It had been roughly 12 hours since the incident and the new day was afoot. Elias had roped Bruce into helping rebuild what was lost, which he wasn't particularly opposed to because there wasn't much else to do. Seeing as they weren't expert carpenters the most they could do was some patchwork, trying their best to neatly nail in pieces pieces of plywood around a seemingly shoddy foundation. The work was quite dull so, as one does, they began to conversate. Bruce was particularly intrigued on why Elias decided to join the Marines.
"Well, it wasn't too long ago I was extorted by some guys in the Mafia, they put a gun right in my mouth and when that happened, I figured it'd do me right to do what I can to fight these scum. I've been a proud marine for two whole days now."
"Mafia?" Bruce asked, utterly clueless on the fact that they were present within this world.
"Yeah, what about it?" Elias frowned, not knowing the slightest detail about Bruce's situation.
Bruce scratched the back of his ear with the edge of the handle of the hammer as he thought about how he should approach the situation. He didn't want to appear as if he was completely alien to this world, though at the same time he needed his curiosities fulfilled. Thus, he bit the bullet and decided to inquire further on the topic, seeing if they were at all similar to the ones in the old world.
"Yeah so.. What are they?" He slowly and nervewrackingly inquired.
Elias burst in laughter, fueling Bruce's anxiety about this all.
"You must be more sheltered than me, aha. You seriously don't know?" Bruce nodded. "They're basically pirates but they explore less y'know, they like to acquire turf as opposed to razing whatever island they come by. They're a bit more honorable too, though only slightly - that doesn't make me wanna blow their brains out any less."
"Calm down, tough guy. You're making me scared." Bruce smiled, his nerves easing up.
"You'll understand when you see 'em. That's all I'll say." He said, focusing back onto his work.
"So, why did you join us?"
Instead of giving a long spiel about finding purpose in a frankly alien world by returning to the one thing that gave his life purpose and structure, Bruce felt it less infringing of basic faux pas to give a more succinct answer.
"Uhh, for justice."
"Couldn't've said it better myself."
Minutes went by and eventually they finished up the surface level repairs on the home they had been working on for the duration of their conversation, another Marine approached just in time for the last nail to be pounded into the shack. The man looked quite a bit more experienced than Elias, boasting a large scar across his face and orange hair with gray roots. He didn't seem too high up in command however, it made Bruce think how all those years - presumably under marine purview - might've been for nought. Bruce dispersed that negative thought, replacing it with some mental gymnastics about serving a common cause and the rank not mattering.
"Elliot." The redhead said in a gruff cadence. "Our commander wants to talk to you about yer boy over here." He said, looking Bruce up and down harshly.
"It's Elias." The man said as Bruce pointed to himself, gesturing whether or not he should come with.
"No, you'll stay here, go rest while you wait." He commanded as the two saw each other off.
Bruce found his way to a bench, figuring he needed a rest after all that hammering. The break afforded Bruce some precious time to figure out some intricacies of this RPG system he had access to that he didn't have the opportunity to figure out earlier.
Name: Bruce Ocean
Level:2 (150/210)
Stats:
Strength: 8
Vitality: 10
Agility: 8
Perception:5
Willpower:6
Unassigned Points:
Health: 100/100
Regeneration Rate: 0.5/m
Passive Skills:
Military Combatives (7/25)
Marksmanship (11/25)
Active Skills:
Focus Aim: (5/25)
Race: Human 2/15
Perks: N/A
System Perks:
Observe
His first concern was regarding the Willpower stat, he was fine with becoming stronger through this 'System', but having it modify his personality in some way struck a chord with him? And why that of all of the mentality centric statistics seen in countless games, what purpose did it serve above Charisma for example? When would it come into play? These questions were ultimately unanswered, inevitably piling up with rest that also weren't answered.
Secondly, It seemed as though his combatives skill increased during combat as he vaguely remembered it being ranked at a 6/25, whatever that meant. Upon further inspection he was able to summon a synopsis of the exact capabilities this skill gave him:
Combatives (7/25):
Combatives is a method of self defense taught to those in the US Military, a system in which strikes, holds and utilization of weaponry is paramount. Each level in this skill awards greater understanding and coordination of the techniques and principles encompassed by this system.
He was yet to see any real progress, but he believed the System's words.
Next was the 'Focus Aim' skill, his one and only active skill. He tried activating it here in the same manner he manifested his character sheet, expecting some sort of Bullet Time effect to spontaneously occur, but no, nothing happened. Following this, he inspected the skill itself, hoping that it would elaborate:
Focus Aim (5/25)
Focus Aim is a technique that allows for greater precision whilst using firearms against a single target, by activating this you are given a greater intuition of how gravity, the wind and other apparent factors will alter the path of your bullet. Additionally, your hand eye coordination is increased, allowing you to track targets more efficiently.
This seemed.. Incredible! Bruce wasn't this good of a marksman in the old world, not to the extent that this technique describes anyway. Despite that he had been somehow bestowed this ability when the 'System' translated his original capabilities into something more game-like. He hoped that this wasn't something extraordinarily mundane with some awesome flavor text.
His fourth concern was the fact that his race..
HIS RACE HAD A PROGRESS BAR!?
It was 2/15, seemingly corresponding with his level. All he could do was wonder what would happen when his level graced the fifteen mark, would he turn into a fishman, would he become taller, stronger? These questions couldn't be answered by tapping into some synopsis, but at least this unanswered question had a lead, a way to find out what it entailed. This only furthered his desire to level up and explore the limits of this system, hopefully answering some more queries of his along the way.
Lastly, it seemed he actually had another active skill: Observe. Just as he had done before, he tried activating, trying to 'Observe' the bench he was sitting on, and this time an immediate result was seen.
Memorial Bench
In loving memory of a husband, father, chef and friend of many, John Schimmel.
Your love will always be our guide.
Bruce turned back and saw that that was indeed what was written on a brass plaque nailed onto the bench. After these discoveries about the system, Elias and the older man returned with a massive fucking snail on their hand, holding it out towards Bruce. Bruce took a step back, fear overtaking him.
'What the fuck is that?!' He thought as the snail began to.. It FUCKING SPOKE.
"I take it you're Bruce?" It said. Bruce's shock was all too apparent to the two marines in front of him, who simply tilted their heads in confusion, as this was normal. He took a deep breath and tried to recollect himself, knowing that these people probably didn't mean harm.
"Helloooo?" The snail said, and only then Bruce came to the conclusion that there might just be another person there, using this snail as a means of communication. The thought still creeped him out, but he supposed he should give it a go and not make himself look like a fool any longer.
"Y-yes, I'm Bruce." He said nervously.
"I am Lieutenant Commander Nailman," He proclaimed, the Snail's face contorting into a wide, grandfatherly smile. "You are very welcome to join the Marines, though considering your location.. Hmm." He said, as the indecisive tapping of a pen against paper was heard in the background. "You should be ready to be picked up by our recruitment vessel in four days. While aboard that ship you'll go through a series of aptitude tests to see where you are at. If you excel you may have the chance of skipping the first two ranks, starting at Seaman First Class."
Bruce reckoned he should get familiar with the ranking system sooner or later.
"Anything else, sir?" He asked.
"I don't think so? Any questions you may have will be answered by your comrades on the ship." He said, the hesitancy really striking a chord with Bruce. "So: Prepare well, rest well, and I hope you perform well. Toodaloo!"
Kch-rk
And the call ended there.
Quest Alert:
Become a Seaman First Class
Succeed with flying colors in the basic Marine aptitude test
Rewards:
Rare Chest
+3 To all Physical stats
300 XP
Time Remaining:
3 Days, 23 Hours, 59 minutes, 56 Seconds
Bruce stood there in silence, reading over the screen that appeared in front of his face whilst lacking any and all situational awareness, ignorant of the curious hand Elias waved only a few inches from his face. These rewards seemed magnificent, 3 levels worth of points given to him, a rare chest - whatever that was - and a hefty chunk of XP. It was stupid for Bruce to simply miss out on the chance to earn all of this alongside whatever he could achieve in the preparation process. The only worry in his mind was the pain that would come with the sudden influx of statistical increases, still shuddering from the last time he allocated some points- though perhaps he would get used to that pain, eventually only feeling the dopamine rush of moving faster than he's ever done, lifting things he couldn't and enduring attacks that would cripple him.
"Ya there?" Elias said, which seemed to take him out of his trance. "I'm kinda worried."
"Yeah, just zoned out for a minute." Bruce responded. "So! Let's continue repairing shall we."
And that's what they did, fixing the town up one house by one with zero expertise or knowledge whatsoever on how to effectively do so except basic intuition. Bruce managed to gain a skill level in carpentry as the day went on, almost leveling up because of it. Bruce was just about to hastily allocate his three points before realizing that he had missed the mark by 10 XP. He took that as a blessing seeing that if he did legitimately level up, he'd have to explain why he suddenly collapsed to Elias.
In that time he decided to experiment a little more with the system. Specifically he wanted to see what happened if he used 'Observe' on a person.
Name: Elias Webb
Level: 3
Health: 100/100
Race: Human
There wasn't much information to go off of, nor could the skill be leveled up it seems. Seeing a hopefully accurate depiction of someone's strength and the amount of health they currently have would prove to be invaluable however. Bruce would try to make it a habit to Observe everyone he talked to just to know what he was dealing with.
Before their job would end, Bruce started considering how he could prepare in time for the 'Aptitude Test' which is when he turned to Elias.
"Hey." He initiated. "Do you think you can help me prepare to reach First Class?" Bruce asked as he stared at his quest screen, watching the time tick down second by second.
"I dunno.. I only reached apprentice." He said whilst driving a nail into a plank of wood. The terms were all too vague to Bruce, but he assumed that 'Apprentice' was lower than First Class.
"Y'know what, sure!"
Disc: VaVbW6fT