A ringing bellowed and circled in Logan's head, his ears popping from the pressure of his high-altitude fall. Pushing up with one arm, Logan dug himself out from the crater he now found himself within. “Dirt? Did I fall asleep in the park?” he thought to himself as he pulled on his legs that were somewhat under the ground. Breaking off pieces of dirt and grass, Logan fell backwards, landing on his rear end.

With an exclaimed “ah”, Logan stabilised his now seating position with his arms bracing against the grass.

"What the hell happened?" Logan stared at the crater he had created. It wasn't overly large, but it was quite deep. He started to pat himself down for injuries, but quickly became distracted by the fact that he was no longer dressed in his business attire. Instead, he wore a medieval-style tunic, trousers, ankle-high boots, a leather belt, and fingerless gloves, all in shades of brown and dark green.

"What am I wearing?" Logan asked out loud, bemused at the change in his appearance. "Am I dreaming, or did I get drunk at a Ren Faire?"

He stood up, brushing the dirt staining his clothing a darker brown. Once he was on his feet, a bright yellow object appeared in his vision. He flinched, thinking it was an insect flying at his face, but it didn't come any closer. In fact, it followed his vision like an extra-annoying eye floater, except it was in both eyes at the same time. It appeared to be a little yellow box with a red exclamation point in the middle.

“Shoo”, Logan spoke, as he swatted the warning box with his hand, though instead of pushing it aside his hand phased through it as if it were a hologram. A second passed as the image stabilised, a “ding” noise sounded and the exclamation box enlarged into a larger window, similar to the countless ones Logan had been looking at on his PC.

“PC has awoken, does Logan Hall wish to have an explanation on the S.Y.S.T.E.M or would he prefer to skip this tutorial”, the window had text written across it in a quick manner, Logan's eyes glossing over the text. “The hell is this?” Logan thought, the window changing as he was questioning the situation.

“PC has shown confusion…”

“Adjusting to mental state…”

“Logan Hall, you have been transported to the world of Avanar, we have been assigned to you as your personal S.Y.S.T.E.M. A tutorial is prepared for the basics if you want it”, the window responded to Logan's thoughts, continuing as he finished reading each sentence, following his eyes as he tried to look away.

“A system? Some sort of program or something, but why is it following my gaze? I don't even own a VR headset, the frame rate is too good for that anyway”, Logan thought to himself, trying to puzzle what was going on in his head. “Wait. Avanar? A different world?” Logan started to shake all over, trying to wake up from a dream he slapped his face. Recoiling from the slap, his head swayed to the left, at which point another alert popped up.

“Inflicted 1 damage to self”, a daunting text read on a new window. “This… I think it may be the real deal. I'm not asleep, I'm somewhere new”, Logan started to come to terms with this event not being a passing thing, but something long-term.

A deep-seated fear started to form in the pit of his stomach, memories of his life on Earth and fears of leaving all he had behind. His father, friends, even the couple he lived next door to who invited him to barbeques. His thoughts raced, wracked with contempt and fright. Before he could explode into emotion though a wave of magical fog rolled over his mind like a blanket of protection. He didn't totally forget it all, but they became a background worry. Logan both knew of this fog, but also did not know of it, accepting its presence as the norm.

“Yeah, give me the system tutorial”, Logan spoke out loud, his gaze stuck on the windows starting to fill his vision, though he couldn't stop looking at them if he wanted. One after another the windows disappeared, replaced with a new one, text scrolling across it in front of Logan.

“S.Y.S.T.E.M: Solo-Yielding Statistics and Technical Emulation Manual. We are designed to house all information pertinent to your person, as well as acting as a storage medium for any data gathered through traversal and learning. We are assigned to only you, so others cannot access us no matter what they try”, Logan read over the dialogue box as it typed out all the information, trying to absorb it all, when he was done the box wiped clean and continued.

“We can give you any information about a topic, merely speak out loud or think the command ‘S.Y.S.T.E.M’ and then a query topic, for example, ‘S.Y.S.T.E.M Spellthief’ will have us open up the description for your class. If you have no immediate queries, you can open up your status screen by speaking or thinking the command word ‘Status’”, as Logan read over the windows of text his assumption of whatever this being felt backed up, it showed signs of being artificial in its responses.

“So, I can speak or think commands? Does that work for all of my commands with you, System?” Logan spoke, falling back to his instincts to vocalise his communications.

“Processing question… Yes”, the window replied.

“System, can you explain to me what's happening? How did I get here, why even?” Logan thought, hoping his inner-talk could reach the program.

“You have been selected. You were taken from your world and brought to Avanar. Any further information is locked behind your Intelligence stat, which determines our functions and database contents”, the window responded almost immediately.

“Well, no luck there. I'm alive and well, I guess. Let's do what this System says, maybe I'll get answers at the end of its tutorials”, Logan's thoughts raced through several paths, collecting himself, Logan resolved to reach the end and possibly get back home. “Status”, Logan thought, in an authoritative tone, in his head.

As his command went through, not even a second passed before a new window popped up, this one containing more detailed information in a nicer format. Instead of just blocked text it had some line and colour designs, possibly trying to make a pretty picture of Logan's status.

While the status window gave a lot of information, it also caused so many more questions from Logan. He could at least understand his name and race, those were straightforward, Spellthief was a bit harder though Logan had played plenty of games in his life to get the gist of it. Remembering his slap, the 7/8 HP made sense though he wondered if that was a high or low amount. Lacking MP was concerning, as he was a “spell” thief, though seeing he had spell slots had him connect the dots that he used slots instead of MP and that the statistic must be there as a placeholder or to note he lacked MP.

“System, Spellthief”, Logan thought, being more direct with the program now he had spoken to it a few times.

“Spellthief. Role: DPS, debilitate, and spellcasting. HP: 8 per level. MP: Spell Slots. Description: A combination ‘hybrid’ class of Rogue and Wizard. Utilizing both speed and magic to take down foes at close or long-range. Due to a split focus, the Spellthief has a slower progression than the 2 component classes but makes up for that with a wider array of abilities and tactics. Unlike a normal Wizard, the Spellthief does not gain additional slots due to a high Intelligence. As a PC class, the Spellthief has an Ultimate Move known as Essence Absorption, which allows them to absorb the life of a foe to gain more power. While it has a wide array of moves, the Spellthief does not learn any healing spells and their spell list is much shorter than that of a Wizard, focusing more on direct damage, movement and teleportation, buffs and debuffs, alongside some summoning magic”, the window popped up as usual, though pushing Logan's status screen to the side to read them together.

“So, a slow burner class? I better be careful. I should learn how magic works in this world, if it's close to the games I've played I could get a handle on it quickly”, Logan, making mental notes of the information given to him, carried on in his investigation.

“System, spells”, Logan thought to his program. Unlike the previous command, this one brought up 2 windows with different information about spells, possibly the command used wasn't specific enough.

“Magic: A powerful tool for denizens of Avanar though rare in occurrence within civilized races. Only 5% of the population can utilize magic, with the distribution being 2% Sorcerers, 2% Devouts, and 1% Wizards. Magic comes in the form of spells, which each require a command to be spoken to activate, many spells can be altered with ‘Alterations’ these are listed in your ‘Spellbook’.”

“Spells require either MP (Mana Points) or spell slots to use, the level of the spell is also the required MP or slot as fuel for activating the spell. All MP and slots are recovered after a night's rest, though both can also be recovered with potions and specific skills.”

“Magic can pierce most defences of creatures, bypassing both Damage Resistance and Damage Reduction unless they inflict weapon-based damage. However, magic can still be avoided by hiding behind obstacles or dodging the projectiles”, the first window was rather large, detailing plenty of information on magic.

“Spells Known:

1st - Flame, Lightning.

Alterations Known:

Shot.” The second window was smaller, giving the options to look at the individual parts on a new window due to the words looking similar to the hyperlinks that Logan was used to.

“Only two spells huh? Well, I am only level 1. If I am a hybrid class I probably start with fewer spells”, Logan surmised as he moved away from the crater, slumping down against a nearby tree.

Looking around his immediate vicinity, trying to rest his eyes and his mind from the words of the windows, though the windows continued to follow his gaze, Logan saw he was in a small clearing amongst a forest of sorts. Tall brown-bark trees with lush green canopies. While the leaves were numerous and thick, creating a lovely green picture, the sky could be seen up on high. A large expanse of clear light-blue with slowly shifting white clouds.

“If I wasn't living in a city, this would probably look real close to the countryside. Well, I guess ‘lived’ is the proper term now”, Logan thought, collecting himself and trying to accept he was no longer close to home. “System, show me Flame and Lightning, Shot while you're at it”, Logan commanded his program.

Three windows popped up with the information that Logan asked for, reading over it a few times Logan's eyes darted from left to right, his head shifting a bit to follow the windows when they were being unruly with his vision. “Quite detailed, System, what does ‘Minor’ damage mean?”

“Minor damage is the second lowest form of damage amount from spells, it normally includes a base value and then adds in your casting class level and a portion of your casting attribute.”

“If it’s any higher than my knife… that damage could kill me in 1 hit if it rolled high enough! My Intelligence was only a 10, so I won’t add much from that, but if I failed that Agility save, I'd be dead from max, that's if 0 HP means death here”, Logan was quite shaken in his mind, cursing at the fact he slapped himself earlier.

“System, can you make these windows stop following my gaze? Have them just in set positions around my body?” Logan asked the program within his head.

“Preference saved, information windows will now no longer follow Logan's eyesight”, another window popped up, confirming Logan's command. Testing it out immediately, Logan turned his head and to his delight the windows stayed where they were, allowing him to look around without obstructions. Wanting to see how they reacted further, Logan stood up and started to walk around, the windows stayed in the same spot where they appeared, if he turned around they were at the back of his head as well as following him as he moved away. “That'll help when I need to look at something other than windows”, Logan thought, being able to admire the locale a bit more.

“I better not wander too far till I get this all sorted out, considering my magic can possibly one-shot me. System, show me Essence Absorption and Spell Absorption”, Logan moved back to the tree he was sitting against, getting back to the floor to read further into his abilities.

Two windows appeared, holding the most text so far of all the previous windows. Logan read over the windows for a while, making sure he understood them fully. “So this is where the ‘thief’ comes into play. I'm not overly fond of the killing aspect of Essence Absorption, if it comes down to it could I do that? Is it right if they tried to kill me first? Another hurdle I have to overcome when the time comes. Those percentages at the bottom of Spell Absorption are most likely the probability that the skill is successful against those spell levels, 1st has a pretty high chance but it drops off a cliff the higher spells I try it against”, Logan crossed his arms, formulating plans or events where he could use his class skills.

“System, what is mastery?” Logan asked his program. A new window appeared, removing the previous windows, except for his status, as the program decided Logan had his fill of those.

“Mastery is your efficiency in using a certain skill or spell, you gain mastery when you do tasks repeatedly that include the associated skill or when studying the spell. For example, climbing a tree will grant you mastery for your Climb skill, or reading a magical tome on Flame will grant you mastery in that spell. Limitations are in place for each task, halting ‘easy’ actions from granting too much mastery. With enough mastery you increase your tiers in the skills and spells, granting additional effects, higher chances of effect, or increased effects”, reading over the new window carefully, Logan's head was filled with grinding tactics he used in older RPGs.

“So I am rewarded for training essentially, I wonder if it's quick to gain. I don't plan on staying here for too long though, so I may not see any tier increases. System, what would happen to Flame if it became tier 2?” Logan realised he was getting too comfortable in this situation, he didn't know how hostile this world was, nor if there were any detrimental effects for staying here too long.

“We cannot give you details on how any particular tier will affect your skills and spells”, a window popped up, giving a somewhat harsh reply, one of the few negative responses that Logan had been given. “No luck there, this System has limiters in place, maybe if I increase my Intelligence I can get more info later, speaking of. System, explain my attributes”, Logan was displeased but he sought to make the best of the situation.

“Strength defines the damage of your physical attacks as well as your accuracy, it affects any action that would use strong muscles like lifting objects.

Agility defines your damage with ranged weaponry and swift blades as well as your accuracy, it affects any action that would require lithe movements.

Constitution defines your maximum HP, it affects any action that requires a resilient body.

Intelligence defines the damage you deal with your spells, it affects any action that would require intellect, at certain intervals it also increases the information and depth of your S.Y.S.T.E.M, for other classes it would affect maximum MP and additional spell slots.

Wisdom defines the number of additional skill points you are awarded, it affects any action that would make use of a tactical mind.

Charisma defines your ability at interacting with NPCs and creatures, it does not affect other PCs.”

“You currently have 6 attribute points to spend amongst your attributes”, another large window with text appeared, leaving ample time for Logan to wrap his head around it all.

“Very similar to games I've played, not a particular one comes to mind though, it seems to mash designs of several pieces of media. Increasing Con would put my mind at ease with my HP but if I increased Int I could be able to one-shot enemies that aimed to damage me. It doesn't look like I have to distribute these points immediately but it's probably best I do it right now”, Logan's plans continued to get more complex as more information was given to him from his System. “System, what are the HP values of the other classes?” Logan was inspired, wondering if he could get a good base for his current standing against other classes.

“From lowest to highest: Sorcerers and Wizards have 6 HP, Devouts have 8 HP, Rogues have 10 HP, Fighters have 12 HP, and finally Knights have the highest at 14 HP. These values are given at each level and are adjusted based on your Constitution attribute. To compare, a Spellthief has 8 HP”, continuing to lack much in the way of emotion, another window popped up to answer Logan's query. “System, what are NPCs and do they have access to the Spellthief class?” Logan realised something the System had said earlier, it had differentiated NPCs and creatures.

“An NPC is a Non-Player Character, these people have lived on Avanar for their entire life, they have no connection to a S.Y.S.T.E.M nor are they chosen by a higher power like a PC. NPCs are restricted to the classes: Devout, Fighter, Knight, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard. The class of an NPC is normally given at birth though some can train into them from being classless”, the window replied, though this one sparked a bit of dread in Logan and another question. “System, are there other PCs? And what is a PC?” Logan was hoping to find others in his situation, maybe he could find more answers that way.

“We cannot divulge any information about other PCs. PCs are Player Characters chosen by the ones above and below to enter into this world, any reasonings for this are not within our current database”, the window responded, Logan thought “That isn't a no, if anything it kinda seems like there are others, just that my System isn't allowed to tell me”.

“Since I have 6 points available I could put 2 each into Agility, Constitution, and Intelligence. If I am a hybrid, my stats should reflect that too. Just have to pray they also increase with level. Status”, Logan's thoughts slowed down a bit, he hoped to become more methodical in his early stages to not make too many mistakes. The status window popped back up, and to test it out further Logan pressed onto the window with his finger, tapping the three attributes he wanted to increase two times each. Just like a normal touchscreen, the attributes took his input and changed to 11 then 12. “Huh, neat.”

A smaller text window popped up in front of Logan's status screen, “Confirm attribute distribution?: Yes. No.” Giving a nonchalant keypress, Logan confirmed with a tap of the yes option. As the smaller window disappeared Logan's status screen shook slightly as it calculated the changes, his HP seeing the biggest shift as it went from 7/8 to 11/12. “So 1 point into Con is worth 2 HP, seems a good trade considering my class HP”, Logan felt rewarded for his choice immediately.

With so much information thrown at him in a short while Logan started to feel exhausted, at least mentally. “It's like being back at university”, he thought to himself as he stood up once more, starting to walk around the clearing a bit to look for any noticeable paths.

“The last tutorial portion is that of skills, are you ready to complete it?” another window appeared without prompt as Logan paced the area. “Finally, I can get out of this forest without windows assaulting me. Sure, System, skills”, Logan thought, hoping to finish his introductory training.

A final window appeared, this one being the biggest so far, larger than his status window. Unlike the other windows, the skills window had 2 tabs at the top left reading “Class Skills” and “Skills of Life”. The first window, that being class skills, had a multitude of darkened hexagons with images within each one, some having lines branching off to other hexagons. Two of the hexagons were lit up, Logan quickly recognising them as Spell Absorption and Essence Absorption, neither had any linked skills. “That's a lot of skills”, he thought.

As Logan looked over the class skills window, another one popped up in front. “Class skills require you to spend skill points to unlock, or learn them via the completion of class tomes. Many of these skills improve the innate abilities of your class whereas others are crucial to playing your class efficiently. As a hybrid class, you have access to a few skills from both Wizard and Rogue, alongside special skills relating to Spellthief. You can immediately improve a skill by 1 tier by spending a skill point on that class skill, though many can progress with training and repeated uses”.

“I'll have to give this a thorough read later on, but it's a bit much to start, let's have a look at the other tab”, Logan pressed the other tab to swap over to it. The window swiped to the left, replacing class skills with skills of life. Similarly, this tab contained countless darkened hexagons with images, another window popping up in front again.

“Skills of Life, often shortened to SKoL, are skills relating to everyday life skills. This encompasses crafting skills, movement skills, and other skills not directly combat or class-related. You can unlock SKoLs by undertaking a task that would use said skill, for example climbing a tree would unlock the Climb skill. If you cannot figure out the activation method you can instead spend a skill point to unlock the skill. Unlike class skills, you cannot increase your tiers of mastery in SKoLs by spending additional skill points. Once a SKoL reaches its highest tier, you are refunded your spent skill point to unlock it if one was used”, Logan read over the window, feeling a bit relieved “Lenient, I like it, though it is a long-term investment and reward it seems”.

Just like the class skills, Logan felt a bit overwhelmed for choice “I can't make a decision on the spot, it doesn't seem like they are going to be required right now, I'll hold off until something comes up or I can sit down to read over a few of these”, Logan thought as he tried to close the window with his arm, instead, he only pushed it around or phased through it. “System, can you add closing buttons to windows? An X in the top-right or something”, Logan commanded his System, and immediately an X appeared where he required it.

“User setting confirmed, all windows will now contain an exit button in the top-right. You may also command that windows be closed by stating which window or all windows”, a small window popped up and disappeared as soon as Logan read it.

“That'll work better with me since I'm used to closing windows like that, though it may look a bit strange so I should try and think the commands rather than wave my hands around since the System said others can't access my information. System, can other people see these windows?” Logan thought, and was quickly replied with a small window “Only you can see your windows, Logan”.

“Beginning tutorial complete, archiving information. If you wish for a refresher all you need to do is ask. Displaying quest window”, a short window appeared, Logan was a bit annoyed at this point with another window coming at him, though when it disappeared the following window was a bit more upsetting.

“So, I AM going to get commanded, no leisurely journey back home. Surviving is pretty simple, at least I don't have to go through hoops to start. That failure outcome is concerning though, I mean if I don't survive I die anyway, but that must mean that I can actually die here and the way it's worded seems permanent… System, what happens when I die here?” Logan dreaded the response his System would give.

“If a PC dies within Avanar an ally can revive them with magic, but if your corpse is left for more than 7 days you will stay dead and have your consciousness terminated. Death occurs when your HP reaches a negative number equal to -10 or your class level, whichever is highest”, a window returned, without any signs of remorse. “Shit, this is real. I could die here”, Logan felt sick to his stomach, of course, he could have died to disease or by getting hit by a truck back in his world, but now he was in a world probably full of monsters or people who wanted to gut him for his equipment. It all felt too close to him now. His knees felt weak, but enough strength was held within them to allow him to run to a nearby tree to throw up at its roots.

“System” Logan hacked out, trying to speak through the vomit in his throat, “System, how likely is it I will die here?” he continued to speak out loud, losing any reasoning for thinking his commands and questions.

“Quite, you are currently in a forest, monsters tend to prowl amongst foliage or stalk prey species”, again a window responded without remorse, basically confirming that Logan was in danger. “People!” Logan thought, “I need to find a safe place!” his mind raced, going into a self-preservation frenzy.

“System, where is the nearest town? Do I have a map at all?” Logan began to speak louder, not exactly shouting but not hiding his voice either.

“You do not know of any nearby settlements, opening your current map”, a window countered, with another larger window popping up, though its contents were bare. A wide-open and empty space of dark-blue, and in the middle of it all was a speck of green and a golden dot, a key on the right of the map noted that the dot represented Logan. “Fat lot of good that does, it just shows the forest I am in!” he cursed in his head.

“I need to get to higher ground, but there's just a bunch of trees around”, Logan thought, looking around for any signs of civilization. Finally, his head centred on the tree in front of him, its branches creating a path to its top, his brain clicked as he remembered his days as a youth climbing trees as well as hoping that because climbing is a skill it’d be easier in this world. Almost jumping to the tree, Logan lept for the first nearby foothold he could find and tried to climb the tree.

Finding purchase in a small nook of the tree, Logan pulled upwards, kicking his foot into the side of the tree to make another dent. As he tried to climb, a window popped up to the side noting he had gained the Climb skill, but he ignored it as he shouted “Close it damn it”. It was slow, but Logan was able to ascend the tree, it was almost as if it was designed for climbing. Slipping here or there caused Logan to exclaim out loud “Shit! Fuck!”.

With his anger and fear growing he moved his hand to his sheathed dagger, flicking off the strap that kept his blade still he swung his dagger out and stabbed it into the tree's trunk. With the aid of a knife, Logan climbed faster, finding branches hastened him further, his goal set as the top of the tree came closer and closer.

Several minutes passed as Logan climbed the tall tree, finally, he had reached its canopy, a mess of branches and leaves, but each branch was a great platform to push upward. Forcing his way up, his head erupted through a brush of leaves as he could finally peer above the tree. Overseeing the scenery, Logan saw that the forest he was within wasn't overly large, possibly a mile or two, around the forest were open plains of grass and from here he could make out what seemed to be a dirt road.

Following the road with his eyes, Logan could see smoke rising into the skies off in the distance. “There, it's quite far, but I could hunker down there. All I need is some safety to formulate a better plan, get better gear, or maybe team up with someone. All I could wish for would be another PC, someone who can answer more of my questions that the damn System can't”, Logan saw salvation, if for a moment he was happy again, but he saw quite the journey was before him.

Sweat covered Logan, not having climbed a tree since he was a teenager and never one this tall. He hadn't realised it just yet, but his body could do much more than it could back in his world, though with fear and adrenaline filling his insides he had other matters to worry about. Making a mental note of the direction, Logan started to descend the tree, using his knife more liberally as the descent felt more dangerous than going upwards.

Minutes passed as Logan landed on the floor again with a thud, he quickly sheathed his dagger, not noticing the scratches and damage he had dealt it from the climb. Turning around he motioned his hands in a sort of directing manner, pointing them both in the direction of the path “That way”, he thought, starting his jog.

As he began to make haste out of the clearing and into the thicker forest, his vision became tunnelled into one goal, so much so he didn't pay as much attention to his surroundings. Leaving the clearing, the trees hid much more than messy dirt and grass floors, it hid the brown-furred creature with saliva-covered fangs and piercing grey eyes that had set on its next meal, one that was covered in sweat leaving quite the scent behind.

--- *** ---