Character Card

Chapter 34 Character Card

"You are now a Level 1 Mage," Antinoa said, looking at Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu had been bracing himself, thinking today's ritual had failed. To then have such a turn of events…

Did it work?

The tension Zhao Xu had held for days finally eased slightly at this moment.

His plan was proceeding according to the normal steps.

Zhao Xu suppressed his inner excitement, looking at Antinoa and awaiting her next instructions.

"You can concentrate now, and your Character Card will appear in your mind."

Zhao Xu knew this without Antinoa elaborating.

The reason Arthur was described as a quantifiable world.

It stemmed from the fact that anyone who successfully achieved their first-level basic profession could see their own Character Card.

It could be understood that all professionals were equivalent to a silent numerical system that couldn't grant cheat abilities.

This was a world where everyone had a system, and everyone was like a dragon.

This was also why they, the players, had numerical values and could still be compatible after traversing worlds a year later.

Here, everyone was born equivalent to a Level 1 commoner, and commoners could not see their Character Card interface.

What made players special was that they could see their Character Cards even before Level 1 and freely allocate their attributes.

Following that, Antinoa began to explain some basic knowledge about the Character Card to him.

Although Zhao Xu had looked at this thing for nearly ten years in his previous life, he still humbly lowered his head, listening to his mentor's teachings.

"After you successfully advance, you should be able to see your hit points."

Zhao Xu directly scanned the Character Card in his mind.

[Life: Current 6/6 HP
Base Hit Points 6 = 4 (Profession) + 2 (Constitution)
Hit Die Type: D4 Mage]

He now had 6 hit points, with 2 points coming from his Constitution modifier and 4 points from his Mage hit dice.

Level 1 professionals would directly fill their hit dice, without rolling.

However, when leveling up later, they could only add the value of a D4, meaning a random roll between 1-4. A D12 would be 1-12.

Yet, the Constitution modifier could be stacked once per level. This was why Zhao Xu had spent 6 points to raise his attribute to 14.

If a player didn't buy points and started with an 8 attribute, their current -1 modifier would deduct 1 hit point.

Compared to other professions with D12, D10, or D8 hit dice, Mages and Sorcerers with D4 hit dice naturally had a few less hit points at Level 1.

This was also why Mages were fragile, easily dying from a single stray arrow in the early stages.

Antinoa continued until the end, her tone becoming slightly serious.

"Midsummer, in your understanding, what are hit points?"

"Health?" Zhao Xu's first reaction as a player from Earth was this concept, but as soon as he spoke, he realized how foolish he sounded.

Antinoa didn't make it difficult for him, only gently shook her head. "Hit points are not a representation of how strong our vitality is. If you die and are transformed into a skeleton, you will still be calculated according to the skeleton's hit points, even if you were a legendary warrior in your previous life."

"You must remember—hit points are our ability to withstand damage."

"A fireball can wipe out a group of commoners, but an advanced warrior can endure it because he has enough hit points to offset that damage."

"Also, our true death is not when our hit points reach 0, but at -10. Between 0 and -10, you will be paralyzed and can only wait for your companions' rescue."

Listening to Antinoa's explanation, Zhao Xu nodded along.

Seeing that Zhao Xu understood, she continued to explain saving throws.

Zhao Xu continued to look at his panel. Saving throws were also data that appeared after he became a Mage.

Fortitude: 2 = 0 (Profession) + 2 (Constitution)
Reflex: 1 = 0 (Profession) + 1 (Dexterity)
Will: 4 = 2 (Profession) + 2 (Wisdom)

Fortitude saves measured the ability to resist tests of physical fitness, like poisons.

Reflex saves measured the ability to dodge specific attacks, such as a fireball, which could be resisted with a Reflex save.

Will saves were for tests targeting mental willpower, like the Charm Person spell.

Zhao Xu's Mage only gained a +2 professional bonus to Will at Level 1.

Normally, once these three values reached a certain level, they could resist most threats.

For anything that could pass a saving throw check, Arthur generally assigned a difficulty class. All three saves could add a roll of 1-20 to contest the difficulty. As long as the difficulty was exceeded, the check would be successful. Therefore, once a saving throw value exceeded the difficulty, success was almost guaranteed.

"For now, I'll explain these two concepts. Next, we'll talk about Feats," Antinoa said finally.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's spirit immediately lifted. While the preceding information was important, he already knew it.

"First, what are feats?"

Zhao Xu's pupils constricted. "Character abilities."

"Strictly speaking, they are abilities tied to each person's spirituality."

"In reality, you can gain a feat through training, but it consumes your spirituality. Everyone's spirituality is fixed and can be gained by leveling up. You get it at level 1 and every subsequent level that's a multiple of 3."

"At the same time, as humans, we naturally receive an additional spiritual compensation, which corresponds to one feat."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu finally understood. In his previous life, they'd just use feats when they had them. As for the origin of feats, and why they could only be used after leveling up, they only had a vague understanding.

The entire forum had varying explanations.

"If you initially learned the 'Scroll Scribe' feat, and then later awakened as a 'Mindful Caster' and became a spellcaster, the 'Scroll Scribe' ability would occupy the spiritual point for your level 1 character feat."

"Mentor, didn't you say it would be forgotten?" Zhao Xu suddenly recalled a different explanation Antinoa had given him.

"I finally believe you don't have 16 Intelligence now. 'Scroll Scribe' has a prerequisite of being a level 1 spellcaster. Forgetting it naturally means you didn't become a Mage later."

Hearing Antinoa's jab, Zhao Xu couldn't help but blush.

"How many unassigned feats do you have now?" Antinoa continued.

Zhao Xu didn't even need to look at his character card panel and proudly replied, "Four."

"Hmm? Do you have extra spiritual compensation?" Antinoa's divination spells could see Zhao Xu's status and abilities, but she couldn't see things he hadn't chosen yet.

"I have two flaws, which allow me to choose two more feats," Zhao Xu replied.

Before, the idea of trading flaws for feats had seemed quite magical. Now that he understood it was about spirituality corresponding to feats, it made much more sense.

"Lucky kid. Many people in Arthur have flaws, but they don't necessarily get spiritual compensation."

"But this makes things easier. You have four feats, so let me ask you, do you want to cast spells freely, without the daily preparation limit?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's heart raced. They can do that? Free spellcasting? I wouldn't even need to prepare scrolls.

This isn't just a Mage, it's a God of Magic!