Ke’an waits for several minutes in silence for some type of response. The voice in his head suddenly talking about eliminating him put him on edge. As the silence continued he began to think that maybe he would not be eliminated after all. He was worried that there may be some kind of vote going on behind the scenes that he is just not privy to. After a few more minutes pass the voice returns.
“Request to eliminate Administrator-13… rejected.” The voice says.
Ke’an lets out a woohoo seeing that he won’t be killed.
“Administrator-13 will be demoted to Apprentice Administrator. Reality will be stabilized by Infinity Inc. for five years. Administrator-13 will be required to retrain in Tutorial Beta. Administrator-13 will be required to reach Administrator level 5 or their native reality will be deleted. Initiating Tutorial Beta.”
“Wait, I have to do what with what!” Ke’an asks.
Suddenly in a flash of light Ke’an is no longer inside of the all white space System called the Crucible. He is standing outside on the mountain completely naked facing the crevasse he was pushed into during the avalanche. The sudden shift in location almost causes him to fall forward into the chasm instead he overcorrects and falls backwards into the snow. He was happy to finally be out of the cave and whatever happened to bring him there also cleaned his body.
“What the what?” He says as his body hits the cold surface.
Before thanks to his blessing from the Goddess of Winter he had heightened resistance to cold. Now however he didn’t feel the cold at all. He sits up and looks around, there is no signs of his travelers pack or his clothing meaning none of it came with him. He didn’t know what to make of everything that just happened. Now that he was out in the chill of the winter he wasn't even sure if any of it was real.
Ke’an stands up and starts walking in a direction he hoped would take him to a town. Maybe he would be able to find clothing to cover up even if he no longer had any need for warmth. As night approaches he finds a clear enough spot under a tree to sleep for the night. Without a knife to carve a warmth spell into the trunk he would be sleeping in the frozen snow.
In the middle of the night a bright light wakes Ke’an up as he sees a square portal open directly over him. Suddenly a heavy and warm object falls out of the portal landing on top of him. He yelps in surprise as the object lands on him and the light disappears. In the darkness he can not see what is on top of him but he can tell that it felt like warm soft flesh.
“Ah, why is it so cold!” A familiar female voice says.
“System?” Ke’an asks as he touches what he now recognizes is another naked body.
“Ke’an?” System says her voice is no longer sickly. “Did you die too? Damn, I guess my calculations were wrong.”
“I am not dead… you're alive.” Ke’an says.
“I am what? Why? W-what did you do?” System asks as she touches her body. “I should be dead, why am I alive again.”
“I didn’t do anything but get kicked out of your crucible and thrown out into this storm.” Ke’an says in his defense. “Shouldn’t you be glad you are alive anyway!”
“Ehh… it's okay. Well, when it’s not freezing it's okay. Why are you sleeping in the cold? You’re an Administrator and a mage?” System says as she starts to shiver.
“I can’t use my magic without setting up the magic circle and I don’t have my knife to carve one in the tree.”
“You are an Administrator, idiot.” System says frustratedly. “You can do whatever you want! You can make it summer right now if you wanted. You used magic to kill me without one of those stupid magic circles. Just reach out your hand and focus on the tree with the effect you want. Don’t use magic, use your Administrator Authority.”
Ke’an was surprised how different System is now that she was no longer a sick several mile long reptile. In the cave she acted like a wise and powerful but tried sage. She seemed like she was full of unfathomable mystery and magic beyond comprehension. Now she seems more like an annoyed teenager upset she didn’t get her way.
“My Administrator Authority?” Ke’an asks.
“Think about the scales you saw on my body when I was a dragon.” System says in a rush. “The vastness of unfathomable power and the connection to the greater universe and yatta-yatta, then just do it… quickly please.”
“Oookay…” Ke’an says drawing out the word.
Ke’an reaches out his hand towards the tree and closes his eyes. He can feel his magic inside of him but also something else, something more vast and limitless confined within him. He searches deeper into this unknown power and can feel the commands not for magic but for reality itself. He extends the alien power from his soul out into the tree and can feel the structure of the tree in his mind.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
A window appears in his vision which he reads.
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Apprentice Administrator Reality Editor
You have selected red oak (level 1). How would you like to edit this item? You are an Apprentice Administrator your choices are limited to the following:
Chop Down
Turn to paper
Turn to logs
Burn Down
Infuse with magic
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“What is this?” Ke’an asks. “It is asking me to edit reality?”
“It pulled up a window with choices?” System asks while shaking her head. “That means you are pretty low level. I am surprised this reality didn’t destabilize… just choose whichever talks about magic and think about warmth and light… but not fire!”
Ke’an does what she says and a bubble of warmth surrounds the tree evaporating the snow instantly and shielding them from the cold. A dim light radiates from the branches of the tree unnaturally giving the two of them some light. Ke’an could finally get a good look at System. Her skin was pale without any color. She was bald and hairless, lacking even her eyebrows like Ke’an, which he assumed was part of the package of returning back to life. Her eyes looked like shifting nebulous clouds with a parade of color and small sparkles of light similar to her dragon form. She has an athletic frame and Ke’an could tell her chest was sizable though he did not dare look down to look for himself he could feel her against him.
“Ke’an why are you naked?” System says as she looks at his body. “Were you naked this whole time? While I was sitting on top of you.”
“Yes, I told you I lost everything when I got kicked out of your crucible.” Ke’an says.
System’s face turns bright red as she hops off of him and runs around to the other side of the tree so he could no longer see her.
“Have you tried opening your inventory?” System asks, embarrassment lining her words.
“Inventory?” Ke’an asks.
“Yeah… you should be able to pull up a menu to do it.” Systems says. “Your stuff would have been sent to your personal inventory when you were kicked out of my… your reality crucible.”
“Menu?” Ke’an asks.
“The little windows with text on them you’ve been seeing. Just think about one of the items you lost in my crucible; it should cause the menu to appear.” System responds.
Ke’an thought about his traveler's bag as System instructed and just as she said a menu appeared. The the menu is divided into a grid sixteen across and sixteen down for a total of 256 slots of which all but six were filled. Most of the items in the menu were things Ke’an never saw before and assumed they may have been items that belonged to System. As he looks down more empty rows appear revealing that there is more space in his inventory. When he scrolls over the items a smaller menu appears with a description of what he was looking at.
“What do I do now?” Ke’an asks out loud.
“Select the item you are looking at and tap it with your finger.” Systems says she then pauses for a minute before continuing. “Just a quick question for you, does your world have computers yet?”
“Computer? What is that?” Ke’an asks.
“Never mind, just pretend I didn’t ask anything.” System sighs.
Ke’an nods and looks at the image of his travel bag. His finger hovering over the icon as a description of the bag appears in his vision.
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Item: Ke’an Strome’s travel bag
Level: Common
Description: A hardy travel bag used for extended expeditions in potentially hostile environments. Travel bag is enhanced with magic to increase resistance to elemental damage. May contain additional items.
----------------------------------------
Ke’an tap the image with his finger and a bright teleportation window appears dropping the bag in front of him before disappearing. The menu dematerializes as Ke’an searches through his bag for his spare clothing. He puts on his mountain gear and places a second set at the base of the tree for System. After she gets dressed She walks around red in the face from embarrassment. Ke’an’s clothing are too big on her everywhere but in the chest which popped the buttons on the shirt.
“Can you edit this to fit me better.” System asks.
“I-I can try.” Ke’an says as he reaches out his hand.
Ke’an holds up both hands and allows his administrative authority to extend outward while trying to focus on the outfit System is wearing. As the editor window pops up he mentally celebrates his success until he reads the edit description.
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Apprentice Administrator Reality Editor
You have selected breasts of System (Level 1). You meet the requirement to edit this item however, edits to individuals can be resisted if their level exceeds yours. How would you like to edit this item? You are an Apprentice Administrator your choices are limited to the following:
Enlarge Size
Reduce Size
Stimulate
Infuse with magic
----------------------------------------
“Well?” System ask, seeing Ke’an freeze in place.
To System, Ke’an is just standing with his arms outstretched in her direction staring blankly into space since she could not see the administrator menus.
“I… I think I selected the wrong item.” Ke’an says now obviously looking at her chest before turning away. “Sorry, I will try again!”
System watching his eyes covered her chest with her arms this time so he wouldn’t be distracted.
“Did you select my…” System started.
“Nope, no. Not at all!” Ke’an says cutting her off. “I accidentally selected the… tree. Yeah, the tree again, silly me.”
“Perv.” System says.