The Manaverse

Slatewell Safe Zone System Shop

Granite City

Jut shrugged and clicked into the Specials page.

This grid was just as large as the sale screen, only it listed some specific items for purchase. There was a row of Skill Orbs, a few rows of armor and a few stacks of weapons. The Skill Orbs were listed at one copper coin each. There was the space colored one which he touched first.

Item: Skill Orb, Random

Rank: Normal

Purchase Price: 1 Copper Coin (0/1) (Each customer's first time, they are allowed to purchase 1 [Skill Orb] for 1 Copper Coin.

Examining the remaining Skill Orbs, which were Red, Blue, Purple, Green, Grey, and White, taught Jut something.

The red orb was a Damage Skill Orb. The blue and green orbs were Guardian and Healing Skill Orbs respectively while the purple was designated as a Support Orb. The grey Orb was called a Professional Skill Orb while the white was called a General Skill Orb.

Jut asked the first question that came to his mind.

"What Skill Orb would you recommend I purchase?" He wasn't really sure what to get. Another fighting skill would be good, but he wasn't sure what a Professional or General Orb would give him.

The Operator answered in the same flat, monotone voice. "As I do not know your tastes, preferences, or needs, that is a very broad question. If you do not have a Combat Skill, you should get a Red, Blue, Green, or Purple Orb as they contain random Combat Skills. The Grey Skill Orbs impart a random Skill that can be used to generate income, such as the Mining or Tailoring Skills. One of these is highly recommended if you do not have one already."

"The White Skill Orbs impart a random General Skill that may make life easier. These can be passive and very beneficial, or a simplified version of something you already do that will gain a bonus. A commonly acquired skill is the Walking Skill which could decrease your Stamina Point consumption while walking or increase the distance each step will take should you desire. These skills are recommended only once you Ascend for the first time. So, I recommend that you acquire an Orb based on what you want."

"Why based on what I want? Shouldn't I load up on combat skills early on or something?" Jut asked, intrigued. Was there not a common strategy in this System? Maybe it went on a planet by planet basis?

Jut discarded thinking about Monsters spawning on Mars to tune back into his host's answer.

"Do exactly that, if you feel that is what you want to do. The Initialization Process is very hard on all new Beings and is filled with much sorrow. The Lore shows that survivors who make their Copper Skill Purchase based on what they want, as opposed to what they are told by others, are more successful in the long run."

Jut didn't let himself analyze that too closely. Instead, he thought about what he wanted. He hadn't survived thanks to his usual over-examination of every choice. He had followed the System and made his decisions based on his first instinct. When he hadn't trusted his initial gut feeling it the past, it always blew up in his face anyway.

Jut wanted to not only survive, but to thrive in this new existence. He didn't see a way around the System. Being completely honest with himself, if playing the System like a game while still making decisions as if they had life or death consequences would make him do just that, he would give in. He would play the Hell out of it and become as powerful as he could.

That meant making a decision that would help him all around, not just in combat. What was he going to do between Monster hunts? He didn't want to work for the Casino and he didn't see any other employment becoming readily available anytime soon. With the System jump starting an economy, he would need money. Maybe Monsters would drop coins, but he doubted it. He would likely have to sell Monster parts for his future income.

He couldn't see anyone fixing the world enough to have anything entertaining to do for a long while either. Everyone was just too scared and uneasy. Being on guard all the time had everyone on edge, ready to lash out in self defense. That's how it would be until people were able to recover and regroup. After two massacres back to back, that would be easier said than done.

Jut decided to pick up a Professional Skill Orb, the grey orb appearing in his inventory. He would use it the moment he got outside, if not sooner. He was hoping that if he had a gathering or crafting Skill when he completed the Mana Gem Quest and received the three random Skill Orbs as a reward, maybe he would be less likely to get another one of those skills. It was a tutorial Quest after all. Why wouldn't it give him what he needed?

Jut explored the remaining items in the specials list, which were sets of armor and weapons. They all had a currency listing of One Voucher. Examining an item showed him why. He picked up a club, similar to the one made by Jonny and read the purchase description.

Item: Stone Club

Type: Weapon

Rank: Normal

Cost:

1 Hunters' Rally Voucher.

Must be purchased with 1 Hand Slot Item, 1 Chest Slot Item, 1 Leg Slot Item, and 1 Foot Slot Item.

Jut set the club down and looked over all of his options.

He started with gear as he wanted armor most of all. The choices were typical, low-quality fantasy fare. Cloth robes and leather armor, Cloth and Leather pants, gloves, and boots. So, he went with leather everything. He didn't have a magical spell or use a ranged weapon, so he needed all the cover he could get. Plus, it was typical for cloth armor to be used by casters.

Each piece appeared in its own space in his inventory.

Jut then considered the weaponry. Everything was made out of stone. Even the swords and daggers were made out of the same, tan rock. He wished he knew more about crafting to understand why.

Jut was going to get a back up club, but paused and remembered the clerk's recommendation to "do as he wanted". He chose a short sword without hesitation instead. He didn't really want to swing a club or mace. He grinned to himself as the specials disappeared and the menu closed after he finalized his choices.

Jut pulled the sword out and examined it in the sale window but he didn't get any new information, like a damage score or stats. So, he tucked the weapon away and closed the interface.

"Thanks, System Store Operator. You were very helpful." Jut said in parting.

"Please come back any time." The Operator said, still without any tone.

When Jut waved, the Being watched him for a moment before waving back awkwardly with one of its uniform limbs.

After Jut turned to leave, he was already pulling out the Skill Orb and consuming it before he hit the door. It disappeared as smoothly as all the others without much fanfare, being absorbed into him. A rush of sensation floated up his arm and into his brain as new information bloomed. A System Window opened immediately that he expected and allowed to happen.

You have learned a [Skill].

Skill: Smithing

Rank: Normal

Type: Crafting

Description:

Shape the minerals and materials of the world into tools, useful items, weapons and even armor. Imparts Normal Rank Smithing Lore and grants the use of a Recipe Book.

You may choose one Recipe Type and are granted the Stone Forge, Stone Ingot and Stone Smithing Hammer recipes.

Choices:

Weapons

Armor

Crafting Tools

Gathering Tools

Construction Materials

The accept button didn't appear until Jut highlighted his choice of recipe group. He chose Weapons and he felt the same sensation of knowledge appearing in his mind he always got from Skill Orbs. He wanted to carry on with Jonny's passing-out weapons to people. He knew he wouldn't have survived the night of the wave without the club he had been gifted. If he could give that chance to one other person, that sense of success and survival, he would.

Jut smiled as he made his way towards where his friends' bodies were laid out. He didn't know if the System given him what he had hoped for, or if his luck was just in, but he couldn't wait to craft something. He could already understand how to make a Stone Weapon, but he needed to be in front of a forge first before he would think more about the actual process.

As he found the yard they borrowed, Jut noticed that the light hadn't disappeared from around the Casino proper yet. Another thing he noticed was all the people who looked lost. Everyone who hadn't made it out of the building must have been teleported out, because many people were wearing PJs and one guy was even wrapped in a towel.

The streets had become stuffed with people, as the System had warned. There just wasn't as many as he thought there should be. He expected to feel like a sardine stuffed into a small can while the new building went up, but his path was only very crowded instead. People were flowing into and around the other buildings around him with ease.

Just as he had hoped, Brick was sitting with the dogs near the bodies of their team. Nox was laying very close to Randy's body.

Jut would save his rituals until after they put their friends to rest.

Brick rose and walked to meet him. He was wearing a full set of leather armor, marking him as one of the people who had entered the Shop earlier in the day.

"Jut! I'm so glad you're here, man." Brick said cheerily. He placed a hand on each of Jut's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, his gaze serious. "Are you doing okay? At least, as okay as can be expected?"

Jut stiffened when Brick made contact, but relaxed at the question.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm as well as I can be. And you?"

"I'm awful. Great, pissed, sad, and just terrible, but I'm okay. We did what we could, right?" Brick said remorsefully.

Jut nodded. "Wanna talk new Skills while we get this done? I'm sure the guys would be bitching at us for the delay."

Brick laughed. "Larry would totally be giving us the stank eye. "Why aren't you moving faster asshole? Don't drop me now." Brick pantomimed some of Larry's usual actions while using a voice that was clearly not Larry's.

"Lift with your knees, boy, not your back." Jut quoted Jonny from Monster corpse harvesting duty.

The mood became morose and depressed as they saw to their grim task. They had to carry each body to the Graveyard, one at a time. It was gruesome and horrible, but they kept it up until everyone was moved and carried inside. They could have loaded up their inventories with the bodies, but he felt that was improper.

The chapel of the Graveyard looked normal enough from the outside. The main room of the chapel was actually a lobby. The floor was tiled in a bright white pattern of crosses and other religious symbols from around the world. There were multiple lines waiting for people sized platforms that ran along the walls. Two swinging doors on either the left or right led to two different halls where funeral processions could be held.

Jut watched one in silence between trips into the chapel with his group members' bodies. The deceased would be displayed as the person who registered the service desired for a brief period before the body would be lowered back into the chapel. Together with Brick, they decided to have a ceremony that was a little less formal later.

How the Graveyard worked was very streamlined. A person would lift a corpse onto one of the platforms. A window would appear and the body would be scanned. The window would show the deceased's personal information for verification. The person interring the dead would choose between different options for procedures and services.

They could choose cremation and interment of the ashes in the Graveyards fields. They could have the ashes returned in a small fist sized sphere of mana for display or ceremonies. The rest of the ceremony options were based on various religions from the world with added protections to have the dead person remain dead, like a special casket or other enchanted item that prevented reanimation. Anything past the first two options cost gold coins, so most people were selecting from one of the free choices.

Once an option was selected, the body was pulled into a magical space to wait to be processed. Even with spacial magic furnaces that came with the property, there was just too many bodies to burn at once. The person who registered the body for service would be alerted when the process was complete or their ceremony was about to begin.

Jut was filled with an even deeper sorrow when he realized how long this place would be busy for. Even holding one hour ceremonies, there were only two rooms and hundreds of thousands of dead.

As other people were also helping to properly dispose of the deceased, Jut and Brick had to wait in line for every visit. For each of their trips through the line, they would work together to get the process started, taking turns on the controls with Brick making the selections twice.

Once they were finished, they assisted others in hauling in their friends, families, or strangers. The work was gross, morbid, and hard to deal with at first. It was Brick's brief words that helped Jut deal with it, no matter how disgusting the corpse.

"What would you want to have happen to you? Personally, I hope I'm eaten by a Monster. If I'm not. Spread me over a battlefield."

Jut realized that was his wish too. He didn't want people standing around crying for an hour only to have his corpse buried whole in a field with strangers. He would much rather be cremated and spread somewhere else, somewhere he spent a lot of time.

They labored for hours, hauling the deceased and chatting with others who were doing so. A branch of the casino staff were assigned the job and there were many more besides. Genuinely good people who wanted to help. It wasn't until the sun was sinking did Jut and Brick finally stop.

The dogs had stayed in one of the ceremony rooms when people using them did not mind. Both of them seemed to understand what was happening and they let grieving people stroke them for comfort. Neither Jut nor Brick tried to stop them. Jut didn't think they would have even listened had they tried.

As the pair left, they didn't see anyone around except those who were still working. The Casino, now Town Hall, must have finished its construction, so they wandered that way.

That was when they finally relaxed a bit and allowed themselves to speak more about the last few days. Jut had to know more about Kit. He had refrained from asking anything since he had found Brick on the roof.

"Did someone see her die?" His voice nearly cracked, but he managed to ask.

Brick looked at Jut with a sad expression. "I'm sorry, man. I don't know for sure. I was in a fight and didn't see it. The one to speak to is that nurse girl."

"You mean Isabelle?" Jut raised an eyebrow. "Why was she there?"

Brick shrugged "Something about a broken arm one of the kids had. You'll have to ask her, but I think she believes you'll blame her for Kit getting stuck outside the barrier. Joy too. When I said I was going to wait for you there, they both ran off pretty quickly."

Jut tilted his head, much like Gunther did when Jut spoke to him. "Why would I blame them?"

"As I said. You'll have to ask them. They told me, but I'm not for playing telephone with eyewitness accounts." Brick said with another shrug as they turned the corner and saw the Slatewell Town Hall. The sight took their breath away.