Joe focused on the first heading, and it expanded while pushing the other off to the side.

System Help

As the bottom caste, humans may access only basic system help and only after calibration.

"Oh, go sit on a stick!"

Joe didn't swear much, and it was a moderate outburst for him to go even this far. He had suspected from the previous messages that they were in a bad place, but to not even have help until after calibration seemed excessive. Shaking his head and muttering about places where the system could put parts of itself, Joe focused on his other option.

Calibration Help

Calibration (1/4+)

You must choose a door to enter. You may leave the rift after three trial doors have been completed.

Door symbols:

sword - combat

staff - mana/magic

hammer - crafting

That was it. No matter how many keywords Joe threw out or how many exasperated statements he made, there was no further movement. He tried staring at each word individually for a five-count, but that did nothing either. Eventually, he dismissed it and stared at the doors once again.

Despite his exasperation, his time had been far from fruitless. Even getting this tiny amount of information was priceless to him at the moment. Joe's annoyance came from the hints and outright statements that he'd have more information if he weren't in the bottom class. It wasn't even about fairness, but just that it seemed needlessly cruel. It was worse than a pay to win game on a phone, not that Joe had either for the last year.

There were plenty of options here. Joe knew he didn't want more combat if he could avoid it. He hadn't joined the local enforcers or even his neighborhoods defenders. He'd kept his head down and quietly worked hard to avoid fights whenever possible. Crafting might be something he would do well with, but he had no idea what that could entail. It wasn't like he knew much past the basics of anything but cooking. Not to mention he was rusty as all get out as quality ingredients were harder and harder to find as time went on.

Magic, on the other hand, was a huge draw. He'd read plenty of high fantasy books before the world changed and loved the idea of having true magic. The problem was, would it train him in magic or grade him in it. If it was the former, then this was a huge opportunity. If it was the latter, then he was probably screwed. The risk versus reward was pretty high, and nothing he had seen so far led him to believe that whoever was in charge of his new reality had a benevolent streak. A decision had to be made as time continued to slip by.

14:17

Joe glanced down and checked on his hand. It was still extremely sore, but his grip strength hadn't been seriously affected. He checked his weapons and took a firm hold on his staff. He was impressed by how effective it was in combat. Joe knew he didn't want to get into knife and knuckle range with any monsters if he could control it. He didn't have the training or natural instinct to be effective at the range. The panic and flail signature move had worked against a single goblin, but that really wasn't saying much. With a deep breath and more than a bit of trepidation, Joe opened and stepped through the door with a staff over it.

The door closed itself behind him, and without a sound, it merged to become more of that basic grey stone wall. Joe was not thrilled that retreat didn't seem to be an option, but he was stuck in the situation regardless. Under the skylight, a table with an orb and a stick ahead of him. Once he stood in front of the table, blue fire letters filled his vision.

Magic Calibration

Place your hand on the orb until it finishes changing color.

Channel mana through the focus until you achieve an external effect.

Joe was relieved that there were actual instructions, and they seemed to be straightforward for a change. He placed his hand on the orb and held his breath, but nothing happened. He kept it there for a minute, but there was no change in the crystal orb at all. Joe took his hand back off and thought about it. He had no idea what was wrong, but maybe it needed skin contact. He didn't want to put his injured right hand on it, so he slipped the glove and brass knuckles off his left before placing it on the milky sphere.

He felt an odd sensation, almost like a weak vacuum cleaner hose placed directly on his skin. A light started to appear in the orb, and it grew in brightness until it was similar to a candle's flame. The light was a very pale green that slowly started to shift colors. The green darkened to a mint and finally a forest green. It seemed to be heading towards sea green when it stopped. After a moment, the suction feeling stopped, and Joe released the small crystal ball. He felt genuine excitement for the first time since his family was taken. The ball had lit up. He had magic.

He moved over to the stick. "Focus," he quickly corrected himself. While magic wands were a pretty common trope, Joe didn't think some weird words and a flick of his wrist were going to cut it here. He picked it up with his left hand and waited. Nothing happened, and he stared at it for a solid minute before sighing.

He'd been too amazed at the orb lighting up, but he wished he'd paid more attention to the suction feeling accompanying it. He put down the focus and touched the orb again on a whim. There was no feeling, and it stayed as the flickering green light. Joe was kicking himself for not focusing more on the first test. He picked up the focus again and concentrated on it. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about it. He tried to remember the sensation from the orb and mentally pushed out along the same areas of his hand. Focused as he was on the task at hand, time continued to pass.

13:07

"Arrrrgggghhh! This is so stupid and frustrating."

Joe couldn't take sitting still and try to feel a stick to do something any longer. It had been a very stressful day, and he had reached peak saturation. Time was slowly running out, and he had no idea what would happen if he couldn't figure this out. He had a deep and foreboding fear that he would not like the consequences if he hadn't moved through the rooms before the timer ran out.

"Screw this system! I hope you take this stick and shove it straight up your flaming hole in the air. Sideways!"

Joe punctuated his angry rant with a wave of his arms at the key points. He'd never actually grabbed his elbow and extended his arm up before, but it seemed an ideal time to do it. All of his anger, fear, and frustration couldn't be contained anymore as it boiled inside him. Some small part in the back of his mind knew he was wasting more time with this tirade, but there was no help for it at this point. It was a testament to his emotional investment in the verbal abuse towards anything remotely related to the system that he didn't notice the new light in the room.

Dimly at first and then matching the same candle brightness of the orb, a crimson light had appeared at the end of the focus. Once he did notice, Joe stared at the light for a moment before coming to his senses. Frantically, he tried to feel the draw and grasped its edges. It seemed to pool around his heart, but he also felt a slight tug going up through his neck and towards the back of his head. That's all he managed before a flaming message interrupted his concentration.

Use the focus to defeat the monster.

"You've got to be kidding me."

That was all Joe managed to get out before a door opened on the wall's far side. A dirty goblin shuffled through the door before turning its red-tinged gaze on Joe. The goblin sprinted in his direction with a screech and scrambling of ragged claws on stone. Joe's staff was on the floor, and besides, it told him to use the focus. He pointed it at the goblin and willed it to do something.

Nothing happened other than the goblin closing into melee distance. Newly found survival instincts kicked in, and Joe's left arm stabbed forward with the focus grasped like a knife. If anything, the goblin appeared surprised. That second of hesitation gave Joe a moment to stab the focus into the beast's eye and push with all his weight behind it. It might have been his imagination, but Joe thought he heard a soft hissing sound in the empty eye socket before the goblin went limp. Joe stepped back and let it drop, quickly setting the viscera-coated focus back on the small table.

Fire once again consumed the dead monster in a flash. Like before, a small coin and a goblin claw sat on the floor, and Joe pocketed them both and then looked around the room. When he looked towards the goblin, the table with the items had disappeared. There was nothing else to do in the room, so Joe walked towards the exit. More messages entered his vision as he was about to cross the threshold.

Mana Saturation: Poor

Mana Control: Very Poor

Magical Combat: Very Poor/Excellent

Overall Results: Poor

Due to having an overall grade lower than Below Average, all further magic trials are locked for this calibration.

"Shit."

Joe couldn't really argue with any of the information though he was curious about the combat portion of the test. He focused on that line, and thankfully more information expanded into his vision.

Magical Combat Very Poor/Excellent

Very Poor - Failure to form any spell or aura attack with provided focus.

Excellent - Target killed with magic energy to the brain with no damage taken.

On the one hand, Joe had managed to get a straightforward answer to his questions, but it didn't help his overall position. He had a sinking feeling as he realized that this was a test, not a training. It was a test that he had no notice he'd be taking for a system that had come into existence today. Whoever was in control clearly did not care about them in the least. It was depressing but good to know where they stood.

There was nothing to be gained in the room except to waste more time. Joe moved quickly through the doorway into a small hallway. At the end of the hallway was another doorway room with yet another goblin. Joe waited until it turned and charged once again. He smashed the staff into its chest like a spear and then finished it with a blow to the head. The same move kept working on them, so they were not accomplished fighters. Joe was not going to complain about that when they were stuck in relatively close quarters together.

Two doors now confronted him at the back of the room, and Joe knew he would have to go in each at least once. Now that he knew the rooms were not going to teach him anything but test him on his abilities, he was more hesitant to choose crafting. He hadn't brought any useful tools with him and was not convinced they would provide any for him. Joe decided to save it for the final door and reluctantly made his way through the door with a sword over it.

Joe had his staff at the ready, and it was to no surprise that he spotted a single goblin standing in the center of the room. He used his now patented goblin bashing technique, and it still worked. Once the goblin was down, the back door to the chamber opened, and two more goblins sprinted out of it.

Joe poked one of them in the chest to drop it to the ground. The other kept coming, and Joe barely managed to draw the staff back and trip up its footing. It fell to the side while he managed to step to the side. The first goblin was getting to its feet with eyes now glowing red. Joe didn't want anything to do with a crazed goblin once again and finished it off with a baseball swing to the head.

He felt burning lines along the back of his leg and jumped forward. The first goblin was on its feet and had managed a scratch right through his clothes. Joe cried out but turned to face it as it barrelled his way. He tried to thrust his staff into its chest, but it dove to the side. Apparently, they could learn if more than one of them were in a situation.

Joe drew the staff up into what he imagined a guard stance would look like while he faced off with the little beast. With that strange glass on metal scream, it lunged forward again. Joe waited this time, not wanting to give it a free shot at any part of him if he missed. They didn't seem to care if they lived or died, but Joe wasn't healing between these matches. If he racked up too much damage to continue, there wouldn't be a consolation prize.

At the last second, he stepped forward and pushed both arms forward as fast as possible. The goblin was still running and not prepared for the change in distance. The center of his staff caught it in the forehead and caused it to stumble backward. Joe pivoted and struck it again with the top of his staff. It went down, and he finished it off with a bash to the head.

Joe turned to face the door. He was breathing a bit raggedly, and he could feel blood trickling down the back of his calf. After a moment, the three goblins were burnt into loot, and he sagged with relief. Joe fell to the floor and ignored the timer that reminded him that he was on the clock. Joe looked, and three jagged lines tore his calf. They were deep but not into the muscle itself. The jeans would have been trendy in the early '20s, minus the blood, of course.

Another sleeve from his shirt served to bandage up his leg. Joe was very aware that he had essentially no protection on his limbs but did feel better that he had thought to bring protection for his core. The thought of one of those monsters cutting into his stomach sent cold chills up his spine. Joe used his staff for leverage and pulled himself up to a standing position. He tested his leg and found that while it hurt, his mobility was still almost normal. He looked around the room and saw nothing except three coins and three claws.

"I wonder if the loot is always the same or if I'm just not lucky enough to get something more valuable."

His voice echoed oddly in the space, and while Joe didn't think he could draw in other monsters, he didn't want to risk it. There was no way to know precisely what the rules were for this place, and there was an intentional information drought for those on the bottom. Joe thought it made sense, as a caste system was usually designed to preserve the status quo and the power of those at the top.

He moved into the hallway and towards what he knew would be a room with two doors at the back. Joe was relieved that this goblin didn't see his standard combo coming, at least confirming that they all were individuals without some sort of species memory. He bent to collect yet another claw and coin while never taking his eyes off the doors. It was time to try his hand at crafting. Joe strode forward and entered the room with a hammer over the door.

11:57