"Convergence Protocol will now commence."
[Loading...]
[Finished Loading]
"Experimental System is now in use."
As soon as the system finished integrating, I was met with a bright illumination as my eyes reopened.
There I was, on the same floor that I'd been on when I was picked apart alive by the feral beasts. Shuddering at the remembrance of the pain, I grasp my shoulders, then my chest, going over to my face to reaffirm my position. I wasn't injured, and actually... wait, I have arms and hands again!
Whatever this experimental system thing is, it's powerful. Although, I have a feeling that if I were to die like that again it would be more final, so I'll exercise caution henceforth. Now, I just need to figure out how the hell to get out of this place.
As I bring my hands back to propel myself up off the ground, I notice a tiny black box in the corner of my eye, positioned at my right side.
"What's that?"
Perhaps it's a reward from the system? If it is, I hope it's a weapon, or maybe some food. Either way, I'm sure it'll be useful.
Reaching out my hand, I carefully trace over the object before eventually grabbing on to it, revealing that it's... nothing? My hand seemingly passes through the box, as if it were a drawing. Wait.
I eye the box, affixing the majority of my focus on it before it eventually started to move. The box was in fact, 2-dimensional, and shifted towards the middle of my vision where it eventually expanded.
Nash Azrael - Status Window
General Information:
Name: Nash Azrael
Age: 18
Race: Human
Affiliation: Azrael Family (Outcast)
Physical Stats:
Strength: 10 (1)
Agility: 0 (23)
Vitality: 0 (1)
Intelligence: 0 (38)
Luck: 0 (1)
Abilities:
[Pain Resistance: Level 1]
[Slash Resistance: Level 1]
[Bite Resistance: Level 1]
[Acid Resistance: Level 1]
[Enhanced Healing: Level 1]
[Enhanced Strength: Level 1]
[Enhanced Deduction: Level 1]
[Swordsmanship: Level 1]
Skills:
[Energy Allocation]
The user can allocate their energy into specific constructs or abilities, allowing them to prioritize power for offense, defense, or enhancement depending on the situation.
[Mana Infusion]
This ability allows the user to imbue objects, weapons, or beings with mana, enhancing their strength or granting them special properties.
[Emergency Overdrive]
An emergency technique that taps into deep reserves of energy to temporarily exceed the user's normal physical or magical limits, though it leaves them weakened afterward. It's used in life-threatening situations for a sudden burst of power.
[Soul Circuit Overdrive]
By overriding the natural flow of their soul circuitry, the user can temporarily access forbidden energy, drastically enhancing their abilities. However, it risks permanent damage to the soul and leaves the user vulnerable after use.
[Night Vision]
The ability to see in complete darkness by converting ambient light into visible images, allowing the user to detect hidden objects or enemies. This enhanced vision works even in pitch-black environments.
[Abyss Archive]
A mysterious technique that grants access to forbidden or forgotten knowledge, including hidden spells and long-lost memories. It allows the user to uncover powerful truths, but at the risk of corrupting their mind.
[ʄɭαχ-ϝɛŗη]
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Woah! Talk about information overload. Although, a lot of these seem useful, there's one in specific I want to test out first.
"Night vision!"
Instantly the entirely dark room lit up, revealing everything inside as if it were broad daylight. The 'room' I was inhabiting wasn't really a room at all, it was almost as if it were its own separate realm. There was cobblestone lining the floor for what seemed to be forever, and there were walls and corridors that revealed separate passageways of which one could travel. There were a multitude of beasts lurking in search of prey or habitat, one of which being a herd of giant spiders crawling along one wall that I'd been situated near.
Thinking back on the crippling pain felt from the two beasts consuming me before my death, I shuddered at the thought of fighting even more creatures in this hell. Trying my best to stay silent, they slithered their way past me as I let out a quick exhale. With that out of the way, I allocated the entirety of my focus back towards the status window that I opened.
Looking to my 'energy allocation' skill, I couldn't help but feel relieved that my magic from lineage happened to migrate to this new system, allowing me to create energy constructs just as I had before.
But there's some new ones that I can't quite wrap my head around.
The mana infusion is self explanatory, but the emergency and soul circuit overdrive skills seemed to be a little arbitrary. Curious with the implications, I called out for 'emergency overdrive,' but was met with this system message:
[Skill prerequisite(s) not met]
It seems that there are some skills that require specific conditions to activate. How fun, this is like those RPG games that I used to play all the time. Alright then, how about this one?
"Abyss Archive!"
[Skill prerequisite(s) not met]
Seriously? This one is even more confusing than the last two. It doesn't even tell me when I can activate it.
Well, whatever, I'm sure I can figure it out along the way. What I'm really curious about is this skill, the one with the weird characters. I'm not going to begin to figure out how to pronounce it, but I am curious why it's so different from the rest. Although, if we go off of descriptions and my familiarity with RPG games, the forbidden knowledge granted by Abyss Archive may offer insight on the utilization of this weird skill that's distinct from the others. Although, that's just my own theory, and I have no real means to justify it until I can figure out how to use Abyss Archive itself.
"Grgghhh..."
Instinctively, I jolted my head back, revealing a six legged beast armed with a hairy mane coupled with human arms. The thing was ten feet tall, towering over me as I quickly made my way off the ground. However, the beast didn't wait for me, instead instantly bringing its leg forward to kick me, striking me in the chest and sending me flying ten feet.
As I was tumbling in the air, the creature wasted no time in chasing me, dashing towards where I was going to land before I'd even gotten halfway through to my destination. This thing is ridiculously fast!
[Warning: Opponent is strong]
No shit, system.
Regaining control of my body, I spin around and reform my body's axis as I brace for the creature's incoming attack. Bringing both arms to my chest, I take a two-legged strike from the creature as my body convulses back, the force so strong that my arms fly behind my torso with my entire body entering a phase of uncontrollable back flips.
As I make contact with the ground, the force continues to propel me back as my shoulder makes the first point of contact, bouncing back up into the air as I begin a sideways roll that enacted a series of touching the ground and being propelled back up into the air, convulsing my entire body and forcing my arms to hang by my sides.
As the force finally dissipated, I look towards the creature to see it sitting still, eyeing me with great caution; probably confused at me not getting dismembered instantly from its blows. From a glace, one could easily tell this creature was probably D rank, but I was by no means going to sit idly by and let it kill me as I just regained some control over my life.
Putting my hand on the ground to get back up, I feel a sharp jolt of pain, rising from my forearm and making its way up to my shoulder. Looking down at my arm, I see a big purple blotch of discoloration where I'd been struck, prevalent on both arms. It seems the creature was able to fracture both of my arms with a single strike.
The creature, taking quick note of this, charged at me once again, wasting no time in continuing its assault. I was, of course, helpless, and had to hop off my feet to get up instead of using my arms.
"I can't get hit by you, is all."
As I say this, the creature comes to a grinding halt and launches a fist towards me at full speed, trying to take me out in one swift motion. However, my agility is the one thing I've always prided myself in, and I wasn't going to bow out in front of this beast.
Easily sidestepping the fist, I make mental note of the creature's tendencies for attacks and move towards his blind spot, spinning around to his side and dodging another of his legs as he attempted to swipe my head off in a horizontal motion.
Did I get faster?
"Energy Allocation!"
Imagining a dagger, I let it materialize in my mouth as I quickly swipe away at the still hanging leg as it missed its kick, nearly severing it with a single blow.
Woah, I definitely got stronger!
"Grrraaaggghhh!"
It was then that the creature reeled back in pain, unleashing its deathly howls as it eyed me even more cautiously than before. Instead of its single-minded fighting from before of chasing me and attacking from the front, it took the approach of using its rear as it chased me down again and swiftly bent its rear in a manner of which to stagger me, however I was able to dodge it rather easily by performing a front flip right over the creature's head, lowering my own to stick my dagger straight into the brain of the thing.
As I came flying down, I tilted my head with my full strength to unleash a full power blow, so powerful that for a second, the slash was visible through its distortion of air pressure. Rending the thing's head vertically down into two, I collapse on the floor as the pain from my fractured arms catch up to me.
"I... won..." I say cautiously, waiting for movement from the beast to betray my expectation of victory, but as the body went limp and fell on to the ground, my best dreams finally came to fruition.
"I won!"
[+3 Stat Points]
[+3 Stat Points]
[+3 Stat Points]
[+3 Stat Points]
[User has obtained Secondary Status Window]