It has been about a week since Faysal has been given access to the system, and without any real guidance he was happy with the progress that he has made. Finally leveling up feels like a milestone, it may only be the first level but at least he knows that he is on the right track and his experiences aren’t going to waste. Experience something about that word… Faysal had an idea as he brought up his character sheet that looked similar to a medical chart, as he did, he thought the word ‘Experience.’

  CHARACTER SHEET

  “No wonder adventurers are sought after and left to their own devices, being able to use your experiences to directly gain more power at a tangible level…” Faysal was muttering to himself but everyone in their camp was nearby and listening, curious as to what power Faysal was talking about. “I have heard of the system as most have before, but thought it was a myth or its uses were over exaggerated. Now do I use my ability points or look into this contribution store more? I was given what seems like a lot to start but have not received anymore since.” Faysal was still talking to himself to help get his thoughts in order, but Happy responded to try to help, “I always liked shopping, everyone always looks at me and moves out of my way so I can get to the best stores!” The rest stayed quiet, no one had the heart to tell Happy why everyone was looking at him or moving away from him, and Faysal seemed so deep in thought he would not hear them anyway.

  Faysal decided it would be best to at least look at the contribution store before making any decisions on what to spend. When he thought the words ‘Contribution Store’ a new window opened up.

  CONTRIBUTION STORE: TOTAL CONTRIBUTION: 25,000

  Interesting was the only real thought that came to Faysal’s mind. The copper and gold were useless to him currently, so they could be ruled out. Who knows if the quests he would get would even be possible in his current situation. The experience and ability points are tempting, but he can earn them other ways, he still may look into them later though. That left the Displays and the Wheel of Fate. In reality Faysal did not have to think hard at all before making his first two purchases, he immediately thought Mini-Map in Display. Another prompt just saying ‘Confirm or Cancel’ appeared for a moment before Faysal confirmed his selection. Immediately he saw his contribution points lower to twenty 4,500, and in the top right of his vision a small circular map appeared. It was missing many finer details, but showed a green dot where each of his friends in the dungeon were, a small orange dot where their fireplace was, walls were indicated as well, though the small hiding hole they made to keep valuables from straying creatures was not visible on the map. Faysal had an idea and he went over to the hiding hole and looked inside. When he did that area on the map had a faint glow, and when he left that area it stayed, marking the map permanently. All that time Faysal and those in the dungeon spent mapping out the dungeon and now he basically had a generic cheat sheet, now time to hopefully expand that cheat.

  Town/Area Details Added to mini-map! Faysal thought without hesitation, this time a different prompt appeared that read, ‘Due to size of the current area two times contribution required. Confirm or Cancel?’ Well, I guess it is good that I have such a lot of contribution, let’s see if this is worth it. Confirm. Immediately after agreeing not much seemed to change, there were small arrows labeled North, South, East and West that were not there before. Faysal also noticed a few other changes, his contribution amount lowered 2,000 like he expected but when glancing at the Contribution store the things that he purchased looked different.

  CONTRIBUTION STORE: TOTAL CONTRIBUTION - 22,500

  It appears as though some items are single purchases or can only be purchased so many times. That makes sense, no use in having multiple maps, Faysal thought to himself while looking over the store. Some things have been added after I made the purchases, interesting. Should I make some smaller purchases before large ones to see what else may be added? Faysal refocused his eyes, closing all of his screens for a moment, Myra noticed him shifting his attention and used this moment to speak up, “Fay, have you found anything interesting? You have been zoned out for quite some time.” Myra was talking solely to Faysal but everyone was gathered around the fire listening to what Faysal had to say.

  Faysal explained everything about the contribution store, what he has purchased and found out so far and about the tutorial being added after making some purchases. “I am not sure of the next best move, sure I have what seems like a lot of Contribution but that could change, I am at a disadvantage not having the training they get in Adventuring Academies, perhaps the tutorial can help bridge some of that gap, but at what cost?” Almost everyone contemplated what Faysal was saying, trying to understand and think of the next best move for the resistance's most promising weapon, Happy did not need to think anything over. “I do not think a turtle or two turtles will be much help but Mama always said I was a gift from the fates so their wheel should be good!” Happy spoke as if what he was saying should be obvious to everyone. Myra tried to correct him, “No Happy, tutor, actually it doesn’t matter, Fay you know I am for action, wasting a potentially limited resource like Contribution and possibly wasting time, I do not think it is worth it.”

  “I disagree, having the knowledge will help lead to more power, taking the tutorial may open up other options or show you that one option is not as good as you originally thought.” Jasper shared his opinion as did Paline who was in agreement with Jasper. The conversation lasted a few moments, Myra on the side of not taking the tutorial, Jasper and Paline in favor of it and Happy wondering if he could ride the two turtles and talking about fate. “Let me start with the rest of the display options, then I can see if anything else gets added or go for the tutorial. I am sorry, Happy but I do not think we will be doing the wheel of fate today.” I can not think with Happy constantly talking about turtles and The Wheel of fate. Suddenly a pop up showed in his vision seeming out of nowhere reading ‘Confirm or Cancel.’ What Confirm or Cancel what? Did I perhaps think too hard about the Tutorial or the wheel of fate this time? I need to be more careful with my thoughts, either way I do not want to Confirm this. Suddenly the confirm option lit up for a moment and time froze. Faysal looked around but no one else seemed to be moving or even breathing, then everything around Faysal turned completely white.

  In a loud booming voice Faysal heard “Welcome to the Wheel of Fate!” As the voice said the words wheel of fate those words appeared in giant bold yellow letters floating in the air, below the words a giant wheel but all of the options were completely blank. The voice continued speaking, “I am your host, Grondo the magnificent!” As Grondo said his name there was a puff of smoke and a figure appeared, presumably Grondo. Grondo was an interesting looking individual, something Faysal had never seen in his lifetime. They had skin that was a mix of gold and silver and had a faint glow to it. Their top half seemed like a bodybuilder, Grondo had no feet however, instead everything came together to a single, almost tail-like point. “The rules are very simple, every 1,000 contribution points you pay up to 10,000, one of the eleven spaces on the Wheel of Fate will turn to a better option, after payment decisions your luck and any other possible variables take effect and then you get to, SPIN, SPIN, SPIN! Now that the basic introduction is over, Adventurer may I have your name?” Grondo said that last part while looking down at Faysal for the first time.

  “Umm, Hi I am Faysal, but I am not an…” That was all Faysal could say before Grondo spoke up again, cutting him off, “Faysal! It is a pleasure to have you on the show! We do not get many contestants anymore but it is still many of the Gods favorite events to tune in to! Now that I think about it you might be the first contestant in about one hundred years! I wonder if the Gods and fate will reward or punish you for that? Only time will tell! Before we begin with the payment part do you have any questions about the game?” Faysal had no clue what most of this person was saying, but if his questions were limited to the game he did have at least one, “I sort of chose this in error, am I able to return?” Grondo chuckled, “Ah yes, we used to get many accidental contestants before the Academy started focusing on meditation and controlling thoughts early on in training. But unfortunately no, there is no going back, only forward!” As Grondo said forward he raised his hands and sparks flew from them. “Now Faysal, do you have any more questions on how the Wheel of Fate works?” Faysal had a ton of questions, but the game itself seemed straight forward, he could just hope now that he did not get anything too bad from the wheel. “No, I have no more questions about the game.”

  “Wonderful!” Grondo replied enthusiastically, “First is the payment round! For those watching, let's show how many contribution points little Faysal has here.” With that, another screen showed up that just read ‘Faysal’s Contribution Points: 21,500 “Wow! Would you look at that, not only do we have our first contestant in one hundred years but the first to have more than 3,000 Contribution when coming here in, oh three hundred years, impressive Faysal, you came prepared! Now, how much would you like to spend to increase your chances at the WHEEL OF FATE!?” That is a good question, it looks like I paid 1,000 just to be here, I only need two hundred to get the last two display options currently available, but other options could always be added and I wanted that tutorial option as well, who knows how much that will be. So let me assume the tutorial is the same as the highest current option, 5,000, add the two hundred, and I really wanted to try to keep 10,000 if possible for other options or future use, so if possible I want to keep 15,200 of my 21,500 so I could spend 6,000 easily enough, but that would only give me a fifty four and a half Percent chance. If I give myself the best odds of just under ninety one percent I would only be left with 11,500. Ugh. “Fine, use all 10,000.” Faysal muttered quietly in defeat. He wanted to save but without knowing the bad versus the good options, he could not risk it in a time like this. Suddenly, the screen that showed Faysal’s Contribution Points dropped down to 11,500. Faysal felt like he was stabbed in the gut, but felt some relief when he saw ten of the eleven spots start to light up.

  “Wow! Folks this is another thing that we have not seen in a very long time, if ever! Faysal has spent 10,000 to sway the odds in his favor!” Faysal heard what sounded like an audience applauding, but he still only saw the Screen, the Wheel and Grondo, everything else was white. “Now let us let fate take the wheel before we SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!” As Grondo finished his statement the wheel started flashing between a myriad of different colors, all the ones known and unknown, Faysal was in awe, if only for a moment. After a while the lights only went from a white light, black light and a crimson color. “Oh it seems Faysal here is just full of surprises! It appears his fate is tied to the Order! We have never had a chance to see the full effects of Chaos on the wheel, until today that is! Let us watch as Chaos Reigns!” The lights intensified and everything from the screen, to the wheel and even the ground beneath Faysal’s feet began to shake. Out of nowhere a deep voice spoke out, “Welcome Faysal, to the WHEEL OF CHAOS!” The wheel stopped lighting up and a moment after that, all the white turned to black and Faysal could not see anything. The wheel then lit up again in the dark and Faysal could quickly see the options before the new deep voice spoke again saying, “SPIN! SPIN! SPIN!” The eleven options were as follows 1) Skeleton Key, 2) Spin Again, 3) Controlled Chaos, 4) Controlled Chaos, 5) Controlled Chaos, 6) Controlled Chaos, 7) Teleportation Portal, 8) New Skill, 9) New Spell, 10) Level up! Then there was the one not lit up 11) Pure Chaos. As the wheel spun faster and faster Faysal could not read any of the options any longer, then a big red ‘STOP’ button appeared in front of Faysal. Without many other options he reached out and pressed the button. The wheel began to slow. As the wheel ticked between each option, slowing more and more. As the wheel almost stopped it looked as if it was going to stop at Level up! Then at the last second it ticked over to pure chaos and almost stopped when the deep voice spoke again, “CHAOS!” The wheel spun a bit more to one of the Controlled Chaos spaces. Faysal let out a small sigh of relief. While there were others he would rather have, he for sure did not want the Pure Chaos option. It makes sense that a group called the Order of Chaos would be more on the side of Controlled Chaos than Pure Chaos. Faysal thought to himself.

  Everything turned to White once more and Faysal could see Grondo and the wheel again, still pointing to Controlled chaos. Grondo looked to be at a loss for words for a moment at least. “Well that was most definitely a first for the Wheel of Fate, Faysal you must have some strong connections, but only time will see if those connections will be a boon or a detriment. That is all for now! Be sure to stay tuned in as we send Faysal back to his dungeon companions so he can explore the aftermath of his Wheel of Fate… er Chaos experience! I am Grondo The Magnificent, signing out!” With another puff of smoke Grondo and the Wheel both vanished and Faysal was alone in the white room as a notification screen appeared.

  As soon as Faysal read the word run he was instantly back with his friends in the dungeon around their campfire, everyone seemed to be in the same place as when he left, still frozen. The next second everyone started moving again, just as Faysal was getting ready to explain everything, from deep in the dungeon a massive explosion could be heard, Faysal said the only thing that came to his mind, “RUN!”