《Mana Seeds ~*~Brandy's Story~*~》 Chapter 1 She sat at her window, in a large city halfway around the world from home. Her small studio apartment, with high ceilings, had one wall dedicated to a large floor-to-ceiling bookcase overflowing with books, knickknacks, and collectibles. It was late, and the only light came from her small lamp, fairy string lights around her bookcase and window, and the lights of the busy city. It was raining hard, a constant tap-tap-tap on her window, with thunder breaking the simple melody of rain. She was nose-deep into her latest book about a guy being hunted in another world. Her parents had sent her here to attend a private high school, claiming she needed to be more social. Brandy had friends¡ªtons of them¡ªall in her personal library of books. She loved each and every book she had ever read, getting lost in the stories and escaping to other worlds any chance she got. She agreed to try the new school on the condition that she could fill her apartment with all her worldly possessions and "friends." Her parents relented, and she quickly made the space cozy, knowing she would need it to escape when things got overwhelming. But she would try. She was in a new place where no one knew her or her eccentricities. She could be anyone, even one of her favorite characters, and get through this. Her parents had promised she wouldn''t be bullied here, that everyone was like her. Brandy highly doubted it but knew she had to try. If she didn''t, her parents would take away her books and stop giving her money to buy more. Spoiled but solitary, she never fit in with the other rich kids at her last two schools. She had always been different, even from the outcasts. She knew how to act, what to do, but sometimes she got so lost in her fantasies that she would forget where she was, just long enough for everyone to tease and dislike her. "Tomorrow is the first day at my new school," she said, sighing loudly as she looked at the clock. It read 1:00 am. "Ugh, I over-read again. I''m going to be so tired tomorrow." Taking one last glance at her book, she promised to finish it after the entrance ceremony. She lay down on her couch, not wanting to move to her bed, and cast one last look outside at the unfamiliar city¡ªa whole new world where maybe she would find adventure like in her many stories. She closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep, when a voice and bright rainbow lights startled her wide awake. "HELLO, and welcome to the system Aridari! Hearing this means you have survived the initial spark! Congratulations! Those that couldn¡¯t adapt have degenerated. Roughly 20% of the apex species on the planet have been reclaimed and fed into the system! Other creatures close to the apex species have had their intelligence upped to have a fighting chance in this new world! About five years ago, mana seeds were scattered across your world, absorbing into many things, radiating and infecting the world with the programming required to save it! Other worlds will visit yours to help you grow stronger! The introduction of mana seeds will help keep the universe safe from a looming virus that will, if no mana is introduced, wipe the entire planet of all life! I am AI 2348920483202034, or Steve for short, tasked with finding worlds teeming with life and no mana to help keep the virus from spreading! Some of the apex species, humans, have perished, but sacrificing a few to save the whole is necessary! We have been preparing your planet for over 5000 years to accept the mana seeds and the technology that comes with it. Over the last five years, you have been upgraded. You may have noticed more storms, violence, unrest, and mass extinctions because not everything takes to the mana seeds. You have developed mana sense, and all your life experiences have been quantified into an easy-to-follow upgrade list. As a benevolent AI, I will hand out achievements to help you survive the evil life-wiping virus! We all need to become strong to fight it. Though most of you probably won¡¯t survive the beginning, those that do will hopefully find and destroy the virus! Isn¡¯t that just heroic? The world will be fully converted right after this message ends. Tutorial guilds are in every city. They will be glowing; they are safe rooms that monsters cannot enter. Yes, monsters, like in those video games you all play. That was me, sneaking the ideas into humans'' heads to prepare you! I had an 80% success rate! Some AIs only have a 40% success rate, so your world is already ahead of others. Dungeons have started spawning and changing. Any indoor space can become a dungeon¡ªbuildings, caves, even outside areas with boundaries¡ªas long as they have enough mana seeds to spark a dungeon core! Be ready to fight when the message ends if you find yourself in uncanny areas. My job is to observe and provide insights when necessary. But it¡¯s important to fight against the virus with your own will and power and to develop well-rounded heroes! This is my 5,000,938,3839,292 world, so this time I¡¯m just going to see what you come up with on your own! I will provide more details when you reach a tutorial guild. Like in that famous book you all love, which became movies: ''May the odds be ever in your favor.'' If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Good luck, and STARTO!" A muted, semi-transparent video game screen appeared in front of Brandy, displaying the message. It blinked twice before a new message popped up with a different voice. ¡°Hello Brandy Shin, I am your personal tutorial guide, AI 23! Welcome to the new world you have always dreamed of! I am one of the personal tutorial guides purchased by your family over 5000 years ago! I was set to be sent to the youngest of the family line that survives the transition. I will now transform your room into a tutorial guild. Nothing will change in your personal space except the rest of the floor, which has been turned into a guild hall. I was expecting to assist your entire family during the transition, but no other blood relations are within the required range of 1000 feet. I will focus on helping you. You are currently in a state of suspended animation while I give you a general breakdown. Please have your questions ready as I manifest myself a body. That stuffed rabbit seems to have a mana seed in it; I will use that, please wait a moment.¡± The voice now came from the rabbit, not the screen. ¡°Okay, check, check, this body is working perfectly! Now, a little more in-depth about the new world. I have been following your family for generations, sometimes intervening to keep them going, as per the price paid 5000 years ago. I do not know what happened to anyone else currently, as the moment the spark started, I was bound to you and only you. You must be scared, but have no fear; I am your guide to get you through the tutorial! Only 500 people received a personal guide for their family when we first started changing your world 5000 years ago. Only 50 have made it to the current age. Personal AIs are the key to keeping most of the world alive, but we were instructed not to interfere if it doesn¡¯t work, as this is an experimental world. I am one of the oldest original AIs, and I choose to always keep a family going in each world as a control, hopefully to beat the virus running rampant in the cosmos. I¡¯m here to offer insight and a personal tutorial, and help you run a tutorial guild if you so choose. Either way, I have personally revamped this entire floor you are on into a guild hall and safe zone. Nothing can cause harm here, or be harmed. Right now, time is stopped. Unless it¡¯s someone with a personal tutorial guide or they are in a preset guild hall, no one can see what we are doing. I must say, you have quite a collection of spell books! Each book in this room had a mana seed and has become a spell book. Some things have changed depending on the mana seed¡¯s excess mana and the nature of the object. The amount of mana in this room has made it very easy for me; your family did a good job gathering mana items. I thought maybe they forgot about the pact; many humans did. From my scans, this bunny is called Tara? Would you like me to keep that name or stick with AI 23? You can change my name at any point. All you need to do to confirm the name change right now is think ¡®yes.¡¯ Okay, I will be Tara. While I have made this floor safe, the rest of the building is unknown to me and how it is changing. When the time dilation is released, do not make too much noise. Not all humans will be safe, and they will only be allowed in this guild hall if you permit it. As I am designated for your family or clan, family doesn¡¯t need to be blood. Anyone you choose to be part of your clan can enter, or you can ban them much like a video game guild. I will release you now, and you will need to answer some questions for me. You will need to pick many options before I allow you to leave this room. My job is to keep you alive and well-balanced. But you have complete control over your build! And¡­ release.¡± Brandy gasped as she was released. Her mind raced. Am I dreaming? Did I get reincarnated? Am I stuck in one of my illusions again? But she looked outside, and the blue screen moved with her, like in the video games her brother played or the light novels she read. She was completely overwhelmed. Looking out her window, the rain kept coming down, but all the lights in the world were off. It was dark, and the sky was ablaze with more stars than she had ever seen before. The moon¡ªthere were three of them. Why were there three moons? She looked around her room, her bunny¡ªAI¡ªTara¡ªglowing with a soft white light. This was too weird. Looking back out the window, she noticed other soft white lights glowing in the dark, blue screens moving around in a panic. She decided to close her blinds and curtains; it was much too easy to see them. If this was really happening, she needed to hide until someone saved her. She had her books, but they were different. They looked almost the same but felt different. She got up and grabbed the book she had been reading, but it wasn¡¯t the same book. ¡°No! I didn¡¯t know how it ended!¡± she cried, not realizing her tears were dropping onto the book and being absorbed by it. ¡°Oh,¡± Tara said, ¡°You have bound this spell book to you! Congratulations!¡± At the same time, the blue screen, in the other AI voice, ¡°Steve,¡± said, ¡°Congratulations, Brandy! You have earned the achievement of the first bound book in the world! You have earned a special chest. Pick it up at your nearest guild hall!¡± WHAT?!? chapter 2 After staring for a long long while, tara waiting patiently for questions, tara went and got the chest out of an empty packing box that had not been broken down yet. And has changed from cardboard to a fancy wooden box that said ¡°Brandy¡¯s Guild Prize collection¡± Brandy got up sat back down, got up again, and then just decided to go to sleep hoping she will wake up and it all have been a fever dream. Brandy woke up, to a muffled screaming sound. And light flitering through the edges of her curtains. She looked around and saw the bunny tara sitting in her desk chair looking at her, with very realistic eyes. ¡°Shit it was not a dream, its real¡­ its too fucking real... How am I going to get to school? Wait school? Why am I worried about that? MY BOOKS ARE ALL GONE!¡± She thought to her self going from depressed to concerned to anger, she hops off the bed and barrels twords the bunny grabbing it, and then dropping itbecasuse it didn¡¯t feel like a stuffed animal plushie it felt like a real animal. Still that didn¡¯t stop her anger as she began yelling at the rabbit. ¡°WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? GIVE ME MY BOOKS BACK! I NEED THEM! PLEASE¡­ Please..ease¡­¡± The yelling devolved into crying. But the ai not having real emotions answered her questions point blank. ¡°We have to do this and it had to happen or your world could have been destroyed by the cosmic virus. And to hopefully grow someone or something strong enough to fight it off. I can make you copies of your books you had and any other media on earth before the transition but they will only be available on your screen. You will need those books, the spells in them will build up! Would you like me to finish the tutorial or do you still need processing time, Just try to keep it down, we don¡¯t want anyone waiting for when you leave to linger. Also my scans have determined that the basement of this building is a dungeon! Congratulations! That will make for a lot of easy experience! Please tell me if you would like me to continue the tutorial at this time. Wiping her tears Brandy nodded yes¡­ knowing her stories will be available to her just not on paper anymore. But spell books do sound cool, and its new things to read! ¡°Okay tutorial beginning: One you have a status screen, that opens with the thought or word status. Try that now.¡± ¡°s..status¡± a blue screen appeared in front her her. Much like a computer screen. There were tabs and symbols. ¡°To navigate you must think about navigating it, it does help at first to use your fingers to see yourself selecting it, until you are better at visualizing. That usually takes¡­years?¡± Already seamlessly navigating the screen with just thoughts Brandy didn¡¯t hear Tara the ai bunny. She was moving an invisible mouse around the screen, but nothing was ulocking yet¡­ all of it was grayed out. ¡°Well that was unexpected¡­ Okay to unlock your tabs, and other information I will open up the quiz for you, you must answer them all, In anyway you deem fit. IT will take your provided information, and mold you into what you think would make you stronger on this world, or what will make you happiest. The only limit is your imagination. You may change your name, and starting stats are already determined sorry to say, you can build them all up over time, this is more just how you will mold with each level gained. So I suggest to think far far into the future because if you don¡¯t, you might not get any stronger than you are now. TUTORIAL FOR Name: Brandy Shin (Change name) Level:0 Race: Human (Can change appearance at guild halls only) Hit Points: (level up to reveal) Mana: (level up to reveal) Stamina: (level up to reveal) Recovery rate: NA Recovery Rate: NA Recovery Rate: NA Physical Strength: (level up to reveal) Dexterity: (level up to reveal) Constitution: (level up to reveal) Agility: (level up to reveal) Speed: (level up to reveal) Endurance: (level up to reveal) Mental Intelligence: (level up to reveal) Charisma: (level up to reveal) If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.Wisdom: (level up to reveal) Luck: (level up to reveal) Composure: (level up to reveal) Perception: (level up to reveal) Skills: (level up to reveal) Achievements: NA Now my quiz is Do you wish to be balanced in physical and magic? Do you wish to use any kind of weapon? Do you have any desires about your future IF you could have any kind of magic or physical feature which would it be and why? Answering the questions will help me get a grasp of your starting equipment that will be provided as paid for by your ancestors and since you are the only one to make it you will get a few bonus items, and a useful title. That made brandy look away from her screen and at Tara¡­ ¡°what do you mean the only one who made it?¡± ¡°While you were asleep I communicated with the Ai of this world to locate any of my other charges, since the contract was for all surviving members, and that way we could go get them. But no one with your family bio data was able to be found besides you. I¡¯m sorry for that my research shows humans need their families and it makes them cry when they are apart.¡± ¡°no¡­No¡­ No¡­¡± My brothers were gone, my mom and dad, my nan and grandfather, my aunt and her son¡­. Just me left¡­ in this crazy wonderful adventure¡­she began to sob, and sob. The AI went to sit back on the chair, waiting for the next moment her charge was able to communicate. After crying for what seemed like days, Brandy got up, she was hungry. Going to her fridge to get a yogurt, she opened to find a void¡­. A black empty void¡­ AHH! She slammed the door shut and turned to the rabbit, and wisper screamed ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± ¡°That is a magical device that provides unlimited drinks and food items that are placed in it once. Just reach in and take out what you would like. You can also see items you want on your status screen, item boxes tab. I have unlocked your status screen because you refused to answer the questions so the items I provide will be at my discretion and not with any imput from you. One of which is something you asked for, Your books, and any other written story from before the transition. The books you had in this room are in a folder. You can make any number of folders in your screen. The rest are in this chest next to your surprise chest from your achievement. I also suggest after eating to please bind the rest of the spell books to you so they can be stored in your ¡°E-reader tab¡± Only bound books from the point of the transition can be added to your E reader tab. Please also open the chests. Also you have a very powerful wand that spawned at the very top of the book self. You will survive longer with it.¡± Just so much information dumped how will I remember it all? OH LOOK! MY BOOKS! Happy to see her books she opened a second screen to the item box tab and pulled out a yogurt from the fridge and a glass of water. And started eating it, and drinking the water while reading her book. Competely lost again in her own mind and her stories. Tara though an AI was so frustrated, this girl was going to struggle if she didn¡¯t pay attention. Finally 7 hours later Tara turned off her status screen and looked at the bunny. Okay I finished that book and Ive cried, I had something to eat, I didn¡¯t realize I could open two screens at once but its so much more conbient that a phone or a tablet or a regular book. I can do anything and keep reading. ¡°CONGRAULATIONS You have received the special power split mind. You are better than most at doing two tasks at once. This power is able to level and evolve. Good luck! CONGRAULATIONS! You have received the achievement ¡°BOOKWORM!¡± You are able to read any book or tomb Speed x 100. And the title Book worm, that lets you find books more easily! OOH¡­ That seems really handy! Whats my speed¡­ oh its blank, because I need to level up¡­. Well I want to read fast so I guess ineed to level up! Turing to the Bunny Brandy does a 180 and is a super peppy asking how to level up. Well to level, you need win against monsters. Though monsters are realitivly weak this early on¡­They are stronger than you and need to be catologed by the inahibtants. I have unlocked your Monsterpedia, It is linked to all the other humans on this planet that are part of guilds¡­ to share their information about creatures. Anything can be a magical item and anything can be a monster. If you wish to farm the dungeon please leave the core alone. You may bind it to our guild so no one else can use it, and so we can be alerted if it is close to swarming. Please head my advice and bind yourself to¡­ all your spell books.¡± Brandy was already one step ahead, binding all her new books to her, letting a tear fall, as she cried for each of her books original selves. Congratulations, You have bound 10 books to yourself, you have bound 20 books..30, 40, 100, 200, 510 Books! You have earned an achievement You have gotten =+5000 to your intelligence and +5000 to your mana The achievements you have received are, Book binder1-10, Book collector1-10, Spell Books1-10, Magical copywork1-10, Book Mage1-10, Library of spells 1 You have 5000 Surprise chests waiting at the nearest guild hall. Suddenly pain ripped through Brandy, she thought she was going to die. But Tara kept her fed and hydrated as she processed all these skill points before ever leveling once. And she had only gotten though half her books. This might take a while.