Accessing the Fate System

"What do you mean Kieth is missing?" An older man with graying silver hair sat in a leather chair imported from Italy, a phone pressed to his ear. He had already sent everyone home for the day and preemptively opened a bottle of Scotch to celebrate the good news.

Today was the day that he would receive word about that little brat's debt from one of his top hitmen. The man was vaguely aware of the situation and knew that the debt had fallen to the rest of Alex's family. He had been mid-sip when the call came in, but the news was the opposite of what he had been expecting. 

The man forced himself to remain calm, his tone never rising above its current pitch. It wouldn't do well for one of the elite members of the Valdenci family to lose their cool, the others would see it as a sign of weakness on his part.

He gripped the glass in his hand tighter, whoever had taken Kieth was a threat to his business, and the family as a whole. "I don't care what you have to do, find out who did this and make them pay for crossing me. Either bring me their head or their rotting corpse." His steely voice rang out with clarity and left no room for argument.

"You have a week. If you fail to succeed, consider yourself fired." The thinly veiled threat didn't go unnoticed by the person on the other end. It was time to go hunting.

***

The scalding hot water poured over Alex's back, furthering to fill the bathroom with steam, despite the fan running. After the day he had, a hot shower was the only way he wanted to end it. It helped to bring clarity and a peace of mind to the reborn man.

He and Amanda had agreed to keep his identity hidden for now, it wouldn't exactly go well if they went to the enforcers about what Keith had done with a wild story about Alex coming back from the dead. Instead, they had taken care of the problem the old-fashioned way.

Alex had threatened to forever haunt Keith if he ever spoke a word about what occurred to anyone, and good old Southern superstition did the rest. Just to ensure they still had a few days' leeway before any repercussions came their way, the sibling duo had driven a few hours from the city and dumped Keith off in the middle of a random Californian desert. 

Once they got back to her apartment, Amanda bid him goodnight and shut herself in her room, leaving Alex to his own devices.

He hummed along to a tune from one of his favorite bands as the water cascaded over his muscled form, courtesy of the voice inside his head. It sure did pay to have a super advanced Bluetooth in his mind.

He ignored whatever scathing remark came his way from Virgol, but he was vaguely aware of just where he could shove that bottle of conditioner.

Instead, Alex turned his thoughts towards his sister. He didn't blame her for how she had reacted to everything, they weren't exactly close, and he was partially to blame for the distance between them. It didn't matter that he had intentionally shut himself off from his family to keep them away from the trouble he had gotten into.

Dying really brought everything into perspective for him; he thought he would never get to hear her annoying ass laugh or see her hazel brown eyes light up with joy ever again. The redhead that was his sister was headstrong and could handle anything that came her way, just like mom. He smiled somberly at the thought, their mother would be proud of who Amanda had become.

Still, he resolved to improve his relationship with her. He wasn't going to waste the second chance he had been given; he had to get stronger. For both of them.

After the shower, he settled into the cushions of the couch as best as he could, wrapping a blanket around himself. Amanda had said they could share a bed just like they had when they were younger, but they were older now, and things had drastically changed for them both.

He didn't need more awkwardness to form between them and had instead opted for the couch in her living room. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine that the cold roughness of the couch was just as soft and comfortable as a warm bed. It wasn't long before he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

[Host has not yet accessed the system. Would the Host like to refuse the gift of rebirth? Warning. Doing so will result in the user's soul being damned to the seventh circle of the Hells.]

Alex knew he was asleep, and yet he wasn't.

[Correct. We are in your mind.]

My mind? But ho-

[Host has not yet accessed the system. Would the Host like to refuse the gift of rebirth?]

No. Of course not. I don't think anyone wants to be damned.

[Excellent, prepare yourself for system integration, standby.]

[11%]

[32%]

[67%]

[100%]

[System Integration complete. Welcome to Fate's System Alexander Khelton.]

Alex was enveloped by darkness, aware that he was now somehow inside his own mind. A figure appeared on a platform in the darkness, and Alex knew that this astral manifestation represented himself in his own mind. A featureless and hollow man was how he envisioned himself, it made sense given that he had a new body from being rebirthed.

Without thinking, he opened his eyes, and realized he was using the eyesight of his manifestation. A translucent blue screen appeared before him.

[Fate herself has taken an interest in you and intervened in your rebirth process, saving you from a doomed destiny and a lifetime of servitude. Use her gifts and her blessings well. Grow stronger and become who you were always meant to be.]

[DING!]

[Blessings acquired! Blessings are passive effects that directly benefit the Host. New blessings can be acquired by achieving feats of strength and proving one's worth. They are upgradeable and will grow as you grow. You currently have 3/3 blessing slots filled.]

[Blessings: 3/3]

[1. Fate's Blessing: Fate has blessed you and bestowed you with a minute portion of her power, granting you better opportunities to get stronger. Not only are you luckier, but you will also have a greater chance of having fortuitous encounters.]

[2. Blessing of the Divine: The six ruling gods of Vorcast chose you for rebirth, due to this you have received their blessing. Your body has been enhanced and become stronger. The skills Silver Tongue and Holy Light have been acquired.]

[3. Mark of the Hero: Due to being reborn to fight for the side of Light you have received the Heroes Mark. Others who serve the Light are more likely to listen to you and adhere to your commands, you are naturally more charismatic.]

Alex certainly wasn't going to complain about having passive effects that directly helped him, and it definitely seemed to be that way. He would have to find a way to get access to more blessings, as well as upgrade his current ones.

[I am happy that you are pleased with your blessings, be warned that too many blessings may overwhelm your soul and make you unbalanced. Now, onto the curses.]

The what?!

[DING!]

[Curses acquired! Curses are passive effects that may negatively impact the Host. They may be acquired by directly altering the trajectory of your soul, or by committing evil deeds. You currently have 2/2 curse slots filled.]

Who would want to gain more curses? They sound like a pain to deal with.

[Not all curses are bad. There are those who willingly choose to take curses. Oftentimes curses are a double-edged sword, or they unintentionally have the opposite effect of what you would expect of a curse.]

[Curses: 2/2]

[1. Curse of Chaos: The raw and primal entities of Chaos have taken an interest in you, and given you their blessing. Due to this, you have a greater chance of having a chaotic encounter. Increased chance of encounters evolving in unintended ways. Increased chance of encountering powerful entities. You are also not likely to be slain on sight by the forces of Chaos, so long as you do not reveal that you serve the side of Light.]

[2. Touch of the Void: The forces of the Void have decided to mark you for an unknown reason. !#@$!#!#@$! Error! I am bound to never speak about the Void. She has forbidden me. But be warned that you are likely to be hunted for having such a mark.]

Alex sighed, of course there could just never be good things that happen to him. These curses sounded like they were gonna be a real pain to deal with, especially the one dealing with the Void. That one left his mind boggled and filled with questions, the most prominent one being why would Fate not let this system tell him what it did?

[I am happy that you are pleased with your curses, be warned that too many curses may overwhelm yo-]

Happy? With curses? Who the fuck wants to get hunted by all powerful entities?!

[Do not worry Alexander. They can not reach you in this realm yet. They are bound by rules, just like all beings of the universe. You are safe, so long as you do not go out of your way to anger them.]

Well, there go all my grand plans of pissing off every powerful being I haven't even met yet, what's next? Is Christmas cancelled too?

Alex was aware that he was once more arguing with a voice inside his head, while being inside his own mind, but that didn't change what information was being given to him. He felt like this Fate chick had basically pulled him out of the pan and into the fryer.

Maybe a lifetime of servitude was better than whatever was coming his way. He mentally stuck his tongue out at Fate before focusing back on the screen before his projection. It had shifted to reveal a "Main Status" page.

[Welcome Alexander Khelton, Hero of the Realms]

Name: Alexander Khelton/Alex Khelton

Age: 20

Level: 1

Class: Unassigned

Race: [F] Human

Alignment: [Earth] Forces of Light

Titles: Lesser than Trash

Available skill points: 0

Strength, increases physical damage and natural physicality: 13

Dexterity, increases sprint speed and athleticism: 12

Charisma, increases chance that others will like and listen to you: 11

Endurance, increases stamina and how hard of a hit you can take: 15 

Vitality, increases Health Point total: 14 

Intelligence, increases mana pool: 16 

Wisdom, increases perception: 14 

Luck: 18

Health Point Total: 150

Mana: 160

The screen before Alex reminded him of those old school RPGs he played when he was a kid before his parents split. Sure, there were some differences, but everything was fairly similar. He had stats, levels and there seemed to be a class he would be able to pick or unlock.

The only thing that he was unfamiliar with was the "F" next to his race. Were humans just that low on the list of races? If so, what other races were there, and how were they better? Putting that aside, he felt like his stats weren't too bad, but he already knew he would need to be a lot stronger. The only question was how.

[Be warned, these stats are a representation of your current state. Due to the nature of your rebirth, any stats increased through leveling/items or any other factors will be reflected in your body as it is on Earth.]

As the text faded from view Alex was left dumbfounded. The dots finally connected in his brain and things started to make sense.

He had wondered how he had run so fast to get to Amanda's apartment, and why he felt as if he had barely touched Keith but still knocked him out with one hit. His new body was far better than the old Alex, and if he leveled up, he would only get stronger.

Speaking of getting stronger, two blinking "!" were jostling each other for Alex's attention, and the second he acknowledged both of them, two notifications flashed on his screen.

[DING!]

[Skills page unlocked!]

[Quests page unlocked!]

He mentally shifted his view to the "Skills" page and saw two skills already sitting there, courtesy of his blessing. Though there was a third skill that he wasn't expecting to see, and when he read what it did, he could only smile.

[Skills]

[Silver Tongue (Passive): No matter whether you tell the truth or whether you lie, others are more likely to take you at your word.]

[Holy Light (Passive): You emit a holy aura at all times, blocking out those who would dare to read your mind and corrupt it.]

[Rage of the Hero (Active): You enter an enraged state, enhancing all stats and abilities by 100%. This state lasts for 60 seconds, and you will be fatigued after it ends.]

Though the drawback of being fatigued was there, being able to basically double every single stat was massive. If he could already knock someone like Keith out with one hit, imagine what he could do with this skill active. He would practically become a walking tank.

The other two skills were nice passives that would be useful no matter what. He was sick of voices in his head, two was more than enough. Being able to have others just take him at his word was also something that couldn't be overlooked, as there were likely to be moments where telling the truth wasn't gonna be an option.

All in all, he definitely wasn't upset with the fact that he had access to these skills. His smile only widened as he shifted his attention to the "Quests" page.