Chapter 3

So... blackness huh? Drew took a wild guess that he was in a loading screen or something. Ah well, it gave him some time to reflect. He felt like he had chosen the best race that he could, given his desires. The immortal thing was pretty cool, although he didn't really fear of getting older too much.

It was more of the, as time goes on and the body began to fall apart that scared the crap out of him. Dying would suck yeah, but he was pretty sure that most people were at least a little worried about that, and if anything, truly came after.

No, it was the idea of his body crumbling, falling apart slowly over time, with him being unable to control it. One day he’d okay, and then he’d blink and he would have a buffet of pills to take every morning and night just so he didn't die. Pretty crappy situation if you asked Drew. He could imagine that many folks would decide to change races into something with more longevity for that reason alone.

He wondered how long he’d been there. Not just in the blackness, but the whole situation. Ugh, Amber and his mom must have been going crazy looking for him. They had probably put out a missing person’s report of something. That was going to be an absolute mess to clean up. Oh well, nothing he could do except wait. Orrrrr... Status!

Status

Nam... 

NO! Nope! He didn’t want to reread the whole damn thing, that would get super annoying really quickly. In fact, he didn’t want to see it unless he was leveling up or throwing points into it. That kind of stuff. No, he wanted to view the race part of his Status.

Confirmed

Race: Human (Grade - F) - lvl 0

Hmmm, now could he focus on that please? Could he see more details or something?

Race: Human (Grade-F)
The Human race is among the most populous and expansive of all species in the multiverse. With an average lifespan of 70-80 years at Rank-F, Humans are on the lower side of average lifespans. To make up for that shortcoming, they vary immensely, both in physical and mental stats, as well as preferences. They have only two major advantages. Adaptability, and innovation. They are not the smartest, nor the most capable of craftsman, instead they can more easily adapt to major changes in their lives and environments. Humans can be found all over the multiverse, other races tend to not have strong opinions about them, one way or the other.

Okay, well that was a bit mind blowing. So much for evolving from monkeys. Or maybe we did and monkeys just happened to be on our planet anyways? Gahh, no. Not the point. Even if it was groundbreaking information. No, he wanted to know about the Grade information for races. Hmmm... focus on the Grade andddd...

Grades
Racial grades primarily refer to the average lifespan a species can expect to live. This lifespan increases as the grade does for mortal species. Given enough experience and time, species will eventually increase in grade, eventually mortal races may even become effectively immortal, or close to it. Although all races have increased bonuses as they evolve, immortal races typically have greater bonuses and may also have other advantages.

Well, that was definitely different than the games he played. Oh yeah... doomsday. No more electronics meant no more games. Well video games, that was going to really suck. At least tabletop would still be around. Where was he? Righttttt, grade crap. So, get experience, level up, that part was normal. He assumed classes would be leveling instead of his race. He needed to ask Spock about that.

Let there be light! Or rather figure? As it looked like his chosen race figure was in front of his vision. Hmmm, he wasn’t really digging the look of it. He wondered if he could start modifying it.

"Drew Wright, this is Spock, you should be seeing a figure in front of you now and you should be able to communicate with me."

"Oh yeah, I see the thing in front of me. Grumpy looking thing right now. How do I go about making it not so dang ugly?"

"First you must choose the mortal parent, you are already familiar with..."

"Yeah, that sounds like a real hassle to be honest. You said we're on a time crunch. Is there any mortal race that will help boost my willpower or mana control stuff? I'm pretty sure class-wise I'd like to go the spellcaster route when we get to it."

"Ah, yes. That would save time. I believe a species of Elf would most likely work well for you. Most have some advantage with mana."

"What about a Half-Elf or something? A race with a Human background so I don't end up looking so... strange. Well stranger than a goth kid at an amusement park anyways."

"A Half-Elf would be a good choice for your decision. They are slightly more charismatic, which isn't a stat, but it will allow you to be viewed as slightly more friendly and welcoming to other races, which may help balance out your Dhampir disadvantages. Also, they have a natural affinity to understanding and controlling mana, and a slight increase in Willpower per level."

"Okay, that's fine, let's do that."

The figure in front of him began to morph. It looked a lot more human now. Well, slightly pointed ears, and a little bit thinner in waistband than the average American, but hey he’d take it. By the way, why was the figure nude? He would think that The System would have at least thrown some clothes on it.

"Drew Wright, to modify how you will look you simply need to focus and think of how you'd like to appear. It's okay if you don't have a full picture in mind as you can focus on each individual aspect to modify it."

"Thanks Spock! Give me a sec."

Yeah, no he was not playing The Sims, there had to be an option to speed through this part. He had a pretty good idea of what he’d like to look like. Let's see... focus, focus, focus...

The figure began to morph again, slowly it started resembling exactly what he wanted it to look like. Well, he could probably change a couple things, but this looked damn good. Long shoulder length white-grey hair pulled back. Strong jawline, masculine facial structure, hmmm the ears had to be pointed it seemed.

That's fine, he’d just make them as close to human as possible. Just a tiny point at the top and they'd be covered by his hair anyways. Hmmm, add a six pack there and some sweet v-lines. Oh hi Mr. Winkie, time for that upgrade Drew always wanted. WHOA! Too much, too much! Dial it back. There we go, much better. He wanted to save his wife, not split her in half. Add some stubble for a well-groomed super short beard. Ohhhh, and make sure the eyes match the real thing. Yellow eyes. Bingo.

Yup, Geralt was going to be pissed, because Drew looked just like him but better! Well Henry's Geralt anyways. If Drew got to change how he’d look, then he’s the dude to model the new race after. Slightly paler than the real thing, but Drew could work with it.

"Hey Spock, I'm just putting some finishing touches on my dude, or rather myself, I guess. How are we doing on time?"

"If you're almost finished, then we're actually doing much better on time, ahead of schedule even."

"Awesome, are the other progenitors or whatever this quick with customizing themselves?"

"I don't know Drew Wright, you're the only person I've ever communicated with, and the only one I ever will."

"Come again?"

"As I said before, I was designed and engineered specifically for interactions with you, and you alone. Once you've finished your class selection, I will be recycled so resources can be spared for the other Human progenitors."

"Wait. You're telling me The System grew you to be a person, filled your brain with knowledge, and after I'm done here it's going to mince you up into a Spock slurry so other guides can be made?!"

"That is correct Drew Wright."

"Fuck that! That's not right man. Don't you want to live, to do something, anything other than being turned into a Spockshake? Why don't you just leave?"

"I cannot leave. It doesn't matter what I want, as most of your people say, 'it is what it is.'"

"That doesn't sit right with me man. You're a human being, a living person. You deserve the chance at life, the same as the rest of us. I thought you said The System was benevolent? A benevolent System wouldn't kill someone off just to save some pocket change in resources."

"The System is not a living thing Drew Wright. At most, you can think of it as a highly advanced artificial intelligence and it has its own rules it must follow to stay within the program. Resources must be saved when possible so that The System itself can continue to expand to help integrate new worlds, doomed species, and technologically superior species."

"Fine, I'm finished with modifying myself. Let's finish this crap up to save time. Can one of my boons save you? You said they can force the intervention of The System?"

"That... might be possible. It would require your only greater boon leaving only your Lesser for class selection. Are you sure you want to do this? If The System decides against what you wish, the boon will still be spent."

"I'm an asshole, and a realist. But I can't watch an innocent life die in front of me that I had a chance to help. Yes, I want to do this."

Greater Boon activated.
System Intervention Requested.
Speak your desire, Drew Wright.

"Uh yeah, hey Mr. or Mrs. System, my dude Spock here told me how he's going to get all chopped up and recycled after I'm done here. I, uh, request a uh... slight and beneficial change to this protocol so that Spock may live. I have a dumb idea that may help you, or The System or whatever conserve resources more efficiently, and in exchange I ask that Spock be given the same chance as the rest of us on Earth."

Quantifying query.
Elaborate on beneficial change of protocol.

"Currently you're just making these engineered people for each progenitor person on each planet you're integrating right? Well Spock said he was specifically designed to be approachable and put me at ease basically. If you're doing this for each person, every progenitor, that's got to be a huge drain on resources…”

“What if you just made a couple of guides or councilors, but they could either, change appearances at will in between each progenitor, or they just had an extremely common look to them that matches the average look of the species? Wouldn't that option be effectively the same in regards to helping people adjust, save you a ton on resources, and lower the uh, death rate of your guides. Hell, with only a couple of guides you could gift them to the newly integrated people to help them and give their species a slight boon in general knowledge of The System since our time here is so limited."

Proposal Acknowledged.
Calculating possible efficiencies.
Beginning Simulations.
Continue to Class Selection Drew Wright, waiting for Simulations to complete.

"Uh, alright I guess."

Poor dude must have been so screwed up over all the crap. Drew did the best he could given the situation. All he could do was hope the simulations came back somewhat positive, because he was totally pulling all that mumbo jumbo out of his ass. Stupid system, just sentencing people it created to die.

And here Drew thought the creator stories on his planet were bad. Imagine being flushed out of a machine only to live long enough to help someone else and then it’s goodnight. Well, if there was anything Drew knew about machines in fantasy, it was that they always shoot for the most efficiency, so maybe that would give him a shot.

"Hey Spock, you uh, okay man? You good to do the whole class thing now?"

"Yes, I'm indeed okay. No matter what happens, I want to say thank you. Thank you, Drew Wright, for taking a massive risk at great personal cost to yourself to help me. Let's move on to Class Selection"

Yeah, he could tell that Spock was sweating bullets from the way his voice trembled when he said that. Screw the consequences, Drew was glad he did what he did. If Earth was going to hell in a handbasket and Humanity was going to die off in droves, the least he could do was help the guy that helped him.

The darkness began to fade and Drew was standing back in the overly bright room. Spock was sitting at his desk, and was he slouching? Yeah, Drew guessed he would be too. No pressure or anything. He looked down, yup, totally not his old body! No more gut, hello six pack of spiciness. V Lines check, oh hello Mr. Dong! His wife was going to be sooooo happy!

It was a good thing that he had dialed it back, this thing was already on the uh... large side. Well at least it was no longer the size of an actual eggplant. Moving on, he threw his head slightly to the right. Oh yeah, long luxurious hair. He lifted his hand to his face, oh look Drew’s nails were slightly pointed. OUCH! Sharp too. Time for the money maker, the face. Strong jawline, masculine features, just the right amount of stubble. Yup. He was sex on a stick.

Drew started walking towards the desk to sit down so he could chat with Spock about the classes. Oh, his body felt a bit weird. Lighter too, which in itself was strange since he was pretty sure that he had more muscle weight than the entirety of his old body weight.

Considering his old gut that was pretty impressive. Yeah, this was totally going to take some getting used to. The being nude part sucked, but at least he didn’t have clothing covered in piss anymore. He sat down in the chair. Oh, oh cold. So cold. The System could have saved a lot of resources by not running the damn AC so cold, maybe Drew should have said that as well?

"Drew Wright, I assume you're enjoying your new body?"

"Yeah, it's pretty damn grea... Holy crap my voice is way different. I wonder if I sound like him too."

"Sound like who?"

"Doesn't matter. Anyways classes!"

"Indeed, you said you were leaning towards a spellcaster archetype of some nature?"

"Oh yes, if there's magic now, any other choice would just be dumb. It's magic. Something every kid dreams about and every adult wishes they had. You can be my Hagrid!"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Again, not important, show me my choices!"