Authors Note: Authors Note: Will be in POV so thoughts are just text, Skills are in Italics, and Character: “yes sir” will represent dialogue, Character: ‘will represent thought transmission, cultivators are special creatures that require two types of dialogues’. ->Character B.
**The Ghoul POV**
If there's no Character: “it just means the person who just spoke is speaking”
“Just in case that was confuddling”
“You could see it as the Ghoul who’s POV it currently is, but it's not”
As of Chapter 8 note: Chapters gradually increased in length and quality and are now around 5,000 since chapter 4/5 so even though the first few chapters are shorter the word count isn't a lie.
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**Sandro POV**
I awake keeping my eyes closed waiting for the telltale noise of my phone blaring its alarm. Having waited what I can only assume is far too long I begrudgingly psych myself up enough to jump out of bed….
Smashing my ribs and shoulders I roll down some sort of incline before hitting my head onto the oddly hard ground.
Welcome to The Soul Cultivation System would you like to view the tutorial? Y/N
Waving my hands and head around trying to get my bearing as I rise shakily from the ground….
Having denied the tutorial The Soul Cultivation System will now display the available commands instead
......how hard did I hit my head.....no no no wait where am I, what is this stupid blue thing in front me hmm, denied the tutorial? Fucking asshole blue thing I never did that.
Recite commands in mind with intention to activate
Status: Displays user status
Identify: Displays targeted NPC/Objects status *warning: may possibly be sensed; similar to qi investigation
Inventory: Displays current inventory and options for further use
Equipment: Displays current equipment and options for further use
No matter how I look at this it's definitely a tutorial, which only makes it worse given what I might have missed. Alright let's think about what I know:
I'm in a forest, I can see floating blue screen. Clothes? Only what can be described as a beginner adventure set with some straight out of RPG fancy looking dagger. Is such a thing even possible? Yes it is. The massive pain coming from the back of my head more than clarified that. So then what happened.... aliens took me as a test subject for some VR game? Yep that's the only choice I can go with for now, though it be good to assume death still results in some sort of permanent failure...I might as well be a good little beta tester so I don't end up in the group of humans who get probed for whatever scientific or fetish fueled reason.’
alright let's see how awesome and inspiring I am as a legendary beta tester
Sandro: "Status!"
oh..I think it said I only needed to repeat it in my head… yep nobody saw that, not that it would matter if an NPC saw it, but if some strange monster out here heard it…..
Status
Player Name: SandroLevel: Qi Realm: 0/9
Exp: 0/10Strength: 12Intelligence: 18Agility: 9Wisdom: 5Vitality: 15Reaction Speed: 14SkillsIdentify: Level 1Inventory: Level 1Alter Stats and Skills: Level MaxChoose Skill: Level MaxEmptyEmptyEmptyEmpty
Huh so this is a game with cultivators from those chinese novels, that's rare, judging by the level I'm basically an ordinary mortal that gets randomly killed by some fancy attack that has its name shout out. There's no Qi….maybe that's the exp, or because i’m completely normal I don’t have a stat to measure Qi yet
Well I have skill points so Choose Skill
Another blue screen appears before my face as I search through a list of skills even a mortal player like me can use. Finding one that couldn’t be more perfect for gathering exp...
Skill: Conceal Presence: Allows the user to conceal Qi, lifeforce, intent and partially sound from those within 1(+level) levels from them.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Absolutely perfect. I could just go around houses and inns killing NPCs for free exp, I can’t imagine a better skill especially since this weird looking dagger gives a good feeling of power.
Yep all 3 skill points go right into Conceal Presence...
Activating Conceal Presence I comb through the woods heading towards the only source of light in the distance. The trees look like an average a 50 foot height, pine and oak probably, hopefully not hiding all manners of creatures that enjoy mortals like me for midnight snacks….I can only hope I don’t run into some ridiculous beast and die before I even enter what should be a beginner town…
Turning the skill off as I see the guards in front of the gate...Both are wearing a uniform reminiscent of a traditional Chinese garb. Though added on are plain browns and grays making up the leather like coverings on top of the white robes.
The guards give me a glancing look, but in the end they don’t seem to really care for my presence. One whispers something to the other before I make my way in front of them.
Guard: “That’ll be a silver coin for entry lad….”
They definitely planned to rip me off...maybe my clothes look nicer than I thought? But shouldn’t they be able to tell I’m completely ordinary….
Using Identify on one of the guards...
NPC Name: Yun LeiLevel: Qi Realm: 5/9Title: Guard of Vangur CityStrength: 52Intelligence 8Agility: 45Wisdom: 8Vitality: 35Reaction Speed: 41
Still in the end I’m not stupid enough to deny them, though I should at least give a pained look so I don’t get stopped in a classic story setting this game might have. Involving of course them taking me for all I’m worth when I easily hand over a silver coin….
Using Inventory while reaching into my pocket, I grimace as I pull out a single silver coin, holding on to it for far too long before letting the guard take it….
The guards show a little surprised look, perhaps they had intended to simply take all the coppers I owned as some poor mortal and ‘Do me a favor’ by letting me get by with only that...Hmm their facial reactions were extremely high quality for me to infer all that…
Damn NPCs have no idea that in the end they’ll just be my exp….
I enter the gates into a town surrounded by a wall that's primarily made of wood with a mixture of stone. Definitely a little too large for a “beginner town”. It can only mean I was placed in the wrong town or the game has some crazily large cities unfitting for the technology level, then again it is a game, populated places feel more alive...
Sandro: “Hey old man where can I find an Inn some low level cultivators stay at?”
I ask the elderly mortal manning a fruit stand with an odd assortment, all fruits partially resembling ones I’m familiar with. The ‘apples’ have a purplish tint, the 'mangos' a deep red….
Old man: “Huh you think some cultivator gonna take a brat like you in cause you ask nicely….”
Spitting far more than is appropriate….
“But ya buy some of me fruit and I’ll help ya out lad.”
Oi old man...you just spit all over it who wants to eat that….
I take out a few coppers from my pocket, once again using Inventory to pretend they were there all along..Sighing I hand them over...
Sandro: “Just give me whatever you want….”
Throwing me two purple apples he gives a toothy grin..
Old Man: “Just ya head down the street here and you’ll see an inn with a big moon symbol, some of the mercenaries and hunters stay there. Course if ya wanna be a real hunter here ya gotta be a cultivator of some sort.”
Turning around I…
Old Man: “Haha and lad you better get much better at pretending you don’t have a spatial ring….not a nice place here to be showing that off.”
I stare stunned at the old man trying to figure out where…..
Old Man: “ya think I could recognize that you ain't have no coins in yur pocket before ya threw em to me, now get going ya daft lad.”
Giving another sigh that this old man seems to specialize in producing. Walking down the street I notice the town is more lively than I’d expect, perhaps there's something here to draw people…
Finding an Inn that reads MoonDog on a giant painted moon, in a strange lettering I instantly recognize...the hell is a MoonDog?
Entering I begin using Identify on the various NPCs crowding and filling the place...
There's no one in this inn above 3/9 Qi realm, all I got to do is wait a few hours for everyone to start heading to sleep and sneak in to their rooms for that sweet exp. I can’t wait to see how much exp killing someone several levels above me gives….