image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/fklipbI_W-FFNZYuQdwP-iJ43Q9H2iUixgWY8B0z1YAV__7QKkMbtxEowBUeXeU-NN3DcMJ__LNym5Oa8SzzXUmPvQU37QBPVOeDqv73yMd6G14KTJ2ycUciRGEgPpMRcaeo8SHnf_-S0utbY7vI-HU]
A second later, I found myself lying in a familiar white room, enveloped in a comforting cocoon of water. Releasing the protective spell, the water cascaded to the floor in a murky puddle. Simultaneously, a system message appeared, and a timer started ticking down in the corner of my vision.
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00:59:43
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Congratulations!
You have successfully completed your first individual task and have been awarded a reward!
Experience points (XP) gained during the mission are doubled!
You can choose one D-rank skill!
Do you want to choose a reward?
Yes / No
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image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/QkvlUdNIFKbeUaPTcs2jmM6k2Zo8sUuTaodchdRQN_KFtlQCo9vniVtoL5B_mx_mTyNVnsE75DJY5FonKteKuHXsTEUMZKq6OMY8DkHhos6_gNXPbUMrZncpkM9Ybgex_YXsO2tZZ4fw8gMTNyrqcmc]
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Attention!
You have reached a new level! Current level - 3.
You have 2 unallocated bonus stats!
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Attention!
As you are the only free individual who has independently completed the individual task of the qualifying selection, you have received the achievement
"First Among Equals"!
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Focusing on my sole achievement, I accessed its extended description:
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Access to reference information allowed.
First Among Equals
You have achieved success where other representatives of your race have failed. You have not yet stepped onto a higher level of evolution, but the shackles of your race no longer bind you.
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Before I could finish reading, other text boxes appeared:
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Attention!
Your planet's race has failed to fulfill the local goal of the qualifying selection, the rank of the race and its players is reduced to (F+)!
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Attention!
You are the owner of the achievement "First Among Equals", so the downgrade of your race's rank does not affect you!
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"Level three! But what about level two?" I thought, reviewing the system messages. The news about my race's rank reduction filled me with mixed emotions. On one hand, I understood that there was nothing I could have done. On the other, I felt a bitter pang of shame for not being able to save more people, for not being powerful enough. The title bestowed upon me by the system, separating me from the others, only intensified my conflicting feelings.
"Do I have the right to consider myself superior to them simply because I used magic to overcome a trial they couldn't? As the 'First Among Equals,' shouldn't I help humanity rise by sharing my knowledge and experience?" Questions swirled in my head, but I had no answers. Perhaps, in time, I would find the right path, but for now, I needed to focus on my own survival and development.
Ah, there were the previous messages:
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Attention!
You have killed your opponent and received 3 XP! (x5)
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Attention!
You have reached a new level! Current level - 2.
You have 2 unallocated bonus stats!
"And 10 XP to spare. Excellent! Let's choose a reward."
Do you want to choose a reward?
Yes / No
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A list of over a hundred skills and abilities unfolded before me. There was so much to choose from! At this rate, I wouldn't have enough time to review everything, so I spent some mana to accelerate my mind. Now, I could explore the new possibilities.
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List of skills/abilities:
Telekinesis
Cryokinesis
Affinity with water
Affinity with fire
Affinity with space
Spell "Chain Lightning"
Spell "Wall of Fire"
Short-range teleportation
Spell "Creation of Teleportation Gates"
Flickering
Incorporeality
Spell "Shield of Will"
Metamorphism
Healing
Spell "Healing Touch"
Spell "Invisibility"
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"Affinity with water – tempting, but I could restore it myself. Yes, it would take a long time, but spending such an opportunity on something I could achieve on my own is irrational. Spells and various 'kinesis' are also out. I already have a solid arsenal of spells, and kinetics, while cool, are difficult to develop and too specialized in the early stages. But the ability to move through space beckoned me."
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/7zT9VRbFbo6WsTcYNe-cWddgOktis_Xvd9spE2Bmmb8uBT4c7Cy0uwk78Q2blUTWoEP8bePkfiDnkCX_B9rr5Cqf6cZEBtATk9jJ5zAGJixFWTsIdK0Jr5Y5we3W7CKcyQTXUzHYBXsAbggR4CTQlfA]
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Teleportation
Description:
This skill gives the user the ability to move their body through subspace up to a distance of 100 meters.
Skill level: 1/5
Skill rank: D
Choose teleportation?
Yes / No
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"Teleportation… but only for a hundred meters. It could be a lifesaver in battle, and I almost chose this skill, but then I saw 'Metamorphism' at the end of the list."
image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/bdhNuVwDRI1s7_Koj-5nKLTm-8DYxew6cekj0JnLU7dwSbPN2fg7qQAoXkAQIsE_wWbHPkWQJKoUAGaD9GDNsPpqildibjSugoQwAgWrb67lWV2NODEm5XbeHC0it2W_Q_4RtgEMKQD2zvkGbaio93o]
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Metamorphism
Description:
Allows you to control your body at the cellular level.
Skill level: 1
Skill rank: D
Choose metamorphism?
Yes / No
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"Yes! And Yes again! The description is sparse, but I know about metamorphism from my past life."
In Babylon, this ability was considered hereditary, though I had a different opinion. Some, not very wise authors, wrote in their scrolls that it indicated close family ties with higher demons. But powerful mages quickly silenced such "wise guys" and destroyed their works. There were no scrolls or teachers of metamorphism in the public domain.
Everything I knew about this gift, I learned from my second teacher, a great artifact maker and a decent demonologist. He shared a couple of scrolls about the development and practice of this ability. It was all connected to prana and mind control.
For someone with poor body control, and without a teacher, metamorphism could become a curse. Constant slight differences in the length of arms and legs could lead to injuries, and changes in face and stature frightened ordinary people. Uncharacteristic changes in the body were usually accompanied by pain, and a failed experiment could end in death.
But no matter how unpleasant the development of this ability was, one thing was known for sure – most Archdemons possessed this gift and were satisfied with it. Changing appearance, growing a lost limb, even growing a new body from a single cell – all of this was possible thanks to metamorphism. Although the latter is an unconfirmed fact.
A metamorph could perform almost any miracle with their body, but if the soul was damaged, no amount of metamorphism could help. That's why demonologists created combat artifacts from materials capable of harming all shells of a demon's soul, and demons preferred to conquer worlds with technological development – there, few things could truly kill them.
Although the demonologists of Babylon usually tried to capture demons, imprisoning their souls in stones or special containers. It was like a super battery of mana, prana, and qi energy.
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Attention!
Scandinavian pantheon restored!
Thor, son of the great Odin, has been reborn!
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Attention!
African pantheon restored!
Horus, son of the great Osiris, has been reborn!
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Attention!
Hindu pantheon restored!
Kartikeya, son of the great Shiva, has been reborn!
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Attention!
Greek pantheon restored!
Athena, daughter of the great Zeus, has been reborn!
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Attention!
Chinese pantheon restored!
Emperor Huang-di, descendant of the great Shang-di, has been reborn!
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Attention!
North American pantheon restored!
Tonacatecuhtli, part of the great Ometeotl, has been reborn!
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Attention!
South American pantheon restored!
Pacha Kamaq, son of the great Inti, has been reborn!
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"So, the deities have arrived. I wonder, were they truly reborn, or were they formed by the system based on our beliefs, to make it easier for humanity to accept them?"
In the Babylon of my previous dimension, these were incredibly powerful beings, some of whom were once human. Strong mages or great rulers who managed to master the energy of faith – bakhion, forming the ninth sphere of the soul where this substance was stored. Each great city-state formed its own divine protector, who later united into a pantheon. Well, at least that's the unofficial interpretation I found in one of the scrolls in my late teacher's library.
"I can only imagine the energy storm raging on our planet right now! The birth of even one god, and the divine soul sphere can be inherited, is an event capable of shaking the energy shell of an entire planet, and here we have seven of them. I don't really feel like returning to Earth for the next couple of hours."
"Thank the Creator, I still have half an hour to wait out the main energy surge. But just sitting around doing nothing at a time like this is a sin. I don't know where the portal will take me or who will meet me there.
Perhaps a full-scale planetary invasion or orbital bombardment is already underway on Earth. Something was exploding back then! And because of metamorphism, I won't even be able to run properly. So, first things first – I'll deal with my body. If memory serves, I need to form and fix the image of my body in my mind – this will prevent it from spontaneously changing, and mental meditation will help me with that."
It had been a long time since I had immersed myself in the mental space of my soul. I simply didn't have enough mana for such a luxury; in fact, I didn't have enough mana for anything. Over the long years, without my direct control, my temple of reason had changed quite significantly, and not for the better. Once evenly spaced and ordered, the crystals of knowledge were now scattered chaotically throughout my consciousness. The mental defense barriers I had been so proud of in the past no longer worked, nor did the closed labyrinth that was supposed to imitate the palace of reason and throw enemies off the track. The mental cast of my body and consciousness also no longer existed. I would have to start all the work from scratch.
image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/104610408/2523c5f1629c467f863e5c0387c9867b/eyJ3ZWJwIjowfQ%3D%3D/1.jpeg?token-time=1718150400&token-hash=LAYkEklWX9jcamQlvsY3LDjB8--ygCChEvSWBtfLp9E%3D]
The first step was to create a mental cast of my body, an urgent need. To do this, I converted my available mana reserves into psi and distributed it throughout my body. Now came the hardest part – the "data" obtained in this way needed to be passed through the subconscious, and the energy stretched throughout the body needed to be focused in my brain and pulled into the temple of reason, where a three-dimensional model of my body should form.
"Oh, how my head is pounding," I groaned, putting my palm to my face and feeling the stickiness of fresh blood. "Damn, blood is coming from my eyes and nose. This kind of strain could kill you.
This procedure should be done with full strength and energy, with a prepared body and under the supervision of an experienced healer, not like I'm doing now. It's good that I didn't get a stroke and I'm not lying here flat in the middle of the room. But did I have a choice? Now I can at least walk without clinging to every stone, and my face won't turn into a pig's snout."
With my last bit of strength, I crawled to the portal. I couldn't stand firmly on my feet in this state; it constantly felt as if the floor of the room was swaying like the deck of a ship in an eight-point storm. As soon as I leaned against the arch of the portal, the system offered options for destinations:
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Portal to Thor's domain (closed)
Portal to Horus' domain (closed)
Portal to Kartikeya's domain (closed)
Portal to Athena's domain (closed)
Portal to Huang-di's domain (closed)
Portal to Tonacatecuhtli's domain (closed)
Portal to Pacha Kamaq's domain (closed)
Portal to planet Earth (0 XP)
Portal to planet Thea (100 XP)
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"Well, I wasn't exactly eager to visit the newly-made gods," I said in a weakened voice, choosing planet Earth as my destination.
On the other side of the portal, gravity and a concrete slab awaited me, joyfully greeting my long-suffering nose. All that remained of the capital hospital's trauma department building were walls and a pile of bricks and concrete blocks that once served as floor slabs.
It was on such a slab that I landed, falling from the portal at the height of the second floor. It's good that they didn't have time to move me to the fourth floor, otherwise I wouldn't have escaped without fractures.
I had to set my nose myself, without magic. There was simply no mana or prana left for such a simple operation. And I still had to get to my room in the dormitory, and I had no credit cards or cash. What can I say, I was even dressed like a teenager obsessed with cosplay, playing the role of an ancient sorcerer. All my clothes, as well as my money, remained somewhere under the rubble of this building in the form of ashes. It's good that there was a spare bank card and a spare phone on the top shelf of a locked cabinet in my dorm room. But I still had to get there, which was at least an hour's walk, which for my exhausted body turned into all five.
Taking out the bottomless flask from the ring and taking a couple of sips from it, I began to wash the blood from my face, which was slowly starting to dry. Having put myself in order and rested, I set off to look for someone.
Having climbed over several blockages, I finally made it to the pedestrian street. I did not find the scenes from a post-apocalyptic horror film that I had subconsciously expected. Everything looked calm and peaceful, except that there were very few passers-by for this time of day. Well, and the hospital building behind me stood out from this scene of a wonderful idyll of peaceful life.
Approaching a lone elderly man who seemed to have decided to warm his bones in the warm spring sun while sitting on a bench, I decided to inquire about what had happened here.
"Good afternoon, sir! Could you tell me what happened to the capital hospital building?"
"Oh, son, haven't you heard? They're talking about it on all the TV channels now. The war has begun, that's what happened," the old man croaked in a tired voice.
"No, I wasn't in the city, I was with friends at a role-playing gathering, and there was no TV or radio," I replied with the first thing that came to mind.
"Four rockets landed here yesterday afternoon. A lot of people died. My neighbor's daughter was killed. They searched for the body all day and all night, but they never found it. The poor girl probably ended up at the epicenter of the explosion."