“See.” The voice echoed through the environs of Fred’s being, Squirming lines of light pierced the walls of Fred’s self. With a flash the world was revealed to him. A man with knotted twisted skin, covered in flakes of black rot stared at Fred with his void filled eyes. Squatting to be at eye level. It raised its webbed hand and waved.
“Hello. My name is.” It Raised itself from its sitting position into a squat and faced the sky. “FRED FREDERICKSON!” Fred glared at the man he would have snarled with rage. If his face worked. THAT’S MY NAME! YOU MONSTER! It put its hands on its cheeks and tilted its head to the side with a smile. “Well, you see. I want that thing inside you.” The thing shuddered with ecstasy, “I can smell it. The taste the flavor. Something beyond even the demigods.” It flapped its hand causing a knife to appear in his grasp. “That tumor in you. Like a cancer but not malignant. I can just imagine what power it holds.” It traced its knife along Fred’s chest. Then quickly drew it back cradling the knife in its hands. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is my question. How are you alive? Your body doesn’t have a hint of essence, yet you seem to be functioning perfectly. What are you?” Fred just glared; I won’t talk. Not to this thing. “Okay. I didn’t want to do this because it could make you uncomfortable, but you leave me no choice.” It smiled, a thin fabric of black skin covering its teeth. The void in the thing’s eyes began to churn, as he looked at Fred. Move! Please body move! Frozen, still like a dead man. The things eyes snapped into stillness; it saw Fred. Everything he was everything he would never be. All laid bare and defiled by the thing’s gaze. No. No. No. No. No! The thing raised its knife, it glinted in the sun light. Black blood leaked from the broken skin around its mouth. “So that’s how it is. You’re from some form of hell. No wonder you didn’t get a demon before sinning. Don’t need one when you are one.” That place wasn’t hell! It was my home. I had a…. The knife darted towards Fred’s chest. Stabbing deep into his flesh. Fred looked down at the wound he didn’t scream. He didn’t even flinch. Why don’t I feel any pain?
“Word of advice for the next life sinner.” Said the thing. “Don’t let people spill the blood of their avatars on you. It’s just a bad idea.” The knife began to glow. This was the end. I guess this is it. Fred swaddled his mind in a numb blanket. I survived for such a long time. Saw a world end before me. It doesn’t matter now, right? It’s over. His life flashed before his eyes. Madness. Ashes, dust blood. Falling. Here. Four memories. I still don’t want to die. I promised I would never die. But we both knew I was lying when I said that.
“STOP!” Fred turned his head to the sound. The thing was on its knees. grasping at the hand around its throat. Has someone come to save me? Fred glanced around, nobody. Just him the thing and the forest. He looked back at the hand. His eyes tracing it to it’s natural conclusion. My hand. I’m the one doing this. Fred’s world went black. Moments later, Fred blinked disoriented, returned to sight. The thing looked down at Fred terror in its gaze.
“How are you moving without the soul to do so!?” Fred couldn’t speak. “How do you keep going even after your mind is crushed?” I didn’t tell my arm to do that. Fred looked over to his arm. Is there something wrong with it? The dark thing reached down to try and grab at Fred’s head. The arm jerked him to the right towards Fred’s lower body. Away from the head. After what felt like hours the thing was reduced to looking off into the distance with glassy eyes. “If….” The thing wheezed around Fred’s hand. “If I’m going to die, I’m taking the world down with me.” Said the thing. “The marble mountain. Find it. Power that only seer’s know lies there.” Fred’s grip tightened, crushing the things throat.
New skill gained!
Body control:
Retain control of your body even when you’re under paralytic effects up to level five. (Increased level limit as skill improves.)
With the help of his new skill Fred stood to his feet. The marble mountain. That’s where I need to be. How do I get there though? Fred shrugged. Oh well. Guess I’ll just wander. Fred walked through the forest, admiring the trees and the lack of wildlife. Really there’s like nothing. OH? A prompt appeared Infront of Fred.
New system gained: Quest system. Do quest and get rewards and xp.
Fred looked up at the sky, I’ve never seen the system change so much. It’s like something that had previously held it back has been removed. I guess first I should check my stats. Then the quest system. Show me stats
Name: Fred Frederickson.
Level: 4.
Stats:
Strength 53
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Dexterity 53
Constitution 53
Perception 53
Magic 14
Wisdom 0
Karmic luck -1,000
Available Stat point: 6
I leveled up again! It must have been from killing that thing. Okay. Next. Show me, quest system.
Quest system: Complete tasks for rewards
Active quest: find the marble mountain.
Unactive quests: None
(Can only have one quest active at a time)
Oh. So, it’s just the system getting me to do things. All right as long as I’m awarded, I’m good with that.
Quest system fully initialized. Removing emotional blocks.
Fred fell into the fetal position a whimper escaping his throat. That thing. Saw… Fred’s breathing began to get heavy, tears falling from his eyes. It saw everything. Phantoms flickered through Fred’s mind, pushing onto his back, freezing him. Weak. Killer. Agony. Soulless. So this is how I die. Slowly his mind was subsumed, his every thought dulled to lifelessness by the phantom’s touch. Circling the drain. Fall Fred. Fall because that’s all your good for. NO! Fred’s fist punched into his face, “NO!” A flurry of punches blew into Fred’s face, the world was spinning his head was turning. A pressure built around his thoughts holding them together. His vison red, Fred walked towards the nearest tree. It was as thick as Fred’s body and many times as tall. “AHH!” He slammed his head into the tree causing it to shake. “AHH!” He slammed it once more, increasing the trembling. “AHH!” His vison went black. But he continued to slam his head into the pillar of wood. NO! Finally after nearly a thousand slams the tree fell to the ground, leaving Fred standing there panting heavily. He reached up and touched his forehead. Only bone, not a hint of flesh. Fred looked around bewildered. Where am I? I thought all the trees were supposed to have been dead a long time ago. “Other Fred. How did you get here?” Said Fred. He sat down on the ground, taking a moment to admire the scenery around him. From the trees to the leaves on the ground, it was assuredly a forest. Fred sat up cracking his knuckles “Alright. Time to get to work.” The procedure for this is. One! Check traits. Show me traits.
Traits>
Fool: Incapable of learning any skills.
Physically talented: You learn all physical skills ten times faster than normal. Skill learning de-buffs does not affect any physical skills
Hippocampus damaged: Certain long-term memories lost.
Feral: All Physical stats increase by one per level. Animalistic instincts. Loss of social conventions.
Fred nodded. Yup. Yup. All good. Next. Show me Stats.
Name: Fred Frederickson.
Level: 4.
Stats:
Strength 53
Dexterity 53
Constitution 53
Perception 53
Magic 14
Wisdom 0
Karmic luck -1,000
Available Stat point: 6
I’m level four. And for whatever reason other Fred did not invest his stat points. ALL INTO STRENGTH!
Error: Insufficient training to invest stats.
Error: No body cultivation technique.
Fred staggered backwards, balancing himself on a tree. What! I can’t invest my stats! What does it mean!? Body cultivation. Does this thing want me to plant my body? And training? The system never said I have to train before. Fred took a deep breath. Calm down Fred With the Feral trait I can still get stronger. Alright. Next. Show me skills.
Skills:
Exhaustion resistance 10
Body control 1
What. I lost almost all my skills. System why did I lose all my skills?
All non-system supported skills were removed due to storage limitations. Your skills still function as intended though.
Oh okay. System any new features?
Two. Quest system and system boon.
Fred’s red brows quirked. Show me system boon. Quest system sounds like a bit of a drag.
System boon: Respawn, can resurrect upon death by unnatural causes. Either by renewal of corpse or possession of juvenal vessel {Can be upgraded}
Fred squatted and pointed his head to the sky. “WHOOO! I! FRED FREDERICKSON! AM IMMORTAL!” HE yelled. Damn past Fred. You really smashed with that. Alright next show me quest system. Fred was giddy with excitement at this point.
Quest system: Complete task for rewards
Active quest: find the marble mountain.
Unactive quests: None
(Can only have one quest active at a time)
Oh. So, it’s just getting the system to do stuff for me. Eh what do I care as long as I’m properly compensated. Also, I know what to do. Wander until I find this mountain. Fred began to walk through the forest. After a few seconds of walking, he paused. System how does the karmic luck stat work?
Karmic luck. Higher it get’s into the positives the more likely it is to get a guardian Karmic god. The higher it is into the negatives the more likely it is for a karmic god to swear to end you.
Fred nodded in understanding. So If it’s lower you can do more fighting. If it’s higher you get to survive more fights. System how do you change the karmic luck stat.
?
Okay. So you’re not going to answer me. Jerk. “All right. Let’s get walking.” Fred walked through the forest a pep in his step. His eyes constantly darted around in search of life. He walked for a day and found nothing. Finally with the moon in the sky, Fred climbed a tree. He sat on the top of the tree looking up at the starry sky. Thousands of shapes drawn into it. dancing around each other as if each constellation was a soul. Fred was in awe at the sight. I’ve never seen something so beautiful. Fred looked up at the moon. Where are the cracks? Shouldn’t the moon be cracked? He looked at the grounds beneath him with dread. “This place isn’t Gaia is it.” Fred’s face was pale.