We left the school building and moved to floating Telluna’s city proper. From there, we headed toward the airship port.
UW’s world was full of magic warp points for quick transportation, but you had to touch them in person and register before you could use them. Afterward, you could use the warp room in the school to teleport to them immediately. Neither myself nor Akira had touched any warp points yet, so our only choice was to travel by airship.
We had little time before the airship to Trinisty Island would leave. Shortly after we dashed on board, the airship departed.
There were a handful of others on board, but they were surprisingly few. After all, why bother with the airship once you’ve registered a warp point or two?
As the port and floating city faded into the distance behind us, the airship continued through the azure. The sky above and sea below were a matching hue. It was fairy tale-like beauty.
Akira, ever the sightseer, was ecstatic. She stood on the deck and marveled at the scenery.
“Woooow! This is the best view ever! The air feels incredible!”
“Yeah, and to think, we’d never have experienced something like this without UW!”
“Even if the rest of the school sucked, this would make it all worthwhile! It’s so realistic! Oh, hey, Ren! How do I take a screenshot?”
“Here you go.” I removed the otherworldly lens from my inventory, handing it to Akira. Design-wise, it was like an antique camera. “There. This takes screenshots of the game. If you fix up the export settings, the school can even email you the image.”
“Wow, thanks! You’re well prepared, Ren.”
“I thought you might want one, so I crafted it in advance.”
“Good job! See, you get me.”
Akira moved here and there along the deck, snapping pictures as she went. It was kinda nice watching her have so much fun. I thought it was cute when her muscular beastman ran around screenshotting things too, but this kind of cute felt way more appropriate.
“Ren, let’s take a picture together! Mr. Sailor, could you take the camera?” Akira spoke to one of the NPCs on deck—I could tell it was an NPC because his name was displayed in green. Player names, meanwhile, were displayed in light blue. As the NPC’s logic routine sprung into action, the sailor pleasantly accepted the camera and pointed it at us, the fading city behind us.
“A splendid view. Could you two get a little closer together?”
“Okay!” Akira moved closer, grabbing my arm. As she did, her chest pushed into my elbow—a softer sensation I’d never known. Funny how this game recreated minute details like this with such precision.
“Ren. Rennnn!” Akira looked at me with a mischievous grin.
“Hmm?”
“I said you’d be popular if you came to this school, right?”
“Huh... yeah, I think I recall that.”
“Doesn’t it feel like you’re popular with a girl right now?” Yeah, she was definitely messing with me. But at the same time, I was just a gaming addict who’d never had a single girlfriend. So in the end...
“Uhhh... beats me.” I couldn’t think of a clever retort! All I could do was sit there like a doofus and listen to my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest.
“Aww, c’mon, you could at least play along. Ugh, now I’m all embarrassed.” Looks like I’ve infected her with my nerves too.
“Er, sorry.”
“No, it’s fine... I didn’t say something bad, did I?”
“No, that’s not—” I should have been thrilled to have such a cute girl clinging to me, but it was such an alien concept to me that I could only be embarrassed.
“Okay, get ready! You’re both looking a little stiff, so smile and say cheese!”
We thanked the sailor NPC after he took our picture. I had to wonder what kind of face I was making in the picture, but I decided I’d be better off not looking.
We took a few moments to calm down, and eventually ended up talking about our stats.
“So, Ren. How’s it going for you?”
“Let’s see.” I summoned the system window and checked my Status screen. A translucent window appeared before me, blending in with the empty blue sky.
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Go ahead.” Akira started looking over my screen. The Status screen was several pages long, so let’s start with the main screen.
PAGE 1/3
[Character Status]
Class: Symbologist
Level: 4
HP: 103/103
MP: 41/41
AP: 0/300
STR: 9
VIT: 10
DEX: 11
AGI: 11
INT: 20
MND: 15
CHR: 13
Talent 1: Knifer
<Effect> User can equip hidden weapons.
Talent 2: Skill Chain
<Effect> User can combine up to three skills/arts to unleash ultimate abilities.
Talent 3: Final Strike
<Effect> User learns Final Strike.
Talent 4: Efficiency
<Effect> User skips the crafting animation, but is unable to craft flawless items.
Talent 5: Empty
LUB: 12
MEP: 141
Money: 54,338 Mira
[Equipment]
Main Weapon: Canesword (OEX)
Subweapon: Empty
Head: Empty
Body: Shaman’s Robe
Arm: Empty
Legs: Shaman’s Slops
Feet: Novice’s Shoes
Acc 1: Empty
Acc 2: Empty
And that was the first page.
LUB stands for Level-Up Bonus; each time you level up, it increases. You use it to increase your stats further. Here’s a rundown of each stat:
STR, Strength, affects physical power.
VIT, Vitality, affects physical defense and HP.
DEX, Dexterity, affects physical attack accuracy and critical hit rate.
AGI, Agility, affects evasion and movement speed.
INT, Intelligence, affects magical power and MP.
MND, Mind, affects magical defense and MP.
CHR, Charisma, affects dance skills and various other things.
Base stats are optimized for each class’s role. From there, it’s up to the player how they decided to raise their own stats. At the moment, though, I was just hoarding LUB.
MEP, Merit Points, can be exchanged to boost talents, arts, and equipment thresholds. As the name implies, there’s much merit in having MEP, and you want to have as much as you can get. But... the only way to acquire it is through school exams. My current MEP was from the five-subject entrance exam, minus 100. I’d better study hard for the next test... In case you were wondering, those 100 points went toward my Final Strike talent.
Speaking of which, allow me to explain talents. Each player has five talent slots. These slots can expand your range of gear beyond the class defaults, allow you to learn more skills, make crafting easier, and so much more. One’s playstyle can change dramatically depending on talent loadout, so it gives the player a lot of freedom. It also lets the player demonstrate their knowledge of the game, so it’s worth going through a lot of trial-and-error to find the best combo. A symbologist might appreciate a Master’s Scroll (healing magic), for instance, I think. It wouldn’t be as effective as a pure healer’s skills, but it would let me use healing magic nonetheless. That would give me more uses for my MP, in situations where debuffing enemies just won’t cut it.
“Hmm. Knifer and Skill Chain together? Interesting...” Akira held the UW Guidebook in her hand, referencing it as she looked over my Status screen. “Whoa! Both Knifer and Final Strike are E-rank?! Efficiency is D? And Skill Chain is the highest at C?! Looking at the strategy guide, this seems like a really bogus loadout. Are you sure you’ll be redefining anything like this?”
“I’m planning to start at the absolute bottom.”
“Mm... if you think you can cut it, go for it. But ultimates are for attackers, and symbologist doesn’t have much in the way of firepower.” She wasn’t fully convinced yet.
“The way I see it, the strategy guide isn’t the be-all and end-all. When the meta changes, those ratings will go up.”
“You talk big, but I’ve seen how it goes when you muck up. I’m not convinced until I see real results, buddy.”