《Demiurge: The Creator》 Chapter 1 Part 1: The Pilot He opened his eyes and stared towards the ceiling. A functional white, just like the rest of the room. He closed his eyes again and listened, silence. He took a deep breath and renewed his resolve. Today I will succeed! Today I will leave this world that hates me behind! Today I will do it! Today I will leave this world behind for good! Today I will find a new home, a better place! Today I will go beyond! The lights in the small room were already on, which meant that is was time already. He put on the clothes hanging over the only other piece of furniture: a white chair. As soon as he opened the sturdy looking door the silence ended; constant noise entered his ears. It sounded like a swarm of bees flying right next to his ear. This place was called: The Bridge. It was located 300 meters below the largest single machine ever built, the Large Hadron Collider. Which was located on the border of France and Switzerland. Nobody would be stupid enough to start digging beneath the world''s potentially most unpredictable research lab. That, and the fact that if something went wrong here, and a part of Europe would go up in smoke, they could conveniently blame the Large Hadron Collider, was the reason this place is built here. The first place he went was the canteen. There he ate a light breakfast. The canteen was empty since all the scientists and mechanics already had breakfast a couple of hours ago. The only reason that he ate later than the rest was because he, as the pilot, did not need much preparation time. So while the others were busy readying The Bridge, he was resting since his work as the pilot would only really begin after the others had finished most of their work. After leaving the canteen he went straight to the center of the facility, where the machine that gave this place its name stood: The Bridge. As he neared the Bridge he saw a man in work clothing, who was one of the lower ranked scientists. The man looked up and opened his mouth. ¡°Good morning, Mr. Witt.¡± ¡°Morning¡± After exchanging greetings with the scientist he went ahead and entered the wide dome-shaped room. Easily 500 meters wide and 20 meters high, this room was undoubtedly the biggest room in the facility. In the middle was a small depression and in that depression stood a 20 by 20-meter platform. On the platform stood a white egg-shaped capsule with a diameter of 3,4 meter and a door in it. Above the capsule hung many curiously designed tubes from the ceiling. Since most of The Bridge was located beneath the room, the room was rather empty even though The Bridge was one of the largest single machines on earth. The scientists jokingly called it ¡°almost the largest single machine on earth.¡± A man dressed like a classic scientist approached him. ¡°Morning Adam, are you ready?¡± ¡°Morning Daniel, and yes, I¡¯m almost ready, I only need to gear up and I¡¯m ready to go.¡± ¡°You already know, but I have to warn you again: you only have a 50% chance of surviving the jump and about everything that happens after the jump the odds are unknown. And even if you arrive safely you should know that 89% of the pilots do not make it back, and die in that other dimension! Are you sure you want to make the jump?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been here if not. I survived two wars already and I think I can handle another close encounter with death.¡±, Adam answered, slightly irritated at the fact that Daniel warned him for the fourteenth time for in the last 48 hours. ¡° Even if you are willing to take that small survival chance since you already survived 3 times, this time is different. We¡¯re going to throw you into the purple zone that has been expanding throughout the dimensional map since the start of this experiment and according to our calculations since long before that. We¡¯ve already sent 5 pilots before you, yet none returned. We do not know if you even have a chance of survival.¡± ¡°As long as you sent me to a place where there is life...¡± ¡°Of course, I will! Are you still angry at me for that time I sent into you into a gas giant?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just reminding you...¡± Adam left Daniel behind and went to the changing room. His gear was already prepared so he just put it on and waited outside the changing room for the team leader to give the ready signal.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Nearly 10 minutes had passed when the sirens started and everyone started walking towards their positions. Adam also started walking towards the capsule. After he arrived he gave a thumbs up towards the operators behind the glass and entered the capsule. The door closed automatically. His helmet¡¯s built in HUD started to light up.
[Initializing]
[pilot: Adam Xavier Witt; ID: 92]
Adam fastened his safety belts and commanded the system to be readyfor the jump.
[start-up tests passed]
[OS initialized]
[H.O.O.K initialized]
[systems initialized]
[permission for launch granted]
[ready to jump]
¡°I¡¯m going to start the countdown, okay?¡±, Daniel¡¯s voice came from the built in headset. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°BRIDGE will be activated in¡± ¡°10¡± ¡°9¡± ¡°8¡± ¡°7¡± ¡°6¡± ¡°5¡± ¡°4¡± ¡°3¡± ¡°2¡± ¡°1¡± ¡°0¡± Adam heard a high sound soon to be replaced by a deafening rumble as everything around him seemed to shake and his breakfast tried to escape his stomach. 10 seconds later everything was silent and the shaking stopped. Adam knew what to do and braced himself for impact. Even for the BRIDGE¡¯s state-of-the-art technology, it was difficult to get the capsule to appear exactly on the surface. Because of that, it was normal for the capsule to fall down a few meters upon arrival. But the impact never came. After a few minutes, Adam understood that the impact would not come. He removed his helmet and unfastened his seatbelt in preparation for disembarkment. Cautiously he tried to open the door, but the door would not budge. He gave a harder push, but still, the door did not budge one bit. Again he pushed, this time using all of his strength at once, but it was futile, the door didn¡¯t budge an inch. Did I end up in the ground or something, or maybe I ended up right before a wall? One last time he pushed, using all his might, but the door remained unmoved. Left without any other option he could only activate the emergency ejection. The door came loose, but not in the way Adam had thought it would. Faster than Adam could react, the door flew inwards and pressed down upon him What the fuck! Water filled the cabin in no time and it was only then that Adam understood the dangerous situation he was in. Submerged he forcefully opened his eyes only to see the indistinct lights of the capsule¡¯s command panels through the murky water.
[converting]
Huh? Did the HUD break? Adam¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t linger any longer on the seemingly broken HUD since he knew he had to escape the capsule, but the increasing pressure from the water forced him to close his eyes. He struggled for his life and finally escaped the broken door. With his feet, he pushed off and finally succeeded in escaping the capsule. With great difficulty, he tried to open his eyes again, only to see nothing. Darkness? Wich way is up? How am I going to survive this? Am I going to die? Lost in the perpetual darkness of the murky water Adam¡¯s lungs started to hurt. The hurting got worse until they were practically screaming for air. He started to gasp for air and water filled his lungs. The pain became worse and his conscious started to fade. A different kind of darkness took over his vision. Everything became distant as the silence returned.
[conversion complete]
[race determined]
[age determined]
[initial stats determined]
[skills determined]
[Skill gained: Swimming]
Skill gained: Waterbreathing]
[Skill gained: Pressure Resistance]
[Skill gained: Cold Resistance]
[Skill gained: Fisheye]
[Titles determined]
[Title gained: Outsider]
[Title gained: Survivor]
[Title gained: Amphibious]
[User integrated]
[Welcome to the System]
Chapter 1 part 2: Murphys Law Slowly Adam opened his eyes to few vague shadows fleeing away through the murky water. For just a moment he simply stared. Not thinking, simply staring into the seemingly eternal darkness. A jolt of adrenaline woke him up from his daze as the events from before he lost consciousness came back to him. Where Am I? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? He wanted to move but found his movement to be sluggish. Water? I¡¯m still in the water? AIR! I need air! But to his shock he found himself breathing just fine. Instinctively he tried to hold his breath. I need to find the surface! Where is it? I can¡¯t see shit here! Adam started to swim towards a random direction, but to his agony the only thing he found was a couple of small fishes. He looked at one of the small fishes and then he noticed something strange. Huh? Above one of the small fishes was a line of text. Adam tried to touch the helmet on his head but touched his head instead. If this isn¡¯t the HUD¡¯s doing, does that mean that there are random words floating around in this place? He reached out his hand to grab the words, but the panicked fish scurried away and the words disappeared. Wait! What am I doing? I need to find the surface! Why am I so calm? I¡¯m almost out of air! He tried to panic, but the instinctive fear that he felt started to seep away. Almost as if there was nothing to be afraid of. It almost felt as if he had been living underwater for his whole life . He unconsciously forgot to hold his breath so he started inhaling the water again. I am breathing? That¡¯s impossible: I¡¯m underwater! His mind tried to deny it, yet his body proved otherwise. His breathing started to calm down and Adam just floated there, astonished and trying to wrap his head around the entire situation. Am I dead after all? Is this the underworld? Is this hell? Hell should be a little more.. severe, right? There shouldn¡¯t be goldfish in Hell... right? Then I am guessing that this isn¡¯t what comes after, perhaps this is some kind of weird property of the water in this dimension, I am in another dimension after all. I should try and find my way out of here before some kind of local underwater predator tries to eat me. But what way is up? Normally I should automatically start to slowly float towards the surface because of the air in my lungs, right? But my lungs are full of water. So I should slowly sink. So as long as I just hold still and don¡¯t move I should be able to find the bottom right? Trying to keep still and hoping that there weren¡¯t any big predators at the bottom of this place Adam slowly descended.
Pressure Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 2
The weird text again! Adam tried to grab it, but again he failed to and this time his hand went right through the text. Not much later the text just disappeared. It''s virtual? I can¡¯t touch it? This is like the HUD, but I am not wearing my helmet. Is this also some kind of natural occurrence of another dimension? Furthermore, it said that Pressure Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 2. Does it have something to do with the pressure here? Actually, the pressure did lessen after the words appeared. It feels like the creator of this dimension is like a programmer who forgot to clean up his code. Assuming there is one. While Adam lost himself in thought his head finally touched the bottom. Without much difficulty, Adam succeeded in positioning himself on the bottom and finally, after pushing himself off the bottom he swam towards the surface.
Swimming has levelled up to Lv. 2
Waterbreathing has levelled up to Lv. 2
Fisheye has levelled up to Lv. 2
Those notifications again. It¡¯s like a game. Does whoever made this place like games or something? Although anything should be possible when jumping between dimensions, what are the odds for a dimension to be like a game from earth? After swimming for what seemed to be an eternity Adam finally reached the surface. After finally breathing something else than water he looked around only to see even more water. An endless expanse of water greetedhis eyes. And with no other options, he decided to just start swimming one way. After what seemed to be another eternity an exhausted Adam washed upon a shore.Stolen story; please report.
Swimming has levelled up to Lv. 3
He ignored the notice; he couldn¡¯t care less about this strange phenomenon at the moment. Exhausted he closed his eyes and fell asleep on the shore. Hours later he woke up to an unexpected notification.
Skill gained: Poison Resistance
Poison Resistance has reached Lv. 2
Poison? Adam wondered while trying to stand. But his left leg did not seem to agree with this action as Adam fell face forward in the sand as soon as he managed to stand up. Baffled by the betrayal of his own left leg he glanced at it and was met with the less-than-desirable sight of a white goo-ish glob sticking to his leg. A jellyfish? Great, it must have been washed ashore while I was sleeping. Cursing as if there were no tomorrow Adam kicked the jellyfish away with his still working leg which probably wasn¡¯t the smartest of actions as he instantaneously lost the strength in his other leg as well. With no other option, Adam decided to crawl upwards the shore as he refused to give in to a jellyfish. What kind of crappy game is this world? What¡¯s next? A status screen with all my stats?
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Hungry, Partially Paralysed(Estimated 10 minutes remaining)
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious
Classes N/A
Equipment N/A
Skills
Skill book Body
Swimming Lv. 3/10,Waterbreathing Lv. 2/5
Skill Book Assistance
Fisheye Lv. 2/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 2/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 1/100
Stats
Strength 7
Dexterity 6
Intelligence 6
Willpower 9
Vitality 9
Endurance 10
It seems something really did pop up. Really if I ever find the person who did this to this place I¡¯m going to cut open his head to see what is in it. Since it acts like a game I should just interact with it like a game, right? So I should just click on something? How do I click? How did I even get to see the status screen in the first place? I .. uhm... thought about it? So should I just think about what I want to click on?
Rare title: Outsider, given to those who have transcended the bounds of time and space and broken through the dimensional barrier; An outsider to the world, increases the comprehension of the laws of time and space by 30%
It seems to work... So with that said I should just check out the other things too right. There might be a clue on this shit somewhere.
Common title: Survivor, given to those that escaped from the clutches of death, +1 endurance
Uncommon title: Amphibious, most people simply drown but those that can overcome will find a new home in the water, +2 Vitality
Rare skill: Waterbreathing, Allows one to breathe in water
Rare skill: Fisheye, See through water as clearly as you see through air
Suddenly a black shadow came over his view and broke his concentration, slightly curious he looked up. A dark-green rough looking skin; eyes as black as a starless night and a height of 120 cm(almost 4 feet). Its eyes did not look friendly and the wooden club in his hand looked even less inviting. Although the goblin did not look particularly dangerous to a grown man, unfortunately for Adam he was half paralyzed, outweaponed and even outlevelled. Ah, shit, fuck, no, don¡¯t panic, don¡¯t panic, stay calm, stay calm; let¡¯s just calmly retreat. A fuck it¡¯s raising its weapon; I need to block it or evade it. Weapon, weapon, weapon, is there a weapon anywhere? At that moment, while he was retreating, at the corner of his sight, lay a white goo-ish blob. His attention fell on it, he reached out to the blob, held it and instantaneously threw it towards the goblin¡¯s ugly face. His arm went numb directly after, but the goblin was way worse off. The goo-ish dead jellyfish flew with a speed that would have required all of Adams strength and gloriously hit the goblin right in his face. The dead blob exploded on impact and the completely paralyzed goblin was down before all the drops of goo had touched the ground.
Skill gained: Throw mastery
Title gained: Unconventional
Stat unlocked: Wisdom
Adam looked at the drooling goblin that was laying in a puddle of white goo. At that exact moment, a high-pitched screech resounded and five small green figures appeared from some of the bushes beyond the shore. Adam knew he had to get away as fast as possible and started crawling towards the sea with his only remaining arm. Hoping the goblins would not pursue him underwater. When the goblins had crossed half the distance Adam reached the sea and threw himself in the waves, or he would have done that if he could move normally. He looked more like an extremely desperate stranded whale doing its best to return to the sea. As soon as Adam¡¯s figure disappeared into the sea the goblins slowed down and gave up their pursuit. They were afraid of the sea as it had eaten some of the braver members of their tribe when they tried to leave the island a few months ago. Adam was unsure if they would stop their pursuit so he kept crawling over the seabed for a while to be sure. After a while, he noticed that his legs started working again and not long after his numb arm also resumed its duty. He surfaced to find any traces of pursuers, but the little green men had not pursued him into the water and he saw the goblins staring angrily at him from a distance. He grinned slightly before he saw something change beneath him in his peripheral vision. He looked down to discover that the ocean floor had become spotted with myriad whitish shadows. Ooh, shit! Jellyfish! Chapter 2: Ingenuity is Man鈥檚 Greatest Weapon ~Two weeks oflaying paralysed on the seabedlater~ A body lay on the seabed. Facedown; it was being rocked by the currents. Fucking jellyfish!
Skill gained: Salt Water Drinking
Poison Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 20
Cold Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 3
Waterbreathing has levelled up to Lv. 5
Waterbreathing has reached maximum level
Title gained: Dedicated
Title gained: Specialist
Fisheye has levelled up to Lv. 20
Fisheye has reached maximum level
I would have been death without [Waterbreathing] and [Salt Water Drinking]. Since he wasn''t able to do anything else anyway Adam decided to open his status screen and take a look at his new titles.
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Starving, Fully Paralysed(Estimated 2 minutes remaining)
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious, Unconventional, Dedicated, Specialist
Classes N/A
Equipment N/A
Skills
Skill book War
Throw Mastery Lv. 1
Skill book Body
Swimming Lv. 3/10, Waterbreathing Lv. 5/5
Skill Book Assistance
Fisheye Lv. 20/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 20/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 3/100
Stats
Strength 7
Dexterity 6
Intelligence 6
Willpower 10
Vitality 9
Endurance 10
Wisdom 2
Common title: Dedicated, given to those who reached the maximum level of one of their skills, +1 endurance
Rare title: Specialist, given to those who reached the maximum level of a rare skill, +1 willpower, + 20% comprehension towards rare skills
The title he gottwo weeks ago: [unconventional], had given him + 1 [Wisdom]. So it seemed his basic Wisdomwas 1. With nothing else to do he had made himself angry at the fact the world only evaluated his wisdom at one point which seemed to be really low when compared to the other stats. But soon his anger faded and was replaced by a feeling of hunger. Which in turn slowly became a feeling of utter starvation. The hunger seemed to seep out of his eyes as his hungry gaze swept through the sea. With his maximized [Fisheye] he saw through the water as if it were just normal air. Close to him an unsuspecting happily swam towards a small . At that moment the poison wore off and he gained another point in poison resistance. Those who eat others should be prepared to get eaten themselves. With that justification, Adam grabbed the with the fastest speed he could muster and without hesitation put it in his mouth. It was slimy, it was gory, but a starving man would eat anything. After the third bite, the poor fish stopped moving. And Adam was shortly distracted by a couple of notifications.
Skill gained: Bite Mastery
Title gained: Predator
The distraction lasted for only a few moments. Soon the fish'' mutilation continued. Adam''s teeth tore through the scales and snapped the fish bonesin his grotesque act befitting a shark, not a human. Those fish bones that weren''t swallowed together with the edible and kind-of-edible parts of the sea bass were taken away by the currents to serve as the silent witnesses of the bass''short existence here on this strange planet. After most of the fish was gone, Adam finally stopped. He was out of breath from devouring the sea bass in one go, without taking any underwater breathers. A bloody mist had started to surround the remains and Adam had startedthinking straight again. He finally let go of what remained of the poor sea bass. Slowly, the remains sank to the bottom of the sea. Leaving a red trail of bloody mist behind. I have no idea if sharks exist in this place, but I¡¯m not waiting to find out. With that idea in mind, Adam surfaced and searched for a nearby island. To his astonishment, he discovered that he had never drifted off too far from the goblin island and that he could still see the island in the distance. Adam started swimming towards the island while trying to think of a way to deal with the goblins. He was halfway when an all too familiar white blob drifted by and a luminous idea started to form in his head. Counting on his 21 levels of poison resistance to finally resist the paralysis poison he hesitatingly reached out with his hand and grabbed the blob. A slightly numbing sensation immediately flowed through his arm but it seemed that he could still move his arm fairly well. Encouraged by the lack of total paralysis Adam decided to catch a couple more jellyfish and after a while, he continued swimming towards the island while clinging 10 jellyfish to his body. While swimming he decided to check out his new title.
Title: Predator, given to those that do not behave like civilized beings but rather like animals and eat their prey alive, +1 strength
It seems this world does not have a high opinion of me, luckily it¡¯s mutual. I became a pilot because I wanted to leave my old world, but it seems this world hates me too. After reaching the shore and looking around the goblins did not seem to be around. So Adam carefully approached the bushes beyond the shore. After a short rustle, a child-like being sprung from behind one of the bushes and rushed towards Adam. It''s green face seemed delighted for a moment, but soon it was met with a certain denizen of the sea. With its inertia halved and its body paralyzed the goblin simply fell face first at Adams'' feet. Rage dwelled in Adam when he thought back to the hellish month he had experienced and without care, for the possible sentience thebeing, he started to furiously kick and stomp the green man.
Skill gained: Kick Mastery
It took him 10 minutes to calm down and take a look at the now mutilated corpse of the goblin. Actually, what is a goblin even? Curiosity got the better of Adam and he kneeled down by the corpse to study its mangled form further.
Skill gained: Identify
He looked at the notification and when he looked back the words above the goblin¡¯s head changed. With that in mind, he looked at the wooden club the goblin had with him. Well, it¡¯s better than nothing since my gun is laying on the bottom of the sea at the moment. Armed with the most advanced weapon he encountered in this world he continued landward. Soon he entered a fairly sparse forest. Although it was full of trees, the trees were far apart and there seemed to be almost no other vegetation. Because of this, it was possible to look quite far ahead in this forest and Adam decided he would advance in stealth mode. So he started to crouch through the forest, hiding as much as possible behind the trees.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Skill gained: Sneak
It did not take long for Adam to discover a small figure sleeping against a tree. Slowly Adam approached it while trying to use identify. When he was two meter from the goblin the required information finally appeared together with a notification.
Sneak has levelled up to Lv. 2
Although he gained a level in sneak it clearly wasn¡¯t enough as the goblin suddenly opened half an eye. It did not take long for the eye to open completely when she saw Adam and in a single moment her other eye opened to be followed by her mouth, clearly indicating that she wanted to scream but Adam didn¡¯t give her the chance to as he, as fast as lightning, punched her in the face, while holding a jellyfish. Parts of the jelly flew into her mouth and made their way to her lungs. She coughed once and went limb.
Skill gained: Fist Mastery
His anger had largely subsided with the death of the first goblin but Adam knew this was a kill or be killed situation. He refused to believe that there would not be dangerous creatures in the sea. It was almost impossible for such a big body of water to not house predators that could finish him and in the water he would have no means to fight back. This was the only piece of dry land he could find and to survive he knew he would have to kill the previous owners first. It was cruel but it wasn¡¯t like Adam was cold-blooded, the rage and pain he felt every time someone dear to him died would prove otherwise. It was simply that the ideals of humanism had left him years ago and that what was left was simply... selectiveness. Without the ideals of the 21st century, he reverted back to the mindset of the ancients, passionate but cruel, intense in both love and hate. Perhaps this was his way to cope. Decisively he raised the wooden club and smashed it down.
Skill gained: Blunt Weapon Mastery
He took a last look at the dead goblin and used identify just to be sure.
Identify has levelled up to Lv. 2
And at that moment the text changed. Adam looked around, checking if he had been discovered, but there seemed to be no more goblins in the surroundings. So Adam simply continued to advance deeper into the island. The sun began to set and a red glow filled the sky when Adam reached a large clearing in the forest. Stopping after reaching the edge of the forest he peered out into the open and discovered that in the middle of the clearing there seemed to be a camp. Torches were lit at the edge of the camp and shabbily made huts seemed to make up the larger part of the camp. Adam was looking at the camp when suddenly a high-pitched screech resounded behind him. He turned around to discover a small green man standing just a few meters behind him. After a very short period of astonishment, Adam started running towards the goblin, his hand with the club held high. The goblin also moved his club and tried to engage Adam, but before it could defend himself a white blob landed cleanly on its chest. Numbness spread through its body and a moment later a small motionless green body fell on the ground. Adam started smashing down his club on the goblins head until he was certain it was dead and that earned him another point in [Blunt Weapon Mastery]. Adam wanted to use identify to confirm his kill but before he could do so he heard another screech. Adam looked up to be greeted by the sight of dozens of goblins rushing towards him. Being vastly outnumbered Adam started to consider his escape routes. The goblins were coming from the forest before him and behind him was the camp. With no other escape routes available he decided to take a gamble and started running towards the camp. As he started nearing the camp he could still not distinguish any life forms in the camp. The torches were lit so there should be some residents at least nearby. But when Adam finally reached the camp there was still no sign of life inside the camp. He started to fear the goblins would catch up with him while there would be no one in the camp to save him. He took a quick look behind him, but did not stop looking behind him, because the goblins were gone. They should have been close to him since he could hear their footsteps just a few seconds ago but now they were all gone and everything was eerily silent. It was not just the lack of footsteps, it was the lack of any sound. The silence was absolute; there were no birds, no animals, no wind, even the fire was eerily silent. A fear started to grow inside Adam, the silence seemed to creep into him, find its way into his pores. ¡°Do you hate this world?¡± Huh? ¡°Do you hate this world?¡± What is that voice? ¡°Do you hate this world?¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Do you hate this world?¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Adam¡¯s fear started showing on his face and cold sweat started the flow down his back. ¡°Do you hate this world?¡± ¡°Why should I answer to someone who isn¡¯t even going to show himself?¡± ¡°Do you wish to change this world?¡± Huh? ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Do you wish to change this world?¡± ¡°Where are you?¡± ¡°In the middle of the camp.¡± As Adam turned his head to the center of the camp an invisible pulse of power not of this world seemed to come out of the small temple in the center of the camp. Warily Adam started to approach the small temple. It was against his better judgment. Probably out of an unwise hope that the voice would really bring about the change he so badly desired. The change for which he even left his own world. The temple was only a few meters width and seemed to be a square. There was no door and because of that Adam could see the insides when he approached. A coffin in a darker shade of black than should have been possible appeared in his sight. As soon as he saw the coffin his mind started to grow hazy and he did not even notice the never ending stream of notifications.
Skill gained: Mental Resistance
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 2
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 3
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 4
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 5
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 6
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 7
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 8
....
Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 100][
Mental Resistance has reached maximum level
Skill [Mental Resistance] Evolved in Skill [Absolute Mental Resistance]
Absolute Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 2
Absolute Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 3
Absolute Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 4
Absolute Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 5
....
Absolute Mental Resistance has levelled up to Lv. 100
Absolute Mental Resistance has reached maximum level
Title gained: Indomitable Spirit
Title gained: Legend
After the last notification, his mind started to clear up. But at that time he was already inside the temple and he had already removed the lid of the coffin. There he stood eye to eye with a being. Its pupils were like a universe surrounded by a fluorescent purple circle, outside the circle, where normally the eye white would be, was only blackness. Its skin was gray as ash and its semi-long hair was so dark that it seemed as if your hand would disappear if you tried to touch it. Long elvish ears pointed slightly down and seemed to almost reach the sides of the coffin. Almost as if by reflex Adam used [Identify] on it and saw the skill¡¯s level max out in an instant. But he did not look at the notifications as he focussed on the text that showed up above the head of the mysterious being. Is it dead? As Adam looked at the text he suddenly felt a cold sensation on his wrist. He looked at his wrist and to his horror saw the dead being¡¯s hand clasping his wrist. His vision went black and a question appeared.
Warning,????? has activated divine skill: [?????], do you wish to accept?
Warning, you will die if you do not accept
I die if I do not accept?! Then why does it even ask me? Does that mean that dying is possibly less bad than accepting? I should have ran away when I still had the chance! I don¡¯t have a chance now, do I? I don¡¯t want to die, so what else can I do but accept?
Unique Skill gained: The Eyes of The Demiurge
For a moment his vision returned and he saw the arm that was holding him break off as if the arm was made of brittle pottery. Very quickly the rest of the being started to crumble and the coffin started to rot at a visible speed. Everything soon turned dark and Adam¡¯s mind sunk away as his consciousness left him. Chapter 3: The Truth Adam opened his eyes to the early sun rays and a new notification.
Title gained: Genius
He groaned a bit because of his headache but still got up and looked around. Except for the coffin, and its inhabitant, missing nothing seemed to have changed. His ears, however, gave him an entirely different opinion as he heard birds chirping and insects buzzing. The silence he felt the previous night was gone and the fear had completely left him. Only his wariness against the goblins still remained. After the headache slightly subsided Adam remembered the status screen and decided to open it.
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Hungry
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious, Unconventional, Dedicated, Specialist, Predator, Indomitable Spirit, Genius, Legend
Classes N/A
Equipment N/A
Skills
Skill book War
Blunt Weapon Master Lv. 2/100, Fist Mastery Lv. 1/100, Kick Mastery Lv. 1/100, Throw Mastery Lv. 1/100, Bite Mastery Lv. 1/100
Skill book Body
Sneak Lv. 2/10, Swimming Lv. 3/10, Waterbreathing Lv. 5/5, Salt Water Drinking Lv. 1/1
Skill Book Assistance
Identify Lv. 10/10, Fisheye Lv. 20/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 21/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 3/100, Absolute Mental Resistance Lv. 100/100,Absolute Mental Resistance Lv. 100/100
Unique Skills
The Eyes of the Demiurge Lv. 1/?
Stats
Strength 8
Dexterity 6
Intelligence 9
Willpower 15
Vitality 9
Endurance 16
Wisdom 2
Why doesthe status screen always say thatI¡¯m hungry or starving? Well, whatever, let¡¯s just check out everything.
Rare title: Genius, A unique skill is like a treasure no one can steal; he who possesses it can rightfully be called a Genius, + 3 Intelligence
Legendary title: Indomitable Spirit, One who¡¯s mind is his own, he cannot be led astray, +5 Willpower
Legendary title: Legend, One who walks the path of the ancients rediscovers the long lost arts, Endurance + 5
Unique Skill: The Eyes of the Demiurge, the Demiurge sees the world for what it is; the laws of the world cannot hide from their creator, primary stat: Intelligence, secondary stat: Wisdom, tertiary stat: Willpower
That skill¡¯s descriptions is as cryptic as it gets, what is it supposed to do? Well, I guess I just have to find out then. But how do I find out? Is it already active? There is nothing different to my sight. Do I need to activate it? How do I do that? The same way as the status screen? At that moment his world lit up. They glowed slightly and their form was indefinite. Some looked like particles following a path, others like flowing lines. But many others did not have an easily recognizable form and only their color made for effective differentiation. They were on the surface of everything and even inside everything they seemed to reside. Some of them flowed gently like water, while others danced like the wind. There were also those that silently floated or shot by at high speed. They were everywhere, it seemed as if the world was made up only of them.
Title gained: One Who Has Seen the Truth
His head started to hurt again so Adam deactivated the skill and brought up the status screen again to check on the title he got with just activating his skill.
Legendary title: One Who Has Seen the Truth, He who has seen the Law has seen the Truth, +5 Wisdom
He who has seen the Law has seen the Truth? The Law is the Truth? The things I saw are the Law? What is the Law? I do not have enough information on this, maybe I need to find a library of this world or something. Adam looked around and discovered that although the coffin and its inhabitant had disappeared, the temple and the shabby huts still stood. To one of the sides of the camp stood a few bushes with berries. Deciding to get breakfast first Adam walked towards the bushes and inspected the berries.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It seemed fine and Adam didn¡¯t have anything else anyway so he emptied the few bushes and ate it all. After breakfast, Adam decided that he first needed to get rid of the goblins on this island if he ever wanted to live here peacefully. But he also knew that the combined might of the goblins was much more than his own. If he ended up being surrounded by dozens of goblins it would spell his doom. The weird skills he got flashed through his head and a very simple solution came up, he simply needed to train until he was strong enough to deal with the goblins. Normally that would be a foolish idea since he wouldn¡¯t be able to grow very strong on the short term, but in this world, it might just work. The problem was that Adam didn¡¯t have a safe zone where he could train undisturbed. He thought about trying to find one on the island but ultimately decided against it since there was no guarantee something like that existed and he was unsure if the goblins were the most dangerous beings on this island. He decided that if he remained at the camp he could, at the very least, see his enemies coming. After giving it some thought he decided that he first needed a solid basis so that he could at least escape if necessary. With that decided he promptly started running around the camp and after 10 minutes, he got what he wanted.
Skill gained: Running
It seems that it worked. After gaining the skill running faster feels a bit easier. I should do some physical exercise to see what more I can get. Pleased with his progress Adam started doing push-ups and sit-ups and after a while he indeed got something.
Skill gained: Physical Fitness
Motivated by the fast growth he went all out and exercised like mad for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the results were quite disappointing as he only got one level in each [Physical Fitness] and [Running]. He acquired those levels quite early on the day so he expected to get a few more of them but it seemed like that the higher levels were more difficult to obtain. Disappointed he went to sleep in one of the shabby huts. He barricaded the door with the dead wood that was laying around hoping he would be awoken by the sound of the breaking wood if the goblins attempted to attack him at night. When he woke up the following morning he realized that nothing had happened and left his hut only to be greeted by the sight of a little green man standing before his hut. The goblin swung his club towards Adam as fast as its low [Dexterity] allowed, but Adam deflected the blow with his club and kicked the goblin in the solar plexus.
Skill gained: Block
The goblin¡¯s light body flew a couple of meters backward before it painfully crashed into the ground. The goblin tried to get up but before he could stand up again Adam had already closed the gap and delivered a blow with his club. A few blows later the goblin stopped moving. Adam looked around to see two more goblins coming his way. He quickly picked up his jellyfish and readied himself for battle. He kicked towards the goblin that was the first to step into his reach. The goblin blocked his kick, but lost its balance. The second goblin closed the gap but Adam¡¯s club smashed down and hit him on his head. Before the second goblin could strike back Adam smashed its face in with his club. He kicked the still alive goblin in the chest and the half-dead goblin flew back, crashed against the other goblin and finally died.
Kick Mastery has levelled up to Lv. 2
I¡¯m way too weak if I can¡¯t even kill one of these creatures with one hit. Adam moved to the last goblin to finish it. At that moment a blue ball smashed into his right shoulder, dislocating it. Adam grunted from the unexpected pain but continued his battle with as much vigor as before.
Skill gained: Pain Resistance
From behind a hut came a weirdly dressed goblin. The goblin had the skull of some animal as its hat and wore ornaments made of bones on itswhole body. On his waist hung a shabby belt with small bottles affixed to it. It held a staff that did not seem more than a broken off branch and at the end of this staff another blue ball condensed. With his still working hand, Adam threw one of the jellyfish towards the goblin with the staff. The jellyfish flew towards the goblin but before it could hit the goblin the goblin fired the blue ball at the jellyfish and both collided mid-air. The jellyfish burst mid-air and the goo flew in all directions, but the ball did not stop and continued on with half of its original inertia. Adam who had closed his eyes reflexively at the incoming goo was hit in the chest by the ball and felt all air leave him. The two still living goblins were both hit by the poisonous goo and their bodies started to numb. Adam got up and looked at the paralyzed goblins. With both of them paralyzed nothing withheld him from finishing them off. After they left the world for good he finally used [Identify] on the weird goblin. Adam looked at the weird outfit as his eye fell upon the small bottles. He took the bottles from the body and used [Identify]. < Gosha¡¯s Health potion, restores light wounds> He put the potions away for now and looked at the staff laying next to the dead goblin shaman. So it is useless for me... Adam scanned his surroundings but there seemed to be no goblins left. He knew that he would not be able to stay in the camp for the next group would probably be greater and he felt he only won this time because of the jellyfish. It was a mistake to stay, but he could still make it right. Adam took his jellyfish, his club, and the bottles, his only possessions, and left the camp. Chapter 4: The Color of Magic When he reached the end of the clearing Adam emptied a quite a few of the bushes since they only seemed to be standing at the edge of the forestry and started walking opposite to the way he came from. While walking Adam thought about the potions he got from the weird goblin. He did not have Mana but he knew magic would make his survival much easier: he needed a ranged attack other than the jellyfish. The jellyfish were incredibly useful but he only had six of them left and that supply would run out the moment he would encounter a large group. There is no one to teach me magic so how am I supposed to learn it? I don¡¯t even have the Mana stat that¡¯s probably necessary. I should probably first focus on getting the mana stat before I can start thinking about magic. In this world I seem to be able to get certain skills and abilities if I fulfil certain conditions. So the question is which conditions will bring me mana. It can¡¯t be as simple as just drinking a mana potion ,right? Can it? Actually, why not? I got [Waterbreathing] when I breathed in water, so should why shouldn¡¯t I get the mana stat from drinking a mana potion? Although it¡¯s a bit of a gamble and possibly a waste It¡¯s not like I am able to enjoy it if I die before I learn magic. With that decision, Adam took the mana potion and drank it.
Stat unlocked: Mana
It seems I won this gamble. So now I need to figure out a way to use it. I should first take a closer look.
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Hungry
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious, Unconventional, Dedicated, Specialist, Predator, Indomitable Spirit, Genius, Legend
Classes N/A
Equipment N/A
Skills
Skill book War
Blunt Weapon Master Lv. 2/100, Fist Mastery Lv. 1/100, Kick Mastery Lv. 2/100, Throw Mastery Lv. 1/100, Bite Mastery Lv. 1/100, Block Lv. 1/100
Skill book Body
Sneak Lv. 2/10, Swimming Lv. 3/10, Running Lv. 2/10, Physical Fitness Lv. 2/100, Waterbreathing Lv. 5/5, Salt Water Drinking Lv. 1/1
Skill Book Assistance
Identify Lv. 10/10, Fisheye Lv. 20/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 21/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 3/100, Pain Resistance Lv. 1/100, Absolute Mental Resistance Lv. 100/100
Unique Skills
The Eyes of the Demiurge Lv. 1/?
Stats
Mana 1/1
Strength 8
Dexterity 6
Intelligence 9
Willpower 15
Vitality 9
Endurance 16
Wisdom 7
Only one mana, huh. Isn¡¯t this world way too stingy? It¡¯s magic power, right? So it should be some kind of force inside my body, I guess. I should try moving it. Slightly dissatisfied at his low mana Adam tried moving all the power in his body towards the tip of his finger. Something seemed to move inside his body but nothing happened. Four hours later Adam was still trying to move his mana when finally something happened. A small electric current left his finger only to disappear a few seconds later.
Skill gained: Inner Mana Manipulation
Excited he tried to do it again but this time nothing happened. He checked his status screen and as he had expected his mana was exhausted. He wondered if it would replenish itself and luckily an hour later he got a notification.
Stat unlocked: Mana Regeneration
Adam checked his status screen again and indeed there was a stat called [Mana Regeneration] and its value was 0.000278/sec. Which he assumed would mean that he needed to wait an hour to replenish his astonishing amount of 1 mana. Adam again brought all he mana towards his finger in an attempt to replicate what he did an hour ago and again a small electric current left his finger only to disappear a few seconds later. Hours later Adam was still walking while trying to train his [Inner Mana Manipulation]. The sun was already setting and he had only encountered some harmless looking wild animals. His [Inner Mana Manipulation] was still at level 1 but he believed it was only a matter of time before it would level up. Since dusk approached Adam started to look for a suitable place to sleep and half an hour later his eyes fell upon a crevice in one of the hills. It was big enough for a human but too small for large predators so Adam felt it to be an appropriate place to sleep. He entered the crevice and an fairly large cave revealed itself to Adam. In the middle of the cave was laying a wolf with her young. As soon as the wolf saw Adam she started to growl threatening, but Adam simply took one of his jellyfish and readied his club as he approached. The wolf started to run towards Adam but halfway she was met with a white blob full of paralytic poison. As soon as the jellyfish hit her the muscles in her body started to go numb and a few steps later she fell over and stopped moving. Adam quickly closed the distance and ended her with his club. Even though a day had passed and he had walked all day and had even fought in the morning he was still not sleepy. He decided that it was probably an effect of his endurance as it had reached a value much higher than its initial value. He started to think of a way to improve his magic to something useful in combat. He thought about it for a while when his unique skill came up. It could see all kinds of these so-called ¡®Laws¡¯ and perhaps mana would be one of them. Putting his theory to the test Adam held his hand before his face and activated [The Eyes of the Demiurge]. The world lit up again but Adam focussed on his hand. Red laws streamed through his hand like rivers. White areas were divided up by the red rivers. He presumed the red rivers were his blood vessels. As his head started to hurt he tried to move all the mana in his body towards the tip of his finger. Slowly his hand started to become faintly blue. The blue started to spread to the surroundings and many small blue laws started to leave his hand. The blue in his finger was slightly darker. After a few seconds all the blue in his hand was suddenly sucked up by his finger, while at the same time all the blue in his finger broke through the skin at the tip of his finger. Most of it spread out but a small part of it formed a small electric current. The rest of the blue laws slowly floated away and spread out through the cave. When Adam saw all this an understanding dawned upon him. The electric current was only a small part of the mana; the rest of the mana was simply lost to the air. If he could make this process more efficient his magic would be much stronger. The problem was that doing this would probably take days at the very least since he could only use magic once an hour. He thought about the small floating blue laws. He regenerated his mana once an hour. But that mana had to come from somewhere? So what if it came from the air and he was simply breathing it in over the course of an hour? It would make sense that he needed an hour to breathe in so much mana. But the mana inside the cave was denser than outside the cave since he just scattered all his mana throughout the cave. So he should regenerate his mana faster if he stayed in the cave. To confirm this he opened his status screen to take a look at his regeneration.
Mana Regeneration 0.000278(+ 0.000001)/sec
It seems I was right. Unfortunately, the rate only got a little bit better. If only I could absorb all the mana in this cave at once. But my lungs aren¡¯t big enough for that. But if I could breathe in concentrated mana-air It should be able to go up some more. Adam looked at the mana-laws floating in the air and decided to just mentally try to pull them towards him. An hour went by when the mana-law he was focussing on suddenly seemed to be pulled a little closer to Adam by some invisible force. Another hour went by and it happened again, but this time the mana-law was pulled much closer. Adam kept trying to pull the mana-law towards him when two hours later he suddenly received a bunch of notifications.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Skill gained: Outer Mana Manipulation
Inner Mana Manipulation has levelled up to Lv. 2
Title gained: Magic theorist
Right after the notifications, the mana-law he was focussed on was pulled towards him and bounced off off his skin. Adam canceled his unique skill as his head felt like splitting open and with a head full of pain and an heart full of excitement he opened his status screen.
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Hungry
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious, Unconventional, Dedicated, Specialist, Predator, Indomitable Spirit, Genius, Legend, Magic Theorist
Classes N/A
Equipment N/A
Skills
Skill book War
Blunt Weapon Master Lv. 2/100, Fist Mastery Lv. 1/100, Kick Mastery Lv. 2/100, Throw Mastery Lv. 1/100, Bite Mastery Lv. 1/100, Block Lv. 1/100
Skill book Body
Sneak Lv. 2/10, Swimming Lv. 3/10, Running Lv. 2/10, Physical Fitness Lv. 2/100, Waterbreathing Lv. 5/5, Salt Water Drinking Lv. 1/1
Skill Book Assistance
Identify Lv. 10/10, Fisheye Lv. 20/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 21/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 3/100, Pain Resistance Lv. 1/00, Absolute Mental Resistance Lv. 100/100
Skill Book Magic
Inner Mana Manipulation Lv. 2/100, Outer Mana Manipulation Lv. 1/100
Unique Skills
The Eyes of the Demiurge Lv. 1/?
Stats
Mana 1/4
Mana Regeneration 0.000278(+ 0.000001)/sec
Strength 8
Dexterity 6
Intelligence 9
Willpower 15
Vitality 9
Endurance 16
Wisdom 7
Rare title: Magic Theorist, He who hung above the abyss of knowledge caught a glimpse of the truth of magic, +3 Mana
Content with his progress Adam, who started to feel sleepy, decided to go to sleep. The following morning Adam woke up to his protesting stomach and decided to eat something for the first time in 24 hours. He ate some of the berries he collected at the edge of the clearing and decided to continue his magic research. Adam activated [The Eyes of the Demiurge] and started to pull at the mana-laws. This time, however, he decided to pull them towards his mouth in the hope of inhaling them. Several mana-laws flew towards his mouth and Adam opened his mouth and inhaled.
Skill gained: Meditation(mana)
As soon as that notification came, the number of mana-laws that flew towards his mouth started to sky-rocket and in no-time, a solid stream of mana flew into his mouth. Adam stopped and decided to use up his magic and see how long it would take to replenish his mana with his new skill. He gathered all his mana in his finger and soon an slightly larger electric current left his finger only to die out after a few seconds. Undisturbed by the sad display Adam sat down and activated his new skill. 10 minutes later his mana-pool was completely refilled and Adam didn¡¯t even need to activate his unique skill in the process. Pleased, he started experimenting on creating something useful with all that mana and activated his unique skill again. Mana gathered in his finger but this time he tried to keep the mana from escaping his finger. The blue flowing out of him dimmed slightly and when he released the current the current became slightly larger. Excited, Adam became engrossed in his practice and when night began to set again, he received a notification.
Title gained: Perfect Mage
A few centimeters thick current swirled through the air before disappearing. The blue flowing out of his finger had completely disappeared and an enthusiastic Adam checked his new title.
Legendary title: Perfect Mage, For those that practice magic the waste of mana is unavoidable. Only those that transcend normalcy can be truly efficient, +5 Mana
Now I can finally start with the final stage, creating a spell with it. After replenishing his mana Adam again brought all his mana to his finger. The mana broke through the tip of his finger and at that moment Adam tried manipulating it. The current made some weird moves and disappeared. Adam replenished his mana and tried again. This time the current made some weird twists and snapped in two.
Outer Mana Manipulation has levelled up to Lv. 2
Adam kept trying and days went by until the result finally presented itself.
Skill gained: Mana Bolt
Common Skill: Mana Bolt, shoots a bolt of pure mana, primary stat: Intelligence, secondary stat: Wisdom, Cost: 2 Mana
A blue ball as big as a tennis ball appeared at the tip of Adam¡¯s index finger. With a thought, the ball launched itself against the wall but no damage was done to the wall. This should have been the attack that goblin shaman used. It was only enough to dislocate my shoulder so it should be difficult to kill anyone with it. Maybe if it was bigger it could work. I should try making it bigger. Adam again used the skill and and when the bolt was floating at the tip of his finger he started adding more mana to it. Slowly but steadily the [Mana Bolt] started to grow until it was as big as four tennis-balls. That was the extent of Adam¡¯s mana and with all his mana in the bolt he fired it at one of the trees outside the cave.
Skill gained: Mana Overload
Mana Bolt has levelled up to Lv. 2
Mana Bolt has levelled up to Lv. 3
Mana Bolt has levelled up to Lv. 4
Outer Mana Manipulation has levelled up to Lv. 3
A shallow dent was the result. It was definitely more powerful than the normal bolt. It was an improvement, but using it once would cost him all his mana. I don¡¯t have much mana and I honestly have no idea how to get more on the short term. So I should conserve my mana as much as possible. I need a spell that doesn¡¯t cost much mana, but can still kill. When I shoot a bolt the mana flies off and doesn¡¯t come back. So I lose all the mana in the bolt. If the mana could come back or not leave in the first place I would not lose so much mana. What moves and always comes back? A boomerang, but such a thing would probably get stuck inside an enemy. It needs to easily bounce or slide off the enemy. A circle always returns to its starting point. Should I try to make a circle? Experimenting, Adam created the current and tried to connect its two ends. He only needed three tries before he created what looked like a 4-year-old¡¯s drawing of a circle. It needs to be more stable and round or it won¡¯t be of any use. Going with physics I should try to spin it to make it round. The question is if physics would even work on mana. With not much more to go on Adam started spinning the circle. As it began to spin it became more and more round and before he knew it he had a perfect circle . He kept trying to make it faster and faster until he could not get it to go any faster.
Skill gained: Mana Chakram
Unique Skill: Mana Chakram, A rotating circle of pure mana rotating at fast speeds on the back of the user''s hand, to be launched at his enemy or to be used as a shield or short distance weapon, Primary Stat: Intelligence, secondary stat: Wisdom, Cost: 4 Mana
Outer Mana Manipulation has levelled up to Lv. 4
To be used as a shield or short distance weapon? This magical chakram seems to differ a bit from its non-magical counterparts. I wanted a weapon that wouldn¡¯t cost so much mana, but I had not thought it would go this way. Well, as long as the usability is good it should work. Adam shot the mana chakram at the tree he previously shot the bolt at and the bluish glowing and madly spinning chakram cut into the tree with astonishing speed; It kept turning and drove itself deeper and deeper into the tree until it finally stopped and left a deep cut in the tree trunk. It slowly dispersed on its own after that. Again, Adam summoned the chakram. The blue circle appeared floating on the top of the back of his hand. At his will, it started spinning and reached its top speed in 10 seconds. He kept it on his hand and punched out with his hand at the tree. His hand did not do much damage but the chakram, still spinning on the back of his hand, cut through the tree trunk like a knife through butter. This seems usable on goblins. Chapter 5: This is War Adam again hit the tree and a new notifaction popped up.
Skill gained: Mana Chakram Arts
Adam spent the rest of the day training, leveling his [Mana Chakram Arts] only once. The first thing Adam did when he got up the next day was to eat all the remaining berries. After which Adam contently left the cave and started walking towards the camp he encountered the goblins last. It was already eveningwhen Adam stepped into the clearing around the camp. With stalwart step, Adam neared the camp without hiding himself. He activated [mana-chakrams] on both of his hands and mentally commanded them to start spinning. As he walked the soft hum of the spinning disk swelled slightly as the blue light slightly brightened his close surroundings. The atmosphere brought the heightened senses of the battle-ready Adam to an almost serene state. At that moment the world felt his tocontrol. He closed his eyes for a moment and walked with absolute confidence towards the battlefield.
Skill gained: Battle Trance
Uncommon skill: Battle Trance, The world is still as the warrior jumps into the carnage, emotions fade as he becomes one with the flow of battle
Adam neared the camp, yet no sound was heard. It was not that the supernatural silence of before had returned, nor was it the absence of his enemies. It was the silence before the storm; the held in breath of armies before the battle. Adam reached the middle of the camp and stood still. He waited, yet nothing happened. He shouted, yet no one answered. He did not move, but waited. Standing still in the middle of the camp. Ten minutes went by when finally it happened. A screech was heard, high-pitched and savage. Dozens of goblins streamed out of the shabby huts and surrounded Adam. A goblin sprung out and swept with his club at Adam. Adam simply raised the back of his hand to block the wooden weapon as the club became heavily damaged and flung away in a matter of moments. He punched at the now weaponless goblin and split the front half of its face vertically in two. As he kicked the lifeless body of the goblin at the surrounding horde three more goblins made their move. They came from three directions at the same time. Adam moved to one of them and simply punched through the club the goblin held in an attempt to block; viciously cutting open the goblins chest and splitting its heart in the process. The two others came at him, one high, one low. But Adam did not faze and kicked the low one while punching the high one flying at him. The high one tried to block but ended up losing its hands in the process before the spinning blade of the [mana chakram] cut open its stomach. Without stopping Adam moved towards the leftover goblin as it tried to stand up. Before it could stabilize itself Adam already removed its head with a clean cut from his left chakram. As the last goblins head touched the ground the surrounding horde brandished their weapons and threw themselves at Adam. But Adam was like a raging storm that cut down all who came close enough. Quickly the horde thinned out and the roles of attacker and defender changed as Adam started to hunt down the remaining goblins. It did not even take 10 minutes for Adam to mop up the remaining goblins. Walking away from the last corpse Adam decided to check his status screen when he heard a rustle from one of the shabby huts. He turned to look and saw three goblins running out of the hut. Two pointed their branches at Adam, while the last one started running away. The goblin that was running away was different from the goblins he encountered so far as the one running away was by far the most clothed goblin he had ever seen. A heavily worn-out gray robe adorned the green body of this goblin and the usage of Identify revealed its particularity. The two goblin shaman¡¯s [mana bolts] had fully taken shape, yet Adam did not even care as he shot one of his [mana Chakrams] through the gap between the two shamans, relieving both of them of an arm. The furiously spinning magic blade did not stop as it cut open the back of the commander as he was running. He fell down and started bleeding heavily. Surprised, the shamans howled in pain, and but a moment later Adam had already arrived between them. Slicing their heads open with his remaining chakram. Adam did not hurry as he slowly walked towards the still bleeding commander who had started convulsing. When Adam finally arrived the goblin was already gone. After inspecting the commander¡¯s body and finding nothing he went back to the camp to lay down in one of the shabby huts. Even with his high endurance, he was exhausted and quickly went to sleep.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The following morning Adam decided to first stack up on food. He took the commander''s robe and started filling it with berries from the bushes at the edge of the forestry, while occasionally snacking on some berries for breakfast. The whole undertaking took him about an hour. Adam knew that the goblins must live somewhere, but he did not know where. His only lead was the direction of where the goblins came from and more importantly the direction in which the commander fled. He decided to go in the direction the commander tried to flee. He assumed that the commander wouldn¡¯t be smart enough to purposely lead him in the wrong direction. It was a goblin after all. He continued to walk for several hours when he found the first signs of being on the right track. Two goblins were walking through the forest. Adam quietly hid behind a tree and waited for the goblins to walk by. As soon as they were showing him their back he beheaded them from behind with his two [mana chakrams]. They did not have the chance to even think as their heads touched the ground and rolled a bit before coming to a standstill. Adam quickly advanced and after half an hour he saw in the distance what seemed to be the goblin village. Inside a large clearing, nearly a hundred huts stood, even more shabby than the huts at the camp. A slum would be regarded heaven by the inhabitants of those huts. While Adam was watching the village he suddenly turned and struck at the goblin trying to sneak up on him. The chakram cut deeply into the flesh of the goblin as it shrieked in pain. Answering the shriek was a large horde of goblins coming from the camp. More than a hundred goblins stormed at Adam. Adam knew that this was going to be difficult and activated battle trance. When the first goblin arrived Adam split its face; when the second goblin arrived Adam relieved it of its arms; when the third goblin arrived Adam cut it in half; when the nineteenth goblin arrived Adam split its heart in two. A goblin came from behind and hit Adam¡¯s back; Adam turned around and took its head. Another goblin came from the side and hit Adam¡¯s leg. Adam fell, but in his fall he hit the goblin in its solar plexus, cutting up the nerves and innards behind it with his chakram. A goblin sprung on top of him and smashed down with its club. Another goblin began hitting his stomach. The goblins swarmed around Adam as he was beaten continuously. Fuck! Am I going to die? NO! Solution. Solution. I need a solution. [The Eyes of the Demiurge] have helped me a lot. I¡¯ll active them. The world lit up once again and countless red streams and white areas appeared as the blue circles protected his face. The circle! The circle is too small, it needs to be larger. Much larger. Under command of the mana manipulation, the blue circle began to expand at a rapid pace until it became extremely thin.
Mana Chakram has levelled up to Lv. 2
Adam saw that the red and white was gone and he deactivated the eyes to find himself in the middle of dozens of goblin corpses. All of them were split in half at waist height, and above the back of his hand was hovering an extremely thin lustrous bluish circle-blade of several meters in width. This new chakram stopped the other goblins as fear began to shine in their eyes when they saw dozens of their kind get butchered in a split second. A battered Adam got up and looked at them like a predator that found his prey. His chakram shrunk to its normal size as he ran towards the remaining goblins. He struck out as the chakram expanded, horizontally splitting three goblins at the same time. The chakram shrunk to its normal size again. Adam took a step and struck out again. Again the chakram expanded and again three goblins were bisected. Adam started massacring the goblins at an astonishing speed and soon the last goblin died. Surrounded by many corpses Adam looked at the village. A few small figures were standing at the edge of the village, looking back at Adam. An old goblin using the pelt of a wolf as a cape. Another old goblin wearing the skull of a bear, hunching and leaning on her gnarled wooden staff. And lastly a young, stout looking, goblin wielding an old rusted sword. Adam enlarged his right chakram and threw it at the trio. Before the chakram could reach the trio Goswa had already dashed away. Gosha used a mana bolt to temporarily block the incoming spell while she retreated as fast as she could. Golert was less fortunate as his class [Village Chieftain] contained no fighting skills. He tried to retreat, but was not fast enough as the thin blade of the chakram went right through him. He was still processing what happened as the upper half of his body hit the dirt.
Title gained: Rebel
A new blue ring appeared above the back of Adam¡¯s hand.
Mana: 5/9
A blue bolt flew towards Adam, but at this distance mana bolts were easy to evade. In the meantime, Goswa had closed in on Adam and swung his rusty sword at the latter¡¯s throat. Adam blocked with one of his chakrams and the two weapons clashed for several seconds. Cracks started to appear on the old sword as the [mana chakram]¡¯s blue light started to fade. Keeping up with the flow of battle Adam kicked Goswa in his groin. The goblin curled up in pain as Adam bypassed its defense and made its head roll. Realizing that she was the only one remaining Gosha started to retreat slowly, while keeping a mana bolt pointed at Adam. Adam snickered and threw his two [mana chakrams] at Gosha. Panicked Gosha threw up a mana shield but it only stopped the chakrams for a few seconds before they trisected her.
Title gained: Annihilator
Exhausted Adam made his way to the village. In the village, he was now the only living being. Surrounded by the silence he laid down his tired body at the foot of a large obelisk in the middle of the village.He quickly fell asleep, too tired to even think of going inside one of the huts. New Directions: A Poll[Poll Closed] This chapter is a notice. An RRL chapter has a quotum of at least 500 characters. This is a notice and obviously doesn''t have so many characters. So I''ll be filling this space with all kinds of stuff. I''ll start with shamelessly advertising. If you like xianxia, please check out my random side project I randomly update and is probably not as good as this story:http://royalroadl.com/fiction/12956/the-new-emperor If you like xianxiaand satire, please check out this story of which I am a co-author:http://royalroadl.com/fiction/12234/immoral-cultivator-trump-the-alternative-facts Now, I will show you a lot of spaces: This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Chapter 6: A Researchers Joy Bathed in the sun¡¯s brilliant rays, Adam¡¯s conscious submerged from the land of dreams. The last thing he remembered was getting some notifications, before laying down to sleep. He quickly checked the status screen and found that he had acquired two new titles.
uncommon title: Rebel, He who goes against authority, +2 Strength
uncommon title: Annihilator, No one will be spared, everyone will return to dust, +2 Vitality
It seems like the rarity of the title determines the reward. What kind of stat I get is probably determined by what kind of title it is. Giving +2 strength to a rebel kind of makes sense, although giving +2 vitality to an annihilator makes less sense since the stat is like the opposite of the title. I guess vitality still has something to do with annihilation exactly because they are opposites. His gaze swept over the sparse clouds in the sky, as he wondered what his next action should be. The common procedure is that the pilot travels around while collecting as much information as possible. Of course, that would only be necessary for a pilot who would return after his mission. In my case, it¡¯s the question if I return. This world already threw a lot of bullshit at me in the short time since my arrival, but I also must admit that I¡¯m interested in this place. Creating magic was quite fun actually. His thoughts were interrupted by the growling of his stomach. Fighting an entire army cost him a lot of energy, leaving him hungry. He started to look forward to eating something, until he remembered what was on the menu. What I don¡¯t want is to spend the rest of my life eating berries! That¡¯s for sure! With that last thought, Adam rose up to take a look around, searching for something edible. It did not take him long to find something edible, yet for some mysterious reason he was very unhappy about it. Not those FUCKING berries again! I want something else! His temper got the better of him as he found himself, trying to find a way to set fire to the bushes. Yet as he was unable to find a way to quickly produce fire he simply kicked at the bushes, achieving absolutely nothing. Feeling aggrieved by a plant, he questioned his own state of mind for a moment, before returning to the bitter reality that berries seemed to be the only edible thing on the island. Unless, of course, goblins turned out to be edible, but Adam did not feel like testing that hypothesis. He cursed at the berries for a bit, before putting them in his mouth. He grumbled as he chewed on the berries. As he did not want to see the bushes again, he quickly stripped it of all its berries. He put all of them inside the goblin commander¡¯s robe as he still had it with him. The robe never was clean, and using it to carry berries full of natural dyes did not do much to change that. He mused a bit, before he decided to find a better bag as soon as possible. After this meager meal, he returned to the ¨Cnow devoid of life- goblin village. Although, in all honesty, calling it a village was an over-glorification. An encampment was the nice way of putting it. Although it looked more like the ruins of one. Adam¡¯s eye fell on the large obelisk in the middle of the village. He had slept at its foot after the battle, yet as his first thought when awakening was about food, he did not look at it before. But now that it had his attention, he discovered how strange a thing it actually was. It was by far the most well-crafted thing in the whole village. It could have even belonged to a fairly advanced civilization, like the ancient Romans. The whole stone was covered in intricate symbols of some sort of cuneiform script. It was clear from their weapons and lack of armor that the goblins couldn¡¯t possibly have crafted such a thing. Utilizing one of the greatest advantages this world seemed to offer, Adam used [Identify] on the stone. Like always, information from who knows where showed up the instant he used the skill. [Identify] might have been a great help in the past, it was completely useless in this case. He had no idea what a [Dawn Stone] was supposed to be, or how a stone could even have a gender. The skill just didn¡¯t give him enough information. Unfortunately, the skill was already max level, and Adam assumed he wouldn¡¯t be able to improve it beyond its maximum level. But, that was just an assumption, wasn¡¯t it? His increased [Intelligence] and [Wisdom] hadn¡¯t been for the show, and after some thought, he began to hesitate. Was this really the limit? If [Identify] could convey information; why would it be limited by this particular amount? He concluded that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try expanding the information a bit. But to do that, he needed to know where the information came from. Only one skill in his arsenal could answer that question, so without further ado, he activated the skill. Purple rings glowed around his irises, as the world¡¯s hidden forces revealed themselves to Adam; [The Eyes of the Demiurge] truly was an interesting skill. He waited a second before looking at the Dawn Stone. It shone brightly with mana, but that was not the information Adam was after. He activated [Identify] and a faint blue ripple spread in all directions. The ripple might have been faint, but it was incredibly fast. It was so fast that Adam wasn¡¯t even sure it was real, and not just a figment of his imagination. The ripple seemed to be a simple flicker in reality, and just as fast as it disappeared, another ripple appeared. It was just as faint as the first one, yet this ripple came from the direction of the [Dawn Stone]. Again, he invoked the skill, and watched attentively. As soon as the skill was used, a ripple flickered through reality, closely followed by another ripple, going in the opposite direction. He repeated it a few times, yet the ripples always appeared. He repeated the process until he was sure the ripple wasn¡¯t just some mirage, but was, in fact, a real tangible phenomenon. As a professional otherworlder it did not take him long to notice the resemblance to a technology from earth. To communicate over long distances without any medium except the air, the people on earth would use waves to send their information. Like with radio and Wi-Fi. He didn¡¯t know if air would be necessary for mana waves, but the way of conveying information was most likely similar. With this realization, came another, very disturbing realization. The waves went both ways, so not only did he gain information from who knows what, the thing, or being, sending him information also received information from him. He had no idea what information the skill sent exactly, but considering its use, it would at the very least have to send information about the object he was currently using the skill on. Which meant information about what he was currently seeing. Orwellian doom scenarios flew through his mind, before he realized that matters of greater importance, like staying alive in this wilderness and finding a civilization to cater to his primary needs, where more pressing right now. Adam once again focused on the ripples, eager to play with them for a bit to see what would happen. As he invoked [Identify] once again, he forcefully put as much mana as he could into the ripple; it appeared again, much more visible than the previous time, yet just as fleeting as the previous time was its existence. Its counterpart arrived just as fast and disappeared with the same speed, yet it too was much brighter and more powerful. It arrived at Adam in a flash, carrying with it the results of his invocation. Yet those very results were the source of his disappointment. Nothing changed. The ripple¡¯s power seemed to have no influence on the information contained. He tried again, and again, yet the results were the same; absolutely nothing changed. Even when he put in varying amounts of power, everything stayed exactly the same. Yet in some way, it was to be expected. After all, a radio signal¡¯s content wouldn¡¯t change just because you made the signal stronger. But Adam didn¡¯t give up yet; if one powerful wave wouldn¡¯t work, then maybe two waves, quickly following after each other would work! He speedily brought this hypothesis to the test. He repeated the test dozens of times, yet all of them resulted in a complete and total failure. But he was still not done. A new hypothesis quickly followed the old one, and after that one was rejected the next one would be subjected to his tests. Hours went by as Adam became absorbed in his research, and when he finally took a break it was already evening. His work bore no fruit, yet he wasn¡¯t unhappy in the slightest. He felt strangely content. It was unexpectedly fun! Results became secondary as research became his main objective. The path became the goal, as the goal simply became a by-product. He finally understood what possessed those scientists at the bridge whenever they, completely absorbed in their research, neglected to leave their research alone for days or weeks. Often even forgetting to eat. The break allowed his senses to return to his body. A feeling of hunger assaulted him, yet this time the thought of having to eat berries was not enough to dampen his mood. He almost happily grabbed at the small pile of berries to his left. Before popping them in his mouth. Quite a few berries disappeared this way, until he finally had had enough. With his hunger gone a new need became more prevalent. His enthusiastic research had left him weary. His mind was telling him to rest. Since there was no reason not to listen to his mind Adam went to the closest hut to sleep. The hut was shabby, but all the huts were. It also stank, yet again so did all the others. After he pushed aside the fur hanging before the entrance, a small and dirty room revealed itself before him. In the corner of the room laid some furs he guessed were supposed to be beds, or at least something similar. In the other corner, some wild animal was rotting and producing a stench.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. As expected of goblins, he murmured, before entering his new temporary home. He threw the berries into an empty corner, before throwing the dead animal out. Now that everything was settled he threw himself upon the furs. The urge to sleep was strong, yet as his mind was still very active from the research, it took him some time before he could put his mind to rest and enter the world of dreams. The next morning he left his hut after breakfast, only to be met with an unwelcome visitor. Before him stood a wolf! It growled angrily at him, before it pounced at him. Adam quickly drew his [Mana Chakrams] and with a simple movement, the wolf¡¯s head separated from its body. It never stood a chance in a head-on confrontation. Yet the growls did not go away. He quickly scanned the surroundings and discovered that many local predators and scavengers were gobbling up the last bits of dead goblin. The rest of the goblin corpses had already disappeared, leaving only the bones. Adam broke out in cold sweat as he realized that this was not a safe place to live. Yet he still had his desire to research the stone. This time he saw it coming, but the next time he might as well be sleeping. After all, no matter how amazing his weapon was, he would still be defenseless in his sleep. He needed a way to research the stone in safety. Since the stone itself was too heavy to be moved, his only option was to make sure that beast nor monster would be able to come close to the stone. But he was alone and needed to sleep every night. Having all that in mind, he chose the simplest of options, he would build a fence. His two [mana-chakrams] were even more effective than the circle-saws from earth, making building a wooden fence much easier. With them, and an abundant source of wood nearby, he planned out his new defense. As he looked around, he saw many predatory and scavenger animals scrambling for the last remnants of what was once a goblin army. Except for the wolf he just killed, most of them were fairly small animals that wouldn''t be able to best a human, much less one with magical chakrams on both hands. The threat had temporarily disappeared, thus he decided to let the rest of the wandering scavengers and predators off. There were more important things to do! ¡­....................................... Felling trees was easy, the hard part was to not get hit by the falling trees. Adam could have cautiously felled the tree in such a way that it would fall exactly where he intended it to fall, but that would take too much time, he surmised. Thus, he decided on a different approach. Adam walked towards a big, healthy looking, tree and mercilessly cut it halfway through. The spinning [Mana chakram] went through the wood with ease. He pulled back the [mana chakram], before putting a safe distance between him and the tree. Once he was safe, Adam threw the [Mana chakram] at the cut, hitting it flawlessly. The sharp, rotating, magical blade cut through the other half of the tree before disappearing into a shallow cut in the next tree. The huge tree slowly tilted to the side, before slamming into a neighboring tree. No tree felling skill was earned, but Adam supposed that his way of felling trees wasn¡¯t exactly the orthodox method. After felling the tree, came processing it into usable parts. He decided that he wanted to build a fence for keeping the beasts out, and a small cabin for sleeping. Since he did not manage to completely remove the stench from the goblin¡¯s old huts. After being done with the first tree, he started with the second. Felling it, and then processing it. It might have been a bit faster if he were to first fell all the trees, before systematically processing them all at once, yet felling them Adam-style was a quite mana-intensive activity, and by processing them immediately he saved some time otherwise spent meditating to recover his mana. It took him the rest of the day, but just before nightfall, he finished the project. A sturdy, wall-like fence protected the space a few meters surrounding the [Dawn Stone]. To the side stood a small but sturdy cabin and most importantly: the cabin was clean! The only entrance of the small cabin was within the enclosed space. It also gave him the [Carpentry] skill. Even with magical assistance, building all this was still a lot of work. Tired, Adam called it a day, and this time, he almost instantly fell asleep. The next day was dedicated to research once again. And once again, it bore no fruit. He continued on the day after, and the day after that, and so a week went by. ------------------------------ It was lunchtime, and Adam stopped his research activities to have lunch. Although he took a break, his mind was still with his research and he carelessly grabbed at the small pile of berries that he had prepared that morning. The senses in his hand transmitted the feeling of touching the mushy berries to his brain. His brain ignored it, as it was too busy contemplating. A pain shot through his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand in reflex. He looked at his hand. Blood was dripping from his middle finger. A thorn was pinned into his flesh. Slightly annoyed, he pulled it out and used [Identify] on it. After realizing that it was just a common thorn, he thoughtlessly threw it away. The unfortunate thorn flew for half a meter before it bounced off the [Dawn Stone]. Adam was just about to grab for a second handful of berries as a red light caught his attention. It came from the [Dawn Stone]! The mysterious symbols on the stone lit up in a dark red light.
DawnBlood ritual initiated
Searching for available classes
1524 available classes found
Listing available classes Warrior Rarity: Common Archer Rarity: Common Mage Rarity: Common Farmer Rarity: Common ---ERROR
Listing available classes: Demiurge Rarity: Divine
Wait?! What happened to the first list?
Please choose one of the selected classes
A class? How about actually explaining what they do?
More importantly! Where did all the classes go? Why does the last screen only display one available class. Actually, what is a demiurge even? Is it related to the skill?
Please choose your class within 10 seconds
Wait! What?
10 seconds remaining
9 seconds remaining
What de fuck is happening?
8 seconds remaining
...
2 seconds remaining
1 second remaining
Congratulations for choosing the class [Demiurge]
Class gained: Demiurge
Skill gained: Enlighten
What the fuck just happened? Adam was still staring at the [Dawn Stone] with glazed eyes, trying to process the events. It didn¡¯t even give him a choice. It just rudely disturbed his meal and threw a class at him. It didn¡¯t even explain what a class was exactly, or how to use it. Adam had no idea; so his only lead seemed to be the status screen and the literal meaning of the word ¡®class¡¯. Since the obvious course of action was to open the status screen and find out if anything changed, Adam opened the status screen.
Name Adam Xavier Witt
Race Human(Evolution Requirements not met)
Age 25
Status Hungry
Titles Outsider, Survivor, Amphibious, Unconventional, Dedicated, Specialist, Predator, Indomitable Spirit, Genius, Legend, Magic Theorist, Perfect Mage, Rebel, annihilator
Classes Demiurge Lv. 1
Equipment N/A
Stats
Strength 11
Dexterity 7
Intelligence 10
Willpower 16
Vitality 12
Endurance 17
Wisdom 8
Mana 1/79
Mana Regeneration 0.000278/sec
Skills
Unique Skills
The Eyes of the Demiurge 1/?, Mana Chakram 2/?, Mana Chakram Arts 1/?
Skill Book Soul
Enlighten Lv. 1/10
Skill book War
Blunt Weapon Master Lv. 2/100, Fist Mastery Lv. 1/100, Kick Mastery Lv. 2/100, Throw Mastery Lv. 1/100, Bite Mastery Lv. 1/100, Block Lv. 1/100, Battle Trance Lv. 1/10
Skill book Body
Sneak Lv. 2/10, Swimming Lv. 3/10, Running Lv. 2/10, Physical Fitness Lv. 2/100, Waterbreathing Lv. 5/5, Salt Water Drinking Lv. 1/1
Skill Book Assistance
Identify Lv. 10/10, Fisheye Lv. 20/20
Skill Book Resistance
Poison Resistance Lv. 21/100, Pressure Resistance Lv. 2/100, Cold Resistance Lv. 3/100, Pain Resistance Lv. 1/100, Absolute Mental Resistance Lv. 100/100
Skill Book Magic
Inner Mana Manipulation Lv. 2/100, Outer Mana Manipulation Lv. 4/100, Meditation(Mana) Lv. 1/100, Mana Bolt Lv. 4/10, Mana Overload Lv. 1/10
Skill Book Crafting
Carpentry Lv. 1/100
The ¡®classes¡¯ field was indeed filled, and all his stats also seemed to have had a boost. He even gained a new skill, but with such a name, Adam had no idea what it was supposed to do. Since he was still of his researching mind, curious as he was, he read the skill¡¯s description. [Divine Skill: Enlighten, Having both mind and soul is what separates the greater ones from the lesser ones; granting both mind and soul is what separates the greatest ones from the greater ones, primary stat: Intelligence, secondary stat: Wisdom, tertiary stat: Vitality] The System¡¯s description was as cryptic as ever. Whatever ¡®granting both mind and soul¡¯ meant, it seemed this skill did it. He supposed he ought to test it before long, as its ¡®divine skill¡¯-prefix indicated that it should be something extraordinary. From the skill¡¯s description he supposed that it was a skill that should be used on something, rather than granting him a boost or being used as a means of attack. This target would then be granted ¡®both mind and soul¡¯, he supposed. The question was if he had to use it on an inanimate object or a live animal or even human. Did an animal have ¡®both mind and soul¡¯ and if it didn''t, did it need it? Adam was clueless as to the answer, and he supposed that only experimenting with the skill would point out its exact use. He still felt a bit conflicted about what happened, but at least he now knew what the stone did. He figured he would first find some test subjects for his new skill and then find out what it did. Chapter 7: Genesis Adam still had half a day remaining before nightfall and since his research goal was reached, he figured he might as well find his test subjects immediately. He thoroughly looked around, trying to spot something suitable as a test subject. As he was visually inspecting the surroundings, the wind brought with it a particular smell. Adam turned around to see where it came from. He had totally forgotten about it, but last week¡¯s unwelcome visitor was still laying there. When building his camp, he had temporarily thrown it into a corner, with the intention of throwing it away afterward, yet as he had thrown the leftover wood in the same corner, the dead wolf had been half-obscured, resulting in Adam forgetting about the rotting beast. As time went on, the rotting process advanced, and now that Adam paid attention to his surroundings, he could not not notice the ever increasing stench of death. He quickly removed the leftover wood, and was thanked in turn with an increase in the stench. The rotting Beast didn''t look too inviting the touch. So Adam decided to not move the beast and use the skill on it where it was. He looked at the carcass, concentrated a bit on it, before invoking the skill.
[Wolf carcass] successfully evolved into [Zombie wolf]
[Wolf carcass] successfully evolved into a being of the first order
The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 16 hours
It ebbed away. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. The feeling of your mind melting, disappearing into the void. Your will being channeled into something else. It lasted only for an instant, yet the result held a grasp on his mind for a long time. The dead body of the decapitated wolf rose from the dead. Adam tried to understand it as soon as he saw it, yet an invisible barrier appeared in his mind. A glass ceiling prevented him from thinking on his own level. He was confused for a short time, before he couldn''t even remember what he was even confused about. Soon there was only Adam, the wolf, and the world inside the camp. The undead beast tried to walk around, but without its head it could only wander aimlessly. Adam, in his daze, followed the headless wolf''s example. For 16 hours he did not do much more than aimlessly wander about, only remembering to eat at random times. After these dreamlike 16 hours, Adam finally woke up. Everything became clear again as the signals from the surroundings started to enter his body. The glass ceiling disappeared like snow melting before the sun. The sounds and colors flooded his mind again as a feeling of realness overcame him. He had, once again returned to the land of the aware. He looked at the still wandering wolf. Now that is mind was clear again, he could finally study his test subject. He invoked [Identify] to grasp the nature of this had headless being. < Zombie wolf, Female> Great , Adam thought, I successfully created a fucking zombie! What in fuck''s name am I supposed to do with such an ability? Shouldn''t it just power up things or shit? Why did it go and create a zombie? Adam raged for an entire hour, before calming down. With his calmed down mind, he once again thought over the situation. I enlightened a dead carcass, granting it ¡®both mind and soul¡¯. Objectively speaking, it was no wonder that the result was a zombie. What else would it have become? Now that rationality had set in once again, Adam decided that he needed to find something that was not a carcass to test his skills on. He left his camp in search for a test subject, leaving the wolf, who was busy bumping into a wall, behind in the camp. As he reached the edge of where the forestry began, he saw a big blueish cat hiding behind some bushes. He immediately stopped walking, and started to slowly approach the cat. The cat, who was busy hunting, warily looked at Adam. It seemed to consider for a second, before quickly running off. Adam, who saw a great test subject to running away, followed in hot pursuit. The cat was quick, but not as quick as Adam. Adam quickly started closing the gap, yet the cat didn''t want to give up and did its utmost to lose the pursuer. As it ran at full speed, it quickly dived into a bush. Adam heard a dull thump, followed by a short but miserable mew. He quickly grasped through the bushes and took hold of the furry thing on the other side. In his hands, he held the trashing cat. He quickly used [Identify] on it to make sure it was fine. ... is this someone¡¯s pet or something? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to kill it. I¡¯m just borrowing it for a bit. It might end up undead though... He took a quick glance at the surroundings. His gaze swept over the rock wall, before coming to a standstill at a particularly oddly shaped Rock. He also wanted to test his skill on something that had never lived, and thus decided to take the rock as well. As he grabbed the rock, he saw something purple at the edge of his vision. He turned his head to discover a peculiar purple flower. As he used [ Identify] on it, its name became clear. He supposed that he didn''t already have a plant as a test subject. So he plucked the flower and took it with him too. With a rich harvest in test subjects, Adam made his way back to his camp. As he stepped out of the verdant bushes, a gust of wind hit him in the face, forcing him to squint. He looked to the sky and saw ink-black clouds looming over the horizon. I guess this means tonight''s weather won''t be boring When he turned down his head, in the corner of his vision, an unnatural spot within the green forestry caught his attention. The vivid green and lively light brown were rudely disturbed by a blob of pinkish grey. Once he focused his eyes on the spot, he found it to be a creature he had not yet seen. It was hard to see from its fat body if it was male or female. Its pinkish grey skin tone gave it an un-human feeling, which was complemented by the fact that its head resembled more that of a pig then of a Human. Adam responded to this weird sight by reflexively using [Identify] on the being. An orc? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her heart was racing as she ran through the forest. She felt the fear creeping up her spine. It felt cold, yet she was sweating. Unnerved she looked left and right to no avail. Where is he? Where is he? Where could he have gone? All kinds of Doom scenarios flew through her mind. She tried to push them away and remain calm, but it was of no use. Her heart was beating erratically as she continued to run through the thick vegetation. A hundred meters to the right was are a relatively brighter spot in the forest. A clearing! From there I might be able to oversee a larger part of the forest! Quick in her judgment, she dashed towards the brighter spot. When she had almost reached the clearing, a weird wooden structure appeared in her view. It caused her to slow down. She stopped right before the clearing and peered through the bushes in an attempt to understand the place. Seconds after she arrived, she heard something to her left. Reacting to the sound she quickly gazed to her left. A creature she didn''t recognize came out of the forestry. She felt a shock through her entire body. Not from seeing a human for the first time, but from seeing what he was holding. Eleazer! She would recognize its lustrous thick fur from miles away. It was her pride and she brushed it three times a day. Its bushy tail was weakly hanging, its usual liveliness was nowhere to be seen.Stolen story; please report. It came from her stomach. Welling Up from Below. Quickly rushing up her head. Hurriedly spreading through her mind, clouding it with crimson clouds. All disappeared from her world, except the man and the cat. An emotion from the deepest reaches. There was a reason they called her ''Berserker''. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frozen in place, Adam stared at the orc for several moments. She was the first to move, and her step forward was the start of the battle. He quickly dropped everything, before his two [Mana-chakrams] swiftly came into being. I should be able to easily best a level 7. While running, Adam looked at his opponent, who, with bloodshot eyes, stared back. Nytia, the orc''s iron-clad fist flew at Adam with surprising speed. Adam, shocked by his opponent''s speed, could only meet her fist with his. Sparks flew everywhere as his [Mana-chakram] met the ironclad fist. The blue circle instantly deformed under the heavy blow. A second later it shattered under the extreme pressure. With still half of its momentum remaining Nytia''s fist bashed into Adams. Adams body was flung three meters back. With great effort, he managed to land on its feet. Fucking hell, this thing is much stronger than those goblins, even though they had a higher level! His whole body hurt like hell, but his enemy wasn''t going to let him off. Nytia''s fist was bleeding heavily. The blood was gushing out of a large cut in her gauntlet, yet she was already charging at him again. Adam didn''t dare to meet her head on; he quickly started evading her blows. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed the whole clearing twice. Adam felt is legs slowly turn to lead, yet he had no choice but to continue this deadly dance with the female berserker orc. Finally, Adam made a mistake. As he once again changed his direction, he accidentally stumbled over the rock he brought with him and had thrown on the ground when the fight started. He unceremoniously crashed into the ground, tumbling around a few times before losing parts of his skin from his unfortunate encounter with the ground. When his body finally came to a stop, he quickly crawled away from his position, afraid of the advantage his opponent got from his fall. He looked back to find out to see where she was, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Confused, he turned around, only to see his opponent laying flatly on the ground. Even more confused, he used [Identify] on her. unconscious? Adam looked around cautiously in an attempt to find out who was responsible for this situation, but there was no one. He mustered all of his remaining strength to get up. He gazed at the unconscious orc, wondering what to do with her. He already had a dead sample, thus a living one would be far more desirable. And he already had a plan to deal with her. ------------ Two hours later, within Adam¡¯s camp, an orc head was sticking out of the ground. Adam wiped away the sweat from his forehead. Now that Nytia wouldn''t be able to hurt him, he finally had time to check if he gained anything from the battle. Full of anticipation he opened the status screen and he wasn''t let down. He gained two levels in [Block] and [Pain resistance], and one in [Running] and [Physical fitness], slightly increasing his future survivability. Now that everything had settled down, he could finally focus on this research. He had put the cat in a makeshift cage made from the leftover wood. And now, he lined up the spoils, the wolf''s bane, the rock, the blue cat and the orc. Since the orc was buried alive, except for her head, he couldn''t move her. So he had to start the line from the buried orc''s position. He thought for a bit, before deciding it wouldn''t matter with which one he would start. The rock was the first victim. Adam let his concentration fall on the rock, before immediately activating [enlighten]. For the second time, his mind metaphorically melted and washed away through his ears. As he was standing there like a fool, the stone grew legs and walked away.
[Rock]] successfully evolved into [Walking Rock]
[Rock] successfully evolved into a being of the first order
The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 16 hours
[Enlighten] has leveled up to Lv. 2
Sixteen hours later, the bright light of the sun''s rays invading Adam''s sleeping mind, finally forced him to wake up. The first thing he saw was a rock walking on 16 small legs. His mind needed a few moments to process all of it. I gave the rock legs, and brought it to life? This skill is incredible... I think... As the rock was aimlessly walking around, Adam diverted his attention to the test subjects. Nytia was still unconscious, Eleazer was still locked up, and the Wolf¡¯s bane wasn¡¯t really doing anything. It was a plant after all. So moved his attention back to the walking Rock. Before I move on to the other test subjects, Adam thought, while he stared at the rock, I will test what happens if I use enlighten on it for the second time. And like that, the poor rock that finally gained life, had to be Adams victim once again.
[Walking Rock] successfully evolved into[Golem]
[Walking Rock] successfully evolved into a being of the second order
The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 8 hours
It was afternoon as Adam regained his intelligence. Having woken up from the daze, he looked at the being in front of him. It was a rough stone sculpture resembling a human. It didn¡¯t have any of the finer features, like a mouth or nose. But despite that it was unmistakably resembling a human. After his initial observations, Adam used [Identify] on it.The waiting time halved, was the last intelligent thing Adam thought that morning. The amount of information wasn¡¯t really...satisfying. But more importantly, his experiment was a success! The weird walking rock had successfully become something...greater. Adam started wondering as to the limits of this skill. Would he be able to indefinitely enlighten this being until it became a god? Or would there be an unbreakable wall somewhere along the road? Preventing it from ever growing stronger. It was exhilarating for a mortal to do the work of the divine. The possible prospects made him excited for what was to come. The research fanaticism he picked up by researching the dawn stone flared up again. He knew he would not rest before knowing the limits of the skill. He glanced at the other test subjects; nothing changed from eight hours ago. He looked back at this creation, determined to push it one step further. For a moment, he laughed at his own foolishness as he knew he would have to, again, spent the next eight hours, being not much more than brain-dead. Yet such a thought lasted only a moment, before his determination returned in an even stronger fashion. With a thought [Enlighten] activated once again and the intelligence disappeared from Adam¡¯s eyes.
[Golem] successfully evolved into [Earthen]
Golem] successfully evolved to the third order
The usage of the skill [Enlighten] has temporarily inhibited your intelligence. INT -8 for 8 hours
[Enlighten] has leveled up to Lv. 3
While wishing he had more INT, his mind disappeared into oblivion. And when he finally awoke, it was already morning. He guessed that his brain-dead version was still intelligent enough to go to bed. He only wished that it was intelligent enough to lay down within the cabin. He wiped the dew from his face and got up. His eyes fell on the person standing before him. His skin was an earthly brown. His eyes seemed to be bottomless pits with dirty yellow flames in the middle. He was staring at Adam and Adam stared back for some time. [Identify]!!! Earthen?! He is the golem!? ¡°Euhm.. creator... are you okay?¡±, the earthen asked. It spoke! Adam coughed once, before replying, ¡®I¡¯m alright.¡¯ Silence permeated the air afterward as Adam¡¯s mind was fully occupied trying to figure out what to do next. He had created a being, an intelligent being! But that was just in his research mania! He had no idea what to do once he had actually created a being he could converse with. He created it, but did it resent him for it? Did it feel grateful? Did it even care? Or was it, perhaps, as confused as he was? Should he send it away or did he have a responsibility to care for what he created? He could just kill it and no one would ever know... ¡°... creator...¡±, the earthen finally said. Upon which the confused Adam sprung out of his daze and reflexively replied ¡®yes¡¯. ¡°What should I do?¡±, the creation asked his creator. You¡¯re asking me? How the fuck do you expect me to know? I just created you because I was curious! Do you expect me to tell you that? Isn¡¯t that the same as telling you that your existence has no meaning? Do I look that evil? I¡¯ll just make something up! ¡°What do you want to do?¡±, Adam replied in an attempt to throw the question back at the earthen. ¡°I do not know my purpose, creator. But you, as my creator, surely know my meaning!¡±, the earthen answered honestly and he continued, ¡°I beseech you to tell me, creator!¡± A purple light awakened in his mind, suppressing its own flare, whispering thoughts that should not be thought. The confused Adam didn¡¯t notice, as he was busy trying to think of a raison d¡¯¨ºtre for the earthen. ¡°I created you, because I needed a... helper!¡±, Adam replied and tried to look strict during the second part, ¡°of course, if you¡¯re dissatisfied about it you should just scram, I¡¯ll just make a new helper. One who does appreciate his creator.¡± ¡°No! No! Please, I have nowhere to go if you sent me away!¡±, the earthen hurriedly answered. What the fuck did I just make up? I sound like some evil god! I just inserted the second part because I was afraid I would hold you against your will! Adam sighed. What was done, was done. Maybe it was just like having a child, the responsibility might be worth it, in the end. Adam finally made up his mind. Since he created this being, he had the responsibility to care for it. And thus he decided to give it his first order. To give it its meaning.