Energy detected....
Soul Garden found...
System Initialising...
Greetings, Follower! Welcome to the System…
Error! Anomaly Found. Alerting an Administrator to assess the anomaly.
Ren blinked and someone appeared. It was a tall, humanoid being with four arms all crossed in a judging way. His short hair the colour of fire and his eyes completely black. His austere expression showed his boredom, as if he would rather be anywhere else but here. The handle of a giant sword stood out over his large shoulder. The stranger’s orange robes were made of a foreign material, but they matched his hair perfectly, as they hung down to his knees, revealing the chiselled physique underneath. His boots were plain and brown, they looked like they could break at any moment, but even they felt strong.
Somehow, Ren had missed the three glowing orbs floating above the mysterious man’s head, circling a much larger one. As Ren tried to focus more on one of the orbs, a shining silver one that called to him, his mind started protesting, then begging, then screaming for him to look away. His mind almost broke, but in the last second, another light flashed from the corner of his vision, red and white, which woke him from his spiral.
Lost in his thoughts, he closed his eyes and tried to reach for the light, but was interrupted by a loud voice. “Well, that was interesting, I certainly didn’t think you would be able to see my cores, let alone gain some inspiration from them.” As Ren opened his eyes, he noticed the surprise on the man’s face, his arms no longer crossed, with one scratching his chin and the others hanging limp.
The man approached him slowly and raised two of his arms up, resting them on Ren’s head. The man closed his eyes, still as a rock, not even breathing. After a minute of the awkward silence, the man let go and raised his eyebrows. Stepping back he started muttering quietly to himself. Ren tried to listen in, but the only word he caught was “unusual”.
As the man muttered to himself, he looked around for the first time since he appeared. He noticed the solid white floor and stomped and, surprised that nothing happened, he tried again, this time even harder. He looked up, out into the distance and into the multicoloured mist. He was overwhelmed with confusion as he tried to figure out what the appearance of the familiar mist meant. He had seen it before, but only very rarely, and never this vibrant.
Moving his eyes away from the mist, he turned around, eyes scouring the island. His eyes passed the hill with the sphere, forgetting it in an instance. However, his intuition told him something was wrong with that sphere. He furrowed his eyebrows and flew to the top of the hill. Not walked, not ran, but flew. It took him two seconds to cross the distance until he was right next to it, levitating in place for less than a second before his mood changed. His surprise and confusion disappeared, replaced with primal fear. He took a step back in the air and then flashed to the intriguing boy’s side.
Lifting the boy up so they could see eye to eye, he spoke in a rapid, whispered voice. “Where did you find that thing, boy??” He shook the boy, hoping it would provoke him to spill his secrets.
“Please! I don’t know. I-it was here when I arrived. I promise! Let me down!” The boy squealed, his terror overpowering his confusion.
The terrifying man unceremoniously dropped Ren onto the ground and started pacing, his mind racing at insane speeds, thinking of his next move. Finally, he came up with an idea.
“Listen kid, I don’t know how or where you got that sphere, or how you manage to bond with your soul. I can’t do anything to it or you, unless I plan on dying in the process. I don’t know how to deal with this, so I will need to get some help. My Master is preparing to challenge the next Trial, but I might be able to convince him to come. Before I leave, I will explain some things to you, but first, show me your Status.”
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Ren’s confused gaze told the man everything he needed to know as he spoke once more. “Just imagine the word Status. I will be able to see it because of the difference in our Stages.”
Ren’s mind went blank and he focused on was the word, Status. The more he focused, the brighter the flashing red and white light got, until it consumed him and something appeared in the centre of his mind.
Status
Race - Human
Age - 8
Stage - Body Foundation
Layer - Small
Titles - [Child Of Heaven], [Prodigy Of The Dao], [Unyielding]
Attributes:
* [Power]: 4.3
* [Speed]: 2.8
* [Vitality]: 3.5
* [Mind]: 7.1
* [Will]: 1.0
* [Energy]: 4.9
Available points: 5
Dao:
* Soul1- Small Dao Fragment - 0%
* Sword - High Dao Fractal - 25%
Achievements:
* [Child Of Heaven]
Begin your Path before the age of 10.
Reward:
Increased chance to achieve Perfection.
* [Prodigy Of The Dao]
Obtain your first Dao Fragment before breaking through to the Lord Stage.
Reward:
50% increased Core capacity.
* [Unyielding]
Defy the presence of a being at least 3 entire Stages above you.
Reward:
Early Access to the Stat: [Will].
His mind went blank in shock as he tried to figure out what it was. His shock only increased as he continued reading, until it eclipsed when he saw his Achievements. What was Perfection? How did he get his Daos? When? What was this [Unyielding] Achievement? Ren knew for sure that the strongest Follower he had ever met was his father, but he had only been at the Monarch Stage. Even if his father had been at Peak Monarch, which would only be 2 full Stages above him, Ren knew he never could’ve stood before the full pressure of his father’s presence. The only person he could think of was the one standing in front of him, whose eyes were wide open and mouth formed a wide 'O', the shock and disbelief he felt plain as day.
The man shook himself out of his trance and looked around, as if someone else was there, playing tricks on him. His eyes settled back on the boy, who was evidently confused and a bit scared.
“That was… very unexpected. How in the High Heavens did you manage to make a Dao Fragment before you even advanced to Mind Foundation? I can barely understand getting it before Lord. I made my first Fragment while in Soul Foundation and I was called a Great Genius. In all my millennia I have only ever met four Followers who made their first Fragment in Mind Foundation. All of them are now at least as strong as my Master, if not more.”
“Uhh. Sorry but I don’t know what any of that means, sir. Didn’t you say you would tell me?” Ren asked innocently, trying to pry any information he could use out of the seemingly mad stranger.
“Yes, yes. I was going to tell you a few things about the System, but after seeing your Status I think I'll tell you a bit more now. Shall we begin?"