I opened my eyes as I sat on a large square of rough-hewn grey stone amid a yawning abyss, a starry sky above me. Iridescent teardrops of wildly varying sizes and colors were raining all around my perch, into the darkness below.
"Holy shit, that's beautiful." I said out loud, as I got up to walk to the edge. The distance between my goal and I vanished with the first step, giving me an inkling as to what exactly was happening. I looked down to confirm my thoughts. Yup, hazy body like I'm in a dream that I can barely remember. So my real body was still tucked away in my bed at home, after celebrating my 18th birthday.
Like everyone under the system, I had been forced to make a choice upon reaching the age of maturity for my kind. A choice that would guide the System in forming the [Boon] that I was going to receive when I woke up.
"So I know why I am here, but what am I supposed to learn from this?"
And as I gave voice to my confusion, the abyss answered with a cacophony of wails that carried the last wishes, hopes and dreams of the recently deceased.
The recently deceased whose souls were raining down around me, forcing the knowledge of where we were and what it all meant into my mind and soul. They branded the knowledge into my very being, agony consumed me as I collapsed to my knees and a raw, primal scream tore from my throat. I perceived nothing but white hot pain, every one of my senses and even ones that I didn't have, shouldn't have, sent their own unique interpretation of this agony into my very core.
I felt my soul's outer layers slowly being ground down and compressed into an ever denser iridescent teardrop, until only the most essential and now bolstered part of the soul remained. The shining beacon of power that had accumulated over the course of many lives.
A subjective eternity of pain of every kind the soul could possibly perceive. Apparently, there were a lot more senses a soul could support, both physical and not, than humans had access to by default.
This process is what all souls went through before they were allowed to go into reincarnation. An entire life lived, converted into more strength and potential for the soul to carry into its future lives.
As soon as this understanding dawned on me, the pain stopped, and so did my system simulated journey into reincarnation. The memory of the pain was fading into the background rapidly, the sharp edge of it softening. I would always be able to recall it, but as scrupulous as the system may have been in its attempt at an explanation, it had never harmed anyone. At least not permanently.
With the pain gone, I slowly regained my senses. I uncurled where I laid on the ground.
"Holy shit, I need a nap."
Was the last thought I gave voice to, before exhaustion took me.
----------------------------------------
My eyes shot open as I instinctively tried to jump out of bed in full fight or flight.
"Shit!" I yelled in realization at the fast approaching floorboards. My upper body impacted with a loud thump, my feet still tangled in the blanket on the bed.
"Hey honey! I think she's awake!" Yelled dad, clearly very amused and clearly right in front of my bedroom door.
"I don't know honey, that could've been anything. Maybe she's been keeping a thunderbison hidden in her room? I know our 'Legendary Adventurer, Wind of Westport' wouldn't-"
"Alright, alright! Come in already, you did the same thing to Rivy, I was there damnit!" I interrupted my parents' spiel while untangling myself and getting up, standing at a tall 5.5ft with an athletic build like mom.
The door opened to reveal both of them grinning with barely contained glee. Dad, 6.8ft, with his ruggedly handsome face, brown hair cropped short and brown eyes, a tower of muscle next to mom who stood at a respectable 5.6ft, with her sharp angular features, dark yellow eyes and black hair in a shoulder length bob cut.
"So what did you get? Come on, tell us!" My mom demanded, almost shaking from excitement.
"Right! I'll check right now!" In the mirror next to the door I could see an excited grin blooming on my own face, sharp and angular features, brown eyes with hints of mom's yellow, brown hair in a shorter, messy bob cut.
This was it, my big moment!
Wind
Boon
Class
Level
Soul Fragments
Banquet of Souls
-
0
200
EXP
EXP to next Level
Total Lifetime EXP
Stat points
0
1
0
0
Tier 0
Attribute
Base
Modifier
Total
HP
100
100
MP
100
100
Strength
10
10
Vitality
10
10
Constitution
10
10
Dexterity
10
10
Perception
10
10
Willpower
10
10
Focus
10
10
Intelligence
10
10
Skills
Active
Passive
"Holy shit! It's a purple! Mom, dad, it's a godsdamned purple!" I turned back to them just in time to see their faces go slack in realization before it turned to absolute elation.
"Our baby has an epic [Boon]! Honey, did you hear that?! Epic!!" Mom yelled up towards dad's face while shaking him.
"She does! Our baby has a purple!" My dad replied while letting himself be handled like a saltshaker.
"She fucking what?!" A voice shouted up the stairs.
"Rivy?! You're here?!" I yelled as I ran past my parents, through the hallway until I reached the top of the stairs. Standing at the bottom I saw the woman that took a lot after our dad, at 6.5ft tall with a muscular build and short cropped brown hair, an elated smile on her handsome face.
"Rivy!!" I proclaimed loudly as I vaulted down the stairs to tackle her with a hug.
"Windy, no!" Was all she managed to say before I crashed into her from the top of the stairs and clamped onto her with arms and legs. The average person would have been bowled over and injured, but with her muscular build, bolstered further by a lot of physical stats, she only moved just enough so that I wouldn't be hurt by impacting her.
"Godsdamnit Windy! You could've gotten hurt!" She complained to me as she tried to pry me off as gently as possible.
"Nah, I knew you wouldn't let that happen." I replied as I clung to her harder. I was so happy to finally see my sister again!
"You're worse than a carnivine, how are you so hard to pry off? You're not even Level 1 yet."
"I haven't seen you in two years, until my arms fall off, I'm not letting go." My muffled voice came from where my face pressed into her shoulder.
"Well, that'll make holding your present kind of hard, not to mention dangerous."
"You got me a present?! And it’s dangerous?!" I looked up from her shoulder to inspect her face for any trace of deceit.
"Of course I did! I know mom and dad gave you armor and some money to start your adventure. So I got you something I thought would be useful. It's in the kitchen." She said with her typical rakish grin.
I glared at her, knowing that I'd been predicted and outplayed. Cautiously, still glaring at my all-knowing sister, I unwrapped my legs from the koala hug and let myself drop to the ground, damned giantess. I sent her one more dirty look that was met by a knowing grin before I ran down the hallway and burst into the kitchen.
There, stuck upright into the middle of the large table, a short sword with a blade of aquamarine metal, the blue subtly shifting like ocean waves, the short crossguard was unadorned steel and the handle evenly wrapped in crisscrossing black leather straps, the pommel underneath flared out like a tailfin made of the same steel as the guard.
I’d have to climb the table to grab it, but my sword was worth the indignity, with an excited squeal I made ready to rush forward, before I was grabbed by the waist and lifted off the ground, feet dangling.
"Windy, no swinging your brand new weapon in the house! River! Why the fuck did you stick the sword through my fucking table?!" Dad said in exasperation while holding me out from him as I tried to wiggle free.
"For the dramatic reveal, obviously. Don't worry dad, I brought a new table to replace this one. Like I'd forget how anal you get about your kitchen." River said with a laugh.
"That's still messed up! You don't mess with a man's kitchen!"
"And you also don't mess with your beloved daughter by sending her team of adventurers on a wild goose chase through a swamp which you coordinated with the local guild master and his associates. And yet, just five months ago my team was knee-deep in the muck of marania swamp, searching for 'the elusive seven-star toad'. An animal, that doesn't exist! Don't ever tell mom or dad or even anyone in this town the name of your team." The last bit, she directed at me while taking me from dad's hands and putting me down on my feet. Damned giants, one day I'll tower over all of you!
"We paid top coin for the job and the area was appropriate for your group's average level! How did you even find out?" My dad said defensively as the rest of us rolled our eyes at his stupid pranks.
"It got very obvious when we found out that our target was make-believe, a fairytale told to children in the villages of that swamp region. Also, the guild master sold you out the moment we requested a meeting with him over the fake job, said that you deserved some payback for what you had done to his sitting room."
"Oh, that old goat! That damned snake! That hypocrite! I'll-" Dad started rambling before mom kicked him in the shin to interrupt him.
"Alright, enough of the pranks and petty revenge. Let's focus on how Windy also got a purple [Boon] right off the bat! Two daughters in the same family! Do you understand how amazing your parents have to be for that to happen??" Mom preened.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"So how was your revelation? What did you see? And what does it do?" River asked excitedly while yanking the sword out of the table and sliding it into a scabbard made of black lacquered wood with silver engraved fish scales, before handing it to me. It's so cool! And it's mine!
I hugged the sword close to me while opening my status to check on my [Boon].
Wind
Boon
Class
Level
Soul Fragments
Banquet of Souls
-
0
200
EXP
EXP to next Level
Total Lifetime EXP
Stat points
0
1
0
0
Tier 0
Attribute
Base
Modifier
Total
HP
100
100
MP
100
100
Strength
10
10
Vitality
10
10
Constitution
10
10
Dexterity
10
10
Perception
10
10
Willpower
10
10
Focus
10
10
Intelligence
10
10
Skills
Active
Passive
"Well, the system showed me what happens to souls before they are allowed to reincarnate, which was painful to the point that I really can't put into words just how painful it was. I stood in this endless abyss and there were all these souls raining into the darkness, they looked like glowing rainbow teardrops!”
The memory of the pain flashed through me for a second and I took a steadying breath, before I focused on the [Boon] in my status to bring up its description.
“And my [Boon] is called [Banquet of Souls], which sounds fucking ominous, now that I think about it. As to what it does, don't know yet, I'll just read it out loud!"
Banquet of Souls
Epic
Evolution 0
Passive – Personal
Allows for the collection of soul fragments.
Allows for the collection of souls of strong beings.
Soul fragments are a currency that replaces skill points and can be used for the following:
- [Skill Draw] - Receive a random skill based on amount of Soul Fragments sacrificed.
- EXP-Buy for skills - Increase the potency of your skills for a price in soul fragments. Price depends on Evolution, Rarity and Level of the skill.
Souls retain their class and can be used in the following ways:
- Acquiring a skill the soul held in life. This skill will be acquired at the same level that the entity whose soul is used had reached before their death
- Permanent stat boost.
Stored souls can be released and will then act like the souls of the recently deceased, lingering for a while before vanishing. Duration of lingering is determined by the strength of the soul. Reabsorbing a soul has a static cooldown of 30 seconds.
You have a [Skill Storage] with 10 slots, one slot can contain one skill.
You can swap skills from [Skill Storage] in and out at will. High-Impact passive skills may require a period of acclimatization.
Receiving a skill that is already present in your [Skill Storage] or your skill slots will add the level of the received copy onto the existing one.
skills can only be acquired through the use of this [Boon].
You are unable to perform skill fusion.
You have two additional active skill slots.
You have two additional passive skill slots.
[Choice] – [Path of the Progenitress]
"Yeah, definitely an epic. A powerful one for sure. But unlike others I’ve seen, this one seems to have more drawbacks at lower levels. Where everyone else gets to select their skills according to already established builds to find their feet, you’ll have to dive into the deep end. You can’t even train to acquire new ones without buying them.” Dad said with more than a little consternation on his face.
"Well, nothing for it, I'll just have to get something good from the [Skill Draw], let's go!" I exclaimed as I started using my [Boon] for the first time.
Skill Draw
Common
100
Uncommon
1.000
Rare
10.000
Epic
100.000
???
???
???
???
Custom amount:
I guess I’ll get two commons then.
Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!
Spark
Common
Evolution 0
Level 1
HP-Cost: -
Active
MP-Cost: 10
Produces a small spark capable of dealing 10 HP damage before mitigation.
Sufficient exposure may stun.
Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!
Endurance Training
Common
Evolution 0
Level 1
HP-Cost: -
Passive
MP-Cost: -
You have trained your body and it has paid off.
Physical activity takes less of a toll on your body.
Your Stamina is improved.
Wind
Boon
Class
Level
Soul Fragments
Banquet of Souls
-
0
0
EXP
EXP to next Level
Total Lifetime EXP
Stat points
0
1
0
0
Tier 0
Attribute
Base
Modifier
Total
HP
100
100
MP
100
10
Strength
10
10
Vitality
10
10
Constitution
10
10
Dexterity
10
10
Perception
10
10
Willpower
10
10
Focus
10
10
Intelligence
10
10
Skills
Active
Passive
Spark
Endurance Training
“Oh nice! Look at what I got!” I said, as I made my [Status] visible to my family.
“Huh, that went much better than I thought it would. You could have received something useless like [Gardening] or [Smelt Ore]. But then again, [Sword Mastery], [Magic Mastery], [Mana Control] and others like them are also common starter skills and those are usually mainstay skills until around level 50, where they are either fused with something or evolved further. So, it could have gone a lot better too.” River commented.
“Oh, boo! These are my first [Skills], with my [Boon] I’ll get a ton more and I can always switch them out depending on the situation, I’ll be fine!” I wasn’t about to let anyone shit on my [Boon], not even an amazing sister that gives me amazing gifts! I did wonder why my [Boon] had such a sinister vibe though.
“Hey mom, yesterday I chose to have my [Boon] lean more towards your accomplishments than dad’s. Can you tell why exactly I got something that has me eat souls? Not complaining, just asking.” I could see dad’s eyes widen before he managed to turn towards the heavily damaged table. What the fuck kind of reaction was that?
“Oh, well. I guess this was going to come out someday. You know how your dad and I met, right?”
“Uh, yeah. He was a ship cook, you were a healer, you met on the ship of a wealthy merchant when he hired the both of you for long-term contracts. It was love at first sight, yada yada, contracts ran out, you settled here, made us and here we are. What does that have to do with me skimming power off the top of souls before they get thrown into the soul-grinder?” Why the sudden change of topic?
“So, I may have lied a little about the healer part and we both may have lied about that merchant thing.” She looked weirdly sheepish admitting that they fucking lied to us for like 23 years.
“Okay, so you did the thing that we’re not supposed to do because you told us it would make you very sad if you ever found out that your precious daughters had lied to you. That still doesn’t answer my question and you’re still obviously hiding something.” I said, giving her the stink eye.
“Okay, my job was less about keeping people animate, not that healing is hard with my [Skills] and natural talent, you’ve seen me do it. But my work was more about reanimating them later. Turns out the undead are a very effective tool for when you want to raid shipping lines between countries. As well as other pirate stuff. We were pirates. There, it’s out. Whes, honey, you can stop pretending to care about the fucked-up table.” Dad turned towards River and me with the same sheepish expression he usually shows us after a prank went too far.
“You’re joking. You guys were pirates. Rivy, tell me they are just messing with us.” I looked towards my older sister for guidance, only to see her look completely stupefied.
“Uh, Rivy? Are you in on this dumb joke?” She slowly turned to look at me.
“No Windy, I don’t think this is a joke. This actually explains some stuff I had been wondering about for a while. There were inconsistencies in their stories.”
Oh. This is not a joke.
“Well, shit. Why would you hide something so genuinely cool about yourselves from us?” I asked completely dumbfounded.
This time I got a round of looks like I’m dumb. What was this, mutiny?
“Windy, you couldn’t keep a secret you think is cool if your life and all of our lives depended on it. Don’t deny it, you’re the reason why River never got away with anything.” Mom said sternly, apparently having read my fucking mind, as dad fixed me with a look of pity. My head swiveled towards River, the consequences of my actions dawning on me as my grip on the scabbard tightened.
“Yeah, they are absolutely telling the truth on this one. But I always knew you didn’t mean anything by it. You just really can’t lie, your face is an open book and when pressed for answers even a little bit, you have a thing about oversharing. I think you got the last thing from dad.” She said with a smile and gave me a pat on the shoulder.
“Damn, this conversation turned on me real quick. Okay, well. Our parents were pirates and our mom was a necromancer. Why tell us now and not when Rivy got her [Boon]?”
“We really couldn’t risk you knowing until you were ready to leave our little nest. I don’t think anyone in this town would take issue with our previous occupations, but if someone did? Things would get very violent around here and we couldn’t risk that.” There was sympathy in dad’s voice as he tried to get me to understand. I guess he didn’t like lying to us any more than we did.
I took a deep breath and let it out in a low sigh. Oh well. Let’s just make the best of it. At least when I start travelling, I won’t be able to blabber about this to anyone that might care.
“Well then, what would you like to do now? I’ll be staying here for another week or so, I could train you a little with that sword of yours, if you’d like? You may not get a [Skill] for it, but it’ll be a lot better than waving it around with no training at all!” River grinned down at me, obviously knowing just what to say to cheer me up.
“Yes, please!” I smiled back at her.