The system- Idros

Now that he has escaped the immediate threats of the forest and begun travelling towards Oreson, James decided to ask the system a few of the questions on his mind.

'System, are you there?' James asked, in his mind. He hoped the system would be able to communicate with him this way so that he didn't look like a lunatic talking to himself.

[Yes, I am here.]

'Oh, good' James inwardly sighed, 'how should I call you?' he asked.

[The host may call me Idros, this used to be my name.]

'Okay then, Idros, you should refer to me as James, I'm more used to that name than 'host'.' stated James before continuing, 'what are you anyway? I've never heard of a system despite living for thousands of years in my past life.'

[Thousands of years? Past life?] Idros sounded confused, he paused before coming to a realisation. [Of course, that must be how you managed to inherit my system. Anyway, to answer your question simply, a system is an artefact containing the power of a God. They are not that uncommon in this vast universe due to the enormous number of Gods fighting for power. If I'm correct, in your past life, you never truly stepped out into the broader universe and was only considered strong within your own planet; that would be why you are yet to hear of a system up until this point.]

'I suppose you are right, I never left my own planet in my past life. In fact, it was still unknown to me if life even existed out in the universe.' James replied with a smile on his face. A fire deep inside of him had been reignited, when the system first offered him power as a baby he wasn't particularly interested. But this was only because power had brought him nothing good in his past life. Now that he knew there were stronger people out there, his passion for adventure was regained as well as his urge to grow stronger.

'When we first met and I was a baby, you offered me power?' getting straight to the point, James asked Idros how he could assist him to grow stronger.

[For now, the system will provide you with quests until you reach a high enough level for us to fully integrate.]

'What do you mean by level, are you talking about martial art realms?' asked James, confused by the system.

[No, the levels I am referring to are something slightly different. Not only is the your level decided by your level of martial arts but also by your level of connection with the system and how experienced you are. To level up, you will need to gain exp; there are a few ways to do so. The first way is through facing opponents, be it spirit beasts or cultivators, being in actual combat will grant you exp, regardless of winning or losing. But winning grants more, of course. Another way to gain exp is through completing quests set by the system. This is just as it sounds and the more difficult the quest, the more exp will be rewarded. The final way to get exp is through cultivation. Absorbing qi and breaking through stages will grant exp.

To view your status screen, simply say 'status']

After taking in all of the information hurled at him by Idros, James tried out the new function. 'status'.

Upon thinking this, a translucent blue box popped up in front of his eyes.

[Name: James

Race: Human

Level: 1

exp until next level: (0/50)

Cultivation realm: No cultivation

Absorption rate (also known as talent): S rank

HP: 15/15

Strength: 3

Agility: 5

Endurance: 4

Stat points: 0

Skills:

~none~

Cultivation techniques:

~none~]

James looked blankly at the page for a moment, his face slightly pale and his jaw lowered out of place. His stats were to be expected since he had never exercised in this body before, but one thing was amiss.

"S rank talent!" he exclaimed. He then looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, with an embarrassed look on his face due to his sudden outburst.

'Was the measurement when I was born wrong, or did some weird phenomenon occur?' thought James, he was puzzled with his jaw still dropped as he continued to walk down the road.

[The measurement taken when you were born was accurate. During the installation process, the system fixed any abnormalities in the hosts body, this inevitably induced the increase in Qi absorption to the highest base rate.]

'Oh, I see' James nodded, satisfied with the answer given by Idros.

Just as he was about to ask Idros another question, he saw a large metal gate appear in the distance. After confirmation from a small wooden sign on his left that it was the right place, James sped up as he ran towards Oreson.

***

Joining a long queue of ruffed up adventurers, James blatantly stood out from the crowd. It wasn't uncommon to see poor children like him leaving the city, heading to the forest of spirit beasts. But it was another thing for him to return alive; without even a single scratch on him at that. Thanks to this, James could feel the stares of everyone around him as well as hear their whispers.

"He must of turned back before he even got to the forest, there's no way such a scrawny kid would survive if he went inside." a fat guard scoffed at James as he walked towards him, grabbing him by his arm. "Let me escort you home before you get yourself into more trouble." he said before leading James by his arm through the large metal gates and into the city.

Once they were inside the city, the guard tossed James on the floor before shouting "if you leave towards the forest again, you'd better be prepared to die." he then stomped off proudly, thinking that he had just left a deep impression on the small youth.