《Protection of the Vheil – Re-integration》 Born Anew I never was one for dramatic displays of emotions, but the day the system messages appeared, you could say I was less than pleased. You see, I have been reading and writing in this sort of fantasy genre for over 50 years, and at the ripe old age of 87, Sitting in my hospital bed after a mild heart attack. Well, suffice to say I was less than pleased, don¡¯t get me wrong, to say I was excited would be an understatement. But seriously!! The powers that be, decided that now of all times when I am at deaths door so to speak, to bring about one of my favorite literary fantasies. That¡¯s the equivalent of being repetitively kick in the balls just after going through a vasectomy, while being told that the operation didn¡¯t matter because you were sterile anyways, and always have been. While your wife and now questionable kids are in the other room laughing at you. Not that, that ever happened to me, but I¡¯m sure it would suck just as much as this. Fuck you God, or Gods. You¡¯re a dick. Rant out of the way, onto one of the most fucked up things about this ¡°Re-Integration day¡± as it has been come to be called. It all started with the Screen, and, yes; it was annoyingly blue, just like all the fictions said. Which of course leads back again God/Gods = Dick.
Greetings and Salutations! We hope you have enjoyed these 250 thousand years of protection from the Vheil of Rhodes. The sacrifices made so that your race and civilization Could expand and thrive without the interference from the system were Legendary! We hope you have used this time wisely and that you as ancestors are ready to be re-integrated Into the System. These last 10 years should have been spent preparing yourselves and your world for the event. As you well know, since none born were a part of the system at the time of conception, there will be a good amount of pain involved in the re-integration process. But of-course by now most should be prepared and services should be shut down while you are spending these last days in meditation and contemplation! Additionally, we do hope you adhered to the recommendation not to have children under the age of 10 at this time, as the chances of them surviving the coming pain is less than 1 in 10000 Prepare yourselves, the re-integration process will start in [0:58:77}
All I could say after reading that message was a big FUCK you to our ancestors. I don¡¯t know when or who or how, but somewhere along the line someone fucked us, big time. 1 hour, that¡¯s all the notice and preparation the world of 7 billion people had to get everything grounded and shutdown. In other words, they didn¡¯t all make it. I¡¯m not sure what all happened as I was still bed ridden, but I could hear the screams and panic from the hallways of the hospitals. I would later hear that all flight traffic was grounded, and flights in progress were routed to the nearest airport, they say the planes were coming in to the larger airport in 100 yard separations, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Flights still over the oceans, were set on auto-pilot, in hopes they could weather out the process and have time to recover enough to land afterwards. Power stations were set to automatic and all safety checks were rushed, there were mistakes made. Defense systems were put under automated control, attached to Googles Deep Mind AI. It¡¯s a good thing to, it seemed that North Korea put in place an automate launch sequence of all its nuclear missiles to launch while the population of the world would be incapacitated. Guess they figured we would never allow a computer to control our nuclear arsenal. Must have sucked to be them, I hear the entire country is the largest glass export of the Asian continent now. But that¡¯s enough of that. Back to my story. I would like to say, I did something smart like, called a nurse and have her up the pain medication, but no. I was a United States Marine, and if you think a sailor has can string together some swear words and phrases, you have not heard anything until you get a crusty marine all riled up. I spent my hour ranting and raving spewing every vile phrase I could come up with, cursing our ancestors, the system, gods or gods, daemons and devils. It was Glorious, a riotous hour of wrath and wroth, then the clock hit 00:00:00, and the pain began.
Integration commencing, deploying etherical receptors
Commencing with Genetic grafting and alterations to genomes.
Starting Re-incarnation subroutines.
Locking Sea of Souls for pre¡­
That¡¯s when my heart gave out and I died. What happened next, I can only surmise, as the only sense I had was of movement, there was a very fast acceleration, an abrupt stop, then a suction force pulling me back down, then darkness, and pain. When the pain finally ended, and I came to, at first there was pressure, and another sense of movement, then a bit more pressure and finally light!! I think you see where this is going, let¡¯s just say being born again sucks. Buy hey, I¡¯m not dead, and I don¡¯t have to live through a system integration as an old fogies, so I chalk that up as a win in my book. The nurse who pulled me from the whom, is caring me over to a heat lamp as I attempt to move my head to look around, unfortunately everything is blurry and out of focus. I can hear though, someone is crying about a doctor being dead, and patients red lining all over the place. There is also a very loud woman screaming about her baby. ¡°My baby, My baby, please tell me is he alive? Did he make it?¡± Not only is the voice loud, but pitched past the point of hysterics. It dawns on me that this is probably my new mother, which is weird, I know, but hey life and lemons and all that jazz. I decide to let her know just how healthy I am, I figure I could probably scream and cry pretty loud, and since I am a baby, instead of weird looks and pitying smiles, I¡¯ll get some sweet, sweet love and attention. Of-course in my head, I¡¯m still cursing every known god and goddess for their sick sense of humor, all to the sound track of bad to the bone. It wasn¡¯t long after I started making my mark on this new world when the blue boxes began appearing again.
Transferring Parental controls to direct living parent Parent Found: Mother: Stacy Albrook Confirming Parental Acceptance of Responsibility Responsibility Confirmed.
Welcome New Citizen! These are your cached message! These messages will have been stored and actioned by your Mother: Stacy Albrook, you can make no changes to her selections, so if you¡¯re not happy, you should probably tell her, or remove her from the equation should you dare.
Acheviement! First Born of The Re-Integration: As the first born of this, the re-integration of earth, you receive 1 bonus attribute point! Spend it wisely!
Congratulations! You have just received a bonus attribute point! These can be assigned at the status screen!The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡®Alright! An achievement and bonus points!¡¯ Better check my status screen.
Name UnNamed Level 1
Class None
Race Human Title None
Attributes Unspent points
Strengh 1 22
Perception 1 HP 10
Endurance 1 Qi 0/100
Charisma 1
Intelligence 1
Agility 1 Cultivation Level
Luck 50 None
I can¡¯t help but grinning inside as I see the attributes spell out something from one of my favorite post-apocalyptic game franchises, how apropos. But what the heck is with that Luck! It must be the fact that I still remember my past life. The last messages I remember before I died were something about the Reincarnation Protocol and Sea of Souls¡­ It must be that. I died right as the Sea of Souls was locked down. Then I must have bounced, and when a soul was called for was the only one available for this baby. Souls must enter the body shortly before being born. Hah! Take that you dirty right to lifers! A pox on all your houses! All ranting aside now, let¡¯s distribute those points!
Error! Parental Control Activated cannot assign points. Please consult with your parent or guardian to make changes!
¡®Are you fucking shitting me¡¯ While this is happening they have finally finished washing me and I can now somewhat see properly, although the blue screen is crystal clear everything else is just a little blurry, its driving me batty. The set me in my new mother¡¯s arms and I can finally see to whom my controls have been passed to. Have you ever had one of those moment where you just know the universe is going to fuck you over royally and not use any lube. That about sums up what I am feeling right now, as I look on my new mother. Only one word comes to mind when I look upon her. Young. Maybe all of 19 or 20 years old. She¡¯s still crying and not really paying attention to me or anything around her. I can hear some orderlies or nurses, moving about everyone is still crying, and here¡¯s me, a new born, looking at my new mother, wishing I could slap the hysterics out of her. It took a while for things to calm down, I could hear people moving around talking about the dead and still dying. They moved me and Stacy to a private room, shortly after arriving I decided I had had enough fun and went to sleep. I woke up with something soft being shoved in my mouth, round and wet, tastes good though. Wait, ohh well got to eat something, just don¡¯t think about how pretty she is or that you could be her great grandfather. You¡¯re a baby now, and at the mercy of those bigger than you. While I was busy eating I noticed that there were some more blinking notification icons at the top right of my vision. Sweet action! Queued messages!
Name Change! Your mother has given you your name, Trevor Albrook
Well at least it isn¡¯t something stupid like a season, or a month, or perhaps a fruit. Those parents should be sterilized for their stupidity. At least my mom has some taste.
Your Mother has distributed your attribute points! These points are set and cannot be changed once set. Ensure in the future you discuss with your parent or guardian on what you want to be when you grow up!
¡®Oh no, show me my status!¡¯
Name Trevor Albrook Level 0
Class None
Race Human Title None
Attributes Unspent points
Strengh 2 11
Perception 3 HP 20
Endurance 2 Qi 0/100
Charisma 5
Intelligence 3
Agility 2 Cultivation Level
Luck 50 None
4 points into Charisma!!! I bite down on the life-giving milk dispenser harder than I should and I hear a yelp of pain from above me. ¡°Ouch you little shit, be careful that hurt mommy!¡± She says as she inserts the other milk dispenser into my mouth, so I can continue getting my fill. ¡®Hmph, serves you right messing with my attributes, and wasting points into good looks.¡¯ I think as I continue to look through the rest of my Status. Looking though there were two items that give me pause, I have a section for Qi, and a Cultivation Level. I had tried my hand at a cultivation fiction once upon a time, if I remember correctly Cultivation is the process of refining Qi from the energy of the universe. That would also indicate that I now possess a dantian, or that it could now be more accessible. I tried Qigong when researching for my book, and although it was relaxing and did help with my physical fitness, I never actually felt the supposed Qi. ¡®It could be that those who did, were talented enough to gather it from beyond the Vheil.¡¯ I thought to myself while pondering the implications. ¡®I wonder if there is a Help section¡¯
Greetings and Salutations! You have opened the Help menu! Please select from the following choices. Tutorial Options and settings Wiki-Guide Glossary Storefronts Guilds
¡®Always take the Tutorial, they normally give free stuff!¡¯ I think as I mentally select the Tutorial option.
Error! System residents under the age of 10 cannot participate in the Tutorial.
¡®You hate me don¡¯t you.¡¯ Seeing the message, I cannot help but sigh, it seems this is going to be a very long childhood. I detach myself from the milk-dispenser as I hear the door open and look over. A man in a pair of cut up jeans, and a shirt that reads ¡®I¡¯m Sorry if my sarcasm offends you¡¯. He¡¯s sort of tall, probably 6 feet, but I might be over estimating as everyone looks like a giant to my new born eyes. Raven black hair and crystal blue eyes. He would probably be considered Ruggedly handsome, if he wasn¡¯t all of 19 years old, his face lacks the aged wisdom and still holds that youthful buoyance, to be called rugged. ¡°Hey Babe, Sorry about being so late. But the possible end of the world is probably the best excuse ever for being late.¡± He states while moving to the bed to look my new mother over and ogle and the glory that is myself. I decide to attempt to mess with him, and give him a mean mug look, but control of my facial muscles must not be working right. As he just laughs and attempts to tickle me, making those annoying baby talk noises. ¡°Humph, I suppose you can be forgiven this time. Just so you know I have already named him Trevor, and since you were not here I am his primary Parent! So, what I say goes! Already assigned his attribute points and everything!¡± Stacy says, with a pout on her face at first, that transforms into the ¡°high and mighty¡± chin tilt as she finishes talking.
Secondary Parent registered: Dereck Albrook
¡°That¡¯s fine honey, let¡¯s see what we have!¡± I assume at this point he has figured out he can mentally call the status boxes. As he is tracing his finger in the air it abruptly stops, and he gasps ¡°50 luck!! Wait. Why in all that is holy would you put 4 points into charisma!¡± he screams a little girly like. ¡®Well at least this one might have a head on his shoulders¡¯ I decide I can now attempt to smile and laugh at the young man as he continues to rant and rave about the waste of points, all the while the storminess of Stacy¡¯s eyes get darker and darker. ¡°Dereck!¡± She states in a clipped and soft manner, which I guess he recognizes as the ¡®ohh shit, I¡¯m in trouble¡¯ tone of voice as he instantly stops talking and looks down meekly. ¡°I choose those stats, because I want a beautiful baby! Besides, don¡¯t I always hear you saying that Charisma is a requirement for a good leader in all your little games you play!¡± ¡®She has a point; however, this is not a game and if levels are anything like I think they will be I¡¯ll get points in the future that can be put there. Now we should be worried about survival, for whatever happens next.¡¯ Unsurprisingly, Dereck attempts to voice that same point, in his place though I would not have used the words ¡°Stupid, Crazy, or suicidal¡± While the two go back and forth on the merits of charisma and other things I find myself getting tired, and decide to take a nap. ¡®When I wake up, I¡¯ll try out the other help options to learn about exactly what changes occurred in our world.¡¯ An Unexpected Visit Its dark in the room that my now parents are sharing with me, my new father looks to be sleeping on a couch against the wall, and my new mom is resting quietly in the hospital bed. I still can¡¯t move very well, but I manage to turn my head to look around it¡¯s a small movement but movement none the less. My arms and legs seem to kick and punch randomly, guess it will take time for me to learn how to use them in my new body. Looking around I notice things that concern me, for one it is very dark, the curtains are open so the light from outside is shining through a little, but I would expect it to be a lot brighter, I am unsure where exactly this hospital is but surely there would be more ambient light. That¡¯s about the time I notice none of the equipment has any lights, nor is there light shining through the bottom of the door to the hall. From what I can tell there is no power, not only that but it¡¯s quite quiet as well, no rushing people, sounds of traffic, nothing, it¡¯s like the calm before the storm. I want to wake the parents up, but am afraid of making too much noise, so I try to grunt and whimper, as quietly as it takes to wake one of them up, so they can see what is going on. My efforts are rewarded soon after as I hear my new father start to stir. ¡®Come on you lazy good for nothing boy, get your butt up to do your fatherly duties, and sooth this savage beast¡¯. It takes longer than I like to get the boy up and moving but finally I am rewarded with a very tired looking Dereck staring at me, I decide to play it cute and attempt a gurgling smile at him. ¡®You want to pick me up since I am so cute¡¯ I think to him while attempting to make my face muscles do what I want. I must have been successful as he soon picks me up and cradles me. With a more elevated position I can better see the room around me and even a little out the window. ¡®The only light is the moon and stars¡¯ I notice as I look out across world outside. Soon I am turning away from the window as Dereck starts to move around the room. I¡¯m gratified that I think he is starting to notice that something is wrong as well. ¡°That¡¯s odd Trevor, I don¡¯t see any lights on outside, and it¡¯s awfully quite for being a major hospital, there¡¯s no sound of footsteps or anything.¡± He says while moving me around the room and patting my back, I¡¯ll be honest it feels wonderful and I find myself drifting a little. Suddenly I¡¯m moving laterally startling me a little. ¡°Honey, take the baby, I need to look around and see what¡¯s going on. Try and keep him quiet. Something is not feeling right¡± Trevor says as he hands me over to a still sleepy Stacy. Content that the right man is on the scene, I figure now is an appropriate time to go through the rest of the help menu. ¡®Open the help menu Argh¡¯ today I decided since I cannot talk ill think in a voice like a pirate. Always got to keep things interesting and all that jazz.
Greetings and Salutations! You have opened the Help menu! Please select from the following choices. Tutorial Options and settings Wiki-Guide Glossary Storefronts Guilds
¡®Da Tutorial be denied ta me, so Options and Settings be next ye see¡¯ Thought I was joking about the pirate speak? You try being an 87-year-old man stuck in a body that doesn¡¯t move and doesn¡¯t listen to your command. See how bored you get. Joking aside, I was again assaulted by a warning on this option as well.
Warning! Some Options may not be available due to parental restrictions! Privacy HUD General
¡®Well, it looks basic all things considered. Privacy is probably what¡¯s denied me¡¯ Ohh well let¡¯s check anyways¡¯ I mentally select the Privacy option.
Warning! Privacy options disabled in parental Guidance mode. Titles Bio
¡®Looks, like I was right greyed out options.¡¯ I check the other settings and customize my HUD a little. Health bars and Qi bars and what not. Also, I put my experience bar down near my lower left, but have it displayed as a reverse fuel gauge. Looks cool and provides a point of reference for all the other bars to attach to, I can change the transparency and it should disappear when in combat or other activities that would require my attention not wondering. The las option General had some interesting choices. It seems that you could purchase system upgrades, like universal translation, and add in languages. Skill assist modules and the like were also possible. While I was pondering the ramifications of the system and benefits it brings, I had to ask myself ¡®Why would whoever it was use the Vheil to protect us from the system. What exactly is it protecting us from?¡¯ Of course, just as I had these thoughts the universe in it infinite douche baggery, decides to provide me with the answer, or part of it I should say. I first noticed it while looking at Stacy, she was looking at me and smiling, but I noticed she stopped blinking, and it seemed as though she had stopped breathing as well. It would have been a little more disconcerting had her hair not been frozen as it was falling. So, I ruled out her not being dead, ¡®Must be a time freeze or something to that effect.¡¯ I thought to myself. Shortly after noticing these details, my infant ears started to pick up the soft tread of feet heading towards our room. I thought it might be Dereck coming back from checking things out, but of course the universe had other plans that night. The man that entered the room was tall, at least 7-foot-tall, so tall he had to duck under the doorway. Dark black hair, and slightly glowing green eyes. That it seemed were fixed on me. As he neared the bed he started to speak. ¡°Hello, little one. To think it would be my lineage that would be the only one to survive!¡± the man speaks as he lifts me up and away from my new mother. ¡°Let me tell you a little story about your mother, and a boy named Bruce¡± he continues while walking over to the rocker in the corner and sitting down. ¡°You see, Dereck, although a good person, is not your real father, your real father, well to be honest, he died, on the same night you were conceived. Your mother is young and in all things with the young they make mistakes. The night you were conceived she had had a fight with Dereck and went over to a friend¡¯s house to stay for a couple of nights. I believe her name was Bethany, or some such but she is not important, what is important is the young man that was staying there as well. You see Bruce was a young Man that recently lost all his family, it seems that they were all killed in a very tragic airplane accident. Of which it seems was exactly that.¡± He paused for a minute in contemplation, as if remembering something that didn¡¯t agree with his view on the world.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°It was this that brought your mother and him together, you see she had lost her family a long time ago in a fire, although she adjusted and moved on with her life, he had not. They spent the day talking and the night drinking, one thing led to another and you are the product.¡± He sighs, and starts to stroke my head. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that shortly after that, a matter of days, Stacy and Dereck made up. And what do you ask happened to Bruce. Well he left the night you were conceived, unfortunately he was still a little drunk, he never made it to the cemetery to say goodbye and move on. Went a little to fast around a curve, car jumped the barrier and he rolled down a ravine.¡± All this time I had been silent in my thoughts, but the sorrow I see in his eyes moves me to attempt to console him, or at least ease his sorrow, seeing as how I am a baby, I attempt what all babies use to make adults smile, Time to use my baby smile. ¡®Look at the smiling baby, that¡¯s it no more tears when there is a cute baby smiling at you¡¯ I think to him while attempting that patented baby smile and laugh. ¡°I appreciate you trying to cheer me up but the fa¡­.¡± Suddenly he is picking my up and holding me in front of his face scrutinizing me. ¡°Hold on now, babies are not supposed to be thinking in complete sentences. Who are you and why are you in my sole surviving offspring!¡± he shouts. I suppose if I had control over my facial muscles better my eyes would be wide and bugging out, but alas baby muscles just don¡¯t give the look I should have done justice. ¡®Holy crap, he can hear my thoughts¡­. Well this is going to be interesting! Testing, Testing 1¡­2¡­3. Is this thing on?¡¯ I think to him after bugging out a little. ¡°More explaining you little shit before I get angry, what have you done with my offspring!¡± now he is shaking me a little bit while yelling. Honestly, I can see why babies laugh when you shake them a little, its like riding a roller coaster, but with your whole body moving. ¡®Easy there! young man, I¡¯m not as young as I used to be, well okay maybe I am, but is that anyway to treat a baby!¡¯ I think to him in my sternest old man voice. ¡®There is and easy explanation for this, you see it all started when the messages¡­¡¯ I proceeded to tell him of my past life and of how I died and was reborn without assumingly going to the Sea of Souls to be washed of my memories. Ending with him walking through the door and pronouncing me the last in his line of whatever he is. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be. I think this must be a first in the entire system that someone has been reborn with their prior memories intact. Well come to think of it its only the 3rd time that a world has used the Vheil to escape the system. In fact, the other two worlds that used the Vheil, passed down the knowledge and when the Vheil failed, they were prepared! Not a single pregnancy, Nor a child under the age of ten.¡± He exclaims while looking me up and down. ¡®Which begs the question, what pompous ass activate the Vheil on my planet and failed to see that the knowledge was passed on!¡¯ I scream into my head at him. ¡°To be honest we don¡¯t know and besides most of your species had not evolved a form of writing yet. Most used pictographs and oral traditions to pass on the histories. Almost all reminders of the system were probably lost. As to whom activated the Vheil, we may never know. The requirements and resources it costs is enormous and normally takes a global movement to accomplish.¡± He goes on in a lecturing tone of voice, while moving me back into a cradling position, and returning to rocking on the chair. I¡¯ll be honest I didn¡¯t listen to much after he started rambling on and on about the costs and the effort required. You try listening when you are being held tightly and securely and being rocked like in a¡­ well babe in a cradle! So, I drifted in and out a bit! It wasn¡¯t until he said his name that I began to realize I probably should have been listening all along. ¡°¡­. Name is Loki, you probably never heard of me¡­¡± He goes on saying as I ponder interrupting him or not. I decide to go all in and see if I can cause him some more surprise. ¡®How¡¯s Thor and Odin?¡¯ I project to him. Suddenly stopping his ramble, he again looks at me with those glowing green eyes ¡°You know the Names of the Gods?¡± He asks with wonder. ¡®Yeah, your kind of portrayed as a bad guy, and a real dick in most of our stories and fictions¡¯ I say in an ironic manner ¡®God of Mischief and Games, If I am not mistaken.¡¯ I continue with. ¡°A bad guy, Mischief and Games!!¡± he¡¯s shouting again, looks like the stories probably got it wrong, I mean I couldn¡¯t put the amount of affront in my voice without naturally being affronted. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I am the God of Chance, awarded by the system itself for being well, being the luckiest son of a bitch, the galaxy has ever seen.¡± He finishes in the Proud tone only a God could achieve while saying that. ¡®Guess that explains my luck stat¡¯ I conclude remembering the seriously inflated number. ¡°What do you mean it explains your luck stat, as a baby it should be no more than 1 or 2 at the most, well maybe a 4 or 5 since you did survive the reintegration at an early age¡± he states while looking at me with that raised eyebrow look that was made famous by a certain pointy eared bastard. ¡®50¡¯ I think to him succinctly, leaving it at that. ¡°Impossible¡± he shouts ¡°show me your stats page¡­. Please¡± he adds in a pleading voice when I don¡¯t immediately comply. ¡®Uhh¡­ Yeah.. how do I do that?¡¯ ¡°Ohh yes, well you bring up your stat page and then just kind of will it to be shared, and think about the person or entity your wanting to see it.¡± He response in an overly exited voice. I can tell the anticipation is getting to him. I do as he says and watch carefully at his reactions. It started as a slow tic on the left side of his mouth, then proceed through a smirk, then a smile, then the Cheshire cat grin, ending with laughter. This proceeded for a good 2 minutes before he was panting and out of breath Finally after several deep breaths he continued. ¡°This is astounding! 50 luck! I don¡¯t know weather to congratulate you or say I¡¯m sorry. ¡° He goes onto explain Luck in a broad sense and how many and what type of theories there were that luck did and effected. Basically, it boiled down to, they have no clue, but the higher the luck stat on certain individuals, the more things tended to happen around them that pulled them in. Good or bad. What was definitively known, was that it increases the drop rates and quality thereof, of system generated mobs/loot and within dungeons its doubled. Around the time he was winding down, I started to hear more footsteps coming down the hallway, Loki had left the door open, and the sound carried well in a seemingly deserted Hospital. Shortly after the step were brought to my attention, a Large man entered the room. Blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, he had laugh lines around his eyes, and a full golden beard. ¡°Loki, what in all the worlds are you doing with that baby, good grief we finally return to our rightful world, and what is the first thing you do, go and steal some poor waifs¡¯ baby!¡± ¡°Brother!! You wound me!! Can you not recognize him!! Behold!!¡± Loke starts in with dramatic flair and holds me up to the giant of a man/god/thing. ¡°The sole surviving remnant of our human descendants!¡± The big mans eyes grow wide at hearing this and he starts to bend in to get a better look at me while Loki is holding me up. Being true to my roots, I let him get right up in front of me then ¡®BOOO¡¯ I mentally project at him. First, let me say, seeing a big guy like him jump and scream like a little girl is hilarious. Second, remember to run should you ever accomplish this. Third, I figured out who this was, as a ginormous hammer was now interposed betwixt himself and me. While wielding his hammer he starts jabbering in some unknown language that I still cannot understand to this day. But here¡¯s what I think they said. It makes me laugh. ¡°By my Holy Hammer!!! Loki release that wretched deamon, I shall smite it with my mighty hammer, then go and change my pants!¡± Loki Responds ¡°Thor, you¡¯re a complete moron, do you not already think I knew he could talk and comprehend as an adult? Put that hammer back, your embarrassing yourself! ¡°He thinks at an age that should have no thoughts! He must be possessed by a deamon, now set him down so I might smite him with my massive hammer¡± He says while gesturing with the hammer in one hand and at the ground with the other. Loki then proceeds to tell him to eat crow or what not, probably explains my luck and circumstances. Then says something about Thor compensating for a lack of something by referring to his ¡°massive Hammer¡± all the time, because Thor seems to deflate a little, and looks back and forth from his hammer to the ground. Finally, they are speaking in English again, ¡°Apologies, Trevor, I did not mean to scare you with my outburst, but I was not informed of your good fortune.¡± Thor says while making his Hammer disappear. ¡®No harm no foul, sorry about the fright, as a descendant of Loki I guess I couldn¡¯t resist a good prank.¡¯ I try and smile but all I can really do is drool a little while holding my mouth open. Damn baby body... going to have to learn everything again. By this time I feel that I am getting pretty tired, even though I just woke up and I start to feel myself slipping back into dreamland. That is until Loki starts making mouth noises.. ¡°Listen Trevor, there are some important things I need to pass onto you, I won¡¯t have much more time here before we have to leave and the system locks us from visiting except under very strict circumstances.¡± Loki says while shaking me awake a little to ensure I am paying attention. ¡®Sit me up¡¯ I think back to him ¡®So I can stay awake hopefully¡¯ Loki sitting me up begin to explain why he is here ¡°Originally I was going to talk with your mother after a little holding time. But since you can think and all¡­ I think this will be much more fun! You see, when the Vhiel was activated, the party that did so decided to do a complete cutoff from the system. In the other known instances, of the Vhiel being deployed, all they stopped was the outside influence of the System Monster and Loot System and stopped travel to and from their solar system. They kept in tact the interface and leveling systems, and the Property management system. In this way when the Vheil lifted, they were seamlessly Brought back into the fold, mobs spawned in unclaimed areas, not marked in a safe zone. Earth on the other hand, when whoever activate the Vheill, cut the system off completely. Nothing in or Nothing out, not even Mana or Cosmic Energy. What this means is that all this land everywhere, is marked as unclaimed and Not a Safe Zone.¡± ¡®Which means?¡¯ Although I think I already know I have to ask just to make sure Loki sighs ¡°huuhaaa, which means, that by the end of 2 of your weeks there will not be a single building or man-made thing left. Nothing created or changed while the system was not in contact with your solar system will survive. It will all be marked as trash and decay in a matter of minutes, hours, days, or at most 2 weeks¡± My brain freezes as he finishes speaking. Everything gone. Monuments, wonders, how much has humanity changed the face of the earth in the last millennia alone? ¡®Fuck¡¯ Loki smirks in a sad and sympathetic way ¡°Succinctly put. So, with that said here is my advice to you, get your parents to the most natural location, with the least man-wrought changes away from heavily populated areas soon. Otherwise... you won¡¯t stand a chance in the coming storm.¡± The Gift The Gift ¡®Loki, Did you perhaps forget I was a freaking BABY!!¡¯ I mentally shouted at him ¡®How am I supposed to effect what my new parents do and do not do? I can¡¯t even move my body properly let alone make anything resembling words!!!¡¯ ¡°Calm down there little tike, this is where the ¡°Fun¡± part comes in!¡± Loki replies, giving me the waggling eyebrows, before continuing on. ¡°You see, the system being gone for so long and the fact that there is an overabundance of work it has to perform rolling back your world and all that, I should be able to give you a little gift. In the form of a type of communication with your parents!¡± Wishing I had the capacity to look skeptical I have to ask ¡® What type of communication are we talking about here¡­.Cause a mind talking infant won¡¯t freak them the fuck out at all..¡¯ Loki¡¯s smile is getting to be as big as it was when he saw my luck state, and frankly it¡¯s starting to scare me a bit. ¡°I¡¯m going to grant you the ability to use my power to grant your parents quests and tasks via the system! Now this of course will drain me of most of my stored energy and well¡­ it will only last so long¡­ Till around your 10th birthday or round about. But with this you should be able to get somewhere safe, while guiding them to not giving all your stats into Charisma!¡± ¡®So it will show up as a type of system message when I want to assign them something?¡¯ Isn¡¯t that¡­ I dunno a little over powered?? ¡°No. No. No. Not at all, I am basically granting you access to my divine prerogative to grant quests to my devotees¡­ As a descendant of mine it is perfectly within the rules, it¡¯s just any powers I grant to you I cannot use myself, so once done I will basically be sitting on the sidelines for the next 10 years. Watching you work of course! OH, and it¡¯s not just your parents that you will be able to grant quests to, others you deem worthy as well. But it¡¯s the system that will decide the rewards for the assigned quests.¡± Loki continues on lecturing me about this and that... and consequences on tasks outside my scope of power¡­ impossible tasks and so on¡­ really I don¡¯t pay attention, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to go and give Derrick the task of hunting a dragon to drain its blood and bath me in it to make me immortal¡­ ¡®Right, Got it. So how we doing this? Need some blood? A virgin sacrifice? A goat?¡¯ I respond when it seems he is done with his verbal diarrhea. ¡°What?! No... geez what the hell did you people think up while we were gone? Just give me a minute to go through the menus and change some security settings and permissions¡± Loki says while giving me a look that clearly says ¡°You are a moron¡± ¡®Hey you should really read some of the stuff we came up with before it degrades, hell we wrote about this happening to our world many times!¡± I respond. Loki looks away from whatever he is doing to focus his gaze on me ¡°Really? You had books that described the world being integrated into the system and didn¡¯t for one minute think it might just be a warning?¡± ¡®Why would we? Hell I wrote a book about this happening! It was just a genre of our fantasy and science fiction to us. Bring gaming rules and regulations into the real world, what would happen scenarios.¡¯ I explain, wishing I could use my hands to articulate my points. ¡°Really? I might have to pick some of the books up, they would probably be the last things to degrade if kept in my inventory¡± He says to himself while finalizing what ever settings he is going through cause as he finishes.
Attention!! Divine Powers Granted (limited) The God of Chance Loki has decide to take a vacation and has granted you the following rights. Grant Quest Divine Message (Familial) Select the names for more information.
¡®Neat!¡¯ Select Grant Quest.
Ability: Grant Quest (dv) The God Loki has delegate to you the ability to grant divine quests in his name. Rewards may vary based on difficulty. Beware assigning impossible or nonsensical quests they will have consequences Cost ¨C 10 Divine Energy
¡®What¡¯s this about Divine Energy?¡¯ I mentally project to Loki upon seeing the cost of the ability. ¡°Yes, That. You should have that stat and energy pool unlocked now, keep in mind the stat cannot be raised with free points, only by having quests completed do you gain divine EXP to increase the stat. Also your parents will not be able to see those stats or the energy pool.¡± Loki replies. ¡®Interesting¡¯ let¡¯s check out Divine Message before looking at my stats.
Ability: Divine Message (Familial) The God Loki has granted you the ability to send Divine Messages to your Family. Messages must be pertinent to the current situation and not give proprietary information about quests assigned or secrets locations, treasures, dungeons, or mobs. Cost ¨C 60 Divine Energy
So Glorified Notification system. But cannot use it to give them proprietary information. ¡®Well, we wouldn¡¯t want and spoilers anyways best to let them handle the details, I¡¯ll just stick to overlying strategy!¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! And with that done I must be leaving, the energy required to keep the time stop in place will run out soon, you¡¯ll have about 10 minutes, after I leave to get any messages or quests prepped before the spell reverts and time in the local area goes back to normal¡± Loki says while placing back down in my crib. With a last wave he is striding out the door, with a quiet Thor following. ¡®huh, completely forgot about the hammer wielding uncle, man, except for when he wields his hammer¡­ he doesn¡¯t have that much of an impact.¡¯ Laughing at my own jokes, I decide to get to work, ¡®Status¡¯
Name Trevor Albrook Level 0
Class None
Race Human Title None
Attributes Unspent points
Strengh 2 11
Perception 3 HP 20
Endurance 2 QiEnsure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. 0/100
Charisma 5 Divine 80/80
Intelligence 3
Agility 2 Cultivation Level
Luck 50 None
Divinity 2
¡®Soo limited Divine energy to work with, Might as well see what these abilities actually entail.¡¯ I think to myself after looking over my recently added stat and energy pool. I¡¯ll be honest here I didn¡¯t feel any different once the stat was active, no influx of power or sense of a muscle I didn¡¯t know I had. Nothing typical of what I would think when getting access to an energy pool of the divine. ¡®Well here goes nothing¡¯ I mentally brace and will the divine quest ability to activate.
Divine Quest Tutorial activated! System Processing¡­
¡®Oh Come on!! Really I have limited time here!¡¯ Luckily it seems that the system had some beefed up tech as, as soon as the thought finished I was rewarded with an updates screen
Attention!! Unable to graft divine energy pool to biological subject. Chance of Death exceeds 90%. Alternate method found, granting Divine Well Stone. Mapping biological Divine Regen to Well. Process Complete
¡®Note to self: Punch Loki in the face when I grow up.¡¯ Wishing I could shake my head I bring up my inventory to look at my newly acquired Item.
Divinity Well Stone (u) Divine capacitor capable of storing divine energy. Evolving Current Capacity 80/80 Regen based on Biological soul bound .01 per Minute
¡®Looks like about 2 hours to regen from empty, better ration it well then.¡¯ I think to myself before attempting to access the ability again.
Divine Tutorial Greetings Fledgling Godling! Welcome to the Divine Tutorial! You have been granted the skill Divine Quest! With this ability you can bring up a Divine Quest Overlay, and plan out and map current and future quests for your disciples! Creation of inactive quests for future use cost no energy until such time as they are granted. Please keep in mind, should you create a Chain Quest, all energy for each leg is due at the start of the quest, not as it progresses.
What follow is best left up to the imagination, it walked me through the HUD and overlay on how to set up a quest, and then went over types of rewards I could assign. Not the amount that the system would grant have you, but if it were EXP, an Item, or system Currency, which surprisingly was the standard copper, Silver, Gold. Platinum for our sector. No other currencies were accepted or recognized as valid. Which if what Loki told me was indeed the truth, not a single human being had any sort of wealth any more. We were all poor, copper less Noobs. ¡®Right enough wool gathering I need to get these kids set up to GTFO of dodge¡¯ You see something Loki said had been nagging at the back of my mind, something about books being the last things to degrade if kept in your inventory. It seemed to me that the system although not recognizing the physical matter of the books as property, it might consider the knowledge within valid and therefore by absorbing said knowledge one might gain skills granted by the system. With that in mind I started outlining a set of chain quests and an introductory note explaining that due to the nature of having one of the only children born on the day of integration a local system deity had taken notice and decided to give them a boon. Of course nowhere did I mention Loki in this. That would probably have adverse side effects¡­ I sure hope they don¡¯t watch the Marvel Movies before they degrade¡­ that might bring about some problems¡­ It wasn¡¯t a long 10 minutes. Time seemed to flash by, and before I knew it, I heard an exclamation from Stacy. ¡°TREVOR!¡± she screamed then I hear a sigh as she leans over my crib and sees me laying here. ¡°Mommy must be going insane! I could have sworn I had just picked you up and was holding you!¡± She continues in a more normal town of voice, but still sounding a little out of breath from the short panic moment. She picks me back up and cradles me. Then starts the baby talk and cooing¡­ which is very distracting as her head keeps interposing itself over the divine quest overlay and messing up my thought process typing. ¡®Hope the system can differentiate between what I want written versus cursing at her about being a door and not a window¡¯ By the time I finish and wrap everything up for the first stage of my plans Derrick is walking back through the door with a frown on his face. Stacy holds me up and faces him, saying ¡°Look! Who is that? Is that your daddy? Yes it is! ¡°Stacy.¡± Derrick pauses and taking a deep breath continues ¡°The place looks abandoned, I didn¡¯t see a single orderly or nurse, and most of the room doors are locked. I tried knocking on several and no one answered. I don¡¯t think we should stay here. We need to find someplace more secure, with resources and food preferably.¡± He concludes while moving to pack everything and anything he can grab into his inventory. Seeing as how they are debating on leaving I decide to use the Message skill and send them the first message before giving them the start of the chain quest.
Divine Message Activated Please select message from list or select a new message! Greetings and Salutations! Get out of Dodge! Stop being Stupid! O¡¯Natural! Don¡¯t Forget the Baby New Message
I was rather proud of my titles, and since they were young I had to include a ¡°you forgot your baby¡± hot message just in case¡­ you never know. ¡®Hope I won¡¯t need that last one¡¯ I think to myself, as I choose to send them the ¡°Greetings and Salutations!¡± message.
Greetings and Salutations! From your friendly neighborhood god! Due to the unique nature of birthing a child during integration You have attracted the notice of an old soul! This Divine being has taken an active interest in your continued survival! Count your blessings mortal for this is the stuff dreams are made of! Message Begins: System does not recognize any manmade or man wrought changes during the period of protection due to being completely cut off from outside influence and registration protocols! Monster Spawning set to entire world and system to roll back geographical changes from man to original specs at time of Vheil Implementation! Extreme Caution advised when in highly populated areas!
That was about the extent I could get away with before the system started giving me dire warnings.. Most it considered normal information that everyone should have already known. But giving advice¡­ that¡¯s where the system was blocking me the most. Stacy and Derrick had both stopped moving while reading my little message, but Derrick was the first to respond ¡°Fucking hell, if I find out what colossal douche bag activated this Vheil without leaving even a hint to be passed down..¡± I can¡¯t make out the rest, but it would do a Marine or Sailor proud! ¡°Stacy, Get out of that bed and get dressed, you should be fully recovered from the birth now that the system regenerates our bodies like a game¡± he says while pulling the metal rails on the bed off. To me it looks like he might be trying to make a weapon of some type. After a lot of banging some cursing and a very loud screeching he comes away with the top most rail and has kicked off the bolted raisers. ¡°Nice got a skill!¡± ¡°What skill?¡± Stacy inquires while getting her clothes on and packing away diapers and random junk into her inventory. ¡°Crafting : Improvised Weapon¡± Derrick respond while striking the baby Ruth pose with the make shift club. I wish I had the motor skills to face palm and shake my head but alas some things are still denied me... such as Blatter control it seems, as I realize I have a problem with my lower self, I decide to make it know in need something by starting to cry softly. ¡°Derrick stop being a dork, and go see if Trevor needs changing!¡± Stacy responds while rolling her eyes and motioning to my softly crying form lying on the bed. Seeing Derrick grab a diaper and proceed changing me, with all the accompanying gaging and yucking all new fathers doo when the change a shit filled diaper for the first time. ¡®You know,¡¯ I thought to myself ¡®there¡¯s a joke here about going from an old man who had to wear diapers, to a young baby that still had to wear diapers¡­Fuck you universe¡¯ It didn¡¯t take long for my new partners in life to pack anything they think they might need and scope me up and head out the doors. Derrick motioned for Stacy to stay behind him and he moved down the halls. Finally, able to get a better look at the layout I had a vague recollection of these hallways. ¡®If I¡¯m not mistaken this is the maternity ward of the same hospital I was admitted to. Wonder what the chances of that are?¡¯ I busied myself with idle thoughts while seeing what I could, it was annoying that Stacy kept shifting me around, fist cradle then over the shoulder then other side¡­ ¡®geez woman pick a side and stick to it, I¡¯m starting to get dizzy from all the back and forth. It didn¡¯t take very long to clear the floor and get to the parking lot, I couldn¡¯t really tell what exactly the make and model of the vehicle they put me into, from the feel it was a large Van or SUV. It wasn¡¯t long after getting into the car and hearing Derrick Start it that I sent them the series Quest I set up.
Congratulations! You have decided to embark on a most epic journey, instead of hunkering down and waiting for the walls to crumble around you, you have set out to make your mark on this brave new world.
Quest Alert! Divine Quest: Knowledge is Power The System may take your homes, and monuments. But It cannot erase your mind and memories. Preserve the knowledge of your world. Objective: By any Means, obtain and preserve as much technological and historic knowledge as you can. Rewards: Variable, based on results. EXP, Gold, Items.
I hear a set of gasps from the front seat, and then Derrick is the first to speak ¡°Neat! Quests! Knowledge ehh? Well I suppose that the system though it would not recognize the material gains of our world, would have to acknowledge the skills and knowledge of the individuals and collective knowledge of our civilization. However, that knowledge is written on materials created after the system, so its in danger of being lost. I suppose a library would be our best bet for now. I wonder if you can get system recognized skills for reading books?¡± ¡°Well, there is a library on the other side of Town near the high school, we could start there and see what type of books they have. Hey what¡¯s this Qi thing listed on my Character sheet? Isn¡¯t there mana in all those games and books you read? Is it the same thing? And what¡¯s Cultivation level anyways!¡± Stacy starts in with the heated questions. Sounds like she is finally taking this seriously. I tune them out as they discuss the changes the system has wrought, it has been a good bit since my last nap and I can feel the tiredness in my bones, babies are not meant to be so active it seems. Ill have to work on my Endurance. As Derrick pulls the car out and starts off on the road to the library I am falling fast into the land of dreams. Wishing I was grown. Bastion of Knowledge Bastion of Knowledge Did you ever wonder what it¡¯s like to be reborn into a new body, as a baby, with your whole life ahead of you again? You could do things differently! You could make a difference! Let me tell you something. Being a baby sucks, and not just in a little way, in just about every shape or form it sucks. I sleep, I eat, I piss and I poop, I wake up in said piss and poop. It. Is. Not. Fun. I know what your thing, this guy is reincarnated with his memories, and he will be OP and will learn all this cool shit and save the world¡­ Fuck That Shit. I don¡¯t know where you got that impression but might as well nip that in the ass, and shove it where there is a lack of sunshine. Yeah I¡¯m a former Marine, so my instincts will be to protect my fellow man, uphold Life Liberty and the Pursuit of the happy endings. But let me tell you right now¡­ It isn¡¯t easy being green. Ranting ending, I don¡¯t remember the car ride to the library, one moment I¡¯m dozing off, the next I¡¯m once again being thrown hither and yonder. ¡®Gods they need to invest into a baby carrier.¡¯ ¡°Come on Stacy, Let¡¯s get inside before anyone notices our car lights were on!¡± Derrick urges her to hurry, causing my stomach to protest more about the current treatment. ¡°Yes of course Derrick, let me toss the baby to you so I can hurry up! It¡¯s not as if I just gave birth less than 24 hours ago! Stacy replies Somehow I can actually hear him rolling his eyes, a feat not easily accomplished I assure you! ¡°Yes dear, I¡¯m sure that whenever Trevor or myself complain about being hurt or tired in the future, all we will hear is about how you were up and fighting the hordes of the system less than a day after giving birth.¡± ¡®ohhhh buuuurn¡¯ I think to myself, although in the past child birth probably took a lot out of women, it seems that with the changes in our biology the stat values have a more intrinsic effect. ¡®Makes you wonder just what it is that is the delivery system for the¡­ system.¡¯ Vaguely I make out the Marble steps and Columns of one of the larger County Libraries, it¡¯s still hard to focus on things farther away than 10 feet or so. ¡®It shouldn¡¯t be long now for the Quest completion, for the next phase¡¯ I think to myself as Stacy stops and waits to see if Derrick can get us in the building. ¡°Is it unlocked? Normally it would be open at this time of night, it doesn¡¯t normally close until 10:00, and it just turn 9:30.¡± Stacy comments, while shifting me once again to another side. I can hear Derrick attempting the various doors one by one until he gets to the second to last set, if I remember correctly this particular library had 4 sets of double doors, one of which was an automatic door with the handicap plate/button you push to open. It was this door that Derrick was able to get open, it seems someone forgot to turn off the handicap feature and low and behold the button sprung the magnetic lock and opened the door, just like we were invited in.
Quest Update! Your followers have moved forward with the assigned quest! They have gained access to a recognized Repository of Knowledge, Although the materials are not recognized by the system, the knowledge contained within, if preserved and copied using system approved materials, can provide many benefits! Rewards: 50 USC
¡®USC¡¯ what the hell is USC? I mentally click the USC tag in the quest update, and it brings up the following.
Universal System Credit USC is the standard medium of exchange used when purchasing anything from the system shop. Conversion rates to local currency: No Local Currency established.
¡®Well that sucks big ole donkey balls.¡¯ I think to myself while realizing that money is no longer valid on our planet, if we are to survive my folks better start learning this system, Unfortunately the Tutorial is only allowed for Children turning 10. ¡°Sweet!¡± I hear Derrick exclaim shortly after I finished reviewing my quest update. ¡° It looks like we are indeed on the right track Stacey. Did you get a reward as well?¡± ¡°Yeah 150 USC, whatever that is.¡± She responds while setting me down on the nearest desk. You guessed it, that whole waking up in your own pee thing¡­ yeah it happens¡­ Not ashamed. ¡°Nice, those are system credits you can use in the store, here open up your basic inventory and transfer them to me. I have an idea on how to get a good completion on this quest!¡± he responds with what I assume is energetic hand gestures, but alas he is outside of my 10 foot range of clarity. ¡°Fine, but if you do anything stupid with it you¡¯re not getting any more of my sweet sweet loots!¡± At this point I¡¯m really just annoyed, and want them to get a move on. Unfortunately I¡¯m still a baby, so listening to them is kinda the only entertainment I have at present. I can tell by the blue Glow that Darrick is looking through the menu system, probably the Shop. ¡¯Wonder what that boy has up his sleeve now?¡¯ I think to myself. ¡®If it were me I would find some way to increase my personal inventory, or perhaps get a small bag of holding if such a thing exists.¡¯ Two minutes later and small flash of light, in his hand appears a medium size backpack. ¡®That better be like the Tardis¡­¡¯ I think to myself as Stacy walks over to inspect the bag that Derrick is proudly presenting. ¡°I give you my credits, and all you get is a backpack? I know stuff is going to start to degrade, but we probably could have gotten pretty far with finding one in the lost and found.¡± Stacy rolls her eyes while berating Derrick for his tomfoolery. ¡°Now Stacy, I wouldn¡¯t just buy a normal back pack! Here take a look inside!¡± He says while holding out the bag and opening it up. Slowly Stacy peers at the bag then looks inside, ¡°huh? It¡¯s bigger on the inside!¡± she exclaims while sticking her arm in down to her shoulder. If I could face palm or shake my head I would, I mean I asked for it by bringing up the reference in my mind anyways. The universe is obviously perverse that way. It was not long after that they started ransacking the stacks for how to guides. While they were doing their thing, I decided to finish checking out the options for the system.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Greetings and Salutations! You have opened the Help menu! Please select from the following choices. Tutorial Options and settings Wiki-Guide Glossary Storefronts Guilds
¡®Let¡¯s see I already went through the Options and Settings section, let¡¯s check out the Wiki-Guide!¡¯
Welcome to the Wiki-Guide Personal Journal Wiki
¡®Well Personal Journal is self-explanatory, let¡¯s see if it will give us more information.¡¯
Your Personal Journal Welcome to your Personal Journal! Here you can document your travels and share them with your fellow sentients. New Audio Entry New Written Entry Past Entries Share settings
¡®Interesting looks like the system is promoting the sharing of knowledge and experience. At least it¡¯s not attempting to limit us with this I could tell my tale. Not that anyone would believe it.¡¯ After browsing through what amounted to a Glorified AR blog, with Voice, Video and Written options for entries, I back my way out of the Journal, and select the Wiki Program Instead of a Blue screen it load what looks to be a webpage. Link to Wiki ¡®Wow¡­ No Data Entered¡­ great¡­ so much for learning more about the current system and its features.¡¯ The wiki was blank, which begs the question. Was it erased while the Vheil was deployed? Or is it because the only known species in our solar system is us, and since we hadn¡¯t developed a system of writing when the Vheil went up there was no one who would enter information. Which begs the question, just who put the Vheil into place and what was the motivation behind it? ¡®More questions, with no answers in sight¡¯ I mentally sigh and attempt to browse the Storefronts. But both it and the Guilds options come with the lovely ¡°These options are available after completion of the Tutorial¡± ¡®Great stuck as a baby, now what am I supposed to do.¡¯ Fortunately, at that moment Dereck sweeps me up in his arms and starts heading towards the foreign section of the library. ¡°Okay little buddy, you¡¯re going to help your old man out, by letting me borrow your inventory space!¡± Dereck says while cradling me in one arm like a foot ball while he is quickly moving through the foreign books until he reaches the section for China and the Orient. ¡®My inventory?¡¯ I think to myself, which just so happens to bring up the most glorious sight I have yet to behold, 5 slots wide and 10 slots high interdimensional hidey hole of gloriousness. ¡®Well I¡¯ll be dipped in shit and hosed off with Gatorade.¡¯ An honest to Loki RPG Inventory screen! Using the parental controls and access Dereck proceeds to grab books and starts putting them in my inventory. Reading through the Titles as he grabs them, I noticed they were all manuals on various martial arts and cultivation techniques and theories. ¡®Smart kid this father of mine, he must have the Qi energy pool as well, and thought about learning how to harness it. It makes one wonder if this is a human trait, or if it is just special to certain individuals.¡¯ Just then.
Skill Material Detected! Congratulations, you have found data that can be used to grant skills! There are two options to learning Instant Learning Study Learning
¡®Define Instant Learning¡¯
Instant Learning Information and techniques contained in Skill Material is transferred to User. Skills learned in this fashion will feel like you have been through 2 months of training/study on the subject Caution!! Consumes Skill Material Data on use.
¡®Okay, so just like a game. Use the skill book get the basics and consume the skill book. Define Study Learning¡¯
Study Learning Skill Material is made available to user through HUD interface, including virtual practice areas. Skill is granted upon basic mastery, Time needed to acquire basic Mastery varies with individual. Skill Material not consumed in this manner
¡®Oh, Snap! Please say it bypasses the parental locks!¡¯ I choose a title label, ¡°A Complete Compendium of Cultivation¡± and select the Study Method. ¡®Anything to escape this boredom!¡¯
Assessing Skill Material Converting Material to Virtual Learning Environment Training Set Created: The Path to Enlightenment? Start Training Simulation?
¡®Yes!¡¯ I mentally shout at the system. Soon after I feel my consciousness fading like I am falling asleep, and suddenly I find myself standing, yes honest to god standing, outside of an oriental style pagoda. Red clay roof tiles, off-white plaster walls and black columns standing at the doorway. Also for some odd reason it had one of those Happy fat cats with the waving paw hanging from one of the corner overhangs. But that was not the most important part¡­ I could walk, ¡°I can Talk¡± Spiritual projection for the win. I make several fist pumps, did a couple of impromptu jigs, basically making a complete fool of myself. After I was done celebrating my new-found freedom, I decided I better be about it. I did not skip to the door, no matter what anyone could have saw, I confidently strolled up to the door and there I saw a long rope. ¡°What is a rope for if not for pulling¡± I said out loud, once more enjoying my own voice. ¡°DONG..........DONG¡­¡­..DONG¡± One quick pull of the rope started a loud church like bell to sound throughout the area. I didn¡¯t have to wait long until the large double doors started to open in front of me. Standing to one side, beckoning me entry is a short bald man, skinny but muscular. Upon entry into the building it opens into the main rotunda, part garden, part training green. Upon the grass is several individuals doing a good impression of Tai Chi, while an older monk like figure, is busy running a wooden rake through a sand garden. After taking in the sights I notice the young man gesturing politely to me, in order get my attention. ¡°Lay on McDough¡± I say in just about the worst Scottish broch you could imagine. While gesturing for the small monk to lead the way. The monk leads me on a roundabout walk around the outside hall lining the inner courtyard. The doors on the left, those that were open, looked to lead to storage and meditation rooms. While a staircase that lead downwards to what I could only assume was a basement was centered on the left side of the courtyard. Walking past I could hear the muffled sounds of flesh hitting semi solid objects, and barely heard ¡°Hai¡¯s¡± that punctuated each hit. You know, its awfully quiet. No one is talking. I¡¯m about to open my mouth to start asking the multitude of questions, when I feel an oppressive force bearing down on my psyche. Note to self: no talking in the hallways. As soon as the thought to start asking questions is gone, so is the weight on my mind. Soon we make it to the opposite end of the courtyard, and the smallish Monk opens another set of double doors and gestures me to proceed him. Briefly inclining my head in a small bow, I attempt a confident gait and enter, back straight, 30 inch steps, heal to toe. Just like on the parade field. Thank god, for the Corps. A glance at the room before me revealed a large audience hall, the only thing missing was the throne with a king in it at the far end, instead an older gentleman, sitting crossed legged on a small mound of pillows. As I march myself across the hall to present myself to what I must assume is the master of the house, I chance glances with my peripheral vision, noticing discrete guards positioned around the outside of the hall, looking almost like life like statues so still are they. Stopping, smartly and doing what still comes naturally to me I stand at attention and salute. ¡°At Ease, soldier¡± comes the soft voice in front of me, but I heard the steel underneath. A quote form Teddy comes to mind, Speak softly, but carry a big stick, I couldn¡¯t help but go to a modified parade rest, feet shoulders width apart, hands relaxed behind my back, eyes forward in the thousand yard stare. A soft chuckle reaches my ears, but I dare not glance, old habits and 25 years of indoctrination keeps my berring solid as tungsten. ¡°Old habits are indeed hard to break young man, but please rest, sit down and let us converse as men should, eye to eye, on the level.¡±