The Politician's System
Elmo was surprised when Kim came back with another man to be on their team. Even more shocking was the fact it was the man who she was certain he'd already formed a crush on. Jonas with the Rogue system.
However, when Jonas looked Elmo and Elin over, he seemed like he'd been pushed onto the misfit team. It certainly didn't give Elmo any hopes of anything forming between them.
"So, what can both of you do?" Jonas asked.
Elin chipperly explained what her abilities and spells could do. At which point, Elmo realized he hadn't bothered to take a look at that. He'd only given his system a cursory glance, then moved on to other things that needed to be done.
When Elin finished, Jonas turned to Elmo. Under the scrutinizing gaze, he also realized Kim was looking at him with an apparent interest in what he was going to say.
"Um… well… you see… Um, I haven't actually accessed the tutorial on my system yet," Elmo admitted after struggling to get anything intelligent out.
"I see," Jonas said. "Well, while we figure out what additional supplies we need, go sit on one of the couches and do that. The grown-ups will let you know if they need you."
If it wasn't for his good looks, Elmo would have told Kim that he didn't want this prick on their team. However, he couldn't bring himself to think badly of him because just thinking of Jonas going with them was enough to send him to cloud nine for a few minutes. At least.
As he sat on a couch, he was surprised to find the couch incredibly uncomfortable, despite how nice they looked before he sat on one.
However, that wasn't important. He pushed the observation out of his mind and focused on his task. Dealing with the tutorial aspect of his system.
"Tutorial," he said, wondering what would happen.
"Please explain my abilities and spells," Elmo said, his voice reflecting the depressed feelings he had going on for him at the moment.
Elmo thought about it. Then pushed the thoughts of that out of his mind. He didn't really need to ask anything else. However, being able to know the stats of other players certainly might be a useful tool. Though, he wondered if he should do that to the others on his team. Would it be a breach of trust if he did that? Especially since they were still essentially strangers to each other? Elmo couldn't help but wonder. Shaking his head, he got up from the couch and made his way back to his 'team.' Unsure how much he really should tell them. Or if maybe he should only confide in Elin. After all, she seemed like he could trust her. Jonas seemed to be the one who noticed Elmo returning first. "So, what are your skills and spells good for?" Jonas asked. Despite what Elmo had told himself to do, he couldn't help but reveal all that he'd just learned. It was the worst case of verbal diarrhea he'd ever had. He just couldn't stop talking. Fortunately, the man didn't seem too put out by Elmo's rambling. Though, it was hard to tell if he wouldn't come back to that later. It just seemed like Jonas started thinking about something partway through his explanation of his skills and spells. "Have you tested out your View Stats spell?" Jonas asked. Elmo shook his head. He hadn't been sure if now would be the time to do that or not. "Okay, let's test it out on someone," Jonas said grinning. Elmo didn't like how that grin made Jonas look. It was almost like he was being drafted into pulling a prank that could possibly put him in really hot water. "Wh-who?" Elmo stuttered. "Stanley," Jonas said. "Why him?" Elin chimed in. "Because there's something about him that I don't like. Almost like he can make others do things they'd rather not," Jonas said. Then shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not really sure why. It just feels like he might be the biggest danger to everyone else, so I was thinking it might be good to know exactly what we'd be dealing with." Elmo nodded. That sounded like a good idea. "Okay, I'll do it. Where's Stanley now?" Elmo said, ready to possibly face a catastrophe, depending on if Stanley realized what he was doing. "His group is getting ready to leave," Jonas said. You were out here before us, so you'd likely be the one who would know what he looks like. Elmo nodded. He was pretty sure who Stanley was, so he used the spell, looking at him while focusing solely on him. "View Stats," Elmo said, focusing entirely on Stanley. A window appeared in front of Elmo and he looked it over. It was a list of his basic stats. Level 1 XP 0/100 HP 27/27 MP 5/20 Stamina 21 Str 9 Dex 7 Con 12 Mag 17 Int 14 Wis 12 Agi 10 Cha 29 Vit 9 Endurance 7 Physical Resistance 7% Magic Resistance 5% Skills: Honeyed Voice 45/100 Peacemaker 28/100 Convincing Words 79/100 Enrapturing Voice II 85/300 Unquestioned Authority 17/100 Elmo was a little surprised to see that Stanley didn't have any attack abilities. Aside from that, his stats were definitely not suited for combat. "What's his stats?" Jonas asked Elmo. Elmo reads off what he sees quietly, not wanting anyone to possibly overhear. After all, this ability could get some people paranoid about him. When he finished, Jonas nodded. "I suspected something along those lines. I've spoken to a few people in his team. None of them had anything bad to say about Stanley, but they certainly sounded like they were drugged whenever they talked about him," Jonas commented. "Anyway, thanks for checking. I just wanted to see what you'd find." Elmo nodded. Happy that it wasn't something else. He certainly didn't want to be caught in the middle of a fight between two other pepole. That never ended well for him in the past. "So, what do you have in mind for leaving?" Kim asked, causing Elmo to jump. He hadn't been aware she was so close to him, aside from the fact she made him nervous to begin with. "Since Stanley's group is leaving shortly, I think we should give them maybe an hour before we head out," Jonas replied. "Why?" Elin asked. "Why not go after his group and just choose a different direction?" "Because that might not be possible," Jonas replied. "Besides, even if we did, go in a different direction, who's to say that we wouldn't be giving him an advantage?" "Huh?" Elin asked, surprised. "It's like this," Kim explained. "Whatever direction the first group chooses, could be the direction we'd want to go as well. But if we don't know what direction they took, then while we might take the same direction, we won't be letting others choose our options for us." Elmo nodded. Elin still looked confused, but that just might be how she is naturally. "Don't worry about it," Elmo advised her. "I think it might be more that they don't want what others do to influence what significant choices we make. "Why does this have to be so complicated?" Elin asked, sounding like an unhappy spoiled child. "Because that's just life," Elmo replied. "And life just plain sucks sometimes."