All Rights and reserves of High School DxD is owned by Ichiei Ishibumi, Fujimi Shobo, Yen Press, Dragon Magazine and Licensed by TNK, Sunrise and Madman Entertainment.

All Rights, Ownership and use of Intellectual property belongs to all various forms of entertainment and media including and not exclusive to; Companies of Comics, Manga, Video Games, Movie, Broadcasting and Many Others. All other Intellectual Property that does not belong to any company is considered CC or Creative Common, Mythology, Legends, Folklore and various others.

This is an inspired work of Fiction.

This is a 'Meta aware' Fic.


Chapter 3: Tip of an Iceberg


He wasn't sure how long it took but after a long stare at the simple screen in front of them, He, Motohama and Masuda plopped themselves on the grass, opened their cans of drinks and chugged the contents.

"So…" Issei started. "What name should we pick?"

They began to argue over what to name themselves.

"Heavenly Demons!"

"Ow, the edge."

"Team Tri-Force!"

He frowned, "Nothing copyrighted."

"Crit Happens?"

"Cool but too obvious."

"Desu Vault."

He and Motohama gave the third a blank look. Masuda shrugged helplessly.

"...yeah, bad idea."

"Why don't we just use a color?"

"Red vs. Blue"

"Gold Saints?"

"What did I say about copyrights?" Issei moaned.

"Fine fine." Masuda admitted with his hands up in surrender. "Why not Rainbow?"

"A bit too long."

"Not as long as the guild names online." No one refuted him in that.

"Short enough to be put on a business card." Motohama said, he turned to explain when they thought he grew a second head. "What? It's the modern era! We'd need a logo too."

"How about RGB?" Issei asked no one in particular.

Masuda slowly nodded with him. "A play on the gaming trend of everything having RGB lights. That'll work."

"And we can make an easy logo with that. Short, easy to remember name and it's bold with three characters. I like it!" Motohama approved with a thumbs up.

"You're serious?" He asked incredulously. The other nodded to him without hesitation.

"Yeah, three characters, three people." Masuda explained, completely okay with it. "Team Liquid, TSM, FaZe, EG… It's simple and we can use it like Esports teams."

"And if we ever add more, RGB just stands for the three main colors of the color model." Motohama added. "It's not bad, we don't sound too edgy or tryhard. It sounds respectable if we end up as a business and we can introduce ourselves without holding laughter."

Damn, they had a point.

Accepting their fate, Issei typed it in along with the help of a window screen that had a keyboard. "Fine. Guild 'Team RGB'... and done."

[Guild name accepted]
[Updating]

A pair of new windows appeared in front of Motohama and Masuda and they agreed to whatever the terms were on the screen. It seemed that since Issei was the one that started it, he didn't need to do anything.

[Guild] [Team RGB]
Rank: Bronze
Leader: Issei Hyoudou

[Issei Hyoudou Lv. 1]
[Team RGB]

[Motohama Makakuni Lv. 1]
[Team RGB]

[Masuda Takumi Lv. 1]
[Team RGB]

"You guys had to respec?"

"Yeah." The glasses-wearing teen nodded. "It was pretty much the only term in the agreement in making the guild."

Masuda asked, "How'd you handle the controls Issei?"

He shrugged. "I figured it had to be intuitive and it worked on our thoughts. It'd be weird if we had to shout for every command."

"True."

"I haven't really explored the whole system all that much." Issei admitted.

"What's this [Trial Mode] that keeps showing up in the corner of my eyes?" Just as one of his friends asked out loud, a chime sounded off in their heads before a large window appeared in a blazing golden aura.

[Emergency Quest! Denying Fate activated!]
-There is no path beyond the scope of light. Beyond the dark what could possibly await us? And we seek it insatiably. Such is our fate.

Requirements:
Reach Level 25[Trial Mode Max] in 19 Days
Complete the Denying Fate quest event successfully
More information located in the [Journal]

-Quest Reward: Upgrade into True System
-Quest Failure: Loss of the System

[Trial Mode setup complete]
[All options and features are now under limited control in Trial mode]

"Woah…" Masuda uttered.

"Guess that's our answer." He said, looking over to the two before they laid back down into the grass. He hummed a bit before calling out a command. "[Menu]"

In a flash the window appeared in front of him and he read its contents. It looked nicely stylized and aesthetically pleasing to the eye while still maintaining plenty of function. A list of more options appeared on the screen that showed off the classic [Character], [Abilities+Magic], [Equipment], [Inventory], [Journal], [Guild], [Encyclopedia] and [System]. The calls from Masuda and Motohama told him they were doing the same. There was even a bottom section that had [Store] and [Craft] in glowing font too.

Interesting.

"First thing we need to know is how levels work," muttered Motohama.

"Well, says here on the characters screen there's an 'available points' section. So maybe we get points for every level." Masuda answered while Issei pressed on the character selection option for himself.

Issei Hyoudou
The Challenger [Trial Mode]
Level 1
Rank: Bronze
Guild: Team RGB
Classification: Human

HP: 20/20
MP: 20/20

Attributes:
STR: 10
DEX: 10
CON: 10
INT: 10
SP: 10
CHA: 10
Available Points: 0

+Frame Data

Resistances:
Water: 0%
Fire: 0%
Ice: 0%
Earth: 0%
Thunder: 0%
Wind: 0%
Poison: 0%
Light: 0%
Darkness: 0%
Aether: 0%

Status:
Aetherial Pledge

Familiars:
Viser

Masuda quickly countered, "Or it could go the RNG route and every level a coin is flipped for a stat to go up or down."

"We'll never know until we actually level up." Issei concluded. "It'd be cool if it could be both. Stats go up a level and we can still add more since we get points."

"That'd be sweet."

Issei clicked on one of the bars to expand his stats. "Holy- We even get to see our frame data and raw numbers!"

"Frames as in frames?"

"As in exact numbers. Speed, DPS, overall defenses and evasion rate..." He concluded, voice fading. His eyes whirled into a storm to see what everything meant. "This is gonna be a 'spreadsheet and excel' type system isn't it?"

Masuda chuckled. "Aren't they all for tryhards?"

"I'm gonna open the [Encyclopedia]. See what they'll tell us." Motohama said.

They waited for the teen to take a gander.

"Okay, says here that [Trial Mode] is the mode where Gamers have a test run of the system. Try it before you buy it kind of thing."

"So this isn't permanent?" Masuda asked.

Issei shook his head. "The popup earlier said I had to complete the quest first."

Motohama nodded. "Yep, the [Encyclopedia] checks out. Apparently there's a large number of trial gamers and only the very few ever gain the full system."

"How come?" He asked with a curious brow.

"They give up or they fail. The quest shoved in our face that we lose it if we fail." Masuda guessed airily. "Or they die… do we get revives?"

A hum followed by page flipping made them wait for Motohama's answer. "Yeah. It's based on rarity like MMOs. Revives only work within a certain amount of time after… death, but there are magic spells and consumables that can revive people."

Issei was relieved. "That's good."

"Is that why the guild is ranked [Bronze]? Same with my character sheet too?" Masuda asked.

"Yep. Very MMO-y; Items, weapons, armor and consumables are labeled [Common], [Rare], [Unique], [Mythic], [Legendary] and [Phantasmal]. Even people are labeled with a rarity."

Issei went over to open up the [Store] menu. The first thing that greeted him made him groan.

"Great. We have an alignment system too."

"What? For real?" Masuda shouted. "Let me guess, parts of the store are locked based on our rank and alignment."

His nod only earned a pained growl from the bald member of the group. The compass was colored in a multitude of hues had him and his group smack dabbed at the center.

"Yep. Alignments are pretty bog standard. Neutral, Law, Chaos, Good and Evil." Motohama concluded, his eyes already on that particular part of the encyclopedia. "Store works on a different naming rank but it's basically the same as the MMO items. [Bronze], [Silver], [Gold], [Platinum], [Crystal] and [Aether]."

"Wait…" Issei started. His eyes rove around the various menus (that he was allowed to buy) and stopped at a screen he didn't expect to ever see . His hand moved in a blurr, swiping up and down only to be greeted with the same banner. Mocking him. The two boys watched with anticipation. They couldn't see his screen.

They were silent for a long minute.

"It has loot boxes!"

They raged.

"DAMN IT EA!"

"WHY MUST THERE BE MICROTRANSACTIONS?!"

He collapsed to his knees. "Is nothing sacred anymore?!"

"To the gacha hell we go~" Motohama dreadfully sang. "How much?"

"It's in gold coins…" He finished. The boys smacked their heads on the soft grass. They could feel the migraines forming.

"Does the [Encyclopedia] tell us the rates, Motohama?" Masuda begged, sliver of hope sparkling in one of his eyes. "Please be merciful."

The boy looked over the guide, skipping over parts in favor of finding answers to the burning question. "Depends on the box but… Boxes start with 2-3 items in a [Bronze] box, 4-6 for [Silver], 7-10 for [Golds], 12-16 for [Plats], 18-23 for [Crystal] and 25-31 for [Aether]. There's a rare in every box though."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

Motohama shook his head and continued. "The chances are also based on the rarity of the box too. Most of the chances are between 1-4% respectively based on the lowest box rarity. Multiples of the same item are possible and that includes materials for crafting. Lootbox chains are 'a thing' but it notes that it's a… 1% chance."

"Why does it have to be so needlessly complicated?" One of them whined.

He shrugged dejectedly. "The rates aren't as bad as some of the gachas that we've seen."

"That's how they pull you in." Masuda countered only to sigh. "Let me guess? They hella expensive?"

"Yeah…" His voice faded as he double checked the prices. One hundred gold coins for a [Bronze] box?! And the prices after that were multiples of ten after that?! [Aether] boxes were TEN MILLION! And that was just the 'basic set'. It was a scam! A SCAM.

"Let's just skip this loot box business."

The trio agreed and they spent the next few hours looking over the [Encyclopedia] in hopes to gleam as much information as possible. Issei noted how thorough the information was. Sure there was still a very large swath of the encyclopedia that was locked out for them but man there was a lot more than he expected.

A bunch of their growing questions were answered. Stats grew via both point allocation and by level up chances so if he leveled up, the system would flip a coin or roll a die for a stat to go up by one or more depending if he had special perks on him. He'd also get 5 points or more to spend freely every level on whatever stats he wanted. That was generous. Very generous in Issei's opinion. Perks and special skills were rare. They had to buy most of them through the shop using gold coins.

"Okay, so Health and Mana is based on a combination of the required stats. Level up increases health by ten with an algorithm, nevermind… The math is complicated. Damage values are basically my flat combat stats plus positional damage." Masuda noted. "So if my Strength is 10 and I use my fist, my flat damage is probably also 10. And then it adds special modifiers like hitting the neck or it was a critical or any number of extra things like special skills and perks."

"Sounds about right." Issei added, looking over his character screen with multiple screens or 'tabs' like an internet browser. "Defense modifiers are pretty straight forward. It's a flat removal of damage so if I have an armor of 5 and you hit me with a damage of 10, I take 5 damage outside of any extra modifiers."

"The resistances are the kinda weird part." Motohama finished. "They can switch between positive and negative with a max number that it doesn't say, so if we get hit by fire when we have a resistance of 150%; We get healed instead and vice versa. But does Resistance take into account before or after the defense stat?"

He turned for a follow up, "The real question is 'Does level take into account for certain attacks?' Does a fire attack from a level 20 against a Level 50 with a resistance of -50% mean the higher level get's hurt? Or does the higher level negate the attack and no-sells?"

"Ahh, the guide doesn't say anything about that." Masuda complained. "What about quests and enemies? How are we supposed to level up? Just do normal everyday chores?"

Motohama nodded, "That's right. The guide doesn't say a thing about a way to level up. There are entries for 'Adventures', 'Chain Quests', 'Stories Entries' and 'Dungeons' but it doesn't say anything about how to activate them or even find them!"

Issei furrowed his brow, looking into the same entry as the others. True to Motohama's words, the entire page was blank and all it said was go to the Journal. "Wait a sec. Yours doesn't have a log that tells you to go to the journal?"

Both boys shook their heads. Masuda quickly added. "Not us. But I'll go to mine and check."

A few button presses later and the boy shook his head.

"Says; Support the Challenger in Defying his Fate."

Motohama's glasses moved up and down to show his agreement. "Same. There's also a citation that tells me to wait for the Challenger to continue."

"Guess that's me. I was the one that started all this Guild making and everything." He admitted and proceeded to go over to the journal section. What he saw shocked him. "Holy shieet."

"What? What?"

"Don't leave us in suspense!"

Issei dragged the screen over to make it bigger for the two to read, making sure to open and press an eye shaped icon to let them see.

[Emergency Quest! Denying Fate!]
-There is no path beyond the scope of light. Beyond the dark what could possibly await us? And we seek it insatiably. Such is our fate.

Requirements:
Reach Level 25[Trial Mode Max] in 19 Days
Complete the Denying Fate quest event successfully

Fate, it is something deemed as the great hands of another that created a predetermined future for others. Fate is a mysterious thing, yet nothing is greater, more powerful than the strings that bind them all like puppets. As Chronos was fated to be killed by Zeus; Nothing in this universe can defeat such a force. For their attempts at fighting the prophecies were merely nothing more than catalysts that helped fulfill their own demise. Nothing can defeat Fate. But it was this very ability that humanity was held high. To the point of envious schemes. It was the very thing that gave divinity pride.

Such is the power of Free Will. Coveted and Feared by all that know the strings of Fate.

To fight fate is to fight the will of the universe itself. For your path will be dark and filled with the chaos of freedom. Your battles, your futures, your very own life will be… unfettered.

Choose

Will you deny your very Fate itself?

Yes / No

Motohama gasped. "Woah."

"That's some heavy handed shit," Masuda added. "So go kicking and screaming like Kratos or stick to the script."

"That some 'Freedom vs. Security' or 'Law vs. Chaos' storyline you see in a lot of RPGS." Issei concluded.

"Basically the Trial and Challenger system was made by... Gaia I guess for people that could attempt to fight their destiny. Maybe?"

"Whatever destiny it may be." Motohama added with a nod. "And the system says Gaia but we don't know if it's the Gaia we know. There's no logo or symbols of the Greek deity or any other kind of image."

"It could be something like 'the will of the planet' or something. Like our version of Alaya or the Counter Force, or the Lifestream in real life."

"Let's not ask these questions." Issei shook his head quickly, "It doesn't matter what it means for me. If I choose 'No' I have no idea what's gonna happen to us. The world might go into a big reset button and we lose all our memories. It's like knowing your entire life was a long cutscene and now you get the chance to say 'screw that.' Will I be Issei Hyoudou (Me) if the world resets? Or will I be an Issei Hyoudou that the plot wants me to be?"

"It's like a VN or a choose your own adventure." Masuda said with Motohama concluding.

"Without the 'choose' part."

"I'm saying yes." Issei checked his friends' expressions. Seeing as they didn't disagree he went off and pressed the button.

[Welcome O' Challenger]

The disembodied voice rumbled through the trio's bodies, making them sit up.

[Welcome to the Game]

Screens appeared before them as letters started to type across the page.

[Please choose a package to begin]
[Warrior] [Mage] [Rogue]

"Dibbs on Warrior!" Motohama raised his hand instantly when they read the prompts. He sent a confused look at the boy. Masuda looked just about the same because they actually expected Motohama to choose Rogue or Mage. The teen huffed, smirking. His hair was immediately slicked back, "I got the class down pat. Don't you think?"

"Pwa!" Issei gripped his sides together when his friend said that. He was straining from opening his mouth as teeth threatened to peek out from the pinched grin. He couldn't! He couldn't hold it in. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Masuda roared in laughter with him like wolves while holding each other's shoulders for stability. Oh man, their eyes were watering and their guts were starting to hurt real bad. The light in their eyes glinted with absurd amusement, looking at Motohama posing himself with that badly slicked back hair and a fake fanged grin.

"Oh man. Oh~ hah ha… hah… Oh," Masuda started, trying to catch his breath. "Stop trying to look like Vergil."

Said target for the laugher frowned pitifully with a huff, his glasses darkening. "As if you guys liked any of the warrior classes in games..."

"No. Seriously, Are you sure?" Issei asked when he calmed down. "We aren't doing this behind a screen, and this is the Warrior class. Sure you wanna be a tank?"

"Who else is gonna be tank in this trio?" Motohama countered, "Masuda likes the rogue classes and you run around acting like Gandalf half of the time we go on dungeon raids."

He couldn't hold back the blush. "Magic cool doe~"

"And I like combo styling." The teen refuted. "If push comes to shove, I'll run as a Dex Tank or a lightning bruiser."

"Alright." Masuda acquiesced, showing his hands. "I'll take Rogue then. Who knows, we might be able to get some magic firearms. Plus this is a cityscape, I'm more athletic than the both of you."

That tidbit about his lack of ability in sports irked Issei a bit but agreed. "Then I'm Mage. Subvert expectations baybee!"

"What expectations?" Motohama asked with a disgusted look on his face. "Mister, I'll break the game and take out the bosses in record time before reports come in for the GM to suspend you."

"Says the guy with an action movie combo rotation that can literally one shot expansion bosses during raid events!" He countered, pointing his finger at the glasses kid.

"That was one time!"

Masuda had a wicked smile on his face. "Because the next server patch balanced your character skills and loadouts."

"So speaks the 'first to get killed' Leeroy Jenkins. You dance emote before every boss!" Motohama shouted, hands raised up to the sky.

"Issei rezzes me." Said boy was motioned by Masuda.

"Don't put me in this conversation."

His two friends bored their eyes onto him.

"I need to enchant this to a +10."

"One more gemstone. It broke, oh I have another 'legendary weapon' to enchant again."

"These prices suck, I'll mine it myself."

"It's just a 0.001% chance for the spawn rate. We can do it."

Needless to say, Issei was thoroughly chastised. He cleared his throat, trying his best to not look at them in the eyes while he spoke. "A-anyway, our starting classes are picked?"

The three went off and pressed the screen holding their desired classes. In a quick flash of light a small box appeared to each of them.

[Starter Gift Box]
A starter gift box that contains a set of items for your preferred class.

[Open] [Store in Inventory]

"Sweet." The trio proceeded to open their own kits and thankfully they weren't the loot box kind.

Items added to Inventory
[Beginner's Robe]
[Novice's Staff]
[Mana Potion] x3
[Health Potion] x3
Gold Coin x16

Huh, pretty standard fare Issei thought. Wait a minute. He could use that gold to buy skill books and perks at the store. For a mage not to have a single spell on him (the stuff he used last night disappeared from his character sheet), he'd be a sitting duck. 16 gold. In RPG terms, he was dirt poor, but maybe the store would give him some leeway. Issei navigated through menus to check what was available at his rank and level, and it didn't give him any hope.

[Senjutsu] - 5 Gold
Chakra, Aura and one's own Spirit, all the same. Senjutsu is the power to control the flow of life energy or ki in living beings. It is incapable of matching the direct destructive power of magic or light, however; Senjutsu makes use of the unknown parts hidden in plants, animals, and people. All things live and all things die. That power that is controlled is the power that is around you.

You have an Affinity for [Senjutsu]

[The Way of Magic] [False] - 5 Gold
The Way of Magic [False] is a craft which has been in use for centuries and is the primer use of magic for humans. This is a magic style and craft born from researching supernatural creatures. While there exist multiple types of magic such as Norse, Fae, and various other types with different equations including what Gods use, it is said that the majority of magic used by ordinary Magicians are those created by the great Magician; Merlin Ambrosius, which involved reading the flow. For when one can read and use the flow, they are the peak of Magicians.

You have an Affinity for [The Way of Magic] [False]

[The Way of Magic] [True] - 10 Gold
The Way of Magic [True] is an unknown craft which has not been used by anyone since humanity's beginning. There have been many candidates believed to have used this magic type but it has never been proven. It has no beginning, no end, and no lessons or guides for a practitioner to use. This magic has never been 'birthed,' it has always existed since the beginning of time. There is no distinction between the spirit or the body, for they are one and the same. All have the same beginning and ending. All are one.

-Modifier
[Aetherial Pledge]
Magic Type: [The Way of Magic] [True]

You have an Exquisite Affinity for [The Way of Magic] [True]

Holy shit, wouldn't it be fucking obvious for what he should choose? One had double the price of the others. While the cheaper one was basically saying he'd get to see every magic spell tree for him to specialize or work on… The more expensive was so much more tempting... there was so much on the line.

In RPG terms, Way of Magic False was an unblocked skill tree where he'd know exactly what he'd get into when he invested points. The good thing was that he could plan ahead and maximize a build. The other was that he was a mage just like every other out there, there wasn't a uniqueness. All of the mechanics and spells were 'samey' while his peek max level was shown to him. He'd have to try extra hard or complete secret 'one time only missable' content if he wanted to go beyond the threshold. A good start, fast ramp-up but he'd be plagued with a weak max level and peak.

Way of Magic True was completely the opposite. He'd be going in blind in uncharted territory. He'd invest points in something and never find out if they would ever help him get to where he wanted to go. The skill tree would be completely blocked and he'd only be allowed to see the next spell after getting the one before it. It probably had an abysmal start and probably horrible/slow ramp up, the counter to that was the possibility of having a massive peak.

It was like using Nasuverse mechanics and labeling that one was Thaumaturgy and the other was Sorcery.

Fuck, of course Issei was gonna choose the more challenging option.

In a brief wave of game-like magic particles, a book that was barely the size of his gaming mouse at home with the thickness of only a few dozen pages appeared in his hands.

[Would you like to use [The Way of Magic] [True]? Warning, this will destroy the book in the process.]

Issei couldn't help but imagine the face of a pasty yellow eyed emperor from a movie from the 80s. "Do it."

The book turned into firefly sized glowing orbs before they rushed into Issei's body, forcing him to step back. His breath was literally taken away while dozens of pop-ups appeared in front of him.

[Warning! You are now no longer compatible with Magic from [The Way of Magic] [False] You may however still purchase magic from [The Way of Magic] [False] section.

[Warning! You are now no longer compatible with [Senjutsu] You may however still purchase magic from the [Senjutsu] section.

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for Conduit status!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for Manifestation Status!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for Divinity status!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for Ascendency status!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for Embodiment status!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for the Almighty Magic line!]

[Warning! Under Trial Mode, you are not eligible for the Meta Magic line!]

What the fuck did he just use?!

[Aetherial Pledge] found. Integrating…

[Ethereal Blessing] has been added!

[Ether Connection] has been added!

[Familiar Contract] has been added!

[Familiar Symbiosis] has been added!

[Chimera Craft I] has been added!

[Arcane I] has been added!

[Aether Affinity I] has been added!

[Multi-Casting] has been added!

Your Intelligence has increased by 10!

Your Spirit has increased by 10!

[Spellcrafting] has been added to the Menu!

[Map] has been added to the Menu!

[Senjutsu] has been added to the Encyclopedia!
[The Way of Magic] [False] has been added to the Encyclopedia!
[The Way of Magic] [True] has been added to the Encyclopedia!
The [Store] has unlocked new sections for [The Way of Magic] [True]

"What a ride huh?" Masuda joked, rubbing his own chest. In his hands were a few more skill books, likely for his personal playstyle. Motohama was still window shopping but looked over to check the situation. Issei nodded to the two and smacked his cheeks, planning to get back to the store and see the changes in the magic section.

Rank: Bronze

+Spellcrafting
+Familiar Evolution
+Arcane
+Aether
+Elemental Affinity
+Poison Affinity
+Darkness Affinity
+Light Affinity
+Other

Woah. That was a lot of drop down menus, Issei thought. The unknown section caught his eye but what got him even more in a tizzy was the fact that there were more locked options! Looking over the menus on what to choose had him think about being smart with his funds. He only had 6 gold left after all. Issei pressed on the two immediate concerns that needed to be fixed. Spellcrafting and Elemental Affinity; He wasn't given any spells to use so he hoped one of these would be helpful.

-Spellcrafting
Bolt I - 1 Gold Coin
Impact I - 1 Gold Coin
Target I - 1 Gold Coin
Shroud I - 1 Gold Coin
Protect I - 1 Gold Coin
Reinforce I - 1 Gold Coin
Enhance I - 1 Gold Coin
Keen I - 1 Gold Coin
Edge I - 1 Gold Coin
Rise I - 1 Gold Coin
Fall I - 1 Gold Coin
Unlock Instinct - 100 Gold Coins

-Elemental Affinity
Water I - 1 Gold Coin
Fire I - 1 Gold Coin
Ice I - 1 Gold Coin
Earth I - 1 Gold Coin
Thunder I - 1 Gold Coin
Wind I - 1 Gold Coin

Issei honestly wouldn't deny that he was overwhelmed. "Well, time to get Spreadsheet ready."

"The good kind or the bad kind?" Masuda asked.

"Both." By the time he read the majority of the 'magic' on sale, Issei was able to get the jist of the situation. "It's complicated but my magic system is sort of like 'Words of Power' sprinkled with intent and nuance… I think. I don't buy spells. I buy things to put together to make spells."

"I thought you liked that kind of stuff." Motohama countered, in his hands were a small pile of his own skill books.

"I just hope the game lets me set up macros," Issei frowned. It didn't take long for him to decide what he wanted from what was available. He would have preferred if there was anything that helped him 'Heal' for sale but he'd have to check next time. He quickly purchased [Bolt], [Reinforce], [Target], [Ice] and [Thunder] thinking those would be the options to use at the moment. If they were fighting in places that were flammable, Fire and Water were useless at the moment. Wind and Earth were both pretty good but not when earth was basically enhancing physical damage while wind had too little DPS early levels… probably. Issei made sure to keep one gold coin ready in case anything happened. Best not to use everything at once he thought.

A light from the [Map] option kept blinking at him once he was done so Issei guessed that was the next thing on the to do list.

[Initializing Local Faction areas]

Oh? Now that was interesting.

Location confirmed. Updating [Map] with [Shinto Package] dungeons, quests and activities.

Please choose a second package to be installed to the Trial Mode.

"I don't know about you but I'm not sure I wanna start fighting cursed places filled with Yokai." Motohama said in concern.

"Yeah, I'd rather start off small with generic enemies." Masuda commented. "Maybe zombies or goblins."

"Goblin?"

"None of that Goblin Slayer meme please."

Issei's hands combed through all the options for him to choose. The system was very accommodating; They were in Japan but the system allowed a lot of other mythologies or 'packages' stated by the system to be included. Was the game affecting reality or the other way around? Kuoh and a large number of cities in their country had churches so it wasn't a hard sell for Angels, Demons and Devils to be an option in the selection menu. Or were there actually Egyptian and South American supernaturals that were living in Japan?

Regardless, there were other options aside from Mythological bases. There were more 'generic' options where if he didn't want a specific culture, he could select a pool that was 'Medieval Fantasy', 'Mainland Kingdoms', 'Authentic Wuxia', 'Greek Epics' or even 'High Fantasy' to name a few. The system would include both real and some fake (he guessed they were fake) mythologies to better tailor an experience. Actually, that wasn't half bad.

The world cross pollinated with each other in games, stories and also mythologies. A large number of them could be related to one another and games mainly MMOs often had creatures from different cultures sharing the same territory.

[True Moonlit Garden] Package chosen!
Updating [Map]

[Mini-Map Activated]

[Please enjoy O' Challenger]

"Right, everything's set up guys!" Issei celebrated. He stopped when the others weren't joining in. Either Masuda or Motohama was tugging on his shoulder to get his attention and he turned.

[Cursed Forest] [Lv 1-4]
Type: Standard
Balance Modifier: No
Available Quests: None
Available Storyline: 0.05% Chance

"Oh."


Word Count: 5,379

Some people might be angry with me removing Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body. But I think having those perks don't help with character progression or growth. There needs to be some danger when it comes to status effects and de-buffs. Technically, Gamer's mind also disable buffs in my mind when I rationalized it too so...

Thanks for reading so far!