The Watcher, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, was awed into silence. “This child,” he said, struggling to push the words out. “Did this child just form a Dao? And with no treasures?” The Watcher stewed on this thought for a while before coming to a decision. Never before had he personally had the pleasure of enacting this protocol, yet he knew exactly what to do. His hand flew across a piece of parchment he had retrieved from his desk, the words coalescing into a cohesive letter.
After signing the letter, he looked back up the parchment to the top, where he had left blank. After thinking for a moment, he wrote, Greetings Grand Watcher. First impressions were important, after all.
Just as he went to send the letter, he stopped, tempted to break conduct and send the letter directly to the recipient. Ultimately, he decided against it. He could wait patiently for a few hours for the inevitable response, and that would get him in more trouble than it was worth. With a wave of his hand, he sent the letter through the mailslot assigned for outgoing letters, all while never once removing his focus from the screens before him. He was one of The Watchers, after all.
*****
Raj awoke from what felt like a dream. He got up before immediately regretting that decision as a wave of dizziness crashed into him. He took a moment to steady himself against the cave wall before noticing the fairy once more. Only, it was no longer in an orb, but rather standing on the tip of his nose.
“Gah!” Raj yelped, his voice a few octaves higher than what he would have liked. His surprise had caused him to flinch backward, which threw the fairy off of him. After settling down once more, he tried to find his new bond. “Sorry about that,” he said somewhat sheepishly. “Are you okay?” A tiny head poked out from a nearby rock, and after giving him a once-over, the rest of her body followed.
“That is alright. I share part of the blame for appearing so close to you after you had just woken up.” Raj just stared at the fairy for a second, his mind processing the musical symphony that was the fairy’s voice.
He shook his head. That is going to take some getting used to. “Um, I’m Raj. What’s your name?” he said, trying to overcome the previous embarrassment and put his best foot forward, so to speak.
A cacophony of sounds that he couldn’t even begin to comprehend poured out of the fairy’s mouth before she finally settled on saying, “Ah, but you can just call me Trixie.”
“Was the first bit your real name?” he questioned. He didn’t want to disrespect Trixie if he couldn’t help it, and not knowing her real name, while caused by a language barrier, was something he wanted to overcome.
“Please, it’s okay,” she said, somewhat embarrassed. “Even among the fairy-folk of my world Lorain, my name is somewhat an outlier.” Raj continued questioning her for a few more moments before stopping upon the realization that she wouldn’t budge from the topic.
Instead, he elected to switch gears. “So, is there some way we can get to know each other better?”
She replied in what seemed to be a practiced motion, “Yes, actually. We can access each other’s statuses, but my page is somewhat null until I get a class. As for your page, you have to give permission to your bond to do so.”
Following her spiel, he focused on his status, only to feel a probing sensation. When he mentally zoomed in on that feeling, he recieved a notification.
Your bond seeks to access your Status:
[Accept/Decline]
He mentally selected accept, and pulled up his own status to follow what she was seeing.
Status
Name: Rajeev Narayanan
Race: Human(H)
Class: Swordsman[(Common-G) lvl 12]
Profession: None
Titles: Giant Slayer, Vitality I, Strength I, Enlightened One(G), Agility I, Endurance I, Dao Disciple
HP: 500/500
MP: 270/270
SP: 358/360
Stats
Strength: 57(55)
Agility: 63(56)(+5)
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Vitality: 65(62)
Endurance: 47(45)
Intelligence: 37(36)
Wisdom: 34(33)
Free Points: 0
Dao: Fragment of Reality
Class Skills: Mana Slash(Common), Dash(Uncommon)
Profession Skills: None
General Skills: Identify(Common)
His eyes shot up at the new information on his status. His eyes were glued to the insane state increases. Plus 10? That’s ridiculous! But how- he stopped, noticing a new line right next to his [Endurance I] title.
Dao Disciple: Take your first step onto the path of enlightenment. +10 to all stats.
His eyebrows seemed to raise past the limits of human physiology, shock apparent on his face. He didn’t even know what Dao was, but he had somehow gotten it? Wait a second, he thought. Is this related to the bonding experience? Memories started rushing back to him as he realized what he had done. No, what he had accomplished. He had done the seemingly impossible, and lived to tell the tale, a stronger man than before.
Still riding Cloud Nine, he checked out the new line on his status.
Dao: Fragment of Reality
He focused specifically on the Fragment of Reality, but to his surprise, no other information popped up. “Well that’s fun,” he grumbled. Then, with a start, he looked back at his fairy companion. “Um, my bad Trixie,” he said bashfully. I sort of got caught up in my gains.”
“No worries,” she replied, her tone identical to the one she had been using before, causing Raj to wonder about her patience.
“I’m assuming you have already seen my status for yourself?” At a nod from Trixie, he continued. “So, my first question is whether you have any knowledge of Dao?”
Trixie seemed to settle in for a moment before responding, ”Yes, I do. If I am being completely honest… this is completely unexpected. I have not personally seen anyone who has broken through the Dao Wall this early in their progression. And before you ask, the Dao Wall is a Multiversally accepted term to depict the barrier blocking one from stepping onto the path of enlightenment, which the Dao helps achieve.”
Raj pondered on her words for a moment before asking a follow up question, having to stop himself from instinctively raising his hand. Indian genes made him a tryhard, he supposed. Even for something like this. “Anything else? Like can I progress in Dao? That seemed to be a common theme with the books I read.”
“Yes, you can progress on the path to enlightenment. It is called a ‘path’ for a reason,” Trixie dryly responded.
“Ahem, yeah, well. What is the progression after whatever I have?” Raj coughed out, attempting to push past the awkward moment.
Trixie, in a rather devilish manner unbefitting for a fairy, let the moment stretch as she just stared at him. Finally, she seemed to take pity on him, and continued lecturing. “What you have is a Dao Fragment, which is the weakest of all the Dao, and the first step on the path of enlightenment. Despite it being the weakest, however, it usually takes one many levels before they can even begin to attempt to create one. Typically, the average level this is done at is around level 50, but geniuses can do it at level 25. And the greatest Masters of our time can do it around level 10. There are some stories of it being done before that, but nothing has been confirmed, at least in our life.”
Raj shot back a question of his own, “Okay, and I am assuming the Dao gives me a power boost?”
“Quite right. The Dao can give you more reserves of power to draw from, as it is its own pool of energy, lengthening the amount of time you can battle for. It also allows you to imbue your attacks with your Dao, causing corresponding effects along with extra damage. And the stat boosts from the achievements gained our no small matter either, seeing as they grow exponentially.” Seeing the zealous gleam in his eyes, she raised a hand to cut him off, and continued talking. “I know how excited you are. Multiverse asunder I am excited. but you must remember that what you have just done is considered a near impossibility, and you should not expect anything to happen for at least another 50 levels or so. And that is at the very minimum.”
Raj’s excitement, now sufficiently doused in cold water, was pushed to the back of his mind. I can think about that later when I get stronger. No point in planning for the future when I can die today. And besides, I am still grateful for the power boost. Hesitantly, he asked one final question, ”And what’s the point of all this? What is the driving force behind everyone getting stronger, aside from wanting power?”
Trixie stared at him for a moment, as though surprised he had asked a sensible question. “To answer your question, I first have to provide a little background. The Multiverse contains an unknown number of universes. We are currently in the Zeta Universe, and we are one of the outlying universes. There is a center of the Multiverse, known as Blaxon. Blaxon is a pipe dream, however; only the strongest in all the multiverse can reside there, and it is home to a quasi-guild of sorts. Everyone in it is so strong there is no real hierarchy. They exist to prevent any Multiversal ending moments. Guilds exist in every single universe, including ours. Obviously, these guilds come in different sizes, cultures, and powers, and they all fight for supremacy. If there is ever a fight between universes, however, tentative alliances are often formed between the guilds to repel the invaders back.” Seeing the question on his face, she shut him down. “That is all I will say for now. I don’t want you to get your head too big with plans and ideas, but a few goals to work towards are good. Just know you should join a guild and grow stronger. You will be a treasured talent if you can survive the integration.”
Raj nodded absentmindedly, but after a moment, his focus switched off to the information she had given him. Sure, he had processed it and thought he had a good understanding of it, but there were more important things to do.
“Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it. But enough talking, please. Now, it's time to kill some shit!” Raj was already jogging out of the cave, eager to put his new stats and Dao to the test. Behind him, he heard Trixie slap her face with the palm of her hand, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like “idiot humans” before following in his wake.