I would have been around 11 in my old world. Over the last four and a half years, my mother taught me how to read, write, and do basic math in preparation for me to gain system access.
Status [DISCONNECTED] Soul Integration 75% Memory Integration 100% Name: Arthur Alden Class: NULL Race: Human DEX STR END 12 9 9 INT WIS CHA 12 12 10
I found out that the average stats for someone awakened at the age of 10 were 10. The year in this world is 480 days long, with the last day of the year being the equivalent of the winter solstice, the day with the least light.
"Arthur!" Mom called from the living room. I went down the stairs to see what she wanted from me.
"Yes, Mom?" I asked.
"I need to collect a few herbs deeper in the forest. I'm taking Ellie and Lilly with me. Do you want to join us?" Mom asked.
"Uhm, sure!" I responded.
"Take your sword with you. We are leaving as soon as they both arrive." Mom said.
I rushed upstairs to grab my sword. Over the last few years, I became decent with my sword, good enough to not cut myself while clearing bushes. I picked up the sword and went back downstairs. A few minutes later, Ellie arrived with Lilly. Lilly was looking as cute as always with her green eyes and golden hair.
"Let's go!" Mom said.
We walked out of the house and headed towards the forest. It was a beautiful day in late summer. The sky was bright, birds were singing, and insects were flying around as we walked. After a few minutes of walking, we were deep enough in the forest that the village wasn't visible anymore. Deeper into the forest, we entered a clearing at the end of which there were thorny bushes with bright red fruit.
"That's the main reason we came here today." Mom said, pointing at the bushes.
"Is that Bloodberry?" Lilly asked.
"Yes, and be careful around it, please don't get pricked by the thorns." Mom said.
Bloodberries were popular as a juice in the village, similar in effect to coffee but sweet and fruity in flavour.
"Why is it named Bloodberry?" I asked out of curiosity.
"It needs the blood of animals or monsters to grow properly. It lures creatures in with the berry, they get pricked by the thorns which release poisons and then they end up thrashing in the bushes and bleeding out without even noticing the danger. Which is why you really don't want to get pricked by them." Mom explained.
"That's also why they are so useful, they can all be extracted individually and then we can make painkillers that turn pain into pleasure, or pills that help with constipation." Lilly chimed in.
"Your Dad also likes to smoke the bark before doing hard work, it improves his focus and helps him ignore fatigue." Mom said smiling at me.
Mom and Lilly worked on harvesting the bark, thorns, leaves, and berries from the bush. My sister and I picked up herbs that our mother pointed out to us. After an hour we got bored of helping and decided to play hide and seek together. She was far better at it then me, levels make a big difference. I decided to run deeper into the forest to have a better chance at hiding.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
GRRRR!
I turned around and saw a single wolf. It had black fur and yellow eyes, and it was slightly less than 4 feet tall. That's bad; wolves aren't known for hunting alone. If they are all this big, then even my mom will struggle. I unsheathed my sword and screamed for help as loudly as possible.
Holding my sword in my right hand and with my left hand guarding my body, I started to walk backward toward my family. The wolf started to walk in my direction, growling. Its walk turned into a sprint, and it lunged at me. I managed to sidestep and stab it between its ribs. The momentum of the lunge tore my blade out of its ribcage, splattering blood on the forest floor. It landed on the ground, dead.
System unlocked
You have engaged in lethal combat against a monster and triumphed unscathed.
"Good job, Arthur." Mom said. I jumped out of surprise.
"If you were here, then why didn't you help me? I could have died!" I accused her.
"It was just a level 1 monster. I killed the rest of its pack in less time than it would take you to blink." said Mom.
"Just how strong are you?" I asked, shocked.
"Strong enough to shatter the core of weak monsters with only mana manipulation. Anyways, MP, Perks, Skills, Integration. You know that we have to report that after awakening." Mom said.
I checked my status.
Status Name: Arthur Alden Integration 75% Class: [SELECT] Race: Human Level: 0 XP: 20/0 HP: 58/58 (19/Day) MP: 78/78 (26/Day) Attributes DEX 12 INT 12 STR 9 WIS 12 END 9 CHA 10 Perks [Absolute Grip] (reincarnator) Traits [Inverted Soul] (reincarnator) Blessings: No Gods, No Kings, No Masters
The page changed, it now has a lot more information, and I will need to ask mom to teach me the [Inspect] Skill so that I can find out what the Blessing does.
"78 MP, 1 Perk, 75% – no Skills." I responded.
"Tsk. You are going to have to go to the academy when the next school year starts, please don't choose a class yet. If your integration was lower, I could have asked them to delay it by a year. With you awakening through combat and a Perk, you should get a very good combat-related class after they train you. They will treat you well." she said with a solemn expression. I hugged her knowing that I will soon have to leave for a long time.
We went back home with Mom and my sister dragging wolf carcasses, and Lilly and I carrying herb baskets. When we arrived home, I shared the news with my dad and my brother.
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Astradus stood atop one of the tallest mountains, overseeing the world when a notification appeared.
Anomaly Report #7c58/e342
Entity: Soul
Anomaly description:
Loki's Dead Man's Switch
Greetings Astradus, it should be about 5 to 10 thousand years in your subjective time since the void became too hostile to send messages, I went through with plan B, if this is sent then A failed and I went through with C. The plan is infallible; we will make it through.
Entity is immune to subjugation using divine power, attempts can be lethal to Gods.
He quickly teleported back to his mansion in a pocket dimension and rushed to his System management room.
'System display Anomaly,' he thought.
He saw a newly awakened mage with what appeared to be his family. Nothing world-threatening, so he relaxed. Loki's "Gift" this time wasn't an immortal fragmenting rapidly evolving snake.
'That madman actually went through with that plan, it will be successful, but he doesn't understand the timescales he's working on. I'm going to have to bring up the topic of our new guest at the next meeting of the pantheon.' he thought.