Sometimes, waking up could be even better than sleeping. There was something to be said about the lack of an alarm and simply drifting into clarity at your own pace that was incredibly satisfying. Himiko thoroughly reveled in this feeling as she rustled in her bedsheets, instinctually facing her face away from the warm sunlight and towards the cool breeze she felt flowing through her room. Once she opened her eyes, there was no returning to this state that hovered between sleeping and awareness, and she intended to linger here for as long as she could.
The longer she waited, however, the longer she felt the sense that there was something wrong with this morning. She unconsciously frowned and tilted her head as she tried to pinpoint the feeling. It was similar to a headache but strangely without any of the pain associated with it. It was akin to a small pressure in the back of her head that slowly bloomed and receded at a steady pace, mostly unnoticeable unless she was explicitly looking for it.
Himiko tilted her head again in the opposite direction, this time in confusion as she examined the strange pressure in her head. Maybe she should be concerned about this, but on the other hand, she wasn’t awake yet. Perhaps she could write this off as a strange dream, though that would remain to be seen, as the feeling slowly mounted in her head.
The more she focused on it, the faster it pulsed until eventually, a small wave shot throughout her entire body down to her toes, like a sonar. Once it echoed back into her head, a page of information popped into her head.
The page wasn’t visual per se; it was more comparable to a sense than anything. Himiko knew if she opened her eyes that she would still be able to see perfectly fine, but the information would stay floating at the back of her head, ready to recall at a moment’s notice.
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Himiko Hirune
Titles: Scion
Body: 8
Heart: 11
Finesse: 12
Agility: 11
Mind: 13
Soul: 16
Qualities(+)
Skills(+)
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Mmm, so it’s one of those settings then. Himiko yawned as she reviewed the information stored in her head. Standard fantasy setting with video game elements. Magic was usually complementary with those stories, and she’d probably have to-
(Defeat enemies to level up)
|Defeat enemies to level up|
[Defeat enemies to level up]
-defeat enemies to level up. Huh?
Himiko back shot in an arch in her blanket as a bomb of pure pain detonated off in her head. Several overlapping voices rang out in her head as she lost her sense of balance, gripping her head in an attempt to appease the ringing sounds echoing in her skull.
“...Begin your orientation.”
“Indeed, it is called your Status…”
“High Soul stat… Unique Skill…”
“Introduced to humanity to prepare for Integration….”
“Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson…”
The words swam throughout her head as she struggled to parse the information she was hearing. It all sounded familiar, and yet she couldn’t quite remember where she’d heard it all before. Images flashed through her head of a white void, and an attractive woman in a suit.
Suddenly, a clear voice cut through all the rest.
“But here’s the important bit.”
The rest of the voices silenced, as the new voice commanded every ounce of Himiko’s attention.
“Call this a bit of personal advice if you will. Keep your |Unique Skill| close to your chest. It is stronger than most of your world’s Scions’ due to the nature of your qualifications and the resonance to your being, but it is a utility ability. I give your world three to five years to put itself back together, but if people figure out the true power of your gift, you will run into no end of difficulties.”
Stolen novel; please report.
An image of a warm smile pervaded her being, banishing any memory of the pain that assaulted her moments before.
“You remind me of myself, once upon a time. Good luck, Himiko Hirune.”
--
Alright, so this definitely is not a dream.
Himiko had laid still for a few minutes once her memories had returned to her. Her confusing awakening, followed by the memory of the end of the world, had shocked her into silence while she processed what she'd learned. There were still a few memories that eluded her, but for the most part, she understood her situation.
She recalled her Status and reviewed it again. It seemed as though she could add or customize the information displayed as she liked, though she found nothing, in particular, she wanted to add. There were some things that she found that she couldn’t add. For one, there was no HP or MP option, which made sense. She found she could add a portion that included a portion called Status Effects, but something like that was much easier to define than how alive or dead someone was. The idea that your health could be quantified was something that wouldn’t translate well into real life anyways. MP I could also see the logic, but that might just be because there isn’t any magic in this world in the first place. Here’s hoping.
The stats seemed pretty straightforward. Body probably had to do how strong her body was, and probably also made her body more durable. Her best guess at Heart was having to do with stamina or resistance to certain effects, but it was one of the more obscurely named stats. Finesse and Agility were straightforward, with the former helping with making movements more precise and exact, and the latter supporting the speed of movements. Mind was also transparent, likely linked to processing power and memory retention.
And maybe the use of magic? Himiko smiled at the thought of that. Imagine that. Most games link some sort of “Intelligence” stat to magic casting, but looking at these, I’m betting more towards the last one on this list.
Soul, her highest stat. She wasn’t quite sure how one would go about increasing this stat, but it was the most mysterious one on the list. She was intrigued to know that the soul existed, and was curious as to what effect increasing it would have on her. But in the short term, having such a high Soul stat means that I’m a |Scion|. I wish there was something to give me more information on what that means for me, but…
In the end, she could only speculate on what these things meant so much and decided to head to the next, and probably the more exciting part of her Status, the Qualities and Skill sections. She had a pretty good idea of what the later section entailed, probably giving her certain abilities depending on what she was good at, but she had no idea what |Qualities| might contain. With a thought, she expanded the section of her Status, and inspected the information as it rushed into her mind.
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Ethereal Body (Body) 23.77%
As a mythical race, your body is composed entirely of mana. Your Body is intrinsically tied to your Soul stat, and you are immune from aging and its effects. Your facial and body features possess a mystical charm, and you can completely recover from most wounds given time.
Know Not Pain (Heart) 0.00%
As a being of mana, all incoming physical damage is reduced by 2%.
Mystical Grace (Finesse) 0.00%
Your actions possess an elegant feel to them, becoming more flowing; smoother.
Playful Gait (Agility) 0.00%
Dodging speed is increased by 10%.
Timid (Mind) 0.01%
Staying quiet will boost your processing and memorization abilities by 15%.
Sorcerer’s Soul (Soul) 0.00%
Your soul is naturally inclined towards the Mana Arts.
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Himiko froze in place as she read the first entry. She read it a second time, and then a third time before it sank in. Mm, I’m immortal now. Not only that, but it gives me a ‘mystical charm’?
As that sank in she reviewed the remaining information, and picked up on something interesting. It seemed as though each stat had an ability tied to it, which seemed to be, for the most part, passive. She wasn’t sure what maxing out a Quality would do but frankly, from what she’d seen of this system so far, it could only be a good thing. It might give her a new option to choose from or just straight-up upgrade the original one. Though she couldn’t imagine what kind of upgrade |Ethereal Body| would even have.
She noted that her Body and Mind abilities were already well on their way to proficiency. She could guess that thinking about her Status had already gotten her a fraction of a percent’s progress, but she could figure out the other one later. For now, there was something she needed to confirm.
Himiko took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, as she did every morning when she awoke, and opened her eyes.