It was just about ten minutes later when the three priestesses returned.
"Welcome, otherworlders, to Elysium." — One of them began. Her voice was slightly more mature, and she carried herself with quiet authority. Her robes were also far more ornate than the other two, woven from finer cloth and decorated with gold-threaded symbols — a clear sign of higher standing.
"I am Head Priestess Myriam, from the Lost Sword Fortress Village,"— she continued— "and I will now give you newcomers a little rundown on how things work in Elysium."
"First things first — you should already have been told about the Status Screen on your way here. That is the single most important thing you have after your own lives. Make sure you remember this — and remember it well."
"There, you'll find information such as your name, race, gender, and age. That part's self-explanatory, so let's move on. Next comes Class — this one is a blessing from the world itself, given to guide you along your path. It can be anything, from Swordsman and Archer to Farmer or even a Cleaner."
"In short, your class helps you — it lets you learn faster, grow stronger, and get better at doing whatever it is you do. There are also improved versions of classes; for example, a Gale Archer is generally stronger than a regular Archer. I'm not the best at explaining this kind of thing, but that should be enough for now."
"Then comes Tiers. Simply put, they represent how high you stand in the hierarchy of life — whether you're a rat hiding in the shadows or an apex predator capable of destroying entire nations. Yours should all say Tier 0, right? That means you're weaklings. This is the single most important piece of information I'll share with you today, so listen well: do not, under any circumstances, mess with something, anything, above your Tier. Are we clear? Otherwise you might not even understand how you'd died."
"I, myself, am Tier 2 — so try not to get on my bad side." She said this with a light smirk, in a half-joking, mock-showoff tone.
"After that come the six base stats: Vitality or VIT — that's your life force, endurance, and stamina. Strength or STR — your physical power. Agility or AGI — your speed. Dexterity or DEX — your reflexes and control over your own body. Spirit or SPI — the quality of your mana, qi, or energy, however you wish to call it. And finally, Arcana or ARC — the amount of mana you possess."
"There are other attributes and derived values connected to those six, but that's all you need to know for now."
"Next are Masteries and Skills. Masteries are things you can learn, like Cooking or Swordsmanship. Once you reach a certain degree of proficiency, a mastery becomes F-rank and can be ranked up further with enough talent and practice. Skills, on the other hand, can be learned through experience or external means — like skill books. Unlike masteries, they don't rank up once mastered, but higher proficiency will still improve their effectiveness."
"Last but not least come Traits. They're innate characteristics of an individual. You can sometimes acquire them, but that's rare for most people. Traits can have all sorts of effects, though the most common is a boost to your base stats."
"That's about everything you need to know about the Status Screen. Any questions?"
She ended her explanation and looked around — more out of duty than genuine expectation. Most people seemed too stunned or too scared to speak up. To be fair, I wasn't planning to either.
I was just debating internally whether or not to ask about Fame and Valor Opus, as well as that Special stats, that had seemingly been skipped altogether, when someone beat me to it.
It was a handsome young man with blond hair. He raised his hand confidently and spoke without hesitation — the kind of person who radiated self-importance, like he believed the world revolved around him. That blind confidence — bordering on arrogance — made him feel strangely familiar, though I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
Now, don't tell me you're wondering what I look like? If this is a novel, then I must be the main character. Which means, obviously, I'm the guy in the cape, standing on a cliff with a sword, wind blowing dramatically in the background, right?
Disappointed I'm not describing myself in detail? Sorry, I'm not doing that. I'm not Chinese, after all — though I wouldn't complain about a few jade beauties, aight, author?
Author: "I can think about it…"
Me: "Really?! ( ,,°ㅁ°)"
Author: "No! Just kidding! ꉂ (´∀｀) Get your mind out of the gutter!"
"What about this thing called Fame and that Valor Opus? Why did you skip them?" the blond asked, matter-of-factly.
Myriam's expression soured slightly under the veil at his tone, but she answered all the same.
"Those aren't meaningful to you right now. Fame is essentially a metric that reflects the impact of your actions upon the world. The higher your level, the greater your influence."
"As for Valor Opus, it can be seen as the crystallization of great deeds — something that can be used to grant power. It's linked to your Fame; each Fame level grants you one available slot."
"Since you've all just arrived, your Fame should be at a nice, round zero. And frankly, I doubt any of you have accomplished anything noteworthy yet." — At that the oblivious moron who asked about it first seemed to grow even more conceited, although he managed to stay silent.
She said this dismissively, then glanced around for more questions, and seeing none, she continued.
Meanwhile, I couldn't help but think about what she'd just said.
'Does that mean Elysium acknowledged my resistance? And even granted me all that Unsung Legend stuff… with the extra slots? This is truly even better than I could have expected.'
But I didn't have time to think long, as she soon resumed her explanation.
"Other than the Status Screen, there's one more thing you should all know — the Inventory. To access it, think about it the same way you did with your Status Screen."
I did as she said — and what appeared before my eyes looked strikingly familiar.
A perfect grid, three rows by eight slots each.
Just like a Minecraft inventory.
Nice.