Ruthless: Path of Conquest

James needn’t have worried about the effects of the light. It was exactly as benevolent as the proctor had indicated. He felt his body mend itself completely from head to toe. He felt as good as he had when he woke up that morning. Perhaps better.

“Now that’s done,” the proctor’s voice came, “I should really get back to preparing for the Orientation. Good luck! I’m pulling for you, personally. Say hi to the wife and kiddies for me!”

“Wait, wait,” James raised a hand as if he could stop this seemingly non-physical being from leaving by grabbing him. “What’s your name?”

“Vincent,” the voice came after a pause. “Vinny to my friends.”

“Well, I won’t presume to declare myself your friend when we’ve just met. But thank you, Vincent. I feel better than I’ve felt in months.”

“Yeah, I may have actually cleared up a nascent case of diabetes as well as a concussion. Later, James!”

I was getting diabetes, huh? James thought.

“Shall we resume the tutorial?” the System Homunculus asked.

“Sure thing,” James replied instantly. He wondered if Vinny was still listening, then decided it was all but a certainty that the proctor was. It seemed as if maybe the System did have some kind of a special interest in him, or at least some of its appendages did.

“It is customary that we begin by selecting your class and then take a look at your Status menu.”

“Wait, what? Why wouldn’t we look at the Status menu before we make a permanent decision about what kind of fighter I’m going to be? We should at least find out what I’m good at first.”

“Erm, it is customary. The class decision is not a permanent one, anyway. It will evolve as you grow.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I want to abide by this custom, Sisco. Status.”

[Status

Name: James Robard

Race: Base Human, Lv. 0

Class: None

Job: Attorney (Pre-System)

Health: 25/25

Mana: 40/40

Stamina: 25/25

Stats

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Stamina: 5

Fortitude: 5

Dexterity: 4

Perception: 6

Will: 4

Intelligence: 10

Free Points: 0

Skills

Anthropophagy Lv. 0

Emotional Control Lv. 0

Empathy Control Lv. 1

Empathic Projection Lv. 0

False Impression Lv. 1

Identify Lv. 0

Persuasion Lv. 1

Pillage Lv. 0

Situational Intelligence Lv. 1

System Interface

Universal Language Comprehension

Talents

Cannibalism Lv. 0

Cool-headed Lv. 0

Manipulation Lv. 1

Selective Empathy Lv. 0

Titles

System Pioneer]

These are interesting, James thought, a little stunned. I need to moderate my reaction. Vinny’s probably still watching, waiting to see how I respond to these wonderful Talents.

“Where exactly do these Talents come from?” he asked.

“Your initial Talents are based on who you were leading up to the beginning of the System upgrade of your world. Rarely, the System even generates unique talents for particularly unique individuals.”

Externally, James nodded and put a finger to his lips as if thoughtfully considering the explanation.

Internally: What is wrong with you people?! It’s been ten years! Ten years I’ve been trying to do the right thing! Why can’t you recognize that?! Why do you see only the worst in me? James felt a seething rage boiling up within him at the System’s interpretation of who he was, effectively a judgment of his entire life based on the Homunculus’s description, but he knew he had to restrain it. The only external expression of this train of thought was a clenching of the hand that he held down at his side into a fist.

Just to be sure, he asked: “What exactly does the System look at when it makes these determinations?”

The System Homunculus spoke, a vaguely perceptible trace of something like confusion in its voice: “The Talents generation process is objective, based on the inclinations you’ve demonstrated over a lifetime. It does not see only the worst in people. It looks at everything.”

This is who you are, it seemed to be saying, and in such a way that it almost seemed to be responding to his underlying thoughts rather than what he actually asked. But James couldn’t just accept that at face value. He decided to abandon beating around the bush.

“How the hell is cannibalism one of the inclinations I’ve demonstrated over the course of a lifetime? Give me one example of a person I’ve taken a bite out of, please. Take your time, I’ll wait!” He tried to keep his voice calm. This situation was already a little embarrassing, and he didn’t want to lose hold of himself and wind up looking like a complete fool.

He’d had a bad day. Now he learned that what he had thought could be a fresh start was already polluted. The Talents that were supposed to mark him as special would instead single him out as a person who had been defective, a liar and possibly even a killer before the System—the latter of which he’d never been.

It’s marking me as a villain, he had time to think. Permanently. Like Jean Valjean.

Then the System, whether via the Homunculus or the proctor acting through him, responded, after its fashion. The status screen in front of James’ face suddenly zoomed in, something he hadn’t realized until now that it could do at all. A description of the Talent appeared.

[Cannibalism: You’ve lived your life taking advantage of others by taking more from them than you gave in return. Your long-standing life pattern marks this as a fundamental aspect of your character. In the changed world of the System, you can take this to the logical extreme by taking everything from those you feed on, at no cost to you. Generates skills “Pillage” and “Anthropophagy”.]

The System was judging me, James thought. It was judging him with breathtaking harshness, in a way no human ever had, at least not to his face. Was it wrong about him? If he was being honest with himself, he couldn’t say. And that probably said it all right there.

“You do have an alternative option, if your Talents displease you.” The screen zoomed back out to normal as the Homunculus spoke.

“The System can look to other parts of my life and come up with another slate of Talents? Why didn’t you say so before? Show me what we’re working with.”

“Not quite. The option is a Talent called Tabula Rasa, which would replace all existing Talents and Titles. Most of your skills would go with them. It’s a Talent virtually all babies born into a System-inducted world start with. It means you have nothing. No Talents or Titles except those you earn with your conduct going forward. Not even System Pioneer, which our records indicate you acquired this morning.”

James thought it over. He looked through his other Talents first, and he realized that by focusing a little harder on one in particular, he could manually produce the zooming in effect that the System had demonstrated with his Cannibalism Title.

[Manipulation: You spent years honing your skills at directing the thoughts and actions of others. You have shown a deep ability to influence and deceive, especially when others don’t realize what you’re trying to do. In the changed world of the System, the greatest manipulators have a heightened chance to change the structure of the social hierarchy using the power of their words alone. Generates skills “False Impression” and “Persuasion”.]

I met a good woman and turned over a new leaf, he weakly protested in his own mind. Mina knew what he was behind the mask that he wore for everyone else, but after he had come close to getting jail time nine and a half years ago, he had promised her he would change his ways. And he credited the magic of love for the fact that he hadn’t conned or stolen from anyone in these last nine and a half years.

Instead, he did some research, studied for the LSAT, and attended law school. It turned out that law firms valued employees skilled at manipulation and possessed of a cool-headed demeanor and selective empathy.

So he’d remained on the straight and narrow for years, and now he was almost ready to be a real family man, when this happened.

Be honest with yourself, a voice deep inside him said. You want these Talents. You want to be bad. And the System is giving you permission. It’s a new world. No one to punish you. If they do, you just kill them. Then keep killing until you’re on top. And then you make the rules.

James listened to his dark side for long enough to make his decision. As a purely practical matter, even if he knew what that little voice was saying was wrong, he couldn’t ignore how useful the Talents, Titles, and accompanying Skills seemed. I need these to increase my chances of survival, he told himself. I’m my own man, not the System’s creature. I’ll take the decisions about right and wrong as they come.

“Alright, I’m keeping my Talents. Show me the class options.”

Another new screen appeared before he could even finish the sentence.

Available Classes

Light Warrior

Medium Warrior

Heavy Warrior

Rogue

Healer

Mage

Well, those names at least speak for themselves. He started zooming in on each in turn.

Light Warrior: A basic, unevolved class. Lightly armed and armored warriors who emphasize agility over strength. Quicker with better reflexes than medium or heavy warriors at the cost of lesser attack strength and durability. Typically uses subtle weapons such as rapiers, daggers or small swords. With each level, gain +3 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Stamina, +3 free points.

Medium Warrior: A basic, unevolved class. Moderately armed and armored warriors who place equal emphasis on agility and strength. Quicker but weaker than heavy warriors but slower and stronger than light warriors, a balanced class. Uses the widest variety of weapons of the basic classes, albeit with less proficiency in heavy or light weapons than the classes more specialized in those. With each level, gain +2 Agility, +2 Strength, +1 Stamina, +3 free points.

Heavy Warrior: A basic, unevolved class. Heavily armed and armored warriors who emphasize strength over agility. Stronger and hardier than medium or light warriors at the cost of lesser agility and slower reflexes. Typically uses heavy weapons such as greatswords, two-handed axes or halberds. With each level, gain +1 Agility, +3 Strength, +1 Stamina, +3 free points.

Rogue: A basic, unevolved class. Lightly armed and armored fighters who place emphasis on stealth, precision, and evasion. Specialized in ranged weapons, smaller melee weapons, and sneak attacks. With each level, gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Agility, +1 Perception, +3 free points.

James stopped there. He wasn’t interested in the Healer class, and he didn’t want to tempt himself with the Mage class, considering what he’d discussed with Mina and Yulia. Once that was eliminated, the decision was mostly pretty easy.

He didn’t want to take the Heavy Warrior option, because he didn’t want to be a walking brick. They could find someone else to be a tank for the party if needed, but it wasn’t going to be him. Light Warrior was out, too, because based on descriptions alone, it struck him as an inferior version of the Rogue, overly specialized in agility. Fragile without any enhanced powers of perception or skill. Perhaps it would evolve into a class he’d envy, but James needed to be able to either see danger coming every time or to be able to take at least a few hits, or he’d die before getting a class evolution, whenever that was.

That left Rogue and Medium Warrior as the classes that most suited him. Although something in his nature pulled him towards the Rogue, he decided on the Medium Warrior. It was a moderate approach that should let him adapt and adjust as situations unfolded. The medium armor would protect him from attacks better than whatever covering the Rogue class came with, without turning him into a slow-moving target. All around, the best of all possible worlds!

James felt himself growing excited about the prospect of adventure again, a feeling he had quickly quashed the previous times it rose in him. This time, he allowed a smile to touch his lips.

Select Medium Warrior? Y/N

He selected Y, and a few popups appeared immediately.

[Congratulations! You have become a Medium Warrior!]

[You acquired the skill Basic Proficiency–Common Weapons]

[You acquired the skill Quick Strike Lv. 0]

[You acquired the skill Stubborn Defense Lv. 0]

[You acquired the skill Loot Lv. 0]

[Superior skill, Pillage, detected! Inferior skill Loot merged into skill Pillage.]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Pillage leveled up!]

[You acquired the ‘Medium Warrior’s Starter Kit’!]

Alongside the quick barrage of messages, a few pieces of dull gray armor that looked straight out of a medieval castle materialized in front of James and then clattered to the floor. A sack that looked empty dropped right next to it.

“Well chosen,” the System Homunculus said after a brief pause. “Now that’s done, I’ll transport you to the Orientation grounds.”

“Wait, I’m not read—”

The world faded to white again, but only for a moment. James reappeared instantly in what appeared to be a large clearing in a forest.

“Jesus, Sisco,” James muttered to himself. I think maybe he took me going to his manager personally. Do homunculi feel emotions?

The armor and sack of gear again dropped to the ground next to him, and he bent to pick them up. He still didn’t even know what was inside the sack, and he couldn’t afford to lose any gear so quickly. He also reached to his shoulder and checked that his backpack was still there. It was.

With his items in hand, James slowly rose from his crouching position and looked around. At a cursory glance, he appeared to be surrounded by hundreds of people, most of whom looked to be as confused and disoriented as he felt. Unfortunately, he didn’t recognize any of them.