It turns out that registering as a newcomer to the world was quite easy. Many visitors had made their way to Gemma and most, if not all, found their way back off the planet. The teller had been quite helpful when Adam said he was thinking about staying she gave him Provisional Citizenship, which included an ID, and said,
“Now, you need to make your way to Athens and register properly. This Welcome Center just catalogs people who arrive from the Portal Forest. Most go back looking for a way home and are never seen from again. Some, like yourself, decide to stay. To figure out the best fit for you we need to send you to Athens where you can be tested.”
“What kind of tests,” Adam asked.
“Strength, hand and eye coordination, some logical thinking and task orienting tests. There are also team building and leadership tests if you want to be eligible for leadership positions in the UDC or the civilian sector. All the nations on Gemma use the tests in Athens as a standard. Also, those tests will help us determine which nation is the best fit for you. While you are human, you might fit better with the elves or dwarves if the style of government you're used to,” the teller explained.
“Okay, so how do I get to Athens?” Adam asked.
“That’s easy, we have a shuttle that heads that way daily around 10 in the morning. It’s about a five-hour flight.”
An aide came over and escorted Adam to a small barracks. He was shown where to get something to eat and also given a small room, more a closet, that only had a bed, a nightstand, and a light mounted in the ceiling. Since it was only about two in the afternoon he had to wait until the next morning to head into Athens. The bathroom and shower facility were communal and reminded him of something he’d find at a forward operating base like the ones the military put up in the Middle East. They were clean and functional though, so nothing to complain about.
Currency was in the form of credit which was programmed into his identification card. He could use the card to get anything in the Welcome Center area but if he wanted to purchase items downtown he’d have to go to one of the trade vendors and trade something of value to them. They would then either put credit in his account or he could trade directly for goods.
Adam hadn’t tried any of the abilities that had been locked away. Since there was no time like the present and he had a little time to blow he went into his room, sat on the bed, and reached out with his chaos to check over the room he sat in. As he’d suspected there was an obvious camera in the corner, though it was hidden, and also three cameras that could best be described as microscopic. The technology was advanced but not anything he hadn’t come across before.
Adam focused his will and Molded Chaos to act as his Technomancy skill had in the past. As the familiar feelings started coming in he received an interesting Prompt.
Molded Chaos has added a 5th Secondary Ability to your Soul Core. This action has tied up 5 million points from your Chaos Attribute which cannot be used for any other purpose
Congratulations you have gained the ability Technomancy
Technomancy (5M Chaos Expended) - Mana 1 per second to remain active plus 1 per device-controlled foot distant from the user. Damage: N/A. Energy Type Chaos. Special: This ability allows you to connect to all technological devices within Willpower inversed per square foot. Technological devices without firewall protection can automatically be scanned. Information can automatically be uploaded and downloaded to you, either into your mind or another technological device controlled by Technomancy.
It was interesting that the range of technology was now based on his Willpower. It was also nice that it was using the inverse square law to figure out its radius of effect. If attributes were limited to no more than 100,000 then the maximum range anyone with this ability could possibly have, baring some type of ability that extended its range would be 17 feet. To get that 18-foot radius would require a willpower of 131,072. With his Willpower his range could be out to 155 feet which required a willpower of 4.57E+46 At 7.46E+46 Willpower he couldn’t meet the requirement to get to a range of 156 feet.
It looked like there were some serious limitations on power ranges under the purview of the System here. That also didn’t explain why it was the 5th ability he activated unless, yeah he started this process with the intent to make an ability. When he’d used Obscure and Flight and even his polymorph he’d willed an effect and his Chaos had utilized magic to make it happen. He hadn’t needed an ability. Another ability he might need down the road though would be a dimensional storage area. Adam focused his intent on creating a Shadow Vault and received a new prompt
Molded Chaos has added a 6th Secondary Ability to your Soul Core. This action has tied up 6 million points from your Chaos Attribute which cannot be used for any other purpose
Congratulations you have gained the ability Shadow Vault
Shadow Vault (6M Chaos Expended) – 10 mana to place or withdraw an item from the Shadow Vault. The Inverse Square law is utilized to determine the size of the vault. One side of the cube cannot be longer than the inverse square of the Willpower attribute. For example, an individual with a 10 willpower could not have a storage area of more than 10x10x10 feet or 1,000 cubic feet.
Adam opened his Status Screen and looked for the new tab for Shadow Vault. The dimensions of the shadow Vault were 155’ x 155’ x 155’ or 3,723,875 cubic feet. Not as big as the area that his Place of Power had occupied… Speaking of his Place of Power. He had a memory of it, could he access it? Adam concentrated for a moment and tried to open a portal to his entryway.
ERROR - Target Location outside the current maximum range
So, it still existed, or it was implied that his Place of Power still existed he was just so far away from it that he couldn’t open a portal to it, even with his attributes. That would have to be extremely far away. Adam wondered if it was a distance or if it was a dimensional distance, as in so many dimensional boundaries he’d have to cross between here and there.
Back to the task at hand. He now had Technomancy and Shadow Vault again. Now he needed to see if he could use Chaos to convert items and create things he could trade. First, Adam used Technomancy to create a loop for the three cameras so whoever was watching would only see him sitting on the bed while he used Chaos to create a small opal in his hand and then willed it to be permanent. The cost in Chaos was negligible and his regeneration rate refilled the chaos immediately. He was left with an opal. With a thought, he placed it in his Shadow Vault.
Next, he tried making small one-pound bars of silver, gold, platinum, and adamantium. Adam was pleasantly surprised when all four bars appeared. He’d been wondering if he could make inherently magical metals. It looked like the answer was yes. Again he placed each in his Shadow Vault. He released the loop from the cameras and then stood and left the Welcome Center. It didn’t take him very long to find a trade outpost, though this one didn’t seem to be run by the system. It was run by a halfling who had been only too happy to purchase the opal, and the bars of silver, gold, platinum, and Adamantium
They’d haggled for a bit, and Adam was sure he’d still been had, but he walked away with 100 credits for the opal, 50 for the silver, 100 for the gold, 500 for platinum, and 10,000 credits for the Adamantium bars. Adam was sure they were worth way more than that but he wasn’t too worried. If he needed more credits he’d create more things. Right now he didn’t know the economy so he was trying not to make waves. He just wanted some credits in his pocket when he entered Athens tomorrow. Now he had 10,750 credits to his name. That should be enough
On his way back to the Welcome Center Adam scanned the ID card with his Chaos and made sure to memorize it so he could duplicate it if necessary. He also created a lanyard with a plastic cover so he could wear it around his neck under his jumpsuit. Adam made his way to the dining facility, ate a meal, and then headed to his room to get some rest. He’d get up in the morning, take a shower, and then be on his way at 10. Once he arrived in Athens and took a look around, he’d be able to plan his next step.
The rest of his night was uneventful. He woke up in the morning, took a shower, ate some breakfast, and at ten the next morning he was on what could only be described as a flying shuttle bus headed for Athens which was approximately 2,500 miles southeast of his current position. The city was in the southern hemisphere which meant he’d get to cross the equator.
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***
Captain Peater looked at the image of one Adam Bennard on his terminal aboard the Widehammer. It had taken his people the better part of the day to verify and then track the sighting of the dragon. As far as his people had been able to determine the dragon had landed and then disappeared. They’d picked up the trail of a single bipedal creature and tracked it to the town of Cabin Fort which had recently cleared out. From there they’d followed the tracks that led to Ardean. There it had been a simple task to track down Tisha Meadows, the defacto mayor of Cabin Fort, and ask about any newcomers she’d seen.
That was why he was looking at this picture of Adam Bennard. He’d passed all the tests given to him, including the blood test, which showed him to be human with a few unknown markers in his bloodstream. Not uncommon for travelers who had arrived from one of the portals in the forest. Tisha, while not a strong mage had some skill and training and her abilities and spells had not been able to pierce whatever was shielding Adam. Either that or he wasn’t hiding anything, though Tisha had been sure her scans had failed, not just been unable to detect something that wasn’t there. She said she’d know the difference.
So the question became what to do now. Adam, if he was the dragon, had helped the people of Cabin Fort evacuate. Additionally, his geophysicists were going on and on about how if that lava geyser hadn’t happened there would have been a serious eruption that would have been devastating. Captain Peater stood and stepped onto the bridge of the Widehammer, “Communications, send a message to command. Request clearance for site-to-site teleport. Into Athens airspace. We need approval as quickly as possible and an incoming lane for arrival.
“Yes, Sir.”
Captain Peater picked up a microphone and hit the key to address the ship and all assigned aircraft on patrol around the Widehammer, “This is the Captain, recall all aircraft. Estimated “T” in 15 minutes. Secure all aircraft and prepare for jump.”
Captain Peater put the mike down and watched as his bridge crew did their jobs. The four Aircraft flying patrols landed simultaneously while the indicator board started showing green lights for every compartment that was ready for teleport.
“Sir, Athens has been contacted, coordinates given. Based on your announcement I gave them our estimated arrival time. They responded in the Green and will hold that lane open for an additional 10 minutes. If we’re not there in 10 minutes we’ll have to reestablish clearance. We’re good to go for jump to Athens, Sir!,” the communication tech said.
“Very well,” The Captain said as he looked at the clock, “One minute to jump!”
“One minute to Jump” his Executive Officer parroted on the intercom.
While the Captain waited he thought about what he needed to do when they arrived. Adam was still en route and wouldn’t arrive for another three hours. That should give him just enough time to make his report and then make his way over to the testing center to assess the danger this enigma was bringing to his world.
The jump commenced and the Widehammer teleported from Ardean to Athens. One moment that was over a forest-covered landscape, the next they were above a busy metropolis that stretched out to the horizon with other flying craft all around including a few of Widehammer's sister ships.
“XO, you have the bridge, I’m heading to the Registration and Testing Center. Page me on Comms if you need me,” Captain Peater said.
“Sir, yes, Sir! Navigation, contact Air Traffic Control and put us in an orbit around the city..”
As Captain Peater stepped off the bridge his XO’s voice fell away and he walked quickly to their teleportation chamber which was simply a room with a mage that could cast teleport in it. As he stepped into the room the Mage looked up, “Where to, Sir?”
“I need a portal to the Registration and Testing Center.”
“One second sir, she said as she hit a few keys on the monitor before her then said, “Permission received. The closest I could get you is their entry-level building. Something’s going on, a lot of bigwigs are teleporting over there today.”
Captain Peater thought about what day it was and realized that today was also graduation day for a few individuals that were joining the UDC. They would be a little busy today, “That’s fine, I’ll make my way from there. Portal please?”
The mage concentrated for a moment and a portal shimmered into existence. Captain Peater steeped through and found himself in a very crowded teleportation room with portals opening to his left and right as more people arrived. He stepped forward and made his way to the exit as he headed toward the induction center. He had two hours to get everything prepared before Adam’s shuttle arrived. Hopefully, that would be enough time.
***
Until the last ten minutes of the shuttle ride, the trip had been a little boring. Forest, mountains, and small cities scattered across the land. Some farmland, but not as much as Adam had expected. He’d even seen the Lava Geyser which was still going strong for the first half hour before they were out of range. There had been one weird thing right around an hour after he’d left. His connection to the Astral Plane through his Astral Link had shuddered as a massive amount of mana had been spent. Nothing compared to what he could spend if he wanted to but enough that he’d noticed it. He might have to look into recreating his True Sight and Scan abilities when he had some alone time. For now, he’d just have to wonder what had just happened.
As they came in toward Athens, Adam was pleasantly surprised to see that the city was a cross between technology and ecologically friendly structures with a lot of trees and parks everywhere. Some of the Highrises were living trees. They weren’t just constructions of concrete and steel. Also, the city was huge. After they had flown over the outskirts of the city it had still taken another 10 minutes before they’d come in for a landing at what looked a lot like a bus or train station with slots for the shuttle.
Adam exited the shuttle and followed the signs toward the Registration and Testing Center which was just down the street from where he’d landed. Adam made his way inside, checked in, and was immediately escorted down a hallway to a little room with a desk and two chairs in it.
There was a one-way mirror along one wall and the room was empty save for two chairs across themselves from the table. Adam went to the chair next to the door he’d entered from and sat down. His escort said, “Someone will be with you shortly,” and then closed the door, leaving Adam in the room alone.
Adam activated Technomancy and reached out to all the cameras in the area so he could get a better idea of what was going on. Behind the one-way mirror, he detected two men observing him and focusing on their conversation.
“And you think he’s a Dragon?” an elderly man in a blue suit asked.
“I do, though he’s not like any dragon we’ve met before. Also, his blood test comes back as a human which shouldn’t be possible if he was a dragon.”
“Well Captain Peater, this is your show, how would you like to proceed.” Test him as normal. The second series of testing should let us know if we’re going to have any issues.
As you wish Sir’
A technician entered shortly after and started asking questions.
What do you like to do? What is your favorite color? Do you know what level you are? What are your interests? A whole lot of random questions designed to let them know if he was being deceitful. One question drew his attention immediately, “Why can’t our devices and spells detect whether you’re lying or not?”
Adam thought about being flippant or trying to evade the question but decided to be honest instead, “Because my attributes are higher than anyone on this planet has ever seen before.”
The technician laughed, and made an annotation on their tablet, “A little ballsy but some of the brass likes that. Level 1 and saying your attributes are the highest on the planet. That’s too funny. Okay for this next part, you’re going to step through that door and head to the center of the room, it's pretty big. I should warn you that if human is not your true form the field that’s activated should pull you out of this form.
“Why are you conducting this test?” Adam asked.
“There was a dragon sighting up north. All recent arrivals are being checked,” The Technician said.
Adam would have to hope that his human form was as true a form for him as his dragon form was. He really hoped so. He stood, walked through the door, down the hallway, and made his way to the center of the large room. Honestly, calling it a large room didn’t do it justice. It was at least twice the size of a football stadium. As he walked toward the big red “X” in the center of the room he realized that he could easily transform into a Dragon in this place. As he stepped onto the “X” a voice called, “Please stand by!”
A moment later, Adam felt energy, or more accurately, a lack of energy enter the room. He felt no desire or compulsion to shift so he remained human and waited.
After a moment a new voice called out, “Round One Combat assessment will begin shortly!”
Adam watched as a door opposite the one he entered lifted and a man carrying a wooden stick walked toward him. A couple of minutes later the man stopped three feet from Adam, looked him over, and said, “I am your Tester and Instructor, Attack me with everything you have”
“Yeah, that’s a big no,” Adam said.
“You will do as I…
Adam casually bent over to the sand-covered reinforced floor, focused his chi, and performed a single finger punch into the floor which left a finger-sized hole in the sand and the plate underneath. The sand in the area was blown outward, leaving a clear circle on the plate with a hole at its exact center.
The man in front of Adam walked over, looked down at the hole in the ground, up at Adam, and then reached down and ran his hand and fingers over the hole.
As the man was about to say something a klaxon went off and six people teleported into the chamber around Adam and the Instructor. The Instructor looked them over and then addressed the only woman who was wearing a black robe with gold trim that had appeared next to him, “Priestess of Aeris, what is the meaning of this?”
“My Goddess has charged me with the death of the Dragon before you?”
Adam snorted, “If your Goddess wants me dead, she can bring her scrawny ass here and kill me herself. I promise I won’t move.”
“Blasphemy!” one of the acolytes behind Adam called as he launched himself at Adam with a very nasty-looking black blade.
Adam parried easily as he also sent a command to his Status Screen to disable prompts as messages had started popping up as he gained skills. The other four acolytes drew their weapons but stayed back as both the trainer and the female priestess watched the Acolyte attack, Adam. Every attack that was made looked as if Adam were effortlessly blocking it. While Adam hadn’t activated anything like Haste or Stutter Step, his Agility and Dexterity were so high that every attack made against him was moving as if through molasses. A quick twist of the wrist here, a quick tap there and each attack was deflected.
Once Adam had the measure of his opponent, he addressed his instructor, “The blade he’s using is pretty nasty, I can feel the destructive energies coming off of it. If I were to disarm him of his weapon, and then perform a killing strike against him with that weapon, what kind of trouble would I be in with the government?”
“The laws are pretty specific, while you are a Provisional Citizen of Gemma, you are still a citizen. If you were to kill an attacker with their own weapon, there would be paperwork and an investigation but you probably wouldn’t get into too much trouble. If I were you, I’d worry more about your blasphemous statement and how the Church of Aeris is going to respond,” the instructor said.
Adam smiled and then willed his Molded Chaos ability to increase his attack speed by 18 times. When he checked later he found that he’d spent 10 million Chaos to activate that spell-like effect. Because Adam hated paperwork he used one attack on each individual to perform an incapacitating blow. Then he disarmed each of the attackers with a sword and stored them in his Shadow Vault before he returned to his starting position.
To anyone watching it looked like the Adam flickered and then all six of his attackers were lying on the ground unconscious with the weapons they’d teleported in with nowhere to be seen.
The instructor looked at the five males and the female Priestess lying beside him unconscious and then at Adam as he said, “How? No Why?”
Adam understood the question, “Why didn’t I just kill them after asking the question?”
“Yes,” The instructor said.
“I hate paperwork,” Adam said with a grin.