Not My System Ch. 01

Separating intelligence and wisdom had always been tricky. I could tell what they did mechanically. It was right there in my character sheet. I focused on intelligence, and a short description of the stat appeared. It affected how much mana I had and how much damage my spells would do. I did the same for wisdom, and, as expected, it affected how quickly my mana would regenerate, but it also had to do with perception. Their effects on my character were apparent, but how would they affect me realistically? If I increased my intelligence, would that make me smarter? I had always looked at it like intelligence was more internal, concerning how much knowledge you could remember and understand, while wisdom was more external. It represented how well you could use that knowledge in a practical sense, common sense, insight, and experience. What have you? My musings were interrupted as the succubus went back to her desk.

"Just one more question?"

"Yeah," she said as she stood behind her desk. She sounded like she was holding back her irritation. I better make this count.

"What kind of world will I be sent to? Are we talking medieval fantasy or a sci-fi space shooter here? Figured it'd be kind of important to take into account when I'm planning my build," I didn't know how extensive this system was, but I didn't want to pick a class that relied heavily on guns and end up in a world where they didn't exist. Although I suppose I could build some and absolutely dominate. Either way, it was something to consider.

"I suppose you're right," she answered after a long sigh. "I don't usually have to give this explanation, but here we are. The people usually coming through here are rapists, murderers, thieves, and criminals. Bad people. This is not strictly a punishment, but it's definitively not a reward." I was getting a bad feeling about this. It looked like my next life wasn't going to be easy. You'd think I'd figured that out already. There was a literal demon here, after all.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'll try to give you the best chance I can, but," she hesitated before continuing. "It's not going to be a cakewalk."

"Okay," I answered slowly. I'd better find every advantage I could, but I would do that anyway. Had anything really changed? Time to get my game face on. "So, what kind of world is it?"

"I'm not sure you're treating this with the gravity it deserves," she said as she crossed her arms under her chest. Effectively drawing my attention to her wonderful breasts, but I wouldn't be derailed.

"Would you prefer I have a breakdown right here and now? Maybe throw in some screaming and crying just to be safe." The demon grew quiet as she contemplated.

"Honestly," she finally said. "I kinda would. I ripped you from your life and am about to throw you into something that could end up being worse than death, and you're actually excited about it." I was, wasn't I? The prospect of living in a whole new world was daunting, to be sure, but it was also an opportunity. The kind a nerd like me could only dream of.

"Would you feel better if I did?"

"Wha... no, maybe. Look, it's not about me. It's about."

"I forgive you," I interrupted her before she go on to blame herself.

"What?" She exclaimed, sounding stunned.

"Yeah, it sounds to me like someone higher up the chain cocked up, and you're paying for it. I wasn't supposed to be there, right?"

"Right," she answered shakily. "The area was supposed to be clear of innocents, but I still killed you." She held on to that fact like a lifeline. As if she repeated it often enough, it would get me to blame her as she blamed herself.

"Yes, but you are trying to make it right. Even before you knew I was a virgin, you were trying to help me. I realized we were both in the wrong place at the wrong time." The demon gaped at me for a moment before she started laughing. It was a nice sound, bubbling up out of her like rain in the desert. It made you want to join in.

"Oh man," she finally said as she calmed down. She held her hands over her stomach as if it would stop her from laughing further. "You really believe that, do you?"

"Yep, you are a good person," the succubus snorted before she sobered.

"You're serious?" I nodded. "You're either really dumb, or you've got the thickest head I've ever seen. Look at me," she pointed at her horns and her tail and indicated her red skin. "I'm a succubus. You don't end up here by being a goody two shoes."

"I did," I interrupted her again, and the woman closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth. That really seemed to have stumped her.

"That's not the same, and you know it. Now stop wasting time and get back to your character sheet." She dismissed me as she picked up an old rotary phone and spun the little dial to make a call.

"You still haven't told me what kind of world I'll be sent to," I said, returning to my original question.

"I'm not strictly allowed to tell you, and I'm not sure I should," she sat down in her plush chair with the phone to her ear, looking like the perfect office lady. If an extremely sexy one.

"Why not?"

"We'll both be in a lot of trouble if you blather something you are not supposed to know. suffice it to say that all the options are more tailored to you than the world itself, but they are balanced and checked to ensure they will still work. Now hush, the calls going through. Oh hey Janice," the demon's tone suddenly changed to an overly friendly one as the call was apparently picked up. "You know that favor I did for you about a decade ago, yeah ah huh, with the orgy. That's the one. I'm going to need that cashed in," I tuned her out as I returned to the mirror.

Okay, so how did I do this? Let's start from the top. As I used the mirror like a touch screen, the first thing from the top was my name. The menu allowed me to change it if I wanted to, but I was pretty happy with my name, and I wasn't sure I wanted to pick a different one. I could come back to it later if I wanted to, but for now, I left it alone. Next was my gender, and again I was pretty happy with being a man, but then came my age. I was twenty-nine years old, and I had serious anxiety about hitting my thirties. It wasn't really about getting older. Well, it was, but in a different way. I wasn't afraid of dying or aging, but I felt like time was slipping through my fingers, so I felt hugely relieved when I found that I could make myself younger. The slider only went back to twenty years old, but that was fine. I watched in fascination as my body grew younger as I locked in my choice. The changes weren't massive, but they were noticeable. I lost some weight, and my skin cleared and smoothed out slightly. Things I hadn't really paid attention to but were now impossible to overlook.

Now for my race. I clicked on the option with more trepidation than I expected. I had only gotten a small taste of what this menu could do, but I knew now that it was real and would most likely be permanent when I was done. Something like changing my race was a big step that should not be considered lightly, That didn't mean I didn't look through all the options.

Human:

Ever since these hairless monkeys left the trees and stood up on two legs, they have been ambitious. Despite their short lifespans, they have managed to achieve much progress in a relatively short amount of time. Adaptive, smart, and numerous humans are one of the most prolific races you'll see in any world. They have managed to carve out an existence for themselves in all but the most inhospitable corners of the world. Although sporting a weak grasp of magic, they have managed to work around this limitation by using various inventions and tools.

Man shall be lifted by his own creation.

+1 to all stats

+2 stat points every level

100 base health

100 base stamina

0 base mana

Adaptable

Okay, not bad for your standard milk toast human. There was not really anything that I hadn't seen before. Humans were generally your standard jack-of-all-trades choice when it came to video games. They could fill pretty much any role but had no real strengths or weaknesses, except for that big fat zero in base mana when it came to this system. That explained my low mana. Picking human would be a good choice if I wanted to boost my lowest stats a bit, but it wouldn't help me take advantage of my above-average wisdom. That had to do with magic. The tools and inventions part was promising, and so was adaptable. I clicked on it, and an explanation appeared.

Adaptable:

You have an easier time adapting to whatever you turn your hand to. Whether it be a new environment or a new occupation, you have little trouble gaining proficiency just as long as you're willing to put in the effort.

+30% faster comprehension speed

I assumed comprehension speed meant how quickly I could gain skills and traits, probably not how fast I leveled up. I didn't know since it didn't offer me a description when I clicked on it. The rest of the races looked promising. There were your standard elves with their many subraces and dwarves with their typical we dug too deep storyline. They were generally good with ranged weapons and got a boost to either dexterity or intelligence, and had a base mana above zero. They were a good fit for me if I wanted to become something like an archer. The idea had some appeal. Barbarians and warriors were cool and all, but this was now real life. Did I really want to be in the thick of things, trading blows up close, getting stabbed on the regular? Yeah, no, thank you, and elves still didn't give a boost to my highest stat, which was wisdom. Dwarves, on the other hand, got a boost to either constitution or strength, making them much more suited to melee combat. But their trait, inventive, would gel perfectly if I wanted to invent guns. The list was huge, so I decided to see if I could narrow it down to what I was looking for. Thinking about what I wanted, the mirror responded. The list was shortened only to show the races that gained wisdom. There were a couple that stood out to me.

Minotaur:

These crosses between man and bull can grow to be well over six feet tall and weigh an average of three hundred pounds. Guardians of their labyrinthine ancestral homes, Minotaurs boast an excellent sense of direction and memory, gaining a boost to wisdom and either strength or constitution. Legendary in ancient times, they have since grown in number to populate the vast grasslands they call their home. They make for great fighters and good priests, and spellcasters.

Fierce and mighty bull of Minos. You have raged and wrought destruction. From whence does your fury stem?

+2 to wisdom every level

+3 to strength/constitution every level

150 base health

150 base stamina

50 base mana

Nack for navigation

Wow, now we're talking. I was tall, but this guy staring back at me through the mirror had to be approaching nine feet. The mirror had to lengthen itself just to accommodate him. The minotaur had a muscular human torso and thick arms that were wider than one of my human thighs. It had a tail and hooves instead of feet. And just look at those stat bonuses. Five whole stats at the start was insane. Then again, humans got six, plus two points for every level, but still. Not to mention that beefy health and stamina, the base mana was a bit meh, but it was still better than a human's. All that I could live with. Being a nine feet tall fortress of a man sounded awesome, but what could become difficult was the fact that it had a cow's head. Or a bull, I guessed, in this case. Just a straight-up, big animal head with horns and all. I was unsure if he could even speak. I was confident they had their own language, but it would make it difficult when interacting with other races. That was something to consider. Were there other races in this world I was being sent to? From the long list and their descriptions, it seemed so. And what about the other people who had been through here? Had they been sent to the same world I was going to? They had lost their memories, but they must have gotten the same options I did.

Merman:

These aquatic creatures have built an advanced civilization at the bottom of the sea. accustomed to the dark of the depths, they use bioluminescence to both light their way and communicate. They can only spend a couple of hours on land without access to water...

And blah blah blegh. I stopped paying attention after reading that last line. There was a reason Aquaman wasn't very popular. Being restricted to water was a crippling drawback, only being able to spend a couple of hours on land. Then again, that was better than what I could do without air. I also may have spotted the perfect race for me.

Changeling:

No one really knows what these mysterious creatures look like. Able to change their physical appearance, a Changeling can be hard to spot. The only foolproof way to know if that is what you're dealing with is to see them take on another shape. You can therefore understand that Changelings are very choosy in who they allow to know their secrets. Lynch mobs and village burnings have made sure of that. Becoming a Changeling will mean taking on some of, if not all of, depending on how powerful you become, the characteristics of whatever or whoever you turn into. Better yet, why not mix and match to your heart's content?

Faces changing like the season, ever wander all alone. No one wants a Changeling child. No one wants you in their home.

+2 to wisdom every level

50 base health

50 base stamina

100 base mana

Chimera

Oh. My. God. This was perfect for me. It meant I didn't have to choose. I could become anything I wanted and still keep my human form for social occasions. I didn't know how it worked. Did I have to touch something to turn into it? In either case, it sounded like my options would open up the more powerful I became. Could I draw from my imagination? The description had already suggested I could combine my forms. Could I make bone claws grow from my knuckles while I turned my skin to steel? Could I stretch my limbs like rubber to punch someone from a distance? Or did it just mean I'd have to use different animal forms? Either way, I was excited. I was notorious in my friend group for starting over in a game when I saw some cool armor I couldn't use or an awesome build I wanted to try. I had to stop myself from becoming a Changeling right here and now. I hadn't even inspected the trait yet.

Chimera:

Store up to two forms (may be increased as you level up) and combine them to make an entirely new form.

Okay, so I could combine forms. Griffins, Sphinxes, Lamya, oh my. That was pretty badass. Hopefully, it didn't mean I could turn into just two different types of animals, but if I wanted to combine races, I would have to use this skill to store them. However, that worked. I was still confident I would stick with Changeling, but I should look through my choices for classes before I committed to anything. They were similar to the race options in that there was your standard fare of warrior, mage, and rogue. Warrior was out right away. As I said, I didn't like the idea of fighting up close and personal. Whether I was fighting monsters or people, but especially if I was up against a person. It was to be avoided at all costs, but sometimes these things happened. I might be attacked by bandits or something, and then what would I do? I'd have to defend myself, but I'd instead run away if I had the chance. Plus, it didn't gel with my stats very well. Warriors relied on strength, constitution, and maybe dexterity if I used a bow.

Anyway, rogues, too, were out. Not because they were bad or anything. I entertained the idea of finding a chameleon or something and using its ability to change the color of its skin. I could effectively turn myself invisible and abuse the hell out of sneak attack. Not to mention that it worked well with my dexterity. It was not my best stat, though, and the description was weird. It mentioned several times that rogues were criminals. That was fine on paper, but this was now my life. Would I have to turn to a life of crime just to be a rogue, or even worse, would the system turn me into one? It probably wouldn't, but I didn't want to take that chance. Mage was the only one of the three that I really considered. How many spells could I learn through racial traits with my ability to shape change? I had seen plenty of powerful spells that seemed to be exclusive to certain races. Would it allow me to keep them if I changed back? It felt like a bit of a gamble, but it would be huge if it paid off. I shelved the idea for now. There were other classes to consider. I filtered the options down again to only include those that had something to do with wisdom. There were many that interested me, like Monk or Paladin, but one class spoke to me.

Sage:

Masters of secret techniques or highly skilled martial arts teachers, a Sage can take many shapes. What unifies them is that they have gone above and beyond to understand the world around them. Given time to observe and study, those who choose to be a Sage can turn their hand to almost any occupation without much difficulty. Turn the skills and abilities of those around you into your own unique class. Uses wisdom to determine how many outside abilities you can use.

+3 stat points every 3rd level

Inspect

Incorporate

One free skill

One free trait

Peasant ensemble

Dagger

Provisions

Sweet, this was basically the Changeling race but in class form. I wouldn't have to make a tough choice regarding my build ever again. It sounded like I could just watch someone use a skill, and I would be able to use it as well. It couldn't be that simple. I still had to take my stats into consideration. If I took something that relied heavily on charisma, it wouldn't be as effective as with the original class. But I was a Changeling, or I would be shortly. I could just turn into a Minotaur and use a strength-based skill before I changed into something like a high elf to blast away with mana. I would never be as powerful as if I had invested in one single path all along, but come on, the possibilities here were endless.

Inspect:

Find out information about your surroundings, whether it be from objects or peeking at people's character sheets. Amount of information depends upon willpower and skill level.

It looked like your standard game-lit skill that every protagonist got. But that didn't mean it wouldn't be helpful or gel damned well with my build. I could use it to find the skills and abilities of others I wanted to try and incorporate into my own class. I stopped wasting time thinking about what could be and locked in my choices. I couldn't forget about my free skill and trait, but that would have to wait.

As soon as I confirmed that I wanted to be a Changeling, my vision turned strange. It sunk to the floor and drifted apart. My body felt strange. I didn't feel like myself. I just felt like sort of a...

"Blob! What the hell's going on?" I wanted to say as I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. I was melting. My body had sagged together into this flesh-colored pile. I could see traces of limbs in there, and my eyes were drifting apart to either side along with the rest of my face. All that came out as I tried to use my melting mouth was a gurgling sound. I wanted to vomit. I didn't get the chance before a message popped up before my eyes.

Synchronization complete. Human form acquired.

And just like that, everything was back to normal. Except for that I was lying on the floor, panting like I'd just had a panic attack, with the succubus staring down at me.

"Changeling, huh? Not a bad choice," she said with an approving nod as she helped me to my feet. I noticed, to my relief, that I was no longer naked.