Chapter 60 - Community

Okay, later, I will think about it later.

First, let's pick the name for our group and for myself.

Welcome to the Community! Your group is now registered as "Group 4," and your alias will be "Noname." Your daily time limit is 10 minutes; after that, your access to the Community will be cut off.

Then a window appears, looking similar to a forum style.

Easy difficulty: 1869/2000

Normal difficulty: 734/1000

Hard difficulty: 330/500

Hell difficulty: 56/250

Community tournament (currently unavailable)

So yup, Hell is the highest difficulty as expected. What surprises me is that there is a forum with all difficulties in the same place.

What do the numbers mean? The number of survivors out of the total amount that got into the tutorial?

Also, what the hell is with those numbers? Why are there so many people?

And why does Hell difficulty have so much lower numbers in comparison to others?

"..."

Oh, never mind that.

And also, what the fuck is the community tournament?

So many questions.

I touch on Hell difficulty, and a thread opens.

AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - Hello.
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - What the hell is this?
Bard (Hell, IDK) - I thought I would get some info from you guys.
Hadwin (Hell, Group 4) - Are you also on the second floor?

What the hell, Hadwin? Did you use your name as your alias?

The messages move as more and more people type in, and at this point, it's easy to guess that the first is the alias, then there is difficulty and group name.

As for now, no one from other difficulties joins this thread, and when I try to switch, I am unable to, and the system says it's unavailable at the moment.

AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - Is your second floor also named Mana-Infused Kingdom? Small hills, a lot of grass?
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Yes, but I don't see anyone other than our group here. To our left, there is a stone as big as a house with a lot of rocks around it. To its right, there is a small hill going sharply downwards.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - OMG, same! Different dimensions or copies of the same floor?
Bard (Hell, IDK) - Probably. We also didn't meet anyone other than our group on the 1st floor. Trolls, wolves, spider matriarch, Cinderbear?
Hadwin (Hell, Group 4) - Yes, the same here.
AnotherOneHere (Hell, TheGuild) - That's it then. I guess we won't be seeing each other. We can't rule it out but…
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - How did you guys deal with Cinderbear?

Oh! I quickly join in.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - Fuck Cinderbear!
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Hell yes, Noname, fuck that furry asshole!

A few more people join, and everyone is happy to complain and vent a bit.

Noname (Hell, Group 4) - Did you pick your classes already?
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Most of us did; there's no sense in waiting any longer.
Noname (Hell, Group 4) - Anything interesting? Hidden stuff?
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Just s small one. When you ***********
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Lol, it got censored. Good luck, Noname!

Obviously, the system wouldn't let it go.

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Did you use the amulet to get Cinderbear to help you?
Hadwin (Hell, Group 4) - What do you mean by that?
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Lol, Hadwin, how the fuck are you guys alive?
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - You didn't use the amulet? The one from level five Goblin Shaman.
Hadwin (Hell, Group 4) - It broke…
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Lol, what the hell?
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - You could use the amulet to summon Cinderbear to help. He would move around your camp and kill stronger monsters, but once in a while, he would come and take one from the group in exchange. We think it's a cruel mechanic the system hid there.
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - I hate that bear so much.
Hadwin (Hell, Group 4) - He ate a few people, but in the end, we killed him.
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - …
Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - What?
Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Bullshit.
Savant (Hell, Alone) - I killed him too.
Savant (Hell, Alone) - He wasn't that tough.

Then I get forcefully disconnected from the forum.

I lift my hand and stick out my middle finger, showing it to the floating holographic window in front of me.

Fuck you and your hidden mechanics.

*****

Let's check the skill upgrade.

Please select your class first; only after that can you upgrade your skills.

What the heck?

This is just straight-up bullying.

Is it a progression structure? Would it be possible to abuse it? Maybe there's a possibility of not picking a class and just upgrading your skills a few times, and then getting a way too strong starting class? That's why the system won't let me pick a skill upgrade?

But okay, let's check the classes again.

My favorites are:

Force Adept:
A beginner class that harnesses the power of various forces, allowing the user to control and manipulate energy and momentum during combat, benefiting from their strong affinity with mana.

Mana Channeler:
A novice class that centers on the circulation of mana within the body, leveraging the user's innate talents to reinforce their physical attributes and refine their command over magic.

Focus Ascendant:
A beginner class that underscores the value of mental concentration, empowering the user to augment their magical prowess, maintain focus during combat, and increase their ability to rapidly adapt to changing situations in battle.

As for the other ones.

Mystic Tamer is something I will have to talk about with Biscuit. This one is on his for sure. Goddamn Biscuit. I swear if this one replaced some awesome class, you will boop your snout until I deplete my stamina.

Ether Warrior I like it, but it seems to rely a bit more on physical combat, and my goal is to improve my mana.

Mana Striker is something similar to Ether Warrior, but it's not for me.

Force Archer is interesting. Probably got it because of the absorbed kinetic energy I channeled into the thin cone and used it to attack the monsters? Can you even call that archery?

Kinetic Defender: nope, I need more damage.

Mana Scout also nope, doesn't seem to be that much into mana manipulation, and I don't want to scout and avoid fights; I want to win them quickly.

Mystic Armorer is a total nope. I will rely on myself and not on a piece of equipment. Did I get it offered because I kept using oscillation on my weapons to strengthen them?

So it's back to the top three.

Force Adept sounds super good as it even talks about mana a lot, and the various forces part sounds good.

Mana Channeler I like it a lot. Centers on the circulation of mana? Innate talents? Refine command over magic? Definitely a top pick.

Focus Ascendant - augmenting magical prowess sounds good, and maintaining focus during combat also - but I have a skill for that. And what does rapidly adapting to changing situations even mean?

In the end, it's not such a hard decision, and I pick Mana Channeler.

Congratulations! You have picked your first class - Mana Channeler. In the future, you will be able to upgrade your class or change it for a new one fitting your actions up until that point within the tutorial.

Another window pops up:

Congratulations! You have acquired your Primary Class - Mana Channeler.

Mana Channeler:

Active Skill: Mana Surge - The user can temporarily increase the flow of mana within their body, boosting the power of their magical abilities for a short duration.

Passive Skill: Mana Flow (Rare) - The user's mana flows more efficiently throughout their body, reducing the amount of mana needed for skill activation and improving their overall magical control.

Bonuses:

+10 to Mana
+2 to Constitution

Yes! YES!

More mana!

Huhu.

Huhu…

I might have a problem.

Whatever! If I were a telepathic corgi, I totally wouldn't be screaming (Mana!) instead of (Food!).

I can stop anytime I want.

Also, why the hell is there a (Rare) thingy in the name of my shiny new skill?

Yeah, system? Why don't you grade everything at once?

But it's okay; I am happy. Two new skills? One of them passive? Boosting magical abilities? Improving overall magical control?

Heck yeah!

Okay, breathe in.

Breathe out.

Now repeat that.

Good.

And do not test them now; you need your mana to keep your body together until you heal at least somewhat. Also, there is a bunch of assholes around you waiting for a chance to take a bite of you.

Overall, I like my new class, and I am excited to test it.

Now, let's check skill upgrades.

A new window pops up in front of me.

Congratulations! You can now upgrade your level 10 skills. Currently, there are two skills available for upgrade. Choose wisely!

Focus:

Deep Focus: Increases the intensity and effectiveness of your focus, further enhancing your magical abilities and concentration during combat.

Focus Extension: Lengthen the duration of your focused state, allowing you to maintain concentration for longer periods without experiencing mental fatigue.

Dual Focus: Train your mind to focus on two tasks simultaneously, allowing you to perform multiple actions at once with greater efficiency.

Focus Synergy: Improve the synergy between your focus and other skills, allowing you to combine their effects for more potent results.

Mana Manipulation:

Mana Amplification: Increase the potency of your mana manipulation, enabling you to generate more powerful magical effects.

Advanced Mana Manipulation: Enhance your control over mana, allowing for more precise and intricate manipulation of magical energies.

Mana Intensification: Strengthen the potency of your mana manipulation, enabling you to generate more powerful magical effects with less effort.

Mana Sensitivity: Heighten your sensitivity to mana in your surroundings, allowing you to detect and track mana sources more easily.

I notice one of the skill upgrades.

Huh? Did I see it right?