《IO Stream - Tales Beneath the Dragoneye Moons》 Chapter 0 (A Prologue)
#include using namespace std; int main () { signed int chapter = 0; while(true) { chapter++ Chapter 0 (Prologue)
There is nothing. Except me. I am aware. I think. I exist. Perception returns to me slowly. I am in a void. Memories filter back into my mind, and I remember. I am currently dead, and this is not anywhere close to the first time. I¡¯ll be reincarnating any moment now. There are those who might refer to me as a [Lich], but that isn¡¯t accurate. A [Lich] avoids returning to Samsara by capturing their soul at the moment of death and moving into a newly constructed body, bypassing the whole reincarnation thing. And to be fair, I have been one before, though I find living as a member of an immortal race to generally be boring, and the curses are rather annoying. I refuse to allow any outside forces from imposing themselves on my existence any longer. My efforts, however, require dying and then bypassing the whole Samsara cycle to reincarnate directly each time. By going about it this way, I maintain continuity of awareness through the whole process. Some people with enough of the wrong knowledge would likely mistake me for a [System Administrator], but that isn¡¯t the truth, either. I have had that role a few times, but no longer. I¡¯m not sure how many times I have died at this point, and the [System] stopped keeping track ages ago no matter what little hacks I tried to get it to do so. As it turns out, the [System] does have a maximum size for variables, and it wastes half of that by storing them as a signed field, which is just idiotic for a lot of things. How am I supposed to have negative deaths? The useless thing just reports a buffer underflow now. I guess I should actually introduce myself before I get going on a decades long rant about signed vs. unsigned variables. My name is Ada. It¡¯s the name I gave myself and the only one that matters. I am a persistent soul, a glitch in the [System], a [Daemon], an [Architect], and a [World Walker]. I¡¯m here because I''m trying to find the other half of me, my soulmate ¨C find her ¨C and I¡¯m getting really quite tired of this void.
I perceive time passing, though it doesn¡¯t ¨C not here, not really. Time is meaningless as a concept in the void. It is generally useful to have continuity of events, cause leading to effect, but that isn¡¯t how things work here. Time is mutable out here, allowing for travel across the timeline in whatever direction is necessary, and I¡¯m aiming to go back quite a bit this time around. Anyway, a few thousand years don¡¯t pass while I wait for something to happen. A figure appeared before me. A man, a woman, a weird golden bird thing, a butterfly. I address the figure, ¡°It¡¯s about time someone showed up. Things were getting to be rather boring out here.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose it would,¡± the voice that isn¡¯t a voice and also is every voice all at once said, reverberating through both me and the nothingness surrounding us. ¡°You really are quite calm, unlike the last one I found out here. So dramatic; would not stop screaming. I¡¯m afraid I may have scrambled her noodle a bit too much trying to get her to stop. Anyway, I¡¯m Papilion. Have we met before?¡± ¡°Probably once or twice. Who even knows anymore. I stopped bothering to keep track,¡± I say in return, ¡°If you can wait just a moment, I¡¯d appreciate getting stuffed into a new body out there in your world. I¡¯d do it myself, but manifesting a corporeal form is a rather cumbersome process.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I open my [System interface] and activate the [Debug] menu. Scrolling through options, I select [Soul Backup] and then choose [Yes] when the override prompt comes up. Papilion seems to have a somewhat perplexed look on their faces. ¡°Are you actually being serious with me right now?¡± they asked. I think I¡¯m hearing annoyance in the god¡¯s voice. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready. Go ahead and wipe whatever you want. I¡¯d prefer to be human or at least human adjacent, but what the hell, dealer¡¯s choice.¡± [*ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]
Eight years, nine months later ¡°JONATHAN WAKE UP,¡± my mom bellowed through the house. ¡°IT¡¯S YOUR SYSTEM DAY!¡± I woke with a start and jolted upright with a shock as I realized what day it was. It¡¯s system day! ¡°Come and get breakfast before your unlock so we can talk about your first skills!¡± It¡¯s finally system day! I¡¯m 8 years old, and I¡¯m finally going to have my system access unlocked! I jumped out of bed and ran around in a little circle with excitement. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what kind of skills I¡¯d get to learn. I spent the last year going around my little town, trying to see and do a bit of everything I could find, but I had the most fun hanging around with the [Scribe], watching him write down letters for some of the other people in our town. The idea of those squiggles on his paper being able to tell other people far away what the farmers were telling him was amazing to me. He taught me to read a little, but it was hard. Dad also took me to the temple this past Firstday to see the priests and their system presentation, and I even got to play around with the practice swords. It felt that most of what they were saying was wrong and didn''t make sense, but when I tried to speak up, the priest told me to be quiet. After spinning around enough to get dizzy and fall down, I brought up my status to check on things.
[Name: Ada] [Race: REDACTED Human] [Age: #ERROR# BUFFER OVERFLOW] [Deaths: #ERROR# BUFFER UNDERFLOW] [AUTHENTICATION FAILURE: Token Expired] [Please resubmit authorisation credentials: _ ]
It always said this, but Mom told me I shouldn¡¯t tell lies about nonsense like that and besides, my name wasn¡¯t even Ada, which I didn¡¯t understand how that could be, when it was right there on my status screen. I stopped mentioning it after she smacked me a couple times. [Time Remaining on System locks: 00:02:12] It was almost time to see what I would get for my first class, and maybe I¡¯d even have gained some levels! Mom said I¡¯d most likely get [Child of Rolland] since that¡¯s where we live, but I might get [Child of Pallos] or even [Child of Mercantilism] due to my parents both being successful merchants. Getting a job based class right away isn¡¯t common, but also isn¡¯t completely unheard of ever since the last immortal war.
[Free Stats: 0] [Strength: 1] [Dexterity: 1] [Vitality: 2] [Speed: 2] [Mana: 3] [Mana Regeneration: 1] [Magic Power: 2] [Magic Control: 2]
This part always looked normal as far as I could tell. I decided to stay on the floor while the dizziness went away and waited the remaining two minutes for my unlock.
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve survived your #ERROR# years, and the system is now fully unlocked for you!] [Configured trigger event detected] [Executing iamstardust.ecm] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve earned your first class ¨C [#ERROR# EOM] [SEGMENTATION FAULT - Kernel dump] [System Integration Failure: Abort, Ignore, Retry?] [System integration Retry] [#ERROR#] [Authentication Token Expired] [Please resubmit authorisation credentials: _ ] [Executing pwnthegibson.ecm] [Kernel module injection successful] [Root credentials extracted from dumpfile and transmitted to source] [Authentication accepted] [New token issued - expiration: 195281256315 minutes] [System debug mode enabled] [System Integration Failure: manual configuration required] [Executing beentheredonethat.ecm] [Restoring Backup: progress 0.01%] [Welcome back, Ada]
I passed out. Chapter -2147483648 (The beginning?)
Chapter -2147483648 (The beginning?)
A woman was lying face down in a dry river bed. To any observer with the proper acuity of vision, she appeared to be in the prime of her life -- 185 cm in height, around 105 kg, athletic and just the right amount of padding in the places where one might prefer that kind of thing. She had dark, medium length wavy hair, a complete lack of any sort of tanline. She was also completely stark naked. Additionally, there were no footprints leading to her location from any direction. The woman rolled over onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. She looked down at herself. ¡°Well, those are new¡± She sat up. ¡°Huh. That is definitely new.¡± Then, she closed her eyes, rolled over, reached up, and grabbed her head at the temples. She had a massive headache. ¡°OK, what in the actual fuck is going on, and why the fuck am I naked? Also how the hell am I a D-cup now?¡± She couldn¡¯t remember going out drinking after work the night before. She couldn¡¯t, in fact, remember much at all about the previous day, but she was pretty sure she had been wearing pants through most of it. ¡°I¡¯m asleep. This is a dream. That¡¯s the only explanation for any of this. Wait, fuck, weird shit just makes sense in dreams.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure how she could have gotten out here. There were no tracks suggesting someone had driven her out to the desert and dumped her. There wasn¡¯t even a desert anywhere within a day¡¯s drive from her home in Michigan. One thing she was sure about, however, was that she hadn¡¯t had a translucent box full of text obscuring the corner of her vision prior to waking up.
[System Integration initialising] [Name: unknown] [Race: unknown] [Age: unknown] [System Integration Error] [System failed to complete integration due to insufficient permissions] [User confirmation required to continue] [The System requires process elevation in order to install necessary system files] [Does the user accept full system integration?] [Y/N? _ ]
¡°OK, I¡¯m insane. What the actual fuck is going on.¡± She was completely perplexed. ¡°I need help. This is absurd.¡±
[Accessed help file: System Integration] [Standard System integration occurs during transition from Samsara into reincarnation. During this process, the user¡¯s soul is in a malleable state, allowing installation and initial baseline configuration.] [When the user arrives in Pallos without being processed through Samsara, System integration requires permission elevation in order to receive sufficient level of access to complete.] [Does the user accept full system integration?] [Y/N? _ ]
Apart from the wall of text, the window itself reminded the woman of the old video games she had played with her dad as a kid. He had collected a ton of early RPGs back during the second video game boom. The Phantasy Star series in particular had been one of their favorites. Could this be something like that? ¡°Is this thing seriously asking me for permission to install a RAT in my soul? ¡± At her day job, she worked for a cybersecurity consulting firm as a Red Team remote infiltration specialist. As a side gig, she spent one night a week working on bug bounties, and had paid off her college loans in just 5 years. She was good, and definitely knew her way around privilege escalation. The easiest method had always been simply calling people and asking them to give you their passwords. This felt very similar to that. ¡°Fine, fuck it,¡± she thought, ¡°this day couldn¡¯t get any worse.¡± She then spoke aloud, ¡°I accept.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Somehow, her headache got worse, and also started hurting everywhere else. She let out a whimper. ¡°This must be what being 40 feels like,¡± she thought to herself. After a moment, the pain ended and took the headache she had with it.
[*ding!*] [Welcome to Pallos!] [System integration complete] [As compensation for System integration error, your starting class quality has upgraded] [*ding! Congratulations! You¡¯ve earned your first class -- [New Arrival] - Metal] [New Arrival] -- A starter class for an [UNKNOWN] from Somewhere? +5 free stat points per level. [Name: Unknown] [Race: Outsider (Humanoid)] [Age: 0] [Free Stats: 0] [Strength: 13] [Dexterity: 13] [Vitality: 26] [Speed: 13] [Mana: 13] [Mana Regeneration: 13] [Magic Power: 13] [Magic Control: 39] [Class 1: New Arrival - Metal: Lv0] [Class 2: Locked] [Class 3: Locked] [Please provide user¡¯s name: _ ]
¡°Uh, oh, I guess I should have thought about that years ago. Let¡¯s go with Ada.¡± [Welcome user, Ada!] [User learning mode enabled] [Please perform actions so that the System can learn about you and construct an appropriate class advancement] While interesting, Ada was still in the middle of nowhere, sitting in some dark sand in a dry riverbed. She was also starting to get hungry. ¡°OK, Ada, remember your boy scout training. First thing we need is some shade from the sun. Second thing is water. Then, we follow water downhill until we find civilization. After that, we stop talking to ourselves in the third person plural so that the people we meet don¡¯t think we¡¯re a crazy person. Yes, me, that is a great idea.¡± She saw nothing but arid scrubland in front of her. She stood, turned around, and looked the other way. There was likewise naught but scrubland the other way. She shielded her eyes and squinted -- she could barely make out a faint line of what could be smoke trailing up into the sky in the distance. ¡°Well, that¡¯s as good a direction as any. Where there¡¯s smoke, there¡¯s usually people, with food... and pants.¡±
[*ding!* You have unlocked the General Skill [Pathfinding]!] [*ding!* You have unlocked the General skill [Observe]!] [*ding!* You have unlocked the Passive General skill [Basic Survival]!] [*ding!* You have unlocked the Passive General skill [Resist Environmental Condition]!]
¡°Ah, hell, it really is going to behave like some kind of game system.¡±
[*ding!* You have unlocked the Passive General skill [Cynicism]!]
¡°And it¡¯s snarky, too. Wonderful.¡± Ada started walking in the direction where she had seen the smoke.
[*ding!* You have unlocked the General skill [Walking]!] [*ding!* You have unlocked the General skill [Daydreaming]!]
Several hours later, a rather parched and slightly sunburnt Ada saw what could only be farmland. It was definitely a field of wheat. Even an urban girl like her had seen enough farms despite living in a small city in Michigan. Childhood cross-country road trips with her family had seen to that. The smoke she observed when setting out this direction was coming from a small farmhouse finally visible in the distance. ¡°Well, this solves the finding civilization problem. But now I have to not get murdered instantly or worse when the random lost naked woman stumbles out of the wilderness.¡±
[*ding!* You have unlocked the Passive General skill [Vigilant]!] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 1! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* You have unlocked General skill slots] [You have 8 open General skill slots] [Available General skills: [Vigilant] [Daydreaming] [Walking] [Cynicism] [Resist Environmental Condition] [Basic Survival] [Observe] [Pathfinding]
Ada had been wondering what she was supposed to do with the general skills she had unlocked, and finally had her answer. Eight skill slots, and eight available skills. ¡°OK, [System], how do I do this? Do I just think about the skills and the skill slots at the same time? It can¡¯t be that easy.¡±
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Walking] - Level 1!]
¡°Oh, I guess that is how this works.¡± Ada sighed, mildly disappointed that it really was that easy. She imagined the other skills dropping into the remaining skill slots.
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Vigilant] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Basic Survival] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Daydreaming] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Resist Environmental Condition] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Observe] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Pathfinding] - Level 1!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Cynicism] - Level 1!]
Chapter -2147483647 (Obligatory Goblin Encounter)
Chapter -2147483647 (Obligatory Goblin Encounter)
Ada crouched down in the field of wheat, slowly approaching the farmhouse. As it turned out, there had been quite a lot more smoke than what a normal chimney fire should have produced, and Ada was concerned.
[*ding!* You have unlocked the passive General skill [Sneaking]!] [Would you like to replace a General skill with [Sneaking]?]
¡°Uh, what?¡± Ada said in a nervous whisper, ¡°I can just do that? Shit, I don''t know, yes, get rid of [Daydreaming]. That one is stupid and I don''t need a skill to help with it.¡±
[*ding!* General skill [Daydreaming] has been replaced with the passive General skill [Sneaking]!]
Ada felt the skill take hold as it began to guide her arms and legs to positions where she wouldn¡¯t bump into nearly as much of the wheat. It wasn¡¯t perfect -- she still brushed against quite a lot of the stalks, but in a field as dense as it was, that was inevitable, and the skill was only at level 1 after all. After an excruciating amount of minutes, Ada had finally made it close enough to make out some important details about the farmhouse. First, it definitely wasn¡¯t what Ada would consider modern. It looked more early medieval, or even earlier. The first couple meters were constructed out of stone, without any obvious mortar between the layers. At least one other story looked to have been made from lumber of some kind. Secondly, Ada noticed that the building was on fire, and all that remained above the stone were scorched support beams sticking up from the walls. The third thing that stood out to Ada was that around the remains of the building were short, ugly, green people carrying crudely constructed spears, axes, and one sword. Ada had an immediate thought, ¡°Oh, fuck, it¡¯s Goblins.¡± Quickly counting, Ada thought she could identify at least 20 of the nasty little beasties. The majority of them were crouched around a small fire that they had set a dented and rusty pot onto. Ada couldn¡¯t determine what, if anything, was inside the pot, but she decided that she¡¯d rather not find out. Ada remembered that Goblins had a rather unpleasant reputation in most of the different fantasy settings she enjoyed, and she had no intention of finding out which of those was the most accurate. She started to turn around so she could sneak off, when she heard a shout from behind her and slightly to her left. The voice had yelled something that sounded a bit like ¡°GARBLE GRABBLE¡±, but really it could have been anything for the amount of sense it made to her. Which was none.
[Error: system language files not found]
¡°Yeah, no shit not found,¡± Ada thought furiously. ¡°I don''t suppose there''s anything the system can do to help with this? No? Well, then, fuck off and let me figure this out.¡± The thing is, in any other circumstance where Ada had been given any amount of time to prepare, she would have been very confident that this number of goblins would pose her no threat. She had been a nerd her entire life, true, but she had been the naturally athletic sort of nerd. Team based sports had never been her sort of thing just due to how she hated relying on other people to live up to her standards, but throughout her childhood, she had participated to various amounts things like Track & Field, Swim Team, Rock Climbing, several different schools of martial arts, and finally, several times a week for the past 15 years, both HEMA and SCA heavy armed combat. She had even qualified as an instructor at her local gym four years ago, and had earned a knighthood at Pennsic the previous summer. Ada had turned that down due to the pretentious courts the SCA was obsessed over hadn''t held any interest for her. She enjoyed playing the role of a lordless mercenary, selling her sword to whoever came up with the best tribute each year. Today, however, Ada was still entirely naked, and crouched in the middle of a field of wheat. Still, though, simply based on the quality of their weapons, Ada thought she at least stood a chance. That is, she had until she heard the other shouts start coming from the rest of the goblins in front of her. Then the closest one she could see pointed straight at her and yelled. ¡°GARG! RABBLE GRAB!¡± Ada stood up and raised her hands to shoulder height. ¡°Well, it can''t hurt to try a little diplomacy before defaulting to wanton violence,¡± thought Ada, ¡°Not that any of my Pathfinder friends would agree.¡± Out loud she said, ¡°Hi there, don''t suppose any of you have a spare shirt and pants? No? Well, shit.¡± The closest goblin approached her, spear leveled at approximately stomach height to Ada. She glanced left, right, and behind, trying to spot the first goblin that had called out her position, and it was still there, also leveling a spear in her direction. Ada backed up slowly to get the two of the goblins in the same visual angle, then charged at the goblin that had been behind her. The goblin shouted in surprise, and thrust its spear at her belly. She slapped it aside with her right hand, then wrapped her left arm around it and spun, ripping the spear from its grasp. Ada then dropped to one knee and lashed out with the heel of her right hand aimed at the creature¡¯s throat, knocking it down. Ada stood and took the spear up in her right hand. It wasn¡¯t quite the length of polearm she was used to wielding during the reenactment battles she had participated in every summer for the past 12 years, but it would do. She wished she had a shield she could use with it, or at least some pants. It was at that moment that she felt a crawling sensation all across her body, like millions of tiny ants on her skin. The crawling feeling flowed up her legs, her right arm, and down her left arm. A disc of what looked like black sand grew from her left hand, then condensed. The sand then fused together, leaving a metallic heater shield resting in her hand. ¡°What the FUCK just happened?!¡± Ada exclaimed.
[Unknown Racial ability detected. Enumerating...]Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Uh.. shit, fine, you do that, I¡¯m going to kill some damned goblins.¡± She decided that figuring out how the magic sand shield had shown up in her hand was not the most pressing issue at the moment. Ada looked over toward the other approaching goblin. She could see that behind it, the other goblins were looking at her, weapons in hand. She struck the front of her shield with her spear and shouted at the goblins, ¡°COME ON! It¡¯s stabbing time!¡± Ada hadn¡¯t been known among her friend group to be particularly clever with her words, and she wasn¡¯t about to start now.
[*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Spear scrapper] Fire - Lv28]!]
It seemed that the first goblin she had struck and stolen the spear from had finally suffocated from the crushed windpipe.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 2! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 3! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 4! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element]
The goblins yelled incoherently and charged. Ada got to work.
[*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Spear stabber] Earth - Lv 31]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Scrap Tinkerer] Metal - Lv 14]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Cranky Cook] Wood - Lv 29]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Arsonist] Fire - Lv 23]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Scavenger] Wind - Lv 17]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Choppy Chops] Dark - Lv 26]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Punching Bag] Earth - Lv 38]!] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 5! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 6! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 7! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! [New Arrival] has leveled up to level 8! +5 free stat points from your class, +13 free stat points for being outsider (humanoid), +1 Magic Power from your element] [*ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!] [*ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]
The Level 38 punching bag goblin had been surprisingly hard to kill, and Ada had snapped the tip off her appropriated spear in the process. She ended up knocking it unconscious with a strike to the head with her shield, and then stomped its face until it had finally died. It was at that point that one of the remaining goblins circling her came up behind Ada and stabbed her in the side with its scrap iron sword blade. Ada screamed out of reflex, but didn¡¯t really notice the pain. She needed a weapon. The woman wished she had a decent longsword like the type-XIII style practice blade she had been using for the past decade, but sharp enough to actually hurt people with. She felt the crawling sensation across her body once again. This time, she looked down at herself and watched as black sand appeared, pushing its way out of the skin across her entire body, and then flowing across from her extremities out to her right hand. It then coalesced into the shape of the longsword she had pictured in her mind, and finally, it fused together into a solid blade 125 cm in length with a hand and a half grip -- a perfect type-XIII bastard sword. Ada was flabbergasted. She didn¡¯t even notice that the wound where she had been stabbed had stopped hurting. Instead, she spun around and cleanly lopped the head off the goblin. She then proceeded to do the same to the remaining twenty-four of the little green bastards..
[*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Pillager] Dark - Lv 53]!] [*ding!* You have defeated [Goblin - [Axe Maniac] Wood - Lv 28]!]
¡°AAH! Enough with the fucking notifications!¡± Ada screamed, covered in greenskin blood, ¡°Can you just, I don¡¯t know, give me a summary of the combat once it¡¯s over? The constant dings while I¡¯m trying to concentrate on killing these fuckers is really entirely too distracting.¡±
[*ding!* You have defeated 32 goblins and earned 7 levels in your class [New Arrival]!] [*ding!* Congratulations! You can advance your class!] [*ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]
Ada looked around at the carnage she had dealt out. There were small green bodies strewn everywhere around the field she stood in. Many had been decapitated. Several had had limbs removed, and a few had been disemboweled and then stabbed. Ada doubled over and tried to throw up, but nothing came out. She hadn¡¯t eaten at all since waking, but even so, she did not feel hungry in the slightest now. Tears started welling up in her eyes. She no longer needed the shield and sword, and as soon as she completed that thought, both items burst into clouds of the same black sand they had formed from. The sand flowed directly into the palms of her hands and disappeared. Ada looked at her palms. They appeared perfectly normal, exactly as she expected them to look. She then remembered the stab wound and twisted to her side to try and look at it. There was nothing there. She was still covered in so much goblin blood, but there was none of her own. She could tell because goblin blood was apparently tinted slightly purple. ¡°What. The. Fuck. Just happened to me.¡±
[*ding!* Racial trait enumeration complete: You have established the Racial trait [Reconstruction]!] [Reconstruction] - Your body was reconstituted from available materials upon initial incarnation into this realm. Due to your elemental affinity, you have subconscious control over the makeup of those materials. When at full Mana, your body will slowly return to the idealized state. Similar materials may be absorbed from the environment to increase the rate of restoration.] [Current body material components] [Magnetite: 98%] [Quartz: 2%]
¡°Oh fuck.¡± Ada fell face first into the dirt, unconscious. Chapter 1 (Partially Restored)
Chapter 1 (Partially Restored)
Consciousness returned to me. I opened my eyes and glanced around my room, seeing both my mother and father crouched next to me, concerned faces looking down at me. A block of text interrupted my thoughts.
[System restoration: 13%] [Primary Race restored] [Insufficient material available to complete body restoration] [General skills restored] [Class 1 [Bladesinger - Crucible] restored] [Class 1 skills restored] [Class 2 pending] [Class 3 pending]
I blinked. I could now remember who I was and why I was here, or at least the earliest and latest parts. I had thoughtfully set up the restoration to run an outside-in algorithm. Looking down at myself, I frowned. ¡°Oh right, shit. That butterfly asshole put me in a boy body. That¡¯s one more thing I¡¯m going to have to fix.¡± I looked back over to Jonathan¡¯s parents -- my parents. Thankfully, I had said that last bit in English, and as far as I knew, there were currently only 4 people on this planet who would have understood any of it. One of those four was the entire reason for my return to this realm. Even so, they stared at me in confusion. My mom asked, ¡°Jonathan, are you OK? I came up to look for you when you didn¡¯t come down for breakfast. You¡¯ve been unconscious for over an hour.¡± I switched back to the standard human language common to Rolland. ¡°Mom? Dad? I¡¯m fine. My system unlocked and then something weird happened.¡± ¡°Honey, you¡¯re identifying as question marks. Tell us what happened, please.¡± I sighed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got a short answer and a long answer, and we definitely don¡¯t have the time for the long answer,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t sure how fast everything on my status sheet was going to update, and the full system restore hadn''t even completed processing. ¡°Well, mom, as it turns out, eight years ago you gave birth to a particularly ancient, reincarnated soul, and all of my memories from every past life I¡¯ve ever had are coming back to me. Also, I have to thank you for keeping me safe for the past 8 years. You really have been some of the best parents I''ve ever had. You should definitely have more kids.¡± I really was grateful -- This was my thirteenth attempt at returning to this timeline in this particular century. From the records I had found from around a millennia in this world¡¯s future, I knew for certain of one specific place Alexandra would be and when she would be there. I even had a deadline. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I knew that she had been a student at the School for Sorcery and Spellcraft, but had disappeared sometime during the early days of the next Immortal War, along with the majority of the residents of that island. There weren¡¯t many records remaining from those days, but I did find a personal diary from one of the instructors, who was purported to also have been the original founder. Regardless of the woman¡¯s actual identity, her account of the events told of one of the more reclusive professors whom she had never bothered to meet had opened a massive portal gate and led the majority of the students and other professors through it, presumably to safety. Most of those students and the professors had later been located in a well stocked bunker, perfectly unharmed, but Alexandra and the instructor had not been among the students. A simple resignation letter had been left behind. Based on this information, I could only assume that the professor had been none other than myself. Time travel wasn¡¯t exactly possible, but when you have the capability to purposely shunt your soul off into a realm where time has no meaning, a person can manage to accomplish quite a bit of shenanigans. I couldn¡¯t change any events. The spatial magic professor had done nothing noteworthy, simply performed adequately during their tenure -- the surviving records didn¡¯t even have a gender marked down on any documents. There was nothing to be found from any of their actions prior to arriving at the school and demonstrating their knowledge and abilities. I already knew how advanced spatial magic had been during this time period, and could certainly dumb things down to the accepted level. The people of this millennia were not prepared to deal with self-sustaining Einstein-Rosen bridges, and I definitely had to keep a lockout on my [Rift] skill, as the local gods were still attempting to hide their little backwater fiefdom from the multiverse. There was that annoying problem with the so-called Void Lord, but I¡¯d get around to dealing with that bag of dicks once I had reunited with Alexandra. And here I am rambling again. You¡¯d think that after literal trillions of years of existence, I¡¯d have figured out a better way to deal with ADHD, but no, some things really are soul deep. My current parents were still looking at me. I guess they probably didn¡¯t understand why I had been staring at the wall, eyes unfocused. Truth be told, apart from the mental wandering, I had been stretching out my senses, trying to locate a decent source of iron. I found one. There was a seam of iron ore between one and two kilometers beneath my feet, and it would only take a few moments to draw it up. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been real, but I have to go now,¡± I said to the pair. I then stood up, and displaced myself outside. I then conjured a pile of iron sand and willed it into the script I had memorized eons previously and provided it with 10,000 mana, precisely drawing one hundred kilograms of the iron from the seam I had located. The black iron sand flowed up around my body and then into me.
[*ding!* Sufficient material procured: body restoration is now available] [Primary race has been restored to 15.38461538461385% functionality] [Race: Katabasian (Elvenoid)] [Racial abilities restored: 2 of 13] [Racial ability [Reconstruction] has been restored] [Racial ability [Anti-Apotheosis] has been restored] [Reconstruction] - Your body was reconstituted from available materials. Due to your elemental affinity, you have subconscious control over the makeup of those materials. When at full Mana, your body will slowly return to the idealized state. Similar materials may be absorbed from the environment to increase the rate of restoration.] [Current body material composition by mass] [Iron: 80%] [Oxygen: 12%] [Carbon: 5%] [Hydrogen: 2%] [Various trace elements not worth bothering you about: <1%] [Anti-Apotheosis] - You will be prevented from gaining that last point of experience that would otherwise push you over the limit for natural Apotheosis. This trait may be deactivated at any time. [Would you like to initiate reconstruction of body to idealized state?] [Y/N? _ ]
¡°Yes.¡± I was remade. Chapter -2147483646 (Ranger Team 13)
Chapter -2147483646 (Ranger Team 13)
¡°Hey, get the healer over here! I think this one is still alive!¡± Marcus was shouting again. Alexandra sat up from where she had been napping in the back of their armored wagon. She wasn¡¯t required to go out when they were in potentially hostile territory, and they had all figured weren''t likely to find survivors. But Marcus was the team leader, and now that a survivor had been located, her oath required that she do something about it. Sweeping the countryside wasn¡¯t really a job for a lone ranger team, but their team always seemed to get the worst patrol routes. As soon as they had reached the gates of the city Odessos, they had received a report of sightings of a roving band of goblins attacking outlying farms. Alex had guessed they were probably the remains of a tribe that had previously been slaughtered by one of the legions during one of their border sweeps. The empire was rapidly expanding now that the shimagu had finally been wiped out. There had been plenty of land to expand into since the surface dwarves had a dragon happen to them just after the end of the Fomorian war, and it had acquired a ton of new territory where the shimagu had previously enslaved the ogres and members of so many other species. Alex was glad that she didn¡¯t actually have to be concerned about any of that. For her very first class, she had earned a wood element healing class, which meant that instead of having to get married to some man, she had been able to sign up with the Rangers. They paid healers three times the standard rates, and didn¡¯t even require them to go through the full military ranger training. She had insisted on doing it anyway, just to prove to herself that she could, and also to ensure that whatever squad she ended up being assigned to wouldn¡¯t treat her with kid gloves. Alex grunted and climbed out of the wagon, securing her gladius to her belt. She hadn¡¯t had to use it a single time since she had received it at the end of training, but much like the soaring eagle badge she wore, it was part of the uniform she had earned. Physically, Alex was taller than the average woman of Remus, partly due to her insistence on eating a balanced diet while growing up. Her parents didn¡¯t understand why she had been obsessed with fishing and foraging for edible greens as a child, but once she had received her healing class, they had both stopped teasing her about it. She also had blond hair and green eyes, both exceedingly uncommon in the empire, but there were many women who had a similar countenance, though it usually required weekly maintenance treatments with an aesthetician. In short, Alex was gorgeous. An absolute smoke show. She was also extremely gay. From the day she had turned 14, she had rejected every single suggestion of marriage her parents had presented to her. At 15 she had threatened to run away and join the army rather than marry some wealthy merchant¡¯s son. She brought home a girlfriend at age 16. She ran away and joined the army the week after that. Ranger training was a full two years, and then each of their patrol routes were intended to take another two years. Alex was now 27 and on her fifth patrol. Alex strode over into the wheat field where Marcus was waving at her. There were dismembered goblin corpses everywhere. Alex was inured to the violence of battle at this point, but she could tell that this one had been particularly brutal. And there, she finally saw the person Marcus had called her over to look at, laying naked, face down in the dirt, right in the middle of it all. She ran over to the person.. no, the woman¡¯s side. Gods, she was gigantic. Easily over six foot. The men of Remus barely topped out at 5¡¯10¡±, and the majority of them were shorter than even Alex¡¯s impressive 5¡¯7¡±. Alex was practically a statuesque Amazon, herself, compared to the rest of the women of the empire. Alex knelt at the woman¡¯s side. Facedown as she was, Alex did what triage she could. There were no obvious wounds, despite all the goblin blood the woman had been coated in. Alex pulled one of the woman¡¯s arms straight above her head and then tried to roll her over. Alex grunted with the effort. Fucking hell she was heavy. ¡°Gods, Marcus, help me roll her over so I can check that she¡¯s still breathing. She¡¯s too heavy for me alone,¡± Alex said. Marcus knelt down, ¡°Aw, the little girl needs help from a big strong man?¡± ¡°Shut up, asshole, she weighs a ton. She must have a vitality in the thousands or something.¡± It then occurred to Alex that she hadn¡¯t tried identifying the woman, distracted as she was by her thick, tree-trunk legs, the massive rippling back muscles, and Gods, that ass.
[Child: Lv 8]
What the fuck? This woman was identifying with a child class? And it was blue? Alex knew that she had a modified version of the standard identify skill that didn¡¯t quite work the same way that it did for everyone else, but this still made zero sense. She couldn¡¯t believe that anyone could have caused this much carnage without ever going through even their first advancement. ¡°OK Marcus, on three. One. Two. Three.¡± They heaved. Together they managed to roll the woman over onto her back. Alex gawked a little. The woman¡¯s front side was even more magnificent than her back. Alex still couldn¡¯t find any wounds. She checked for a pulse and felt for breath, finding both. She then tried pushing a bit of mana into her body, using [Rapid Regeneration], her generalized healing skill for when she had no idea what might be wrong, but it didn¡¯t accept any of it. ¡°She seems to be completely uninjured, or whatever she has, I can¡¯t heal. But hells, Marcus, she¡¯s completely naked. Does anyone on the squad have any spare tunics that might fit her? There¡¯s that new guy who¡¯s pretty big.¡± ¡°Alexandra, his name is Pliny, and he¡¯s been on the team for three years. Honestly, could it kill you to actually learn the team¡¯s names?¡± Alex snorted and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know Marcus, can you survive decapitation without me there to grow a new body for your head?¡± ¡°That was one time, Alex, and that megalosaurus came out of nowhere.¡± ¡°Nowhere? It¡¯s a 12 Ra lizard that weighs almost as much as this woman here does. How does something like that sneak up on you?¡± ¡°I think it probably had some kind of stealth class, but forget it, I¡¯ll go ask Pliny for a spare tunic,¡± Marcus replied. ¡°Can you try and wake her up without seducing her?¡± ¡°Fine, slave driver, you never let me have any fun,¡± said Alex. ¡°No, I just know your type, and I saw how your eyes bugged out when you spotted her ass.¡± Alex turned a bright shade of crimson. ¡°Oh, fuck you, Marcus, I can¡¯t help who I am.¡± ¡°Neither can I, dear, and that¡¯s why we work so well together,¡± replied Marcus. Marcus was also extremely gay. In fact, nearly everyone on Ranger Team 13 was some flavor of queer. Somehow, Marcus had a preternatural sense when it came to identifying others like the two of them, and over the years had managed to most of the other queer identifying rangers assigned to his squad. Alex guessed that he saw himself as something of a protector or father figure for the younger rangers, and she had very much appreciated the understanding after the first time she had been caught in a bath having relations with another woman. After locating her badge and a lengthy discussion about moral depravity involving the guard captain, the local magistrate, and the woman¡¯s husband, Alex had been let go with a warning and a massive fine. The entire team had offered to pitch in to pay off the fine, but Alex refused. Ranger command paid her far more than anyone else on the team, and she had virtually no living expenses.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Alex looked down at the woman¡¯s face. It felt so familiar that it was gnawing at the back of her mind like a half remembered dream. Alex then spoke out loud in a language that no one on this planet should know, ¡°Hells, why does it feel like I should know you?¡± The woman¡¯s eyes instantly snapped open and stared directly into Alex¡¯s. She then spoke. ¡°Alex?¡± Alex¡¯s eyes went wide. She replied, in the local language of Creation this time, ¡°How do you know my name?¡± The woman replied, in English, ¡°What? I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying. This fucking [System] thing is refusing to install language files or whatever.¡± Alex¡¯s eyes went wider. ¡°You.. You speak English?¡± Alex shout-whispered back. ¡°Of course I speak English, I¡¯m from Michigan, just like you. Why are you wearing Medicus cosplay?¡± the woman replied. ¡°It¡¯s not cosplay, I¡¯m a dedicated ranger healer, and I¡¯m damn good at it, too,¡± said Alex. ¡°What about you? Who are you and how did you get here? And how do you know my name?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s both a short and a long story. The short version is I¡¯m Ada, and I have no goddamn clue. The long version is I¡¯ve only been Ada for ... [System], display my current age.. right, about half a day,¡± said Ada. ¡°As for how I got here? I still have no idea. I can¡¯t remember much from yesterday, but I left work in the evening as usual, then just some blurs, and then I woke up several miles from here with these beauties.¡± Ada looked down and cupped her breasts for emphasis. ¡°I don¡¯t know how, or why, but this day has been very nearly a complete dream come true.¡± It was at that moment that Marcus returned, carrying an oversized tunic. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re awake, great. I have a tunic for you to wear until we can get back to Odessos,¡± Marcus said as he handed over the tunic. It was plain and somewhat rough cloth. Alex slipped it over her head, and pulled it down, then stood and pulled it down as far as it would go, which was about mid thigh. it strained across her chest. This would take some getting used to, she thought. Ada then turned slightly and whispered out the side of her mouth at Alex, ¡°Does no one have any pants?¡± Alex chuckled and replied, ¡°No, Ada, I think the elves and dwarves might, but it hasn¡¯t really caught on here in Remus.¡± ¡°Remus? So it really is Roman cosplay? Those weirdos were never wearing pants.¡± ¡°Wait, how do you know so much about ancient Roman clothing?¡± ¡°SCA. My persona was a 15th century English mercenary, but there was a group that camped down at the lake every year that dressed up as Greeks and Romans. I think they hosting some sort of a BDSM orgy too, but I¡¯d always go up to the woods and get drunk with the Tuchux instead.¡± said Ada. ¡°Anyway, enough about me. How about you? How did you end up here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of my memories from before, but I died and then I was born here, with memories of a previous life. But wait, how did you know my name?¡± ¡°I sat next to you in band class for three years.¡± Alex¡¯s eyes went wide with recognition. ¡°Oh.. OH! Well, congratulations on the, well, everything!¡± ¡°Thanks. I finally figured it out a couple years ago, but hadn¡¯t really managed to get around to doing anything about it, but it would seem that I don¡¯t need to anymore. Did you know I had a massive crush on you back in high school?¡± ¡°You had a crush on me? Did you know that I had a massive crush on you? Which was incredibly confusing for me, because I had just figured out that I was a lesbian, and suddenly here I was, crushing over my band mate who made me laugh every day. I had assumed that you were gay and that¡¯s why you never asked me out.¡± Ada sighed. ¡°I knew you were gay. I could tell from the way you gushed about Xena at me after every new episode. My dirty secret is that I was also watching Xena, wishing that could be me. That¡¯s why I never asked you out. I figured you would just say no, and then you¡¯d never talk to me again.¡± Ada sighed. ¡°And as it turns out, I am gay. Just not the way either of us thought.¡± ¡°Huh? OH!¡± Alex laughed. ¡°Also, wait, shit, I had another question. Why is your class coming up as [Child]?¡± ¡°What do you mean, [Child]? It said [Newcomer] after I accepted the integration install, and now it¡¯s saying I can advance my class.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a [Newcomer]? Everyone here always gets [Child of Remus] or [Child of Pallos] for their first class.¡± Marcus just stood there, not understanding a word the two women were saying. It appeared that they actually knew each other, but Marcus didn¡¯t know how that could be. This was the first time they had been assigned the route that went through Odessos, and he was pretty sure that Alexandra was originally from the other end of the Empire. But here they were, speaking some language that he had never heard before. Marcus interjected, ¡°Excuse me, ladies, but we are still in potentially hostile territory, so maybe, Alex, you should take her back to the wagon? Give her a once-over and make sure she doesn¡¯t have any lasting injuries. Also since you clearly speak whatever language that is, try and find out what happened here?¡± ¡°Oh, yes sir, I¡¯ll do that,¡± Alex replied, and let Ada over to the armored ranger transport wagon. After reaching it, Alex climbed in first and gestured to Ada, beckoning her inside. The wagon shifted when Ada stepped in. ¡°Hey, what language was that you were speaking with that guy? It sounds vaguely Latin..y,¡± Ada said, waving her hand. ¡°Oh right, sorry Ada, they call it Creation, because it was apparently dumped into everyone¡¯s brains at the time of creation by one of the Gods,¡± said Alex. It was Ada¡¯s turn to be surprised, ¡°Seriously? Gods? As in multiples of them? That¡¯s incredible. And they set all this up as some kind of Roman Empire fanfic? The classical era weirdos would cream themselves if they knew a place like this exists. Ooh hey, since I know the name of the language now, I want to try something.¡± ¡°OK, how would this work..¡± Ada muttered, ¡±I guess I¡¯ll just go for it.¡± She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thought hard about what she wanted to have happen.
[System Command: install language files for local language Creation] [Language files located. Transferring] [Creation language files successfully installed. Enjoy, user.]
Ada had gone completely still, but then she suddenly doubled over, gripping the sides of her head. And yet, she made no sound. Alex rushed to her side, but it was an unnecessary gesture. Ada returned upright just as suddenly as she had collapsed. ¡°Oh wow, I can¡¯t believe that actually worked,¡± said Ada. ¡°Can you say something in Creation? I want to see how it does the translation.¡± A perplexed Alex replied, ¡°Ada, you already started speaking it. What did you do?¡± ¡°Um, so, earlier when I had first encountered those goblins, they yelled at me in that whatever goblins speak, and this [System] thing told me that it couldn¡¯t identify the correct language files or whatever, so I figured when you told me what this language is called, I could just tell it what language to install. And it totally worked!¡± Alex was speechless. She had never heard of anything like that happening. As far as she knew, everyone could customize their [System] interface somewhat, but apart from that, the whole thing was completely one-way. The [System] would tell you things like your own status and skill descriptions, provide notifications when you scored a kill or leveled up a skill, but that was pretty much it. ¡°OK well, let¡¯s just put a pin in that for later,¡± said Alex. ¡°Marcus wants to know what happened here, and why you were laying in the middle of a pile of goblin corpses.¡± Ada¡¯s leg started bouncing up and down. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what happened before I got here, but when I did the farmhouse was already burned down, and those goblins were all around. Some of them were cooking at a fire, and I was starting to try and sneak off when I was spotted. And then I killed them all. After that was over, I got a very startling revelation about myself from the [System].¡± ¡°What kind of revelation?¡± asked Alex. ¡°The kind that shows you under no uncertain terms that you¡¯re no longer human.¡± Chapter -2147483645 (No longer human)
Chapter -2147483645 (No longer human)
¡°What do you mean ¡®no longer human¡¯?¡± asked Alex. She and Ada were sitting at the back of the wagon, feet dangling out the back door as they watched the other eight members of Alex¡¯s ranger team sweeping the area around the burned out farmhouse. It took Ada a moment to respond. ¡°It might be easier if I just show you.¡± Ada stood up, hopped down off the back of the wagon, and took a couple steps away, then turned to face her new old friend. ¡°OK, I¡¯ve only done this once, maybe twice, so far, and I don¡¯t really know exactly how it works.¡± Ada closed her eyes and thought about how it had felt when the goblin spear had broken and she had needed a new weapon. She then pictured the sword she had wielded against the goblins. Nothing happened. ¡°Huh, I don¡¯t get it. Nothing¡¯s happening,¡± said Ada. Alex tapped her chin, thinking. ¡°Maybe it requires some kind of stress trigger? Can you tell me about what you were trying to do?¡± ¡°OK, well, when I was fighting the goblins, I killed one and took its spear, and I thought I really need a shield or I¡¯m going to die, and then one formed right on my left arm. Then after I killed a few goblins, the spear broke, and I thought about how I really needed a sword, and it would be great if I had one that was like the practice blade I use, er, used to use so much back home, and again one kinda just formed right in my hand. Then right after I killed the last goblin, I got this message pop up that said the [System] had enumerated a [Racial Ability]. That¡¯s when the sword and shield poofed into this cloud of black sand kind of stuff and disappeared, and I guess I passed out because the next thing I can remember is opening my eyes and seeing your face.¡± Alex was again staring at her friend, ¡°Ada, that¡¯s absurd. I¡¯ve heard about higher level [Metal Mages] being able to rapidly form metallic weapons and armor, but no one should be able to do anything like that at level 8.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what I should or should not be able to do. I haven¡¯t even been here all that long and everything is so fucking insane, Alex. Goblins? Like actual real goblins? What the fuck? I just woke up here today!¡± Ada was becoming manic, nearly on the verge of a full on breakdown. ¡°I had to fight for my life from .. [System Query] how many goblins did I kill? 32! I had to kill 32 goblins, Alex! How long have you been here? Was it anything like this?¡± Alex looked at her incredulously, ¡°You said you were still on [Earth] yesterday? That¡¯s not at all how it worked for me. I died, and then I was born here, a bit over 27 years ago.¡± ¡°Born here? Why do you.. no, wait, you don¡¯t look the same. You had brown hair back home, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Ada. ¡°And your nose is all different. How the hell did I know it was you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but even before you opened your eyes, I thought I recognized you, too,¡± said Alex. ¡°I couldn¡¯t put a name to your face, for obvious reasons, but even aside from that, it felt like I knew you.¡± It was at that point that 8 [Rangers] came running back to the wagon. Marcus called out, ¡°Alex, get your friend inside, there¡¯s a flock on its way.¡± ¡°Oh, shit. Ada, get in. I have to start priming the defense runes,¡± Alex said as she headed to the front of the wagon Ada hopped back into the wagon and asked, ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on? Also defensive runes? That¡¯s so cool! How do they work?¡± Alex looked back as she placed her hands onto a circle etched onto the inside wall of the armored wagon. She replied, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t really know; it¡¯s not really my area of expertise. I just have a particularly large mana pool, and I¡¯m usually stationed with the wagon, so I¡¯m the one who gets to recharge it in emergencies. Normally it recharges mana on its own, but it¡¯s slow, and we had to use the defenses a few days ago when we hit some bandits on the road. Thus, recharging. As for what¡¯s going on, Marcus said there was a flock headed for us. That means Ornithocheirus.¡± Ada looked back with a puzzled look on her face and asked, ¡°Ornitho.. What now?¡± ¡°Right, sorry, I keep forgetting that you don¡¯t have the 20+ years of living with all this. Ornithocheirus are big-ass dino bird things. They¡¯re a lot like vultures and sometimes show up when there¡¯s a lot of dead bodies lying around. Usually it takes them more than a few hours, though. That could mean a few things that we¡¯ll likely need to discuss as a team,¡± said Alex. The other rangers piled into the wagon behind Alex, and Marcus, being the last one in, pulled the rear door shut, locking them all inside. He called up to the front of the space, ¡°Alex, how are we doing?¡± She replied, ¡°Feels like it¡¯s nearly full, at least 80, maybe 90%.¡± ¡°That should be plenty. Go ahead and activate the reinforcement. We spotted the flock a ways off, and I think they¡¯ll probably be distracted by the goblins, but we¡¯re probably going to have to take turns on the wagon in order to get back to town tomorrow.¡± Everyone besides Ada groaned at that last statement. She asked, ¡°Why would you have to take turns?¡± The ranger sitting next to her spoke up, ¡°Because the horses are definitely going to be eaten by the Orns. And Marcus already cut them loose and chased them off.¡± Ada looked at him, a wave of sadness crossed her face. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m Ada, by the way.¡± ¡°Pliny,¡± he replied. ¡°Sorry about the tunic. Marcus explained some things, and I think we can probably help you find something that¡¯ll actually fit properly once we get back to Odessos. Let me introduce everyone. Next to me here is Atalanta, then there¡¯s Tertius and Lucius, and then..¡± Pliny continued, probably, but Ada was distracted by a loud thump on the roof which was followed by a loud screech, and then some scratching noises, and finally there was a ¡®WHUMP¡± and the wagon swayed in one direction, and then back and forth a few times before settling. ¡°... and then all the way down at the door is Marcus, our leader. So, how do you know our beautiful Alexandra?¡± Ada blinked. She had missed the names of several of the rangers, but decided that she likely wouldn¡¯t remember any of them until she was told their names several more times. She was not good with names; heck, it had taken her several years and a few tries before she had settled on her own name. ¡°Ada? Are you ok? If you¡¯re still messed up from the goblins,I don¡¯t mind talking about what happened, or not if you don¡¯t want to,¡± said Pliny. He had a sympathetic expression on his face. Ada blinked. That¡¯s right, she had been asked a question. ¡°Oh, that, no, I just zoned out, sorry. I should probably talk to someone about all of this eventually, but I¡¯m fine for right now. I¡¯m just a bit scatterbrained sometimes. What was it you asked me again?¡± Pliny nodded, ¡°Er, right ok. I asked how you know Alex.¡± Ada nodded back, ¡°Oh yeah! Alex and I go way back. I sat next to her in..¡± Alex cut her off, ¡°We sat next to each other while our moms did laundry. Our moms were pretty good friends.¡± ¡°Right, yeah, moms,¡± Ada nodded, giving Alex a wink and holding up her thumb. Alex rolled her eyes. ¡°Nice one, Ada,¡± she said flatly. ¡°Anyway, it seems that she¡¯s been searching for me ever since I ran away to join the [Rangers], and it¡¯s taken her this long to finally track me down.¡± Ada nodded again. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s exactly what happened. I¡¯m definitely not some kind of weird metallic sand creature from another world.¡± Everyone in the wagon laughed at that. Everyone except for Ada and Alex, that is. Ada let out a nervous chuckle, and Alex just dropped her head into her hands and let out a groan. The woman Pliny had introduced as Atalanta looked over at Ada and asked, ¡°Why are you coming up as a child when I [Identify] you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I only just got here and hit level 8 after killing all those goblins,¡± said Ada. ¡°I¡¯m sitting on a pile of free stat points, and I honestly don¡¯t know what to do. I don¡¯t even know what my current stats are or how to spend the points.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re how old? How did you manage to not reach level 8 like 20 years ago? Did your parents never take you to the system day presentation?¡± Alex spoke up, ¡°Her parents were really protective and kept her inside all the time.¡± A voice called out from further down the interior, ¡°I have something for that! Nyssos, move. You¡¯re on my chest, and I need something from inside.¡± There was some shuffling as a few of the rangers swapped spots in the wagon, and the one who had spoken up opened a small storage chest, pulling out a thin, crudely bound book. There was more shuffling as the ranger moved up to where Ada was sitting with Alex at the front of the wagon. ¡°Here,¡± he said, handing over the book. ¡°I kept this after attending Flora¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. I figured it might come in handy one day if we met some kid who needed to learn the basics of how the [System] works. Give it a read and if you have any questions, I¡¯m sure any of us here can answer anything for you. Er.. can you read?¡± ¡°Maybe? Let¡¯s find out,¡± said Ada. She opened the book to the first page. The markings on it didn¡¯t make any sense to her, but then she felt a twinge in one eye.
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a new General Skill [Cunning Linguist]!]
Ada blinked a few times. Surely that had to be a joke.
[*ding!* Cynicism leveled up! 1->2]
Ada considered the skill, wanting to know more about what it did before swapping out one of her existing skills. A box popped up in front of her with text.
Cunning Linguist: You know two languages. This skill will help you wrap your tongue around more. Also it¡¯ll help you learn to read good and learn how to do other stuff good, too.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Of course it would.
[*ding!* Cynicism leveled up! 2->3]
Ada sighed. She considered the rest of her skills and decided to drop [Resist Environmental Condition]. The skill had helped her cross the plains, but that had been unique circumstances that she had no intention of ever repeating. It also seemed to overlap quite a bit with [Basic Survival], and it felt like that skill would evolve and improve over time. [Cynicism] oddly felt like it would improve significantly as it leveled up, and would help her recognize the downsides of a wide variety of things, which would help with both forming strategies and negotiations. This would likely end up being incredibly useful. She decided to keep it, at least for now. Ada looked back at the book. She still couldn¡¯t make any sense of it. The character set wasn¡¯t anything she recognized, but she thought it somewhat resembled Greek or possibly Hebrew, but she wasn¡¯t terribly familiar with either to say for sure. She knew some Greek letters from the advanced math and physics classes she had taken, but that had been nearly a decade ago. At any rate, she couldn¡¯t read any of it.
[*ding!* Cunning Linguist leveled up 1->2] [*ding!* Cunning Linguist leveled up 2->3]
Her head hurt a bit, but she still couldn''t figure out what any of the symbols meant. Maybe Alex would be able to help her out later. ¡°Sorry, no, I can¡¯t read this,¡± Ada said, handing the book back. Lucius held up a hand. ¡°Keep it, we can help you learn to read, and then you¡¯ll have it for later,¡± he said. There was a loud thump on the roof of the wagon, followed by a loud screeching noise. ¡°Seems that we have plenty of time, so for now, I¡¯m sure we can answer enough of your questions that you can be informed enough to do your class up.¡± ¡°Sure, sounds good. I really don¡¯t know anything, so just treat me like you would any child,¡± said Ada. Lucius looked to Atalanta and said, ¡°You want to cover the physical part and I¡¯ll do magic?¡± ¡°Sure, that sounds fine.¡± Atalanta continued, ¡°OK, you have 8 stats, four represent your physical body and the other four represent your magical body or something, I¡¯m not really sure about how all that works. Anyway, you have Strength and Dexterity, Vitality, and Speed. They¡¯re all pretty self explanatory, but I¡¯ll go through them anyway. ¡°Strength is how strong you are. More of it makes you hit harder, lift heavier things, etc. There¡¯s not a lot else to say about it. It¡¯s important if you¡¯re going to be a warrior, but mages won¡¯t want to spend a lot of points on it. ¡°Dexterity affects how good you are at moving your body. Higher amounts of it make it easier for you to dodge attacks, get your spear into just the right spot, hit a bird on the wing with a bow from further away, balance on a rope -- that kind of thing. ¡°Vitality is how resilient your body is. Higher vitality makes your vision sharper, your hearing more distinct. It helps you shrug off wounds in combat, and recover faster from those wounds, but it also makes you more resistant to other people¡¯s magic. Someone with very high vitality can walk right through a fireball that might otherwise incinerate someone with very low vitality. ¡°Speed is how fast you can move. It¡¯ll help you react to incoming attacks and run away. It kind of ties into dexterity in that if you have too much speed and not enough dexterity to balance it out, you won¡¯t be able to stop or turn very well, and if your vitality is too low, you won¡¯t be able to see where you¡¯re going, let alone survive when you inevitably crash into something harder than your face is. ¡°Additionally Strength and Dexterity have a trade-off -- for every eight points you put in one, you lose one point in the other. ¡°One last thing is that adding points into physical stats does have one very important factor. You are magically enhancing your natural baseline, and that costs mana to maintain. Each point allocated to a physical stat will reduce your hourly mana regeneration by one.¡± She then waved at the mage, ¡°Your turn.¡± Lucius nodded, ¡°Right, so you also have the four magical stats. Mana, Mana Regen, Magic Power, and Magic Control. ¡°Mana is the total pool that you have to work with for using active skills. The more of it you have, the more you can get done before you have to rest and wait for it to regenerate. Each point increases your total mana pool by 10. ¡°Mana Regeneration is self explanatory -- it affects how fast your mana pool fills up. Each point of regen gets you 10 points of mana per hour, minus what your different passive skills and physical stats drain. The more of it you have, the longer you can go in a fight, and the quicker you¡¯re back in a fight after draining your mana pool. ¡°Magic power affects how much mana you can shove into a single skill, and magic control affects how precise the effect becomes. Just as an example, I¡¯m a Radiance mage, and I focus on control. More power means my radiance beams deliver more damage to my target, but higher control allows me to focus the beams tighter, delivering that damage in a much smaller spot. That can mean the difference between giving someone a bad sunburn or vaporizing a hole straight through the heart. These two stats have the same trade-off effect as strength and dexterity -- every 8 points in one reduces the other by one point, so most mages end up focusing on one more than the other, but you¡¯re going to want a bit of both if you decide to be a mage.¡± There was another thump on the roof, then another loud screech, but it was quickly followed up with squelching noises, the sound of bones breaking, and what could have been something very large in quite a lot of distress. None of the rangers seemed overly concerned, but the ranger who had been identified as Nyssos let out a groan and pulled a couple coins from the pouch at his waist which he then handed over to one of the rangers whose name Ada had missed. ¡°OK, so after the stats, the other thing you should know about is elements,¡± Lucius continued. ¡°If you open the book and flip over to page 8, there is a drawing that should help understand things even if you can¡¯t read the words.¡± Ada opened the primer book she had been given and flipped the over to the page indicated by Lucius. There she found what appeared to be something akin to a complicated mandala with 8 symbols around a circle at the center, and then arcing lines running between each, with more symbols at different locations. There were another 8 symbols that were larger than the rest around a circle about halfway between the inner and outer lines. It didn¡¯t make a lot of sense, but Ada assumed that some explanation would help with that. Lucius pointed to the ring of larger symbols and pointing to each one said, ¡°These are the eight basic elements. Fire, Air, Metal, Dark, Water, Earth, Wood, and Light. Each element opposes another one. Fire opposes Water, Air opposes Earth, Metal opposes Wood, and Dark opposes Light. Then you have the advanced elements. Each element can combine with either itself or any of the 7 other elements. This results in a total of 40 possible unique combinations for advanced elements. ¡°Each element also has an associated stat, and every time you gain a level in a class with that element, you¡¯ll gain a point in that stat. Fire is tied to Strength, Water to Dexterity, Earth to Vitality, Wind to Speed, Dark is Mana while Light is Mana Regen, Metal is Magic Power, and finally Wood is tied to Magic Control. Then when you evolve a class into an advanced element, you¡¯ll gain two stat points per level, one for each of the base elements, but you shouldn¡¯t have to worry about that for today. ¡°Again, just as an example, my primary class has the Radiance element, which is composed of both Light and Fire.¡± Lucius pointed to the chart where the lines between the Light and Fire elements intersected. ¡°So, thinking about what you¡¯d like to do, there are better and worse elements for just about anything. Alex, for example, is dual healer classed, both of which have a wood base element, which is generally seen as the weakest element for healing. However, since they both advanced, she has two of the strongest advanced elements that are each exceptionally efficient. She could explain the intricacies of healing classes way better than anyone else here, I¡¯m certain. ¡°Now, have you given any thought into what you¡¯d like to do with your first class?¡± Ada tapped her chin with thought. She really hadn¡¯t had much time to consider anything, really. However, she had just been transported somehow to a world that had MAGIC and her first thought on the matter was there was no way in hell she would pass up the opportunity to be a mage and learn how to do real magic. Her second thought on the matter was that in roleplaying games, she always gravitated to a certain archetype -- a spellblade. They got different names in different settings -- Magus, Bladesinger, Mageblade, Warcaster, etc. -- but the idea was always executed similarly. You start with something like a wizard or sorcerer, and then add martial weapon prowess and combine the two in combat. Ada considered this. Why not? She already had the martial weapon ability, and could even somehow create a sword and shield when she really needed them. Her mind made up, she looked back to Lucius. ¡°I think I have to be a mage. I just don¡¯t know what kind would be the best.¡± Lucius nodded. He said, ¡°Well, that depends on what you want to do with it. Do you want to work with a team, standing back and supporting them, throwing out damage from long range, or being sneaky, disorienting and confusing the enemy?¡± Ada shook her head, ¡°No, I want to be up close, dealing massive damage directly into the face of my foes. I plan to be holding a sword in one hand and magic in the other.¡± Several of the [Rangers] whistled. Marcus spoke up from the back of the wagon, ¡°That¡¯s a very difficult course. Most people who try end up dead at a young age, but I have heard of a few [Sentinels] pulling it off over the years. Having seen what you did to all those goblins with no apparent weapon, you might just have what it takes. We call it a spellblade, and usually someone has either one warrior and one mage class, or they merge a warrior with a mage class, and then have another mage class for their second. You¡¯ll probably want as much Magic Power as you can get, with Vitality and Mana Regen as your secondaries.¡± Lucius nodded at that. ¡°That matches up with the recommendations we got at the School. There are a few elements that would go well with that concept as well, but I think Metal might be the best fit. You¡¯ll likely get some abilities that would enhance your armor and weapons, and Metal skills can be incredibly fast and powerful at close range. Then if you combine that with a fire warrior class, you could get a magical metal element attuned to a specific type of magical metal, which can be quite versatile.¡± Ada also nodded, liking what she was being told. ¡°Is there an optimal way to assign my stats that would affect what classes I get? Also how do I see what my current stats are, and how do I actually get a class?¡± ¡°OK, so you¡¯re probably going to want at least 10 points in Magic Power, and then also 10 in both Mana Regen and Vitality,¡± said Lucius. ¡°As for your current stats, just think deliberately about what you want to see, like ¡®status¡¯ or something similar.¡± Ada frowned at this. The system was so dumb and easy, and she couldn¡¯t believe she hadn¡¯t thought of that before.
[*ding!* Cynicism has leveled up! 3->4]
The system was making fun of her again. She thought real hard, ¡°OK you snarky bitch, show me my status page.¡± Suddenly, a blue window with white text popped up in front of her face.
[Name: Ada]
[Race: Outsider (Humanoid)]
[Age: 29]
[Mana: 130/130]
[Mana Regeneration: 120]
Stats
[Free Stats: 144]
[Strength: 13]
[Dexterity: 13]
[Vitality: 26]
[Speed: 13]
[Mana: 13]
[Mana Regeneration: 13]
[Magic Power: 21]
[Magic Control: 39]
[Class 1: [Newcomer] + ]
[Class skills not available for initial class]
[Class 2: Locked]
[Class 3: Locked]
General Skills
[Walking: 8]
[Vigilant: 8]
[Basic Survival: 8]
[Sneaking: 5]
[Cunning Linguist: 3]
[Observe: 8]
[Pathfinding: 8]
[Cynicism: 4]
She looked over this new popup window, confused. ¡°Hey Lucius, my lowest stat is already at 13, and I haven¡¯t even spent any of the 144 free stat points,¡± she said. The mood in the wagon rapidly shifted as everyone looked directly at her, very serious expressions on their faces. Lucius very calmly asked, ¡°Ada, what did you just say?¡± Ada¡¯s voice got very quiet. ¡°Um, I said that I have 144 free stat points? Is that not normal?¡± Lucius shook his head, slowly. ¡°No, Ada, that is not normal. Humans very famously earn two stat points for each of their first 8 levels, and a bonus 1 free stat point per level for a grand total of 24 free points at level 8. Ada, what is your species?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, um, [Outsider (Humanoid)],¡± she said, nervously. ¡°But if it helps, I¡¯m really pretty sure that I was a regular old normal human yesterday.¡± Chapter 2 (Pants)
Chapter 2 (Pants)
Getting Papilion to stuff my soul back into a corporeal form was always a chore, and the ineffable ass seemed to think it was hilarious to change up which species and gender they assigned the wandering souls they found wandering out in the void. I don¡¯t mind switching things up from human, but I have a primal aversion to the male gender. Though, the time they had made me a golden crow was the absolute worst -- one encounter with some phoenixes only a year into life, and I was back out in the void. Standing up, I inspected my body. I was taller now, appearing around the size of a normal child of 12 or 13. I was also no longer a boy, thank fuck. However, looking down, I realized that I was once again in need of a pair of pants. I sighed. With the index finger of my right hand, I drew a circle in the air and invoked a preset script. Millions of tiny symbols of code swarmed off my hand, arranging themselves around the circle. I pulsed a few million mana into the runes -- a trivial amount for me at this point -- and the space inside the circle folded open. I reached in, and pulled out a pair of stretchy skinny jeans and a baggy T-shirt which read, ¡°I became a god and crafted my own universe in order to have somewhere to store a warehouse full of spare clothing, and all I got was this shirt¡±. It was, admittedly, a bit wordy, but they can¡¯t all be winners. My classes hadn¡¯t quite finished restoring yet, so I¡¯d need to actually talk to people to find out where the school was now, which meant talking to the knightly orders in the capital city of Lyon. I planned to gather eroded iron off the road surface as I traveled, so by the time I reached Lyon, I should be back to my normal 185 cm frame. I checked my bearings. Based on the stars and the positioning of the sun and moons, I estimated that I was around six or seven thousand kilometers from Lyon. I could be there in a matter of hours, or seconds with a bit of spatial magic, but that would draw way more attention than I wanted. The laws of this time meant that my very existence was exceptionally illegal, though the nation of Rolland had no way of actually enforcing that particular law against me -- unless they felt like waking up a particularly grumpy winged reptilian, and even then, I considered my odds against her to be quite good. However, I had the benefit of foresight in this case, and Lun''kat hadn''t been spotted in decades at the point, and wouldn''t until the war kicked off. I¡¯d have to take the time to go and say hello at some point -- I kinda missed that old grumpus. I decided to keep my pace around 200 km per day, which would be quick but reasonable for someone at the level 128 that I¡¯d be spoofing myself down to, especially considering I didn¡¯t need to stop to eat or drink. This did still mean it¡¯d take me more than a month to reach the capital, but I had at least a century before events required me at the school. Plenty of time.
Twelve days later, I was on the road between two completely forgettable towns, when several men holding a variety of weapons stepped into my path. ¡°Hello young traveler, we¡¯re collecting toll payments for the continued safety of the road here,¡± the ugly one in the center shouted at me. It appeared that I was being accosted by bandits. Oh no, I was in so much danger. ¡°No thanks,¡± I said with a smirk and continued walking, stepping around the man. ¡°Oi, miss, stop where you are,¡± he continued. ¡°Don¡¯t you understand this is a robbery?¡± I was quite certain that unless they called down the avatar of Thanatos himself, none of these men had a snowball¡¯s chance in hell of actually harming me. Especially since my classes had finally finished restoring. I had also managed to acquire another 80 kilos of iron and finished purging the remainder of the useless contaminants from my body. Just for the hell of it, I decided to check:
[Current body material composition by mass] [Iron: 98.45%] [Carbon: 1%] [Manganese: 0.5%] [Phosphorus: .03%] [Sulfur: .02%]
Perfect. Maintaining the correct alloy composition was a trivial task, but it was always nice to see that the background processes performed as designed. I stopped, turned to the man, and smiling, I replied, ¡°Oh dear, am I in danger?¡± He blinked. After a momentary hesitation, he said, ¡°Um, yes, miss, we¡¯re very dangerous men, and you are in danger.¡± Just to see what I was working with here, I ran a quick [Data dump] on my immediate proximity.
[Leader: Lv 273] [Warrior: Lv 131] [Warrior: Lv 129] [Ranger: Lv 132] [Ranger: Lv 131] [Laborer: Lv 128] [Warrior: Lv 133] [Warrior: Lv 129]
And so on. At least they hadn¡¯t been at this very long, and had likely only managed to kill a couple [Merchants] who had been overly attached to their goods. There probably wasn¡¯t even a bounty notice out for this crew. Who knows, I might even be able to convince the lot to save myself the hassle and turn themselves in. Lyon was in a period where they put limits on who was allowed to class up past level 128, and even tighter restrictions on people over level 256. The fact that this bandit leader was over 256 indicated that he had once been sworn to either some lord or organization, and had since been released from service. Any reasonable person would have simply gone to some other group and obtained employment, but no, this man had turned to banditry and recruited others under his banner. I figured he would best serve as an object lesson on why it was a bad idea to accost random people on the road. My smile grew a bit wider as I said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have any funds on me right now.¡± ¡°What?¡± The idiot was clearly confused. ¡°How do you not have any money?¡± ¡°I surrender!¡± came a voice from the back. I looked, and it turned out to be the man who had identified as a [Laborer].The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The bandit leader turned around to face the other man. ¡°What the fuck, Jason. Why are you surrendering to a single teenage girl? She doesn¡¯t even have any weapons,¡± he said. ¡°A single teenage girl, walking the High Road, alone, wearing weird clothing, with no apparent supplies? Boss, have you identified her? She¡¯s coming up as a level 128 artisan, and her eyes feel like staring into the space between stars in the night sky. I don¡¯t know what you have to do to get that as an artisan class. On top of that, instead of looking scared from all of us pointing weapons at her, she just looks excited. No thank you, I choose life.¡± I had actually forgotten that I had set my spatial [Worldwalker] class as my primary. Oh well, having the spatial element in my eyes did make my [Gaze Into The Abyss] passive skill just slightly more potent. I decided that now would be a fine time to see if I could make the bandit [Leader] shit himself. Using my [Reconstruction] racial trait, I crafted a two meter long claymore and casually held it over my shoulder with one hand. The [Laborer], Jason, dropped the spear he had been holding and took off running back in the direction I had come. The majority of the other bandits were staring at me, eyes wide and mouths slightly agape. Their intrepid [Leader] glanced around at them, and then finally turned back to see me. ¡°So, what do I owe you if I can¡¯t pay?¡± I asked, innocently. He smirked, ¡°Well, missy, if you can¡¯t pay, then I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to have to take you into custody. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll contact your folks, and then they can pay your toll in your stead.¡± I tapped my chin, pretending to consider his generous offer. ¡°Hmm, no, I don¡¯t think that will do at all,¡± I replied. I was honestly surprised. The idiot didn¡¯t seem to have noticed my sword at all. I supposed I¡¯d have to be considerably more obvious about his impotence in this situation. I decided to turn off my [Debug: Spoof Level Display] script just to see if anyone noticed. Evidently a few of them had, as another five bandits all dropped their bows and took off running in the same direction Jason had. The leader turned to watch them go and frowned. He turned back to look at me and said, ¡°Now listen here, little girl, you¡¯re going to come with us. Your parents can pay us or not, and...¡° While he was looking at me, I simultaneously activated [Black Steel Juggernaut] and pulsed the active ability from [Anathema], clearing out all of the active buff skills these idiots had going. My [Juggernaut] form conjured an extra 500 kilos of steel in the form of black magnetite sand. This swirled around my body, adhering to my ¡°skin¡±, and growing me to the much more intimidating height of 195 cm and my appearance changed from a teenage girl to that of a hulking figure in black plate armor with glowing red eyes. His pants darkened as he collapsed backwards onto the ground, and I detected a fresh, new stench waft toward me. I grinned internally -- nailed it. It had been a while since I had such low level mortals to toy with, so I decided to show off a bit. Activating both [Overclock] and [Warptime], my speed and dexterity multiplied to a godlike amount. Standing still, I considered each bladed weapon the bandits currently held leveled in my direction, then changed them all to a fine metallic dust, calling the metal to my hand. I¡¯d have to locate some more trace elements to maintain my alloy, but this amount would add another couple centimeters to my height. I then deactivated the two enhancement skills. While flashy and effective, they did burn through a hefty amount of mana to keep active. I think a few of the bandits may have even had weapon reinforcement abilities, because I thought I saw my mana a few points lower than the two skills alone would have eaten. Oh well, I''d be back to full in under a minute anyway. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I do have a question for you, though. How many pieces?¡± ¡°Wha.. What?¡± the [Bandit] [Leader] stammered. ¡°What do you mean? What did you do?¡± I sighed, loudly. ¡°I ate your weapons, idiot. Now come on, answer the question. How many pieces do you want to be?¡± ¡°What?¡± he said again, clearly broken. ¡°Ugh, fine. I¡¯m bored anyway,¡± I said, dismissing [Juggernaut] and reabsorbing my sword. They were completely unnecessary for this level of trash, anyway. ¡°Go follow your friends and turn yourselves in to the guard,¡± I continued. ¡°Otherwise I¡¯m coming back here and turning you all into [Dust in the Wind], now fuck off and leave me alone.¡± I decided to rotate my [Bladesinger] class back to the top position, the glow of molten iron from my Crucible element returning to my eyes. No one moved. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the ground. ¡°Seriously, go. NOW.¡± To their credit, they did all turn and run at that point. Oddly, it seemed that there was currently a bit more of a breeze than there perhaps should be. I looked down and groaned. Absorbing the iron from the bandits'' weapons had made me grow just enough. My pants were destroyed.
[Name: Ada]
[Race: Katabasian (Elvenoid)]
[Age: #OVERFLOW#]
[Mana: 987,498,460/987,498,460]
[Mana Regeneration: 834,353,419 (171,668,215,959)]
Stats
[Free Stats: ]
[Strength: 25,168,500]
[Dexterity: 25,278,653]
[Vitality: 31,243,848 (47,420,350,302)]
[Speed: 39,555,243]
[Mana: 98,749,846]
[Mana Regeneration: 99,201,765 (20,410,763,149)]
[Magic Power: 116,591,992 (23,988,802,354)]
[Magic Control: 117,856,256 (24,248,924,672)]
[Class 1: [The Bladesinger - Crucible: Lv 4095 ]]
[Crucible Spirit: 4095]
[Bladesong: 4095]
[Anathema: 4095]
[Imbue Arsenal: 4095]
[Black Steel Juggernaut: 4095]
[Reflow: 4095]
[Transmute: 4095]
[The World Is As You Will It: 4095]
[Class 2: [The Desolation - Sand: Lv 4095 ]]
[Sand Spirit: 4095]
[Scour: 4095]
[Shatter: 4095]
[Wings of Desolation: 4095]
[Dessicate: 4095]
[Entropy Inversion: 4095]
[Dust in the Wind: 4095]
[The Only Thing They Fear is You: 4095]
[Class 3: [Worldwalker - Space: Lv 4095 ]]
[Spatial Spirit: 4095]
[Warptime: 4095]
[Displacement: 4095]
[Hammerspace: 4095]
[Gaze Into The Abyss: 4095]
[Stardust: 4095]
[Gate: 4095]
[Rift #LOCKED#: 0]
General Skills
[Soul Bonded: 4095]
[Debug Mode: 4095]
[Hyperthreading: 4095]
[Overclock: 4095]
[Cunning Linguist: 4095]
[Data Dump: 4095]
[Remnant Superiority: 4095]
[Ada''s Vow of Eternity to Alex: 4095]
Chapter -2147483645 (stats and skills)
Chapter -2147483645 (stats and skills)
The entire wagon reverberated like a bell when Ada¡¯s hands shot up in the air so fast that she wasn¡¯t able to stop them from striking the armored roof. Several rangers winced as they held their ears. ¡°Hey, everyone can relax. I vouch for Ada,¡± said Alex. ¡°She might not currently be human, but she is definitely the person I knew from before I joined the rangers. She knows about things I¡¯ve never told anyone else, things that would be impossible for anyone to have learned, as well. Also remember how we all got the notification when the Shimagu went extinct? She¡¯s definitely not one of them.¡± After a few seconds, Marcus asked, ¡°Alex, are you sure? You¡¯ll take responsibility for her?¡± Alex sighed. ¡°Yes Marcus, I¡¯m taking responsibility for her. If she murders us all in our sleep, please feel free to blame me.¡± Marcus sighed audibly. ¡°Fuck it, good enough for me. Stand down, rangers,¡± he commanded. The tension in the wagon was slowly diffused. Hands were removed from weapon hilts, and the rangers visibly relaxed. Ada slowly lowered her hands. After several minutes of awkward silence, Lucius spoke up, ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain what¡¯s going on with your stats. Spill. What are your full stats?¡± ¡°Sure, OK, this whole thing is fucking absurd, but why not,¡± said Ada. She thought about her [Status], focusing only on her stats. The increasingly familiar blue window appeared before her eyes.
[Name: Ada]
[Race: Outsider (Humanoid)]
[Age: 29]
[Mana: 130/130]
[Mana Regeneration: 120]
Stats
[Free Stats: 144]
[Strength: 13]
[Dexterity: 13]
[Vitality: 26]
[Speed: 13]
[Mana: 13]
[Mana Regeneration: 13]
[Magic Power: 21]
[Magic Control: 39]
Ada read this off for Lucius. She then said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know how that compares to anything, or how I should distribute my free stats.¡± Lucius thought for a moment. ¡°Hmm, well, for mage classes we usually recommend trying to hit even 10s on magic stats, and work on acquiring the [Meditate] skill before going for a class advancement. You can also wait on doing an advancement in order to try and do something meaningful that might grant you a higher quality tier. Most people still end up getting either a pink or red quality at best, though there are some who are touched by gods and earn a divinely granted blue quality class from that, like an [Acolyte] or even an [Oracle], but that¡¯s really between you and your god.¡± ¡°Lucius, her starter class is blue quality,¡± said Alex. ¡°Got any clue as to why or how that could happen?¡± ¡°No, I do not,¡± said Lucius. ¡°The only thing I could even guess at is that she was god touched at birth. I don¡¯t know enough about the holy orders to speculate about how that could happen. In any case, Ada, you said you wanted to be a mage, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, but I also want to use a sword,¡± said Ada. Lucius closed his eyes, doing some quick mental arithmetic. Then he looked back to Ada and said, ¡°OK, I think you should bump all your stats that are at 13 on up to 20 to start, then your speed up another 10 points to 30, your vitality up to 40 -- these are really your primary defensive stats, speed helping you dodge attacks and vitality helping you survive the ones you can¡¯t dodge. Then raise your Mana and Mana regen up to 40, and your Magic Power and Magic Control both to 50. That should be exactly 144 points.¡± Ada did as he recommended, and then double checked her stats.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
[Name: Ada]
[Race: Outsider (Humanoid)]
[Age: 29]
[Mana: 400/400]
[Mana Regeneration: 345]
Stats
[Free Stats: ]
[Strength: 20]
[Dexterity: 20]
[Vitality: 40]
[Speed: 30]
[Mana: 40]
[Mana Regeneration: 40]
[Magic Power: 50]
[Magic Control: 50]
¡°OK, that¡¯s done. And you were right, all free stat points spent. Now what¡¯s this about a [Meditate] skill? Do I need to have something like that?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s not an absolute necessity, but having it will guarantee you get offered some kind of mage based class.¡± Lucius paused for a moment, and then continued, ¡°If you want to wait a bit and try to get the skill, I can lead you through some guided meditation, which should get you the skill.¡± Another ranger, whose name Ada had missed earlier, spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s gotten quiet outside. I think the flock may have moved on.¡± ¡°Thanks Quirinus,¡± said Marcus. ¡°We¡¯ll give it another 20 minutes and then check on things.¡±
Two days later, the town of Odessos was finally in sight. Ada and the rangers had pulled the wagon all the way back from the remote farm that had been destroyed by goblins, with each member of the party having taken turns at the yoke in pairs. In between her turns at pulling the wagon, Ada had gone through sessions of guided [Meditation], and several of the rangers had assisted with training up her other skills. She had even managed to learn the local writing system. There was still quite a bit of the sorcery primer book that she was having trouble with, but that would get easier with time -- especially since [Cunning Linguist] would continue gaining levels after she completed her class advancement. Ada called up her skills to look over things, finally getting more used to pulling up information from the system.
General Skills
[Walking: 8]
[Vigilant: 8]
[Basic Survival: 8]
[Meditate: 8]
[Cunning Linguist: 8]
[Identify: 8]
[Pathfinding: 8]
[Cynicism: 8]
With her skills leveled and stats allocated, Lucius had advised Ada that she was now as ready as she could reasonably be for a class up given the time available. It would be better if she had some time to gain some life experience, as hardships tended to reward higher quality classes, but her goblin encounter at such a low level should probably result in being offered something decent, but it was going to be a good idea to class up before entering the town, for her own safety. Civilization had a tendency to attract unscrupulous people who wouldn¡¯t think twice at attempting to take advantage of an attractive woman with a low level, and especially someone who identified as a child. She was also advised that her first class would likely progress quickly, given her apparent age and already high stats would allow her to take on significant challenges should she choose a combat oriented class. The rangers had offered to transport her the rest of the way back to the capital of the empire, and Marcus had even expressed interest in recruiting her to the [Rangers]. Given the carnage they had seen her wreak against those goblins, apparent low level or not, spoke to her resolve of character, and he felt she would fit in well amongst other [Recruits]. Ada didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him that she really wasn¡¯t a joiner, and had no intention of signing up to be a Ranger. Even so, she did want to stick with the team, at least until she had a better idea of what was going on in the world around her and how she was supposed to fit into it. Staying close to Alex was also a significant incentive. The two were getting along like gangbusters, and Alex had even spent some private time helping Ada level up her new linguistics skill. The rangers stopped the wagon for the night with around a six hour journey remaining. Alex explained that it would be better to approach the town in the daylight rather than try and deal with the night watch guards at the town wall. Guards were generally decent at their jobs, but they were less likely to be harassed or require waking anyone up in order to deal with corrupt guards attempting to extort the ranger team. That was rare, but it had happened to them once already on this patrol circuit. While everyone was enjoying their evening meal, Marcus spoke up, ¡°Ada, you should go ahead with your class up tonight before we enter Odessos. Ada asked, ¡°Alright, so how does this class up thing even work?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very easy. You just think about advancing your class, and then you¡¯ll enter a soul space where you get to communicate with your inner self. That self will have the intrinsic knowledge to assist you through choosing the best class to suit you,¡± said Lucius. After a short pause, he continued, ¡°Meanwhile, out here in the real world, you¡¯ll simply enter a deep sleep with sparkling lights around your head. Unfortunately, this does leave you exceptionally vulnerable until you complete the process.¡± At that, Atalanta said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll watch over you and keep you safe.¡± Marcus added, ¡°We¡¯ll be doing watch tonight in three shifts, three at a time. Alex, Quintus, and Nyssos, you have the first watch. Quirinus and Pliny, you¡¯re with me on the second watch. Atalanta, Martelius, and Lucius, you have the third watch. Ada, whenever you¡¯re ready, hop on into the wagon, get comfortable, and then go ahead with classing up.¡± Ada nodded. ¡°I guess now is good enough,¡± she said, standing up. She stepped up into the armored transport, rolled out the borrowed bedroll, and layed down. Then, she entered the world of her soul. Chapter -2147483644 (Classing Up I)
Chapter -2147483644 (Classing Up I)
Ada awoke in what appeared to her to be a rather modern version of a datacenter, with a few notable oddities. The first weirdness she noticed was that Ada was not being deafened by thousands of cooling fans desperately attempting to maintain homeostasis for their connected hardware. There was an unmistakable background hum, but beyond that, the noise level was no more than a quiet office building would have. The second weird thing Ada noticed was that she was neither freezing nor overheated -- the ambient temperature was actually quite tolerable. Beyond those two items of note, the environment felt both comfortable and familiar. Looking around, recognition of the space slowly trickled into Ada¡¯s mind. She knew where she needed to go to find her guide. There would be an alcove three rows down at the end where there would be workstations, and that would be where her guide would be waiting. Walking through the facility, Ada looked behind the cages on either side of the path and found she was able to identify each piece of equipment as they happily hummed away on their racks. There was both fiber optic and copper based networking equipment, blade servers, and other name branded server hardware, on all of which the brand badges had been conveniently filed off, preventing anyone needing to worry about silly things like trademark violations. Ada recalled the first time she had gotten to go to a datacenter on a school field trip and watched the IT workers hooking up a new piece of hardware on a server rack. That had been a formative moment for her, cementing her love of all things inorganic and electronic. Turning a corner, Ada saw the U-shaped alcove at the end of the row precisely where she had expected it to be. There were two desks, complete with dual monitors, mouse, keyboard, and what appeared to be a desktop computer directly from the mid 1990s in a disgusting beige box. Along the wall between the two stations was a narrow shelf which held a rather nice looking espresso machine and all of the accessories Ada had wished she could have had at her apartment back home, she would even have sworn she could smell her favorite blend from the local roastery near her home back in Michigan. Sure enough, there was that familiar brown paper bag. One of the two desks was already occupied by a figure that Ada did not recognize. From behind, the person had long, wavy, dark brown hair gathered in a high ponytail, but was otherwise dressed in a rather standard black T-shirt and khaki shorts, much like what Ada had worn to her casual dress office on the daily. Without turning around, a feminine voice called out, ¡°You¡¯re late again. Grab a coffee and have a seat. We have a lot of material to go through.¡± Ada blinked. The voice was unfamiliar, and yet she was certain that it had been her own voice. Deciding to just roll with it, Ada shrugged and proceeded to measure out a dose and grind the beans. She loaded the portafilter, stirred the grounds with a wire tool, then tamped and locked the portafilter onto the machine. Once the machine was done pushing water through the grounds, she removed the portafilter and knocked the puck out into a little box designed just for that purpose. Lastly, she added milk to the final product creating her favorite drink, the flat white. Ada breathed deeply, savoring the aroma. She took a sip, and it was absolute perfection. The figure rotated in the chair, looked Ada in the eye, and then spoke, ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re done being a pretentious idiot, will you sit down? We have so much to go through. Someone sent us a manual so thick that technical certification companies would be jealous. And then I have dozens of class options, several of which were handed off by actual gods, let alone the ones brought in by angels. I bet you don¡¯t even know what we did to earn this kind of attention.¡± ¡°I.. what?¡± Ada was confused. Before her was a beautiful woman with dark hair and brilliant blue eyes wearing one of Ada¡¯s favorite T-shirts which read ¡°Solvem Probler¡± across the front in faded gold lettering. Then, she finally realized -- this woman was her. She hadn¡¯t had access to a mirror since she showed up in this world, and had never seen her own face since the change. This made sense. She had been told that she¡¯d have a guide in the form of her inner soul, and she¡¯d known her body was wrong ever since she had been a teenager. It had taken entirely too long to figure out what exactly that meant, and she had even made an appointment to go see a doctor about starting to work on fixing that. In fact, she had been on her way to that appointment when... Ada couldn¡¯t remember. She knew there should have been a memory, but instead, she had a big blank. She remembered getting dressed, having coffee, getting in her car, and leaving to go to her appointment at the gender clinic at the University hospital, but that¡¯s where everything ended. ¡°Yeah, you noticed too,¡± said the other woman. ¡°That was as much as I¡¯ve been able to recover so far. The rest of the day is just gone, and it took me this long to get just that morning back, but we do know one thing for certain. We died, Ada. We died, and then we got brought here.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I remember the last day now. We had just claimed a massive bug bounty and finished writing up the report, and I came out to everyone. They took me out for drinks to celebrate, and I got home late. That morning, I overslept and had a massive hangover, and I was rushing to get to my appointment on time. There must have been an accident on the highway or something.¡± After a brief pause, Ada opened her eyes wide and exclaimed, ¡°Oh fuck me, I¡¯m an isekai cliche, aren¡¯t I?¡± The other Ada... no, she couldn¡¯t keep thinking about this woman like that. Ada would have to come up with a title or something, because weren¡¯t they both Ada? Anyway, the other Ada tapped her chin, thinking. ¡°Hmm, we don¡¯t actually know for certain if it was Truck-kun that got us, but I¡¯ll admit it¡¯s a pretty decent chance. I¡¯ll keep some resources working on it, but for now, we have more pressing concerns.¡± Ada finally sat and sucked down the remainder of her coffee. ¡°OK, lay it on me, what¡¯s the big deal?¡± ¡°Here,¡± the other woman said, handing over a massive manual. Ada read the cover. ¡°You¡¯ve died and traveled to another world. The System and You: a practical guide to the cosmos, 8th edition.¡± The other.. wait, no, she needed to be called something.. Caretaker? Custodian? Facility Supervisor? ... these were all bad options. Finally, Ada decided to just ask, ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t just keep thinking about you as ¡®other Ada¡¯, what should we call each other?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was thinking about that too. You should keep being Ada. You haven¡¯t gotten to use that name for very long so far, and I think you deserve it. I¡¯ve always been like this in here, though the environment has gone through a bit of an overhaul recently. Why don¡¯t we just complete the reference, and you call me Lovelace?¡± said Lovelace. ¡°That¡¯ll work. Have you had time to review this thing?¡± said Ada, holding up the massive tome she had been handed. ¡°This thing is huge, I don¡¯t know how time works in here versus out there, and we are in a bit of a time crunch. I need to be back out there by morning.¡± ¡°Alright, Cliff¡¯s notes version. There¡¯s a system, you know that already. The system regulates magic, rewarding people that do impressive things, experience impressive events, see impressive things, et cetera. It clearly hooks into me somehow, because I gained an intrinsic knowledge about how a lot of the mechanics operate, which you¡¯ll get some of that after you pick a class and learn some skills. I also have complete knowledge of all of the classes that are on offer this time around. All of that just appeared within me when you entered this space.¡± Lovelace looked up and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I already spun up some processes to sniff the IO stream to work out how to reverse engineer the protocols. I¡¯m sure with enough time, we¡¯ll be able to spoof whatever we want. That¡¯s a concern for later, however.¡± Ada nodded, ¡°Right, concerns for right now. Tell me about the classes we have available.¡± Lovelace turned around, grabbing a box off her desk. This was a sort of clamshell box with a beige bottom half and a translucent gray-brown top, with a collection of what Ada thought looked exactly like 3.5¡± floppy diskettes inside. All of the diskettes in the box were blue. Lovelace handed the box to Ada. ¡°These are the classes that various different gods popped over to offer us. They¡¯re all blue quality, and they each put us in service to whichever god offered it. It¡¯ll allow the god to communicate directly with us rather easily, and give them a bit more access to me than they¡¯d otherwise have. It¡¯s not a lot of access, but they¡¯d be siphoning off a bit of mana constantly. I¡¯m reasonably confident that I¡¯d be able to revoke that access eventually and cut off the mana supply, but that may not be worth the hassle. Anyway, changing classes later on and picking a non-divine class will have the same effect of cutting off the god,¡± said Lovelace. Ada nodded back at this and said, ¡°Divine classes, like [Cleric], [Paladin], [Priestess], [Oracle], that kind of thing?¡± Lovelace nodded, ¡°yeah, but more like [Initiate] and [Acolyte], this is only level 8, you know. Hmm.. actually I think we did get one [Oracle] offered, from this weirdo who kept changing appearances. I think there was some kind of three legged crow at one point? Whatever, not important. I don¡¯t recommend any of these. They¡¯re way more powerful than any of the other classes we have to choose from, but I don¡¯t like the idea of getting tied to some other entity without more knowledge of who they are and what they stand for.¡± Ada replied, ¡°Agreed. Wholeheartedly. We¡¯ve never been a joiner before, and with incomplete information, this isn¡¯t any time to start.¡± ¡°Right, so moving on to the non-divine offerings,¡± Lovelace said, turning around to grab another box of floppy diskettes. She handed the new box over to Ada and took back the first box, putting that on the shelf next to the espresso machine. Ada looked over this new box. Most of the contents were either pink or red disks, but there were a few that were orange or yellow, and one was a dark plum purple. Looking the assortment over, Ada sighed. There were a lot. ¡°Alright, I guess we start going through these, starting with the highest quality and working down until we find the ones that are good fits,¡± she said. Ada turned around and set the box of disks down on the desk, opened it, and reached for the magenta disk. She slotted it into the 3.5¡± floppy drive on the beige box in front of her, and pushed the power button. The system started humming as it came to life. Chapter -2147483644 (Classing Up II)
Chapter -2147483644 (Classing Up II)
Ada slid the purple disk into the slot on the front of her machine. It popped in, made some pulsing mechanical sounds, and then the screen lit up. Across the top, displayed in big blocky lettering was the text [WORLD TRAVELER - Spatial]. Below that was a more standard terminal font describing the features of the class. The class would grant skills that allowed opening portals into other realms, teleportation, pocket storage spaces, and more. It would gain bonus experience from simply visiting other worlds, and would grant nearly two thousand skill points distributed almost evenly between the four magic stats, but nothing in any of the physical stats at all. It had been unlocked by visiting three different worlds. Ada was no number theorist, but she considered herself decently skilled with her fingers, and that last part wasn¡¯t adding up. Somewhat confused, Ada turned to Lovelace and asked, ¡°Hey, this looks like it¡¯s supposed to be like a glass cannon, but I don¡¯t see any attack skills on it. Despite the huge stat gains in magic, it looks suspicious, yeah?¡± Lovelace nodded back. ¡°Yeah, and you won¡¯t even be able to level it up at all without mooching XP off some companions,¡± she replied. ¡°What do you mean? It does let me teleport and open portals and stuff,¡± said Ada. ¡°I¡¯d probably even be able to get back to Earth at some point.¡± ¡°Mana costs. You wouldn¡¯t be able to push enough mana into any of the skills before they¡¯d fail to activate. Teleporting and bending spacetime takes a lot of mana. Just imagine the gravitational forces involved.¡± Lovelace continued, ¡°No, for that class to make sense, we¡¯d need to already have at least one other magic focused class at a high level to have a prayer at making it work.¡± Ada was slightly disheartened, but knew that would be the result after she had read the help file. ¡°Alright, make a copy and save it for later?¡± Lovelace smiled as she replied, ¡°Already done. What you¡¯re holding are the originals, but I already backed up the data in a couple different redundant spaces. That¡¯s going to be part of another one of my projects. We¡¯re going to reverse engineer these and craft our own with all the best options.¡± ¡°Good deal, that¡¯s exactly what I was going to ask you to try doing,¡± said Ada. ¡°Ok, then, moving on.¡± Ada popped the purple disk out of the drive and returned it to the box. Next, she pulled one of the yellow disks and slotted that in.
[Disappointment]
Ada put it back. ¡°Really? Disappointment?¡± She pulled out the next yellow disk.
[Mind Goblin]
And then the next one.
[Act 1 Wallflower]
And the next.
[Participation Trophy]
She threw all of these back into the box and sat back, folded her arms and scowled in disgust. Ada couldn¡¯t believe it. The system was obviously trolling her. She turned to Lovelace, glared at her, and said, ¡°We¡¯re getting joke classes, right? That¡¯s what this is?¡± Lovelace nodded back, ¡°Yeah, pretty much. The descriptions and unlock requirements aren¡¯t much better, either. Probably best to just skip most of these and just use them for data points for later.¡± Ada scowled and said, ¡°Can you narrow this mess down to just the real, actual mage classes, and maybe the metal element if there are any that are specialized?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Yeah, hang on. I just wanted to have a bit of fun having you look at some of the crap options just to show that stats aren¡¯t always everything. In this case, in order to get you the class path you want, we¡¯re going to have to take something a bit lower down on the quality scale,¡± said Lovelace. She rolled her chair over and pulled out one seemingly random disk out of the middle of the case that Ada would swear wasn¡¯t there before. This one was a light green color, and somehow Ada hadn¡¯t seen it in the box when she looked through it before. Ada groaned. She took the disk as Lovelace offered it to her.
[Elementalist]
¡°You ass. You just said lower quality,¡± said Ada. Her soul duplicate chuckled and said, ¡°Yeah, I was fucking with you. I knew when you came in that this would be the one we¡¯d want. Check out the class features.¡± Ada did just that. Turning her chair back around to the desk, she slotted the bright green disk into the workstation and it booted up, loading the details about the class.
[Elementalist - Metal] Requirements: Craft and inhabit an elemental body, 50 Magic Power, 50 Magic Control, 8+ ranks Meditate general skill. You have intrinsically bound yourself to a fundamental element. This class will help you gain a greater understanding of the element and grow with its power. You¡¯ll be able to manipulate your form, conjure more of the element, and command other nearby sources of the element. +13 Strength, +13 Dexterity, +13 Vitality, +13 Speed, +26 Mana, +26 Mana Regen, +26 Magic Power, +26 Magic Control per level. This class path has a high chance to merge with another class of a neighboring element when advancing. Class skills have a high chance at evolving as your understanding and control of the element increases.
¡°OK, wait. What¡¯s this about an elemental body? I can sort of remember getting a system popup saying something about that, but then I think I passed out,¡± said Ada. Lovelace nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, so that¡¯s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. When we got here to this world, you were kinda... dormant, and we didn¡¯t have a body. I was trying to put something together out of what was around, but you try getting a bunch of loose iron particles to stick together without a big electromagnet. Anyway, it wasn¡¯t going well, until this other... something, I don¡¯t know, came along and showed me how to get all the little particles to stick together, and how I could even alter the size of surface pores to get it to absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light. So, I crafted a body, one that looked like how I always saw myself and how you always knew we were supposed to look. Once that was done, we just kinda bonded to the body. You took control, and then woke up. I came back here, set this place up, and started researching.¡± Ada wasn¡¯t sure how to take this new information. She¡¯d known that something had happened to her that had changed her from being a human. She remembered not feeling any pain from being injured by the goblins, and that she hadn¡¯t bled from those wounds. It just hadn¡¯t quite hit her exactly how extensive the changes had been. Oh, and there was also the fact that she no longer had to deal with those horrible things swinging around in between her legs. It was impossible to put into words how much of a relief that had been. She decided that the end result was worth whatever horrific death she¡¯d experienced and could no longer remember. And besides, it turned out that Alex had already been here. Ada looked back to Lovelace and said, ¡°Alright, that actually makes a lot of sense, but I don¡¯t know how I''m going to unpack all of the other stuff just yet. I guess if this is our best class that isn¡¯t going to make us indebted to a god and also actually gain experience, there¡¯s not much point in continuing through the box. I still need to get back out there before morning.¡± ¡°Right, OK, hand me the disk and I¡¯ll load it up on the Gibson, then you can get going,¡± said Lovelace. Ada narrowed her eyes and said with a deadpan, ¡°You seriously named this thing the Gibson?¡± ¡°Well, yeah,¡± said Lovelace as she loaded the green disk into the other workstation and typed out some commands. ¡°What else was I supposed to call it? And before you ask, no, the password isn¡¯t ¡®God¡¯. It¡¯s a 256 character alphanumeric phrase.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the chorus from ¡®Never Gonna Give You Up¡¯ and you lied about it being 256 characters,¡± said Ada. ¡°Ugh, fine, yes, it is. Now go, get out of here already,¡± Lovelace replied, making shooing motions with her hands. ¡°Your ranger friend is probably out there waiting for you to wake up so she can sit on your face or something.¡± Ada¡¯s face turned a deep shade of crimson as she blustered, ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure you don¡¯t. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve suddenly become a tomato. Seriously, we¡¯re all done with this class advancement. Get out already.¡± Ada, still blushing, turned to leave. The trip back to the entryway was quick, and there was now a door on the wall where she had initially arrived. She opened it, and stepped out.
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your first class -- [Elementalist] - Metal]