your imager losing power, as it has been modified to run purely on ambient magic.”
“A neat trick getting it to do that,” Ulysses commented from the side as he looked at a projection of himself, “Hello Ulysses.”
The projection didn’t respond, “In order to create new Images yourself, press the small depression near the back until you feel a solid click. I will wait.”
Walker followed the instructions, and a small piece of Crystal appeared near the front, waiting for him to grab it.
It took another few minutes for the projection to tell him how to make his own recordings before it abruptly shut off after one final word, “Good luck, Citizen. You’ll need it.”
“What?” Walker said as the image faded away from the air.
“So, what do you think? Did I do a good job?” Ulysses said in a preening fashion.
“Yeah, man…that’s fucking cool. You figured out how to do all of this with the guide token?”
“Oh yes. I estimate it will take me over one hundred years to gain a fundamental understanding of what the token held. It is truly remarkable how compressed the object was, let alone how light they had made it. I’m excited for the possibility of being able to do the same thing myself.”
Looking back at the little silver coin he’d tossed to him, Walker hadn’t found anything unique about it in the slightest. It made him wonder just how low his perception of things was compared to the Universal Personality. Outloud, he simply said, “Cool.”
“Indeed. Now, hand me the Imager, please.” Walker handed it over while Ulysses focused the direction of it at him, “Now, think about what you want to say, then I will click record. Remember,” He said with a serious face, “Every citizen of Symphony for all time will see this recording after first accessing either of our two systems. You need to make sure it is exactly what you want to say.”
A bead of sweat dripped down Walker’s back.
Fuck