That wasn’t the only dream conversation I’ve had. The Arbiters of the 13 are fond of such things, and judging by how I was currently inside the holding area, a white void empty except for me a table and the chair I woke up in. It was a place only accessible to new arrivals, so the dead. Since I was here, and not freshly dead… Well I guess I was kinda freshly dead? So not newly dead then, I’d say the deal was real. The holding area lets you remain in safety while purchasing some of the first tools you’d need to survive the 13. It's standard practice to speak to an Arbiter to give you the layout of what and where you are.
The first Arbiter I spoke to was a horrid crocodile monster with teeth everywhere. No, not everywhere in its mouth, everywhere. That Arbiter explained the essentials to me, firstly I was dead. Secondly I was an unremarkable piece of trash. While a bit rude I can’t say he was wrong. Third he explained to me the grand purpose of the 13, since my life amounted to shit my soul was shit, and the 13 would help, and I’m quoting here, “polish that turd up”. The first time I was here I was definitely in shock, but this time after years of battle hardened life, I was still shocked.
I died. I died? It feels wrong. My guild was so careful, we spent so many years preparing for the final climb. Now it all feels like a dream, and not in the otherworldly sense of an unreal experience, but like an actual dream. Things were blurring faces, places, names, and everything. Confusion became heartbreak with one gut wrenching thought.
My guild failed. We all failed and they would slowly cease to exist even in my memories. In a panic I reached for anything to hold on to remember something solid: a name, our leader, how many of us were there? What were we even called?
The Wayward… It was The Wayward something. I need to remember, I am the Last Wayward.
“Status.”
Name
Aren Mertin
Age
45 yrs
Titles
[The Last Wayward]
Will
186
Soul
11
System
[Blank]
Variation
Human [None]
Abilities
0/13
Soul Points
77,816
Good. A title is just recognition, it is rather like you’ve believed something so hard while making it a reality that the universe acknowledges you. A title will let you accumulate power, but I’m getting way ahead of myself when I don’t even have a System to my name.
It was exciting to have both the System and abilities empty, it felt like anything was possible. Plus that enormous Will stat. Will was… Well it was your Will, it was the measure of your ability to grit your teeth and not back down. Soul is the measure of your Soul, which is to say it is ill defined at best. From my understanding your Soul stat is representative of the connection you have to your soul not your soul itself. A higher Soul stat will let you control, hold and generally wield power. Together Will and Soul determine how well you wield power and how much you can wield. I have a pitiful amount of power right now, but I could use every drop without flinching thanks to my Will. Which is not the case for everyone. What one could do with these stats came down to your choice of Abilities and your System all of which could be purchased through the Shop.
“Shop.”
Welcome to the Shop!
Categories
Link
System
Variation
Transformation
Energy
Conditional
General
???
Items
Weapons
Armor
Misc.
Food/Drink
Clothes
It looks a bit basic but each tab has hundreds of options. Except for the Link and System tabs. Link had no options, only offering a way to potentially combine Abilities for triple their cost. System had limited options depending on your race. For humans there was only one option, the Self Systems. The goal of any System was to empower its user, while each System was different so were the people that used them. An easy way to think about it was that every System would and could empower some core aspect of its user, while offering a host of side benefits.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The first time I went through the Rings I stumbled across a hidden gorge where I was able to loot a new System pretty early on. It started as the Stream System, progressing into the Tides System. The System was based around water, but that didn’t mean you could only use water with the System. It was based around the ebb and flow of all things from big to small. It was great and expending powering in waves. From what I know there are a host of Systems you can unlock or forge for yourself with the right abilities. I could wait to pick one up or hope to find a higher quality System later, but I was after freedom.
Self System
This System focuses on no focus. An even distribution of energy through the body. Convert the volatile energy within your soul to a passive enhancement, guide it to specific areas or let enhance everything. Cost 12,600 SP.
It sounds basic as hell, but offers a wide range of versatility out there. Plus there has always been something I wanted to try with this System. Something I could only do if I stuck with it for a while. With that very important purchase out of the way I was left with 65,216 Soul Points or SP for short. Next was the tab I had spent the majority of my past life fantasizing about.
Variations
God Emperor
15,000,000,000 SP
Tyrant
15,000,000,000 SP
Void Runner
7,500,000,000 SP
Light Apostle
7,500,000,000 SP
Reality Siphon
6,500,000,000 SP
Hollowed
6,500,000,000 SP
Leviathan
5,000,000,000 SP
Divine Messenger
2,500,000,000 SP
Demonic Broker
2,500,000,000 SP
Amplifier
1,000,000,000 SP
1 of 10
This page is usually what scared people off of Variation, or enthralled them. These were some of the most powerful abilities available. Each one costs more than every member of the most powerful guilds put together. They were unreasonably expensive, mostly because these variations were unreasonable. A Variation was permanent passive enhancement. Take God king for example, you will be an expert in anything you try half heartedly, you become unstoppably lucky and a force for good along with a slew of other benefits I’m sure. Tyrant is the same but for the darker aspects. It doesn’t necessarily make you evil, but if you chose it you're probably already evil. Regardless, every ability in the Variation is a complete life changer.
These were the very pinnacle of Variations. Every other tab was some basic Variation which could branch down endless paths. I had originally picked Brute, a strength enhancement that seemed just as promising as other basic Variations. I advanced through combat which unfortunately caused it to enhance darker parts of my psyche as well.
I hit a dead end when my Variation tried to upgrade me from Savage to Serial Killer. I stopped feeding into my Variation and kept it as Savage. I was not excited to see what changes that would bring, nor what would come after Serial Killer. Unfortunately Variations are almost impossible to remove. You could buy a new one off of the first page which could be considered an upgrade to whatever Variation you had, or found a way to initiate a fundamental physical change. I had a lot of time to fantasize about starting different Variation paths and where I could take them. Having access to a wide range of info from my guild members didn’t curb this interest in the slightest. I often wondered how I could improve if I were them, or what would synergize well with other abilities. Possibilities raced through my mind, but one comment from the Arbiter stuck out. The hint they had given me.
“A map is always helpful, huh?”
Cartographer
Cartographer's are said to know where they have been and where they are going. Knowledge is power and knowledge of your surroundings might be the greatest power. Cost 25,000 SP
This Variation wasn’t stellar but it gave you a perfect recall of everywhere you’ve ever been. Allowing for a perfect three dimensional mental map, It also allowed you to pump the energy out in a scanning wave allowing you to detect hidden passages, enemies, and anything trying to stay concealed. However when paired with a very specific Transformation ability its effectiveness shot up.
Steady Web-Weaver
The ability to transform into a spider the size of a medium dog. This transformation possesses low combat aptitude, but the Steady Web-Weaver is known for its patience and intimate knowledge of its energy based webs. Cost 35,000 SP
If it wasn’t for the last part of the last line then this ability would be completely useless. However, a Steady Web-Weaver could create an energy web that lasted for days. Then pump energy through them with the mapping energy. It would be a much more controlled scan with nearly no energy waste. In other words I could create a live 3D map of my surroundings. Like having eyes and ears all around me, if I could keep up with the input I'd be untouchable. The only problem was that I’d have to set such an arena up beforehand, and I could only create the webs in a transformed state. This was however just the beginning, if I could do this right I’d be able to far exceed expectations.
Name
Aren Mertin
Age
45 yrs
Titles
[Blank]
Will
186
Soul
11
System
[Self System]
Variation
Human [Cartographer]
Abilities
1/13
Soul Points
216