It was 9 AM. Xanther had been sitting in silence for 20 minutes. He needed some time to think about all of these events.
"So, what should I call you? I can't just keep calling you an entity."
"Hmm, call me Erebus. I feel like that sounds good enough."
"A tad bit edgy, but it works. What is the first thing I should do now? You wanted a story, right? Give me a push in the right direction"
"How about I finish what that demon of yours started and give you a system to help motivate you? Mind you, it won't be like the systems you have been reading about. I fully agree with that demon and won't lower myself to make such a trashy thing."
"You too? Why does nobody understand what the beauty of them is? You get strong fast and safely, without any risks, and start going around surprising everyone with a monstrous amount of power."
"That is why. You'll never rely on yourself. Where is the fun in reading a story that has no real struggle or stakes? Everything you accomplish will be due to the system and you will only be its avatar. I'm only going to give you an interface to properly assess yourself and interact with me."
"Aren't you stuck inside my soul without a body? What can you do to help me?"
"Well, for one thing, I can allow you to trade for some of my techniques and you can perfect them as you gain more power. I'll supply you with a room within yourself to practice them at a 10:1 inner-time to real-time, so you can have no excuse to not do it on your own. I'll even help you increase the time ratio as you get stronger. The question is, are you willing to rely on yourself? I've barely scratched the surface of what I can do, but the condition is that I'll only assist you. I'll only give you the right conditions, but doing the hard work is on you, keeping the techniques active is on you, and your own power is your responsibility."
"I... I can do it."
"Really? Can you really do it? Weren't you asking for the easy way out earlier? You need a strong will to take my help, otherwise, you'll be consumed by the very gifts that you choose to buy."
"I CAN DO IT!"
"Now that's more like it, I could really feel the determination in your voice. The 'system' has already been added to you. Go check yourself."
Xanther brought up the screen almost instinctively. He simply looked within himself and saw a reflection of the essence of his existence hover before him before turning into information.
______________________________________________
[Name: Xanther]
[Age: 19]
[Bloodline: 91% Scorned Human, 9% Mana Human, ???% Potential bloodline]
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
[Stats]
Vitality: 58
Dexterity:34
Strength: 68
Intelligence: 36
Wisdom: 20
Luck: 50
[Energy: 500]
[Energy recovery(Per 24h): 0.001]
[Perks]
{Insatiable Body}
[Skills]
Passive:
Active: [Body training], [Research], [Mixed Martial Arts]
______________________________________________
Xanther's heart was wildly pumping. He had finally gotten what he had dreamed of. The incessant urge to gain power wearing down his sanity had stopped and he had gotten the system he so badly wanted."
"This is amazing! What are the stats and skills of the average person? Also, what's up with my bloodline?"
"The status of the average person here would be ~10 in every stat, 5 energy with the same recovery, and 1 skill. You have quite an impressive body for someone who lived without the energies that everything else is able to use outside of this dimension. Your bloodline is due to the 'God' of this dimension scorning all intelligent life and cursing them to be black holes for energy. This was done before any of your ancestors had adapted to any energy, so your species had never developed the ability to properly use it without dying from being oversaturated with it. Any other questions?"
Xanther began pacing around his small room as he processed this information. The more he knew, the more questions he had.
"Why are my stats and energy so high? And why is the recovery so low if we are these supposed 'black holes'?"
"You improved yourself to the peak of human performance through your 19 years here, on top of that, the energies that were stuck in your body did inevitably push you past human limits until about a month or so ago, when you realized that there was no way for you to get stronger. You can call yourself the strongest man in the world based on strength alone despite how your build looks. About your recovery, I set it to show the amount of energy that is actually usable for you, the rest flows right through you as if you didn't exist. Be thankful that there even is a number there due to my changes."
"Alright, I'm satisfied for now. What else do you have to show me?"
"A shop, look at it when you feel like it. I'll be out for a while to prepare something urgent that we need."
As soon as those words were spoken, Xanther felt like a weight on his mind had disappeared. His mind was silent, something he realized would become rare from now on.
He cleaned himself up and decided to go outside for a walk to help himself get back to a proper state. Xanther lived in a coastal area and it was currently winter, so the beach would be relatively empty. He specifically wanted to go into the cave that he had found under the docks when he was younger.
The cold air touched his face as he left the door. The grass across the street had frozen dewdrops resting in them. He crossed the street and looked back at the tall apartment complex that looked older than he was one last time before he left for the beach.
-20 minutes later-
He had worn a grey sweater with some black fleece pants and had put on some worn-out running shoes. It suited the temperature but looked odd on the empty beach. He walked under the dock and admired his work, a very large rock that was carved out to look like some densely packed stones was slid in front of the entrance. He then moved the rock out so that he could get into the dark crevice and closed it behind him with the indents he had carved into the stone.
The cave went deep into the ground before twisting towards the sea into an abandoned observatory. Xanther didn't know why someone would build something like this and just leave it unattended, but he at least knew that he was the only one who ever went in there. The main area had an old sofa facing the thick glass wall thick glass with a view into the depths of the water. The sofa felt stiff and full of dust, but he had grown to like it.
Xanther stared out into the blue depths while pondering the events that had just happened, he now had Ozryn, an unconscious demon and an incomprehensible entity who went by Erebus resting within what is his soul space as far as he understands. He was finally free from the waves of voices telling him to get stronger, yet the feeling lingered, getting stronger felt good. He also thought about the shop that he had access to now. There wasn't a better place for him to test it out.
"Open shop"