Prologue
Haera watched in trepidation as the breach in space on the television grew wider by the second over her world. It started as a pinprick of darkness over a week ago, then it had steadily grown in size. The scientists were in a tizzy over this seemingly physics-defying phenomenon.
“We have Dr. Maximillion West here to talk to us about the current rift in space above our world.” The news broadcaster announced.
“Yes, Nancy, we have been attempting to study this phenomenon to discover what we’re dealing with here, however as our probes approach the breach, they are seemingly sucked into the void and we lose the signal. It seems to be growing at an exponential rate and will cover the world in a fortnight. We have no way to determine what this is or what it is doing.” Dr. Maximillion droned on while Haera walked away from her television out onto her balcony to take a look in person.
The rift had almost covered from horizon to horizon and seemed to give off an eerie purple light. What was disconcerting was it seemed to be semi insubstantial. Light from the sun continued to pass through it and no heat was lost. When the rift first appeared a lot of the alien conspiracy theorists seemed to be vindicated and claimed it was going to be our first contact and panic ensued. However when it just continued to grow and nothing emerged, everything calmed down. Now, as the nothingness continued to grow to envelope the planet, people were again starting to freak out.
“What the hell is this thing?” Haera muttered under her breath
Right about then, a massive surge of Power radiated from the rift, sending tingles down everyone’s spine. The rift then exploded into motion and grew to encompass the entire world in a single second. One moment Haera was staring in shock and trepidation, then she was floating in a seemingly empty space without a body. A mostly translucent screen appeared in her vision.
Greetings mortal! Your planet has been annexed into The System. Due to the massive energy requirements to achieve this, 95% of all living things have been consumed to power this marvel. Congratulations! You have been chosen from among the remaining 5% to be a Rift-Walker! This Title will confer many perks on your person. At this time you may create for yourself a new body and adjust your statistics.
Haera just stared in shock at the message for a few moments while she came to terms with her new reality. After a minute or two she snapped out of it and reread the message. She was a little appalled at the 95% casualty rate, but felt pretty lucky to be in the 5% that survived.
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“I suppose this is better than being enslaved by aliens.” She joked to herself.
Once she acknowledged the message it disappeared and a window popped up with many races and hybrids. She scrolled through them, skimming their details and looking at their features until she came across one she recognized. The name was different but she was certain it was a recreation from one of her old games. The creature she was looking at was called an Argussian. They had skin color ranging from blues to purples and had horns upon their crown in varying lengths and styles. The females also had very fine tentacles sprouting from the base of their skull. They also had legs that ended in hooves. From an aesthetics standpoint, she was very pleased with this race. Now to look at the stats.
Argussian
Once a proud and powerful people, the Argussian’s are great inventors and warriors. Before they were added to The System, they had achieved massive space capabilities. After a long and drawn out war, The Argussian’s original homeworld was conquered and most of their population wiped out. Few refugees escaped the planet and even fewer survived to reach Annexation. Due to their natural gifts, many people seek them for answers to seemingly unanswerable questions.
Argussians receive:
+2 Intelligence per level
+1 Strength per level
+1 Agility per level
They are also natural thinkers and receive bonuses to knowledge based professions.
“Well if I’m going to be starting over then I should pick something I’m interested in. No reason to settle on Human just because that’s what I started as.”
When she chose to select Argussian the window flashed and a new one opened up.
Status Window
Haera
Race: Argussian
Age: 28
Level: 1
Health: 100
Mana: 120
Stamina: 104
Strength: 11 +/-
Constitution: 10 +/-
Agility: 11 +/-
Dexterity: 10 +/-
Intelligence: 12 +/-
Wisdom: 10 +/-
Charisma: 10 +/-
Luck: 5
You have 10 unallocated Stat points to assign.
With a heavy sigh she decided she needed to be cautious about how to assign her stat points. She thought that Min maxing would be a bad idea considering this was not a game and it was a new life she couldn’t just focus on 2 or 3 stats, she needed to be rounded to be versatile. She started off by bringing her Intelligence up to 15.
“That should give me a decent chunk of Mana to start with and if I’m correct should help me learn quickly.”
Her next thought was to increase her Strength and Agility to 13 each for practical reasons. She then spent her last 3 points on bringing her Charisma up to 12 and her Wisdom up to 11.
“That should be a well-rounded start until I learn about this new world and make a decision on what to do with my life.”
When she confirmed her choices on the status page, a blinding light flashed and everything faded to darkness.