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Chapter 6: Untethered Soul
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"For you, friend, anything." ~ From: “Notes to Darza” by Inielle Ymin, 17 B.P.
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There were villagers milling about, more than he’d expected, but he was still able to move unnoticed. Not knowing where in the village he could practice unseen, and not wanting to burden Huck with more strange occurrences that neither of them understood, he made his way out of the village gates to find a place to explore the powers that Mikey had hinted at.
He slipped out of the gate with a wave to the guardsman who recognized him from the day prior and passively returned the gesture. With the village behind him he opened his stride into an easy jog. The boots bit and rubbed at his feet, and soon he returned them to his inventory, allowing himself to relish in the sensation of the soft grass underfoot.
Coming from city life he’d become accustomed to the constant noise of cars and motorcycles, loud engines revving, the shouting and screaming of the street’s crazed denizens, angry honking, and sirens that reminded everyone, like a parent punishing their children, of the crimes and violence they unleashed upon each other.
Back on Earth, there had been no avoiding the noise for him, but here he ran in silence. Not the silence of strangers passing on the sidewalk, too scared, aloof, or self-important to offer greeting, but the silence of stillness, of serene nature before the day begins, as all of creation wakes and rises together to start a new day.
Logan reveled in it: in the smell of clean air untainted by noxious exhaust fumes, oil, and excrement, in the openness that surrounded him, begging him to release his inhibitions and run free, and in the knowledge that here, he could be whatever he wanted to be. He laughed aloud as he ran.
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Mikey had picked up on Logan’s mood and started to get excited as well. He awaited the moment that Logan would stop running and look at his menu, he desperately wanted to see how his creation had manifested.
It was a strange sensation being trapped inside of Logan like he was. It wasn’t unbearable, usually not even unpleasant. The inability, however, to do what he wanted, unable to move freely of his own volition and barred access to any of his former power, ate at him.
He was pleased, though, that Logan seemed as eager as he was to explore this new world. He wondered which planet they’d landed on. There were none sustaining life or magic anywhere close to Earth, and his education on other magical planets was nearly nonexistent. He’d been informed of names, Peratheus, Soldurth, Nustrus; all names he’d heard in passing, names of planets with low magical density that he could’ve been assigned to for his first placement.
His superiors had spoken of Yndra, Tiris, and Zandar, worlds they coveted to serve, worlds that produced varied and interesting souls of many intelligent species. He hoped desperately that they’d not arrived on Myra, though he thought that he’d have be able to tell if they had.
Myra, unlike the other planets, he’d heard stories about, and he didn’t think that any advantage he could give to Logan would be enough to protect him there. Mikey’s musings ended abruptly when Logan slowed to a halt, donned his boots, and stepped into the forest.
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He only walked a few yards in, fearful of encountering any of the dangerous beasts that Huck had warned him about, and stopped beneath the canopy of a large, spreading tree.
“Menu,” he said in a powerful voice, flourishing his arm before him.
Nothing happened.
"Try it with less melodrama, maybe?" Mikey said.
"This is how they do it in anime, I thought it'd be the same here. You're the one who made it, right?" Logan said.
"Fair point, flare is an important part of magical abilities after all," he responded.
"Master Logan, I assure you that my competence is quite high enough to open your menu with only a mental command," Susie said.
“Sorry, I thought it’d be fun to be a little dramatic, no point having magic if you don't look cool while using it, right?"
Mikey snorted a laugh as a panel appeared a little below eye level, its edges shining with a soft blue light. Logan selected the “Status” page from the options, and Susie began narrating as he read the top line.
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Race: Untethered Soul | Age: ??? Name: Logan Dileva | Titles: None | Affiliations: None
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Susie anticipated his question and said, “Your race is no longer human. This is most likely because you were transported here in a noncorporeal form. Your soul took shape in Mikey’s pocket dimension, but it wasn’t your original body. I suspect that's how you survived in space, and the transport here.”
Logan looked at his hands. They were familiar: the veins, prominent and protruding, the scars speckling his knuckles, the callouses accumulated over years of lifting; they were his. He held two fingers to his neck. His heart still beat.
He didn’t know what it meant to be an untethered soul other than that his status just became a lot more suspicious. Susie didn’t offer any further explanation.
Hopefully I can find a way to hide this if there are people able to view my status page, he thought.
“And my age? I’m 23, how do I change it from question marks?”
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“One cannot change their own status save for their name, which can be changed at any time.”
He didn’t understand; how could whatever power that generated his status know so much about him, but not his age? Was it some sort of error? Could his status be unreliable? Questions filled his mind as Susie proceeded to read the remainder of the page.
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Affinities
Thrive | ??? | ???
Abilities and Skills
Passive
Boundless Potential
Active
Menu, Map, Inventory, Enhanced Looting, Status, Interpretation, Analyze
World Skills
Field Medic
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Logan wondered at “Affinities” and “Thrive."
The missing information seemingly indicated something that he possessed already but was hidden from him for some reason, but Susie was unable to answer his questions about them, claiming that she knew only as much about his status as was shown on the page, and blaming Mikey for making such a "shitty system".
As Susie named each of the skills, he recognized their function; it was as if he intuitively knew what they each did, though the names were pretty obvious too. He could tell that there was more to the skills than what he could immediately discern though, and Susie informed him that he could expand each skill to view a detailed description of it.
He resolved to do that later. Boundless Potential. The passive skill grabbed at his attention. It seemed out of place.
He’d largely come to terms with his new circumstances and the changes to his life that had shattered his perception and understanding of what was possible. He didn’t have much information about this world, but if his status and his experiences since arriving were anything to go by, he was expecting the amazing and implausible.
He equated this new reality to the fantasy games he’d played in his past life. In them, everything made a sort of sense, incredible as they were. There were rules, systems, patterns that he could learn, understand, and predict. A skill like Boundless Potential sounded out of place, like something that didn’t follow any pattern he’d expect, and he decided he'd do his best to keep it to himself.
If the revelation of skills like Menu, Map, and Inventory made him feel like he was in an RPG, then the next row of text on the page solidified the metaphor in his mind.
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Stats
Physical
???
Spirit
Speed: 1
Strength: 1
Stamina: 1
Resilience: 1
Dexterity: 1
?:___
?:___
Focus: 2
Innovation: 1
Control: 0
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Susie’s oration of the numerous question marks made his ears, or, mind, bleed, their repetitious sound like nails on a chalkboard.
“So you have no idea what they mean? The question marks?”
“As I said, my knowledge is limited. I possess general knowledge of your abilities, your status, and the items you possess. It seems that I learn some of the properties of whatever comes into your possession. Much of the context surrounding your abilities and the items you acquire, however, is missing. I am not omnipotent," Susie replied defensively.
Logan audibly “hmphed,” but admitted to himself that what she said made sense. He wished desperately that he knew what lay behind those question marks though. The hidden knowledge seemed important. If Physical and Spirit were categorizations for the stats they preceded, then he was missing an entire category of information.
He hoped he discovered the answers soon, but he didn’t know how to go about getting them. He also didn’t know if there was anything fair about his new world, and maybe he should be satisfied with the information he did have.
I’ll learn in time, I guess. Hopefully what I don’t know doesn’t get me in trouble.
"Boundless Potential, so that’s what it’s called," Mikey said thoughtfully.
“Oh?” Logan asked.
"Before we merged, I wanted to make sure you’d be okay wherever you ended up. I think that explains Thrive, too. They’re for your survival, to help you in whatever circumstances you found yourself in after the collapse. There was something odd about your soul, which I think is why it was taking so long to break down in the first place. These abilities are roughly based off of what I found there, pre-existing, buried deep under the surface when I was poking around inside of you. It’s too soon to know for sure, but I think some of these skills are unique to you. I think we should keep them a secret," Mikey said.
Logan contemplated what Mikey told him, for now he’d keep his mouth shut and try to find out more. He just didn't have enough information to be sure of anything yet. He was suddenly even more relieved that he’d been cautious about what he shared with Huck; he didn't want to put the man who'd saved his life in danger. Who knew what powers existed in this world, unseen, lying in wait to take advantage of him. Logan was naïve, but not unsuspecting, and he resolved not to become anyone’s lab rat or plaything.
For the most part he felt that he understood the status page. The stats themselves were fairly self-explanatory save for the unknown, question mark category, and those under “Spirit”.
He thought they might be something to do with some form of magic or mental prowess, though he was unsure because of the lack of an Intelligence stat and the Mana points that years of gaming had led him to expect.
He needed more information, but this was a good start. He had no offensive magic, nor did he have any attack skills. With a start, he realized that he didn’t even know if those were things that existed in this world.
He opened his inventory, the page now familiar to him.
Huck had been shocked beyond belief when he’d given the man the 100 silver... did that mean he was rich? He doubted it but contented himself with the knowledge that he must be sitting on at least a fairly comfortable chunk of change. Upon interrogating Susie, he learned that she couldn’t value items and didn’t know the worth of the coins save for the fact that every silver was worth one hundred bronze, and that the pattern continued up the line.
He removed the steel short sword from his inventory. It materialized in his hand, and he almost dropped it, the weight of the weapon taking him by surprise. Contrary to what his stats might say, Logan considered himself fairly strong—he’d spent a good portion of his life in the gym and even competed in a few powerlifting meets.
He’d never held a sword before, but as he grew used to its weight and grip, he was pleased to discover that it felt natural in his hands. He took what he assumed to be an “at the ready” stance and performed a series of swings.
After some minutes of this, he began to grasp its reach, balance, and speed. It was a nimble blade and fast, being a little under two feet in length, he could maneuver it well. He wished it was a bit longer, but refused to complain about his only means of self-defense.
Logan practiced with the sword for what felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been more than half of one. Slashing and stabbing, he tied the movements into a handful of basic combinations and was quickly exhausted.
Taking a seat at the base of a nearby tree, he began discussing his stats with Mikey.
"They’re low right now, but your growth skill should help you improve quickly. Let’s go find some mobs to kill, it’s time to power-level!" the celestial said.
Logan laughed at his enthusiasm, though he couldn’t deny that he felt the same excitement. He’d never killed anything before and absently wondered how he’d react. Would he be able to face the creatures that lurked in the forest? If they were anything like the steam fish, he doubted it.
For better or for worse, the choice was taken out of his hands and his deliberations were abruptly put to an end. A rustling of leaves from a bush a few yards to his left was the only warning he had before, with terrifying speed, a beast leapt at him from the brush.