You're Not Allowed to Die (The Twenty-Sided Eye Series Book 1)

by Kip Terrington

  Ding

  Joe clicked on the silver light.

  You have moved up a level.

  Current- Level 2

  New Fact

  49- I gain xp as Joe gains xp.

  Joe saw a red notification, and clicked on it.

  You have unallocated power left over from your first level. Just as time waits for no man, power unused is lost. You now have 24 hours to decide where your power should be. Note: if these points have not been assigned within 24 hours, the UI will assign them based on the needs of the current reality. In such cases, this may or may not benefit player’s character.

  “What! I better figure out how to allocate these points now,” Joe said to himself. Not sure where to start, he looked out the window at the red gas giant on the horizon. It had not moved a millimeter. With a thud, Joe felt a small boot impact the back of his head. It didn't actually hurt, but it was pretty surprising. Spinning around, Joe saw Spooky hovering close.

  “You said I could throw something at you, if you were going to make big decisions without me,” Spooky said.

  “Ha! That I did. I award you one life point for the accuracy of your throw. Did you steal Moes’ boot?” Joe asked.

  “It is not stealing when you're going to give it back. Plus, it's not like he could walk anywhere. You gave him an order to stay there. He's literally bound to do that, until you get back and release him or the time runs out,” Spooky said.

  “Okay. How do we assign these points of power?” Joe asked.

  “First things first, we have to finish the system prompts. The ones we ended up ignoring when we were surprised by Moes. I have a feeling you forgot about those,” Spooky said.

  “I did. I didn't see the white light any more. I thought we had gone through all of the system messages. How do I access them now without the white light to click on?” Joe asked.

  “I can open them up. Or, if you wanted to do it without my help, you need to spend time working with the drop-down menus. It would be good for you to get used to working with your HUD anyway,” Spooky said, then opened the missing system message.

  Joe and Spooky, know that the massive changes to your bodies are not the only changes you will have to deal with. Your home planet of Earth is a planet with very little magic. The Gravin Moon you're currently on orbits a massive gas giant. The close orbit of this Moon means that the strong gravitic influence of the gas giant has far reaching consequences. The first noticeable effect is that the core of the Moon is spinning fast, creating enough heat to keep the Gravin Moon at a habitable temperature. This is despite being out of the Goldilocks zone of this system's primary star. This hot core of the Moon connects to a large system of underground bodies of water, which makes its way to the surface and fills innumerable lakes, creating the habitable surface and the subterranean caverns.

  Another consequence of being so close to a gas giant is that there is a substantial amount of radiation completely irradiating the Moon. On Earth, this would have meant that virtually all life would have been destroyed. But, just as humans have adapted in order to overcome danger, the Gravin Moon has also adapted over time. It changed the radiation into chords of magic that permeate and twist through the whole Moon. When living beings grow up around magic they can't help but absorb it. As a result, most cannot choose what magic they will have access to. All of the other champions summoned were from other worlds or moons with magic. You, Joe and Spooky, are unique in that you were someone from a world with little or no magic. The only magic in you is the magic that was used to force your bodies to become compatible with this Moon. You are both products of a magicless technological society. The castle you have been given reflects the melding of your technology and this Moon's magic. It was given to you to offset the significant level gap between you and the other champions. Unlike those born on magical worlds and moons, who only gained what fate or nature granted them, you will absorb only what magic you choose to. Grow and absorb fast, choosing powerful magic and skills. For even with this wonderful castle you have been given, the level gap is much too great. Grow fast! Do not dally.

  After the message closed Joe could see a new silver light and clicked it.

  Power and Stat Allocation

  Note: Not all levels are created equal. Work hard and distinguish yourself in order to prepare well, and you may receive more stat and power allocation points.

  Joe

  Levels 1 and 2-

  You’ve received 2 points of power. No additional stat points available.

  Normal Skill and Magic options

  Skill choices available

  Apprentice building commander

  Journeyman tooth brusher

  Journeyman bather

  Journeyman groomer

  Master discerner

  Master listener

  Magic choices available

  None

  Options available though Empathetic Learning Gift

  Skill choices available

  Novice loyalty assessments

  Novice binder

  Journeyman speaker of hurtful truths

  Magic choices available

  Novice Mind Magic

  Novice Spirit Magic

  Two points of power available. Allocate all points.

  “Journeyman tooth brushing?” Joe exclaimed.

  “It appears that the normal options are only skills or magics that you already have some talent in, or have been doing recently. You have been listening to me, to Moes, and, of course, you just showered,” Spooky said.

  “Thank goodness for my Empathetic Learning gift. I'm definitely choosing one of the magic choices available. Unless, of course, you disagree,” Joe said.

  “No, I agree wholeheartedly. You don't need to be a binder, or assess someone's loyalty. I'm always going to be by you, and those don't seem like skills we need to double up on,” Spooky said.

  Joe mind-clicked Novice Mind Magic and Novice Spirit Magic.

  Select Novice Mind Magic and Novice Spirit Magic? Yes/No

  Joe confirmed yes and a blue glow surrounded him with the sound of shattering crystal.

  “That's fantastic! I can feel the magic inside me. Let me get dressed. Then we will go see Moes, and see about learning how to use this magic I just received,” Joe said as he handed Moes’ boot back to Spooky and shooed her out the door. Going back to where he had taken off his clothes, he found them missing. Somehow not surprised, his eyes were drawn to the closet doors. Joe opened them and walked in, hoping to find suits of armor. Instead, he found the type of clothes he had worn in life.

  Most of the options seemed inappropriate for this gaming reality. He was not inclined to wear khaki’s, shorts, dress slacks, nor his James-Bond-wannabe-tuxedo. As he continued to rummage through his options, he found toward the back uniforms he had not worn for many years. He chose his white and grey Russian military camo uniform. Though he could not find the body armor inserts, this uniform would be extremely functional and adaptable. Although he had been out of uniform for more than 70 years, Joe quickly and expertly dressed and equipped what tactical gear he could find. On his left hip, he attached his Mysterious Immovable Looped Bar (MIL Bar) and, on his right hip, he attached his Compass of Mind-Boggling Awesomeness, tying it with the attached rope and placing it in one of the closed pockets. His Holdall swung over his shoulder. In this frigid environment, the cold weather uniform, the steel toed boots, and military grade gloves would be invaluable. He adjusted his K6-0 helmet around his iron crown and it fit snugly. He could not find a AS Val rifle, which would have truly completed his uniform, but his MIL Bar was the best he could hope for at the moment. Joe moved back toward the closet doors and saw a full length mirror on the door he had missed before. It was like he had gone back in time, except now, he looked less arrogant. Time, age, and injury had made Joe realize he was not invincible. While still looking in the mirror, Joe assessed the properties of his new clothing. His boots gave a small armor bonus, prevented frostbite on his feet, and increased
a stat he had never seen before.

  +25% sure-footedness.

  The rest of his clothing held bonuses to his ability to stay warm, but almost no armor bonus. Joe couldn't help but frown at that. It was good to stay warm, but one also needed to be protected from more violent forms of weather, like a rain of arrows. His helmet was thick and did give some armor bonus, but not as much as he would have liked.

  Joe left his sanctuary and headed back up the stairs. As ordered, Moes was lying down and Spooky had already made her way back to him. As Joe walked closer, he called out, “You are released, Moes.”

  “Finally! Stars! Just how many nose hairs did you have to pull? That took FOREVER!” Moes said as he sat up. “What are you wearing? …you look different, bigger. Is that actually armor? Is there a magical component to it that am I sensing?” Moes asked. Joe walked closer to the halfling as he stood up.

  “It is not really armor, but more of a functional uniform. It looks like it doesn't provide any major bonuses. But it's rated for Siberian cold and that's not something you should turn your nose up at,” Joe said and Moes’ eyes went wide.

  “What happened to you?! What kind of shower was that? When you left you were smelly. You had no magic seed in you. Now, I sense mind and spirit magic in you. That is not possible. What you’re born with is what you're born with. Tell me what is going on!” Moes screeched.

  “Moes, calm down. Joe is an Empathetic Learner. As he gains levels and gets to know others, he will be able to use the magic that they can,” Spooky said.

  “Just by knowing someone, you'll be able to use their magic?” Moes asked.

  “Not their magic, specifically, but the same type of magic. And as she said, I have to gain levels too. Though at my current level, it won't take long,” Joe answered.

  “Okay… Impossible, but I can sense the magic. ...So, not impossible, I guess. What is a level?” Moes asked.

  “Funny, Moes. You know. Don't pretend you don't,” Joe said.

  “Joe, just because you interface with this environment that way, doesn't mean everyone will,” Spooky postulated.

  “What is she talking about?” Moes asked.

  “Here's the deal, you can teach me magic and I will teach you what I can,” Joe said.

  “Okay, you first,” Moes said.

  “Joe, you don't know if he can learn to view levels, or even categorize anything,” Spooky said.

  “I get why you would say that. The thing is, I'm looking at him, and I can see that he can do it. I can see he can do a lot of things that he doesn't believe he can. I think it's my gift, Sight of the Encourager, or whatever it was called,” Joe said.

  “It would be nice to be on the same page,” Spooky said.

  “I wonder if there's a better place we could talk about this stuff. A place with chairs, something I could use to diagram?” Joe said to the air hoping whatever ran the castle would be listening.

  “Who are you talking to, and why are you looking around like that?” Moes asked.

  “He doesn't realize it, but he's actually talking to me. Joe, I'm the one who led you to your sanctuary. I didn't realize I was doing it until I opened the doors. I know this is unusual, but in the long run I think it'll be really good. Anyway, I think I can make a conference room. The screen you can diagram on... I'm not sure,” Spooky said.

  “What do you mean make a conference room? Don't you just mean open the door to the conference room?” Joe asked.

  “No. I mean make. The main structure of the building is set, but right now, other than the room that was already made for you, all the rooms are empty. It appears I'm able to channel some of the magic in this place of power to build things. Right now, I can tell I can't build anything extremely complicated. That doesn't mean it will always be that way, but that's the way it is right now. Luckily, your sanctuary was mostly ready. I did add the amazing closet and clothes. You’re welcome. I'm already better than I was when we first got here. Part of that has to do with how I used the first two power points acquired from Levels 1 & 2 to become a better building manager, before making the closet,” Spooky said.

  “Hey! I thought you said we were partners and had to see and approve what skills and magic the other chose?” Joe said.

  “No. I said we were partners and I had to see what you chose and approve. Also, I started with magic. Plus, you have a lot on your mind, you don't need that hassle. You approve of my choice, don't you?” Spooky asked as she flew close to Joe and looked up at him with big beautiful dark eyes that he could not say no to.

  “I really should not find that so comforting,” Joe took a deep breath and just looked at Spooky, forgetting his objections...

  “You guys are creeping me out,” Moes said. Spooky broke eye contact first.

  “Yeah, sorry. Anyway, what skills did you get Spook?”

  “If you're really curious, I will tell you in the conference room,” Spooky said as she zipped off down the stairs. Moes looked at Joe and raised an eyebrow.

  “You were looking at her weird,” Moes said.

  “What?! You try looking away when she does that. Her dark eyes are like infinity pools of cuteness,” Joe said as he followed after the dagger wielding fairy.

  Running to keep up, Moes yelled, “What's an infinity pool?”

  As they walked into the room, Joe was not incredibly impressed. It looked like any normal small meeting room, with room at the table for, at most, 12.

  “If we need a real conference room later, I will make one. I wanted to save the majority of my building points for whatever comes up. As a workaround for the screen, let's use your canvas. We can move it later when we find a better place to put it,” Spooky said. Joe got out his Canvas of Netflixia and unfolded it only enough to make a five by seven foot screen.

  “Okay, as you already know, I have binding magic. We all saw me use it on Moes. So, I won't put that up on the screen, but I will show you the new additions. The skills and magic I chose were both building types. Please give your attention to the screen,” Spooky said as her first power allocation choices came up.

  Magic Chosen:

  Novice Energy Mass Conversion

  Spells acquired

  L1 Minor Structural Changes. Ability to use daily building points to make minor changes in castle. Example: move non load-bearing walls, create beds, or closets.

  L1 Non-magical Item Creation. Ability to use daily building points to make non-magical items you are truly familiar with.

  L1 Tiny Ivory Automaton. This six-inch ivory automaton, when provided with automating code, can be a great servant with many uses. Note: this level of automaton cannot leave castle walls and has no combat ability.

  “Those spells look useful. Can you make a ...” Joe started to ask.

  “No, I can't make a rifle. Way too complicated. I am not even sure if they have the same elements here, as we do on earth. Next, I chose a skill that went with the Tiny Ivory Automaton.”

  Skills acquired

  Hard Drive Partition. Ability to partition hard drive, creating space for code to automate ivory automaton. Leveling this skill grants automaton more freedom of movement and abilities.

  “Now you know, Joe. I hope your curiosity is sated,” Spooky said.

  “Ha, yes, good enough. Now, to sate Moes’ curiosity,” Joe said.

  “I am really not curious. And everything you just said- hard drives, codes- meant nothing to me,” Moes said with a blank expression.

  “Just watch, and listen,” Joe said, “Okay, Spooky, can you pull up some footage of Moes and overlay his level and stats?” The screen instantly showed Moes as he had been not long ago, sitting on the cathedral floor looking slightly burnt. The current Moes pursed his lips, not remembering the situation with fondness. As symbols began to appear over the screen, Joe paused, looking at Spooky quizzically.

  “All of those upside down triangles. Is that the numeral system that Moes is most familiar with?” Joe asked.

  “Wouldn't make a lot of sense to
use one he isn’t familiar with,” Spooky stated.

  “No, I guess it wouldn't. Forgive me for a second, Moes. Looking at that symbolic numeral system, I understand it, though this is the first time I've seen it. I know that I understand this symbolic numeral system because of my skills and abilities. That's not the issue I want to talk about. The issue I want to talk about is, now that I've seen the system you use, I can only think about the horrible inefficiencies of this symbolic numeral system. It's terrible and overly complicated. It's hard for me to think about anything else. In some sense, it's a very simple system. Easy to use, but only if you keep your numbers low. It would take a true scholar to use this system for anything remotely complicated,” Joe said.

  “Hello? Master of spirit and mind magic here. I'm obviously a scholar. Not that I can say the same thing for you,” Moes said.

  “Thanks for that, Moes. We can continue with this. Spooky, remind me later that we will have to teach citizens of our kingdom a base 10 numerical system. That way anyone will be able to do complex calculations, not just the scholars. Let's get back to the presentation. I won't digress anymore. I beg your pardon, Moes,” Joe said.

  Using Spooky’s help, Joe put up pictures of what he saw when he mind-clicked on Moes. Describing what a mind-click was, he also went over the idea of what levels were in other games and how they might be similar here. Moes sat quietly, listening and watching as Joe went over how the symbolic numbers represented experience you gained and your current capabilities. When he was finished, Joe was proud of his presentation.

  “Well, would you like to give it a try? I think you might surprise yourself,” Joe said. Moes put up a hand and spoke slowly at first.

  “First, let me say, I really like the screen. It was fun to see me moving around, and then have numbers overlaid over me. A really neat trick. Second, I wanted to say, are you flaming crazy?! Dark stars, Joe! Do you expect me to believe that you can reduce someone's abilities and strengths down to a set of symbolic numbers? The idea that you can come to a problem you're not smart enough to solve, and address it by increasing your number in some level of smartness, is preposterous. I am not quantifiable data,” Moes said, sitting down, having stood up during his tirade.