I strained my eyes in the darkness. Did someone forget to turn the lights on? That was odd. Wait… shouldn’t I be in the hospital right now? So then, where was I? And why was it so dark? I felt… well, I didn’t know how to describe it, honestly. They say that people can sense their bodies moving, even without input from their other senses. Kinesth-something? Kinesthology? No, that wasn’t it. I’ll get it eventually.
“Ah, a drifter, I see. I know just where to send you.”
The voices came from nowhere, sonorous yet weary, bright yet heavy. It contained within it the dying breaths of a thousand men, women, and children, the choir whispered, the choir screamed. With that, I felt my… body? No, I didn’t have a body, or at least I couldn’t see it. I felt my direction shift, somehow, like I was a ping pong ball that had just been spiked much too hard. I would know after I’d gone to state for table tennis in high school. If my wrist hadn’t broken in that tragic biking accident before the final match, I could’ve gone to nationals! My glorious victory would have echoed throughout history!
Or not. I might've just gotten a pat on my back and a medal. Still, though, it would've been cool.
A screen subsumed my vision, growing rapidly as more notifications flooded it.
Soul Detected…
System Initializing...
Analyzing Race...
Race: Human
Human (Non-Monstrous): 1st Tier: Access to Class and Profession Screens; Racial Evolutions Each Quinary Tier
Inspecting Characteristics...
Tier: 0 Level: 0
Setting Statistics to Match Tier and Level…
Observing Innate Traits…
Designing Status Screen…
Enabling Access to Status Screen…
Opening Status Screen…
Another screen popped up.
Name: Abel Halloran Level: 0 XP: 0% Health Total: 50/50 Health Regen: 3 /minute Mana Total: 50/50 Mana Regen: 5 /minute Physical: 5 Constitution: 5 Vitality: 5 Fitness: 5 Mental: 5 Willpower: 5 Nerves: 5 Intellect: 5 Astral: 5 Balance: 5 Channeling: 5 Harmony: 5
Welcome to the System, Abel Halloran.
Wait, am I in a video game?
Staring at the numbers, I floated through the nothing for a while longer. Soon enough, though, a flash of light filled my vision as a cloaked man appeared before me, bringing with him an ocean of pressure.
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Harkemth
“Did that jerk seriously send him through without looking at where he was going? Kam, come look at this! I can’t believe that guy.” A deathly pale man complained loudly to the fiery woman sitting across from him.
“Do you mean the one floating through Khaos, or Charon?” Kamuhina replied with a firm, yet soft voice.
“Charon, of course! I can’t believe that guy. He’s supposed to ferry the dead, not send them straight towards certain destruction. Seriously, that soul’s headed for those rituals down there. Poor guy’s gonna get shredded to bits by them.” He said, slowly shaking his head. He pitied the guy, honestly. “Oh well, nothing to be done. Hopefully enough of him stays whole to keep his ego intact.”
The goddess glowered at him, her hair turning a bit more red. “Harkemth…”
“What? I just told you, nothing to be done. Hey, he got lucky enough to survive the separation of soul and body, so maybe he’ll get lucky again.”
Her hair flashed once more, heat now radiating from them. “We both know that there’s something you can do. You’re the one that pointed it out, Har, it’ll take a couple minutes at most. Just go save him really quick.”
“But… I don’t want to get up?” The Astral Sage whined.
The woman’s hair actually caught fire this time, letting Harkemth know that it was time to leave. He pulled his soul from his body, which promptly crumbled and burnt without his statistics keeping it intact from the extreme mana pressure and heat, the latter of which was coming from his partner. The former, on the other hand, was simply due to their location, Olympia, one of the few worlds with a high enough mana density to allow gods to maintain their forms.
“Please don’t make me sleep on the couch…” Harkemth whispered, causing her to throw a pillow at him, which passed straight through him. Of course she could still hear him, her Astral was in the thousands at least. Still nothing compared to his. That had been his primary from the start, after all. Alas, he had traded his Harmony away a long time ago, nullifying any stealth he’d once had.
It was time to scare a little kid shitless.
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Abel Halloran
I wasn’t much of a swimmer. In fact, I had never learned how. A bit pathetic, I know, but that’s besides the point. Because of this, I mostly avoided swimming, my somewhat lanky form allowing me to simply stand whenever being in water was unavoidable, such as at beach parties and the like.
This feeling, though? This is how I’d imagine a person might feel at the bottom of the ocean. The pressure bearing down on me was unlike anything I’d ever felt before, my body simply unable to move, crushed by something that wasn’t solid, but still very much there.
The man before me seemed amused for some reason, though I wasn’t in much of a state to question it. Then, he simply snapped his fingers and light that seemed almost solid appeared in the space behind him, pentagrams forming the base, with hexagons filling out certain designs. It was… beautiful, honestly, even if the pain prevented me from fully appreciating it. The patterns spun and shuttered, before shrinking forward to land on the tip of his index finger, which was promptly jabbed into my head.
The pressure just… vanished. Just like that. I breathed a sigh of relief… except I didn’t, considering I didn’t currently have lungs.
“You’ve got questions. Ask them, and make it quick before I get you going again,” the man asked in a silvery voice.
“I-, uh…” My mind raced. There were so many questions to ask! “Where am I? Who are you? What were those shapes? That pressure? Please, help me!”
The man looked rather annoyed, but stated the following, “I am the Divine Astral Sage, Harkemth. Welcome to Hilania, one of the lower Tiered worlds of the Endless System. The one I’m from, in fact.
"I’m guessing you’ve never seen magic, and you appear to be from a Tierless world as well. You can ask around about killing intent on your own. You won’t get the right answer at first, but it’ll be good enough for a while. First of all though, you need to work on increasing your level, or you’re going to be outperformed by actual children. I’d recommend trying to teach yourself a bit of magic, as well. Almost everyone knows at least a ritual or two.
"Here… I was just going to send you near a city, but I’m actually starting to think that your original destination would be best. That Charon idiot still fucked up though, you would’ve been gobbled up by those rituals. I’ll just guide you along a little better…”
I felt my position shift a bit, and started to panic. “Wait, I still have so many questions! How did I get here? Where am I going?! Please, you have to help me, I don’t know what to do!”
Harkemth just grinned at me. “Nah kid, don’t worry about it. Just don’t get eaten by monsters and you’ll be just fine. Or do get eaten by monsters, if you’re into that kind of thing. Really, just grab a few experience points. It’s for your own good. Oh, also… if you get the chance, do try to send a few souls my way. Maybe we’ll talk more later, but for now, I think my wife’s making dinner, so I really should get back. Seeya!” He popped out of existence.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
With that, my soul began plummeting back down towards… something. More glowing lights. These ones seemed to be… other souls, perhaps? They were in the shape of animals, some plants as well, so that seemed like a reasonable assumption. As I grew closer, everything began to fade, and I blacked out.
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Okay… I appeared to be in a cave? It was rather small though. What did he mean about rituals? I couldn’t see anything like that. Then again, I wouldn’t really know what I was looking for, would I?
Luckily, I was still clothed, but I had no idea why. Then again, I didn’t have an inkling of how I’d gone from a disembodied ghost to a physical being either, so even though I was confused, I knew getting hung up over it would be a waste of time.
The cave was rather small, so I moved forward to step into the light, but rather than stepping outside, I found another cave. That was… odd. This new cave was much too bright to be this deep underground, and I couldn’t find any source for it. Magic, maybe?
Additionally, this cave angled upwards, leading me to believe that the exit was ahead.
Turning my attention back to my situation, I found…
Level 1 Rabid Homunculus Abomination
"Oh god... what have I done?"
A relatively simple form of summon, a Homunculus is a doll-like caricature of another creature. While relatively weak, these summons are quite varied, and come in many shapes and sizes. As such, they have become a common staple for summoners everywhere.
This one's summoner has died, leading to a complete loss of sanity. Be wary, as these creatures will attack with no regard for their own well being.
Additionally, the summoning of this creature has failed, and the mana stored within its ritual has bled and crossed into another, resulting in scraps of two or more creatures combining into one.
Be wary. While these summons are rather weak, their potential is endless.
Yeah, that. There were more, at varying levels, even a few for whom I simply got an X for the level, and question marks after the name.
Level X Homunculus ???
A relatively simple form of summon, a Homunculus is a doll-like caricature of another creature. While relatively weak, these summons are quite varied, and come in many shapes and sizes. As such, they have become a common staple for summoners everywhere.
This one has evolved beyond you. Increase your Tier to Inspect this creature.
Be wary. While these summons are rather weak for their Tier, their potential is endless.
I could only hope that they wouldn’t notice me. I had no idea how powerful these things were. Some of them looked rather scary though, fangs, claws, pincers… The mere thought of fighting one of these things made me shudder. I’d have to find a way out of this place, fast.
I slowly trailed along the cave wall. The majority of these Abominations seemed concentrated towards the center, and the fighting going on made it very clear to me that they weren’t friends. That was the Rabid part, I guess.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see just a little bit further. It seemed that further up, there were a few trees, which was confusing, considering they were still underground, but maybe that just meant they were close to the surface? That, or magic fuckery.
I could also see the opposite wall of the cave. It wasn’t super wide, maybe half a mile. I wondered why the monsters weren’t all attacking me, but maybe they had… aggro radius? That didn’t make much sense, considering this was real life, but it was all I could think of.
I continued my slow crawl against the cave wall, until I noticed something. The further I went, the larger the monsters became. Additionally, I began to spot even more of the question mark Homunculus, and even a few of the following.
Level XX ???
This creature has evolved beyond your comprehension. Increase your Tier to Inspect it.
Retreat is recommended.
Well that was ominous. Should I, though? On one hand, I hadn’t found an exit yet, and I desperately wanted out of here. On the other, some of these things looked like they could squash me like a bug, and I was starting to feel that pressure again. Not nearly as strong as it was from that guy, Harkemth, but it was certainly still present.
After a little deliberation, I decided that I would go just a little bit further. What was the worst that could happen, after all? None of these things had noticed me yet, I just had to be quiet. Not to mention, I think that was a building just behind those trees, one that the Homunculus seemed to be purposefully avoiding. Maybe someone lived there? A bit of excitement bubbled up within me. Maybe I could get out of here, and not have to deal with any of these Abominations?
I returned to my creeping with just a bit more vigor.
Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
----------------------------------------
Yeah, it was bad. So bad, in fact, that only a few minutes later, I found myself being chased by a pack of vicious monsters, all triple question mark types. And they were fast. The only reason they hadn’t caught up to me yet was that we kept attracting other, weaker Homunculus, and while I had taken a few scratches, I mostly left the beasts for the pack to deal with. Sadly, despite a couple losses and a few more injuries, the brunt of the pack just kept coming, and my legs were burning. Why hadn’t I gone to the gym more often when I was back on Earth, dammit?
Even with them injured and their numbers reduced, I wasn’t sure I could take them. Especially since I didn’t have an actual weapon. I was nearing the place I had come in from, and could spot the hole in the cave. My only hope was that they might not follow me through it.
I dove through, glancing briefly at my Status.
Name: Abel Halloran Level: 0 XP: 7% Health Total: 43/50 Health Regen: 3 /minute Mana Total: 50/50 Mana Regen: 5 /minute Physical: 5 Constitution: 5 Vitality: 5 Fitness: 5 Mental: 5 Willpower: 5 Nerves: 5 Intellect: 5 Astral: 5 Balance: 5 Channeling: 5 Harmony: 5
Those 7 points hurt like a bitch. I was pretty sure that I’d end up with an infection or something. Those experience points were interesting, but I had no time to wonder where I’d gotten them from.
I hurried to get into a fighting stance of some sort, and found a decently sized rock to use as a weapon. I waited for a while. There were still sounds coming from outside, yips, neighs, barks, scuttling, all combining into what I could only describe as chaos… but it didn’t seem like the pack had found me.
I relaxed a bit, but still held onto the rock, just in case. That’s why I was still ready when it found me.
It was one of the original pack members. Like the others, it was mostly a wolf, but this one seemed to have an armadillo shell. It was a bit damaged, so I could maybe handle it, as it didn’t look too impressive.
It leapt at me, and I would’ve liked to tell you that I sidestepped and drove my rock into its hard shell, crushing it in an instant. Sadly, I’m not that cool. Its claws turned my shirt into scrap in an instant, and sent me to the floor. I just barely managed to keep a hold on my rock through the impact.
A screen appeared in my vision.
Level X Homunculus ???
A relatively simple form of summon, a Homunculus is a doll-like caricature of another creature. While relatively weak, these summons are quite varied, and come in many shapes and sizes. As such, they have become a common staple for summoners everywhere.
This one has evolved beyond you. Increase your Tier to Inspect this creature.
Be wary. While these summons are rather weak for their Tier, their potential is endless.
Luckily, it wasn’t one of the strongest ones. Still stronger than me, though. That attack had knocked me down to nearly half my health in an instant!
Not knowing how to properly fight something like this, I swung my rock down against its back.
Luckily, the attack connected, the creature too slow to dodge out of the way.
The Homunculus’ jaws snapped at me, but I managed to just barely step backwards in time.
I swung my rock again, ambitiously going for its head. Once more, it attempted to dodge, but only managed to redirect the blow to its snout, causing teeth and blood to mix with its slobber. It whimpered and retreated a step back, creating a bit of distance between us.
“Hah, that’s right, you mutt. Who’s in charge now?” My grin was met with a lightning-fast claw to the face. I fell back against a cave wall.
Pain and panic flooded my body. I couldn’t see out of my left eye, and felt hot blood wash down my face. My rock had fallen to the side. The monster was readying for another strike.
With my remaining eye, I watched the beast charge me. I couldn’t watch. I closed my eye and crumpled into a ball on the floor, ready to die… again. This fresh chance had been wasted on me.
Instead of hearing claws tear into flesh, I heard a soft whimper. I opened my eye again, and what I saw caused it to widen in surprise. The stupid thing had smashed its head into the cave wall!
I scrambled to grab my rock, ignoring the sharp pain where my eye had once been. I lined up, and smashed the rock into the stunned, defenseless critter’s brain matter.
An energy that I could only describe as golden flooded my body.
Congratulations! You have slain 1 Level 6 Hardened Homunculus Abomination!
Experience Reward Increased for Fighting an Enemy Above Your Level!
Experience Reward Increased for Fighting an Enemy Above Your Tier!
Experience Reward Increased for Defeating an Enemy Above Your Tier While Tierless!
Experience Reward Increased for Defeating an Enemy Above Your Tier While at Level 0!
Reward: 263% XP
I then learned that it was not possible to check my Status while asleep, having passed out for the second time since coming to this world.