Consider this a sub-section of the first volume.

This posting is in no way an Epilogue to the story but simply a glossary of a sort.

As such - there is no story style here as it more an explanation of things.

Riku Garcia - aka the MC

His life prior to his summoning to the new world was one of mundane boredom. A teen who had a comfortable upbringing but not one that he was truly at peace with. His mind always seemed to be somewhere else, thus giving him a rather aloof personality.

He was close to both his mother and father, two of the few who he actually felt comfortable around... but Rikku's father died in a work related accident and his family unit took a downturn there. Outside his parents, his immediate family relations was non-existent as the father's side of the family lived in America (California), and his mother's side had a falling out with the Garcia/s years prior to his birth.

And beside his mom and dad, Rikku had almost no friends. At best he had school 'acquaintances' that were only people he knew at school. So think of this MC being a rather lonely figure.

This was one of the reasons Rikku resorted to playing video games, watching anime, reading manga, and going on various forums to chat with others about them since it was in those fictional worlds that he felt more comfortable, even in interacting with others over the net to forming personable relationships.

World Setting

First off - think of the Earth Rikku coming from being set maybe four or five decades into the future, as VR is a common device and holo-technology is becoming a thing there. But it is not some far and distant dystopia the MC hails where space is colonized. Instead most of the human advancement has been mostly digital instead of highly mechanized. Robotics is further along but still not applicable for common use.

Now the new world Rikku enters will actually be explained much later in the story (if I ever get to it) as one of many parallel realities in its own subspace. Think multiverse theory here but with it all overlapped into its own 'magical' galaxy. And in this multi-reality, magic is the 'science' of the ages.

edit: thought up of a better idea here where this new world is one of two parallel realities, think Earth and a reverse world of sorts, and where the dungeon system itself is the proverbial multiverse

This is a very big world too, like three times the size of Earth, with only very few portions of the planet being settled by various humanoid and demi-human peoples. So much of this world is still a wild frontier full of monsters and ancient creatures. Also in the NW Rikku gets ported into, civilization itself is far older than our own, with the planet having one massive Pangea super-continent that stretches around the globe with inland seas or canyon-like riverbeds separating regional areas.

edit: changed to be roughly the same size as planet Earth, maybe a bit bigger but everything else the same

There are 2 other continents, the north and south poles that are separated by huge seafloors resembling oceans. The far north is a mesh of icy mountains and glaciers and the south a frigid wasteland bearing scar-like canyons. The western most portion of the super-continent is separated from its east by another fissure called the Deep. It is filled with tumultuous waters that goes nearly to the core of the planet (think lavabeds at the bottom).

Also, the history of this new world is one long continuous chain because... there was magic and all that jazz, so there was no huge catastrophes or Ice Ages that marked the changing of eras. I currently have it mapped out as:

The Primal Age - lasted an eon where the elements of this world where at their highest flux. Eventually, the chaos of this magic settled down to bring the next period.

Age of Dragons - the equivalent to all prehistoric eras in this magical setting. This age lasted millions years, give or take, and ended when dragons as a species started to die out.

Age of Giants - the next age that followed. As dragonkind began to dwindle across the land, the various giant races began to emerge as the dominant species and it was from their blood that many of the races today descend from. edit: nixed this

Age of Gods - this was not a long age but served more as a precursor period to next one, but the idea is this is time period where a group of 'Divine' entities came (or were born) to this world. Magic, which was still an unbound mess at this point in time, was molded into a more condensed and readied to use system. Readers see much of their handiwork in the current story in the form of classes and magic schools. But this age did not last even 300 years when the gods abruptly left this mortal plane, leaving only echoes behind (and dungeons).

Age of Magic - the moment the Gods left marked this next age here. This is a 20,000 year period that is the telling of your traditional fantasy stories and epic tales. But this is the time when the race of man was hardly present, so your other fantasy races were mostly front and center like elves, dwarves, and even demons.

Age of Men - the current era and the timeline in which this fanfiction is set in. It is split into two periods, the first age of man being one with nearly 3000 years of history behind it and the second age of man having over 500. I envision much of this world being in a late medieval style, though with magic helping to influence daily life, though some of the more developed areas (or nations) having gone through Renaissance and Industrial periods... but again with magic.

For example - a city in the Empire would greatly resemble one in early 1900 America. Great Romu (their capital) would be even more built up than London was in the same timeframe.

Dungeons

These are basically pocket realities lost in time and place. The story here is each dungeon is a venue where something of importance happened (or will happen), or it could be a story on a lesson of life. These stories - called Lores - all play within its own system dubbed the Great Game by the denizens of each world.

In my story, there will be two types of dungeons. First are the Age of Gods dungeons, those tied to deities and which combine into an overarching plot. The second are natural dungeons that only exist within its own reality. Think of these latters as byproducts of the system which governs the former.

Waves, which we saw in V1, only come with of Age of Gods dungeons. They are meant to be like a 'marker' (or imprint) of said dungeon entering the land. Also, there are thousands upon thousands of these dungeons spanning multiple reality, but only one such dungeon can exist at any given time.

Natural dungeons are a bit different as they exist more as a loophole within the system itself. When these are 'beaten', they don't despawn to respawn again somewhere else at some predetermined time (like a queue). Natural dungeons instead become like an 'empty space' within its own world setting.

edit: the above system has been re-designed (in my head) should this story ever continue

The Class System

The way the leveling system in this fiction works is sorta a combination of what was shown with the Slave Harem series combined with the Arifureta skill system. The last factor is the levels to move ratio tend to follow the old school RPG model, meaning that by about lv.60 in a class, its user will have 90% of its capability unlocked barring very obscure skill lines.

Classes in the general are harder to obtain than in Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World, but each class has a higher learning curve. Meaning - one gets more out of a Wizard class in my fiction than compared to Slave Harem.

Also while there is no set limit to the amount of classes that can be unlocked, all people are still restricted to having only one active at any given time. But with this limitation comes a carry over transition, so levels gained in a previous class are not wasted on a class change... with only certain things like Primary Attributes not having the crossover effect.

However in this class system, if one gains a full 100 levels into a class... then everything one earned in that class carries over to the next.

Some classes also have a rank up system. For example: Wizard - High Wizard - Grand Wizard with one needing 50 levels in Wizard to unlock High Wizard and another 50 in High Wizard to get Grand Wizard. However not all rank ups are based on a 50 value.

Starter classes have lower thresholds like Squire with its 20 levels or Mage with its 30 value. But the thing is with the Starter classes like an Apprentice, is that once they reach their maximum value, they can automatically rank up into a profession class like Tailor or Merchant. Mages can use their levels to go directly into a Wizard or Sorcerer route or a Variant caster route like Elementalist or even Sage. Priests have the highest thresholds as it takes 50 levels for them to rank up into a class like Cleric or Bishop.

Classes are generally classified as Starter - Base - Advanced - Elite with there being some Variant classes as a Base or Advanced option. Although the drawback for Variant classes is most do not have a rank up feature.

Classes also have a Tier listing of 0 to 5, but the strength of a class is not determined by its classification. A Starter class like Squire, Mage, or Priest would be considered Tier-1 while an Apprentice class is Tier-0. Same with the Base classes where Knight or Swordsman are Tier-1 classes while Wizard or Cleric are Tier-2. There are even Base classes that are rated as high as Tier-4. And Tier-5 is reserved for ridiculously OP classes almost no one has had access to for millennia.

But one of the unique classes in this world is the Villager. This is a Tier-0 class, and only one that can be obtained at 'birth'. The Villager is the first class almost every humanoid or demi-human in this magical setting is born with, even many demonkin start off their lives with this class. Ironically, it is one even Rikku cannot obtain.

What makes Villager rather unique is its leveling system is like a source (or starting point) within this world's class system and continues on even after a Job is earned. The Starter classes and many Base classes can be unlocked by simply having 10 levels within the Villager and obtaining a certain Feat or Skill to rank up. But the Villager can only level up based on age - or by simply living - and so when this class is replaced by another, that is the only factor that carries over onto the next.

However Rikku later learns that the Villager class holds an obscure method for raising Stat scores and earning Feats called Training, the particulars of which are unknown to new world denizens.

Adept Mage

To delve into the MC's class a bit... Rikku's starter class is basically a Tier 2 on the class scale but has Tier-3 capability. This is due to the nature of his class makeup being a mix of a Cleric + Wizard and with the way his own class leveling works.

Adept Mage has no automatic leveling curve and thus everything is gained at the user's discretion. This allows Rikku to better dictate what kind of spellcaster he becomes but at the drawback of gaining fewer spells and talent expertise had he gone a pure Wizard or Cleric route.

In this NW, Adept Mage would be considered a Variant class of a Advanced stage. And it does have two rank up features - one at lv.50 and one at lv.100 - although this happens later in this series.

So one of the reasons why Rikku's magic seems so OP is due to the nature of his first class right off the bat having access within two magic schools and being the rough equivalent of two Base classes.

However the one downside of this Adept Mage class is it having no true expertise within each magic school. Thus a Cleric class will be more properly optimized than an Adept Mage in the arena of Holy magic and vice versa with the Wizard to Arcane magic.

But the Adept Mage can do something quite unique which is directly influence the effectiveness of a spell in and of itself. Normally this process is broadened by a route a Cleric or Wizard would take during their leveling process, think specializations in gamer terms.

And Rikku basically negates this class's deficiency anyways by constructing his build in a way that uses bonus feats to improve his general spellcasting capability.

Questions & Answers

Sadly, I had few questions directed at me in the comment section... so I'll play the role of interviewer and interviewee myself on various topics I thought might get brought up.

Why is Elisha not well liked in the Vale? She's supposed to be really attractive and seems like a noble knight that also comes from a respected family line.

Elisha is the victim of a combination of factors Rikku is not yet aware of. First, there is a social stigma surrounding dark elves as in the general sense - they are considered a people of ill repute. Second, the situation of her birth being the daughter of a knight and a dark elf was a cause for controversy. And third, Elisha's own past gave her a little infamy in the region.

The third stems from an adventure Elisha had in her youth with a childhood friend of hers (another knight). The ending of said adventure (spoilery) became a stain on her good reputation. Afterwards it was considered 'bad luck' to associate with her, and the fears people had of her based on her lineage became warranted in their view.

Even decades later, not much had changed. If it wasn't for her family name and her own skill as a knight, Elisha might have gone into an exile. But she was able to form just enough friendly relations with people in the Vale to have a relative quiet and dignified life in spite of it all.

What is this 'Azora' anyways?

In short - Azora is a small kingdom of wizards that lies south of a great desert region. While most people see them now as a community of oddball characters, they are actually one of the last branches of an old kingdom of sorcery that researched and practiced magics long since lost. Even to themselves in this day and age.

They were never a true empire like England of old but were more like pioneers and explorers that helped shaped people's knowledge of magic, especially human-kind.

The height of this old kingdom was during the peak years within the first age of man. So think like 2000 years ago.

So, currency in this new world has Americanized names. There a reason for that?

Yes.

Let's just say - Rikku is hardly the first person from our Earth that managed to find themselves here in this new world setting.

WTF was with that [Phoenix Heart] scene?

Basically, it is a skill that literally creates a 'save point'. However, its usage in this new world has a limitation shown as a timer.

edit: changed this skill to work more as a self-resurrection tool. Basically should Rikku ever die, that is when [Phoenix Heart] can actually work, elsewise it just stops the user's heart for a passing moment.

Can you explain the difference between Hume and Haffu again? And how do demi-humans work out in this setting compared to other fictions?

Okay well... some of you might have noticed I went and re-edited Huma to Hume. Honestly, I haven't fully decided which one to finalize yet. But humans in this setting actually have different categorizations. Hume is but one of several 'human' species known. Another type of human is Braham, like the spoken language in the Slave Harem series, but those people are on another part of the continent. Another is Amazon, which is the traditional female only species. And some of the Azoran peoples are tagged as Erudite (not all), but this would later be revealed why many Azorans are better able to obtain spellcaster classes.

Haffu technically refers to a human born with a beastkin parent. Doesn't matter which side. Otherwise, the baby would come out tagged as a beastkin. Haffu is just a special denotation to mark that difference. Haffu who have children with other humans (including Haffu) come out as 'human'. So whatever beastkin gene a Haffu has cannot be passed down to their descendents, as its theirs and theirs alone.

Just to clarify - most human to beastkin couplings will produce beastkin offspring. Even if it is a human male to beastkin female, although the common trope in this NW is people believing that ratio has a better chance to produce Haffu children. It's not, although there is a 'level' factor involved that can raise the chances of a child being born a Haffu. That is a different discussion though.

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Demi-humans have multiple categories such as your traditional fantasy races like elves and dwarves, but your various beastkin races are also in the same classification. But the thing is in this fictional setting, most of your traditional fantasy races is atleast partially human now.

The idea here is during the Age of Magic period, humanity itself was more tribal and nomadic than how they are shown in the now. And during this period, they spread to many areas of civilization and 'integrated' into every other society there was. Then many, many, many... generations later, the progenitor races gave way to their demi-human counterpart.

So there are few purebreed races still about, and this also includes much of demonkind and even dragons. Though their cases are seen in a different standard. The old caste of demons saw 'humans' as a means to an end then later regretted how their demonkin counterparts rose in power, with the ancient dragons seeing 'humans' as a way to preserve their dying lineage in the form of dragonewts. As to how they could interbreed, think [Polymorph] skills being the way.

Now not all the progenitor races are gone per say, but they are very rare among the species. Like beastmen differ from their beastkin cousins as they still have more bestial features with zero human ancestry in their lines. Same with 'pureborn' demons as demonkin refers to those who have some human linage in them.

But to go back to the Haffu for a minute - beastkin parentage is actually unique among all the other demi-human groups as any half human child born to one always comes out as the latter.

For example: a high elf (or drow) and a human have a kid but no matter the m/f relation, that child will be a half-elf. And it is also the same with a half-elf to human coupling always being half-elf. Same with dwarf to human = half-dwarf. Half-dwarf to human will = half-dwarf. Now said half-elves and half-dwarves can look nearly human, but they can never be Haffu. Even demonkin couplings always produce half-demon children with other humanoid beings.

Do note: racial lines among half-humans can reset back to 'human' once certain conditions are met. An example of such would be one of their elder classifications overriding a demi-human marker, like Erudite. Though the most common case of a racial reset is through lineage as the halfbreed gene tends to die out in about five or six generations. So think 150 years, give or take, unless said bloodlines have more demi-humans enter their lineage.

In this NW - the human is 'recessive' in nearly all cases of inter-breeding. But this is also the reason why humans won the racial wars, because they could procreate with most other species, thus the peoples of this magical world became more human-like.

Then there is another type of demi-humans being gender specific ones such as the harpy and sirens. What makes these two a little different within this same category is their progeny is always female and of their mother's race. It doesn't matter who the father is, a siren will always give birth to another siren and the same goes with the harpy.

Succubi can be considered their demon equivalent as their children will always be other succubus, but succubi can mate with the many sub-groups of demonkin while sirens and harpy cannot.

Amazons is also of the same archetype with gender specificity, although their case is a tad different than other humans with their reproductive cycles always producing amazon babies, even with beastkin partners. But in their case - this female will directly inherit a trait from their father parent, yet one that will not pass onto their daughters. An amazon will be introduced in V2 where this is gone over in some detail.

Yeah... I hope you guys could follow all that. (lol)

Any difference between Rikku's [Scan] and that 'Mystic Eye' thingy?

The Mystic Eye feat is basically an all-appraisal magic dependant on the user's line of sight. As you can imagine, it is a very very useful ability to have in a fantasy setting as it can also work on people.

But Rikku's [Scan] due to its +Insight bonus is basically a better version of it because it converts appraisals with both numerical precision and details to one's understanding. Think the way [Scan] works as how we saw the holo-visuals in the Iron Man suits working in the MCU movies.

Also and the story hasn't gotten here yet, [Scan] can actually combo with other passive abilities and buffs.

However due to the Wizard's Grace feature Rikku gains with the Erudite variant race choice, his [Scan] is also improved by the Mystic Eye to allow his appraisals - in gamer terms - to be marked with individual factors within the appraisal windows themselves.

To explain this further: the +Insight bonus works as giving homebrew details usually shown as cursive writing that would not otherwise be known by simply scanning a target, and the +Mystic Eye bonus can highlight how certain calculations are factored out within its appraisal window.

edit: thought up of a better idea for the Mystic Eye now.

Instead this Eye skill is not set on 'appraisal' magic but can be one of many, depending on the type of eye one has. You could have a Mystic Eye of Appraisal, but another could have the Mystic Eye of Magic Detection, and another with the Mystic Eye of Farsight, etc. up to one with a medusa-like ability of a Mystic Eye of Stone.

Why is everyone freaking out over Rikku's healing ability?

Because in this NW, it is very hard for one to achieve true spellcasting within the Holy domain.

The reason being primarily a Priest needs 50 levels to upgrade his class to a Cleric or Bishop. And there are few Variant magic classes that can tap into the Holy system. And besides, even if one knew of such a Variant class, there is no guarantee it could even be unlocked.

Also, since Priests are more of a support class and not a combat focused one, it is very hard to level up. So the priesthood is basically stuck 'studying' to increase their level as the way of combat is outside their means. And the former can take a lifetime to meet that needed requirement.

Any point to that 'Tossing Pennies' scene?

Not really. Just a cute little thing I thought would add some world-building to the story.

Any reason why that Madam harpy lady tensed up when being called by her last name?

Another cute jab at world-building where those of the harpy clan have last names denoting their mother.

So when Rikku called her "Madam Fedora-sama", he was calling Rubina her mother's name by mistake.

Court of Florentis and a guild network of courteseans, really?

Yes... and I'll be expanding on this in later arcs. But saying any more here would be too much of a spoiler.

In fact - Rikku's first party member / slave will be from one of the Casa Rosa houses. If you read whatsawhizzer's first arc, you'll get a glimpse of her character... not yet settled on this route should I continue the story.

To note: Rubina's Verde House is a tad different than many other House of Ladies as she tends to focus on raising demi-humans as its members, and the harpy forgoes the use of slavery as a hallmark. This makes it to where anyone purchasing a Lady from her House is buying the 'whole' package so to say. As such, most of Rubina's charges become wives or mistresses to their Lords.

With Andrek's relation to his neice Genifer in mind... why is he a Haffu and not her?

Andrek is the older half-brother to the current Lord Mangold, who is Genifer and Ranferi's father. Andrek and his sibling share the same father parent but have different mothers.

In short - Andrek was a bastard born to a maid of their House (a dogkin) almost ten years prior his father's official marriage. And then to avoid any potential dispute for the estate, Andrek became an adventurer with the Explorers Guild so his little brother could inherit unchallenged.

Then after a successful 20 year career with his team, Andrek settled back down in the Vale for his retirement but was quickly given the Guildmaster rank over the Vale branch barely a year back. Jarvin and Cleo were two of his associates during his adventurer days.

Another attempt of mine at world-building was when Elisha was a novice herself (at age 12), Andrek served as one of her sparring partners. So they were known acquaintances in the background as Andrek still considers Elisha to be a 'girl' despite her age and the life she led as a knight.

What is this Empire?

The Empire is one of the biggest nations in this new world, possibly the biggest. Think the Roman Empire, but on a magical steroid. Their ruling body is called the Imperial Order, which itself is separated into two branches: the Imperial lineage and the Faith. But each is so intertwined with the other, that it would be impossible for an outsider to tell the difference between the two.

The Imperial lineage starts at the Emperor and goes down to all his direct vassals, most of which are princedoms married into the lines of dukes, counts, and other nobles over the long centuries. It is a massive family tree who can all trace their descent back to the Sword Emperor, an infamous figure who basically started the second age of man when he united (conquered) much of the West. So think the rise of this empire being year one of the current time period.

Current Emperor is a boy king whose present statesmanship is divided into several factions that govern in his stead. About a decade prior to Rikku landing in this NW, the Empire got out of a long standing civil dispute that lasted a couple decades over the succession of the throne. This ended when all sides unhappily agreed to the compromise of crowning a baby along with a degree of autonomy granted to the claimants until the Emperor came of age. It was surmised that when his new governing body is formed (and enough time had passed), those past disputes would have been resolved. And it did work for the most part.

As for the Faith, well think of them as the big church of this new world. And I mean B I G. It is divided into a Brotherhood and Sisterhood with each having its own branches, one of which we know as the Temples. The thing is, there is no separation of church and state in play here simply because the Imperial line has so many roots within the various subdivisions of the Faith.

So while it is called the Empire, it is more of a functioning oligarchy.

Any other major powers in this region? Conflicts happening behind the scenes?

Yes and yes.

The southern reaches where the Vale is located is mostly a collection of border kingdoms and frontier towns. These are loosely affilated with the Empire but only through the Temples. What I mean is the Empire did not appoint some Governor to handle stately affairs in the region.

However south of the above lays the independent city-state of Quatar. This is the strongest nation in this portion of the continent due to the many guilds that reside there. Think of Quatar as being the main highway where all these businesses intersect to serve as their main haven away from any Imperial influence. But despite their autonomy, the people of Quatar are not truly at odds with those in the Empire.

Now there are two big contenders set against the Imperial Order. There are also a few minor players in the mix, like the Zen Federation and the Lunara Holy Kingdom, but each is for another discussion.

The first contender though is the Beast Kingdoms. This is a motley collection of demi-human nations, most of them small city-states, that sits between the borderlands and the southernmost border of the Empire. And this stretch of land is likely wider than the landmass of Europe. The most hotly contested of these countries dead set against the Empire is Vardes ruled by the White Monarch. While not openly at war with the Empire, the Wardens of this city-state think of themselves as the 'shield' of the beastkin peoples and are most diligent in defending their borders against any unwanted incursions.

So think of the above as being in a contentious relationship with the other but not in a state of outright war. But that is simply due to the Imperial Order having a bigger fish to worry about - the Demon Country.

If the Empire is the comparison to Rome at its ancient height, then the Demon Country are the invading Huns. The territory the latter controls is a small but unforgiving landscape that grew off the site of a natural dungeon known as the Dreadmaw. It is not so much ash and brimstone, although areas inside it are volcanic, but more a deep landscape of caverns and ravines, or an underworld so to speak.

And the visual of it is the worse of all - a mountain bigger than Everest with the carvings of city and towers embedded in its rocky mass, and its base in the shape of an open jaw. The sight of it alone can cause even a seasoned warrior to flee whence they came.

However in the more recent centuries, the demons became rather isolated to the world at large... a curious action, but the threat of their warbands is still there as others fear the demonkin are consolidating their power and resources for something 'major'. So the Empire, Beast Kingdoms, and Demon Country are in this long running stalemate where tensions rise and fall but never go beyond the proverbial tipping point.

To finish here, the majority of demons - and by this I mean over 80% of them - are basically tieflings of various breed.

Will Rikku ever meet other people transported from Earth in this story?

Of course, although spoilers... it won't happen for a long time. It will be over a year into his story actually. The first one he meets is an even longer way off than to his first potential death.

But if you read whatsawhizzer's original story, it would give a clue as to who that 'outworlder' is. wink wink

... but if I ever get to there on page is the real question. /cry

Okay, so Rikku reads like an OP MC... nothing new there. Gotta ask though - how much stronger does he become?

Let's just say - pretty damn strong.

As of right now in the story, Rikku is roughly the equivalent of Team Kazuma from the Konosuba series. You can even throw Wiz in there and it wouldn't change much.

But this MC gets to ridiculous levels of OPness when he acquires a specific class, you know one that is in both the Slave Harem series and the original My Dungeon Life story.

This story is tagged with a Sexual Content warning... but I'm only reading 'ecchi' at best. So what gives?

Straight up I'm going to tell you - I'm going to try my best not to include straight up scenes depicting sex.

Although this is a 18+ series, I feel writing out each 'scene' would cheapen the reading. Instead most depictions will be told either before or after the fact, although certain scenes will have to be written out. Like the very first one which will happen near the end of Volume 2.

And in that case, the latter will be in pastebin links away from this site so hopefully this story won't get tagged any further. It took me like 4 full requests over some 2 weeks to even get this story uploaded on this site... with the red tag and no scenes written out yet.

What is your favorite part of the first volume?

So far - Chapter 2.6. Writing the MC getting flustered by the various belles, and the scene with Melani being devilishly cute at the end was fun.

I was a little saddened that chapter didn't get any comments. =(

Although I did push out like 10 chapters in that first week, so that was likely the reason.

This story is also Harem tagged... but no harem yet. Is this later content?

Yes. He gets his first girl in Volume 2. But by Volume 4, he'll have another party member and maybe a wife. Oops, was that too big a spoiler there... hehe. Haven't fully committed to this route yet though.

But yeah, it won't grow to a ridiculously big amount but the second arc revolves around his life starting anew in Quatar, which isn't as happy-go-lucky as he first hoped. Turns out, being the new rich guy in town with the reputation of an all-star comes with a big drawback... especially within noble circles.

So this MC has to learn how to navigate his way out of this limelight. This would be the reason he would need that word crossed above.

How long will this series be?

I currently have up to Volume 4 planned out in terms of synopsis.

Outside of that - mostly notes and ideas of future arcs.

The main problem is writing all this out. (lol)

The Power Scale

The power scaling in this new world goes Stats > Skillset > Class Bonus > Race Bonus. Magic is an equalizer between Stats and Skillset, but it still counts towards the Skillset tier.

The idea here is if your opponent has you overmatched purely by Stats, one would need the right amount of Bonuses plus a proper Skillset to offset that disadvantage. Also the scaling above takes into account of it being a comparison among a similar racial line and not a human versus some monstrous beast.

In this NW - 300 in a Stat would be considered 'legendary' and above an S-Class rank for a human or demi-human.

Rikku having nearly 130 in every Stat puts him near the threshold of heroes - which is a NW term used to describe someone going past normal mortal limits. Coupled with his magical skillset, this MC is already at the peak of 'heroic' power, although he does not yet realize it. And he is just lv.30 in a caster class.

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Another thing about Stats is they are not 'constant' among the races. Meaning, Stat thresholds are different when you are comparing something like a human to a dragon.

For example: an adult dragon with 200 in every Stat would actually be 'weaker' than a human with 200 in every Stat. You see - a person with over 200 in every stat is practically superhuman while a dragon of a comparable Stat pool is probably less than normal among its own kind. Yet still, a dragon's physical capability at 200 will likely exceed a human at that same value due to their racial differences.

So try not to think of Stats as a 1:1 ratio here.

But something to note here is Rikku's Adept Mage class gives him a +1 to his Stats per level gained, save for his Magicka score that can gain a +2 (or rarely a +3 proc). So at lv.100, MC would have a significant advantage compared to most new worlders. And that is just off one class...

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Rikku is OP for various reasons - high stats for his class level, faster leveling, access to two magic schools, stacking bonuses to his spells, and some unique skills - but his biggest cheat is being able to game out this new world setting.

For everyone else, like those born into this NW, the world to them is more a high fantasy setting... while Rikku is GameLit in comparison. Being able to visualize the class system as though he was in a RPG becomes the source of his greatest strength, because Rikku will be able to do things no one else can. And cheese many a thing as well, like class changing and build control. For others as well.

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However, monsters are measured on a different scale as their levels are not tied into the class system but in the archetype of what kind of creature they are.

For example: dragons in this NW have a leveling system based on their age and ancestry. So once a dragon levels up to a certain point, they 'evolve' to level into another category. But this comes with its own drawback as their skillsets are based upon their accumulative experience gained within those many years.

But dragons are a rather unique species when it comes to the leveling system in this new world as their kind far predate the Age of Gods and the scope of change the 'Divines' brought about. Most other creatures, including monsters and even giants, have set limitations to how they level and become 'capped' up to a certain point. Rogers' mount Rhoady was one such example.

That said - while monsters do have these 'hard caps', they still tend to have a higher base power than a human or demi-human counterpart at that same level. Like the Element Skull we see in 3.2 had only 50 total levels, but it was notably stronger than a Holy Knight (a Tier-3 class) who could have a total class level more than double it.

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And RPG World has a power scale like in most other fictional works.

Minor - the common person and most non-magical creatures fall into this category, even a large horde of this grade would not register as a grave threat. Like the strongest creature in this tier would be a tiger or shark.

Basic - your basic level threats in a fantasy setting. This would include low tier undeads like a risen zombie or a regular skeletal creature while also including the weaker end of magical beasts like a blue slime or a mutated rat. Something that would be considered a Basic threat would be stronger than a Minor one but only just.

Major - the main grading scale to be used in this series. However this particular grade has a lettering system of D - C - B - A - S - SS... with most everything placed in D being of the Minor or Basic grade anyways. These 'letters' are the main way people and enemies are judged in power in this world setting.

In short:

The C-level is your base warrior or spellcaster class at a novice level, 20 and under, that should be able to handle most D-level opponents single-handedly. Monsters of this grade start to jump in difficulty but are still soloable to a degree.

The B-level are those base classes above at a more veteran range of 30-40s. Also those who recently acquired an advanced class (rank up) is considered to be in this grade. So this would include most Knights of 20-30 levels or even a Holy Knight under 15. But this B-level is where many of your monsters start to separate themselves in being more dangerous than Cs and Ds. Monsters by this grade start needing to be 'grouped' to kill by persons in the same level range. Although that party size may just be two for most encounters.

The A-level is the expert range in a base class (50-60) or an intermediate level within an advanced class (20-30). One could say - becoming an A-ranker is the first big step towards the top of one's profession. Within this grade is also a special denoation called an A+, which is someone (or something) that is above the A-level but not quite strong enough to be considered in the next grade. The Skeletal 4th mobs shown in 3.1 would be such, as well as Andrek Mangold at his current age.

The S-level is considered the gold standard in power. Few people ever make it to this level, but those that do tend to gain great renown. The S grade has a wide spectrum for those who enter it due to abilities changing drastically at the upper levels. Think of the dark elf Holy Knight, Elisha Durham, as having a foot in this tier and Rikku - just a day into this new world - having toed his way over.

The SS-level is the top rank of the S grade. Generally used to describe monsters so strong that it would take an entire S-class party just to match it in combat. Incidentally, the Element Skull readers saw in 3.2 would be considered a SS monster due to its myriad of passive abilities and spellcasting capability. The only reason why the Vale defenders were able to win was due to the MC pretty much being its hard counter.

Now the very last power grade is... Calamity, but this doesn't use the lettering system since these threats are so rare to encounter in the open world or even in dungeons. But something in this grade would be considered a national level threat. The Calamity grade has a Low and High tier where Low is a creature that could eventually destroy a nation (like a demilich) while High being a creature that could immediately do so (like a fabled dragonlord).

Combat tidbits

Just to go over some of the moves used in better detail that I couldn't fit in the chapters:

[Smite] - looks like a puff of swirling white light hitting the target's center mass. This spell does critical damages on specific targets like undead and demons.

[Call Thunder] - hits everything in a target area with lightning bolts. Name replaced over 'Call Lightning'.

[Shockwave] - a fast spell that does lightning damage in a frontal cone. Has a bonus effect to 'knockback' any target caught in its attack range and then leave them in a 'dazed' state.

[Holy Aura] - the first of Rikku's moves to cost him 5 skill points in learning. Its base ability gives the user a 30% increase to all Holy magic used, while granting those covered by the aura two effects: a bonus resistance to status effects and a shielding modifier that can 'blind' opposing attackers who strike with melee attacks. The nine bonus ranks adds a 'warding' mechanic to the aura (think bonus AC here).

[Sword Smite] - a 'charge up' attack most commonly gained in the Holy Knight class. This slash of this move hits as magical (Holy), but the user's physical stats are the main determiner of its damages.

[Instant Counter] - a defensive 'stance' that allows users to counter hit with great proficiency. But it is a one-use move, so it is best used when chained into another skill or maneuver.

[Strike] - basic weapon attack, but many classes can build variations on this move.

[Boost] - a temporary buff to physical capabilities (60 secs). Can scale up depending on user.

[Ki Blade] - adds a 'Ki' modifier to a weapon to work as an enchantment effect that adds a 'magic' quality to any attack.

[Heavy Slash] - a strong 'slashing' attack that hits with a 'crushing' modifier. Name replaced over 'Heavy Blade'.

[Gale Step] - the move Andrek Mangold used to perform a jump maneuver while still in midair. It is a skill that allows users a burst of directional movement.

[Protection Ward] - a channeled skill that creates a Holy 'ward' on the ground. Has more of a hallowed ground effect than being a magic shield.

[Holy Barrier] - a channeled skill which surrounds the caster in a magic barrier. This barrier acts more as a wall than hallowed ground.

[Arcane Eye] - scrying spell that gives users a bird's eye view of their surroundings. This 'minimap' works like a 3D grid that can extend many miles, though the further out a target is from caster's center, the less reliable the intel gained.

[Blizzard] - a channeled spell with multiple aoe effects. Creates a zone of environmental effect roughly 40 yards wide that reduces temperatures to below freezing, reduces movement and visibility with chilling winds, extinguishes 'fire' or 'heat' effects in area, and rains down shards of ice. And those hit by these shards can suffer 'frostburn' damages, which at lower levels could result in instadeath.

[Ice Beam] - looks like a frigid ray of blue-white colors. This spell's main debuff effect is to reduce movement speed up to immobilizing any target caught in its spread, but it also reduces a target/s vulnerability to its element and can even proc 'frostburn' damages.