《Friend?》 Chapter 1: Birth
Congratulations! You have been born.
I stared at the notification in front of me for a moment. Slowly I came to realize that I knew nothing except for what the notification said. My thoughts sluggishly churned out questions. What was this notification? How did I know what >congratulations< and >born< meant? My questions were interrupted as the notification faded from my vision and the world came into view. I saw a barren landscape of sand and stone. Straight ahead was a valley of sand with steep and jagged walls of stone to my left and right, these walls curved and fused into one straight ahead. These walls were dotted with the occasional growth of gnarled trees that seemed scarcely more alive than the stone they were growing out of. Looking up I saw a gray sky of clouds that seemed to let through only a bare minimum of light. The wall of stone to my right pierced these clouds, whilst the one to my left only reached about half-way up to them. Truly in awe of the world I saw, I was once again interrupted by the appearance of a screen blocking my vision.
Tutorial: The system has deemed you sentient, and as such you will be able to interact with the system in more ways than by mere instinct. To bring up the status screen and finish the tutorial simply think status.
Seeing as I wanted to see the world without this annoying screen blocking my view I decided to do as it wanted me to. Thinking status to myself the screen disappeared, but my view was once again blocked, but this time by a screen that I instinctively understood to be a numerical representation of my whole being.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Level 1/5 Male Imp [Demon] Name: N/A [Input available] Age: 2 minutes. Species: Imp. [Evolution available] Jobs: N/A Experience: 0/10 Health: 20 (0.5/minute) Stamina: 20 (1/minute) Magic pool: 10 (1/minute)
Physical stats: Strength: 2 Dexterity: 4 Agility: 3 Endurance: 2 Constitution: 2 Magical stats: Magic power: 4 Magic pool: 10 Magic regeneration: 1/Minute Affinities: [Innate] Lesser fire affinity 1/10
Active Skills: [Innate] Lesser fireball: Level 1/10 [Innate] Lesser flying: Level 1/10 Passive skills: [Innate] Demonic language: Level 1/1 [Innate] Lesser mana control: Level 1/10 [Innate] Lesser mana sense: Level 1/10 [Innate] Mana metabolism: Level 1/1
And so the nameless imp stood there reading. He wanted to return to it¡¯s viewing of the world around it, yet he knew that some answers to its questions might be found in this >status<. For one thing, he now understood why he could read the notifications and status. He now also understood how he had words for the world around him. Closing the screen down when he felt that he understood he enough for now, he finally took a look at himself. Dark gray skin covered his two thin arms that ended in four fingers bearing short yet sharp-looking black claws. Looking down from his arms he also saw his thin chest and rather spindly legs ending in thin four-toed feet also sprouting black claws. As he was looking down he noticed that he saw something black behind him, panicking slightly he hastily turned his body and turned his neck to see behind him. Having never moved his body before, the imp fell into the sand below. A moment after he landed he realized that what he had seen were just his wings. Lying flat on his back, his wings spread out flat against the sand he looked at them and saw black membranes stretching between what looked like thin fingers. His wingspan seemed to be roughly one and a half times the length of his arms spread wide over his wings. he spent a few minutes lying down and getting a feel for moving his limbs, wings included. When he felt that he could move somewhat well with his instincts guiding him for most of it he once again turned to observing the world around him. He simply lay there for a while watching the slowly moving clouds above and feeling the wind of his skin, taking in the world around him with all his senses. The currents of mana around him, the smell of the desert and the sound of the wind. His mind being bombarded with words, sand, stone, wind, clouds. After a minute or two of this, the clouds split and let through a beam of light from above shining down on the sands about ten meters from him. He wanted to feel the light, curiosity at the difference in mana where the light shone and the rest of the world spurring him on. Just as he stood up he felt a surge of mana behind him. Chapter 2: Friend? Sensing the mana surging and fluctuating behind him he turned and saw, not five meters away, grey flames burst into being. The ball of grey fire swelled to twice the size of the nameless imp and then condensed, becoming almost solid. Gaping in awe at this occurrence the nameless imp simply wondered what was happening. The flames continued to condense into an oval, before the oval split in two from the bottom, the split reached almost halfway up the strange flames. In the span of thirty seconds the flames at the bottom started taking shape, the shape of a pair of grey feet and legs. As soon as the legs came into being the transformation sped up, the body of a grey imp came into being in only a few moments. The first of these two imps stood there watching this happening, still with his jaw hanging open. But now his mind raced with even more questions, was that how he looked? Was this how he was born? How did this birth work? What were these grey flames? He knew and to some extent understood magic and fire due to his innate skills and affinities but this was something he had no knowledge of. His racing mind ground to a halt as he learned, or perhaps remembered, a new word. Friend. With learning this word, another one also entered his mind, loneliness. So he collected himself just as the newly spawned imp opened its eyes. Speaking for the first time in his now twenty-seven minutes of existence he asked a simple question in a squeaky voice. ¡°Friend?¡± The newly formed imp''s eyes snapped into focus at the sound and stared at him. After a few moments of silence and stillness, the newborn smiled, a vicious smile showing rows of needle-like teeth. The eldest of the two nameless imps replied with a look of confusion on his face before his instincts screamed of danger. The younger imp sprinted awkwardly towards him and screeched out a warbling battlecry. The elder panicked, turning and running away as fast as he could. He was quite a bit quicker than the newborn as he had actually spent a bit of time adjusting to his body. The newborn did, however, have a headstart and caught up, grabbing hold of the elders left wing and promptly fell face first from having unbalanced himself to reach out. Both imps fell into a confused tangle of arms, legs, wings and plenty of sharp claws. The eldest, still panicking tried to get away, scrambled to his feet in the sand. The youngest, however, letting out another screech dove forward from his prone position and swung his clawed hands at the elder. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Receiving some scratches to his chest and arms after he brought them up to block the onslaught the elder yelped in pain as they once again fell to the ground. This time, however, the younger imp mounted the elder, sitting squarely with all his body weight on the elder''s chest and trapping his left arm under its knee. The elder, still panicking tried once again to scramble away but could not get away. He froze as the younger hissed and smiled hungrily at its now captured prey. New words flowed into the elders head: prey, hunt, food, power, anger, death; and he understood. His mind stilling he instantly brought up the one thing his mind could think of to save him. His left arm was trapped under the youngers knee, so he swung his right towards the younger imp, his instincts guiding him and a sphere of crimson flame bloomed in his hand. The swing caught the younger imp off guard and struck it on the side of its face causing it to fall over to the side and scream in pain. The elder stood up, took a couple steps back and looked at the younger imp that was now crying out and rolling on the ground in pain. His heart pounded and his hand hurt from being burnt as he stood and stared at the younger. The youngers pain seemed to subside as it scrambled in the sand and charged the elder. The elder called upon his fire once more, this time twice as large, and threw it at the younger who tried to dodge but was neither quick enough nor steady enough on the sand to succeed. It and took the full fireball straight to its chest. Knocked back by the sheer power of the blast the imp flew a few feet and lay unmoving with the front half of its chest missing. The elder was overcome by a wave of exhaustion and fell to his knees. His instincts telling him he had depleted nearly all of his mana. Several notifications entered his fatigue blurred vision. Waving them away one after one he skimmed over them.
Due to your actions, your attributes and skills have increased. Lesser fireball: Level 1/10 increased to 3/10. Lesser mana control: Level 1/10 increased to 2/10. Lesser fire affinity: Level 1/10 increased to 2/10 +1 Constitution (Taking damage and regenerating health) +1 Endurance (Using up stamina and regenerating health) +1 Magic power (Using magic) +3 Magic pool (Using magic pool) +1 Agility (running)
You have slain [Imp level 1]. +15 experience awarded.
Congratulations you have leveled up! Level 1 [Imp] has increased to Level 2 [imp] +1 Dexterity +1 Agility +1 Endurance +1 Constitution +2 Magic pool +0.5 magic regeneration per minute
Congratulations! For completing hidden requirements you have unlocked the [Fire imp] evolution. Requirement: [Kill with fire magic] [Be a demon] (2/2) You have also unlocked part of the [Greater fire imp] evolution. Requirements: [Kill with fire magic] [Demon] (2/3). You have also unlocked part of the [Blaze demon] evolution. Requirements: [Kill with fire magic] [Demon] [Fire affinity] (2/3). You have also unlocked part of the [Lesser fire demon] evolution. Requirements: [Kill with fire magic] [Demon] (2/4). You have also unlocked part of the [Fire demon] evolution. Requirements: [Kill with fire magic] [Demon] (2/6). You have also unlocked part of the [Greater fire demon] evolution. Requirements: [Kill with fire magic] [Demon] (2/10).
After reading through his notifications the imp had many questions but found that he could scarcely focus. New words once again bombarded his mind: sleep, rest, emotional and physical exhaustion. Curling into a ball and hugging himself tightly with his wings the little Imp slept on the sand under grey skies. Chapter 3: Questions The Imp awoke slowly to the feeling and sound of the wind blowing against his wings. The Imp slowly came to, after a few moments of floating between awareness and the clutches of sleep the Imp remembered. Suddenly awake the imp twitched and unfurled its wings as fast as it could, scanning the surroundings for any dangers. It found none, but it did see a small pile of ash where the Imp from before he slept had died. The Imp sat down on the sand once again and pondered. Many questions came to its mind: Why had the imp attacked him? He only asked if they could be friends. Why had he been rewarded for killing it? He felt the mana inside him had grown stronger. As well as his stats and the evolution possibilities that were unlocked. Why would he grow stronger from killing? He understood that evolution meant his body would change and he would grow stronger. Where was he? How did he seem to know these things instinctually? The system provides was the answer he replied in his mind. Was that how he had been born? Why had they been born? Who was he? Few answers came to him. His only reply from the world around him seemed to be the wind picking up once again, blowing the final ash of his first kill away and kicking up a small cloud of dust in the distance, the valley walls as stoic and unmoving as ever. He simply sat, considering his question for a time. This lasted until he asked himself: What do I want? Instantly he knew the answer. A friend. The feelings he felt from that word seemed to pull at him, the warmth, the sharing, the shelter from loneliness. He cursed the skill he knew was supplying him with these words in his mind [Lesser demonic language: Level 1/1], for without it he would not know loneliness or what he was missing out on with friendship.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Settling down, he asked himself two questions and found two answers that would shape the rest of his life. What do I want? A friend. What do I need to find one? Pondering the answer he considered his life so far, through his understanding of language came knowledge, half-memories of things he never learned, yet knew. His birth, his battle, his rewards. A singular word consumed his mind: Power. To find a friend he would need to survive, and to survive he needed power. How would he gain this power? He would have to struggle and kill, he knew this. Not even seven hours old and he was jaded enough to know this. Finding his determination he brought up his status.
Level 2/5 Male Imp [Demon] Name: N/A [Input available] Age: 6 hours 12 minutes. Species: Imp. [Evolutions available] Jobs: N/A Experience: 5/20 Health: 40 (1/minute) Stamina: 40 (1/minute) Magic pool: 15 (1.5/minute)
Physical stats: Strength: 2 Dexterity: 5 Agility: 5 Endurance: 4 Constitution: 4 Magical stats: Magic power: 5 Magic pool: 15 Magic regeneration: 1.5/Minute Affinities: [Innate] Lesser fire affinity 2/10
Active skills: [Innate] Lesser fireball: Level 3/10 [Innate] Lesser flying: Level 1/10 Passive skills: [Innate] Demonic language: Level 1/1 [Innate] Lesser mana control: Level 2/10 [Innate] Lesser mana sense: Level 1/10 [Innate] Mana metabolism: Level 1/1
Reading through the descriptions of the stats and what they did he came to the conclusion that he would focus on increasing his agility, endurance and constitution so he could run away and survive if he took damage. It did say that [Lesser flying] scaled with his agility and dexterity and needed stamina to be used so that seemed to make sense for defence. Be fast and hard to hit, whilst able to take a hit if needed. For offence, he thought that the fireballs he used were quite effective, and did not require him to be as close to his foe to use. So magic power, pool and regeneration would also be needed. Finally, he felt a need to name himself. He was himself, it would differentiate him from others. He dimly felt that there was some way to see the status of others, which would allow them to see his name. The choice was simple, if others could see it he would tell them by his name what he wanted. Name self: Friend. he thought, focusing on his status.
[Name has been updated]
Closing down his status he organized a list of things he needed to do. 1 Learn to fly 2 Improve magic 3 Improve stats 4 Figure out evolution Chapter 4: Practice and search Getting to work he scanned the walls for somewhere he could climb up to figure out flying. Something in the back of his mind told him that he needed to be off the ground to start his practice. Spotting an area that looked like he could climb it he walked, climbed, jumped, failed and tried again. On his third try he got the hang of gliding, on his fifth gaining altitude by flapping his wings, on his eight he actually ran out of stamina and crashed. After he crashed he decided to look at the notifications that had piled up during his practice whilst his wounds healed and his stamina returned to him. Each notification had made a low *ding* sound in his mind that he had not noticed earlier.
Due to your actions, your attributes and skills have increased. Lesser flying: Level 1/10 increased to 5/10 [learned] Lesser climbing: Level 1/10 +1 strength +1 agility +1 constitution +2 dexterity +3 endurance
Whilst he was considering his gains, his exhaustion caught up with him and he once again curled up in his wings and slept. After he awoke to the same grey sky as before he decided that he needed to practice his [Lesser fireball] before he dared leave his valley. At first, he practiced his fireball, trying out how large he could make it, how many he could use and generally played around with it. After his pool ran low he practiced flying again until he had run out of stamina. After repeating this cycle for a couple of hours he felt confident enough in his skills to practice throwing fireballs whilst he flew. But that would have to wait until after he checked his gains and slept.
Due to your actions, your attributes and skills have increased. Lesser flying: Level 5/10 increased to 7/10 Lesser mana control: Level 2/10 increased to 5/10 Lesser mana sense: Level 1/10 increased to 3/10 Lesser fireball: Level 3/10 increased to 5/10 Lesser fire affinity 2/10 increased to 4/10 Lesser climbing: Level 1/10 increased to 3/10 +1 strength +1 agility +1 dexterity +1 endurance +2 Magic power + 4 Magic poolUnauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. +1 Magic regeneration
Quite a few gains, and he did not even have to hurt anyone for them.These were his last thoughts before falling asleep. Friend¡¯s third practice passed much like the previous ones, flying and throwing fireballs at the sand below. After a while he realized that he could now understand the winds much better, they had thrown him off course previously, but now he felt that he could somewhat predict them and use them to gain altitude. After this, he realized that he could fly for as long as he wanted to as long as he did not flap his wings too quickly and drain all his stamina. Now he sailed forward on the winds and flapped only when he needed or wanted to. Banking hard to the left and throwing a fireball at the sand, he realized just how exhilarating it was to fly when you did not need to worry so much about crashing. Landing, looking at his gains and yawning he once again slept. That night he dreamt of flying with a friend, sharing the feeling of freedom.
Due to your actions, your attributes and skills have increased. Lesser flying: Level 7/10 increased to 10/10 and grew to Flying: Level 1/10 Lesser mana control: Level 5/10 increased to 6/10 Lesser mana sense: Level 3/10 increased to 4/10 Lesser fireball: Level 5/10 increased to 6/10 Lesser fire affinity 4/10 increased to 5/10 Lesser climbing: Level 1/10 increased to 3/10 [Gained] Lesser Air affinity: Level 1/10 +1 strength +1 endurance +1 Magic pool
The day after, Friend found himself apprehensive to leave his valley, he had after all never left it. Having spent his whole existence there left him being rather afraid of leaving. What if there were dangerous Imps out there? Like that newborn, he had nearly died then. Screwing up his courage after spending nearly an hour wrapped in his wings and arguing with himself he unfurled them and spoke for the second time in his life. Friend not here, friend out there. Worst come to worst he could always return. Climbing up his now familiar rocky perch he paused to look at the valley one last time before leaving for the outside world. A short time later he realized he was stalling he jumped off and unfurled his wings just in time to catch the wind that would carry him away. Towards friends he hoped. Flying higher than he ever had before, he flew to the place where the mountainous walls were the lowest and exited his birthplace. What he saw after he narrowly passed over the rocky wall were the same grey skies he had known his whole life stretching to the horizon. A desert of sand with dunes that in places stretched as high up the walls of his birthplace. Dotted around this desert were large stones of all shapes and sizes, mountains that stretched up into the perpetual layer of clouds and two things he had not seen before. As he looked at them words once again entered his mind: water, river, current, flow, ruins building, shelter. Deciding that he wanted to see this river and then check out the ruins he glided on the winds for nearly an hour, occasionally flapping his wings and moving into other flowing winds that he could now sense with [Lesser mana sense] and [Lesser air affinity]. Landing by the river he looked around, seeing sand, stone and grey skies. Not too different from his birthplace. What was different though was the river in front of him, never before had he seen water. He somewhat knew what it was from his [Demonic language], but knowing was different from seeing and feeling it. He cautiously walked to the blue waters and dipped his toe into it. It felt strange, not bad¡­ just strange. He decided to return after he checked out those nearby ruins and slept. Walking to the ruins took roughly ten minutes, and before he knew it he stood before three stone walls, both the roof and the fourth wall having collapsed. No movement. He walked around the ruins and found nothing but more crumbled, weathered stone and sand having piled into the ruins from the open wall. Friend jumped and flapped his wings, grabbing ahold of some indents in the wall and climbing it. Standing on the wall he surveyed the area. He looked into the ruins from above first, nothing but stone and sand. Scanning the horizon he saw no movement but the river flowing. His sigh turning into a yawn he decided to sleep in the ruins and continuing his search after sleep. Chapter 5: Crusade A young woman named Jedd, roughly 180 centimeters tall with braided brown hair dressed in chainmail, a pair of metal greaves, a sword on her hip and a simple round shield on her back climbed out of the dinghy that had taken her from their massive frigate. All her gear was adorned in several places with a simple triangle split into two by a line running from the point to the bottom flat line, looking much like an arrowhead pointing upwards. Beaching behind her were several others stepping out of small boats, some her age, either dressed much like her or in robes of pure white. Those not her age leaving were also dressed in either armor or robes, some in plate and others in chainmail. The one thing they all shared, however, was the symbol of the split triangle pointing upwards. After 20 people had left the boat the young woman spoke to her friend, a man, or perhaps boy would be a better description. 160 centimeters tall, dressed in flowing white robes, rather thin, medium length messy brown hair on his head almost reaching down to his green eyes. "Remind me again why we just spent nearly two weeks on a boat travelling to the blasted lands." Before the boy could answer, however, one of the older people there answered her half-whispered question in a booming voice quite at odds with his stooped back and elderly appearance. "Because it is important that you all see what would happen, should we fail in our mission of holding the demons back from our continent." The tense whispers from other youngsters instantly ceased and all eyes focused on the old man dressed in robes as white as his wispy hair and beard. After a moment of silence, he continued. "Look around you, young paladins and priests. This is what would happen, should the demons ever gain a foothold on our continent. Nothing would live, only grey skies, stone and sand would remain. This was once a thriving jungle in times before the demons settled here. I know the journey was harsh, my young students. After we return you will all have earned the right to call yourselves paladins or priests of the order." Taking a moment to consider his next words the young paladins and priests to look around them, taking in the lifeless lands and dull grey skies. "Now we make camp and rest until morning. Tomorrow we set out to hunt." Murmured prayers and a few bows from the younger members of the party were the only replies he received before everyone began setting up their tents and preparing firestones for cooking. Growing impatient at not finding any demons after hours of walking in this blasted desert Jedds stomach rumbled. Instructor Samantha, a paladin with greying hair chuckled at the sound and said. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Alright, we rest here. Eat some of your rations and we continue in 15 minutes." The 15 priests and paladins in training practically collapsed on the ground, their stats could not keep up this death march in their gear. The sand fighting them every step. Jedd lay on the sand flat as a board and staring straight up catching her breath when her eyes caught movement. Something small and red moved right above them. After a moment of thought, she pointed straight up and shouted "Contact! Possible demon straight up!" Even when tired and startled the recruits knew what to do, the many drills they had done over their four years of education made sure of that. They all scrambled to stand up and cast their magic. Prayers were spoken, domes of yellow light shimmering into view, weapons were drawn and blazed with holy light. The Instructors made nary a move other than to look up, their eyes quickly locking onto the small red blur moving against the grey canvas above. "Well spotted recruit Jedd." Said Samantha. "Is it just me or is that demon getting closer?" Asked one of the recruits. "Brace for impact!" Shouted one of the priest instructors. A second later the red blur had already reached them. With a mighty womph that shook the ground and scattered a cloud of sand the red blur landed in front of them, not twenty meters ahead. A tense few seconds passed as the cloud dispersed. A sudden wind picked up the remaining sand and swept it away. At the edge of the crater stood a humanoid demon, skin as red as blood, black horns curving up and back from its temples, Black hair reaching its shoulder and sharp grey nails adorning its fingers and toes. Its eyes were twin spheres of pale blue flame in their sockets. After a tense moment of staring, the demon''s mouth split open into a grin revealing hundreds of needle-like pure white teeth. It spoke in a deep, gravelly voice that sounded like the raging flames of a furnace: "V?nn?" None of those gathered knew what that word meant, they did, however, know that some demons could use words to curse humans. Falling back on their training the priests and paladins in training all sent out their holy magic in a dazzling display of light straight at the demon. A roar of pain and fear echoed off the cliff walls in the distance as the light faded and the people there regained their vision having temporarily blinded themselves with their own power. After only a few moments Jedd spoke. "We have to check if it¡¯s dead and finish it off if it¡¯s not." The other recruits turned their heads towards her, many of them with fear in their eyes. A few tense nods later she started walking, trusting in the soon to be priests to keep the barrier up as they moved. The group reached the crater and saw the demon that had been blasted back into it. Or what was left of it. A torso with half an arm lay there. The flames in its eyes dim as they wept black fluid, much like the stumps of its arms and lower torso. The instructors had, of course, followed along to help in the case of an emergency, Samantha wondered briefly what kind of demon this was, having never seen one quite like it before. Activating her [Identify] she saw:
V?nn. Blaze demon level 14 Total level of all evolutions: 34. Age: 1 year 12 days.
Briefly stunned she considered, a demon with a total level of 34, rare in these parts. That was, of course, the reason they came there every year, whatever demons could be found there were rarely above a total level of 20. Not to mention that it was a named demon and that it had reached that level in just over a year, this was a calamity nipped in the bud. Named demons were far rarer than their unnamed counterpart, and more often than not they were far more dangerous. This one''s behaviour struck her as strange though, she had in her many years faced many demons, some of them named, simply standing before a group of warriors and simply saying its name. What was going on here? Her musings were however intruded upon by Jedd''s question, "Should we put it out of everyone''s misery then?" Before she promptly charged her sword with divine energy and threw it at the incapacitated demon, spinning end over end. Time seemed to slow for the demon named v?nn, or friend in his language. He saw the shining blade lazily arcing towards his chest. His final thought was a simple question. "Why?"