《Creator Core of Koi》 Awakening Within a pond, a torquiest gem gleamed. Around it, koi lazily swam, underneath lily pads and fallen leaves. Almost unnaturally light, the gem seemed to glow with it¡¯s own light. And, indeed, it did. Welcome Core! You have been Created! Please select a starting class/spieces (This cannot be changed later; choices may be available later, but that is unlikely): Dungeon Core: These cores are focused on building a dungeon to be as painful to adventures as possible. If spawning monstrous creatures, making traps and causing death is your thing, chose this class! Creator Core: Often mistaken for Dungeon Cores, Creator Cores are focused on making beautiful, thriving ecosystems, instead of building a ¡®dungeon¡¯ for the whole purpose of killing adventures! If you like building, peace, and beauty, this is the choice for you! Wild Core: Wild Cores have the sole goal of destruction. Focused on obliterating all life but the horrendous creations of their own, these cores are truly horrible. Like other Cores, they create, but the creatures and places they build are twisted monstrosities. If you are an insane psycho, this is the choice for you! Sentient Crystal: A mostly unassuming choice, this spieces is a Crystal¡­ with sentience. Different from cores, this allows you to become powerful creatures such as the Crystal Golem and Crystal Dragon, or even the Onyx Snake. Magic Gem: Magic Gems are¡­ well¡­ non sentient magical gems that can, later, achieve sentience as a magical sword or other weapon or creation, but otherwise have no perks. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Warning: Your choice will drastically change your path. Chose carefully. The gem pulsed uncertainly. It had only just came to be, and barely understood anything displayed before it. What was a ¡®sword¡¯? Or a ¡®gem¡¯? What even was a ¡®core¡¯? It did not like the ¡®Wild Core¡¯. Mostly because, to its base understanding, ¡®wild¡¯ and ¡®killing¡¯ were bad. It did not want to be a gem, and immediately crossed out the last two options. Then, seeing as the word ¡®killing¡¯ in the description of ¡®Dungeon Core¡¯ it chose ¡®Creator Core.¡¯ Creator Core chosen! Please select a starting animal/plant: Koi: Large, pretty fish. Mostly ignored, these seemingly unassuming fish have a draconic bloodline of the purest kind, and often become dragons if they survive long enough. Lillypads: Lillypads. Pads that float on water and grow lilies. Can turn into carnivorous plants. Slime: Easily changeable, the slime can turn into many, many things. Even the most far fetched things, like unicorns. Warning: This choice will drastically change your path. Chose carefully. Again, the gem considered its options. It didn¡¯t want lily pads. It discarded slimes, as it, somehow, knew that ¡®slimy¡¯ was bad. And so, it chose koi. Koi chosen! You can now spawn ¡®Koi.¡¯ You are now a proper Creator Core. Your path from now on is your own. Best of luck, and may the stars light your path. The core was confused about the strange farewell, but soon tossed it aside to create its first koi. Koi! It thought. Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! Koi! I want koi! For every time it thought ¡®Koi¡¯ a new koi fish appeared. Now, twelve new koi floated in the pond, which was almost too small for them and the older occupants. The core¡¯s koi were varied in appearance - some were red, some were white, some were gold, some were blue, some were purple, and some were a combination. The gem delighted in the colors of its creations. Delighted, it watched the fish for a while, before tackling the question of what do I do now. Now¡­ How do I expand this pond for more koi? More Koi The core needed more space for koi¡­ But it had no idea how to expand the pond! Almost as if reading its mind, a prompt showed up: You seem confused! Do you want a hint? A hint! Yes! That sounded good! It wanted more things! Unfortunately for the core, hints were not material things¡­ though it didn¡¯t know it yet. To expand the pond, you need to 1) claim all creatures in said pond, 2) claim all water and plants, 3) claim earth, 4) expand pond. This was slightly helpful¡­ but where was the hint it was promised? It wanted a hint! Where was its hint?! ¡­Hints are not material objects. They are¡­ a collection of sentences to assist you on your path. Wait¡­ Did that mean the words before were a hint? Nooooo! It couldn¡¯t be! But¡­ if it couldn¡¯t have hints¡­ it would have koi! Koi! Koiiiii! Two more koi spawned in the pond. The core paused for a moment. Didn¡¯t I want to expand the pond for more koi? Yes! That was what the hint was for! ¡­But how did it claim creatures, much less earth? Or water? Ahhh! It needed another hint! Do you want a hint? Yes! It wanted a hint! To claim creatures, you can either a) kill them and claim the ability to spawn them, b) use your will and hope they are weaker willed then you, or c) offer them a contract to become one of your creatures and hope they except. Yay! It would kill everything and leave only koi! Kill these lesser beings, kill them, koi! Go go go go! The koi began moving, heading towards everything living in their sight. Soon, the core got a message. Your red-and-white koi has killed a water skater! You can now spawn a water skater! Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Your gold koi killed a lily pad! You can now spawn a lily pad! Your blue koi killed a beetle! You can now spawn a beetle! Your purple koi was killed by unknown koi! Unknown koi has been killed! Your red koi has evolved! Please select a evolution: Greater Koi: Greater koi are koi that are larger, stronger and smarter. These koi have taken a step closer to becoming a dragon, but lack specialization. Lily Koi: These koi are unique. Having interacted with lilies, they have taken in lily manna, a unique combination of earth, water and air. These koi are deeply connected with life and have a chance of becoming life dragons later in life. Bloody Koi: Bloody koi are creatures of death and destruction, caring not about others. They will ruthlessly serve you, but will have no qualms about killing those that serve you. These koi have a chance of becoming war dragons. The core didn¡¯t like the part about a koi dying, but it liked the part about being able to make new things and a koi evolving. It didn¡¯t want to choose the greater koi, but choosing between lily koi and bloody koi was difficult. In the end, the core chose bloody koi. Your red koi has evolved into a bloody koi! Light enveloped the koi, and its body lengthened and changed. Sharp teeth emerged from its mouth, and its scales deepened to blood red. Its fins sharpens, turning into miny blades. Its tail thickened, and the tail fins sharpened. The koi seemed at first hesitant with its new body, but soon was zipping around the pond, teeth finding all things not of the core. Your gold koi has evolved! Please select an evolution! Greater Koi Bloody Koi Lily Koi The thing didn¡¯t include the descriptions? Well, that didn¡¯t matter. The core could remember them perfectly. This time, it chose lily koi. The white light came again, and this time the body lengthened and thinned, becoming ribbon like. Scales lightened, becoming almost white. Fins rounded and hardened, becoming like glass. The koi¡¯s eyes turned a hypnotic, swirling blue. The core was satisfied with this transformation. The lily koi followed the bloody koi, but much less enthusiastic. Another two koi evolved, and for the first, the core chose greater koi. The koi lengthened and got bigger, but nothing else changed. Another koi evolved, and this one had a new evolution. Water Koi: Having absorbed water manna, water koi have mastery over water. Able to manipulate water to their will, water koi are lithe and fast. They have a chance to become ocean, storm and water dragons. Of course, the core chose water koi. The koi, much like the lily koi, lengthened and became thinner. The fins became thinner and more blade like, and the scales turned deep blue. The koi¡¯s eyes deepened to an almost black blue, and the water swirled about it in an odd way. The core began to feel tired, very tired¡­ Claiming Stone When the core awoke, the first thing it noticed was that it was black. Well, not all the way black, but the whole world was cast in shades of grey and black, except for around the core, which cast a torquiest glow on the sand around it. White lights glittered above it, and a large white orb hung in the sky. The core considered the world for a second. Hint! It demanded. Do you want a hint? Yes! Of course! At a certain time called ¡®sunset,¡¯ the sun goes below the horizon, which is called ¡®setting,¡¯ and this heralds the beginning of night. The white dots are stars, balls of fiery magic, and the white orb is the moon, a hunk of glowing rock. Strange. But the core was already growing bored of the ¡®night,¡¯ and so turned its attention to its koi. The first thing it noticed was that the greater koi, water koi, lily koi, and blood koi were extremely fat¡­ And that there was no other creatures in the pond. The core also felt¡­ strange. Like it controlled the water around it¡­ By releasing mana into the water around you, you have claimed it. Oh! It had claimed the water! Delighted, it pushed and pulled the water. Then, it turned its attention to its koi. A few koi could evolve, and it turned them into two greater koi, a water koi, and a bloody koi. It was sad it hadn¡¯t gotten the option for lily koi, but it could probably get one later. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. It could now spawn an assortment of bugs and fish, as well as ¡®algae¡¯ and a few types of ¡®seaweed¡¯. It spawned a few lily pads, hoping that would allow it to make more lily koi. It made more algae, delighted in the plant¡¯s strange looks. It spawned a few bugs and fish, interested in the looks of its new animals. Though none of them were as good as koi. Once it had grown bored of this, it turned its attention to claiming the ground. Do you want a hint? Of course! Focus on the ground, and spread your mana through it. Mana? It had heard of this¡­ mana. But what was it? And how did it use it? Mana is the energy of all living things. It is called many things, including magic. Unfortunately, I am unable to assist you in using mana. Wait¡­ The hint thing was alive? ¡­ Yes. Why? ¡­ I¡¯m not sure how to answer this question. Why was it alive? I was created to assist you by the overall system. Huh. Weird. So it had its own personal hint thing? And there was a more powerful hint thing? ¡­Yes? Odd. Anyway, it needed to find out how to use mana. It concentrated on the stone, as if it was moving the water. And, for a second, it felt the stone. But the feeling faded away as soon as it felt it. It was angry for the first time. Frustrated, it sent a beam of water to lash against the stone, fueling it with the core¡¯s anger. The stone around where the water spout had slammed into suddenly became one with the core. Shocked, the core attempted to move the stone, and it moved! The stone moved! And as it moved, the core felt as if it¡¯s control over the stone was seeping out, expanding. Soon, it could feel all the stone around the pond. A notification popped up. You can now spawn grass! You can now spawn weeds! You can now spawn dandelions! There were a few more notifications, but it ignored them. It had claimed the stone! To Be Named The core fell into a deep slumber, the light in its gem fading from view. When it finally woke, it was mid afternoon in the next day. This did not concern the core, who did not care much about the passing of time. After checking on its fish, and seeing nothing new, it focused on its new accomplishment. The core had successfully claimed stone! The stone, it found out, was not just stone - it was many, many other things. Using the hint thing, it learned the names of some of these materials. Granite was one. It also learned of a thing on top of stone, which plants grew in. Hint! It demanded. The thing is called dirt. It is made by dead plants and animals which have¡­ hmmm¡­ been dead for a long time. ¡­Oh. So it was dead things. Strange. The core also wondered why it hadn¡¯t claimed more stone and dirt and other things. If it¡¯s mana seeped out and claimed more things, why wasn¡¯t it growing more? You don¡¯t have enough mana to do so. Hint-thing responded. Aha! How did it get more mana? By gaining more experience. Experience can help you level up, which will allow you to have more mana and learn new things. How did it get experience? By either killing or making things. A few more things will get you experience, but those are more complicated. How did it see its level? The core asked. Think ¡®status window.¡¯ The thing said. Status window! The core thought, and a window appeared in its mind. Name: None Titles: None Species: Creator Core Level: One Creatures: One Lily Koi Two Bloody Koi Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. One Water Koi One Greater Koi Four Koi Other Fish (Can be opened for greater specification) Bugs (Can be opened for greater specification) Algae Lillypads Grass Weeds (Can be opened for greater specification) Other plants (Can be opened for greater specification) Skills: Create(Level One) Mana Control(Level One) Domain(Level One) Hmm¡­ It thought about the Lily Koi option. It didn¡¯t expect anything to happen, but something did. It felt the Lily Koi. The core knew where it was, what it saw, and the instincts that drove it. A new menu popped up. Name: None Title: None Level: One Species: Lily Koi Core: Creator Core(No name) Skills: Chomp(Level One) Swim(Level One) Heal(Level One) Why was the koi level one? The core should be higher level than it! The Koi requires less experience than you to level up, as it is a lesser being. And you are barely level one. Almost level two. Okay. That made sense. It thought about the Bloody Koi, and came to two options, one for each fish. After understanding how this function of the status window worked, the koi turned its attention to the Other Fish list. Just like the Lily Koi, it just had to think about it, and came to another list. Three Catfish Five Minnows Two Goldfish Four Trout And so on. The core wasn¡¯t very interested in these other fish; koi were obviously superior. It now understood this function of status window. The skills were much the same; thinking about it brought up a new window. Create(Level One): Allows you to create creatures under your control at your current level. Other functions will be unlocked at higher levels. Mana Control(Level One): Allows you to sense and control mana. Higher levels will allow for more proficiency and other functions. Domain(Level One): Allows you to create, control, and own land. The amount of land you can own depends on your level. Skill automatically levels up after you level up. The core now understood status window to its satisfaction. But¡­ It wanted to know about this name and title thing. It didn¡¯t like not having something! Names allow more power and even sentience. Titles give skills and boosts. The hint thing said. The core thing thought, then what should I use for my name, then? Why would you trust me to name you? I¡¯m just a system, not even THE system. I don¡¯t even have a body. The core was confused. Why would it care if the hint-thing was great and all? Or that it had a body? It was the only thing beside the core that had sentience that it knew of! Of course it wanted it to help it with a name! ¡­Okay. How about Rea? The first few letters of Creator without the C. Delighted, the core, or Rea, hummed, the gem which was its body vibrating, setting the water abuzz. You need a name! Rea exclaimed. What? Why? I can¡¯t keep calling you hint-thing! I don¡¯t need a name- Sy! The Rea exclaimed, cutting of the system. Or, well, Sy. But I really don¡¯t need a name. Rea pouted. If you get to give me a name, I get to give you a name! They said. ¡­Fine. I guess I can be Sy. Rea happily vibrated, delighted in its new friend.