"Sorry, what was that?" I asked the nurse.
"I asked if you feel dizzy or lightheaded?"
"No, I feel fine." To be honest I was barely paying attention to what the nurse was saying. Today had honestly been so weird my brain was playing catch up. I had come back to school after winter break honestly hopeful, the trio seemed to have gotten tired of me last semester and I even seemed to make a friend. Hell I had even felt confident enough to bring the handheld game console dad had splurged to get me for Christmas. I was never one for video games before but it was a nice distraction the last week. Then the second I stepped into Winslow everything went downhill. When I got to my locker it was already open and filled with the most disgusting things imaginable and I just booked it, not wanting to deal with it I ended up running away but apparently ruining my locker was only one part of the trio's revenge. Sophia tripped me before I could move ten feet and my console spilled out of my pocket.
The trio saw it and then just started making fun of me for being a nerd and then the final straw. Sophia grabbed the game and just snapped it in half right in front of me. At that point, at least according to the nurse I was half paying attention to, I passed out and somebody brought me to the nurse's office.
And of course I woke up to not only an apathetic nurse but also,
Welcome Taylor Hebert toThe Shard Power System!Say "begin" to start the tutorial
That. Whatever that was.
"Okay, so I think you were just a little dehydrated." The nurse plopped a gatorade in front of me. "Drink this and rest until first period ends." I looked at the clock, that gave me about twenty minutes. "You should be fine." And with that she left me in a little alcove in the corner of the room.
When she stepped away I closed the curtain to give me some privacy. It seemed she couldn't see the blue box but I wanted to be careful about messing around with whatever this was.
I was assuming I had powers of some sort, as weird as this whole thing was, but I also couldn't discredit the idea I had finally snapped and was having delusions of grandeur.
"Begin." I whispered, and the blue box changed.
Tutorial Quest BeginThe Beginning of PowerUse the system to roll for your first power.Rewards:
100 EXP
2 Loose SP
+1 SP Cap
And now I was still as lost as before. I could put together some stuff, quests and exp were in the game I had been playing this last week, however SP was unknown to me and what did 'roll for your first power' mean?
Power RollingEvery five levels you will be given the chance to roll for a parahuman ability in one of the twelve power classifications. Power Rolls can rarely be given as a reward for completing quests. The strength of the possible powers is limited by the SP cap.
Loose SP can be spent to temporarily raise the SP cap and potentially give you a stronger power. If a power's cost is below the SP cap then leftover SP between the cost and Cap is automatically converted into Loose SP and used to randomly acquire a tier 0 power.SPSP refers to Shard Points.
Every parahuman ability has an equivalent Shard Point cost that rises with its strength.
The SP Cap refers to the highest cost of parahuman ability you can roll for. The SP Cap is raised every five levels and sometimes quests can raise the SP Cap.
Loose SP refers to SP that can be used to either raise the SP Cap for a single roll or to buy tier 0 abilities. You gain one Loose SP every two levels. Loose SP will often be given as a reward for quests. New features for Loose SP will be unlocked as you gain more powers.
Okay, this was making sense. I also was starting to lean on the side of me actually having powers. This weird system was way beyond what I could come up with on my own. I still had some questions though. What were tier 0 powers? Did that mean there were tier 1 powers? And how could I check my SP Cap and Loose SP?
Power TiersParahuman abilities can be split into 4 tiers, from tier 0 to tier 3.
Tier 0 powers refer to abilities that are useful but not enough to turn you into a street cape without careful planning and creativity. Each power is worth 1 SP.
Tier 1 powers have the most range, going from street level cape abilities to abilities that could be effective against Endbringers. These Powers are worth 2-15 SP.
Tier 2 powers are of a strength that you could lead the charge against an Endbringer, and with luck or the right combination of abilities defeat it. These powers are worth 15-25 points
Tier 3 powers are of a level of strength that allows you to easily defeat Endbringers and even challenge the Entity that lies beyond. These Powers are worth 25-40 SP.
Tier 0 powers can be purchased with Loose SP. Tier 1 powers are available for power rolls immediately. Tier 2 powers are locked until three tier 1 powers from each classification are acquired and a special Tier 2 quest is completed. Tier 3 abilities are locked behind a secret quest.
Wait. Holy shit. My power was saying I could fight Endbringers. After 180 levels and a quest that would probably be super difficult but…that didn't account for possible synergies. If I got some of the higher SP tier 1 powers they might work in concert to be stronger than the sum of their parts. I needed more info. What was my current SP Cap and Loose SP?
Name: Taylor Anne HebertNewbie Cape LVL 1SP Cap3Loose SP0Tier 1 Powers(0)Mover(0)Shaker(0)Brute(0)Breaker(0)Master(0)Tinker(0)Blaster(0)Thinker(0)Striker(0)Changer(0)Trump(0)Stranger(0)Tier 0 Powers(0)Power Roll Available
"Yes!" I said out loud and then quickly covered my mouth. I didn't want anybody to find out what I was doing. So I didn't have any Loose SP to spend, but that would change after I did my first power roll and completed my quest. I silently laughed to myself. This was real. I actually had powers and they might be the most amazing powers of all time. It was worth it, everything I had been through was worth it. I could be a hero and save people.
All I had to do was perform a power roll. It took a minute but apparently the way to do it was to click on the classifications under Tier 1 and I'd get a confirmation screen for it I wanted to roll. Honestly I wasn't sure which one to pick. I had vaguely heard of each of the categories but I wasn't the biggest cape nerd. The smart thing would be to wait until I got home and do some research…
I wanted a power now though. "Eenie meenie miney moe," This seemed like a simple enough way to choose.
1d12=9=Striker
1d10=7=Divergent Fist
Striker: Divergent FistCost: 3 SPEvery attack you make leaves an invisible imprint that repeats the attack after a set delay chosen by you. You cannot change the delay once it is already set.
Holy shit, I had a power. I had an actual superpower. Sure it wasn't the best but it could actually do something!
Quest Complete! The Beginning of PowerGained:
100 EXP
+2 Loose SP
+1 SP CapLevel Up!
Level 2
+1 Loose SP
Name: Taylor Anne HebertNewbie Cape LVL 2SP Cap4Loose SP3Tier 1 Powers(1)Mover(0)Shaker(0)Brute(0)Breaker(0)Master(0)Tinker(0)Blaster(0)Thinker(0)Striker(1)Changer(0)Trump(0)Stranger(0)Tier 0 Powers(0)
A level up! I had hoped that would happen. Now I was three levels away from a new power. And I had Loose SP to spend. I needed to look at what tier 0 powers I could-
"RRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!!!"
I was interrupted from my musings by the bell for first period ringing. Dammit. I wanted to keep messing with my power but I couldn't just miss class.
Level Up
Thankfully school was incredibly boring that day. Not only were most of the classes just handing out the second semester syllabus but the trio and their lackeys backed off after their attack by my locker.
Now I was finally home and could finally continue with my power testing. Some quick taps on my backpack confirmed my power, and there didn't seem to be a limit to time since I felt able to put a ten year timer on it. I really hope that in ten years this didn't come back to bite somebody, it was a light tap.
Now I had to figure out what to do with my Loose SP. I could wait until I got to level 5 and use them to raise my SP Cap, but I wasn't sure how I could level up yet. In the video game dad gave me it would be completing quests and beating monsters. Translating that into the real world it would be fighting criminals and…well and completing quests. I didn't know how hard quests would be, I had only done the tutorial after all, but I knew I couldn't fight criminals as I was now. I had to check and see what tier 0 powers were available.
I clicked on the Tier 0 tab on my character sheet and a gigantic list opened up. Holy shit that was a lot of powers. 77 to be precise. That made some sense. If I spent all my Loose SP on Tier 0 powers then it would be level 144 when I got them all, not that far away compared to level 180 where I would unlock the tier 2 quest. And of course the system had mentioned that there would be new ways to spend SP and I would lose some if I upped my SP Cap and got a power that was at the new cap.
Looking through the list some of them were incredibly powerful, honestly they felt like they might have belonged in tier 1, but I needed something to better leverage Divergent Fist. I would get at least one more Loose SP by level 5 and the SP Cap would raise naturally to 5 assuming I didn't get another quest that would give either. I made a decision and grabbed three Tier 0 powers.
Changer/Brute (Meathead)Cost: 1 SPYou can grow and increase your muscle mass significantly, enough to roughly triple your base strength.
Thinker/Brute (Waste Not Want Not)Cost: 1 SPYou can get the most out of everything you engage with, avoiding unnecessary waste. Your body can more efficiently extract the most nutrients from food, keeping you full and hydrated for longer periods of time. This applies to your sleep as well, making it so you have to sleep less for the same benefits as a full night of rest. Other examples include crafting and getting the most out of your ability to manage time and space as resources.
Brute/Breaker (Efficient Autonomic Systems)Cost: 1 SPEvery autonomic part of your body—such as your liver, lungs, and lymphatic nodes—has been streamlined and optimized for peak efficiency. These systems can now handle and counteract challenges such as detoxifying your body at an accelerated rate and managing toxins, heavy metals, and other harmful substances that would overwhelm a normal body. Additionally, minor imperfections like wisdom teeth, certain bones like the fabella, and inverted eye cones have been corrected.
This optimization means that minor injuries and illnesses heal faster, you fend off infections and diseases more effectively, require less sleep without sacrificing restfulness and your lymphatic system is heightened, minimizing downtime and maintaining your peak physical condition.
Those three would be incredibly helpful. Meathead gave me the extra strength I would need for Divergent Fist to be useful while Waste Not Want Not and Efficient Automatic Systems would give me the ability to quickly get my body up to the level I would need it to fight. Right now three times the strength of a weak teenager wasn't much, but after a hyper efficient couple of weeks, or even days, I would be strong enough to put a dent on anybody.
I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh. This was…this was an intense day. From the trio striking her right as I got to school to my new powers it was so much to take in. Soon though. Soon I would be ready to go out and become a great hero.
Name: Taylor Anne HebertNewbie Cape LVL 2SP Cap4Loose SP0Tier 1 Powers(1)Mover(0)Shaker(0)Brute(0)Breaker(0)Master(0)Tinker(0)Blaster(0)Thinker(0)Striker(1)Changer(0)Trump(0)Stranger(0)Tier 0 Powers(3)
A.N.
So this is a story I've been writing basically for myself and one of my best friends in the whole world. I'm going to be posting weekly for a few months until I've posted everything(and trust me I've written a lot.) The inspiration for this story was stuff like the Archivist or Mortally Challenged and of course Litrpgs. Some small clarifications. The list of powers is from the CYOA cyoa.ltouroumov.ch/viewer/. When I'm randomly rolling the powers I give myself some grace and let myself shift the result up or down by one. Also the powers really are random because I wanted to have a bit of variability in how the story goes. Sometimes several powers in a row are duds and then sometimes a plot point that was going to be a major one is trivialized due to a good roll.
As for the content of the chapter it is very setup heavy. Only character other than Taylor is the nameless nurse but I did my best to set up why Taylor's power is this instead of bugs. She got really attached to the game system her dad gave her and by avoiding the locker it instead became the focal point of the trigger and Sophia's close proximity became a impetus for the power becoming a Trump one.
On another note I do want to ask people for advice. The table formatting here on Spacebattles is limited, I haven't been able to merge cells like I did in my writing software and so the tables look very wonky. Anybody know how to merge cells on Spacebattles tables?