“Very useful,” he said as he reviewed the title, right-hand scratching at his cheek in thought. “I have no context for whether or not those bonuses are good, but it seems pretty solid. I guess it depends on how many attributes and skills I have, and what that actually means for my… build? Progress? God, I have so many questions…”
Aurelian dismissed the window and waited for—there it was.
Another window, almost immediately.
He was becoming used to the insanity of it all, and quickly too. He didn’t want to think about what that implied regarding his mental state.
You have almost completed your assimilation!
Your name is Aurelian Lucis Imperius, you are an Elysean with the title Elysean Reclaimer!
Please select your Origin f̸̝͝r̶͓̐͘ô̶̫̮̘͊̏m̶̢̘̮̽̍̃ ̸̰̠̀̍́́͜b̵͚̰͙̔̕e̶̡̦̭͒̎̽ͅl̷̩͙͊͝ỏ̵͚͔̥͐͛͑̃w̴̝̍̓̈́́͝…̸̺̤͈̋
ERROR
NEPHILIM ORIGIN SUPERSEDES ALL
STANDBY
“Is that good?” he asked the air warily, before remembering the words the System had broadcast to him just before he’d died. “I have a benefactor, supposedly, and I do remember something about a ‘Calling’… so maybe this is some sort of summoning? And people who are summoned are called Nephilim?” Given his limited understanding of myths and lore, that did make sense.
Nephilim in many tales were said to be divine creatures descending from, or originated by, the intervention of Heaven. Or Hell. It stood to reason he might be classified as such if there was an equivalency between Earth and the ‘Realms.’
OVERRIDE COMPLETE
RE-ENGAGING ASSIMILATION PROCESS
STANDBY
. . .
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Through immense effort, your benefactor has granted you access to a Legendary origin!
[Nephilim]
Nephilim are beings of mythical power and might, whose tales of origin date back to the ancient days of the Realms. Little to nothing is known of them, save that their potential is said to be limitless. They are known as agents of both miracle and calamity.
As a result of this, you gain the following:
+2 Attribute Points per Level
Nullification of Skill Limit Penalty
+10% XP per Level
Aurelian still possessed no scope of reference for what he was reading, but he’d devoured enough isekai to understand that a skill limit penalty was a bad thing, and nullification of it was probably good. Really good.
The extra attribute points were nothing to sneeze at either.
Given the status of the origin as Legendary, and his Reclaimer title as unique, it stood to reason that the attribute point bonuses would be comparable in power to the origin and title that granted them. That meant that the additional were, most likely, incredibly rare.
The notable point about Nephilim being agents of both ‘miracle and calamity’ was mildly concerning, but he decided to take that as a mix of hyperbole and a narration of his potential. The way things were going, he was getting ‘main character’ vibes and that was not a bad thing.
Besides, even if that wasn’t true, he’d still have crazy advantages no matter what.
He could work with that.
“Now, what’s next?” he asked as he dismissed the screen and received another in response.
You have almost completed your assimilation!
Your name is Aurelian Lucis Imperius, you are an Elysean with the title Elysean Reclaimer!
Please select your Zodiac f̸̝͝r̶͓̐͘ô̶̫̮̘͊̏m̶̢̘̮̽̍̃ ̸̰̠̀̍́́͜b̵͚̰͙̔̕e̶̡̦̭͒̎̽ͅl̷̩͙͊͝ỏ̵͚͔̥͐͛͑̃w̴̝̍̓̈́́͝…̸̺̤͈̋
ERROR
PREDETERMINATION DETECTED
SYSTEM OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS
STANDBY
Aurelian considered the words carefully, and momentarily dismissed his annoyance at the continued intercession of his mysterious benefactor, and potentially the person who’d summoned him. A Zodiac implied some measure of eastern influence to the Realms’ design, or at least, eastern as he reckoned it coming from Earth. Zodiacs in eastern mythos tended to correlate to a person’s potential, as much as they did their personality and disposition.
He was interested to see what had been selected. Perhaps the choice would offer him some insight as to the intention of his being summoned, outside of the notion of the ‘Reclaimer’ title. That definitely inferred some measure of active quest, though what he was reclaiming specifically he would need to figure out. He recalled that word being spoken by the creepy voices in his car, too.
He felt a pang at that memory.
He loved that damn car.
As far as all the predetermination went, he was fairly certain it was outside of the norm, given the amount of errors and overrides being thrown out. He realised, of course, that he had no actual frame of reference for normal—just anecdotal suppositions. There was no empirical normal to his knowledge because he hadn’t experienced it. He could only guesstimate based on his own knowledge and experiences with fiction relating to such circumstances.
Hardly sources of infallible truth, those.
“If there is a God, let this be a harem adventure.”
He laughed at his own joke until another screen populated.
OVERRIDE COMPLETE
RE-ENGAGING ASSIMILATION PROCESS
STANDBY
. . .
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Through immense effort, your benefactor has granted you access to a Legendary Zodiac!
[Dragon]
The Dragon is the symbol of ancient power. Icons of honour, valour, and prestige; Dragons represent the greatest of heroes, and the greatest of calamities. Long thought extinct, their Zodiac was said to have died with them. Dragon has, until now, been lost to time and memory.
As a result of this, you gain the following:
+2 Strength per Level
+1 Vitality per Level
+10% XP per Level
Language: [Draconic]
Aurelian raised his eyebrow at the revealed Zodiac, and then let loose a low ‘Hmm’ as he surveyed the screen. He did like dragons, and the addition of Draconic as a language was pretty awesome. All in all, not a terrible choice. He wished he could have seen the others, but this one was… acceptable. At least he didn’t get something idiotic, like a Fish or Dog. It also seemed to imply that his mysterious benefactor had plans for him—though whether or not he’d like those plans, or even go along with them, was a whole other story.
The entire concept of Zodiacs wasn’t exactly new to him either, even outside of his Wuxia and Xianxia dabblings. His sister and mother had both been enthralled by the fanciful realm of astrology, and he’d known more than one ex-girlfriend that had been taken by the ideas of crystals, star signs, and natal charts to the point where he’d sat through his fair share of prophetic dithering.
In fact, Zodiacs almost seemed to be one universal constant that was almost comforting, in a way. It was something he could relate to. Something he could understand. He’d never truly been interested in astrology the same way that others around him, namely his college acquaintances; but there was enough context within the scope of it, and how it overlapped with tarot cards, that he could at least find some anchoring of normalcy within the selection.
The crazy blue boxes might not have been his idea of a ‘normal’ occurrence, but certainly the idea of having a Zodiac was. What he didn’t know is whether or not the Zodiac was tied to a month or specific date, or if it was just… there. He’d have to investigate.
When he swiped away the window this time, another one populated immediately… and this time Aurelian felt himself truly growing excited.
“Finally.”
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
You have successfully selected your name, race, and zodiac. All that remains is to finalise your initial spread of Attributes.
Would you like to proceed to your character sheet?
Warning: Once you proceed, you cannot change your selections.
YES
NO
“I didn’t have a choice so far anyway.” he said with a snort. “Let’s do it.”
Aurelian hit YES without hesitation, and the screen morphed immediately. A gong, almost like a chorus of approval, rang throughout the space—or was it in his head?—and the screen shifted shape and size into something he definitely recognised: a character sheet.
CHARACTER SHEET
Identity Information
Name
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Aurelian Lucis Imperius
Level
2
Race
Elysean
Origin
Nephilim
Gender
Male
Zodiac
Dragon
Status Information
Health / HPS
70 / 7
Mana / MPS
57 / 5
Stamina / SPS
25 / 2
Attribute Information
Strength
14
Agility
8
Dexterity
8
Vitality
7
Endurance
6
Intelligence
14
Perception
11
Willpower
15
Charisma
8
Skill Information
N/A
N/A
Title Information
Elysean Reclaimer
Unique
Experience Information
Progress to Next Level
0%
“Okay, so that’s an… interesting distribution. Nine attributes, and it looks like it’s parsing them based on my actual self…” he muttered while he regarded the character sheet, and his thoughts whirled. If this was supposed to be a recognition of his existing self as he’d been on Earth, then the stats made some sense. It also inferred that they were the ‘human average’ from where he’d come.
That meant that he had a baseline.
He had no doubt they were probably considered low, but that wouldn’t matter too much. Assuming he survived, he could likely change and alter those pretty handily. On top of that, it was likely he’d end up in a very solid ‘starting’ zone as the System reckoned it, if his experiences were anything to go by.
A chime sounded, and the blue screen was momentarily superseded by another one.
He paused at the new arrival and blinked in both surprise and shock.
“Wait, I have mana? Hold on…” his eyes widened with realisation. “That means magic. I can use magic?! YES!” A laugh erupted from his mouth, and he held his head. “Oh my god, of course. I completely forgot! I can use magic! This is going to be amazing!” then he paused, abruptly, at realising he had no idea how his values were calculated. “That’s… a problem. Maybe if I focus on—woah!”
As quickly as he’d spoken, a new window appeared in front of him.
Status Calculations
Health
Vitality x 10
Mana
Intelligence x 3 + Willpower Total
Stamina
Endurance x 3 + Vitality Total
Based on the information, and a quick glance at the larger window of his status sheet, he immediately noted the pattern of the resource regeneration. It was the total number of either his health, mana, or stamina divided by ten and rounded down. That was… consistent. It would have been better if it’d been rounded up, but he understood the System’s intention behind curbing the scaling.
It meant things were… smoother.
Fractions were always annoying to work with anyway.
Now that’s settled, I guess I’m ready.
When he swiped away the calculations and peered at his sheet, he noticed how large it was once again and frowned. The main issue was the clutter. He didn’t want to have to be poking at the air and dealing with a screen every time he wanted to review things. It would be easier if it was just done in his head.
Do you wish to activate Interface Compression?
This can be undone at any time.
YES
NO
“Huh…” Aurelian said with a tone of pleasant surprise. “Well, sure. Let’s see.” A click of the YES and the blue screen vanished, replaced instead by a projection in his vision that, for a moment, caused him to go cross-eyed until he realised it was a sort of scrollable text. It only appeared to be displayed within his vision—as if it were projected onto his retinas or something—and controlled by his eyes and mind. It was far less cluttered than the blue screen, and something he could access easily on the go.
He thoroughly approved.
Name: Aurelian Lucis Imperius
Level: 2 | Race: Elysean (L) | Origin: Nephilim (L) | Gender: Male | Zodiac: Dragon (L)
Health: 70 | Mana: 57 | Stamina: 25
STR: 14 | AGI: 8 | DEX: 8 | VIT: 7 | END: 6 | INT: 14 | PER: 11 | WIL: 15 | CHA: 8
Mind Skills: No Skills
Body Skills: No Skills
Spirit Skills: No Skills
Traits: No Traits
Titles: Elysean Reclaimer (U)
Languages: Common | Elysean | Draconic
0% to Level 3
You have 7 Attribute Points available!
You have 1 Skill Point available!
The last part had not been part of his original sheet, but likely it had to be prompted elsewhere. He was momentarily confused at the number of attribute points, until he realised he was already a level higher than his base and had a spare point from his achievement, which meant he had likely accrued one point as a result of that level. Whether or not that was a normal gain outside of his bonuses, or if it was significant to his first level up, he didn’t know. Only experimentation would reveal that, and he was definitely eager to gain levels if nothing else.
A few moments’ more perusal followed, and he also noticed the regeneration rates of his three main status modifiers weren’t shown, but that seemed fine. He could always toggle them on manually, he suspected, and he didn’t really need to know. They were a numerical representation, but he’d likely feel his regeneration in a way no number could properly quantify. A long moment of careful consideration was given to his attributes after that, followed by a cursory examination of his available points, and he hummed in thought.
“What I want more than anything is to survive, and I have a feeling low vitality really won’t help that…”
He doubted health was a strictly empirical representation of his ability to survive, as much as it was a more arbitrary proclamation of his ability to withstand damage. If things worked the way he suspected, then greater health would simply infer a higher tolerance for grievous injury. It would allow for a longer grace period before bleeding out, greater ability to withstand dismemberment—not a pleasant thought—and more.
If he was beheaded, he very much doubted any number of health points would ameliorate that.
Still, the ability to withstand injury would be his most critical weapon. After what happened to him in the car accident on Earth, and the memory of how useless he’d been with an injured arm, he realised he couldn’t afford that kind of weakness in a world with magic and levels. It was very likely he was about to step into a new reality with creatures far beyond his imagining, in terms of danger; especially given the name and information on his zodiac.
It was going to be like Australia on fantasy crack, dialled up to eleven.
There was only one real option if he wanted to survive that sort of hellhole.
With a flex of his mind, Aurelian injected all his available points into his Vitality Attribute. Immediately the number flashed to 14, and then flesh-altering energy rippled through him like a surge of lightning; forcing him to bend over double with a gasp.
He felt himself become more solid.
It was difficult to describe it other than to say he became more dense, and subtly more permanent in a way that defied any other explanation. It was a subtle thing, but he knew instinctively that his body was immediately more durable.
“Woah… that was… wow,” he flexed his hands as he said it, feeling more hardiness in his fingers as he did. It was a good feeling. If things proceeded this way every time he improved his health stat, his fears over being lunch for some horrible giant arachnid or something equally terrifying would be greatly assuaged.
An alert interrupted his thoughts, and he scanned the text that appeared in his vision.
Would you like to configure your HUD (Heads Up Display) now?
Y / N
Aurelian blinked. No box. That meant that it wasn’t just his character sheet, but the entire System Interface at large which had been compressed. That was incredibly useful, and it also meant he didn’t need to worry about looking like a crazy person swiping at the air.
The actual prompt itself was even better. A HUD? He snorted and immediately selected ‘Y’ with his mind.
He knew that it would be a very important part of his new life, and he would be damned if he skipped it.
Immediately after his selection a new vision filled his eyes, showing icons populating his space. A green, blue, and yellow bar represented his health, mana, and stamina at the bottom middle of his vision, stacked atop one another. Easy to track, but not obstructing his view. A small circular map appeared on the bottom left, and he realised with a quick bit of experimentation that he could change the shape, but not the overall size. Most likely he’d need to access it on a proper outer screen to examine it in proper detail.
A mild inconvenience, but acceptable nonetheless.
On the right side of his vision was a blank area he instinctively recognised to be the location for any afflictions, buffs, or conditions affecting him. In the same manner of knowing, he also realised that there would be a ‘combat log’ below his conditions display, allowing him to review any combat he engaged in after the fact.
Putting aside the surrealness of a textual play-by-play, that would be very useful.
His eyes next moved upward, and at the top of his view was another blank section, though he had a feeling something else was supposed to go there. What that might have been remained unclear, at least for the immediate moment.
The moment he finished examining his HUD and mentally ‘saved’ it with another exertion of will, another projection replaced the customisation interface.
You have successfully completed your actualisation!
Prepare for insertion into the Realms!
Good luck, Nephilim.
The space before him exploded into light, a storm of energy seized him, and everything went black.