'Status.'
Name: Sciath Race: Anima (Infant Colossal Whale) (Common) Path(s): Spirits / ESP Class: None (Overall) Tier: 0 (0%) (Overall) Level: 0 (0%) Affinities (Level/Rank): Gravity (1/D+), Astral (2/B+), Star (3/B+), Ice (4/B), Water (5/A+) Stats:
Strength 3 Agility 10 Dexterity 5 Endurance 10 Energy Density 6 Energy Reservoir 8 Cognitive Speed 4 Aura 10
Bonded Beings (Elementals/Demons/Angels/Spirits) None
Bonded Souls (Skyborn/Terrestrial/Oceanic/Spatial)
None ESP Ability [None]
Constitution None Unique Ability None
『ESP Ability Gacha Available』
『Contract Gacha Available』
While checking my status, I was floating mindlessly underwater. The lake itself was huge, at least 7 times my length in diameter with a single opening far away. There was something about it that seemed weirdly familiar.
I looked away from that and willed 'Gachas'.
『Contract/ ESP Ability』
'ESP Ability.'
『Opening Gacha』
There were 10 die.
Since there were 10 die, you could choose between 1 - 10 die to roll. Depending on how many you use, there would be a better chance of getting stronger abilities.
It also showed a list with a range of numbers from 1 all the way to 60 and different ability names attached to each of them.
The ones I took notice of were the generic ones and ones I had never even heard of.
{ - Pyrokinesis = 1 - }
{ - Cryokinesis = 20- }
{ - Split = 27 - }
{ - EM Control = 32 - }
{ - Barrier = 40 - }
{ - Psychokinesis = 56- }
{ - Gravikinesis = 59 - }
{ - Teleportation = 60 - }
'Hmm... Pyro, Cryo and Psychokinesis are obvious, EM Control is probably Electromagnetism Control while Split is probably a type of cloning ability but... What in the world is Barrier? It's so vague. Does it have something to do with physical barriers, magical barriers? Does it encompass all of that? What's the deal with this.
Gravikinesis... Don't I have a Gravity Affinity? I can just do something with that.
Then there's... what? I can, what? TELEPORTATION!? I want this.'
I thought about it for a long while but in the end, I still decided to use all 10 die to try for Teleportation. I 'grabbed' them with my non-existent hands and rolled them.
I began praying with my whale fins trying to reach each other to resemble it even slightly.
The die began to slow down.
The first two were 6s, the third was 4, the next three were 1... then the next three were 5. I had 34 as of this moment. The last dice was slowing down.
I looked over at the board of numbers, 35 - 40 and saw the possible things I'd get.
35 - Enhanced Mental Prowess, 'Useless. I'm already smart enough as a former humanoid with a whale-sized brain.'
36 - Shapeshift, 'Ooh! I can get a humanoid form if I train it right, right!? The versatility will be off the charts! Huh, what if I made my skin scales or something?'
37 - Gravity Enhancement, 'I can do that without this later can't I? This is pretty lackluster compared to Shapeshifting. Though maybe it's more powerful?'
38 - Synthesize, 'The heck is this? I don't want something I won't be able to understand. Too annoying.'
39 - Light Control, 'Ooh, if I use my Star affinity and make starlight could I use that? I could also reflect light with ice as well. The possibilities are endless!'
40 - Barrier, 'This is still as useless as before since I don't know what it can do, unknowns are dangerous...'
The dice was about to stop as I prayed even more. I lamented what I got at the time but who knew it'd become my second most used power.
'Please be a 5 or a 2! Please!'
It was not.
'WHY 6!? DO YOU HATE ME WORLD! DO YOU!?'
『 Barrier (F Rank) Obtained 』
'...maybe it can grow? I hope so... Contract Gacha Open.'
『Opening Contract Gacha』
『Current Tier: 0』
『Opening Low-Level Minor Spirit Gacha』
'Low-Level... Minor...? Isn't that just of fancy way of saying they're weak!? ARGH. As far as I know, I won't be able to do anything with my affinities if I don't get a good spirit! Fine. Let's just look.'
I had started talking to myself at that point.
『Please Choose:』
『Wheel / Dice Roll / Tri-Roulette』
'The hell is a Tri-Roulette?'
『You spin three times and then spin once more between those three choices』
'I'll take that, that sounds fun.'
So I spun it.
The first was a Low-Minor Astral Spirit.
'FINALLY! I still have some luck! I'll have a... wait. I chose Tri-Roulette... DAMN IT!!!'
In the midst of me regretting my decisions, the roulette had spun twice and got Low-Minor Water Spirit and a Low-Minor Wood Spirit.
'Come on, come on, give me the Astral Spirit!'
It spun and spun, until... it landed on the Wood Spirit.
'...'
『You have obtained Low-Minor Wood Spirit』
'...'
I was about to curse everything when I heard someone screaming like such a maniac that even under the water I heard them.
"Wahoo! I can use Magic! I can finally become the Cancermancer!!!"
I blanked.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
I surfaced and looked at the Deer that was jumping around again and again, running and shouting about being a Cancermancer.
I saw the Rabbit near the shore staring at the Deer weirdly so I went up to them and asked.
"The hell is a Cancermancer?"
The Rabbit jumped higher than my length. Which I approximated to be 20 or so meters. Shocking when you realize I was still a 'Infant' whale, though I'm not really a whale... I was more surprised about the Rabbit's jumping capability though.
The Rabbit took a few seconds to land, during which the Deer went creepily silent, but they eventually answered me.
"I don't know. Probably a mage capable of causing cancer of some sort to form whenever and wherever they wish."
"..."
I was stunned silent. Never had I thought about such a possibility.
I realized at that moment, the Deer would be a threat to all living races... forever.
"Welp. I guess one of us will need to keep an eye on them."
The Rabbit tilted its head and stared at me for a while before inquiring.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. If the Deer can make cancer appear and maybe even cause its growth to accelerate, what do you think will happen when they get stronger?"
"...?"
I sighed at the innocent Rabbit.
"They'll be able to kill someone without them being able to heal themselves or protect themselves from it."
"Isn't that good though? Considering we're at war with the humanoid races and all?"
It was at this moment that I thought.
'It's entirely possible all of us are psychopaths...'
After a while of us doing our own thing, all of us were on the beachy section of the area and looking at the giant orb as we waited patiently. It was time for some explanations.
Well, I wasn't ON the beach but in the water near it. I didn't want to become a beached whale so soon after being reincarnated after all.
Anyways, we all went silent as we waited for the Original to speak. Eventually, after 10 or so minutes, they began speaking.
[First off, I'll explain the history of this world. Starting with the Era.
There are currently 8 Eras in the history of this world. We're in the eighth Era, Year 450.
The first Era was called the Pre-Profession Era. It lasted an unknown amount of time. Not even the oldest of us know how long it lasted.
The second was named the Electric Era. It lasted 500 Years.
Followed by the third, the Tech Era, the Era in which the Tech practitioners revealed themselves. It lasted 350 Years. Total 850 Years we know of.
The fourth was the Era in which Ability Users were revealed, the Era of Instability. Yes, I know the irony of it but to be honest, it was extremely chaotic then. I don't know which idiot named the era. It lasted 200 Years. Total of 1050 years.
The fifth was the introduction of Mages, the Supernatural Era. Which is what they should've named the last Era. It lasted 700 Years. Total of 1750 years.
The Sixth was named the Chaos Era, in which the three professions fought each other for 1,200 years. Total of 2950 years.
The Seventh was called the Era of Union, it lasted 175 years. It started when I was made and ended when I began the war. A total of 3125 years.
The eighth, the one we're in, is the Era of the Great War. It's been going on for 325 years now. It's been a total of 3450 years since the Pre-profession Era.
Any questions before I continue?]
"One."
It was me that spoke.
[Go on.]
"It's completely unrelated to this, is that alright?"
[Hmm, sure.]
"What did you mean when you said you were our 'Mother'?"
[Ah, good question, I'll explain how I work.]
"Huh?"
[I'm first and foremost, an Artefact after all. I work by using the four professions. An ESP Ability called Cell Conversion, which allows me to convert different materials into stem cells was given to me via a different ESP Ability, Transfer. You can kind of understand what it does with the context.
As for the Technology part, I am built of nanobots that can simulate all types of cells and a power generator that converts Mana to usable Energy. The Cultivator Profession part of me is used to strengthen my powers and support the places in which I don't have enough energy.
Now then, what did I say my purpose was.]
I realized it near instantly.
'To create animals and to create scouts. But...'
"Which are we?"
The falcon was ahead of me, having spoken already, an unbridled curiosity in their tone.
[Neither. You all were born from War-born Anima races I've modelled after creatures with the highest compatibility with element affinities. It cost me more than you can currently understand to have given all of you a D-Rank Level 1 Affinity. The System Hephaestus made probably hinted to what I call you. You all, are Soul-Born Anima.
I doubt you'll be the last as well. But, you are the first. So, I'll give you all titles, you'll have respect amongst Anima and they'll listen to you even if they're a higher tier this way. But only if you make sense, they won't listen to you if you tell them to kill themselves unless it makes sense.]
'Well, that's useful.'
My thoughts, and indubitably the others as well, began to run rampant with possible names for titles.
[I have already chosen.]
Our ears perked up, though we all had different ears, and we all listened in.
[The Deer, Meratas. I give you the title of {Naturis, Guardian of the Earth.}
The Falcon, Astora. I give you the title of {Infernis, Guardian of the Flames.}
The Rabbit, Blanc. I give you the title of {Vampiris, Guardian of Blood.}
The Jackal, Sjakal. I give you the title of {Von Anubis, Guardian of Death.}
And the Whale, Sciath. I give you the title of {Gravitas, Guardian of the Stars.}]
Honestly, we all freaked for a while before calming down. It was an exciting thing, the beginning of our journey.
[Now then.]
We all stopped talking, focussing on mother. Yeah, we all started calling her mother. It was almost natural, she gave us these opportunities and we were technically her children.
[There are four things you must know before you go travel.
One.
Because of the War lasting as long as it has, I have no doubt that each of the professions have been doing something to turn the tides. The worst that could happen is that the Mages find a way to Summon 'Heroes'.
Two.
We Anima are enemies of the following races:
Humans, Demons, Asura, Beast-kin, Dragon-kin.
Three.
We are on neutral terms with the following races:
Elves, Dwarves, Spirit Beasts, Demon Beasts, Dragons. Only those. Our only allies are normal animals.
Four.
Arguably the most important, is that unless you have a reason to get stronger, you will not grow as fast as your potential allows.]
We went silent as we pondered these four things.
Eventually, I decided I was done pondering. I turned, and under the watchful eyes of the others, I left through the opening in the lake.
When doing so, I noticed a giant squid-like being guarding it.
I stared at it as I watched it move out of the way for me. I did the best whale nod I could do before swimming off into the distance, looking for my first prey.
As I swam, the scenery changed again and again. From a surrounding filled with deep abyss-like underwater cliffs, to a strange reef.
My body moved subconsciously as my thoughts diverged towards the fourth thing.
'My reason to get stronger...'
A fish suddenly appeared. It was a small one, it looked like a clownfish but was green and blue instead of the familiar black and orange, or maybe it was a different type of fish. I looked at my status.
『Anima-Soulborn System Displaying in ⇀⇁:』
Name: Sciath Gravitas Title: (Tentative) Guardian of the Stars Race: Anima (Infant Colossal Whale) (Common) Path(s): Spirits / ESP Class: None (Overall) Tier: 0 (0%) (Overall) Level: 0 (0%) Affinities (Level/Rank): Gravity (1/D+), Astral (2/B+), Star (3/B+), Ice (4/B), Water (5/A+) Stats:
Strength 3 Agility 10 Dexterity 5 Endurance 10 Energy Density 6 Energy Reservoir 8 Cognitive Speed 4 Aura 10
Bonded Beings (Elementals/Demons/Angels/Spirits) Low-Minor Wood Spirit (Ash)
Bonded Souls (Skyborn/Terrestrial/Oceanic/Spatial)
None ESP Ability [Barrier] - F Rank
Constitution Star's Path Unique Ability Celestial Flight
'I should probably look into how the stats affect me. But still... that's for later. Wait. I have a Constitution now? And a unique ability... is that to do with my Title? I'll look at that later.'
I stared at the fish before lunging for it. I opened my mouth and ate the fish whole.
『Overall Level: 0 (0 --> 0.1%)』
My thoughts went back to the four things.
"A reason to get stronger... do I need one?"
I surfaced and stared at the sky.
"For now... I'll get stronger, simply because I want to be stronger."
I chuckled, causing water to rise into small waves.
"Who knows, maybe I'll find something fun to do."