A Rock.

The dark mindspace of a certain stupefied scientist.

It's only occupant was now trying to come to terms with his most recent mental blow.

Mind it- he wasn't sad, nor was he numb of emotions. In fact, his current state of shock was almost entirely due to an overburdening of enthusiasm.

Several lines of thought were running in parallel through his mind.

The fact that his long-forgotten *cough* dream was coming true, was definitely one of the most significant thought processes that was currently plaguing him.

But his last revelation was by far, the most dominating concern amongst them.

The series of events that he had been subjected to, could be summarised in the order:

I can pass THROUGH matter.

I have a STATUS SCREEN.

My Status Screen tells me I am a ROCK.

In order to understand as to why this situation enthused our scientist to no small degree, let us attempt to take a small peek into the past.

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A year in the 2nd millenium by the human calendar, on a certain human-infested planet. In a grand subterran lab.

A lone youth stood in the centre of a meeting chamber, his eyebrows twitching in suppressed wrath. The chief reason behind this righteous anger soon resumed talking in a condescending tone.

"...So you mean to say... that as a gifted member of our XYZ Labs, whose", at which point he seemed to rack his brain to come up with the memory of some obscure information," ah, remarkable achievments are widely known amongst the few of us... this is what you have finally come up with?"

The young man ground his teeth in frustration. As a part of a secretive research facility focused solely on achieving one of humanity's greatest ambitions, the greatest feats, akin to miracles, were expected from them- the geniuses of the current era. And ironically, if only he had succeeded in his particular endeavor, this would have been one of those miracles.

Not to mention that those that were currently ridiculing him, would, instead have been groveling at his feet.

Shoving down his bitterness, he began speaking, "It's true that this experiment was undoubtedly a failure, but in the future-"

At this point, instead of the old scientist who had been sweet-talking him, the one to interrupt him was a researcher known for his permanent disdain for those he considered his 'lessers' in knowledge.

In what appeared to be genuine anger, he retorted, "In the future, you say! And how the HELL do you think whatever misguided quest made you cook up this UTTERLY ridiculous idea has ANY relevance to our future work!!?"

"MISGUIDED!!". The recipent of his insults could no longer contain his anger. "Do you have any idea about the true potential of my work? If given enough time and resources, what it could actually achieve?"

A tall scientist leaning against the wall snorted in contempt. "Yea, potential my ass", he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the one the scorn was intended for to hear.

The youth could feel himself shaking as he turned red with fury, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he struggled to control himself. Several of those present in the room snickered when they saw his actions.

Yes, this young man was our crazy scientist and the roomful of men hell-bent on mocking him, his previous colleagues.

What they were discussing on this particular occassion was the new idea which the enterprising young researcher had stumbled upon- the one that he deemed was the best solution for their pimary goal- the question of human immortality.

In the course of their work, several ideas had been put forward by various researcher teams. The wide plethora of plausible solutions included absolute adaptation, a theoretical approach to 'zombiefication' and 'imprinting human minds' onto supercomputers among many others.

But what the relatively younger scientist had proposed was, however, radically different. He had envisioned a life-form that would be solely mineral-based- and by that he meant any elements that possessed a solid state. The 'true immortal vessel' that he had envisioned would change its very composition based on the available resources, and frame suitable internal processes to fuel a suitable metabolism- essentially a 'living rock'.

And his research had shown him that something so outlandish was actually plausible! And if not for the minor adjustments he still needed to figure out, he would have already succeeded in making it!

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The idea had, of course, a truly glaring fault- one that his fellow scientists were to quick to grasp.

"Haven't you overlooked a most important point?", one of them questioned sarcastically, "What part of HUMAN immortality does your idea implement? It is a friggin' ROCK that you are so obsessed with!"

The young man, was, however, rather unwilling to accept his 'mistake'. Wasn't it only natural to achieve immortality itself before they could think of bestowing it on their own race? That was how his reasoning ran.

In truth, however, what his colleague had said was true. He was obsessed to a degree. That didn't mean he had lost sight of his goal- he just honestly believed that his was, indeed, the correct approach.

But now? 

While previously, his dream had devolved to 'merely' creating an immortal being, wasn't he, if the Status Screen was to be believed, currently inhabiting the body of a living rock himself?

He currently possessed immortality in the form he had envisioned.

And even though he had lost his research notes and materials, wasn't he in the possession of the culmination of all his research in the form of his own body? Couldn't he then, very well reach beyond what he had tried and tested as merely an observer?

These were the thoghts that had nearly brought his mental processes to a screeching halt by the sheer expolsion of delight and excitement.

It was ALL of these shocks and surprises bunched together that ultimately made him feel gratitude to whoever had given him this new life.

The God of The Realm is increasingly delighted by your actions. He truly looks forward to your adventures.

The message that popped in front of him only added to his growing enthusiasm. The whole 'fantasy world setting' only served to add further flavour to the entire situation.

To begin with, he checked his 2 <>. In fact, he already had an idea what those could be.

 Phasing

A basic characteristic of the Rock race, it allows the skill-holder to freely move through inanimate objects whose composition is extremely similar to the holder's base composition.

Requirements: Member of the Rock race

Skill cost: N/A

Skill Type: Active

Skill Grade: F (evolvable)

The concept of <> was extremely similar to what he had considered to be the main means of locomotion for his 'living rock' sample, i.e. the ability to 'transfer' its distinct signature or structure through a reasonably uniform medium. Though the skill grade of 'F'- presumably the lowest grade for a skill, bothered him, the fact that it was 'evolvable' probably meant that it would improve with practice. In fact, he was now sure that the strange sensation of 'movement' that he had been experiencing was actually a result of this skill being triggered.

Moving on to the next skill,

Integration

A basic characteristic of the Rock race, it allows the skill-holder to supplement its body with compatible substances in its surroundings in order to grow and heal itself.

Requirements: Member of the Rock race

Skill cost: N/A

Skill Type: Passive/ Active

Skill Grade: F (evolvable)

This skill was essentially the adaptive metabolism that allowed the 'living rock' to absorb matter from its immediate environment and erect the necessary metabolic processes to utilize them. While the skill grade of 'F (evolvable)' was understandable, that it was classified as both an active and passive skill was surprising. <> was necessarily active, since he would move in a direction only if he willed it. But why did <> have an additional 'active' type? The fact that it did have a passive option was only common sense- in fact, even now, he could feel that at some level, his body was minutely interacting with his surroundings- this level of perception was truly beyond a human's. But could this action also be triggered to a greater degree by forcibly willing it?

To clarify his doubts, he tried to 'pull' a portion of the material below him, into what he considered to be his 'self'.

There was a jolt of 'phantom pain' assaulting him, and only a small part of what he had initially tried to capture was forced into his body.

The Skill Proficiency of Integration (F) has grown by 0.01%

Current proficiency: 0.01%

Following the new box that flashed before him, he felt a weird sensation pass through his mind- it was as if he could understand the ability of <> in an almost imperciptibly better fashion.

So the secret to improving my skills is to use them continuosly after all, huh?

Almost like a child with a new toy, the scientist, having completely forgotten about his earlier misgivings regarding the situation he was in, was now engrossed in exploring the intricacies of his fantastical new body.

After an indeterminately long amount of time and his vast mental capacities now nearing depletion, he finally brought his endeavors to a close for the time being.

This wasn't merely a break, however. Rather, this was a time for pensieve thoughts- for what he now wished to address was a most stark and unsettling anomaly regarding his current constitution that he had encountered in the course of his experiments.

<>

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