Awakening III
Sunlight shined down through the leaves of the dozens of trees above Magnus. He was a little distance away from his home this time, he didn't want to have to wash it and clean it again, that was quite a hassle.
This time, just in case, Magnus was fully mentally prepared for no matter what happened. He was holding a first-aid kit, a backpack filled with things he might need was strapped tightly onto his back, and he stood close to a river. He was ready for any sort of pain this time. He had even prepared a route and tent-like shelter.
Although he doubted that the pain would start again, he could never be too careful, in the event of the pain occurring again, he didn't want to be caught helpless again, as such he had brought anything useful with him.
He closed his eyes again to glance at the calibration progress,
『98%』
Magnus could sense it, he was minutes away from something life-changing, that's what his intuition told him.
Unlike the feeling he had last night when his entire body, as well as his intuition, was freaking out, causing him to be anxious, his body was completely calm this time around. In fact, it even felt joyful, if that makes any sense. That, along with his expectant intuition, made him subconsciously ease himself quite a bit.
He was taking a sip of water with his eyes closed, waiting for any progress with the 'calibration', when it finally happened,
『Callibration Complete』
He immediately opened his eyes and waited for any signs of pain or discomfort, a little on edge from yesterday's 'surprise attack'. He finally eased up after 30 seconds of nothing happening. He then closed his eyes again, finding even more messages waiting for him.
『Congratulations to the Host.』
『Host has successfully passed the test of willpower required to access the system.』
"Test of willpower? Is that what that was? You're saying I had to go through all that pain just for you to test me? What the fuck? Who even are you?"
『Answering host: The test of will-power is the only necessary requirement to access the system. Characteristics like power or strength are easily gained with the help of the system. The only prerequisite is to have strong mental power and perseverance.』
『"Who even are you, exactly? Tell me the truth, don't lie to me!"』
Information regarding the system's objective and identity is too far beyond the host's current soul strength, receiving such information will obliterate the soul of the host.』
『Would the Host like to proceed anyway?』
"What? No. Cancel, cancel that." Magnus wasn't sure what obliterating the soul meant, but he didn't want to find out. So far, all these messages did was scare him, he was a little worried, but surely this... 'thing' wouldn't be able to 'obliterate his soul' right? Either way, considering the pain he went through was due to it, he wasn't going to take any chances.
『Acknowledged.』
"Hey, Mister..... System, is there a way for your messages to be read out to me or something. It's a bit annoying to have to close my eyes and read all of this." He said, understanding that the System hadn't done anything to harm him...yet, and considering its previous couple of messages, it was very likely that it could possibly even kill him.
Thus, he was cautious with all of his words, trying to sound as polite as possible, which wasn't something he was ever taught about, and thus sounded pretty awkward, as he kept accidentally switching to his regular, informal way of talking.
『Processing Host's request.』
『Request Acknowledged.』
"Uhm... Thanks?"
< Messages shall now be presented in this manner as per the Host's request. >
"Woahh. Damn, that's... wow."
Magnus didn't have an expectation for how the system was going to end up 'talking' to him, but this was completely out of his expectations. It felt like raw, unprocessed data was being sent to his brain, and was then assembled into actual information. This was oddly satisfying.
What was strange was that this entire process was all instantaneous and that the system hadn't actually sent a message or talked to him. Even though the system had never taken the time to actually tell him that message, his memory was telling him that it had. However when he tried to recall what the system sounded like, or the time it had actually taken to talk to him, his memory just blanked.
"How are you doing that, Mister System?
"Hmm, nah it's okay, you said I wouldn't be able to do so in my current state, so does that mean I'll be able to do so in the future?" Said Magnus, knowing that his complete lack of talent would mean that even if it was possible for him to leave it, it would take a long, long time. Either way, it said he was not going to be able to learn it, but that was only temporary.
"Also, do you have a name or anything? It feels weird calling you Mister System. Wait are you female? Should I call you Miss System?"
Magnus let out a barrage of questions.
"Alright, let me summarize my thoughts and I have a few things I'm curious about right now. Please correct me if there's anything I'm misunderstanding, and please resolve my queries."
"Thanks. Umm, you won't mind if I'm not really polite, would you? I have difficulty talking like that"
The system immediately confirmed, to his surprise, that the relationship status between them was that he was the 'Host' and he could do whatever he felt like doing.
Oddly gaining a slight self-esteem boost, after seeing that the system talked pretty nice to him, considering everyone else in his life pretty much spat on top of anything he said.
"Ahem, so, firstly, what did you mean by power and strength are easily attainable with the help of the system? And secondly, what exactly do you do, mister system? Also, do you have any idea where my ring went? It was really important to me. Did it's disappearance have something to do with you, or did I actually just lose it?"
Each message entered his head one after another before he even had time to react to them.
"Uhhh, sure," replied Magnus, somewhat caught off guard by the amount of information the system had given him. Even though he now knew that the ring was now a part of him, he was somewhat dismal that he wouldn't get to see it for a while, until he 'Identically Recreated' it, whatever that meant.
[Host has passed the Test of Willpower.]
[Host has confirmed his position.]
After these 2 messages, a barrage of messages all appeared at once, without time for Magnus to properly read them all, but he was able to recognize them as the same functions the system had introduced earlier.
[Status Function has been unlocked.]
[Growth Function has been unlocked.]
[Inventory Function has been unlo...]
[Quest Function has be...
[Map Functio...
[Transl...
...
The messages paused for 3 seconds before even more immediately popped up.
['Strengthened Physique' has been acquired.]
['Resolute Willpower' has been acquired.]
['Rational Mind' has been acquired.]
['Master of The Philosopher's Stone' has been acquired.]
"Uhh, how exactly do I do that?"
"Oh, alright, that makes sense I guess."
Magnus then thought about opening his status, and the information about his status was immediately transferred to his mind, similar to how the system delivered its messages to him.
STATUS:
{Magnus}
Occupation: N/A
Titles:
-Master of the Philosopher's Stone( condition: Partially Absorbed)
Traits:
-Strengthened Physique
-Resolute Will
-Rational Mind
Stats:
Strength: 12
Agility: 11
Vitality: 32
Mana: 1
Spirit: 15
Skills:
N/A
"Woah. So the status is like a game-like interface? I like that, it's easier to read. Also, how come my vitality is so much higher than anything else. Is it because of the philosopher's stone fusing with me?"
Magnus nodded his head in understanding and took some time to completely observe everything about the status.
"Also, I wanted to ask about the skills part. The only way to acquire skills is to enter the tower, right? And also, are my stats above or below average? I can't tell if I should be happy or not."
[Commencing final part of Introduction]
"Commencing what?"
[Acquiring skill: Mana Mastery]
Before Magnus even got to say anything, he had already acquired the skill, which was displayed in his status. He was pretty annoyed, though.
"Wait what? No, wait, don't I get to chose what skill I want? You said those are all high-grade skills, can't I get a skill to like fly or something."
Seeing the ever polite tone of the system, Magnus realized that it was doing its best to help him, and he should've tried and controlled any negative feelings. "Ah, it's alright then, I guess. Thanks, system!"
[Skill Acquired: Mana Mastery]
[Mana Stat has increased by 50]
['Mana Circuit' has been acquired.]
['Blessed by Mana' has been acquired.]
"Woahh, I thought it would only be one skill." Magnus had received a whopping 50 mana, which was just barely smaller than every stat he previously had, all added up.
Magnus looked at his status again to confirm the changes, and there it was.
{Magnus}
Occupation: N/A
Titles:
-Master of the Philosopher's Stone (partially absorbed)
-Blessed by Mana
Traits:
-Strengthened Physique
-Resolute Will
-Rational Mind
-Mana Circuit
Stats:
-Strength: 12
-Agility: 11
-Vitality: 32
-Mana: 51
-Spirit: 15
Skills:
-Mana Mastery
'I wonder if it'll show an explanation for the skill if I think of it.' thought Magnus, and right on queue, as if waiting for him to think so, the description popped up on his status.
-Mana Mastery {passive} :
Host now has the ability to produce the purest form of mana. All mana will bend to the Host's will, and gives the Host affinity to all elements and attributes.
Gives the Host complete control over mana, and mana will now bend to the Host's will. Gives the Host affinity to all the elements and attributes. Host now has the ability to learn to cast magic.
Magnus read the description multiple times, pondering over every word. He was really pleased with this new skill. His weakest point, his mana control, now became his strongest suit.
It was then, just as he was about to thank the system once again-
[The Philosopher's Stone (condition: partially absorbed)'s is reacting to the pure energy present in your body.]
"It's doing what now?"
-------------------
(Another small Author Note: there might be a lot of different titles, skills, and overall information that'll be hard to actually remember, so don't worry about it, these names are explained a lot more later when they get their time to shine. For this novel, I wouldn't recommend skim-reading, however, don't try and remember each part of each person as well, if that's how you like reading, feel free, but you don't exactly...need to. Anyway, this is just for reference to all my incredible readers. <3.)