Mount Pelion was glorified by monsters in Steinyord.
The Monsters would dig some dirt from the mountain and save them inside jars, pouches, and even expensive vases made from magic stones. They would prepare a special platform for the said jars or vases to sit on, usually at the entrance of their houses or village gateways. If they had to go on a long journey, they would take the pouches with them. They believed the dirt could repel evil, protecting them from bad omens, evil spirits, and demons.
They glorified the mountain so much, they even buried their kings in the chambers below the mountain. Later, they called it ‘the Sacred Tomb’. It was built 33 meters below the mountain. Its entrance was located near the border of Orrientera Imperium. There were 55 floors inside the building, with each floor having a different width.
Its value could not be estimated. Precious quartzes and pure magic stones were the main materials of the building. The word expensive alone was an understatement. Every pair of eyes would agree that it was so breathtaking, it’s ridiculous.
But it was not the value that made the tomb special. It was its origin. If the monsters were to be asked, not a single one of them could answer when, who, or how it was made. They only knew why it was there.
For generations, a story had been passed down. Parchments of writings made by the finest poets helped to preserve the story. Monster children yearned for that particular story every bedtime.
It was a story of a divine creature, living inside the tomb since the beginning of time. Nobody had seen or heard the creature. But they knew it was there. It could be sleeping, or it could be observing everyone that stepped inside the tomb.
The monsters believed it was something beyond their understanding. They argued that it must be one of the creatures that reached the summit of the Great Ordo.
For beings like monsters, power is all they wished for. Whoever held the most power, he should lead the pack. And so they worship it, the incomprehensible divine creature inside the tomb.
In fact, the mountain and the tomb were considered sacred because the divine creature resided there. Its divinity must have swelled into the land, making it a divine land as well.
Other races such as Humans, vampires, gigantes, humanoids, and so on never touched the mountain for their fear of the creature. They didn’t want to invoke its wrath or simply disturb its nap. They were so scared of something they had never seen. Call them crazy for what they believed. But, if you were to learn its name, you too would understand.
In one of the chambers inside the tomb, the devine creature dwelled.
It was a fairly small chamber that looked like a royal’s bedroom, secretly existed. Without a single torch, the chamber was supposed to be pitch black. Yet it was warmly lit. Specks of buttery dust hovered, rotating around the chamber. Those specks of dust were the chamber’s only source of light.
On one of the walls, two 30 cm long sticks made of unidentified material were displayed, creating an X mark.
The weapon: Primordial Stars
It was something special that the being had taken an interest into. So, one day, when the sticks trembled all of a sudden, the being was thrilled.
….
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‘Initiating a forced tutorial in 3…2…1…’
The world abruptly stopped, and I too was stopped.
[Battle mode: On]
'Are you sure you're not a human, Lian? Why are you so stubborn?' Thankfully, I could still talk to Lian.
'This is a necessary measure, Lady Sheena.'
My view went black, like a turn-off computer screen.
‘Master is in battle mode. Your screen is now integrated to your eyes.’
Then, the black screen disappeared. Only then that I was able to see again.
I was presented with the real view of the area with some symbols appearing on the sides. It was somewhat like a VR. Like one of those training VR that I used to hone my martial arts on Earth.
A notification window popper up.
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[Tutorial Bonus:]
[*Attributes Enhancement (30 minutes)]
[*Skills (30 minutes)]
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‘During this tutorial, your attributes will be enhanced greatly. Several skills will be available as well.’
‘Oh! Skills?’
‘Let’s go through master’s attributed enhancement first.’
Lian opened another window.
Attributes
Statistics
Health P.
1.200 (+330.000)/1.200
Mana P.
560 (+11.000) /560
Physical ATK P.
≤200 (+10.000)
Magic ATK P.
≤0
Physical Resistance P.
≤9 (+600)
Magic Resistance P.
≤0 (+600)
Attack Speed
≥1.2/s = (0.9/s)
Projectile
≤0
Agility
≥2.7778 m/s = (8.333 m/s)
Range
≤86 cm
Vitality
Stamina
30%
Organ
50%
Mental
20%
Total:
100%
EXP
Available
Cumulative
1
1
Color
RED
‘Eh? These are my statistics. They look different from the other day.'
'You have unlocked ‘Attributes Window’. The ‘General Information’ window that you know contains your primary information which can be identified by skill: Prime Identification. This attributes window, however, is closed despite all identification skills.'
I was sure that Akasha had cast 'Prime Identification' on me. So that general information window was his target.
That skill was a bad news. Knowing the opponent’s ability was a huge advantage. It was basically a cheat skill.
At least these attributes information was safe. If these were to be known by my opponents, countering me would be a mere child's play.
'Orange letters indicate the bonuses you receive during this tutorial. Consider them your trials.'
'These are a lot of bonuses. In what class am I now?'
'As master is right now, you’re in S class.’
So these are what an S class holder's abilities look like.
‘While the statistics data help you navigate your power, the vitality data will help you navigate your state. Your vitality includes your stamina, organs, and mental.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Every attack you made will decrease the percentage of stamina aspect.
Your hunger, thirst, and physical illnesses will affect the percentage of organs aspect.
Meanwhile, your state of mentality, such as emotions, will affect the percentage of your mental aspect.’
‘What will happen if the percentages drop down?’
‘When your stamina reaches 0%, you will not be able to cast any physical or magic attack. Your body will be too tired. You will have to wait until the percentage raises before you could do any attack.
When your mental reaches 0%, you will lose your personality. You will be no more than a sleeping body that moves around. I will put you under save mode during that time. You will have to wait until the percentage raises before you are aware and back to normal.
When your organ reaches 0%, your HP will decrease each second until it reaches zero HP. By the time both your HP and organs were zero, you will be in critical condition for 5 minutes. If you don’t receive any treatment during the critical condition, you will die.’
I shuddered. This vitality thing was a lot more complex than I thought.
‘But if your vitality is in at least 80% state, your body will be able to regenerate your HP automatically.’
‘Ah!’
So that was how it worked. If I was to imagine myself in a battle that drained my HP, stamina percentage, and organ percentage, I would not be able to regenerate my HP back. But after I recovered my stamina and organs percentages, my HP will be back to its full numbers. It was like taking a break after a battle.
‘Down, you will see your EXP status. It allows you to navigate the EXP you have saved and the EXP you have accumulated up until now.’
‘They’re different?’
‘Affirmative. I will show you how they worked later. Now, if you see the color status, it showed your most compatible categories. Red is a warrior: fighter. Hence, you are compatible as a fighter.'
'That's why people have different colors shine on them when they cast their skills?'
'Affirmative. You can use the colors to identify your opponent's category. It will help you generate strategies and counterattacks in holder vs holder battle.
Now, Let us see your skills bonuses.’
Lian closed and open another window.
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[High-Spec Cognition]
Type: Analyze
Origin: Obtained Skill
Level: 10
Cost: 1 MP/s
CD: 0
Effects:
* Maximizing brain usability to 100%
* Speeding the cognitive process to 1000 times max.
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[Spectre Steps]
Type: Blink
Origin: Obtained Skill
Level: 10
Cost: 150 MP
CD: 1 s
Effects:
* Teleporting the caster to the desired location within a radius of 20 meters in one second.
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[Strengthen Slash]
Type: Burst
Origin: Obtained Skill
Level: 10
Cost: 100 MP
CD: 10 s
Effects:
* Making 1 to 5 slashes of compressed physical attack into projectiles attack.
* Adding 80 physical ATK
Range: 10 meters.
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‘You receive three skills for 30 minutes as a bonus. Currently, the skill: High-Spec Cognition is being activated. Your brain now is running 1000 times fasters, stretching 1 second of time comprehension into 1000 seconds.’
‘Do you mean, it’s not the time that’s stopped, but it’s my brain that’s moving too fast?’
‘Affirmative. In fact, it has not been more than a second after the battle mode is on. Keep in mind, this skill only speeds up your brain.’
That was why I couldn’t move my body. Although my brain was running 1000 times faster, my body would not be able to move past the normal time.
‘Skills are categorized based on their origins. They are the obtained skills, the innate skills, the holy Skills, and the gifted skills.
Obtained skills are skills obtained from protostars.’
‘Proto- what?’
‘A protostar is a compressed information substance in the form of glowing balls with a diameter of 12,5 cm. Each of them contains a certain skill. However, holders have no right to pick the protostars. It is the protostars that pick the holders. If an individual is accepted and approved by a protostar, the protostar will fuse with the individual’s soul. Only then that the individual will receive and use an obtained skill.’
‘Slow down a bit. Are you telling me, I won’t suddenly get a skill?’
‘Affirmative.’
‘So how can I deserve a skill? It’s not funny to be rejected by all protostars.’
‘The skills you deserve depend on your class. The higher your class is, the better the protostars you may receive.’
I paused. Even a faster cognitive processing couldn’t give me much help with this insanity.
‘Protostars only fall on Stars Dwelling, a massive free land located at the very center of this continent. Numerous holders devote themselves to hunt protostars there. These types of holders are known as star hunters.’
‘So that’s what a star hunter is. I almost forgot about it. What about the others?’
‘Innate skills are skills that some species are born with.
For example, the blood manipulation skills of the vampires, the healing skills of the elves, and the resilient skills of the gigantes. Unfortunately, only humans do not possess any innate skill.
Meanwhile, holy skills are skills exclusive only to priests.
Priests are holders that are loved by eternal mana. It refers to the natural mana emitted by planet Ordo. Because of their nature, the priests are able to borrow the power of this planet. The more desirable the priests’ mana is, the better the holy skills they may deserve.
Lastly, gifted skills are skills received as parts of titles or event rewards. Some titles will give you attributes numbers or even skills. At the same time, events held by the System sometimes include skills as rewards.’
In short, I won’t get any skill without sufferings first.
‘Why did you keep all this information for weeks from me?’
‘The said action is a part of the System’s SOP. It is necessary to help creatures who are born with power but have no will to pursue the power. In normal circumstances, all creatures will be given the option to reject a tutorial. If they do reject it, all information will be kept unlocked, helping the creatures to ignore the system. Since master had yet to experience the tutorial, all information was to be kept unlocked. All this information is intended to be delivered during a tutorial.’
I would let out a long sigh if I could sigh. ‘Let's go back to the main window.’
All windows were then closed.
Lian continued her lecture: ‘The green bar below is your HP indicator. The blue bar below it is your MP indicator. To the right is your vitality indicator. Now, you may decrease the intensity of high-spec cognition to normal.’
‘How?’
‘Remember: all skills are cast and controlled with your will and wish.’
And just like that, the world came back to normal.
As I glanced around, the eaters had some kind of red bars hovering above their heads.
‘Since eaters do not have intelligence, they cannot hide their prime information. Thus, all holders can see their HP bar. With that, you can guess the eaters’ classes.’
Alright, let’s do this.
“You there, sir?” I asked the man behind me.
“Sir?” He quickly asked back.
“Good. It’s okay. We can survive this. You take care of that side. I take care of this side.”
“Who are you to command me?”
Bang. Bang. He shot some bullets at the eaters.
I clicked my tongue. “With all due respect, this is not the time to be salty, sir.”
Bang. Bang. He shot again.
‘Master, you have earned your reward to the weapons: Primordial Stars. They're somewhere here. You may call them.’
Huh?
“Primordial Stars!” I shouted.
Hearing me, the boss stopped his movement. “What are you doing?”
I held my palm to the boss. I didn’t give him any answer. Instead, I sharpened my gaze, panning across the area for signs.
“You better start killing those eaters!” The boss resumed his activity, shooting bullets at eaters.
I started moving my legs. They felt lighter than ever.
I run around to avoid the eaters while searching the area. Probably, my weapons were somewhere on the ground.
I kept on calling the weapons. For some moments, there was nothing.
‘Raise your hands, master.’
'My hands?’ I raised both hands. Then I heard it—a piercing sound trailing in the distance. It was like the sound of metal arrows splitting the air.
I intensified the high-spec cognition skill's effects for a moment. Two elongated items glided toward me. They looked like they were casually flying. Because of the skill, I was able to receive and analyze visual information at high speed.
Amazing! I internally screamed, unable to contain my excitement.
While running, one stick glided to my right hand. The other glided to my left hand.
"Sticks?"
'Weapon prime inspection'
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[Weapons: Primordial Stars]
Type: Physical
Class: Unidentified
Effect: +100 ATK (Base)
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'You need to activate the weapons, master.'
[Weapons: Primordial Stars]
As soon as I activated the weapons, two saber-like blades shot out of the sticks. They shone brightly with scarlet hues, forcing me to squint my eyes. They glowed for a moment before they turned solid. The weird sticks were now two hilts with blades shaped like those blades in video games, wide and wavy.
I was left astonished. The blades were beautiful, sparkling like rubies under a clear sky.
They were at least 1 m long each. Yet they weren't heavy at all.
'They feel like nothing.' I swung the swords around.
'These weapons are 100 kg each.' Lian presented the fact to me right away, pointing out that I was wrong.
I abruptly halted my running, almost tripping myself. "Bullshit!!!"
"Huh?" The boss's voice of confusion was heard. He stood a few meters away from me with a bunch of lower-class eaters dying on the floor.
It turned out that this man's ears were sensitive to profanities.
He turned, and met my eyes.
"Shut your mouth, and-"
When he put his gaze down on my swords, he stopped.
Unexpectedly for him, one of the eaters he had shot rose.
"Watch out!" I shouted.
Kicking the ground, I glided through the air to him.
The eater's long tongue was thrust toward him.
He must have been awakened from whatever daydreaming he had by my voice. He spun his body to face the snake-eater, keeping his weight balanced. But he was too close to the eater for a counterattack. He chose to jump into the air instead, avoiding the whipping tongue. The jump shot his body far up.
Whip! Among the heavy growls of other eaters, a strong whipping sound echoed.
Already, I raised both my swords, aiming for its neck.
At that moment, I could feel the weapons pulsating on my palms, as if they were alive. For some reason, the pulses filled me with the ecstasy of excitement.
When the eater was in my range, I launched my attack, effortlessly slashing its neck clean. There was no resistance at all. It felt like cutting tomatoes with a carbon-steel knife.
In an instant, the head rotated into the air before it crashed into the cold quartz floor.
Purple blood splattered the area. Some spoiled my hands. Some landed on my gray slit garments.
Meanwhile, the body trembled for a few seconds before it completely stopped.
At last, I stood, eyeing the swords in my hands.
'The total weight of these swords is 200 kg. However, the owner of these weapons will not feel such a weight. Under any circumstances, the owner, Lady Sheena, will be able to wield these swords.'
Lian's voice rang in my head. Yet I didn't pay attention. It was no more than a background sound compared to my loud heartbeats.
The swords had bewitched me, filling me with anything but fear.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" I howled with laughter. My heart had never been this lightweight before.
"This is the best!" I turned to the boss. His eyes, although sharp and unshakeable, showed me a hint of terrified.
"This is live!"
...