Myles’ POV
Would you like to gift System to being [Atakarr]?
«Yes» || «No»
Myles thought ‘yes’ and Atakarr passed out, her body slumping to the ground as though dead, and he rushed to her in a panic, wondering if maybe something had gone wrong.
But it hadn’t.
Ding!
System Initialisation for being [Atakarr] in progress:
5h 59m 59s...
5h 59m 58s...
5h 59m 57s...
Myles sighed in relief, looked like the System just needed her unconscious for whatever it was doing. He felt the need to do something though, so he tried to make her as comfortable as he could on the hard ground. After a moment of hesitation, he took off his shirt and folded it into the rough semblance of a pillow, which he placed under her head, then he sat by her and waited.
Ten days ago, before [Mental Fortitude] and 24/7 exposure to Atakarr’s (and the tribe’s) nakedness, Myles would have probably passed out from hyperventilation or something equally embarrassing being this close to Atakarr, but now, with [Mental Fortitude] at level 9 and over a week of sharing a room (or the equivalent of one anyway, since it was really just a wide, shallow tunnel) with this very woman under his belt, it didn’t bother him too much.
It was interesting how [Mental Fortitude] worked. The skill didn’t take away his emotions, or suppress his ability to feel them, it just made him more able to... work through them? It was rather complicated honestly, and sometimes he wondered if his lessened reaction to Atakarr wasn’t simply as a result of the natural human ability to acclimatize.
Slowly, the minutes passed, [Bio-clock] keeping him aware of every nanosecond even as the System countdown ticked away to its inevitable conclusion. Myles had gotten [Bio-clock] after [Healing Coma] had reset and he’d almost gone crazy after realising that the Seena had no way of telling the passage of time.
Bio-clock_ Lv. MAX
Type: (passive)
* Grants an acute awareness of the passage of time, down to the nanosecond level.
Until he’d been completely without being able to tell time, Myles hadn’t realised just how dependent he’d been on knowing what time of day it was. Of course, he still didn’t know that, since the [Bio-clock] skill didn’t actually tell him what time of day it was, which, thinking about it, made sense as he wasn’t even on Earth, but it at least let him tell one hour from another, instead of having it all morph into a maddening blur.
[Bio-clock] was hardly the only skill he’d gotten though, there were two others; [Showman] and [Storyteller], and he’d had to unslot [Healing Coma] to make space.
Showman_ Lv. 1-->5/25
Type: (passive)
* Improves your ability to engage an audience while performing.
Storyteller_ Lv. 1-->8/25
Type: (passive)
* Improves your storytelling ability.
Both skills worked sort of like [Parkour] did, in that they directed him to act or talk a certain way, like a mind-controlled puppet; which was rather disturbing the more he thought about it so Myles chose not to think about it.
His mind drifted to other things instead, like the gnawing hunger that’d been slowly worsening over the last several days, and the fact that Seeng was one of the people going hunting, and that she may not return. Or worse, return and be used as dinner.
He shuddered. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t eat a person. Not again. Once had been one time too many.
So here he was, gifting the system, which, admittedly, he should have done a long time ago, but hey, better late than never, right?
Myles sighed.
He’d been scared. It was stupid, yes, maybe even silly, but he’d been scared. The Seena were cannibals, and the [Gift of System] required his DNA to be ingested... do the math.
Myles sighed again. They weren’t bad people, he knew this, they were just victims of circumstance. Innocent people who were stranded here years ago when the ship of the ones who had razed their island and enslaved over three thousand of them had crashed on the island above. That any of them were still alive to tell the tale was a measure of their grit and tenacity.
Myles didn’t blame them, he didn’t hate them; he actually even liked some of them, but that didn’t change the fact that he looked at them laugh sometimes and caught himself looking for blood on their teeth.
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Even Atakarr’s.
Myles sighed again; he was beginning to do that too much.
On less dour topics, System Initialisation for Atakarr was almost complete.
Now to see if the product worked as advertised.
*****
Atakarr’s POV
Atakarr blinked and found herself on her back, head resting on something amazingly soft, and staring up at Myles’ worried face.
“How do you feel?” He asked.
Atakarr frowned at his question, then sat up, Myles moving back to give her some space. She noticed he was shirtless, which made her blink in surprise, because he’d practically been religious about being fully clothed around her (or anyone really). So much so, that despite whatever he said about Earth customs, she’d begun to suspect that he was horrifically scarred or something.
She also found it surprising because, contrary to what she’d thought, a fair bit of time seemed to have passed while she... blinked.
“What happened?” Atakarr asked.
“You passed out.”
“I did?” She didn’t feel like she had.
“Yeah, you did. Anyway how do you feel?” Myles asked. “I can sense the System in you but—”
Ding!
Congratulations! You have been gifted the System by being [System Prime].
NAME: Atakarr
SYSTEM DESIGNATION: 001
INVENTORY: 0.00% (to put an object in your inventory, you must be holding it in your hand/s or their equivalent. The overall weight limit for the inventory is 1 tonne. Living organisms cannot be put into the inventory.)
SYSTEM SKILLS: 2/2
Gift Of System_ Lv. MAX
Type: (passive)
* Pass on the system to your progeny.
Share System_ Lv. MAX
Type: (active)
* Share your system information with others on command.
Notice: this skill only works with other members of the system.
SKILL SLOTS: 00/15
SKILL LIST: 00 (the system allows for you to have an infinite number of skills, but only fifteen can be equipped at a time. If a skill is unequipped all levels are instantly lost.)
Atakarr picked up the light-rock, and, with a single thought, plunged their surroundings into pitch-black as the rock vanished into her inventory. It was the strangest feeling, being perfectly aware of that little rock; its size, its weight, its shape, as it hung, eternally preserved in that pocket dimension that no one but her had access to.
This was how Myles had done his tricks. This was how he had wowed the tribe. He had explained that to her before of course, while telling her about the System, even given her a personal demonstration, despite that she’d seen it a thousand times, but she hadn’t until now appreciated just how amazing the ability actually was.
Even if the inventory was all there was to this power Myles had given her, it would have still been a boon for the tribe; with it meat would never go bad, so they could stock up on it, reducing the need (and the risk) to hunt frequently. And yet the inventory was just a small, almost trivial part of the System.
The tunnel was suddenly lit up again as Myles pulled a light-rock from his inventory.
“You kind of left us in the dark there.” He chuckled in explanation.
She hugged him.
“Thank you,” she said, not letting go. It was all she could do, even though she knew that it wouldn’t (couldn’t) ever be enough.
Slowly, Myles’ arms circled her in return. “You’re welcome.”
They broke apart eventually, Myles looking somewhat uncomfortable. “What now?” He asked.
“I need to speak with Elder Raad.”
“Oh. I guess you want to tell her about the System, then?” He was trying to sound casual about it, but it was obvious that the thought bothered him.
Atakarr shook her head. “Not until you’re comfortable with it,” she said.
Myles looked surprised. “Really?”
“Yes.” Atakarr was not sure why exactly Myles was hesitant to share information on his power, but the fact remained that the power was his, and as much as she wished he would, if he didn’t want to share it with anyone, then that was fully within his right. Besides, he’d shared it with her when she hadn’t pried, so something told her that if she let him move at his own pace he would share it with the rest of the tribe eventually.
Hopefully, it would be sooner rather than later.
“Why do you need to speak to Elder Raad then?” Myles asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
“Because I need to tell her to send me on the hunt instead of Seeng and Beero.”
Myles made a sound of realization as she rose.
“Wait, hold on,” Myles said, picking his shirt from where it lay folded on the ground.
That’s what her head had been resting on, she realized.
“Can I come too?” Myles asked after he’d dressed. “On the hunt.”
His request surprised her, and he saw it too because he explained, “I can help. I can carry more if nothing else. Plus, well, not to brag but wouldn’t it be safer with me than alone?”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. “Okay, come.”
Finding Elder Raad wasn’t difficult, simply time-consuming, and before Atakarr arrived at the shrine where she’d been informed the older woman was, she’d gotten her first skill.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Sense of Direction].
Sense of Direction_ Lv. 1/15
Type: (passive)
* Improves your awareness of your orientation in space per skill level.
Would you like to slot in this skill?
«Yes» || «No»
Atakarr had not had a problem with finding her way since she was a little girl, but she slotted the skill in anyway, simply to know what it was like.
All in all, it turned out to be a rather disappointing experience because she felt nothing change.
She left the skill though.
The shrine was a small cove in a poorly-lit part of their home. To this day, Atakarr still did not know whether it was so by design and for the sake of ambience, or simply because anyone hardly prayed anymore and so had started to shirk on its upkeep.
Atakarr suspected it was by design, because even she, unreligious as she was, was willing to admit that the atmosphere the lighting created certainly felt numinous, especially with that incessant dripping they’d never been able to locate the source of that echoed all around these parts.
At the shrine proper, artfully lit with small light-rocks, were three very poorly carved statues representing the tripartite deities of the Seena religion; Koffa, Tarre, and Laat. And before it sat Elder Raad, teaching the children.
“Let me do the talking,” Atakarr whispered to Myles, who nodded.
All eyes turned to the two as they approached, and the children began to whisper in excitement at the sight of Myles, until Elder Raad shushed them.
“Yes?” Elder Raad enquired, rising to meet them some distance from the children.
“I need to speak to you about the hunt; I think Myles and I should go instead.” Atakarr said without preamble.
Elder Raad’s eyebrows climbed as she looked to Myles. “Myles, you agreed to this?” It wasn’t really a question.
Myles nodded. “I actually volunteered,” he said.
Atakarr took over again. “Myles’ tricks aren’t tricks, I think you know that already. And he thought he could use it to bring meat back.”
Elder Raad looked amazed. “You can vanish that much?” She asked Myles, who shrugged uncomfortably. The woman thought to herself for some time. “Are you sure Seeng and Beero haven’t left yet?” She asked.
Atakarr, who had thought to check beforehand said, “no, they haven’t.”
“Very well.” The older woman nodded. “You two go. Be safe.”
Atakarr and Myles nodded and turned to leave, but as they did Elder Raad’s voice caused them to stop and turn.
“Oh and Myles?” The elder called, a soft expression on her weathered face. “Thank you.”
Myles nodded, a small smile quirking his lips. “You’re welcome.”
And then all three turned, Elder Raad to return to the children, while Atakarr and Myles to go hunting.