POWERLESS Page 6

  Schmendrick nodded. "You just need to figure out the proper release point to increase your accuracy. "Continue," he said and then turned to face Crass. "Show me your throwing motion."

  Crass tried to prevent his body from turning his hips but failed.

  "Do it again," Schmendrick ordered while standing behind him.

  As Crass made the throwing motion, he felt the instructor's hands on his hips. The student repeated the motion several times before Schmendrick finally released him.

  "Now try throwing the dagger," the teenager ordered.

  Crass attempted the throw. It landed on the board.

  The green text read: "20 points."

  "Good job," Schmendrick said and patted Crass on the back. The instructor turned away and looked at the other classmates. He saw that Malkus and Burns were already finished. The rest of the class were standing at least on the 5 feet line. It was only a matter of finding the proper release point in order to complete the exercise. Seeing no further need for his instructions, Schmendrick joined Malkus and Burns on the ground. Suddenly, he received another green text: "Assignment completed: 500 points." These points were for the teaching assignment.

  The two boys offered him fist bumps.

  "What was your score?" Malkus asked.

  "250 points," Schmendrick answered. He didn't want to mention the additional bonuses he had received. Which had pushed him to Level 5 whenever the instructor distributed the experience points. He was a dead man walking now.

  Burns whistled. "140 for me."

  "160," Malkus added.

  Schmendrick was not surprised that Lon and Crass were the last to finish the exercise, and it took them the full hour to do so.

  The instructor clapped his hands to draw the attention of the class. "Please distribute your points or else, the system will not activate the portal." He typed a command into his keyboard and the points were released to his students.

  Schmendrick winced as he recalled his menu. He confirmed that he had reached Level 5. Between the exercises with the dagger, the bonuses, and the teaching assignments, he received a total of 3,250 experience points in this class and he had advanced 3 levels. Once he assigned the 40 points to Vitality, a light shone on him. The color was gold.

  The instructor smiled when he saw the golden light. "Class, please give a round of applause to Schmendrick for being the first student to graduate from your class. On the very first day, no less."

  The class turned toward Schmendrick and started clapping. Yolo and Torre were cheering boisterously. However, Malkus, Burns, and Aggen only clapped politely.

  The instructor held up his hand and the applause ended. "Schmendrick, you will now be transported to the Testing Center. Good luck." The instructor entered a command into his keyboard.

  The golden light pulsated like an exploding nova and the overwhelming light forced everyone to turn away. When the light dissipated, Schmendrick was gone from the gym.

  1.10 - The Testing Center

  Schmendrick opened his eyes. Reflexively, he had closed them to protect his eyes from the blinding light. He felt discombobulated by the sudden teleportation out of the gym. The teenage boy took a deep breath and tried to relax. But his eyes started to wander. Strictly out of habit. He found himself inside a glass tube. He was floating somehow; his feet dangled in the air. Beyond the tube was a "room," which was spherical in shape. The walls were lined with blinking lights and instruments. There were neither windows nor exits. He was alone.

  Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thought. "Welcome to the Testing Center, my child." However, this voice was different than the metallic voice that he heard before. This voice was feminine. It emanated warmth and caring. It sounded almost human. "You may call me Mother. I will conduct a number of tests on you and review your file from The Noob Academy. You will be granted the most appropriate Class and Skills. Depending on your genetic markers, you may receive a Power as well."

  "Please note that this Evaluation will last for several hours. Consequently, we will provide for your biological needs. Your body will now be bathed in a special fluid which will facilitate the exchange of nutrients to and wastes from your body. Think of it as being returned to your mother's womb. Now sleep, my child. Rest."

  Before Schmendrick could protest, a gas seeped into his tube. His muscles involuntarily relaxed. He felt a warm liquid touching his toes. The fluid steadily rose inside his tube. Before the water reached his neck, however, he lost consciousness.

  * * *

  Schmendrick suddenly opened his eyes. What happened to him? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being trapped inside a glass tube which was filling up with water. He blinked his eyes. He realized that he was no longer inside the tube. A white fluorescent light was shining down on him. He was laying on the ground. He slowly sat up and saw that he was on an altar similar to the one he sat on when he was reborn.

  A blue colored ball dropped from the ceiling and floated in front of his face. "Good morning, Schmendrick," the metallic voice said.

  "Where am I?" the teenager asked. He remembered Mother mentioning that the evaluation will last "several hours." Well, if the ball was correct and morning had arrived, then he had been unconscious for longer than that. Perhaps, 15 hours or more assuming that Schmendrick had "graduated" from the academy in the late afternoon.

  A part of him was sad at this realization because he never got to spend the night in his bunk bed rooming with Yolo and Torre. Additionally, it was conceivable that Malkus had gained enough experience points from additional training sessions to graduate from The Noob Academy as well. Schmendrick will have to keep an eye open for Malkus.

  "You are in the infirmary," the voice replied after a pause. The ball was a medical unit attuned to the Reborn's vital signs. The instruments indicate a normal transition from his evaluation. "I am Father. Please get off the altar and put your clothes on," the ball ordered.

  Schmendrick suddenly realized that he was naked. He hopped off the altar and, just like the last time, a panel slid open on the side of the altar. There was a brown bag inside. He took the bag and dumped its contents on the altar. However, instead of a white shirt over brown pants, it was a light yellow shirt over black pants. But the soul-bound dagger and pair of black boots were there. Additionally, there was a belt. Wordlessly, Schmendrick put on his clothes. He noticed a small brown pouch. He opened it and saw a bunch of yellow coins.

  "You have been given 100 shekels," Father said. "It will cover 10 days of room and board at our subsidized facility. The inns run by the Reborn will charge more for their food and rooms," the blue ball warned. "Now please call up your menu."

  Schmendrick mentally called for his menu screen. It appeared before him:

  Name: Schmendrick

  Physical: 100

  Mental: 100

  Vitality: 180

  Aether: 100

  Level: 6 (!), 20 attribute points available

  Experience: 7,250/8,000

  Class: Thief

  Skills: Dodge, Ambidextrous, Devil's Luck

  Power: n/a

  The teenager's eyes dropped to the line at the bottom. He exhaled the breath that he had involuntarily been holding. "I didn't get a magic power." He couldn't hide the disappointment from his voice.

  "My apologies. According to Mother, your DNA has not proved suitable for any magic power in her database. But there is still hope, my child! You will be given a second opportunity to test for magic power when you reach Level 10," Father said.

  "Why bother?" Schmendrick replied with deep bitterness in his voice.

  "Your body undergoes a metamorphosis every time you advance a level. The air in the Sanctum is saturated with Aether. There is a real possibility that your DNA will change the longer you spend in this environment. Many graduates of The Noob Academy were in your situation. They didn't receive a magic power at Level 5 but did get one at Level 10. There is still hope for you."

  "Okay," the teenager nodded. "Can you explain my s
kills?"

  "Certainly," the blue ball bobbled up and down in the air. "Dodge utilizes your superior quickness and agility to avoid things that could damage your Vitality, such as falling rocks or bullets aimed at you. Ambidextrous recognizes your ability to perform tasks with either hand. Your superior hand-eye coordination will permit you to attack with a weapon in each hand without penalty. The Devil's Luck recognizes your tendency for getting into trouble but also you are lucky enough to get out of it unscathed. Of the three skills, your Devil's Luck is amongst the rarest in existence."

  Schmendrick tried to dismiss the menu but it refused to close. He looked at it again and saw the blinking exclamation point next to his level. "How did I get more experience? I was at 5,250 points when I left the academy," he pointed out.

  "The system granted you a bonus of 2,000 points for graduating from The Noob Academy on the first day," Fathe replied.

  "Next question. Why do I need 8,000 points to advance to Level 7? I thought it took only 1,000 points to reach the next level," Schmendrick observed.

  The blue ball bobbled. "The system lowered the experience requirement to graduate from the academy. When you reach Level 5, however, you will need 2,000 points to advance to the next level. At Level 10, the system will require 3,000 points. The points required will increase by 1,000 every 5 levels," Father explained.

  The boy did a quick calculation. "I will need 14,000 points to reach Level 10? Ouch." He was dismayed by the fact that he will need to almost double his current experience to reach Level 10. Schmendrick was concerned that the world beyond the academy will provide less opportunity to gain experience safely. In traditional role-playing games, the starter towns provided easy quests for experience while the zones beyond those were much more dangerous. He expected to encounter a similar situation in the Sanctum.

  "Correct," the ball confirmed. "If you don't have any further questions, please assign the 20 attribute points. Otherwise, your menu will stay open and you will not be permitted to leave the infirmary."

  Schmendrick added the 20 points to Vitality; its score was now 200 points. "What should I do when I leave? The instructor said the Powerless will be assigned to the Recovered Land, correct?" he asked.

  "Correct," Father bobbled up and down. "The Powerless will be assigned to live and work in the Recovered Land. However, the Powerless has its own governance separate from the system. You will be teleported to the Intake Office in the Administrative Building and receive your assignment there."

  The teenager held up his hand. He noticed something important in what the blue ball just said. "The Recovered Land isn't controlled by the system?" he asked.

  "A limited number of areas of the Recovered Land is connected to the system. The Gifted are freely able to enter and leave the region on behalf of the system," the ball said. "Otherwise, the system will not interfere in the affairs of the Powerless."

  "But the Powerless can't enter Rezdi City," Schmendrick pointed out. It was very unfair to have the Gifted enter the Recovered Land freely while the Powerless were restricted from Rezdi City.

  "The Powerless may enter the city only when accompanied by the Gifted or if the permission is granted by the system in advance. But any Powerless can petition to enter the city by contacting the system at any computer terminal," Father replied.

  "Okay," Schmendrick nodded. "I'm ready to leave now." The teenager didn't want to spend any more time in this stale, windowless room. Since he slept for so many hours during the Evaluation, Schmendrick was anxious to do something now. A green portal appeared before him and the teenager stepped through the portal.

  Part II - Powerless

  2.1 - New Arrival

  Schmendrick stepped into a small office. It was dusty. The air was stale. The boy almost sneezed but managed to cover his nose in time. His sneeze would have kicked up more dust and create an endless cycle of sneezing and wheezing. Thankfully, he was able to avoid this fate.

  The teenager looked around again. The office was small, approximately 10 feet wide and 6 feet long. He stood in front of a computer panel. There was a red circle on the ground roughly 3 feet in diameter. He was inside this circle. On the other side of the office was a wooden desk. Another computer terminal was on the desk. The walls next to the table were lined with bookshelves; each shelf was filled with ancient-looking books. An old man slumped over a chair behind the desk, presumably fast asleep and unaware of the boy's intrusion into his office.

  When Schmendrick walked out of the red circle, he felt a slight buzz and saw a disturbance in the space before him. He froze immediately. However, nothing happened to him. Apparently, there was a force field surrounding the circle. When he stepped out, the field dissipated. He continued walking and quietly sat in a chair in front of the desk. He stared at the old man. Something did not feel right to the teenager. His gut instincts told him so. He was becoming convinced that the old man was only pretending to be asleep, just to test the boy and see what Schmendrick was going to do. Well, two could play this game.

  The man had a receding hairline. In desperation, the old man combed his thinning gray-white hair over the growing bald spot on the back of his skull. His effort only attracted more attention to the fact that he was attempting to cover it. His chin was covered with a short beard, gray-white again but spotted with specks of dark brown. Finally, the man raised his head and stared straight into Schmendrick's eyes. "You knew I was awake," he grinned.

  The boy shrugged. He wasn't inclined to talk back to adults. A force of habit from his past life, perhaps.

  The man rotated his shoulders; they were stiff like stones. He rotated his wrists and flexed his fingers. Then he pulled the keyboard from the side of his desk and started typing. "Name?" he asked. His voice and demeanor were professional now.

  "Schmendrick," the teenager replied.

  The man pulled up Schmendrick's file on his computer terminal. He whistled when he read the skills. "You got the Devil's Luck? The Recovered Land is gonna be a lively place now," he chuckled. The administrator called up the recommended assignments. "Okay, kid. Let's see what assignments the system has lined up for ya. First one is weevil extermination in our granary. Ouch. Didn't know it's been infested. We'll probably have to discard the entire storage bin. Such a waste! The second quest is to help with maintenance of our wind turbines. Hope you ain't afraid of heights, kid. Basically, you'll need to climb up a bunch of wind turbines carrying a can of oil to lubricate the shaft and gearbox. Don't worry, though! We're turn off the engine before you climb up. Wouldn't want the blades to cut ya to ribbons! Haha!"

  The strange man took a deep breath and continued. "The last assignment is a survey mission. We Powerless are stuck in the boonies. We're forced to live off the land, unlike the Gifted. So, we gotta work hard to keep we got. The survey mission requires you to walk around our borders to check for breaks in our fences. Could be dangerous if you stumble upon a monster's lair. And we lack the manpower to send someone to accompany you. Could be a trip taking up a few weeks. We need someone who can move stealthily and run if he needs to. A thief is a perfect Class for this mission."

  The old man turned away from the terminal. He leaned back in his chair. "Let's talk seriously now, Schmendrick. My name is Gram and I'm the Intake Administrator for the Recovered Land. I've held this position for almost a decade. During this period, I've met every graduate from The Noob Academy who didn't get a magic power after their Evaluation. I have a feeling you will turn out to be a very special young man. I'm rooting for you to succeed. That being said, I'm asking you, personally, to take the weevil extermination mission first. I'll add 100 shekels to the 100 you started out with. If the weevils are not contained, they will breed and eventually eat up all our grains. And then we will have a major food shortage. I know the system is allowing you to choose among 3 different quests. If you agree to accept the weevil extermination quest first, I'll call in a few favors and ask for some higher level Reborn to join your party and help you out. So what do you say?"


  Schmendrick nodded. "I accept." Honestly, he didn't care which quest to start with. He planned to do all three of them, eventually. Getting on Gram's good side seemed prudent to the boy. Having some high-level backup to come with him convinced Schmendrick to accept the offer.

  The two shook hands.

  Gram took out a piece of paper from his desk and started scribbling furiously. "Just give me a moment before you leave."

  The newcomer remained in his seat. His eyes roamed the office again until they focused on the computer terminal on the other side of the room. "Can I use the terminal to teleport into Rezdi City?" he asked.

  Gram chuckled. "No, my young friend, you can't. That terminal works only one way. If you REALLY need to go back to Rezdi City, we have another terminal inside this building that could take you. However, unless you have permission to go there, the terminal will not activate for you." The administrator signed his name on the bottom and then carefully folded the note in half. "Please take this note to Ava. She's the secretary sitting outside this office. Take the door to your right to exit. When the system confirms that your mission has been completed, talk to Ava again about the 100 shekels. Good luck!"

  Schmendrick stood up, took the note from the desk, and left the office through the door to his right. He was surprised to find the aforementioned secretary . . . with shortly cropped, dark purple hair. She appeared to be in her early twenties and wore red-framed glasses, a blue tank top, black shorts, mismatched leggings colored yellow on one leg and green on the other, and white sneakers.

  Ava was holding a pink duster and she was dusting a bookshelf when the teenager entered the lobby. "Oh! A new arrival!" she exclaimed in surprise and excitement. Her voice was light and delicate, in contrast to her tomboy appearance.

  Schmendrick slowly approached her and passed the note to the secretary. "Gram asked me to give you this. I'm taking the quest to exterminate weevils in the granary," he informed her.