Starting from Zero

Book 1, Chapter 3

Character Creation (Part 2)

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The system notice sounded again. "Now commencing procedure for the second reward."

Two seconds pause.

"The second reward is an extra Main Class and an extra Side Class. A normal character can have one Main Class and two Side Classes, so you will be able to have two Main Classes and Three Side Classes. Please now choose your Main Class. You are a Divine Demon, so you can only choose part of the classes.

You can choose from: Warrior, Spellsword, Dark Spellsword, Dark Fighter, Tamer, Assassin. Tamer is hidden class, it's only available to limited players."

"Can you explain them?" I continued to be careful. I'll listen before making decisions.

"Warriors are pure physical damage dealers, they enjoy bonus to Attack, Defense and HP regeneration speed. Warriors can lately become Knights, then Holy Knights, and Dragon Knights at last.

Spellswords can wield both Physical and Magical attacks, they have bonus to Attack, Defense, Magical Attack, Magical Defense, HP regen, SP regen. But the bonuses are not obvious. Spellswords can later become Spell Lute, then God Warrior, and Half God, at last stage.

Dark Spellswords have bonuses similar to Spellswords, they later become Dark Musicians, then Evil Warrior, and Grand Devil as the last stage.

The attributes of Dark Fighters are similar to Warriors, they can advance into Dark Knights, followed by Ghost Knights, and then Dark Sanctuary Knights.

Tamers rely on Companions and Servants for fighting. They can wield magical attacks, and have bonus on Magical Attack, Magical Defense, SP regen speed, number of Companion slots and Servant slots. They will become Beast Wielders, then Beast Spirits, and finally Beast Masters.

Assassins are also physical damage dealers, they have bonus on Attack, Dexterity, number of Servant slots. Assassins later become Killers, then Hitmen, and finally, Champion Hitmen.

That's all the brief introductions about these classes. Have you decided which one to choose?"

My name is Ziri (the Purple Sun), I should choose something related to Dark. So Warrior or Spellsword is no-go. Dark Spellsword can learn both magic and physics...but is strong in neither, so pass. Assassin, the sneaky type, not my way, pass.

"Excuse me, I can choose two Main Classes right?" I feel that I shouldn't mess with the system so I began to try to be polite.

"That's right!"

"Then I'll choose Dark Fighter and Tamer."

"Main Classes confirmed. Now please choose your Side Classes. The available options are: Blacksmith, Pharmacist, Appraiser, Breeder, Stonemason, Carrier, Mailman. Breeder is a hidden class. Now which three would you choose?"

Same, let's listen first. "Can you tell me about the features?"

"Blacksmiths can use gathering skill to collect special items. They'll become Forgers.

Pharmacists can gather medicines and produce potions, they can become Alchemists.

Appraisers are able to identify items and monsters on their own, they become Appraisal Specialists.

Breeders can catch Companions and Servants on their own, gain a bonus to Companion and Servant slots. They later become Monster Experts.

Stonemasons can build houses, collect gems. They turn into Architects.

Carriers have no speciality, but they will have higher HP and Endurance, they can become Strongmen.

Mailmen do not have any speciality either, but they enjoy Endurance and Dexterity bonus. They later become Intelligence Agents.

That's all about their features and characteristics. Have you decided which ones to pick?"

"I'm using exclusive method again."

"Of course."

"Stonemason makes houses but I don't think that will be needed often. Pass."

"Six classes left, you need to remove three more!"

"Pharmacist makes potions, but I don't have time to wander about in the mountains and forests to look for stuff. Pass."

"Five left!"

"Carrier and Mailman...Their bonuses don't look they will be that much, no use for them. Pass."

"Only Blacksmith, Appraiser and Breeder left. Are you certain you want to choose these three?"

"Right! Confirm!"

"Classes confirmed, now commencing the third rewarding procedure."

Two second pause again. "The third reward is determined. You will gain four random Attribute Point bonuses."

"What is random point bonus?"

"It means these four points will be randomly added to your character when you've finished assigning attribute points, you will not be able to know which attribute will get the bonus beforehand."

"What? So I have to take it as 'no bonus' when assigning points right? Fine. Better than nothing."

"Then please distribute attribute points for you character!"

A status window suddenly appeared before me.

"You have to assign points to the following attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma, Spirit, Constitution. Six in total. Standard character have 30 basic points. Divine Demons have 3 more points as bonus, your have an extra one point bonus for choosing Diving Demon as the first player. So you can assign a total of 34 points. Also please note: Your basic attribute points will be affecting your attribute growth in the future, and you will not be able to change it. In later games, attribute points will be automatically added according to current ratio without asking the player. Have you decided how to assign your points?"

"What do you mean by according to current ratio?"

"Upon each level up, you will gain another 34 points, and these points will be immediately added to your attributes according to your current assignment. For example, if you add 30 Strength now, then each time you level up, your Strength will get 30 points. Or if you added no points to Strength, then your Strength will zero in the future regardless of how many levels you gain."

"I understand now! Can you tell me how do these attributes affect the character? What are the calculations? "

"Sorry! The detailed calculation formulas are for the players to experiment, the company is only allowed to tell them how these points will affect your status in general."

"Tell me the effects then!"

"Strength affects your Carry Weight, Physical Attack, Physical Defense, Endurance.

Dexterity affects your Movement Speed, Spell Speed, Physical Defense, Magical Defense, Physical Accuracy and Magical Accuracy.

Intelligence affects your max Mana points and what kind of magic you can learn. Every magic has Intelligence requirement, your need to reach it to learn the magic.

Charisma affects your number of Companion and Servant slots, and how NPCs will react to you. Character with high charisma can sometimes accept special hidden quests from NPCs. A side note: Charisma is one-shot investment. Further charisma increase will only affect your relationship with NPCs. Your number of Companion and Servant slots, and your appearance, are based on your initial Charisma, and will no longer be affected in the future.

Spirit affects your Magical Attack, Mana regeneration speed, Physical Accuracy and Magical Accuracy.

Constitution affects your HP point, HP regeneration speed, Endurance when moving, and Mana points."

"Oww this is too much! God, give me some time!"

I started to do calculations in my brain.

20 minutes later.

"It's decided. I have 34 points to use right?"

"That's right. 30 as basic, plus 4 as reward, that's 34 in total."

"I'll add 2 Charisma first. It doesn't look much of use."

"You still have 32 basic points."

"I'm not planning to play caster. 3 to Spirit should be enough."

"You still have 29 basic points."

"As a warrior class, I need good attack power and HP. I add 13 to Strength and 8 to Constitution."

"You have 8 basic points left. You still haven't added points to Dexterity and Intelligence."

"A low Dex may cause a lot of misses. I add 6 to Dexterity. And the rest to Intelligence."

"Attribute assignment completed. Now distributing random attribute point reward."

The status bar flashed, and the system notice sounded again. "Randomization result: Charisma."

"Huh? Well shoot! I got the bonus on the most useless attribute?" But it's still acceptable. I get it for free anyway.

"Do I have anything else to set?"

"Creation for your character has been completed. You status are displayed as follows."

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 6

Intelligence: 2

Charisma: 6

Spirit: 3

Constitution: 8

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Attack: 11-16

Defense: 11

Speed: 7

HP: 230

Mana: 30

Companion Slot: 3

Servant Slot: 4

"Not bad! Not very superior but looks above average."

When reading the numbers, the system notice came again. "Now recalculating statuses according to your Main Classes and Side Classes. Status after calculation is as follows."

Another flash. Now I'm getting dizzy!

I opened my eyes. Now this character looks nothing ordinary. It's beyond badass! The first statuses are:

Attack: 16-26

Defense: 14

Speed: 9

HP: 275

Mana: 40

But the last two ones are becoming scary. The Companion slot is now 7, and the Servant slot is 10. Now I'm worrying if the system has a mistake.

"Excuse me, am I supposed to have so many Companion and Servant slots? Is it a mistake?"

"There is no mistake! You have 6 Charisma, Companions slot is equal to 50% of your Charisma which makes it 3. Your Main Class Tamer has a bonus of 1, your Side Class Breeder has another bonus of 1. You are Divine Demon, you have two initial slots. Thus your actual Companion slot now is 7. As for Servant, it is calculated by multiplying your Companion slot with 150% then remove the fraction, which results in 10. Additionally, Companions will level up through battles, but Servants will remain at their level when they're captured. Once decided, a Companion can no longer be changed, please be careful with it. But you can release and change for new Servants freely."

"Thanks! I get it now. Can I start the game?"

"Please wait, you still have one reward not yet claimed. Now processing the last reward."

This time it took half a minute. I thought the system crashed!

"Your last reward is 5 bonus points to the hidden attribute, Luck."

"5 Luck?"

"That's right. "You cannot see this attribute in your status window. But Luck will affect every calculation that involves probability. Each Luck point increases positive probability by 10%, for example, you have 50% more chance than others to discover equipments, you have 50% less chance of losing your equipment upon death, your physical attacks are more likely to use the max damage tier(*) for calculation and critical hits which cause double damage will appear more often. If you hold a shield, then you will have higher chance to block enemy attacks."

"Hell yeah! Brilliant! Among all the randoms, this one is the best! Ahahaha!"

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(*) Damage tier: I don't know if there is a correct word for this. For example someone's base attack "2-10", when attacking, the system will randomly choose a number from 2 to 10 as the base attack calculation factor, sorta like throwing a dice when playing DnD.