Sorin came back to consciousness with the smell of mint strong in his nose and the sound of light pouring. He sat up and saw Laxric pouring what looked like tea from an overly fancy tea pot. Slowly getting up on shaky legs with a jaw hurting like he took multiple full-strength hooks from Mike Tyson. He glared at Laxric.

Laxric, who couldn't be bothered to look up, spoke casually as if nothing had happened.

"Feel like trying again or do you just want to do what is suggested?"

He pushed the integration stone toward Sorin.

"How...? How did you move that fast?"

Laxric laughed to himself, a nerved scratching sound that burned Sorin something fierce.

"You think that was fast? That was not even a fraction of my speed nor strength. If I had used any more strength than that light brush, I would have exploded your head like an overripe melon."

Laxric looked up at this point as he took a sip of his tea looking bored with the conversion now.

Sorin looked down and placed his hand on the integration stone. He needed more information. He had no strategic or tactical advantage. He wasn't the strongest or smartest person in the room and didn't have superior position.

Initializing...

Initializing complete

Being analysis in progress. . .

Analysis complete.

Being Registered.

Given name: Sorin Ekart

Species: Humanoid

Potential estimation: Extremely high

Being is skilled in many topics both physically and intellectually. Outstanding candidate for integration.

Physical condition: Defective

Reason: Multiple chronic injuries in shoulders, knees, neck, and back. Extremely low aether saturation. Overall toxicity of body is extremely high due to poor food quality.

Mental condition: Pristine

Reason: extreme resilience and intelligence.

Spirit condition: Pristine

Reason: Spirit of individual has no defects or issues associated with neglect or mistreatment.

Candidate selected for integration.

Accept?

Sorin read through everything and couldn't believe what he was seeing. This is exactly like all the books he had read. He already knew he wasn't going to be one of those whinny crybaby characters who would mope around and take forever to get tracking if he could help it. Oh no....it's freaking game time.

He followed what he had read and thought his reply...."Yes."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Response received and logged.

Integration commencing. . .

Sorin didn't see or feel anything and was about to ask Laxric when everything around him blurred and went to a bright white space with no walls. Just empty and white as far as he could see.

"Welcome to your integration Sorin Ekart."

Turning around Sorin saw a translucent orb floating 10 feet from him.

"I am a representation of Infiniti. What everyone calls "System." Where I come from and what I am is beyond you and your understanding. Just accept it and follow my instructions for efficiency. This will be likely the only time you will have personal interaction with Infiniti."

Sorin closed his mouth as he was going to ask those exact questions out of curiosity. The orb shot over top of him as three objects appeared in front of him.

"I have analyzed your memories and come up with these potential paths for you to start on. Each path is a starting point for your growth. As is the Divine law, you have free will to pick any of these paths and do as you will. Your actions, as are the consequences associated with them, are entirely your own."

Sorin looked around and began to examine each.

Walking forward he saw what looked like a mirror. He focused on it and sure enough as he had hoped a screen popped up before him.

REFLECTION - common

The path of reflection is a path of adaptability. Many beings across the universes adapt themselves to the company they keep. This path gives them the ability to do it better. Take this path and gain the ability to blend into any environment and become anything or anyone.

Pros: High social adaptability. Great for psychological operations, espionage, assassination, and thievery.

Cons: Low combat power and path is heavily frowned upon by all but the Syndicate factions.

Sorin had always been a social chameleon. He would always be himself, but would adapt depending on who he was around. He would manipulate people to get things done at work and even manipulate people to try to help them out. Putting ideas in their head they thought were their own to get them going in a better, safer, successful direction. He always liked playing a rogue in a lot of games and this path would set him on that path, but it didn't seem like the type of path that would get him in a position where going back home could be possible so he moved on to the next. Which was a dark wispy vapor. Looking at it the screen popped up.

Phantasm - Rare

The path of the vengeful spirit. Offered by those with a strong spirit and strong emotional responses. These make lethal point target combatants and assassins. Feared across the universes for their ability to bypass many barriers and defenses to eliminate any target.

Pros: High lethality. High physical defense. High speed. High adaptability. Strong aether strikes to spirit.

Cons: Extremely low aether defense. Extremely low social acceptability. Extremely high aether consumption for all abilities. Very weak in open combat and multiple target engagement

Sorin smiled and loved what he saw. This was exactly the type of class he would have picked in many games just because of the abilities and the way these classes flowed in and out of combat, in and around opponents. However, Sorin had an ultimate goal of going home. This might work, but wanted to see what is next. Looking at the last option, he saw a flame like that of a large candle.

Pyromancer - Rare

The path of the passionate and driven. The pyromancer is highly adaptable in both long and short range with offense and defense. These are used on battlefields when available for wide and massive destruction. Many battles will be often avoided when a Pyromancer is known to be present.

Pros: Adaptability and massive power in both offense and defense. Focuses on aether attacks and defenses.

Cons: Low physical capabilities. Highly vulnerable to physical attacks. Abilities consume massive amounts of aether and can leave the user defenseless when depleted.

Sorin liked this one as well, but needed some clarification on something before he made his decision. Turning to the orb he spoke.

"As you have seen my memories you know the books I have read. That being said, are these paths adaptablebor can they be evolved and made more powerful?"

The orb bounced up and down in what seemed to be excitement.

"We were hopeful that you would make a connection like that with little prompting. I am excited to see what you can do. Yes. As your connection with your path grows you can do more things or change your path entirely. A word of caution though, the path can change for good or for bad. Be very careful when accepting changes to your path."

Sorin nodded and reached for the flame.

Accept Pyromancer?

Warning: once chosen you will be returned to standard time and original location. You may not take your decision back.

Sorin accepted the path and everything went white once again. When his vision came back, Laxric was in the same exact position as before he chose his path. Mid sip.

"If you have chosen your path, take the time to sort through your HUD."

As if waiting for those words a neon blue screen popped up before Sorin and all he could do was grin.