John slowly regained consciousness. His internal alarm was once again going off and John shut it off with a thought. He woke up as feeling as if he had a strange dream. The sunlight shining into his cramped domicile was too bright and made him cringe as he opened his eyes. Immediately, a headache started pounding in his temples. He staggered out of bed and made his way to the sink like an addict. He splashed water on his face and then drank some of it from a cupped palm. Looking into the mirror, he notices that his gray eyes were shining with an inner light. As he began to gain his bearings, he noticed that he had notifications waiting from the collective.

"Collective, show me my notifications."

At John's words status screens starting flooding his vision.

You have been infected with [???]. Status effects: -50% to Synchronization Percentage. Duration: Unlimited.

WARNING: You are experiencing intense pain. Your body has blacked out from shock. Your physical resistance has risen by 1%

You have attacked party leader [Edwin Musk, Healer lvl 14].You have been kicked from your party.

Removing consciousness from avatar. Returning to own body.

WARNING: you have received a lawsuit from [Musk Dynasty] for violating contractual agreements and attacking a member of the Musk Dynasty without provocation.

Verdict: the Collective has found you GUILTY. 3,000 CPs have been transferred from your account to the Plaintiff as restitution. Additionally, the Plaintiff has blacklisted you from [Musk Dynasty] Quests.

Have a great day.

         John groaned in defeat. What would possess him to attack a member of the Musk Dynasty and what the hell kind of debuff did he earn himself? John decided not to dwell on the 3,000 Points that were taken from him. It symbolized ten years of grueling work taken away in an instant. He would dwell on that later. Instead, he decided to see what kind of infection he had gotten.

         John opened his status screen and was shocked by what he saw. Not only did he have a permanent debuff to synchronization but out of the one percentage of physical damage resistance that he attained in the other avatar, half of it transferred to his own avatar! That had never happened in the ten years of labor he had been subjected to. Additionally, he had a new Advanced Attribute!

           In some ways, Advanced Attributes and normal Attributes were similar. They both could be leveled using points given from levelling up and they both directly had an effect on the performance of an avatar. For example, strength had a direct relationship with how much weight the avatar could throw around. In this way, Attributes have a direct effect. Advanced Attributes were slightly different from regular Attributes. Some of them could directly influence the normal attributes and others assisted in various cognitive functions that could not be quantified by Collective. Advanced Attributes could be pretty powerful if they had a stat multiplier but no one bothered with them because they commonly had minor and insignificant effects. Only rarely did they provide boons that would help the user escape the system and only the truly desperate bought them from Collective.

          John's original reason for buying an Advanced Attribute was because he didn't have a chance otherwise. Desperation breeds risk-taking.The new Advanced Attribute was titled "Adaptability." With a thought, the attribute expanded into a full description. John was curious how Collective explained the attack on his body and the subsequent attack on the warrior party.

Adaptability: An Advanced Attribute that increases the learning potential of all other attributes, advanced and basic, by 25%. Additionally, Adaptability allows the user to increase their own stats through training and experience rather than as only a reward from the Collective. Finally, the user will find it easier to learn new skills and acquire new abilities due to their adaptive personality. This Advanced Attribute is unique to the species [???].

         John was in awe. This attribute changed everything for him. Now he would be able to earn enough experience to level up. Now he would finally be able to learn skills and abilities that would transfer over to his own avatar. John could finally work for himself and not for some shadowy overlord. If he could get to level ten he would be able to unlock transportation off of Earth. If he could get to the frontier worlds he would have a chance of discovering something hidden and finally earn enough Collective Points to earn a name and even become Exalted or Venerated.

          John slowed down his thoughts. He would have to be careful. This infection, or whatever it was, made Collective consider it a different species altogether. One of the few things that Collective cared about was splicing different species together to make hybrids. This was one of the forbidden tenets within the Collective and if anyone discovered it they would try to destroy him for it. John did not know why Collective did not flag him as some sort of hybrid anyway but he was thankful.

          John did not know anything about this species, how it got into his system, or what it was good for and he didn't care. This was his one chance to escape the system and finally do something with his life.

          John decided to test out his newfound abilities. He wondered just how difficult or just how easy his acquisition of skills would truly be. John only had 699 CPs left to his account so he would need to be careful to spend them in the most advantageous way. Luckily the kind of thing that John was looking for was cheap as it was designed to distract Nameless like him rather than provide any tangible benefits. Lying on the bed, John closed his eyes and activated his link to the Collective.

          The Collective was the information network that existed between every human being across the known universe. It was what allowed them to vote on leaders, attain prestige and status, and communicate across vast distances. This network should not be confused with Collective. The name for the artificial, maybe not so artificial, intelligence that was the guide and moderator for the Collective.

           They were named the same because they essentially were the same. A query to Collective was essentially a question for the Collective. Collective was just the gestalt that collated and organized that information for consumption. Collective decided what quests needed to be initiated, what rewards needed to be issued, or what stats needed to be acquired based upon the needs of humanity.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

          The AI, Collective was second only to the Emperor in power and authority. It was rumored that Collective was merely the Emperor's will made manifest. John didn't know exactly how the Emperor was chosen or how power was actually distributed within the caste system of the Collective. John was Nameless. He was at the very bottom of the caste system and such concerns were above him.

          At least until now. Shaken from these thoughts, John navigated through the Collective in order to find training simulations. These simulations covered every known subject throughout every period of history in any location known to humanity. They were used as forms of familiarization training and entertainment as Collective didn't classify their use as advancing the cause of humanity. They didn't bestow stats or abilities and they didn't help avatars acquire abilities any faster. Since Collective didn't find them useful, they weren't, and Collective determined everything in regards to avatar progression.

          If John's adaptability did what he thought it did, John should be able to escape Collective's unyielding grip over his avatar. Unfortunately, these kinds of simulations were expensive and with only 699 CPs to his name, he would have to be particularly careful in his choices. Additionally, now that John could acquire skills outside of low-ranked quests, he could try his hand in a myriad of activities on Earth that previously would have been useless. There were always criminal elements that could teach him the skills necessary to survive in the fringe worlds.

         Keeping this in mind, he decided to select a series of simulations that would help him survive contact with these less-than-legal individuals and allow him to get his foot in the door. His first choice was Basic Unarmed Combat lvl I.

         His choice was made simple by the fact that there was no way he could afford any actual weapons right now. Weapons were excessively expensive unless one had a Name and they were controlled both by Collective and the various dynasties that formed it. Until then he needed a way to do damage without putting himself on some sort of planetary watch list. He made the decision by tapping the icon in his field of view and waited while Collective transferred the 120 CPs necessary to play the simulation. John inwardly cringed at the six months of work that would be wasted if he was wrong.

The simulation will begin in 3... 2... 1...

          At the end of the countdown, the darkness faded from John's vision and he found himself lying flat on a hard surface. He lifted himself up halfway and looked around. He was lying on woven straw mats. Bright light filtered through paper screens that were open to the outside. John couldn't be sure from his perspective, but he guessed that is was the middle of the morning. Chirping birds and the myriad sounds of life drifted over from the jungle outside. In the immediate yard, everything was so green and brightly colored. John noticed that everything was perfectly arranged in some order that John could not quite discern. Somehow the plants, rocks, and other natural features were organized in such a way to look natural and yet orderly. John was transfixed by the greenery that did not exist in his own time. His inattention cost him as he was startled when a man entered the room without John noticing and spoke in a quiet voice.

"What are you doing on the floor, student?"

          John was startled and quickly rose to his feet. Looking down at himself he noticed that he wasn't in his normal clothing or in his normal body. An attempt to bring up a status screen accomplished nothing. He was clothed in white trousers, a white tunic, with a white belt that secured it closed. Looking at the man in the corner, John noticed that the man's own attire was dyed a deep blue and the belt cinched at his waist was the darkest black. John noticed that his language was different than what John was used to speaking but for some reason, John had no difficulty in understanding the unknown man. Assuming this to be part of the simulation, John made a slight bow and addressed the man respectfully.

"Good Afternoon Teacher, I apologize I was distracted by the beauty outside."

The man nodded in assent.

"Perhaps you should focus on your immediate surroundings rather than the gardens outside. There is a darkness about you student. Something I have not seen in you before."

Not knowing what to say, John remained bowed and silent.

"Today we will be learning gentle fist and hard fist. But first we must train our bodies to resist pain. Do you know what this entails, student?"

John replied in the negative.

         The elderly man moved to a panel and slid it open to reveal a small storage space. Stacked within were polished wooden bats. The teacher grabbed two and then tossed one to John. John caught it awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. Noticing this, the man gave a faint smile.

"I will demonstrate."

          The elder proceeded to rap the wooden bat against his shins. First it was slow and steady and eventually the master increased the intensity and speed until John stood there with his mouth agape at the sight of such casual brutality. After a few more minutes of relentless strikes, the master placed the bat on the ground and moved to a wooden support pillar for the structure. John was entranced.

          The old man started with both fists clenched, palm up at his waist as if he were tying a belt. Slowly he extended one fist until it lightly tapped the wooden pole. Satisfied that he had his distance measured correctly, the man slowly retracted one palm and then extended the next in the same manner. Once again, the man started slowly, alternating punches with a slow and yet powerful thud against the pillar. Soon like with his shins, the man increased the intensity and speed until the entire room shuddered with the strength of his blows. After an indeterminable amount of time. The man stopped and casually glanced over at John.

"Now that I have demonstrated, you shall begin."

John glanced down at the wooden bat in his hand and shuddered.

"Teacher, isn't there some other way...?"

          The old man was smiling faintly at John's reluctance. As he was about to reply, a shudder passed through his body. The smile faded from his face and he dropped his head into his hands. His long gray hair covered his features as his body began to quake. Frightened, John reached out a hand to make sure the peaceful old man was alright. As he did the old man jerked backwards and raised his eyes to meet his. The eyes were completely black as the deepest reaches of space. They were so dark that they didn't even look like eyes anymore. They were portals to the primordial essence of the universe. Those eyes drew in light. They drew in gravity. They drew in all forms of energy and fed upon them in the abyss.

John stumbled backwards in fear, raising the wooden bat in order to marshal some type of weak defense against the demon in the room with him.

A deep, rumbling chuckle emitted from the mouth of the old man.

You will learn this Nameless. This is the way that I have shown you and this is the way that you will ADAPT!

         Shadow covered the old man completely until he looked like a piece of darkness made living. His hands clutched into claws and he suddenly leapt for John's throat. John screamed and closed his eyes in reflex. The baton dropped from his grasp and to the floor and making a dull thud as it hit the ground. After a moment with his eyes clenched closed, John realized that he was not in fact, dead. Slowly he opened his eyes and found the old man smiling at him once again. His eyes had returned to normal and he seemed to not have moved at all in the last couple minutes.

"Why yes, student. This is the way that you must prepare yourself to use the hard fist."