Chapter Seven: The City of Magic

"Player, please select 0–2 flaws. These flaws cannot be erased. Please choose carefully or opt out of selection."
The system prompt sounded strangely urgent, as if all of this should not exist.
A screen full of flaw options slowly appeared before Zhao Xu.
Fortunately, the surroundings of the Ladder had long been shrouded in white light; otherwise, those afraid of heights would not have been able to choose at all.
Zhao Xu's attention was drawn to the numbers in the lower right corner.
10.
9.
8.
7.
Even if he were slow, Zhao Xu could tell this was a countdown for choosing flaws. The flaw system had been activated discreetly, and the time allowed for selection was exceedingly limited.
What’s more, the specific rewards for selecting flaws had not been revealed.
Combined with the system's ambiguous phrase, it sounded as if not choosing would cost him nothing.
"Vulnerable."
"Desk-bound."
Zhao Xu did not have the energy to browse the entire list again; he could only find two flaws related to close combat within it.
[Vulnerable: You are not adept at protecting yourself.
Effect: Your defense -1 level.]
[Desk-bound: You are completely unskilled in melee combat.
Effect: All your melee attacks -2 levels.]
When the countdown finally ended, the flaw list vanished.
On Zhao Xu's personal panel, only the descriptions of the two flaws he had just selected remained, set precisely in the specialty section—
Specialty (Human racial bonus): Pending
Specialty (Level 1): Pending
Specialty (Flaw 1): Pending
Specialty (Flaw 2): Pending

In Arthur, character specialties were usually acquired through professional training. If someone had not chosen the human race, nor had the determination and luck to unlock the flaw system,
then just by the number of specialties, they would lag behind Zhao Xu by three.
As the experts once said, specialties are the abilities chosen freely.
He would possess three more abilities than others.
As for the consequences brought by the flaws, Zhao Xu considered them and found himself able to accept them.
AC was essentially the defense value; everyone was born with a fixed score of 10, then added various bonuses such as agility modifiers.
A player’s attack power was their base attack bonus, combined with a series of modifiers, such as strength adjustment.
In his previous life, Zhao Xu was a level 5 warrior. His attack reached the fifth tier, and with his +4 strength modifier, he gained four more tiers.
So his attack bonus was tier 9, with actual attack power of 9 + 1D20, which meant tier 10–29.
Arthur used the D20 system, where a D20 was a twenty-sided dice, yielding values from 1–20.
Similarly, D6 was a six-sided dice.
3D6 meant the sum of three six-sided dice rolls.
By selecting these flaws, Zhao Xu had sacrificed attack and defense, embodying a late-game strategy.
Still pondering his gains and losses, Zhao Xu noticed the scene before him growing blurry.
The whole world gradually dimmed, as if he had fallen into a dream.
In a daze, Zhao Xu abruptly awoke, discovering himself dressed in linen, standing on a road paved with blue stone steps. It was clearly noon, yet he was enveloped in shadow, as if a massive cloud hung overhead.
Zhao Xu carefully observed his surroundings; most were Arthur’s native inhabitants. A few glanced at him curiously, while players dressed like him were rare.
The street was quite clean, but covered in mysterious symbols he could not decipher.
Meanwhile, his character card’s information panel kept refreshing.
The character card and information panel were auxiliary tools for every Arthur player.
They recorded each person's real-time stats and dynamic information.
"Tip 1: Please use the letter of introduction in your pack to enroll in the Mage Apprentice course at this town’s magic academy and complete formal professional training."
"Tip 2: Please use the letter of introduction in your pack to enroll in the Cleric Trainee course at the temple of a neutral deity in this town and complete formal professional training. (Recommended: Temple of the Goddess of Magic, Siselvina)"
At this moment, Zhao Xu realized his backpack indeed contained some items.

All over the major towns of Arthur’s world, players who had climbed the Ladder and chosen their professions were everywhere.
Arthur had no so-called novice village, only towns and villages. Basically, players appeared in large towns, since only there could one find complete guilds for each profession, qualified for training.
Now, everyone still had the system’s arrangements. A year from now, entering these training guilds would require a price.
If one truly lacked funds, they would have to sign a contract, agreeing to serve the guild for a certain period after training.
The most striking reality was that these towns where players were born actually existed, and the supposedly game NPCs, after everyone crossed over, were as vivid and real as any person.
Although Zhao Xu knew what he needed to do, he had to face one fact:
These towns truly existed in Arthur’s world—not simply copy-pasted novice villages—so he was familiar with Winter City’s layout, but had no idea where he was now.
Let alone where his training destination lay.
But seeing the towering city walls in the distance, he guessed this was no small place.
With that thought, he pulled out both letters from his pack.
Recommendation letters always revealed the location.
Zhao Xu had three points in intelligence modifier, so he naturally mastered three extra languages—no need for actual study, just a formality. He did not understand them himself, but the system would translate automatically.
After crossing over, these languages were truly imprinted into everyone’s mind.
Among Arthur’s countless worlds and races, the “Common Tongue” was universally required by the system and did not count toward the slots. He could decide the other three later.
Most people only had one recommendation letter. Zhao Xu, as a dual elite, had two.
He smiled and unfolded the parchment, curious about his whereabouts.
“Mystra.” The word leapt out at him, and Zhao Xu’s hands trembled.
Mystra, birthplace of the Goddess of Magic.
Here, magic ruled all.
Zhao Xu instantly understood the origin of the shadow at his feet and looked up.
Floating cities, suspended by magic, soared overhead.