Before waking up, everything for Roberion was pain, only pain. His body is more damaged than ever. The only thing keeping him alive was his perk, Trashed and Scattered, but that had a price. His body was incredibly weak, even the spider fighting, right after his creation, wasn’t that harrowing.
The first thing he did after recovering his consciousness was to see what the system had alerted him all this while ago. The alert was worse than the pain he was feeling right now, because this was what he was running away since his fist day alive. Slavery.
The information the system displayed was about the possible classes he could choose after his incarnation finished. The process was compromised right in the end, but the incarnation process was complete. He could now choose his next class. The problem was that he didn’t have any choice. The choices itself were the problem.
Class: Servant Pathfinder of the Emperor
“These pathfinders go to any length to increase the Emperor dominion”.
Perks:
[Protection of the Almighty Ruler of Creation]: the user will have the opportunity to use this blessing one time/day. The blessing gives the user an instant increase in regeneration, increasing endurance by 50% limited to 40 points. Incarnation change is possible.
[Undying loyalty servant]: the user can be commanded by any official of the Emperor of Creation Faction, unless this order goes against the faction tenets. The user will lose complete access to the system unless given by the faction. The user will relent all his choices to the faction organization. The faction has the right to use the system to the extermination of the user. Direct control of the user will be available by the faction.
Class: Servant Pathfinder of Atlas Unchained
“The truth shall be revealed, the paths charted, so the great sin can be cleansed’
Perks:
[Protection of Atlas Unchained]: the user will have the opportunity to use this blessing one time/day. The blessing gives the user an instant increase in its physic prowess, increasing strength by 50% limited to 40 points. Incarnation change is possible.
[Undying loyalty servant]: the user can be commanded by any official of Atlas Unchained, unless this order goes against the faction tenets. The user will lose complete access to the system unless given by the faction. The user will relent all his choices to the faction organization. The faction has the right to use the system to the extermination of the user. Direct control of the user will be available by the faction.
That’s absurd, all that work, all this suffering only to be a slave again, giving me false freedom just for me to know how it is, just so I will suffer when I live the rest of my days as a tool. This is bullshit, increasing my level, all this fighting, all the mayhem the Nulls are doing, all this death, to become a slave in the end. Even that leader Null will become another slave.
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If that wasn’t bad enough, the system didn’t give him a choice of when we would choose his master. Below the classes, a countdown was shown by the system.
“00:14:21, until automatic class selection”
The system gave him a deadline, choose a new master, or the system would choose for him. The choice it would choose for him was simple, it would choose The Emperor, by all the clues he got he would be a Null servant of The Emperor of Creation. The uniforms, the color scheme, the place he was destined too, he at first thought the masked person had changed some of this, but probably not. He was just one of the Nulls, destined for this planet. Maybe if he would have another destination, he wouldn’t even have this short false freedom.
The second choice was probably the masked person. He wanted us to do his dirty work. Maybe if we choose the first one, we would be killed instantly. Maybe not. He could still have a use for us, maybe as fodder or suicide squads. I don’t know much about this Atlas Unchained, but although they seemed less despotic than the Creation empire, I would still be a slave.
“Why…system why?”, said Roberion, full of dread.
All the choices meaning his end, and the beginning of his torment. There wasn’t any plant on how to change that, even one of his most crazy plans he could get in time, was to remove the proto-engram with his own two hands, using the rapier to remove it. He couldn’t say what, but he could feel the engram was damaged, probably because of the way he incarnated without using the system to help.
He took a glance at Percival. ‘Sorry buddy, but I think our journey was cut short. Maybe I will be killed, so the die gets another user or maybe they will use me with the die anyway. I can’t leave it in their hands though, I won’t go back.
“Percival, give me your rapier please”, said Roberion, with all the strength he could muster.
“Wha—Sir why do you need the rapier?”, Percival showed uncertainty, he wasn’t sure what was hapenning. “Sir, is something wrong?”
“Percival, I won’t go bac—. I need to be fast. The system will select a class for me or I can select it, both of them will make me a slave to them, I don’t have another option. I’m grateful for you…But…I just can’t”, wrath and sadness mix in Roberion, his body was in pain but his worse pain was the feeling of utterless powerlessness, deep in him, making the pain grow worse, wishing by freedom through death.
“….Sir….we can find something, we—”
“We can’t. I honestly don’t know much about you, if you are already born that way or if you got trapped in the die. But please, I don’t want to order you to kill me, so just give me the rapier. I still have control of myself, I can do it”.
Percival eyes grow distant, like he was just remembering something from the past. A sadder expression shows up, but in an instant he gets resolute. “Roberion, I can give you a choice: die today or take a gamble. Your reward is a painful death or a future torment. Both can be reversed, but chance isn’t enough. Even if this road gives you power, it will be meager. You need to take more, even if it transforms you into a monster, so you can finish it.”
Percival keeps talking. He seemed like another person. “This is a fool’s option, where only the damned would choose, death is a less painful punishment”, his eyes grow distant again, “Before it seemed like the better road…”. Percival grows serious. “Roberion, what is your choice?”
There was no moment of indecision. Roberion knew it. “I accept”.
Percival didn’t congratulate, didn’t say anything. He just walked out. Three minutes later he was carrying a weird mix of plants, in the Roberion saw a corpse. He knew he had no time, so he keep quiet as Percival put it next to his body. Percival’s hand shinned for some seconds until an ethereal dagger showed up. Looking at it Roberion just knew it was a dagger, but he couldn’t see it, no, his brain refused to accept its existence.
Percival lifted the dagger and plunged on Roberion’s head. “Welcome to our nightmare.” Percival said to deaf ears.