Name : Alexander MacFie
Race : Human
Class : Fighter
Level : 1
HP : 126/126
MP : 38/38
XP : 63.32%
STR : 40
DEX : 30
CON : 43
INT : 21
WIS : 11
MEN : 25
“I guess the name at least is self-explanatory. You might get titles in the future that you can attach to your name, giving you bonuses, but that’s a different thing. Your class, however, is something that you can choose, in as much it is chosen by you. I guess you’re not a spellcaster?”
“No. It says I’m a fighter,” I replied. “Is that good?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with good or bad,” he said with a smile. “Your class is a representation of how you live your life. Since you go to the gym six days a week, it’s only natural you’re a fighter. But fighter is one of the starting classes. Like I said, once you train and gain levels, you’ll become more specialized at certain weapons and fighting styles.”
“So I’ll be able to switch to a different class?”
“Something like that. When the time comes to perform your class-change quest, your class will be upgraded… Again, according to how you live your life and how you fight.”
“So everything revolves around fighting?” I asked, as he nodded at me to stop at a hot dog stand.
“Ragazzo, it’s a very cruel world,” he replied casually as he showed two fingers to the guy running the stand, though I saw his face darken. “It really is dog eat dog.” With this last sentence, he took a bite of the first hot dog he was handed and smiled at his perfectly timed pun.
Under normal circumstances, I would have sent some sarcasm his way, but I had to admit that this whole thing had thrown me off balance.
“As for the rest of the stats, I’m going to assume we’re seeing the same things since our understanding of game mechanics is similar. HP stands for Hit Points or Heart Points, which translates to your general health, so you need to keep your eye on it.”
“What happens if it drops to zero?” I asked, already fearing his response.
“You fall unconscious. And if you’re not healed… well… you die, man.”
“No respawning? That’s brutal.”
“That, my man, is life. No second chances. Unless of course you get resurrected within a certain period of time. Then you do get a second chance. But classes that can revive are a bit rare.”
“What’s the time window for resurrection spells?” I asked, holding my breath.
“A few hours,” he said, to my disappointment. “I’ve read about days, but I’m not sure. In any case, it’s best to make sure you never need to be.”
“Of course. It still sounds crazy that it’s even possible.”
“Well, it’s not without cost. At least at higher levels.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you haven’t yet upgraded to level 20, the Dark Energy won’t let you lose XP if you’re resurrected,” he explained. “But once someone upgrades their class, they’re subject to an XP penalty. They lose a little bit of themselves in the form of XP.”
He paused to give me a chance to take it in before continuing.
“In any case, MP is your Magic Points or Mana Points, whatever you want to call them. This is what you use for spells and battle skills, which you probably haven’t received yet. Then you’ve got your experience points as a percentage of how close you are to reaching the next level. And then the hardcore stuff starts. Let’s turn here—it’s quieter.”
He pointed to a one-way street with old three-story buildings, that was noticeably less busy than the avenue we been walking along so far. Even so late at night, Brooklyn was loud, so the quieter street was welcome.
“So we got six base stats,” he continued. “STR for Strength—”
“What do the numbers mean?” I interrupted. “I’ve got 40 in Strength.”
“They reflect different facets of humankind and your life so far,” he replied. “Mine are slightly different because I’m only half-human and a spellcaster.”
“They’re set forever?”
“No, but they’re not easy to raise,” he said and sighed. “Look, man. First, let’s learn how to stand and then you can try running.”
“Okay,” I replied, realizing I was derailing the conversation.
“Right. So DEX stands for Dexterity, CON for Constitution, INT for Intelligence, WIS for Wisdom, and MEN for Mentality. Each of the base stats affects multiple things. You don’t need to remember all of them, since you can recall them at any time in the status screen, but it would be good to have an idea of what each of them represents.”
“Sure, yes,” I said, almost impatient for the lengthy tutorial to get moving. “Strength is my physical strength, right?”
“Indeed. STR directly affects your Physical Attack which should appear further down in your Battle Stats text box. Actually, let’s sit here so you can call that up as well.”
We took a seat on a wooden bench on the sidewalk overlooking a small park, our backs against the black iron fence of a building. Louie didn’t appreciate the extra stop before reaching home but was soon distracted by a small portion of french fries that had been discarded directly beneath the bench.
Not wasting any more time, I mentally focused on what looked like a tab of text in my peripheral vision.
Battle Stats
Max HP : 126
Max MP : 38
Physical Attack : 4
Physical Defense : 72
Accuracy : 33
Critical : 44
Attack Speed : 330
Magic Attack : 3
Magic Defense : 47
Evasion : 33
Speed : 126
Casting Speed : 213
HP Regen. : 3.8/minute
MP Regen. : 1.1/minute
“Got it,” I said. “Hey, why is my Physical Attack so low? It’s only one point higher than my Magic Attack. And my Attack Speed is by far the largest number.”
“Your muscles are great for the Cosmos, but without a weapon you won’t do much damage in the Apocosmos. As for the numbers, they don’t make a lot of sense now because you don’t have anyone to compare them to. Rest assured that whatever is presented to you is the Dark
