First Quest
It's been a few days since the system activated.
As the night wore on, Aiden found himself standing at the edge of the terrace of his dorm, staring at the stars.
The Astral Interface had the potential to change his life, and he wondered what other secrets it held. The system had not given him any quest at all yet. So he couldn't improve fast enough.
"I'm not making progress," Aiden said.
As Aiden was studying the System, a new notification blinked on the Astral Interface.
[Quest ALERT: Disturbance Detected]
Rewards :
- System Upgrade
- Skill Points +10
- $"%!"%^
- 350 XP
Penalty For Failure :
- The host must check the disturbance in the next 24 hours, or the academy will be obliterated
Shocked at the warning, Aiden accessed the alert. The interface displayed a map with a pulsing red dot far from their current location. The data suggested a massive energy surge, he was not sure what it was, but it seemed dangerous.
After careful thinking, Aiden sneaked out of the academy and headed towards the disturbance.
The journey took him through a dense forest, as he approached the area, the air grew thick with tension. The landscape changed dramatically, the trees twisted and dark, as if corrupted by some malevolent force.
"This place gives me the creeps," Aiden muttered, his eyes darting around nervously.
The Astral Interface was pulsing erratically, warning him of the danger ahead. he moved cautiously, every step echoing in the unnatural silence.
Suddenly, he stumbled upon a clearing. In the centre stood a massive, ancient structure unlike any he had seen before. It radiated a dark energy that made the hairs on Aiden's neck stand on end.
"What is this place?" Aiden whispered, her voice filled with awe.
Before Aiden could understand, the ground trembled violently. The structure began to glow, and a portal of swirling dark energy opened up in front of them.
"Shit!" Aiden shouted, but it was too late.
The portal's pull was irresistible, dragging he towards it. Aiden tried to resist, but the force was too strong. He was sucked into the vortex.
Aiden awoke in a dimly lit cavern, the air heavy with an oppressive energy. He struggled to his feet, his head pounding. The Astral Interface was still active, but its display was distorted and glitchy.
Gathering his courage, Aiden began to explore the cavern. As he moved deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels, he could feel a presence watching him, following his every step.
The cavern was unlike anything he had ever seen. The walls shimmered with an ethereal glow, veins of luminous crystals winding through the dark stone like arteries of light. Each crystal seemed to pulse with a rhythm of its own, casting prismatic reflections that danced across the cavern floor.
As he inspected the crystals with the system that was glitching, he was able to barely see its description.
[Item: Hig% Mana Crys&^$]
Description : %"^!^"&&
"Is it High Mana Crystals? The interface is very glitchy so I am not sure yet. But if it is this is lucky day, there are so many as well." Aiden said, delighted by his findings.
He quickly mined all the mana crystals he could see and stored them in his inventory.
"I will definitely be able to progress to the next few ranks with these," Aiden thought, considering giving some to Mark and Lena. "Since I have so many, I will sell some too for cash."
After storing the crystals, Aiden kept exploring the area. Strange, bioluminescent fungi clung to the walls and ceiling, their soft, blue-green light casting eerie shadows. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something else, something otherworldly. It crackled with latent magic, making the hairs on Aiden's arms stand on end.
Pools of liquid silver dotted the ground, their surfaces unnaturally still, reflecting the cavern's surreal beauty like mirrors. Tiny, luminescent creatures flitted around these pools, leaving trails of sparkling dust in their wake.
In the distance, Aiden could hear the faint, melodious hum of an unseen force, resonating through the cavern like a cosmic lullaby. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, dripping with glowing dew that splashed into the silver pools below, sending ripples of light across their surfaces.
As he moved further into the cavern, Aiden noticed intricate carvings etched into the stone walls, depicting scenes of ancient rituals and mystical beings. These carvings seemed to come alive in the presence of the crystal light, shifting and morphing into new shapes and stories.
Everywhere he looked, the cavern teemed with life and magic, a hidden world pulsing with secrets waiting to be discovered. The oppressive energy that had weighed on him upon waking now felt like a challenge, a call to explore the wonders and dangers of this enchanted underground realm.
"What is this place?" Aiden muttered, confusion etched on his face.
As he explored the cavern, he saw a path that had light at the end of it, so he walked towards it.
The path eventually led him to a massive chamber, at the centre of which stood a towering statue cloaked in darkness. Its eyes glowed with an eerie light, and its presence radiated a power that made Aiden's blood run cold.
Under the statue lay a few runes drawn and a skill book.
After making sure there were no traps in the room, Aiden proceeded towards the skill book and runes near the statue. He grabbed the skill book and stored it in his storage ring.
"What are these strange runes? They seem to be very high level, minimum of fifth circle maybe higher" Aiden pondered aloud, carefully scratching them with his sword to avoid touching them with his hand.
As he scratched them with his sword, the runes that were glowing stopped.
[Mission Complete: Disturbed an High-Level rune from activating]
"To think someone is able to enter this space rift," the statue said, its eyes fixed on Aiden with a menacing look. Its voice was a chilling whisper that echoed through the chamber. "How did you enter this place? You shouldn't be able to with your current power," it demanded.
"What are you?" Aiden asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
"I am the one asking questions here, boy. Who are you?" the statue retorted with an authoritative voice that almost made Aiden fall to his knees from the sheer pressure.
"Nonetheless, you have disturbed my peace with your nosiness, so you will suffer the consequences."
"Ugh..." Aiden grunted from the pressure.
"Oh... to think you are able to withstand my pressure. You must be a prodigy human. I will do the younger generation a favour and eradicate you from existence."
"I guess it wouldn't matter how you entered here, but since you did, you are going to stay here now... as a dead corpse, that is," the statue said, its eyes glowing with an ethereal light.
Aiden's hand instinctively moved to his weapon, but the statue raised a hand, and the shadows around Aiden came to life, wrapping around him like tendrils.
"Your power is impressive for your age," the Keeper said, "but you're still a grass."
The shadows tightened their grip, and Aiden felt his strength waning. But just as he was about to lose consciousness, the Astral Interface flared to life.
[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: Astral Escape]
Aiden's mind cleared, and he focused on the new ability. With a burst of energy, he shattered the shadows binding him and sprinted towards the exit.
"How is that possible?!"
"How does he have THAT? It should be gone from existence. I need to alert my main body, but I can't without a catalyst. DAMN IT!"
"I should have killed him straight away. I shouldn't have tried to toy with him." As the statue said that, its spine shivered from remembering what the guy that had the same thing had done to their race before.
Aiden stumbled out of the portal, gasping for breath. The clearing was empty, but he knew he had to keep moving. The mysterious statue was a powerful enemy, and he needed to understand what is going on.
The Astral Interface had saved him, but at a cost. The statue now knew his existence.
[Quest Completed!]
Rewards :
- System Upgrade
- Skill Points +10
- Intel on the mysterious statue
- 350 XP
[System Upgrade: The system will take a week to upgrade, during this time the user is able to use all the skills provided by the system. But cannot gain new quests.]
[Skill Points +10: The user will be able to upgrade existing skills level, or buy skills from the shop with the points]
[Intel on the mysterious statue: The host has made the statue aware of the system's existence, the host needs to increase his power as fast as possible to prepare for the main body of the statue that will look for the host an estimated 2 years from now .]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
"Okay, so the system is going to upgrade which is pretty good, I also got a very good power boost by the levels increase." said Aiden, very satisfied with the first 2 rewards. However, the third reward made him frown.
"So a powerhouse will come looking for me in 2 years... Great! absolutely Great. That's all I needed now, for a powerhouse to come looking for me when I just started gaining momentum" said Aiden with a depreciating look on his face
When he finally reached the academy, Lena and Mark were asleep. Aiden decided to keep this encounter to himself for now, not wanting to worry them.
"I need to prepare and get stronger, The system said that a powerful enemy of a high rank will know about my existence in the next 2 years and it will come find me" Aiden thought, his voice firm in his mind.
Let's check the new skill and stats. "Status!" Said Aiden, status was the word the he uses to open the stats interface of the system.
Name: Aiden
Title : NONE
Level: 3
XP: 50 / 400
HP: 180 / 180
Mana: 390 / 390
Fatigue: 48
Strength: 17
Agility: 15
Intelligence : 39
Endurance: 18
Charisma: 27
Luck: 32
(Available Points : 10)
(Skill Points : 10)
[Skills]
Passive Skills:
- Child of mana Lv. 1
Active Skills:
- Astral Escape Lv. 1
After looking at the system, he realised that he had accumulated a lot of fatigue with the encounter with that statue. However, it was worth it as his strength skyrocketed.
As Aiden was considering where he should place the Points, he realised that he should place 1 in intelligence to make it 40, 3 in luck to make it 35 , and 2 in endurance to increase his health. so he has 4 points left for emergency.
After allocating some of the points, he decided to check the shop for some skills.
"System display the shop for skills for me" said Aiden, as he stared expectingly at the system.
[Skills available for host currently are shown below]
Speed increase - Increases the agility of the user by 15% for 5 minutes
Cost: 2 skill points
Strength increase - Increases the strength of the user by 10% for 5 minutes
Cost: 1 skill point
Limitless Eyes - able to see the truth behind anything
Cost: 10 skill points
Sword strike - unleashes a powerful sword strike that holds 125% of the users strength in it. Has a cooldown of 10 minutes
Cost: 5 skill points
After careful consideration, Aiden chose Limitless Eyes which seemed to have a lot of potential and could help him more than other skills currently. After buying the skill, Aiden decided to check its detailed description.
[Skill Acquired: Limitless Eyes Lv.1]
Description: an innate gift rarely inherited within a powerful clan. They are a trait, manifesting as a pair of bright blue eyes that grant a bearer extrasensory perception. It allows the user to see the truth behind things and the faults within them.
"Wow, I knew it was a good skill but I didn't expect it to be this good." Said Aiden, as he read the description.
"Let me see the other skill Astral Escape"
[Astral Escape Lv.1]
Description: An ability that allows the user to teleport to a maximum distance of 1000m. Has a cooldown time of 1 month.
"This skill will be an amazing life-saving ability, it will allow me to teleport a large distance in an instant. Unfortunately, it has a cooldown time of 1 month. This should be able to decrease as I increase its level" said Aiden as he thought about this ability.
"Status!"
Name: Aiden
Title: NONE
Level: 3
XP: 50 / 400
HP: 200 / 200
Mana: 400 / 400
Fatigue: 30
Strength: 17
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 40
Endurance: 20
Charisma: 27
Luck: 35
(Available Points: 4)
(Skill Points : 0)
[Skills]
Passive Skills:
- Child of mana Lv. 1
Active Skills:
- Astral Escape Lv. 1
- Limitless Eyes Lv.1
Time to upgrade the system now.
"System, start the upgrade procedure," said Aiden as he closed the interface.