System Wide

Chapter 7 – It Builds Character

Lee continued to sob. Gordan couldn’t tell if he was faking at this point. Closing his eyes and sighing in acceptance, rather than dwell on the problem, he chose to check out his new skill instead.

Gordan took a moment to think. “Insight, I’ll have to look at it in the system before using it.”

[Class skills

Insight: lvl 1

Impart: lvl 1

Skill up: lvl 1]

[Insight: lvl 1

Description: Discover details about objects and beings.]

Gordan selected his insight skill and looked over at Lee’s sword.

[(Broken) Wooden Sword]

Gordan chuckled, “I don’t know what I expected.” He then went on to inspect other things in the room.

[Desk]

[Door]

[Gordan’s Trusty Machete

Bonded: Gordan Felt

Returning

Shapeshifting (restricted)]

He looked curiously at the system message. “So I was right. My trusty tool is a bit more mysterious than I thought,” Gordan chuckled.

After Gordan had ignored Lee’s fit long enough for him to calm down, the pair decided to wait out the cooldown and mentally prepare themselves for the next challenge. The goal right now was to get Gordan’s accounting level 20 so that he could impart a helpful level of skill to his mom. Lee didn’t know it, but this was all part of a grand plan Gordan was developing. One part of his scheme was to bestow key skills to trusted people and slowly delegate business tasks. To Gordan, this was a very serious matter, one that decided how he would use this cheat level of power and what level of success his future held.

Lee had different plans. To him, skill-up challenges were no more than a way to help his friend and gain some skill along the way. Although the decision was already made, Lee couldn’t help but think about the consequences of assisting Gordan in gathering materials in the labyrinth. He contemplated whether it would be a good idea to take Gordan to such a dangerous place.

Lee had been told stories growing up about the labyrinth. From what he could gather, the first level was different according to the area you entered from. But one thing was universal. You could travel from the first layer of the labyrinth to another section of the first layer and be teleported to unrelated and sometimes deadly locations. Some explorers found themselves on totally different continents on their expeditions, unable to speak the language where they emerged. The continent had millions of entrances; their specific location was in the northwest of North America.

There were countless dangers he had been warned about. In Lee’s case, he lived near a cave-type entrance populated by small grey imps that set traps and take their prey alive like cattle. His mother and father told him stories about these terrible creatures. They had sharp, tiny claws and could steal directly from a person’s inventory. Albeit weak and small monsters, they were nonetheless clever and deadly.

Gordan tapped Lee’s shoulder. “Hey.” Lee raised his eyebrows, looking up at Gordan. “Uh, it just looked like you were thinking. I just wanted to say the cooldown is over.”

Lee put those thoughts down and responded. “Ah, yeah. Let’s get to it.”

Gordan went on to select skill up.

[Please select a skill and difficulty]

[ Easy

Moderate

Difficult]

He looked over at Lee, glancing down at his wooden sword. “I think we’ll go easy this time around. I’m making an executive decision here.

[Please select a skill to skill up]

“Accounting,” Gordan thought. Once again, the pair were brought to the desert. Slowly, their sight was restored, revealing what was becoming a familiar yet uncomfortable scene. The dunes were as they left them beside one important detail. Beside Gordan was a stack of various materials.

[A quest has arrived]

[Quest: Dig a well]

[Reward: Rotten Rations of X5]

Gordan made a disappointed face at the system message. “I didn’t think it would be this disappointing…” He thought. “Lee, come take a look.

Lee’s eyes widened. “HA! Good luck with that, I’m going out to the graveyard. I’m sure you can hold down the fort.” Lee’s words didn’t match his expression at all. He was holding back a laugh while pointing at the system message.

Gordan stared at Lee. “You mean you aren’t going to help me?” He said desperately. At this point, Lee had already started walking off toward the sword graveyard. Holding up his hand waving, he said, “See ya! I’m on to find a replacement!” He chuckled.

Gordan threw down his machete on the ground. His face was hot, not because of the arid sun but because of the anger that had welled up. “FINE! SEE IF I CARE!” Gordan yelled out to Lee. Once Lee had walked over the dunes so Gordan couldn’t see him anymore, he looked back at the pile of supplies that the system had prepared. He picked up his trusty machete.

“Build a fucking well, huh? Fine, I’ll build your goddamn well.” Gordan’s thoughts followed this pattern as he took inventory. He also took the time to transform his trusty machete into his trusty shovel.

“Stack of planks, a bucket, rope, a pulley.” He muttered.

Gordan thought for a moment. He was trying to imagine building a well with these things, and no matter how he imagined the structure working, it didn’t work. “How am I supposed to build a well with this!” Gordan threw down his trusty shovel into the sand.

“Gordan. Gordan, keep your cool.” He thought. “The system gets what the system wants. Just think.”

At this point, he picked up his shovel once more and started to dig.

Meanwhile, Lee was well on his way to the sword graveyard. The scenery was dull, and the walk felt much longer without company. Lee was left alone, only to listen to his thoughts.

“Haha! Sucker.” Lee smiled. “It’s about time YOU did some physical labor.” He was perhaps too smug about this. But, thus far, Gordan had been avoiding doing the physical work, leaving it up to Lee for the most part. Lee was happy about the break.

The way Lee looked at it, he was just making good on a promise Gordan made on their last trip to the skill-up space—a commitment to find Lee a replacement sword.

Quickly, the joy of not digging a well wore off. Instead, Lee’s thoughts turned back to something he’d been trying to avoid since earlier. His worry for Gordan. He found himself lost in thought, and the trip seemed to pass quickly. Over time, he hadn’t come to any conclusions. Lee was even aware that he was fixating on it, but something about the situation kept bugging him.

Perhaps it was the fact Gordan had little to no combat skills or that Gordan hadn’t revealed his whole plan. Either way, Lee just wanted to feel settled about the whole thing. His anticipation had been killing him during training, and it only worsened since training the sword.

His thoughts seemed endless. Soon enough, he’d come to a high desert hill overlooking the graveyard. All that was left for Lee was to find an appropriate replacement.

Lee slid down the hill in excitement. Upon entering the zone, his excitement turned into a curious and childlike wonder. Each sword seemed to be in good condition. Lee did notice something a tad off about the whole thing. As he drew further into the graveyard, the more he wondered where all these swords came from, the more unsettled he became.