Aalam
Are you sure you want to add 141 free stat points to Luck?
Yes/No
Confirmation. Luck increased to 144. Limit for the Luck stat met.
Are you sure you want to add 2 free stat points to Soul?
Yes/No
Confirmation. Soul increased to 5.
Are you sure you want to add 1 free stat point to Spirit?
Yes/No
Confirmation. Spirit increased to 4.
Given what was about to come next, at least if the information Aalam had spent the last week of accelerated time looking over was accurate, raising the Luck stat as much as possible was the best move. As a soul, he didn’t have to eat or sleep, but he’d been growing bored, and it was now time to start implementing one of the plans he’d come up with—which one, however, would depend on what racial abilities he unlocked.
“As a Human Soulform, you will awaken two racial abilities. Should we start now?”
Aalam nodded upon hearing the puppet’s telepathic voice and then a new type of System message appeared in front of him.
Awakening your first racial ability as a Human Soulform.
Please choose from the following three selections.
1. Omniglot Reader (Epic): You can understand all non-magical languages in both written and spoken form.
2. Nascent Energy Converter (Legendary): Any extra stats which would be lost due to the stat’s limit having been reached instead become free stats.
3. Passive Daoist (Legendary): Gain insights into Laws more easily through meditation, but less easily through combat.
The choice was simple, as one of the abilities was the key to enabling all the most powerful builds he’d come up with and the other two weren’t even on his list. So, Aalam chose Nascent Energy Converter and then waited a couple minutes for his soul to change, the feeling like being wrapped in a cloud and then poked by several hundred needles.
Awakening your second racial ability as a Human Soulform.
Please choose from the following three selections.
1. Amber Soul (Epic): Increase the effectiveness of the Soul stat by 12.5%.
2. Miracle of Thought (Legendary): Increase the power of psychic category skills.
3. Miracle of Creation (Legendary): Increase the power of crafting category skills.
This choice was more difficult. Psychic and crafting skills were the main ones he would go for in the near future, but both abilities would be less useful the more powerful he got. Amber Soul, on the other hand, was only Epic grade, one level of rarity below Legendary. Its effect, however, would always be useful and it unlocked several future race options he wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
As the choices for awakened abilities were affected by an individual’s actions and natural talent, and the possible abilities for humans were wide and varied, it wasn’t surprising every choice was a good fit, especially given Aalam’s Luck stat, and he easily chose Amber Soul without any regrets.
The feeling of being wrapped in a cloud and poked by needles came over him again and this time it took even longer to pass.
“Your soul’s integration with mana is now complete.” The wooden puppet appeared to smile and it was somewhat creepy. “Would you like to share your uniqueness with the Yin Yang Sage for a minor boon to help in the tutorial’s first challenge?”
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Aalam shook his head. “No.”
“Thank you.” The puppet’s expression turned back to normal. “Would you like to take more time or move into the tutorial now?”
“Now please.”
“Alright then.” The room his soul was in began to fade to nothingness, the blank walls disappearing first, replaced by black. Then the chair he was sitting on, the desk, and the puppet disappeared as well and he was floating in an endless dark void, white text appearing in front of his eyes.
Please choose the level of difficulty for your first challenge in Earth’s Monster Tutorial.
Your options are as follows:
1. Easy: Odds of survival 92%.
2. Normal: Odds of survival 75%.
3. Hard: Odds of survival 50%.
4. Torment: Odds of survival 8%.
5. Nightmare: Odds of survival 0.7%.
Without even thinking about it, Aalam chose the Nightmare level difficulty and the world around him began to brighten up. Before his eyes could adjust, however, a new notification in glowing golden text appeared in front of his eyes.
Law Egg gained - Soulform Temporal Acceleration
Congratulations!
You are the first to gain a Law Egg of anyone from Earth.
All stats +6
Luck is already at maximum.
Nascent Energy Converter ability activated.
Free stats +6
Your soul is affected by your understanding of Laws.
Agility + 3, Perception + 6, Spirit +1, Soul +2
* * *
Mila
Awakening your first racial ability as a Human Soulform.
Please choose from the following three selections.
1. Spring Step Agility (Rare): Increase the effectiveness of the Agility stat by 6.25%.
2. Prodigy of the Fist (Epic): Increase the power of martial category punching skills.
3. Omniglot Reader (Legendary): You can understand all non-magical and low-magical languages in both written and spoken form.
Mila looked at her choices and quickly settled on Omniglot Reader. All three abilities seemed at least somewhat in line with her actions when she was alive, but understanding languages had always proven more useful than combat skills, not to mention the ability was Legendary, which a quick check of definitions showed was a grade higher than Epic.
A tingly sensation, which kind of felt like a shiatsu massage, covered her entire body and then a second choice popped into her vision.
Awakening your second racial ability as a Human Soulform.
Please choose from the following three selections.
1. Prodigy of Natural Disguise (Rare): Slightly increase the power of martial category disguise skills.
2. Hawk Eye Perception (Rare): Increase the effectiveness of the Perception stat by 6.25%.
3. Fairy Law (Legendary): Increase the power of all bonds and contracts you enter into or for which you provide the magic.
Mila wasn’t too sure about Fairy Law, but it was Legendary grade while the other two were only Rare, so she decided to choose it anyway. It at least seemed like something she could potentially use to make money in the future.
The shiatsu massage feeling then started again and this time it took even longer.
“Your soul’s integration with mana is now complete.” The wooden puppet moved its fake mouth into a smile, sort of defeating the purpose if it was trying to seem anything other than creepy, given it didn’t move its eyes to match. “Would you like to share your uniqueness with the Yin Yang Sage for a minor boon to help in the tutorial’s first challenge?”
Mila considered why this question was being asked. From what the puppet had said before, Earth had apparently been the Yin Yang Sage’s testing ground before the start of the modern calendar, but she didn’t know what that meant. She also didn’t understand what Uniqueness’s really were, as she couldn’t see what hers did nor did she yet know anyone else’s.
The question’s very existence, however, revealed at least one thing. The Yin Yang Sage most likely couldn’t see her Uniqueness—or likely anyone else’s for that matter.
It was entirely possible the question was some sort of con, causing humanity to underestimate the ancient powerhouse, but it was more likely the dead woman just wanted the information. It could be to test her experimental results after two millennia or maybe it was to help her identify who she could most benefit from by training, but it was unlikely to be anything too negative for anyone who revealed it.
The entire tutorial system so far screamed soldier empowerment to Mila and there were usually more benefits to sticking out in training than not, but Mila felt confident in sticking out anyway, so she decided to keep what few cards she was left with close to her chest.
“Thank you, but no.”
The puppet’s expression stayed creepy. “Acknowledged. The Yin Yang Sage would like to offer you one of her limited minor boons which require neither payment or accomplishment, a Boon of Whispers. Will you accept?”
Mila thought about it for a few seconds, her mind going through all sorts of various possibilities, but she didn’t have enough information to go off, so she just decided to accept as it wasn’t likely she would lose out if she did.
“One moment.” The puppet’s expression went back to normal, but the voice of its next telepathy message was quite a bit different, no longer robotic and male, but a silky and somewhat deep female voice. Also, unlike the puppet’s normal telepathy, which was in Chinese, the female voice spoke in English instead. “Nightmares are scary, but how else do you meet lost loves.”
Mila had no idea what this meant, but then the puppet spoke in its normal voice again. “Starting the tutorial now. Prepare to choose the difficulty of your first challenge.”
The room faded until she was floating in an endless dark void, white text appearing in front of her eyes, and Mila quickly realized what the message from the Yin Yang Sage likely meant, her non-existent heart starting to beat faster.
Please choose the level of difficulty for your first challenge in Earth’s Monster Tutorial.
Your options are as follows:
1. Easy: Odds of survival 92%.
2. Normal: Odds of survival 75%.
3. Hard: Odds of survival 50%.
4. Torment: Odds of survival 8%.
5. Nightmare: Odds of survival 0.7%.
Without thinking about it anywhere near as much as she should have, she chose to enter into the Nightmare level difficulty and the world around her began to grow bright.