Nick let out a self-deprecating chuckle. In truth, he was stoked that he had been able to raise one of his attributes by conditioning his body, at a rate significantly faster than he would have been able to accomplish back on Earth. He wondered what the limits of physical conditioning were compared to improvements tied to his level, and whether spending a point to raise an attribute too early would prevent him from maximizing his gains. Not that Nick would hoard his points under any circumstances while his life was on the line.

He was delighted that toughness had been the first attribute to tick up, as even without understanding the details, it was a clear choice for advancement. Nick was now certain that the improvements to his physique he had noticed earlier were caused by his geneline trait Versatile, although he had no idea how or why he had received it. While it was easy to tell that he had grown a bit stronger, Nick wondered how his other increased attributes were affecting him. He didn’t feel any smarter, more creative, or more likeable. But he lacked a means to objectively measure those aspects of himself.

Having the capacity to use magic was thrilling. At least in theory. He would be overjoyed to be able to use spells of any kind, even without being privy to the particulars. But while the possibilities offered by magic were intriguing, Nick wasn’t willing to invest in the attribute until he understood the benefits and opportunity cost involved. Not to mention the ??? fields. Whatever they were hiding was sure to be interesting.

Regardless, he wasn’t going to make any decisions until he spent his knowledge point. Before moving on to that section of the menu, Nick stopped to consider the improvements to his skills, nibbling on the last bites of coconut he had been saving.

While Nick still had no idea how skills functioned, he was glad to have gained a point of evaluate threat and foraging. However they worked, both skills sounded incredibly useful at face value. He suspected that his foraging skill was the reason why he had been so certain that the pseudo-coconuts were filled with water, even though he had never seen them before. It might have been helping him to judge whether the brackish stream was clean enough to drink as well.

Nick’s evaluate danger skill might explain why he had begun to think of most of the creatures on the island as animals, and the more dangerous ones as beasts. Although there wasn’t a clear distinction between them beyond an instinctual desire to avoid attracting the beasts’ attention.

You know, I really don’t like the term ‘evaluate danger.’ It’s dry and lacks a certain flair. If I’m just thinking about it to myself, I should come up with something catchier. Hrm… I know. From now on, I will refer to the skill as ‘size up’ instead. To Nick’s surprise, the moment that he made the decision, the skill listed on his profile updated to display its new name. It was both eerie and awe inspiring to watch the words on the screen shift in response to his private thoughts; like he had leapt forward centuries and was now living in the future.

Although he supposed that wasn’t too far off the mark, even if he couldn’t remember what had happened to the planet of his birth. It felt intrusive to realize that the System could read his innermost thoughts, but then again, he supposed that it knew everything about… presumably everything.

Finally, Nick turned his attention to his wand skill, which still displayed a fat goose egg. He wondered what the wand did, as it had to have a purpose. Maybe it would become clear once he found a way to raise the skill up from zero. He resolved to spend a few minutes each night tinkering with the device, until he figured out how to use it and could start training his skill. Nick was certain that he was missing a critical piece to the puzzle, and hoped that when he solved it, he would have a new tool at his disposal.

Having learned as much as he could from staring at his profile, Nick moved on to the final consideration before spending his attribute point, deciding how to use his knowledge point, which he decided to think of as kp for short from now on.

He returned to the main menu and selected ‘System encyclopedia.’ He read the words that scrolled down to fill the screen. The section had been blank before, but apparently that was because Nick had not had any points to spend. Now it provided him with an introduction to the kp system, which he appreciated.

Knowledge points (tutorial only): 1

To use knowledge points, select the question mark icon below and then the part of the profile you wish to know more about. The cost in knowledge points will be displayed and if you choose to pay, an explanation of that term will be provided.

As promised, there was a flashing question mark in one corner of the menu, as well as a field where he could enter queries directly. When Nick hit the blinking button, the screen returned to his profile. Only now, there was a small question mark next to every term on the screen. To get a feel for how it worked, he pressed the icon next to ‘tier’ and a prompt appeared on the display.

Would you like to unlock the basic primer on category [tiers]? Cost 1 kp.

“No,” he answered aloud. Whatever tiers were, it would likely take considerable time and investment before he would be able to raise his. And Nick had a whole mountain of questions that he needed to have answered first. He pondered his options while checking the price for each morsel of knowledge, any of which might save his life under the right circumstances. Most of the options cost only a single kp to unlock, except for species and geneline, which cost two, and bloodline, which cost five.

While he poked at his profile, Nick sorted through his questions regarding the System, working out a hierarchy based on what he needed to know now, versus what would be more useful later. He definitely wanted to learn more about each of the physical attributes, as well as mind, as they were prime candidates for early investment. Nick was no match for even the weakest beasts on the island, and he needed to do everything in his power to change that if he was going to have any chance of surviving an entire month here.

Nick also wanted to know more about the leveling system in general. How did he acquire experience? Did he have to fight, or even worse, kill to raise his level? He didn’t think so, but it would be nice to be sure. He wondered if there were any benefits to gaining a level besides the free point, as well as how experience scaling increased with every level.

Nick was eager to learn how he could change his class, but he doubted that the information would be relevant until he finished his tutorial. Besides, he was relying on his Survivor trait to help stretch out his rations and supplement his scant hours of sleep. Switching classes too soon would likely cause him problems, although being given a basic class still chafed him, even if he could not quite put his finger on why.

Nick was eager to learn more about abilities, as he was certain they would play a central role in helping him to grow more powerful, as well as the difference between active, passive, and free ability slots. But it wasn’t a good first pick, since he didn’t have any abilities to work with yet.

Mulling his options over, Nick returned to the encyclopedia menu to inspect the custom prompt. Just to see what happened, he entered, “What is an optimal leveling strategy for a level one Survivor?” He expected the machine to throw an error back at him, his question being too broad, too specific, or somehow out of bounds. But instead, the prompt read:A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

An answer to this question will cost 10 kp. You have insufficient knowledge points at this time.

He tried out a few more queries and learned that questions that provided advice or explained the relationship between terms cost more kp. Even the simplest custom inquiries he came up with would set him back five points, well beyond his present means. While he could potentially hoard knowledge points and attempt to fashion the ultimate question, trying to outwit or game the System, Nick had no idea how many kp he would find on the isle and every point he didn’t spend represented another way he might die today.

Ten minutes later, Nick was ready to make his decision and spend his points.

After deciding to tinker with the custom prompt later, mostly to see if he could learn anything from the point cost involved or an outright rejection of a question, Nick went back to his profile and clicked on the icon next to the word ‘attributes.’ Now that he knew he could raise his physical attributes through conditioning his body, he needed to learn more about the process as well as any limitations that might not be obvious. Nick would ponder the matter long and hard before deciding how to spend any kp he found later, but he was certain that this was the right place to start.

Would you like to unlock the basic primer on category [attributes]? Cost 1 kp.

Nick waited for a minute, then another, but nothing happened. Then he realized that he had never confirmed the prompt. He went to touch ‘yes,’ only to find that there was no such button, or a digital keyboard for that matter. Wait, then how did I fill in the prompt before? The display had responded to his thoughts so naturally that he hadn’t even noticed. It probably wasn’t a touch screen at all.

Um… yes? he thought, feeling a bit weird that he was trying to command what looked like a computer with his mind. But once again, Nick’s will proved sufficient to guide the display, and several paragraphs of text scrolled up to fill the screen.

Attributes

Attributes correspond to the various physical, mental, and energetic aspects that define your present capabilities. Their values reflect your level of development relative to other members of your species at the time of integration. For physical and mental attributes, the average values for humans of Earth have been standardized to 5 (not including the bonuses granted by your geneline traits.) As your species was awakened to energetic attributes during integration, your scores are unusually low. Thus, the value 5 instead reflects the average for level 0 contestants residing in your sector.

Baseline attributes include gains acquired from geneline traits, as these represent fundamental changes to your genetic structure, but not gains tied to levels or other external sources. Baseline attributes can be improved through training and conditioning up to a value of ten (for grade E species). It is generally easy to raise baseline attributes to five, moderately difficult to raise them to seven, and reaching eight or above requires intensive effort over a prolonged period. Additional attribute points are gained with each new level, at values determined by your class.

The word integration triggered an echo of dread somewhere in the depths of his subconscious. Before those buried truths could rise to the surface of his awareness, something reached into Nick’s head and plucked the emotion from his mind, returning his attention to the words on the screen. The mention of sectors and other species was absolutely intriguing, offering the tantalizing prospect that Nick might one day stand face-to-face with aliens from worlds far beyond his own.

His mysterious geneline traits were equally fascinating, and he had been provided with more information than he had expected. He would normally have geeked out for hours, riding the high of exploring such extraordinary possibilities. But instead, he shoved his excitement to one side to focus on the task at hand; deciding how he would spend his free point, then finding something to eat before it grew too dark to forage.

Nick had believed that since his physical and mental attributes averaged five point five, he was totally typical for his species after the recent increase to his toughness. This realization had been a bit disappointing, but wasn’t too humbling, since he had really let himself go after switching his career to professional gaming. But he had been including the bonuses provided by his Versatile trait without realizing it, since the values listed in his profile incorporated them.

Nick was faced with the uncomfortable truth that other than his mind and creativity, he had been below average across the board. This was both sobering and humiliating, but it stoked his competitive spirit. At least I can do something about it now. The System has given me a chance to catch up to the rest of the pack. In that moment, he came to a decision. No matter the price, he would overcome his weakness. Apply himself and train rigorously, for Nick had no intention of remaining ordinary any longer.

Now that Nick knew allocating his free points did not count toward the baseline limits of conditioning his body, he was no longer concerned about squandering his potential by spending them too soon. He wasn’t sure how everything worked behind the scenes, but it seemed that the System intended to allow him to grow in whatever direction he desired, without having to worry about wasting his points by investing them in underdeveloped attributes too early.

Which was great, since Nick was going to spend his free point now no matter what. He had already had too many close calls over the last day and a half. He needed to improve his odds now while he had the chance.

Since he had gained a powerful incentive to condition his physique, Nick took a few laps around the obelisk while mulling his options over, considering which attributes would enhance his immediate prospects of survival. Charisma and creativity were out, because although they sounded useful in general, neither attribute seemed geared toward helping him endure a month on the Searing Isle. Nick was all alone and had more ideas than he could act on already.

Improving his mind was an intriguing possibility, although he was still unclear as to what self-aspects it governed. Getting smarter at the press of a button was a dream come true, and he would likely invest in mind later on, once he knew exactly what it did. But it wasn’t a good first pick.

Nick’s mind was the only baseline attribute that was naturally above average, and as he was a savant at strategic planning, he was confident that his skills were sufficient to tackle the challenges he had encountered thus far. Besides, Nick was unsure about the relationship between mind and intelligence, as his Versatile trait had already raised his mind by one and he had yet to notice any obvious effects since waking up on the island.

Specializing in magic sounded straight up awesome, and Nick did have his wand, which he hoped would tie into the attribute somehow. But it was likely going to take some time to figure out the rules of magic, making it too early to invest in that direction as well.

Fuck. Why did they have to make learning the rules of the System its own minigame? I hate having to speculate when making such an important decision. Nick wished that he was able to unpack the details of what each attribute did now, but he was out of kp and was burning daylight. There’s no use in complaining Nick. Just focus and do the best you can. At least the applications of the physical attributes seem relatively intuitive.

With the bottom two rows out of the running for now, he returned his attention to the top row of attributes, carefully considering each before making his decision. He still had to decide between strength, dexterity, and toughness.

Strength was clearly top tier, as Nick had already learned that he was a poor match for even the weakest creatures on the island. If he was forced to fight, being able to land decisive blows would be critical, especially when using primitive weapons like rocks and sticks. Raising his strength should also allow him to carry more weight without overburdening himself, which would be helpful in nearly any situation.

Dexterity would likely improve his ability to dodge and might even provide a boost to his accuracy. That would be great if Nick wanted to specialize in melee combat, but for now he was unarmed and getting up close and personal with the beasts on the island sounded like a terrible idea.

He wasn’t sure which attribute would help him run faster, which was too bad, as Nick desperately needed to be able to outrun the predators on the isle. His first encounter with the komos had nearly cost him his head. Would dexterity help me to make less noise? Not unless I already know how to move silently, and I don’t even know where to begin.

Eventually, he was ready to make his choice. Nick sent his will into the display and selected toughness, raising its value to five. He had been leaning toward picking it all along, but now he was certain that his reasoning was sound. Right now, a sprained ankle, a short fall, or a single solid blow from a komo could end his life. Either immediately or by crippling him to the point where he could no longer defend himself or forage for sustenance. Whether toughness rendered his body better able to withstand punishment, allowed him to heal faster, or passively improved his stamina, raising it would likely save Nick’s life before his trial was over.

A confirmation window appeared on the display, which he had been expecting. But Nick was completely unprepared for the intense physical sensations that came along with the package.