The first thing I remembered was coughing. One of those dry coughs you get in the night where you gag and almost end up throwing up.
I tried swallowing my spit and clearing my throat.
After finally giving up on sleeping I forced myself to sit up and slowly rubbed my eyes.
When I finally opened them I was shocked by what I saw.
Instead of my comfortable room I was used to being in I was in a sort of barracks. There were beds lined up along the walls and reminded me of a military barrack.
Worse still the beds weren't empty.
There were people in each one. Sleeping peacefully.
But like a chain reaction people began to wake up one by one after I woke up.
At first everyone was looking around with denial. They all must have thought they were still dreaming.
But then reality sunk in. They couldn't deny the real feeling of the beds around them or the pain they felt from pinching themselves.
Finally a scream broke out. A woman who looked to be in her mid 20's screamed.
"Why'd you guys bring me here?!"
And perhaps because the logical thinkers were still processing the situation the first one to reply was a rough looking man.
"Bitch! Stop screaming. You're not the only one who was brought here."
The woman was stunned by the way the man had just spoken to her, but after a moment her face twisted in anger. She was about to scream a response back at him but she was interrupted by a booming voice in our heads.
"I brought you here. You insignificant ants."
I looked around the cabin but there was no one who didn't have a confused look on their face. Realizing it wasn't from anyone in the cabin I felt that this situation wasn't a normal one anymore.
"You are all here for one simple reason."
"You will all undergo a test to see if you are worthy of taking on the Trials of Ascension. If you pass the initial test you will be given the chance to take the trials to possibly ascend to Godhood. If not..."
"You'll die."
There were quiet gasps spread around the room and an air of worry began to fill the room.
"The test is simple. There is a portal to leave this test somewhere in this forest, but the only way to leave is with a key. These can be dropped by slaying monsters. That is all."
Then there was silence. No more messages.
Just when the silence became suffocating a new thing happened. A blue screen floated before everyone's faces.
[Awakening Talent.]
A slot machine type wheel appeared and began spinning on the screen. Everyone waited for theirs to stop spinning.
After a moment they began to slow down and anticipations began to rise. No one was stupid enough to not realize that this was an important moment.
Finally they stopped. I couldn't read what other people had gotten but I could clearly see mine.
[Talent: Edit][SSS-Rank]
[Description: Can edit any description.]
I was confused by what it meant but I didn't dwell on it long. Instead I looked at a second screen that had appeared discreetly behind the first.
[Inventory available.]
[Status available.]
[Shop available.]
[Starter Chest x1]
I used my fingers to navigate the menu. This one seemed to be the main one since there were various tabs I could click on to navigate to other screens.
The only ones available were the inventory, status, and the shop. Like the screens had stated before.
I clicked on the Status first. I wanted to gather information before I made my next move.
[Arthur Sloan]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Titles: None]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 100/100]
[Strength: 1
Constitution: 1
Agility: 1
Dexterity: 1
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charm: 1
Luck: 1]
The screen was simple. It looked like what you would see in a video game. I had played them a lot before so I didn't have a hard time understanding the screen, but I could hear people talking on the other side of the room.
I turned my attention away from the screen and payed attention to the conversation that had started while I was distracted.
"The starter chests can be opened for simple gear. I got a shield and a sword."
They began to operate their system screens and one by one weapons began to appear in people's hands.
A man in a suit had taken charge. He looked like a manager in an office and directed people to open their chests.
I also navigated to my inventory and opened my chest.
[Basic Hand Crossbow x1]
[Bronze Bolts x10]
That was what I got from my chest. Nothing incredible, but I was a little relieved that I had gotten a ranged weapon.
If I were being honest I was afraid of fighting directly.
Then someone asked an important question.
"Why do we need weapons though?"
...
The question was innocent but it made everyone wonder.
'Why did we have weapons if there wasn't anything to fight?'
Which meant there was something to fight.
Somewhere in the forest there was an enemy we would have to fight against.
This realization came to everyone's minds and people began to get nervous again. Thankfully the older man who was acting as the leader spoke at that moment.
"It looks like these are for us to defend ourselves with. We need to prepare for that reality. Is there anyone who is willing to fight on the front line?"
There was silence but eventually people began to step forward.
The first was the rough looking man from earlier.
"Shit... I'll do it. My talent is [Regeneration]. At least if I get hurt I won't die."
Then those who were feeling apprehensive started to step forward.
They had talents that would help them fight in front or they were just brave. I didn't know the difference but I was glad they had volunteered.
Once they organized we all filed out of the building and came face to face with a giant forest surrounding us.
I followed near the back while looking through my system to figure out how to use my talent.
'It says I can edit any description but how do I do that...'
Then I went to my inventory and clicked on an item. Immediately I found the answer to my question.
A small pen icon was next to my items. I clicked on the crossbow bolts and decided to edit them first. The window now had a keyboard floating in front of it and I could select which lines of text to edit.
I played around with it for a while, testing the limits of how much I could type and what the changes might be.
It seemed like I could edit one word. That means either adding a word, erasing one, or changing one entirely.
I decided to change my [Bronze Bolts] into [Returning Bronze Bolts]. This would ensure I didn't have to run out of ammo. After editing the bolts in my inventory I saw an asterisk now next to the description. This was to show I had already made a change to that item specifically.
When I tried to edit it again I was still restricted to the one word change limit but it still recognized 'Returning' as an active change. Still it was good. I could just remove the word and make a different change depending on the situation.
I then went to the description of the crossbow.
[Basic Hand Crossbow][Ordinary]
[Description: A wooden hand crossbow that fires bolts.]
↓↓↓
[Basic Hand Crossbow][Ordinary]*
[Description: A wooden hand crossbow that fires seeking bolts.]
I was about to ask people for any other items they might have and not want when a loud crash came from the front of the group.
I scrambled to close my system window only to see a group of wolves had charged from the forest and slammed into our front line.
We all would have liked to think we would be able to react well to a sudden attack, but the reality was always different from expectations.
Our front line were being bit and their flesh was being ripped off while others struggled to gain the courage to step forward to help.
The back line wasn't much better. People fumbled to load their bows and fire with any composure.
But I acted on instinct.
The moment was a perfect chance to attack while they were focused on attacking my allies.
A wooden hand crossbow appeared in one of my hands. A small bolt quiver appeared on my waist after I willed the bolts out of my inventory. I quickly pulled one out and loaded it into the crossbow. Pulling the string back strained my forearms slightly but it was manageable.
Then I raised my crossbow and fired after taking aim for a very short amount of time.
It might have looked like a haphazard shot, which it was, but I knew it didn't matter.
[Description: A wooden hand crossbow that fires seeking bolts.]
Seeking bolts.
The bolt I shot was obviously off target. Anyone could see it but then the most magical thing happened.
It's trajectory started to curve and head straight for a wolf that was biting into the leg of a man with a sword. It bore straight into the wolf's ribs.
Eliciting a yelp from the wolf and causing it to let go of the leg it was biting on.
Before it could react an arrow flew through the air and pierced the creature's eye. Causing it to fall to the ground lifelessly.
[Ordinary Wolf - Lvl. 1 slain.]
[+10 EXP]
[10/100 EXP to Level 2]
I didn't stop to look at the message too long I instead turned my attention to where the arrow came from.
A girl with long black hair had her bow raised and was obviously the person who had just shot the arrow. We shared a moment where we had a moment of understanding before I turned back to load my crossbow again.
After the first person took action others found the strength to attack as well. It wasn't long before we wiped out the wolves together. After the battle I had managed to tag all of the wolves with an attack which meant I was able to gain EXP for all of them.
Another 30 EXP and I would reach level 2. I wasn't sure what that would bring but I was sure it would be helpful. From the fight I received no items, but some people came out to tell the group that they had gotten some items.
One of them being a Skill Book.
It was an item that had a random drop chance from enemies that could give out skills when used. It was an [Ordinary][F-Rank] skill book that taught the skill [First Aid].
It didn't take long for that person to learn the skill and immediately begin helping to address the wounds of the people hurt in the ambush.
It was nothing more than splints and ripped pieces of cloth as bandages.
But to those who were hurt it was nothing short of a lifeline. One they were grateful for.
It was also confirmed the knowledge they gained from the skill book was entirely new. They had no previous experience but they were able to skillfully perform first aid.
The skill was only at F-Rank but it was effective at jump starting the healing process.
Without knowing what [Ordinary] meant alongside an item's description we could only speculate it meant it was within the realm of what we were familiar with on Earth.
Magic definitely existed since some talents had to do with it, but no one could perform magic yet. We were all anticipating what kind of skill books there might be out there.
So while the fight was a harsh wake up call it also brought the prospect of a path towards strength. After resting for a while we started to walk forwards again.