Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Darius pursed his lips when Caesar went silent. This… entity's… voice, who had apparently also been the one to greet him into this world, sounded like an enthusiastic robot from a cartoon series, or more accurately like a voice actor being made to speak for such a happy-go-lucky robot that participated in commercials.
However, when it had threatened Darius, its tone had become cold, dripping with malice, making Darius aware that Caesar was not there to be his friend, but merely someone who would watch and probably judge his actions. Still, its outburst had been effective enough to make Darius heed the warning not to utter the Goddess' name in vain.
Well, it was time to deal with what his robotic handler had revealed to Darius, in other words, to check out what sort of 'system' he had received. He had watched a few anime when babysitting the younger generation, so he wasn't totally ignorant on that matter.
'Hm, let's see. Those protagonists normally had to summon it within their minds in those shows- ah!'
Darius smiled when he saw a few prompts appear before him and inspected them one by one.
[Supreme System initializing… scanning host… assessing capabilities, potential, and history… done.]
[Welcome to the Supreme System version 1.0! As this is the first iteration of this system, there might be a few bugs and issues with the mechanics herein. Please look forward to occasional updates that will make the symbiosis more stable!]
[Supreme System main menu
A. Character
B. Inventory
C. Database
D. Statistics
E. Settings]
Darius nodded. At first glance, it appeared no different from a generic and simplistic system in those forms of media. He had a hunch what each option entailed, but just to be sure, he did the smartest thing he could; he opened the Settings menu. Here, he saw another list, consisting of hundreds of different options and choices.
Darius systematically went through each one of them carefully and changed those he felt would help make his life more comfortable. These settings didn't allow him to turn off hunger or thirst, but mostly made the system's accessibility more streamlined for users.
After that, he opened the Statistics menu, gazing at the sheer endless lines of numbers and categories. 'Amount of beasts killed', 'Amount of people killed', and the like. Darius found that he could even break it down into subsets, like the number of men, women, or children he killed, nobles, peasants or royalty he met, and more.
Of course, the numbers weren't limited to killing only, as there were many more fields. As one could expect, most of the numbers here were a solid 0 since he had come into being from nothingness less than an hour ago.
Darius left this menu and went over to the Database section. It was a typical encyclopedia-like menu where there were labels for characters, places, items, and miscellaneous knowledge.
It was quite empty right now, as one would expect, but there were a few entries, like one for Vena - Goddess of Games and Recreation, Caesar, and even the Supreme System itself. Darius checked them out, only to find barebones details.
He smiled while scratching his chin. It seemed like there was no magic to it, all that he himself consciously knew was recorded into the database. He couldn't look at a person and know their entire backstory it seemed.
Next, Darius opened his Inventory. He noticed that it was a grid-like space with a black background and white borders. There were 50 rows and 10 columns, meaning that he had a total of 500 squares.
As Darius had learned from the settings menu, he could adjust the stack size between 9, 99, and 999, but this would lower or increase the number of rows and columns to make up the difference.
He naturally chose stacks of 999 because they made the number of rows and columns compact. When he tried to set the stack size to 9, he had to scroll with his mind for 5 minutes before he got from one end to the other.
Darius noticed that there was one item in the first row of his inventory. He 'clicked' on it with his mind and was presented with its details.
[Beginner's Giftpack - Chest
Durability: MAX
Description: This chest contains core items essential for a newcomer to the world of Faust.]
'Well, seeing as Caesar and Vena were kind enough to deem me worthy of such a thing, I should probably open it.' Darius thought with amusement.
[You have opened the Beginner's Giftpack!
Received: 1 Map Interface Upgrade, 1 Small Database Infoblock, 1 Class Initiator (Supreme Quality), 1 Class Catalyzer(Supreme Quality), and 1 Class Actualizer (Supreme Quality).]
Darius obviously understood what the first one was for, and was able to make a guess at the second and third, but the last two sounded a bit… 'unique'. Whatever the case, he decided to check all of them one by one.
[Map Interface Upgrade - Upgrade
Durability: MAX
Description: Add a world map function to the Supreme System, as well as a mini-map.]
[Small Database Infoblock - Miscellaneous
Durability: MAX
Description: Add a single block of information pertaining to the structure of the surrounding land, the nearby populated areas, and the general laws of the world.]
[Class Initiator - Miscellaneous
Durability: MAX
Description: Select through a list of suitable classes that are generated by the system.]
[Class Catalyzer - Miscellaneous
Durability: MAX
Description: Randomly generate a special tool to assist you in the usage of your main class.]
[Class Actualizer - Miscellaneous
Durability: MAX
Description: Randomly generate a special ability to assist you in the usage of your main class.]
Well, that made things straightforward. Darius postponed activating any of them as, as he had not fully inspected all the details of the Supreme System yet.
Finally, he opened his Character menu and was elated to discover it was simple and easy to understand for just about anyone.
[Name: Darius Stone
Race: Human
Class: None
Subclass: None
HP: 49/49
MP: 21/21
Level: 1
Experience: 0/100
Strength: 7
Agility: 7
Endurance: 7
Intellect: 21
Charisma: 15
Luck: 15
AP: 0
SP: 0
Skills: None
Spells: None]
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Darius tapped his lip calmly. He then called out to Caesar: "Could you explain to me the mechanics of this character sheet? How are stats calculated? How do I increase them?"
{Hello, Darius Stone!}
{To answer your first question, the character sheet is the quantization of your very being. Everything about you calculated and reduced to numbers to give yourself a chance to grasp your qualities as well as faults, so that you may improve on them throughout your journey in the world of Faust!}
{However, they are not just numbers that can be shifted about or played with as you please! They represent your realized potential put in numerical form and will play a vital role in your journey!}
{Strength denotes your physical power in all direct applications, including the ability to lift heavy items, striking power with a blade, or the maximum pulling power when nocking an arrow.}
{Agility denotes your physical speed when moving, attacking, or taking similar actions. It also has the added function of stabilizing your coordination and control. For example, if you reach a value of 500 points in Agility, you will always adapt perfectly to your increased speed.}
{Endurance denotes your physical resilience and vitality. This encompasses your resistance to curses, diseases, or to put it simpler all forms of bodily harm direct or indirect. It determines your general physical stamina, as well as how virile/fertile you are.}
{Intellect denotes your mental power and resilience. This includes defense against psychic manipulation, hypnosis, or special debilitating effects affecting the mind. At the same time, it decides how strong your own psychic, magical, or divinatory powers are. Naturally, it also denotes how intelligent you are as well as your perception of the world around you!}
{Charisma denotes your physical attraction and verbal prowess. This includes matters of the seduction of the opposite or same sex, infatuation, and the general emotional reaction you will receive from those around you. It influences your ability to persuade, negotiate, swindle, and deceive.}
{Luck corresponds to the wheel of fortune. The higher your Luck, the greater the chances of you ending up with exceptionally good results when performing any tasks. Among other things, it might influence your chances of finding good loot from treasure chests, the quality of your loot drops, and fortuitous encounters in your daily life.}
{Each stat is important, and no one stat can claim to be the best! Allocate your stats carefully and do not mistake this reality for a game!}
{To answer your second question, you should know that the average stat points for an adult in this world are 10 in each field!}
{Your Health is calculated by Strength x Endurance, whereas your Mana is calculated by Intellect x Level.}
{In the world of Faust your progress gets measured in levels, with levels 1-20 denoting the Amateur stage, level 21-40 denoting the Journeyman stage, 41-60 denoting the Adept stage, 61-80 denoting the Master stage, and lastly, 81-100 denoting the Grandmaster stage!}
{As you've been told, beyond that lies the Supreme stage, but reaching there will be quite the herculean task. Your suffering in reaching the Adept stage alone is sure to provide the great mistress Vena immense amusement, so we look forward to it!}
{As for your final question, you will be granted 5 Ability Points (AP) and 3 Skill Points (SP) after every level up at the Amateur stage. You will be able to add AP to any of your stats at any time. Similarly, SP can be added whenever you desire to strengthen any one of your skills.}
{You might find methods to increase your AP or SP outside of leveling up through special means, with SP being even harder to acquire for obvious reasons.}
{Due to your Supreme System, there are only 3 ways for you to learn a new skill. The first is through teaching others, or by being taught by a knowledgeable party. The second is through self-creation/training, essentially by developing a new field of your own or practicing an established one satisfactorily.}
{The final method is through skillbooks.}
{As for skillbooks, I will not elaborate on it for now because it is a special feature of the Supreme System. Do note, that skills can only be leveled up with Skill Points and nothing else, no matter how skilled or knowledgeable you might be in that regard.}
{Is there anything else, you don't understand?}
"Could you furnish me with details of the class system?"
{The Class system is split into main classes and subclasses. Your main class will grant you new abilities once you enter a new stage, from Amateur to Journeyman, Journeyman to Adept, and so on.}
{On the other hand, your subclass won't be affected. Additionally, skills are harder to learn by default.}
"You've spoken about leveling up frequently, but have yet to tell me how exactly one acquires experience points?"
{Most classes acquire experience points through killing any living - or unliving - being based on their level. The received amount is fixed, regardless of whether you kill someone or something with ease or through ingenuity and suffering.}
[The value of experience points will solely be based on the difference between your current level compared to the level of your target. Experiment on your own to find the difference in value!]
{Experience points can also be received through special means later on.}
{And this concludes the complete tutorial on the Character menu of the Supreme System. Is there anything you don't understand?}
Darius shook his head. Caesar had been suitably detailed in his explanations, where even the densest of fools should be able to understand and remember the details.
{Then I shall take my leave!}
Darius focused on the Character menu before him. So, if the standard was 10 points in each stat, then Darius was slower and weaker than every living adult … which was kinda obvious since he was still an early teen.
However, his Intellect was monstrous at 21 points, more than double the standard amount for an adult. Then again, he felt it was appropriate given his intelligence and special mental acuity that had been deemed heaven-defying on Earth.
He had always known he was smart, but before today he had never had a specific number or standard to quantify it or contrast it against that of others.
His Charisma was 1.5x that of the average man, which was also understandable given his prowess as a businessman. Not only that, but Darius was averagely handsome as well, so it was fine.
The most surprising thing to him was his Luck which was higher than the average man's. He smirked and thought that it was actually quite natural.
How else could it be that he had lived the life of a villain and got a chance to reincarnate?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Kotario
Kotario
This chapter had some details retconned.
Initially, Caesar gave Darius a 24-hour period to ask any questions but he never used it in the upcoming chapters because he wanted to find things out for himself.
Of course, that is the in-story logic. The meta-logic was that starting a story with 10+ chapters of non-stop exposition would be unwise.
However, this is the internet and there are all sorts of characters online. Many found offense here and labelled Darius as a fool for not using this chance.
Instead of arguing endlessly, I just removed it.
Also, pay attention to the details concerning stats calculations and the like, they're important.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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