Jeff stared at the screen before him. He had defeated a Monster.

That might be a first for humanity too. He smiled a bit at that, then grimaced in pain.

"Kazi, is there any reason I shouldn't accept the Myst Rewards?" He asked the Spore.

"Only on fringe occasions. I'll likely accept for us in the future, but I wanted you to see what I see when a monster is killed." It replied.

He appreciated the gesture and thought, yes.

In front of him the crab started to disintegrate into a translucent Myst. The tendrils of Myst coming off the dissolving monster moved toward him in a steady flow. The tendrils entered into his chest.

Jeff felt the yearning feeling in his gut start to expand. It expanded until it hit a threshold.

A screen popped into his vision.

You have leveled up to Level 1.

The threshold burst and he felt his spiritual senses expand. The Myst kept flooding into him and he felt his senses expanding. Power coursed through him that made him feel superhuman. The Myst kept coming and he soon reached another threshold. The incoming Myst burst through that one as well.

You have leveled up to Level 2.

He felt more connected to the Myst than before. It coursed through his whole body rather than it’s normal home in his gut.

The Monster Crab was fully disintegrated now. A single faint line of the near-invisible Myst continued to flow into him, but much of the Myst dispersed into the wind. Jeff could only see it so long as the Myst was clumped together. It disappeared as it dispersed.

The claw he had lobbed off with his first disc stayed intact where it fell off, near the base of the outcrop.

Why didn't that dissolve? He wondered.

"It's part of your reward," Kazi replied.

Jeff jumped at the voice. "Holy crap, I forgot you were there for a moment." He took a deep breath to settle his nerves. "Honestly, of all the game like aspects I've seen today, a monster dissolving after being defeated was the most surprising to me. I always thought that was a strange mechanic."

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"Really? I always thought leaving bodies behind was weird. I guess when nothing is infused with Myst that's what would happen though. How strange…"

Kazi seemed to notice Jeff's raised eyebrow and continued on with the explanation. "That crab had been fused with a Wild Spore and infused with Myst. The Wild Spore connected it's body with the Myst System this area is influenced by. In this case that is the Boschyan System. Our System influence has affected what rules the Myst follows while in this area. At least to a degree."

"Wait, so it dissolved to Myst because you told it to?" Jeff asked.

"No, not me, and the crab would have dissolved with or without the System. The System merely influences the when and how. If you had killed this monster somewhere with no system influence then it would base its rewards around your personal connection to the Mysts. Without a System the rewards are sporadic and varied. With our System, we maximize the rewards to the benefit of the individual and the whole."

Jeff thought he was getting it and decided to sum up to see if Kazi agreed. "Okay, so, Monsters are made of Myst. I kill them and the Myst rewards me. The Boschyan System influences those rewards. They made it so the Myst flew into me and left a crab claw as a souvenir?"

"You've got the gist of it. There's more to it, like you are also made of Myst now, but we'll get to all of that later. For now, let's talk about something more exciting."

On his right Jeff saw the list change. 'Fight monster to the death' got crossed out and 'Stats and Leveling' got added as an addendum to 'Spore Suit'. Then a new screen popped into his vision with what looked like a character sheet on a Diablo game or D&D.

Name: Jeff Kazi

Spore Suit: Chosen Trainee

Titles: Locked

Renown: Locked

Merit Points: 300

Myst Connections:

Disc (Low Mastery)

Abilities:

Throw Disc (Low Mastery)

Stats: Level 2

Body: Tier 1

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 1

Vitality: 1

Mind: Tier 1

Cognition: 1

Processing: 1

Imagination: 1

Spirit: Tier 1

Might : 1

Sense: 1

*Depth: 4

Available Points: 6

Jeff had played enough video games that this sheet looked very familiar. It also had a few things that he'd never seen in a game before. He could make some assumptions though.

"One question. Why does it say my name is Jeff Kazi? That's definitely not my last name."