Alex could barely lift his arms by the time it seemed that the brush was thinning to a noticeable degree. Without fully cutting down the last few feet, he squeezed his way through the sharp bushes and limbs while V.V. and his Orbs pulled away the sharpest hazards. Finally, Alex managed to stumble out of the packed foliage into a relatively circular clearing. The ground mostly consisted of long grass and a few large rocks. Like the rest of the open areas he’d been in, the ground was muddy and wanted to suck his feet down to plant him in place. He took only a few steps before collapsing to the ground, so exhausted that he didn’t know if he’d be able to speak, let alone move. When Alex opened his eyes after only closing them for a moment, the scenery had changed.
“Wha… where are we?” Alex said groggily.
“Ah, you’ve awoken. We are once again in a tunnel near the center of the clearing. As the ground was quite loose, it was easier to dig down. Due to the muddy nature, however, we’ve had to reinforce the tunnel in several areas. Opal summoned another Dome above us, and I made another hole for fresh air.” V.V. explained.
Alex looked around the dimly lit area. Ruby shined with its aura as usual, so Alex wasn’t in a pitch-black tunnel. He sighed with relief that they’d once again made it out of what he thought was a relatively hopeless situation. Everything worked out well enough, from the large monsters taking one-another out, to the worms being weak enough to kill in mass, to the skunk getting its fat body stuck. Luck wasn’t a stat that he could see but he was pretty sure it had to exist and be high for him as well. He closed his eyes again, just letting relief wash over him and ultimately drifted off to the most peaceful sleep he’d had in a long time.
Al…
Ale….
“Alex.” Alex’s eyes shot open at hearing his name from V.V.
“What! What is it? What’s wrong?” Alex scrambled to say as he was pulled out of such a wonderful slumber. He wasn’t sure that he was dreaming but he definitely wanted to go back to that serine state of being. Now, his fight or flight mode had been activated and he looked around himself frantically. Luckily, there wasn’t much to look at, as he was at the back of a narrow tunnel with all five of his companions floating between him and the exit.
“Calm yourself. I’ve woken you because it is nearly dawn and you still haven’t acquired the skills and abilities you’d planned on. Once the sun has risen, we should start moving again.”
“Oh…” Alex said, trying to calm his racing heart and think.
“How long was I asleep?” He managed to ask after he’d taken several deep, calming breaths.
“Nearly six hours by my estimates.”
“Six hours? I felt like I was asleep for six minutes… Also, don’t you have a clock or something?”
“I imagine you’d feel more tired if you had only gotten six minutes. I do not have a clock at this point in time.”
“How do you know it’s been six hours? Why don’t you have a clock? Can’t the System keep track of time?”
“I feel that it has been nearly six hours, not because of the System but because of my own internal clock. It isn’t exact and translating the feeling I have to your system of measurement isn’t the simplest thing to do. The System can track anything that the User can track and more, eventually. As you grow stronger, the System will unlock more useful abilities.”
“Ah… gotcha. Sigh… So, no more sleeping for me…” Alex said, laying his head against the cool, damp soil wall. He rested for a bit longer before forcing his eyes open.
“Ok, let’s get this done.” Alex said to himself as he opened his status page.
User: Alexander Ingram
Race: Human (Other)
Age/Sex: 19 / Male
Titles: First Among Many, The Sky Is My Kingdom, Lonely Warden
Class: Orb Caller
Orbs: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal
Level 3: 2200/2500
Profession: None
Exp: 3848
Companion: Vibrant Void
System Credits: 74657
System Tokens*: 3 X-Grade Tokens, 8 A-Grade Tokens, 6 B-Grade Tokens, 8 C-Grade Tokens
Skills: Mana Tolerance (1), Mana Absorption (1), Advanced Mana Channeling (1)
Attribute Points: 20
Skill Points: 2
“That’s more experience than I thought I’d get and a pretty decent bump in credits as well. I don’t want to jinx it, but I don’t see myself running low on them for a while.”
“Consider yourself jinxed. There are very desirable items that you’ll want to acquire if you live long enough to need them.”
“Well, that was morbid…”
“Yet another aspect of conversation that I excel in.”
“…Yeah. I’m going to try to buy the rest of the things on the list before another monster decides to stick its foot through the ceiling.”
Alex opened the list of items that V.V. had suggested just by thinking about it. The list popped open as if he had simply minimized a computer browser window. He looked at the long list of skills and abilities that he still needed to purchase before noticing a slow pulsing box beside his status page. He looked at it and willed it to open.
Pending System Rewards
Mana Crazed Meleagris Wild Turkey Level 17 Loot Reward – Open Y/N
Mana Engorged Striped Skunk Level 14 Loot Reward – Open Y/N
“Oh, yeah. With everything that was happening I forgot I had more rewards. I’ll check these and then get the skills.”
“You should also check to see if you can level again now that you’ve acquired more experience.”
“Ah… Ok, so check rewards, level, then skills and abilities.”
“You should also place your attribute points and look at what your skill points can do.”
“I… Ok. I’ll look at that too…” Alex was starting to feel that all too familiar overwhelming sensation build up again, but he tried his hardest to push it down. Push down the stress and panic and follow the list. First, rewards needed to be checked and he decided to just will both to open at once.
System Rewards
System Reward: 20,000 System Credits
System Reward: Armory Box x2
System Reward: Weaponry Box
System Reward: Accessory Box
“Nice. Looks like the credits already got added even before I opened the rewards though. Not sure if the math adds up but I’ll have to dive into that some other time.” Alex said and looked at the four boxes lying before him that appeared out of thin air. The first Armory Box was the largest by far, roughly the size of a thirty-two pack of toilet paper. It was the first thing that came to Alex’s mind when he saw the size of it.
“That’s a lot of toilet paper…” Alex said out loud, accidentally.
“I doubt the System would reward you with such a commonly obtainable item from the credit store. I would also suggest purchasing a Cleaning Rune or possibly a Spell of Cleansing before purchasing such a primitive form of fecal removal.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“…” Alex looked at V.V. with his jaw slightly agape. No words were coming to him after they had said such an off the wall thing. Then again, him comparing his System loot to a large package of toilet paper wasn’t exactly sane. He shook his head in both disappointment in his ability to form comparisons and V.V.’s wild response. Looking at the other three boxes didn’t yield any better comparisons unfortunately. The next largest box was the second armory reward and he immediately thought of sixteen rolls of toilet paper. Holy shit, Alex thought, do I need to use the bathroom or something? He looked at the remaining two crates, the larger being the weaponry box and the smallest being the accessory box. Little Debbie Star Crunch and a Wedding Ring. Those were his final thoughts before Alex gave up on himself ever having any non-cringy thoughts.
“Well hopefully there isn’t toilet paper in them or snack cakes… And hopefully the System doesn’t want to marry me either.” Alex said all this aloud to see what V.V. might say next. Unfortunately for him, the sentient cueball had started playing with poisons again and completely ignored his statement.
“So that’s how it is. I tee up a good one and you turn your nose up.” Alex said, mostly to himself. Humor was present in his voice, and he wasn’t upset that V.V. didn’t take his bait. He turned his attention to the boxes and willed all four to open at once. The largest box dissolved revealing three smaller boxes and a large pouch. As the other boxes were opening and revealing their contents, he did the same for the items inside the largest box.
Cool Turkey Waddlers
Slot: Legs
Armor: 19
Durability: 252
Effect: Heat Resistance 4, Comfort 5, Speed Up 3
Set Effect 0/3: Natural Passive Detection – While in nature, your ability to detect entities is greatly enhanced. This effect is always active while the set is complete.
Cool Turkey Wattle
Slot: Head
Armor: 11
Durability: 88
Effect: Cooling Down 1, Comfort 2
Ability: Warding Gobble 7/7 Uses – Recharge 1 per 12 hours.
Set Effect 0/3: Natural Passive Detection – While in nature, your ability to detect entities is greatly enhanced. This effect is always active while the set is complete.
Cool Turkey Gobblers
Slot: Hands
Armor: 9
Durability: 97
Effect: Cooling Down 1, Comfort 3, Satiation 1
Set Effect 0/3: Natural Passive Detection – While in nature, your ability to detect entities is greatly enhanced. This effect is always active while the set is complete.
Repair Powder
Doses: 25/25
Effect: Repair 3
The first items Alex saw were the pieces of armor from the largest chest and another pouch that accompanied them. He looked each item over and felt quite satisfied with the haul so far. Each item was easily either an upgrade or something he didn’t have to fill that slot yet. The Natural Passive Detection set bonus also sounded interesting. He put the larger sack of Repair Powder in his inventory and looked to the next item on the ground.
Savy Striped Skunk Shirt
Slot: Chest
Armor: 33
Durability: 519
Effect: Comfort 6, Perception Up 4, Defense Up 2
Ability: Putrid Bubble Mine – Summon a floating mine that will explode on contact. Does no physical damage but will distort most living creatures’ senses for a time. The bubbles will last for 5 minutes or until touched. 9/9 Uses.
“Wow, that’s a lot more armor and durability than I expected. Both perception and defense boosts as well. The ability sounds like it'll be fun to use as well but it looks like it can’t regenerate, same as my boots.” Alex said, pulling the shirt into the air to look at it. The shirt was mostly black with white stripes running down either side of it. It felt lightweight to him, which didn’t make sense, seeing as it had so much armor value. Deciding to try his hardest not to question even more things, he sat the shirt in his lap and looked to the next item.
Small Blade of Infestation
Slot: Primary or Secondary Weapon
Attack Physical: 13
Durability: 211
Effect: Infestation 5, Disease 1, Poison 1
“Finally, a real knife. Gross, but real!” Alex said and slid the blade out of the scabbard that came with it to look it over. The metal the blade was made of was a sickly green color, with a serration near the bottom of the shaft while the rest was a clean edge. Luckily the knife was only sharp on one side, so the chances of Alex finding out firsthand what Infestation would do was lessened, a bit. He tested the grip and slowly moved the weapon through the air a few times before finally putting it back in its sheath and setting it down. He looked to the final item still waiting to be viewed.
“Huh, that’s weird. I tried to tell the System to open this box but it didn’t do anything.” Alex said to V.V.
“Hmm…” V.V. hummed to herself in thought. In the moment that V.V. took to think over what that may have meant, Alex grabbed the box.
“Wait a moment, Ale…x…” V.V. said this just a bit too slowly, as Alex was already opening the box he’d just snatched up from the ground.
Watchers’ System Ring
Slot: Ring (Null)
Durability: 871224
Effect: System Bound, Record Keeping, Intangible (Max), Transparent (Max), Slot Recovery (Null)
Ability: Reward Launcher – Allows the wielder to open the Rewards Menu of the World Watchers’.
“What the hell? Eight-hundred and seventy thousand?” Alex managed to say before the small black ring that was propped up inside the box he’d just opened, vanished.
“It’s gone!” Alex cried out.
“Ugg… It’s not gone Alex. Look at your right hand.” V.V. said, exasperated by her human companion’s knee-jerk reaction to open an unknown quantity without thoroughly conversing with her.
“Oh… Haha… Oops. What even is this thing?” Alex said, finally reading over the description in full.
“What even is all of this? System Bound? Intangible, Transparent, the insane durability... This seems… suspicious.” Alex said, finally deciding that while the ring was cool, he didn’t necessarily want it.
“Every new world that’s added or returned to Mana, and thus the System, has Watchers’. Powerful beings that watch over new worlds, and essentially make bets on lesser sentient beings. The easiest way for them to collect data on User's they're interested in is by sending them items like your ring there.” V.V. said as if from a guidebook.
“So, I’m being watched… That’s creepy. Do you think I should get rid of this?” Alex said and held up his hand to see it better and also show V.V. However, when he lifted his hand up, the ring was gone again.
“What the…”
“It is System Bound, Alex. You cannot remove it. You cannot see it or feel it because it is Intangible and Transparent. When you opened the box, you accepted the ring, according to the Systems understanding at least. It’s a trick to make it so that you cannot decline the ring.” V.V. said once more in that matter of fact, teacher-esk voice.
“…You knew this was going to happen!?” Alex half yelled at V.V.
“No, I didn’t know until you were already opening the box. Even then, it was only a guess on my part. A good guess though, might I say.”
“This isn’t funny V.V! I’m stuck with this thing and now people are watching me! Gaaah, that’s freaking creepy!” Alex half-yelled as he attempted to scrape the ring off of his finger but only found flesh.
“Several points to note, Alex. You are stuck with the ring until your world is integrated fully with both Mana and the System. Once that happens, the ring will disintegrate and add itself to the Watchers’ Ranking List. Also, the Watchers’ can only view certain areas for small periods of time. It takes a great amount of Mana and other materials and energies to look at a burgeoning world before the System has finished integration. So, you will be viewed every now and then at most. Hopefully that is comforting.”
“…Somewhat, I guess. Why would anyone even view me to begin with?” Alex said, the anger draining out of him.
“Most likely causes would include, your achievements, the System adapting you on its own, or maybe your Other race, assuming it’s not something other humans have.”
“Human brains weren’t meant to be bombarded with so much different, world bending information. Especially not in the span of what… three days?” Alex said somewhat to himself, but he didn’t care if he was heard. He sat, looking at his hand that he knew an alien ring had latched onto and felt helpless and small. Cosmic beings were floating around above him, making wagers on whether he’d live or die or who knew what else. His planet was being ‘integrated’ and he was on a floating island. So much more was still happening even after thinking about those few things and it was suffocating. Not to mention being practically buried as well. That definitely didn’t help the suffocation feeling.
“…I don’t know what to do V.V. I feel like… I just feel… distraught.” Alex said, in little more than a whisper.
“Hmm… Get stronger, keep moving, discover, explore, conquer, to name a few. I can feel your despair Alex, but you cannot lay down and die. There is a whole new world for you to traverse, more so than any other time in your species’ existence. You’ve already overcome multiple situations where lesser beings would have died. Now is the time to be bold and adventurous!” V.V. said with so much emotion, Alex wasn’t sure if it came from his little companion.
Snort
Alex couldn't help but laugh a bit at the pep talk he was getting from his only friend in the world at that moment. He did feel lost and confused but at no point was he going to lie down and die. That part, V.V. got wrong. Alex may have been scared out of his mind, but he was going to see what came next, even if that thing had lots of sharp teeth. He sighed, and decided, at least for the moment, to push all his emotions to the side and focus on the next step.
“Thanks, V.V. I’m not going to give up or anything. I just feel overwhelmed is all.”
“Oh, I know. I said that to see if it would snap you out of your slump. I consider it to be partially effective. I’ve taken note.”
“…You’re weird.”
“A complement is a complement.” V.V. said as she returned to drip a few drops from one little vial into another, only for a small poof of smoke to shoot out. She gathered the smelly fumes with her telekinesis and stored the gas directly into her inventory. “This’ll be good for later… hehehe…”
Alex watched and listened to his companion and decided that weird was an absolute understatement. He wasn’t sure there was a word that described the tiny maniacal creature. Just as his brain wanted to start listing off different synonyms he knew for maniac, he was brought back to reality by a sound.
Rrrraaaaaaawwr…
“Oh, what the hell is it this time?” Alex asked, less scared than annoyed at this point.
“Hmm? Oh, that’s coming from quite a distance away. There have been several similar howls, screams, roars and what-not over the past several hours. That one sounds even further away than the last one I heard.”
“…Good.” Was all Alex could say to that. Brought out of his previous distraction, Alex decided to once again follow the appropriate steps to survive. He began to strip, somewhat cumbersomely in the tightly spaced tunnel to put on all his new equipment. The struggle was lessened by his Orbs helping him remove certain hard to reach pieces of clothing and helping him to don his new gear. After several long minutes, Alex was swathed in shiny new clothing. While the gear was clearly unused, it was some of the oddest pieces of clothing he'd ever seen. He looked himself over as best as he could, decided that he looked ridiculous and then immediately pushed onto the next step. It was time, once more, to level.