The Truth of Magic - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Natural Flaws and Feats
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

From the beginning up to this point, everything that Zhao Xu had seen so far was about the same as what he had done back when he first created an account 8 months after the game had started. 1
Zhao Xu continued to think as he walked towards the long staircase.
The extremely quiet atmosphere inside the palace made Zhao Xu feel how real Arthur really was.
Many players had gone around to check out the areas around the sculptures of the gods to see if they could activate anything special.
But Zhao Xu knew that there was nothing special to be found in this palace and didn’t waste any time doing that.
Or, rather, he wasn’t sure if the gods were already watching all the players in the game at this time.
“Please take a step.”
The moment Zhao Xu placed himself on the first step of the stairs, a bright white light covered everything before him. It looked like a warm glow had come down from the endless sky and given him a new life.
“Please choose if you wish to go through the Class Prescription Test or if you wish to choose a Character Class directly.”
Zhao Xu could hear the voice of the prompt in his ears as he walked up the steps, and it sounded as if someone was whispering right beside him.
Eleven adventurer statues about half his height appeared in front of him. They formed a circle and floated in the air.
These statues were: Fighter, Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, Bard, Ranger, Paladin, Druid, Cleric, Wizard, and Sorcerer. Those were the eleven Base Character Classes that were released in the first edition of the game. 11
Those last four, in particular, were the grandmasters that would eventually be able to cast Level 9 spells.
According to Arthur’s average player levels across the board, many Wizards and Sorcerers found it difficult to reach high levels. Their poor health scores and limited spells at the beginning made them regulars at the Palace of Character Creation.
The stairs he was standing on right now gave him the choice to either select his Character Class immediately or allow the system to choose for him depending on his inclination.
Every time he took another step, the system would automatically ask him a new question.
And according to his answer to that question, the system would try to analyze the player’s inclination. For example, if the player enjoyed melee battles, then the Fighter statue would automatically become brighter, while those Character Classes that were better at long-range battles or spellcasting would become darker.
The last statue left lighted would naturally be the recommendation the system had.
Zhao Xu knew that it was best to go through answering the questions. 1
Druids, Clerics, and Paladins required the player to be of a particular religion, and even a purely fighting role like the Barbarian had requirements for the player’s Alignment. 1
Once the player went against the requirements for that Character Class and Alignment, then the player would be unable to rise in level for that particular Character Class and would have no choice but add on another class. And that was the best-case scenario.
In the worst-case scenario, like for a Paladin, the player would lose almost all the features of that Character Class.
That was the terrible lesson that countless players had learned.
If one chose a role that went against their true self, then they had to be prepared to behave that way for the rest of their life. 1
Zhao Xu chose to go up the stairs without hesitating at all, because he had heard an urban legend in his previous life…
On the first day of the game, if one answers all the questions given by the system until only one statue is left lit and the player chooses that as his Character Class, then he would get the chance to exchange a Natural Flaw for a Feat.
Feats were a different sort of bonus system, and players could only receive Feats at Level 1 and at any level that was a multiple of 3. 1
After Arthur had officially started, it was apparently entirely run by an AI.
At first, very few people understood how valuable Feats were.
There were even players who managed to eliminate all but one statue and still decided against choosing that Character Class, so they missed the chance to enter the Natural Flaw system.
There were also players who felt that the list of Natural Flaws had overly heavy consequences on their character and they didn’t accept them. So they gave up the chance to exchange them for Feats.
Some of them were very careful and only exchanged one Natural Flaw. They gave up the chance to choose two Natural Flaws to exchange for two Feats.
If there were no limits on Zhao Xu’s choice, he wouldn’t mind even if he had a few dozen Natural Flaws, as long as he could exchange them for the same number of feats.
But the problem Zhao Xu had right now was how the system was going to assign him his Double Elite Character Classes.
Did he have to leave one statue or two statues lighted?
And if two statues remained lighted, did that mean the system wouldn’t activate the Natural Flaw system anymore?
Zhao Xu had raised a leg earlier but left it suspended in the air and still hadn’t put it down yet.
This Natural Flaw system was apparently only available for the first 24 hours of the game starting. So, essentially, it was the only chance that players had with their first account.
After some people heard about this, they gave up their original account and opened a new one to try the next day, only to find that there was no such thing. They even went back online to curse at those people who talked about it and called them liars.
If he missed this chance, then two Feats that couldn’t be bought with money were going to slip from his grasp.
Zhao Xu’s expression became grimmer and grimmer. 1