Party Formation and Entering the Dungeon

'The System Party Function has a few functions allowing for better management of resources and situational awareness of party members when fighting or adventuring as a team. The first function is the ability to set each individual as 'Untrusted', 'Neutral', or 'Trusted' as they are added to the party. Setting an individual to 'Untrusted' allows you to use a pseudonym in place of your name for the individual and modify some settings with your individual party display information. Setting an individual to 'Neutral' will display your first name, or the title you are most commonly known as, your individual party display information, and your position/role in the party. Setting an individual to 'Trusted' will display all of the previous information of the 'Neutral' setting in the party information display area, and will also allow the 'Trusted' individual to view your system type, Level, status point distribution, abilities, and skills (Please use this setting with caution). The individual party display information consists of name, health, and mana, you will see this information for all party members except yourself in the right side of your vision and it can be dismissed and recalled at will, if an individual has set you has 'Trusted' the additional information will only appear when specifically called on. The second function is that it gives all party members an ability to sense each others locations, similar to a sixth sense, the closer the party members are to each other the stronger this ability works. The third function is it allows for random loot assignment, if there are disagreements on who should get a piece of equipment or loot the party system can pick randomly from the names of those involved in the dispute. The fourth function is if the party faces creatures or entities that would not drop Ethereal Cores but still contain Ethereal within them that would be absorbed by the individual when the entity is killed, the system will distribute the Ethereal amongst all party members based on contribution. The final function is the election system. When the party is first formed a party leader must be elected by an anonymous majority vote of all party members except in certain circumstances. This system can also be used in other circumstances like when a fork in the road is reached and the party is trying to decide on which way to go. This is the end of the System Party Function Tutorial.'

I finished reading through the tutorial information and looked around but it seemed like everyone else was still reading through theirs so I waited for them to finish reading through the information for themselves.

'At least I don't have to worry about it giving away my race or my friends thinking that I don't trust them.' I thought to myself relieved that at least I had that going for me today.

One by one everyone's gaze returned to the group with Mick being the last to finish reading the tutorial. There was a moment of silence as one by one we all locked eyes with each other solemnly steeling our resolve to not only survive, but to thrive in this new world. Even Isabell's eyes showed a resolve that I was surprised to see there after her outburst just a few minutes ago.

"Before we form a party let's just go around the room and tell each other what our System Type is if you have one, any notable Skills or Abilities, and how much Ethereal you've absorbed if any, that way we don't have to analyze each others Status Screens on our own after forming a party," I said.

"Oh great, a middle school ice breaker," groaned Mick as he flopped back on the couch.

"Shut up dummy, it's a good idea that will save us time in the long run, especially as slow as you read," Ren said as he kicked Mick eliciting a light yawn from Mick.

"I never did understand the point of reading what was on those dusty pieces of paper. They never helped me do anything faster, lift anything heavier, throw anything further, or do more work."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a work horse we all get it but don't forget to learn enough to at least know which direction to run when one of us isn't around. What I want to know is what this Ethereal stuff is Connor mentioned," Jenna chastised.

"Ethereal is what Connor has been calling the particles, like with you and the Voice of Calamity." Isabell told her.

"Sounds like something the smart ass would come up with," Mick said.

"I like it, let's make it the first official, unofficial, vote of the party before we do the middle school ice breaker as Mick so eloquently put it," Jenna laughed, "All in favor of calling the Particles Ethereal from here on out?"

We all raised our hands at the same time.

"It's unanimous, Ethereal it is," I said, "who wants to start this sharing exercise off? Ren?"

"Eh, why not. I got a System Type of Guardian when I jumped in front of the elk to keep it from getting Isabell. I have two abilities Physical Enhancement which at it's current level multiplies my strength and constitution by 1.2 and Minor Regeneration which at it's current level helps prevent infections and boost healing speed but mostly affects superficial wounds like scratches and scrapes though it will help bigger wounds heal slightly faster. Mick?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess. I wasn't lucky enough to get a System Type and I have one ability Athletic Enhancement which at its current level multiplies my agility and stamina by 1.2 and one skill Battle Mentality which when activated helps me identify and target opponents weak points as well as keep focus in high stress situations. It currently only lasts for two minutes per activation and it says its effects and duration will increase as it levels up. Jenna, you're up."

"I don't have a system type either and I only have one ability, Tactician, which helps increase my ability in creating tactical plans. Izzy your turn."

"My System Type is called Medic and I have two abilities and one skill, my abilities are Triage which basically helps me quickly get a rough estimate of someone's medical condition and Steady Hands which helps me keep my hands steady in stressful or chaotic situations. The skill is Diagnosis which gives me a much more in depth list of issues if I can't find the reason myself, though at level 1 it's still relatively vague. Now that just leaves us with you oh fearless leader."

"Wait, none of you have absorbed any Ethereal yet?" I asked.

"Nope"

"Not me"

"Nada"

"Not a chance."

"Alright, well, my System Type is Shapeshifter and I have 3 abilities Shapeshift which is kind of complicated but basically let's me absorb blood essence from creatures to get their form and then I can shift into any of the forms I have a limited number of times for a limited duration per day. I currently only have the form of a wolf and at its current level I can only shapeshift three times per day for twenty minutes at a time. The next two abilities are Bow Mastery and Stealth which are pretty much what they sound like and I currently have absorbed16 Ethereal out of the 25 that I need to level up."

"The last two abilities I can understand what with you living out in the wild by yourself and sneaking around to hunt and take pictures and such, but how the hell did you get a Shapeshifter ability and System Type?!" Jenna asked incredulously.

"Who cares about that! Don't ask questions we'll never know the answer to!" Mick jumped in, saving me from having to come up with an explanation that I was unprepared for on the fly, "What I want to know is when are you going to show us this Shapeshifting thing for starters, and secondly when are we going to the dungeon because we can't let Connor be that far ahead of us or he's going to surpass us and we'll never be able to catch up!"

"First off I'm not a circus monkey, and secondly I'm ok with going as soon as possible. It's just a matter of if you guys want to go tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Personally I think we should wait a little bit with Ren's injuries, and don't think I didn't notice you favoring that side of yours." Isabell said.

"Why would we wait? It's not like their injuries are going to be healed by tomorrow so if we're waiting for that we'll be waiting for a while. I think we go tonight to get ahead of the power curve while everyone else is still to scared to go in." Mick scoffed at Isabell.

"Sometimes I wonder how we're all still friends..." sighed Jenna.

"How about this, let's just formally start the system party and then we can use the anonymous voting function to decide? That way nobody can be mad at anyone else." I proposed to the group trying to stave off an unneeded argument.

Everyone eventually nodded in agreement and a block of text appeared in the top right corner of my vision.

'Party formed with Ren, Isabell, Jenna, and Mick. Please vote from the 5 party member to select the party leader.'

I shamelessly voted for myself knowing that it would most likely be chaos if the wrong person were to be the 'leader', though the system didn't list any benefits of being the 'leader' either. Shortly after I submitted my vote the text block changed to say-

'Congratulations, you have been elected as the leader of the party! Would you like to name the party now or later?'

I picked later as it was something that I wanted to be able to get everyone's input on before picking a name for us as this was something I hoped would last for a while. I then could see everyone's Individual Party Display Information in the right side of my vision as well as a small box right above them that said 'Party Management'. I focused on that that and it brought up a few different options, most of which I ignored for now except for the one that said 'Propose a Vote' which I selected. I was able to put in multiple options to be voted on so I put in the options to go to the dungeon immediately, go to the dungeon in the morning, and go to the dungeon when all wounds have healed. I then selected the box that said 'Propose the Vote' and a new row of text appeared similar to the one that appeared when voting for the party leader.

'Please vote on one of the following items:

Go to the dungeon immediately

Go to the dungeon in the morning

Go to the dungeon when all wounds have healed'

I selected the option to go to the dungeon immediately as I didn't see the point in waiting until the morning and I definitely didn't want to wait until all the wounds were healed as that could be weeks. A few seconds later the results of the vote came in.

'Voting Results:

Go to the dungeon immediately: 3 votes

Go to the dungeon in the morning: 1 vote

Go to the dungeon when all wounds have healed : 1 vote'

"Hell ya!" Mick yelled as he jumped up off the couch and started walking towards the door, "Let's go!"

I grabbed my gear and and we all headed to the door following to the door, no one objecting but Isabell and Jenna were obviously more subdued than before.

We walked back through town to get to the Dungeon Portal and made our way through the crowd getting quite a few stairs with our makeshift weapons as we made our way closer to the dungeon entrance. When we got directly in front of the portal I reached out to touch the pulsing blue oval, unsure of how it worked to enter the dungeon. My arm went through the portal and I could feel warm humid air on the other side.

"Hey! You guys aren't really going in there are you?! That's crazy!" somebody yelled from the crowd.

I looked over in the general direction that the voice came from, not sure who said it and replied, "Yes, we are," and then stepped through the portal followed closely by my long time friends and now my new party members.