Two towers [an unknown location in the new world], local time [1783.04.20]

What does ‘Soul-linked’ mean?

You should just read it from the [Interface], but for the sake of convenience, we will tell you the most important parts. You are required to [Soul-link] any microbes not native to this planet to prevent ecosystem downfall. They will die without you and need to be in, or close to, your body. You can enhance them through the link to allow them to live in more extreme environments. Like your future body. [Soul-link] has other uses, too, of course.

In contrast to the [Soul-bond], there is no limit to how many entities you can [Soul-link] to yourself.

I have so many questions right now…

We propose to deal with the most glaring problems before continuing. There are three:

1) Your [Soul fragmentation] needs to be decreased to at least 10%. You won’t be able to get any [Class] or [Profession] otherwise, and safely execute [Advanced test].

2) You need to choose a method to get rid of your Mana disability. The chosen procedure can be executed during [Advanced test].

3) [Advanced test] is necessary to fully assess your [Willpower] and [Soul wound]. This will be done later if you agree to the procedure. You can add other procedures to this one.

Everything you need is present in [The Exchange]. Because of how advanced your world was, and because you are of a new race on this planet, you have unlocked a great deal of [Modules] not accessible to the natives.

Define ‘safely’… Or not, I don’t really want to hear it. So, we have a plan? Good to know. Why do I need to agree to this advanced testing anyway? And what options do I have for the first problem?

It was becoming quite complicated already.

[Advanced test] is similar to what you have already gone through, but more invasive. We will need to get into direct contact with your [Soul] and [Will]. It WILL be unpleasant.

Your [Soul fragmentation] is actually a blessing in disguise. You need to read [Soul contamination] from your [Interface] to really understand what it means to you. We granted you the highest access level because you need to learn. It’s temporary and supervised. Yes, it’s for free. You.Are.Welcome!

We will show you [The Exchange] options after that.

What a bad pun… Anyway, this time, make sure I don’t spend more than a day reading. Can you do that?

Can do, child. We will need to direct you anyway.

When did I become a child?! I lived for 30 years alre… oh, Regeneration and lifespan increase… level discrepancy... Whatever, existential problems later. Definitely not because he needed to distract himself, he started reading, and, oh boy, was there a lot to take in.

It took him a while to decipher everything important, but this time the System actively helped by directing him to the right parts.

To summarize everything. When someone kills an entity with a Soul, the Soul separates from the body. Parts of it fall off, or fracture, at that moment. Like the parts responsible for linking with the body, or even parts containing unwanted memories. And yes, Souls are basically a conglomeration of one’s life experience… But it was a different topic, and he was directed away. The System is collecting those Soul parts, and purifying what it can. Those fragments then are used to enhance the killer’s Soul. The System uses some mumbo jumbo to determine who is getting what part. Like, sometimes even crafters that made your weapons get some. It’s complicated, ok? Not like Zeph was able to remember how it works from just a glance, the System directed him elsewhere. A Soul contains four main components: information about an entity, information about the body, information about ‘elements’, and ‘pure’ fragments.

The first is cleansed by the system and becomes a ‘pure’ Soul fragment.

Second can accumulate as a ‘Soul contamination’ but is naturally changed over time to fit the body you have. Some information still stays with you… Zeph wasn’t sure what, as the System again redirected him.

The third is much more complicated, it’s not exactly an ‘element’… it’s like an affinity to a certain… ‘Mana type’? Redirected. Anyway, at some point, you can start to produce certain ‘types of Mana’ to decrease the costs of certain… ‘Spells’? Redirected. The entity killed needs to have enough percentage of such contamination in their Soul for it to be meaningful for you, though. Soul fragments of different types can be found in the Exchange at higher levels… Redirected.

The fourth is just what it is, a ‘pure’ Soul fragment, which could… Redirected.

Depending on what you want to do, you could change a method of leveling up. For example, you could give up 'race' fragments, exchanging them for Universal Points. Same with ‘elemental’ and 'pure' ones. When you got to 5% of any contamination, percentage being an important detail here, it will show up in the Interface. It was a threshold at which a Soul starts generating ‘elemental’ Mana, and… Redirected. And yes, Soul was responsible for generating Mana, but overall energy in the environment was self-balancing… Redirected. This ‘elemental’ Mana is constantly reacting with your body and your surroundings. Because of that, at a contamination of around 15%-20% a body modification of some kind is needed to allow you to survive at all, like… Redirected.

The opportunity Zeph had was quite unique. He was lacking almost 20% of his Soul. This means he could fill this gap with ‘elemental’ Soul fragments if he so wished, and could afford it, despite the fact he didn’t yet meet the theoretical requirements to have a Soul fragment implanted. Those fragments' cost was exorbitant, but as he was level 0, he needed the smallest of fragments.

Also, it will be tricky to keep the contamination above 5% without drastically decreasing his leveling speed. The ‘race’ and ‘pure’ Mana fragments are the majority of what he will get from killing enemies, thus the ‘elemental’ percentage will drop if he won’t agree to exchange those fragments for Universal Points instead.

==============================

Time’s up, Dear Customer!

You have 6.5 days remaining.

It took him a while to gather himself. If he could, he would massage his temples. WTF, couldn’t you just tell me all this?

Like we can efficiently name every ‘type of Mana’ and ‘race’ a [Soul] can represent. You now are able to compare them by feeling, especially the Mana types. It will be useful in sensing Mana and was a good way to teach you how to use [Intuition]. It was an optimal solution.

Yea, everything you do is optimal, isn’t it? Let me guess, available Classes depend on the Soul contamination, and available Professions on General Skills?

No. You cannot, in a safe manner, get rid of what old frameworks did to your [Soul] during leveling. Changing a [Class] is not an easy, or efficient process. As so, it would be very limiting to individuals. At the beginning, you can choose what you want, no matter how suboptimal it will be, but all the [Classes] are quite basic.

Specialization of [Classes] is something you need to learn yourself about. But know this, whether you choose to exchange all [Soul fragments] for Universal Points, or decide to be [Classless] in the first place, to learn without leveling at all, you will be rewarded for it later.

I kind of saw this coming, with the Intuition achievement… But aren’t there any special Classes?

Specializing means it becomes special. But an affinity, or below-the-threshold [Soul contamination], can help you with choosing. Intelligent races sure love to use this method to determine their future.

Right… Oh, right! I should have some affinities already! Like every organism with a Soul. Can you show me? He became excited, it was the first step into true magic.

You should have enough [Intuition] to assert that yourself. Just concentrate on [Soul contamination], we will give you a small boost to make it easier.

Sure! He immediately did just that. He had problems at the beginning, but after a few minutes he managed to understand what the Interface was trying to show him. It was the first time he consciously used a Stat, and was aware that using it outside the Interface will be more difficult, but the feeling was intoxicating. Hmmm, rounding it is hard. 39% Human, and 36% Pure were easy enough to see. I am sure those two differ from the locals, too. Hmmm, around 1% of… is it a ‘Chemical Group’? Do I understand it correctly?

More or less. It doesn’t exactly mean ‘chemical’ but for the purpose of understanding, you are close enough.

I will just call them ‘groups’ then. So, 1% for four groups each: Blood, Tissue, Bone, and Neural. Some… random stuff, also at around 1%. And 2% of… of… His non-existing head started to throb. All he got was some blabbering. What the fuck is this?

It is related to your abnormal [Will]. We cannot be certain until an [Advanced tests] are conducted.

Oh, my unique physique is finally giving me an advantage! An unknown magical element? Fuck yea! He exclaimed as excitement flooded him.

Definitely a child. Definitely with delusions.

Give me a break! I can’t really control my emotions here! The happy moment was blown away immediately. Whatever, can I see the Exchange? It’s time for some decisions. Or do I need to ‘read’ some more?

No need for further reading. You have gaping holes in your understanding of how things work here, but this should be enough. Here is the list.

Ye ye, I wouldn’t spend millions of points on 'common knowledge' either way.

Soul Enhancements Energy Enhancements Body Modifications General Skill Database Equipment

Interesting… There are no Will enhancements?

[Common knowledge] packets were banned a long time ago anyway.

[Will] is not accessible in normal circumstances.

What it is, even? I have a feeling it’s connected to the moments in my life that changed me. Well, not with the grandma dying, maybe…

Something that you don’t have time to learn about.

You are not wrong. The death of your grandmother is most probably connected to your [Soul fragmentation], and the strange ‘affinity’. But you will need to learn more yourself after the [Advanced tests].

…you have a point, but I hope it’s not a 'lost knowledge' on this planet or something like that?

It’s not.

I have bad premonitions every time you speak laconically. Are you sure there is nothing more to say?

The [Exchange] possesses a database, among other things.

I knew it! You just want me to spend my points!

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

This information is not integral to your survival. Buy it, or read from your [Interface].

Fucking microtransactions! You know what, I learned, I will just ignore it, but I will not forget it! Another explosion would deepen his existential crisis, it was better to avoid it.

Zeph read and then promptly ignored Energy Enhancements, as most of them needed ambient Mana to work at full power. It would get rid of his main advantage – an ability to survive without Mana. He wanted to be as independent as possible, at least until he learned more. Bolstering his race quirks was a first step in gaining an advantage over the locals.

Body modifications, he thought.

Biological Upgrades Genetical Upgrades Biological Implants Mechanical Implants

He started to read through the Exchange. It was A LOT to read. Very quickly, he noticed that the number of options was too much for him.

Haaah… how much for an advanced search function?

Temporary access, 1k points for 100 searches. For permanent access, it's 150k.

…Do you know someone from the EA? Isn’t that a basic functionality? Jesus, those microtransactions are killing me!

Offending words recorded.

Your existence is starting to be offending! Go fully into microtransactions and I guarantee that the human race will revolt! He spent the next few minutes cooling down.

Just give it to me. He whined finally. The permanent one. One could hear the tears falling down.

150.000 Points deducted. 18.001.441 Points remain.

At least now he was able to speed up the process.

==============================

Zeph spent the next three days searching through the many modifications. Some of them were truly a science-fiction thing. Helpfully, the options requiring strange materials were greyed out. Even the options available on this planet were greyed out, when the resource needed was inaccessible. The cost also depended on the resources' proximity.

The System knew of materials in the vicinity, but Zeph had another idea. He could understand the basic parameters of necessary materials, and found a few things that could potentially use what he had on himself as a substitute.

He managed to convince the System that analyzing the plastic was a good idea. After all, even if the material itself was known to the System, it was impossible to say if it had something new inside without checking it out. The only thing he got from that was a rude warning.

We just wasted our resources. Are you proud? Also, it is recommended you allow us to use your plastic books as a carbon material. It will decrease the cost of any biological modifications.

Warning: You have 3.2 days remaining. Thankfully.

You want me to get rid of ALL that knowledge?

We will keep the knowledge in the [General Skill]. You should be able to easily relive your memories from reading those books, or from writing them.

If you visit the Temple of Goddess of Library, you can have them in a written version in your [Interface]’s add-on. Or in the [Blessing], as she prefers to call it.

Even undeciphered, such books are worth enough in this world for you to be in danger. Especially because you can actually read them. Knowledge is worth a lot on this planet. It is also recommended you first learn how to evaluate said knowledge before writing anything down.

Wait, aren’t you the one who wants, and processes, knowledge? Why do I need to visit the Library Goddess?

We are, but the written knowledge is the domain of the Librarian. It’s much easier for her to create that part of the [Interface] on the global scale, and she demanded it as a part of her influence.

…I don’t even want to ask why a Notepad is too much for you to include in the Interface. But let’s go back to the more important topics. I want you to analyze the alloy of my suit. Are you able to analyze the Prana batteries without destroying them?

This fruitless endeavor again? It will cost you this time. 200k for one try. The manipulation of matter is not cheap.

We can safely analyze one of your empty Prana batteries.

Ugh, ok, let me explain first. Look at this Symbiont, Biological Implant, and those Microorganisms. He thought while opening corresponding entries. The material for the Implant is very similar to my suit's. Those microorganisms work similarly to the contents of batteries. And this Mutagen has a chance to change the Symbiont’s compatibility with the material, if you modify it a little. Can you substitute those materials then?

I will pay AFTER you make sure I don’t have anything new on me. Or do you have better propositions?

Take a pure [Soul fragment] to get rid of your [Soul fragmentation].

The easiest way to get rid of your Mana incompatibility is to change your race. You have one [Reviving opportunity]; it can be used for that.

Simulation of those materials is necessary to assess the possibilities. It will cost you 500k, independently of the analysis itself.

Yea… how many living organisms on this planet can live without Mana, again?

... None.

Did you just suggest I should get rid of my reviving opportunity, just to change my race for something with less survivability?

Manaless zones don’t exist in this sector. The change would be cheap.

You know I want to travel, yes? Between worlds even. This is the one worst piece of advice you could have given me! Even ignoring the possibility of ‘spells’ that zero the Mana in the vicinity, why should I even get rid of my race's quirk?!

Recalculating... Symbionts are recommended. Your idea has more than a 60% probability of working out.

You really need to learn how to do customer service better, or how to communicate properly, for that matter.

Engaging the [Cultural Module] would be a waste of time. It was created with locals in mind. You are the one that needs to adapt.

We are assisting as we can.

…Somehow, I am sorry…

Apology accepted. Proceed?

Yes, please.

500.000 Points deducted. 17.501.441 Points remain.

Assessing new materials...

Creating simulations...

Scanning mutagen exception database...

Combining results...

Wow, isn’t this quick? Oh, wait, I am thinking 10 times slower…

Results are available.

Your suit’s alloy contains two rare isotopes that are unstable in a Mana environment. New properties discovered; payment canceled.

Prana battery content partially compatible with Mana. New microorganisms discovered; payment canceled.

Thank God… Gods… So, can this work, and are those three compatible with each other?

You will need to exchange materials at a later date to get the full use of the [Symbiont] and [Biological Implant]. You can buy knowledge of their location.

They are compatible... But the Symbiont will be unable to survive in the low Mana density, and the Biological Implant is unnecessary?

Remember, I want to travel worlds in the future. Mana isn’t exactly the only thing I can come into contact with. I was thinking of getting 5%... ugh, ‘Hot Plasma’ Soul fragment… He stopped for a moment, then send the impression of the one he wanted instead of trying to name it. This one, to sustain the Symbiont. It should work if I understand it correctly.

Recalculating... In that case, we recommend these two instead:

This [Soul fragment].

This [Mechanical Implant]. You will get [Soul contamination] from the metal group from the [Symbiont] anyway, as it will be [Soul-bonded], so this [Mechanical Implant] will be fully operational. It still requires other materials.

The impression of the new Soul fragment group he got was hard to place. It had something to do with space, Soul, and energy. Hmmm, the closest thing I can think of is a black hole? But it doesn’t make any sense?

The suggested Implant was easier to understand.

Mechanical Implant Source Net v.21.31

The newest version of the funneling system, integrated within a body. A little stiff.