Welcome to Ivalice

""Dundundundun dun dun dundadun"

"Ack!! What the hell is that?"

'A strange horn blared in my head. What's going on?'

As I try to look around, I'm greeted with the same bleating.

"Dundundundun dun dun dundadun"

'Goddammit! What the hell is that noise? It is familiar though...'

As I try to remember the familiar tune, I start to realize that I don't remember anything. My name, my family, even what I look like. Everything is like a big, black blank. Struck by this, I try to look around again, but I'm greeted by the same darkness in my mind. Just as I start to freak out (due to the overwhelming dark expanse), I feel a presence behind me.

I turned quickly, and the sight that greeted me made my mouth drop (or so I assume)

A 1m tall mouse, dressed in gallant golden robes, with a long antenna topped off by a grapefruit sized red orb. It's hands are clasped behind its back and it held a small, silver trumpet. It's grand, king- like demeanor and golden aura lit up the darkness like a rising sun. It leveled its eyes in my direction, slowly bringing the horn to its mouth.

"Dundundundun dun dun dundadun"

"Welcome to Ivalice, kupo"

While he tried to come off as regal, the words just squeaked out of his tiny body. The contrasting image was too much for me and i laughed uproariously.

After a few more chuckles, the king mouse continued amid a twitching brow.

"Sure enough, kupo, this form is unlike anything you've seen in your old world so it would be... interesting. Well I'll save that for later. First things first, are you a boy or a girl?"

I grew more interested the more he talked. The fact that I had an "old world" and that this form he showed me wasn't apart of it. When I heard his question, my brow wrinkled.

'I'm obviously a man'

"So you're a boy. Good. What do you look like?"

I frowned again. I didn't know. As I thought more about it, I don't know how I was sure I was a man. I just sort of felt it.

'I'll try to feel it again I guess.' And then an image appeared in my mind. A boy with light red hair, green eyes, and a wheat colored face dotted with freckles.

"I see, so that's how you look."

My eyes snapped open, and no longer was darkness and a large mouse-man the only thing I saw. I now saw arms.

"These are my arms!"

"And that's your voice huh? I don't know what you were laughing at."

I couldn't help be laugh again when I heard him grumble.

"So where am I, what's Ivalice?"

"Ivalice is the country we are in. As for where specifically, this is the Western Beast Forest kupo."

The mouse chuckled as he spoke, a great dark forest sprouted up around them.

"Well, before I head off, I'll give you this."

With a flick of his finger, a gold beam shot out and hit me right between the eyes. I could see him smiling at me as everything around me faded to gold. The next thing I saw was a golden island surrounded by purple water.

I surveyed the island... its what I'd like to say. But with being only half a kilometer around and relatively barren, save a golden bush or tree sprinkled about, there wasn't much to look at. The only thing of note was a beat up wood shack with an equally beat up plaque by its door. Since it's the only thing here, I might as well take a look inside.

'Unlimited huh?'

The plaque only had one word on it, which I read briefly as I pushed through the door.

And what do you know... another flash of gold light.

This time, the light passes quickly and I'm left back in the forest.

"What the h..."

'Welcome to the Unlimited System. Input user's name.'

A dull, mechanical voice droned out in my head.

'What the hell is this?'

'Name: what the hell is this. Confirm, yes or no.'

"What? NO! Input name as... Wyatt"

'Acknowledged. User registered as Wyatt. System activation commencing. Brace yourself'

"Brace myself? For wh..."

I scan my surroundings, on the lookout for anything that odd voice might be mentioning, when I'm stuck by the most horrendous pain i've ever felt. Waves upon waves of soul- tearing pain forced my body rigid, the shock of it came so fast I couldn't then scream. After what felt like eternity, I passed out. And almost immediately I feel something jolt me awake.

I shoot up, only to be greeted by a great purple and gold expanse. I'm back on the gold island, but it's now 3 times as big. A few gold mountains sprouted up like weeds, topped with purple snow of various hues. Purple rivers crack the land and run into what is now a black- violet sea. Vegetation bloomed as far as he could see. Then my eyes fell on the Unlimited shack.

Well... it wasn't a shack anymore. In its place stood a grand mansion. It was made with a material that seemed to be neither wood nor metal, and was blacker than the starless midnight. With the accompanying accents in gold and silver, the whole thing looked like a glittering universe. Jutting out of the center courtyard was a massive 7 layered pagoda, with a large sign board reading "Unlimited" in gold letters.

As soon as I laid eyes on the sign board, an explosive sounded in my mind.

'Unlimited system startup complete. Displaying status.'

[USER: Wyatt

LEVEL: 1 (0/100)

RACE: hume

JOB: none

ABILITIES: none

SKILLS: none

*new* Gift from a God, open? (Y/N)]

A semi transparent blue screen popped in front of me, but at this point I don't think anything can shock me anymore. It turned out that I can see this screen even when I close my eyes. I tried to touch it, but my hand passed right through causing it to ripple a little. The gift I got didn't ripple, so I tried touching that and another alert rang in my head.

[100xp]

"Dundundundun dun dun dundadun"

'Received leather clothes.'

'Received sword. '

'Received rod.'

'Received staff.'

'Received bow.'

'Received knife.'

'Received legacy item: Dress sphere.'

'Received Golden kupo nut.'

'Received kupo nut X5.'

'System functions unlocked: Equipment, Inventory, Party, Attributes.'

'Skill recieved: Observe. '

Skill recieved: Change.'

[USER: Wyatt

LEVEL: 2 (0/500)

RACE: Hume

JOB: Vagabond (MAX)

ABILITIES: Combat specialist (LV1)

SKILLS: Observe (LV1), Change (MAX)

ATTRIBUTES:

-STR: 10

-END: 10

-SPD: 10

-AGL: 10

-MAG: 10

-MAGd: 10

- RESISTANCES:

10 free points

INVENTORY

EQUIPMENT]

'Avatar initializing'

A dapper man with salt and pepper hair, and neat, black suit appeared out of nowhere

"Greetings Sir Wyatt, I am the Unlimited avatar, I'm here to serve as your assistant. Let me explain to you what the Unlimited system is and does. After I'm done, feel free to ask any questions you have."

'Well it's nice to get some answers'

"In a nut shell, the system was created to uncover the mystery of the Final Fantasy, it landed in your soul, thus you are tasked with uncovering mystery."

[SSS rank mission: Chase the Final Fantasy - find clues into the Fantasy

Rewards: LOCKED Cancellations: none]

[E rank quest: WHELP - you a whelp, now go learn how to fight whelp.

Completion requirements: level 3 jobs to level 2

Rewards: 1 random Skill or Ability]

"Before you is the quest menu. Your tasks are broken into 2 groups, quests and missions. Quest are mandatory, generally used to push you along your path or to teach you new skills. There is no time limit on any quest you receive, as quests are handed down by the system. Missions, on the other hand, can come from anywhere. Finding a treasure, reading a book, taking to someone, all the can lead to a mission. Some missions can be abandoned, and others have time limits. In general, quests provide low but consistent rewards, but missions are highly varied."

"Your level is your general level of growth. Your job dictates what skill set you can learn. You have a Hidden Job [The Vagabond] which comes with the skill [Change] as well as the [Combat specialist] ability, use [Observe] to find out more information. Your attributes are your proficiencies in various fields, and dictates your affinity for certain kinds of jobs. Power references striking power, with or without weapons, endurance is your health, defense, and natural healing rolled into one. Speed dictates how fast you move, and agility is how deft you are with your hands. Magic power and magic defense are pretty self explanatory. Attributes rise with each level gained, and you receive free points on each level up which can be allocated into any group you choose. Inventory is where you store all of your junk and equip is where you set your load out. Any questions?"

It was a lot to take in, but I adjusted pretty fast. I mean, all I had before was darkness, so meh.

"I'll start with [Observe]. How do I use my skills?"

"For skills like [Observe], just think about it."

'What should I check out first? Well [Observe] [Observe].'

[Observe (LV1) - displays information about target. More information is made available as skill level rises]

After I check the rest of my status... [25xp]

[USERS: Wyatt

LEVEL 2 (25/ 500)

RACE: hume

JOB: Vagabond (HIDDEN JOB)

(Silent and mysterious, the Vagabond seems to have a means to any end, making ally and enemy alike.

Abilities:

All-arounder *passive* - the Vagabond can use any ability from any usable Job. *an increased affinity with some skills may decrease affinity with others*

What doesn't kill me *passive* - the Vagabond has a chance to learn a skill they are hit by *30% chance to learn upon being hit. 5% chance to gain enlightenment and learn skill or increase the level of the skill upon seeing said skill.*

Shifty *active* - when targeted by an attack, the Vagabond is protected by a nearby "friend" and escapes. *cooldown: 4hrs*)

ABILITIES:

Combat specialist (LV1) *passive* - Able to use all weapons. 5% damage increase with familiar weapons and 5% adjustment to unfamiliar weapons. *some weapons require certain JOB(S) to be unlocked*

SKILLS:

Observe (LV2) *active* - displays information about target. * target must be at or below skill LV. May fail.* *cooldown: 5 sec*

Change (MAX) - swap between equipped loadouts. current loadouts: 0/2 *loadouts increase as LV rises* ]

Before I could get any further, the avatar interrupted me.

'User, a monster approaches. I suggest you eliminate it to get acclimated to this world'

[ E rank MISSION accepted: First Blood - get your first kill

Rewards:Unknown Cancellations: YES Penalties on cancel: you don't want to know]

'I'll help you this time since it's your first fight. You can equip two weapons right now. Keep in mind that you can learn skills from weapons, but it takes some time, so I wouldn't suggest changing them in the short term.'

"Do you know what the monster is?"

'Yes User. It's a Horned Rabbit.'

'Just a rabbit... this will be cake.'

"I'll use the sword and the staff for now"

[Equipped: JOB- Soldier

Equipped: Soldier's Sword *primary* A basic sword

- Chop 0/100% - a skill used for cutting wood, adapted to the battlefield. *cooldown: 60 sec

Equipped: JOB- White Mage

Equipped: Acolyte's Staff *secondary* A beginner's staff for initiates on the path of Light.

- Cure 0/100% - cures small wounds. *cooldown: 45 sec]

I pulled out my sword and swung it around a bit. It felt like I could always use a sword.

'You're about to have an encounter'

"Bring it on. How bad can a rabbit really be?"

Out of the bush about 15m from me popped the rabbit in question. It looked like a regular rabbit, just with a glistening red horn on its head.

"What ever. I'll get rid of this thing real fast and get my rewards."

If only I had known what a death flag was...