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3. An Introduction to Anasholm

Validating World Entry Ticket...

Validation Complete! Welcome to Anasholm, -Enter Soul Here-. You probably can't read this, but it is protocol so here we go! Anasholm is one of the Lady's newest worlds, run on a popular style of system introduced on the dead world Earth less than a century before it ended. Here, everything about you is quantifiable, and you can become stronger than on any other planet. Here is a brief summary of your existence as of now.

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Existence Statistics

Unnamed, level 0.00

Race: Anastien

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 1

Constitution: 3

Soul: Error 001-aaa-001: Value too high for existence.

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 13

Charisma: Infinite (2)

Traits: Heretics Memories, Tier 10; Physics Manipulation (Minor), Tier 1; Language Adaptation (Average), Tier 5

Combat Skills:

Skills:

Magical Skills:

Titles: Heretic, Hated by Creators

Enlightenment: 5% to Tier 1

Status Effects: Anastien Curse

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Congratulations! You have managed to create the first error in the 18,450,769,420 years of this world's existence! We are pleased to give you 2 new titles for this feat.

I heard a strange ringing suddenly, filling my ears with the sounds of headphone audio being adjusted. That was odd. What were headphones? And why did I think in such strange terms? And I suddenly knew what headphones were, as well as the computers they were attached to. It was an odd experience.

Ding! You gained 2 new titles!

New Titles: First Rule Breaker; Error Generation

First Rule Breaker: You are the first creature to cause an error in the system! Plus five to all attributes.

Error Generation: By creating an error in the system, you are granted your first glimpse into the world! Plus 5 percent enlightenment!

I stared at these words in my vision, wondering what this system was, as well as what enlightenment was. And then I knew that too. I guessed that this system would tell me everything I would ever need to know.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my stomach, as though I were being cut open by a broadsword. I had the urge to cry, even though I had never felt the urge before in my life. I thought that perhaps I was being reborn in a new life as I began to cry at the bright light pouring through the small hole in the infinite darkness. I screamed the loudest I possibly could without even meaning to.

I heard a female voice over my screaming, in an odd language I could barely understand.

"Ms. Denora, your son has been born, and is healthy."

Behind the haze of pain and tears, I thought it was odd that I was deemed a boy, as I was certain I was a girl. I supposed it would be fine, I had been called a boy before.

As I tried to test my motor skills -again an odd term- I realized I couldn't move my toes, and that my fingers felt oddly hard. As I looked through the eternal haze of tears in front of me, I realized that my fingers ended with large, black, claws that moved like fingers. My legs were even stranger though, covered in thick brown fur, and ending in large cloven hooves. As I tried to move them, I felt something hit my leg and realized that I was, in fact, a boy.

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"What should we name him, Hector?" asked a second feminine voice behind me.

"I'll leave it to you. I named his sister after all," came a third, more masculine voice.

"Then let's name him Hadran."

Ding! You have gained a name! Existence tab upgraded. Plus 5 to all attributes. Racial based abilities have been upgraded by one tier.

What the fuck? Why did getting something everyone had upgrade me so much? And what would an increase in those "attribute" things even do? Then, suddenly, I knew what they did.

Strength was a measure of a person's pure destructive capabilities. Dexterity was handling of fine motor skills and speed. Constitution was how much of a beating you could take.

The "mental attributes", as I decided to call them, were stranger. Intelligence was related to mental capacity and how much you could understand something, but also dealt with magical efficiency and power. Wisdom allowed for more insight in the world to be gained, and determined the recharge rate of magical energy, and the capacity for it. Charisma would impact how much trust people would put in you, and how easy it would be for you to make friends and allies.

Soul was the strangest of them all though. The higher one's soul, the more "pressure" they exuded on their surroundings, and the more pressure they could withstand. For example, if someone with a low Soul were in the same room as someone with high Soul, they would feel as if anything they did wouldn't be able to help escape, and that they were being crushed to death by two massive boulders. Apparently, however, the amount of pressure a Soul could exude was limited to the level, so if someone had a high Soul at level one, they wouldn't be able to emit much pressure.

As I was about to look into the changes that my new "titles", and the ones I had apparently been born with, had done, I was picked up, and I learned something new.

Whatever race I was now had very hard hands as an adult, and very soft skin as a child. I also learned that because of my condition as a newborn, the only way I could express the pain of sharp nails poking my sides was to scream, loudly. I didn't want to scream, but I did anyways because that was the only thing my little body could think to do. I screamed even louder when the clawed hand pulled something out of me. Then the pain was gone.

I still screamed though. Being a baby would be annoying.

Suddenly, I was back in my apparent mother's lap, feeling far lighter, and as if I had regained something I hadn't known I was missing.

Ding! Status Effect: Anastien Curse has been removed. Lifespan loss effect, removed. Trait: Physics Manipulation (Minor), Tier 2, removed.

As I looked through the tears in my juvenile eyes, and past the odd and somewhat menacing message, I saw my mother's face. My new race had a very human looking face, with the main differences being the large rainbow-colored eyes, and the pure white hair floating as though in a constant breezze. I supposed I looked very similar to my mother.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hand moving towards my face. I couldn't move at all, as my mother was holding me too closely to her chest. Suddenly, the hand was holding my face and another woman, presumably the nurse who had delivered me, gently pried open my mouth. A small, gold and black lump rose from a nearby table slowly, then moved to my mouth.

As the object forced its way through my small mouth, the nurse massaged my throat and whispered to me to stay calm and swallow it. Out of reflex from something hitting my throat, I did.

Ding! You have eaten a high-grade vessel of the Holy Curse: Anastien Curse! You have regained the racial trait: Physics Manipulation (Minor), Tier 2. By eating a curse directly, all traits have increased by one Tier. Constitution increased by ten points.

As I regained the trait, my "existence tab" opened automatically.

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Existence Statistics

Hadran Denora, level 0.01

Race: Anastien

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 11

Constitution: 23

Soul: Error 001-aaa-001: Value too high for existence.

Intelligence: 25

Wisdom: 23

Charisma: Infinite (12)

Traits: Heretics Memories, Tier 10; Physics Manipulation (Minor), Tier 3; Language Adaptation (Average), Tier 6

Combat Skills:

Skills:

Magical Skills:

Titles: Heretic, Hated by Creators, First Rule Breaker, Error Generation

Enlightenment: 10% to Tier 1

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I decided to experiment a little bit. I focused on my titles as if I were willing them to expand and explain what they did.

Ding! You have unlocked the Titles tab. This tab can be accessed at any time outside of combat.

Titles (Description Toggle; all):

Heretic: You have been deemed as an enemy of a True God. Your soul attribute has been upgraded to that of a low ranked deity, in accordance with the prerequisites. All factions will be notified of this title.

Hated by Creators: It seems like you made a big oopsie motherfucker! By destroying something the True God of your World Set loved and cherished, you have been determined an enemy of this True God. All factions revering this god will attempt to kill you on sight if this title is ever learned of.

First Rule Breaker: You are the first creature to cause an error in the system! Plus five to all attributes.

Error Generation: By creating an error in the system, you are granted your first glimpse into the world! Plus 5 percent enlightenment!

I considered these titles for a while. The longer I did, the angrier I got. I couldn't remember much about the time after I had died, but I knew I wouldn't be unpunished for destroying a world that she had loved. But the fact that she had been so nice to me, only to leave me with a pair of titles that would make nearly any faction try to kill me on sight made me much angrier than I would have been.

Wait. Who was this woman I kept referencing, and why did I mention being a woman earlier?

Before I could begin to think more on this, however, my body betrayed me, and I fell asleep.

Ding! Trait: Heretic's Memories has been downgraded to Tier 2. Intelligence and Wisdom have been decreased by 15 points.