The guard on watch at the wall noticed something weird a few blocks past the gate and called it in. “There is some sort of explosion in sector B. Dispatch a crew to investigate.” Before he was done talking a large bolt of red lightning flashed. “Yes in the same area that lightning just flashed.”
***
The investigation team arrived to find a gruesome scene. It seemed someone had set up a lab outside the city and whatever experiment they were running went horribly wrong. Something had exploded outward demolishing the small building. Everyone inside had likely died quickly as none of the remains looked like they were moving away from the blast area. There were four bodies on one side of the lab and five more on the other side of what must once have been a full glass wall. Whatever exploded must have released supercharged electrical energy judging by all of the electrical burns in the rubble and the way the bodies weren’t entirely burned but large parts were completely charred.
***
Hector awoke disoriented. He was no longer in the lab or even near the city. It almost seemed like he was still in the rainforest where the temple had been. But after careful inspection, it was clearly a different place. Aside from the temple, the last place was pure rainforest, but he could see signs of civilization here.
He stood to survey the area but a screen popped into existence right before his eyes and he couldn’t help but smile.
[User Interface Protocol initiated… Welcome user.]
[Unique Galvanization Protocol initiated… Welcome Galvanized Achak.]
[Designation: Achak Health: 200/200 Essence: 20/20
Level: 1 (0/100)
Soul: Ancient
Race: Human
Genus: None
Species: None
Strength: 5
Constitution: 6
Endurance: 8
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 8
Awareness: 10
Wisdom: 7
Capacity: 12
Free Points: 4
Skills: Shock]
‘Unique?’ He thought. He’d read everything that had ever been published about this system but he’d never run across the mention of a unique galvanization. Of course, considering the way he achieved it calling it unique was fitting.
‘Also, my name is Hector, so why is my designation different?’ As far as he’d known the designation was the same as one’s name. Except… There were rumors that people in the top two tiers of soul ranks received true or special names as their designation. It was all speculation since none of those people ever confirmed it, but the true name was thought to be chosen by one’s soul.
‘Maybe I should just go by my designation from now on? None of the rumors say anything about it causing any harm or anything so it should be fine. There was nothing in any of the memories I saw that my mom called me Hector, that would be the only reason to keep it. It might have been one of the hospital staff or even the man that took me in after… Achak… I really like the sound of it and it kind of speaks to me, it’s decided then, Achak it is.’ He thought while analyzing his interface.
‘Health and energy are the standard two hundred and twenty respectively for a newly galvanized. Soul rank is high though, I guess that the higher soul ranks getting special names is no longer a rumor for me.’
From weakest to strongest, soul ranks were: young, adolescent, adult, mature, ancient. He was ecstatic that he had the strongest soul rank, but that alone didn’t determine one as being a strong galvanized, the real proof would come once he picked his genus at level ten. It was thought that the only thing soul ranks determined was one’s potential, meaning he had the highest and best growth potential.
The other thing that threw him off about his status was the essence resource where mana should have been. So far as he knew, mana was the resource used for magic and skills, at least before level ten. He knew the resource could change depending on one’s choice of genus but that was at level ten and then again at level twenty when one chose their species. ‘Seems like the higher soul ranks are keeping more secrets than we know.’
‘My stat distribution makes sense when considering my fighting style. I never have been much of a heavy hitter, relying more on agility and dexterity.’
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
‘Let’s see, strength is pretty basic, it affects muscle strength, how much one can lift, and how much physical damage one can cause. Makes sense that mine isn’t too high since I’ve never been much of a weight lifter type.’
‘Constitution is more about how much damage one can take and how healthy the body is, it also adds ten points per level to health. Again, makes sense that mine is a bit above the middle of the road. My body is healthy but I have never had to take too many hits in a fight since I’m very agile.’
‘Endurance is about how much strain one can put on the body or how much physical energy one can exert, and also adds ten points per level to health. I have always been more about my cardio and staying slim so that also checks out.’
‘Agility is all about speed, how fast one can move their body, and how fast one can run. Having long legs and being slim has always worked in my favor when it comes to speed too.’
‘Dexterity is about how well someone can maneuver their body and other fine motor skills. This also checks out, I have always been pretty flexible and limber, and long hours of practicing with melee weapons in the past ten years has made me pretty dextrous.’
‘Awareness is all about perception, how far one can see or hear, and one’s sensitivity to energies and other things. My awareness has always been pretty high, always seeming to pick up things most others missed, so it makes sense it’s my second highest stat.’
‘Wisdom is all about brain capacity, memory, and brain function, and it adds two points per level to energy. Seven is a good representation of mine, I have a good memory but outside of that have never been much of a scholarly type.’
‘Capacity being my highest stat is a little weird considering how hard it was to become galvanized. It’s all about the resource, how much of it one has, and how fast it recharges. It also adds two resources per level. I guess it really doesn’t matter much now, what’s done is done, and I should just be happy that I have such a high capacity stat. Hm, let’s see what this skill does.’
[Shock - Your strikes are empowered with lightning, strengthening them and causing shock and electric burns on impact.]
“Well, that sounds badass,” Achak said grinning. He walked to a dilapidated stone wall standing in the middle of nowhere and used the skill for the first time. He activated the skill and his fist crackled with red lightning as he struck. The wall finished crumbling under the assault and he could see the electric burn marks around the spot he’d hit.
‘Hm, red lightning. I wonder if the lightning I saw in my… Uh, vision, I guess? Anyway, I wonder if that was a sign of what type of skills I would be getting. Seems like it considering my first skill has the same red lightning,’ He thought.
“Now, what should I spend my free points on?” Achak said pensively. But before he could get too far he heard leaves rustling in the background.
He turned to find a group of galvanized surrounding him. The only thing one could tell about their level when looking at a galvanized was whether it was over level ten. Once they picked a genus, their appearance would change and elude to their specialty.
For instance, in this group of four, he could see that they had two melee fighters. One was a literal giant of a man, at least eight feet tall, but also well-built and muscular, built for withstanding lots of damage. The other was a woman, smaller and built for agility and dealing lots of damage, much like himself. She was also accompanied by an aura that made it difficult to see her facial features clearly.
The third person was some type of magic specialty, as evidenced by the purple glow around him and elongated ears, not to mention the long robe these types liked to wear. The last one was a clear healer, denoted by her flower-petal-like hair, silk-like skin, and big oval-shaped eyes.
Achak jumped, startled by their appearance, he was usually much more attentive to his surroundings and it had been a long time since anyone was able to get so close before he noticed them. He always wore dual-wielding knives on his belt, even in the city, so he reached for them the moment he saw the group.
“Easy now,” said the giant man with a booming voice to match. “Not looking for trouble. Just came to investigate the sudden flash of lightning a little while ago. Know anything about that?”
Uneasy, Achak pushed his knives back into the sheaths but didn’t let go of the pommels. “Uhm, not sure. I was… Somewhere else when I was able to unlock my galvanization then I lost consciousness and woke up here.” He didn’t want to give up too much but a half-truth and mentioning his new galvanization would earn him some trust and sympathy. At least he hoped it would.
“So it could have been part of your galvanization process,” stated the big man. “Where did you say you were from again?”
“I didn’t,” answered Achak with distrust in his eyes.
The big man shrugged, “Fine by me, but I think you’ll find that you are a long way from home. This here is the floating island of Avalon, we know most locals and have never seen you around.”
“Oh. A floating island? How the hell did I get up here?” Achak asked, more to himself than anyone in particular.
“Beats me,” answered the giant man. “But if you’d like, you can follow us back to the city proper… Or you can head east whenever ready, the city is in that direction.” He added noticing the growing nervousness in Achaks stance.
It was regrettable but there were good and bad in every group and some galvanized were more like thiefs and bandits than adventurers. Player Killers (PKers), that’s what they called themselves as if this was some sort of game. Admittedly, the user interface and a lot of its functions were similar to video games, but the lives they took were all too real.
“Just be careful, there is also a miscellany in that direction, and considering that you are newly galvanized I would not advise challenging it alone,” he added.
Achak relaxed his stance a little more and nodded at the man, “Thanks, I’ll be okay out here for a while. You can go on about your business and we may see each other in the city sometime.”
“No problem,” said the man as he nodded back and turned his group around and headed for the city.