Arn
The pain promised by the system was felt before any other senses did. Arn was suddenly aware of every inch of his body, and each part of it was aflame. His already exhausted muscles were stretched to their limit, torn, and then pushed back together to repeat the process. When he finally regained his sight, the walls seemed to drip black ichor. As it hit the floor, the gunk dissipated. It occurred to him that the ichor was being flung from his own body. As his skin cracked and veins ruptured, the torrent of ooze shot out and attached itself, for the remainder of its brief existence, to whatever it landed on. The smell of sulfur burned his nose and throat, leaving raw skin exposed for the next wave of attack.
A buzzing sensation in his head offered the promise of escape. There was a single point of existence that provided no pain. Arn focused on that single point, beaten back into reality time and time again by a new jolt of terror. Finally, he managed to dial in on the sensation and was instantly rewarded by the bliss of nothingness.
That looked really uncomfortable. Are you alright? Lou asked.
At this point, I’ve pretty much come to expect suffering as payment for growth. Is this you, by the way? Did you save me?
‘Course I did, I’m awesome. It took me a bit to figure it out, but I can open up an inventory. Your consciousness is currently inside of it.
A flash of worry rushed through Arn as he imagined the thought of his mind being forever locked away. Lou was a friend, but what would happen if an enemy could separate his mind from his body?
I take offense to that. Lou responded. Just for that, I’m locking you away for a few years. See how you like me then! Ya try to help someone, and this is the thanks ya get.
Sorry buddy, I can’t help it. I know you’d never do anything like that.
It’s fine, I couldn’t actually even if I wanted to. I only opened the inventory, you had to choose to get in. You can also leave whenever you want, although I wouldn’t suggest it right now. I’ll let you know when you stop being gross.
Can you kick me out too?
Not sure, I could try and close the inventory, and I think you’d just get ejected? Either that, or it would be impossible to close it in the first place. Want me to try?
Uh… No, let’s save that experiment for later. After a pause, Arn added, So, are you able to send a message to Anna?
No, not right now. I can feel the connection, it’s like a small tube that shoots out into the void and spits out in another place, but I don’t have the strength to squeeze myself through. I’ll have to get stronger to use the tube. It’s a good feeling though, I know exactly how to use it, and I can even tell what you’re both up to through the connection. She’s petting my brother.
You have a brother?
Like a half brother, he’s connected to us too. Except, I think he’s a little dumb, there’s not much thinking going on, other than eating and sleeping.
That just means he and I will get along perfectly. I’m going to try and access my menu, let me know whenever my body stops suffering.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Meditation had always come easily to Arn. It was something he’d practiced repeatedly throughout his life hoping to better handle his anger. Stoicism was never achieved, but it always made him feel much better afterwards.
Name: Arn Pand (Human)
Class: Battlephant
Vocation: Paladin (probationary)
Path:
Karma: 72
Average Stat Level: 5
Stats
Skills
Passives
Quests:
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Stats:
Strength: 5
Endurance: 5
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Fortitude: 5
Vitality: 80
Stamina: 80
Mana: 50
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Skills:
Bone Tusk (Novice I):
Summon a large bone tusk from the ground.
Battle Stomp (Novice I):
Shake the ground or deliver an empowered kick.
Additional Skills Available:
Empowering Trumpet (Novice): 10 Karma
Empower a shout to deal a minor amount of mental damage.
Stampede (Novice): 10 Karma
Dash forward 10 feet and increase any forward speed for the next 2 seconds.
Tough Skin (Novice): 10 Karma
Momentarily empower your body's defenses. If you are donning any protective equipment, they are empowered as well.
Trying to buy the rest of his skills, or investing in his stats, resulted in bullshit error messages about the dangers of improving his body during integration, so he spent his time in preparation instead. He figured that with his massive karma pool, it would be best to first get the remainder of his skills, and then spend the rest on his stats.
He’d need the physical stats for fighting, but improvements to his mental stats would probably help Lou grow stronger. It would make sense if the personal storage and communication abilities Lou had were tied to stats like intelligence, wisdom, or fortitude.
Next, he went through his quests.
Quest Updated:
Death’s new recruit: Complete
Reward: based on your methods of completion, you have earned 3 rewards!
For completing your quest, you have been awarded new gear.
For choosing not to slay the kobold younglings, you have been awarded a new passive.
For your commitment to Anna Pand, you have been given access to information:
Anna Pand:
Location: 103,119th Universe, [Planet Name Not Yet Designated]
Based on your current location, traveling to see Anna Pand will take ERROR days.
Based on the final line of the information, either Anna is utterly unreachable, or there is a chance to get to her, but something is blocking the path. Otherwise, why even give him the knowledge of travel time? Rather than ponder too long, Arn turned his attention to his new quest.
New Quest:
Proof of competence:
Return those within kobold society who shun death back into the path.
Reward: Access to the full vocation of Death’s Paladin
Another vague quest, with vague conditions. Arn was truly starting to get sick of the unhelpful system messages. Oftentimes he ended up more confused than when he began.
Might as well finish with my passives.
Passives:
Soul Companion (Non-tiered):
Lucius, the Flammulated Owl has made a soul connection with you. This relationship is symbiotic, allowing you to empower Lucius, and for him to act as a relay for communication.
The owl will also provide you with spiritual storage, however all that is stored will be lost if he perishes.
Lucius can be resummoned so long as part of his soul is anchored within you.
Karmic Mentorship (Non-tiered):
Through a boon from Death, you have been given a mentor. During mediation, your mentor will reach out to you and offer guidance.
Pacifists Commitment (Novice II)
In your commitment to settle affairs nonviolently, you have gained the ability to mentally judge whether others wish to do you harm.
Violent acts will result in loss of rank, but tiers reached will remain.
This ability will lose efficacy on higher tiered beings.
His mentorship passive seemed intriguing, but he couldn’t figure out how to call out to said teacher. In the end, he resigned himself to believing that whoever it was, would reach out to him at some point. There was nothing to really do at this point, but sit and wait for his body to finish integration.