Transcendence

Chapters

Transendence: The Auction
Transcendence: The System
Transcendence: The First Mission Part One
Transcendence: The First Mission Part Two
Transcendence: The First Mission Part Three
Transcendence: We Call this a Difficulty tweak
Transcendence: A Whole New World
Country Roads
A Deal Of A Lifetime
A Start
Character Sheet
Transcendence: The Beginning

Transendence: The Auction

I had died or at least I thought I had. After I “died’ I found myself in a void floating, with my body from before I had gained any of my scars. Floating there I wondered where I was, it felt like eternity but eventually the oppressive darkness gave way to light and soon after, noise much like that you'd hear in the hustle and bustle of a large city came to my ears all the voices drowning eachother out in a cacophony of noise. As my sight adjusted I found myself on a stage in full view of a bunch of “beings' ', I say that because most of them definitely did not look human. I stood there for not even five seconds when a very tall anglo man with two faces began to speak to the other beings

“Welcome Gods and Goddesses to our final soul of the night, here we have the final survivor of the human race, who might I add survived two entire years on the planet's surface.” the two faced man announced. This was quickly followed by what I assumed was hushed murmuring.

“Now then,” He continued “Let's start the bidding at 3 million Karma!”

A being of red swirling sand and fire lifted something up. “We have 3.5 million from the God Set, anymore takers?” The salesman said. Another being that I could only describe as a desecrated corpse lifted something up.

“And we have another bid for 4 million from Vecna! Anymore takers?” This went on for sometime eventually coming down to three beings. The first one was a young women wearing some weird dress with hair that seemed to glow with a gentle light her eyes a kind orange yellow that seemed to flicker like a campfire, the other was a beautiful women who had an assortment of large cats at her side liquid gold seemed to flow from her eyes as she would wipe the tears from her eyes every so often, and lastly there was a bird headed man in a stained lab coat various symbols seemed to float around him as he was vigorously scribbling things down on something.

“And the final bid of 50.00001 million Karma goes to Freya!” the two headed man declared pointing at the women with a bunch of cats. As the now named Freya starts walking towards the stage, I see from the corner of my eye someone lift something else causing everyone present to stop and look at him, mouths agape and eyes the size of platters.

“W- we have an unprecedented offer” the two headed man states nervously, “It seems that one of our patrons is putting up a new bid with an item worth two hundred fifty million Karma, that item being one of his hidden spells. Would anyone else like to put up a higher bid?” I didn't wait even a second before the bird man came up to the stage and grabbed my arm, looking around the room I saw the bird man smile when I heard something pop at my vision shift from the stage to some room

I stood there dazed about what had just happened, and looking around at the room I expected it to be some weird grotesque place. Instead it was a normal, slightly messy, living room with a Tv, a couch, and a coffee table. The bird man sat on the couch and motioned for me to sit with him.

“Who are you?” I asked a hint of my nervousness creeping into my voice.

The bird man smiled at me before changing in front of my eyes, his bird head was replaced with that of the aged face of a tanned middle aged man wearing some sort of eye liner, his lab coat was replaced by a t-shirt with a stylized quill and ink pot on it as well as a pair of black sweatpants.

“To answer your question, young one I was known as Thoth by your people.” he answered me in a kindly tone.

My eyes widened slightly at his answer, “Thoth?” I asked.

He nods.

“The Egyptian god of knowledge?”

“Indeed” he responds “Though I’m not only the god of knowledge, however that is irrelevant as of right now as I need to prepare you.”

“Prepare me for what?” I questioned.

“A death game of sorts, I believe the most appropriate term for your generation is a Battle Royal?” He briefly explained.

My eyes widened in horror as my jaw hit the floor. “You want me to fight in a Battle Royal?”

“Well I’m not going to send you in there unprepared, that would be a waste,” He stated matter of factly.

“A waste of what?”

“Potential of course after all I did pay a hefty amount for you.”

“I don't understand.”

He seemed to ponder this for a small while then started explaining it to me. “All beings have different strengths in the astral body or a soul as most call it, soul strength dictates many aspects of a creature's body and mind, humans such as Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and Adolf Hitler are just a few examples of particularly strong souls. Yours however is quite possibly the strongest one to date.”

“How would you know that?” I asked curiously.

“Because you survived the mana injection for two years.”

“Mana injection?”

He nodded, “The various gods, including myself, injected a fraction of our power into your world so that we could find suitable candidates to fight for us.”

“You caused this?” I asked as my rage began to build

“Well not me specifically but I suppose that I did have a helping hand in a sense.”

I lunged at him, not the smartest move but I was angry no, more than angry. However, I hit what felt like a soft cushion before falling back onto the couch.

“I suggest that you don't do that, you might accidentally hurt yourself,” He told me to no avail as I kept trying to attack him, eventually resorting to throwing the various things in the room. All of it bounced off of the shield he had around him. Eventually I my rage dimmed and I fell onto the floor, crying. I cried until my eyes were puffy, I screamed until my throat was raw, and then I sat there, dejected, broken. I sat there for what seemed like hours until Thoth came up next to me and started speaking.

“I apologize about what happened to your planet, but you must move on if you wish to survive,”
Thoth consoled me.

“Don’t talk like you know what im going through,” I spat back at Thoth with a much venom as I could manage.

I saw his face fall as he continued looking at me, “I know i have no right to tell you to move on, nor do i know the full extent of your sorrow.” He paused briefly, “However I do want you to win, so I ask that you tolerate me for a time so i can teach you the necessary skills to live.”

I processed this for a while before making up my mind, “Fine, but I want you to give me every opportunity to get stronger.”

He flashed me a smile, “Of course, After all I want you to win as well.”

End of Chapter 1

Transcendence: The System

Thoth had been explaining the rules of the Battle royal to me, they were fairly standard. Last one alive won and so on. However, the “System" was new to me.

“So, the system is like an RPG?” I asked again.

“Kinda, you see right now you’re in your Astral form, now normally we gods attach the system to our avatar as soon as possible as a soul is delicate when it lacks a physical body. The System rebuilds a body most suited for the user allowing the soul to flourish. However, since your soul is powerful enough to remain clear and cohesive, I've abstained from doing so.” He paused briefly to let me try and wrap my head around it again.

“Ok I think I understand but, will it hurt?” I questioned.

“I don't know,” he told me.

“Alright lay it on me” I say, bracing myself for any pain.

I felt a hand being placed upon my shoulder before a burst of brief pain racked throughout my body quickly followed by a cold feeling that spread throughout my body. Opening my eyes, I see what looked like some sort of digital screen in front of me, kind of like one you'd see in vr.

“So, this is the system you told me about?” I asked curiously.

“Yes, it was fashioned after those video games you humans love so much,” He replied.

I looked at the top of the screen, “Character creation?”

“Yes, your old body would be unable to withstand the amount of power you'll be receiving, so a new body infused with divine power is created via the system,” He explained briefly.

Scrolling through the “character” options I see various things besides humans such as dragons, demons, lycanthropes, and so on.

“So, what are you going to choose?” Thoth asked me.

“Probably just a human,” I replied.

“Really?”

“It would be weird to try and learn how to use wings or how to run with a vastly different leg structure,”

“That's fair.”

My eyes look over the various options, but nothing truly stands out to me, going back to the human option I pick. This leads me to a customization screen where I can choose my skin tone as well as my eye and hair color. For my skin tone I just went with tanned, for my eye color I chose my original eye color that being gray, and finally for my hair I chose dirty blonde. After I clicked confirm, I was prompted to put in my name.

“Shouldn't the system already know my name?” I asked.

“Don't be silly,” Thoth said, “It isn't alive.”

Shrugging, I put down my name, Alexander Hamilton Kane. Once I clicked confirm, again, a pale gray glow enveloped me and a couple of notifications clouded my vision.

System Message: The user has chosen their race as “Human” the following buff(s) shall take effect.
Since the beginning humans have always strived to innovate and adapt

Karma gain permanently increased by 25%
You have an additional resistance to fluctuating temperatures.
When creating something new the chance of success is doubled

System Message: The user has discovered a hidden buff.
The Greeks believed that those with gray eyes were blessed by Athena, Goddess of wisdom
[list*] Karma gain permanently increased by 25%System Message: The user's patron has been registered as Thoth the following buffs shall take effect
Thoth, also known as Djehuty, was worshiped as the god of knowledge, writing, and every so often the god of the moon or magic
Karma gained permanently increased by 50%

User will automatically know the advanced encryption/decryption skill
Users innate magic potential shall be increased by one level
User has an increased potential for time magic

System Message: Users soul strength has been measured at mid-high transcendent rank, the following shall be made available:

3 transcendent innate skill slots will be given.
The skill “astral form” will automatically be given.
A skill store coupon will be given

System Message: The user's patron has been detected as Thoth the innate skill “Knowledge of the ages” is available to be chosen.

“Are you finished?” Thoth asked.

“I think so.” i replied as I continued looking at my interface.

“Good, then let's move onto skills, oh and what kind of skill slots did you get?”

“Three Transcendent innate skill slots,” I replied.

Thoth's eyes widened, “Three?”

“Yep”

“That's unheard of.”

“Well, that's what it said.” I told him.

He slowly nodded, “Well anyways in the interface there should be a tab that says “Store” click it and purchase the skills.”

“What do I buy them with?” I questioned.

“I'll be paying for the skills so don't worry about it.”

“Alright then.”

Carefully looking through the variety of skills up for grabs I recall that I had gained a coupon for the store, going back to my inventory I clicked on the coupon.

Skill store coupon: A rare item given to the last one to perish on their planet, it grants the owner the authority to purchase one skill from any category for free.

Going back to the skills I select the transcendent category, and carefully scroll through the numerous skills, some of them such as time magic and absolute luck catch my eye. However, I do eventually find the three transcendent skills that I want.

System Message: The innate skill “Knowledge of the Ages” has been selected and applied to a transcendent skill slot, the following will be applied.

Transcendent effect: Karma gain permanently increased by 300%
Legend effect: when a skill reaches max level it will have a higher chance of evolving into a skill of a higher form.
Hero effect: The chance to gain “enlightenment” is increased when training.
Soldier effect: language comprehension skill (lvl max) added.
Civilian effect: you gain a photographic memory as well as heightened mental functions.

System Message: The innate skill “Creation” has been purchased and applied to a transcendent slot; The following will be applied.

Transcendent effect: Ultimate crafting knowledge unlocked.
Legend effect: Cutting edge crafting knowledge unlocked.
Hero effect: High end crafting knowledge unlocked.
Soldier effect: advanced crafting knowledge unlocked.
Civilian effect: basic crafting knowledge unlocked

System Message: The innate skill “innate combat potential” has been purchased and applied to a transcendent slot, The following will be applied.

Transcendent effect: gene limiter removed.
Legend effect: all combat related skills are 50% easier to obtain.
Hero effect: all weapons gain a unique effect when used.
Soldier effect: the stats of all weapons are increased by 50% when used by the user.
Civilian effect: combat awareness, and flexibility increased

I felt my senses expand; every little detail seemed to pop out at me. A piercing headache assaulted my mind as I felt my perception change, my mind quickly reorganizing itself as every memory seemed to slot into place much like books on a shelf and with just a thought, I could remember anything with nearly perfect accuracy. My headache eventually subsided and after briefly looking around I spotted Thoth.

“How long until I'm put into the Battle Royal?” I questioned.

“A week,” Thoth replied.

“Teach me how to use my skills effectively then.”

“With pleasure.”

End of Chapter 2

Transcendence: The First Mission Part One

During my week with Thoth, he taught me as much magic as he could, mainly survival spells such as, create/destroy water, create fire, basic transfiguration, and the magic missile spell. Thoth also bought me all of the crafting knowledge up to High-end and by the time the week was over I had a pretty good handle on the stuff he taught me.

Now was the time for the first quest to start, with a wave of goodbye to Thoth I was transported to an open field with grass that reached my chest, in the distance I could see a thicket of tall trees. I slowly made my way to the trees making sure to watch each step I took, after all I didn't know if there were any snakes or traps. Thankfully I didn't encounter anything on my way, and after making camp I opened up my interface and read the quests description.

System Message: The quest “Prove Thyself” has been activated.
Quest Objective(s):

Survive 28 days (time remaining 27h 40m 37s)

Completion reward: end of the tutorial

Failure penalty: Death

Bonus Mission (repeatable): Kill the field boss(s)

Bonus reward(s): ???

‘Seems simple enough,’ I thought to myself while I set up camp. I lit a small fire pit and built a sturdy lean-to. I also set up a couple of snare traps in the hopes of a small game, but I didn't count on it. With the last couple hours of daylight, I gathered whatever I thought was useful, such as some fibrous plants, a couple of rocks I found, a decently long stick, and a good chunk of flint from a nearby stream.

Using my magic I get rid of the moisture in the fibers and fashioned a decent twine, using a flattish rock I knapped some of the flint into a spear head, afterwards I used the pieces that came off to debark and straighten the wood as best as I can, I also condensed my create flame spell to carefully burn out a slit for the spear head, finally I affixed the spear head to the shaft with the twine I made as well as some tree sap I had gathered nearby. I looked over my creation and despite not having any modern tools I think I did quite well with what I had.

System Message: The Hero grade item “Barbarian spear” has been created

Barbarian Spear stats:
Attack: 20
Speed: 30
Special effect(s):
Rage: once a day the user can go into a rage quadrupling all physical abilities for 30 seconds (requires mana to activate)
Piercing: weapon ignores 25% of the opponents armor
Bleed: each strike has a 20% chance to cause the target to gain the bleed effect

‘Seems pretty good,’ I thought to myself briefly. Putting it next to the lit fire I gradually fell asleep as the sun set.

That was my first mistake.

Howling, that's all I heard when I woke up. Fortunately, the fire was still going strong, unfortunately the fire destroyed any night vision I might’ve had. I closed my eyes and focused solely on my hearing, I could hear the gentle chirps of crickets, the various field mice scurrying through the underbrush, but below all of that there was the sound of something approaching from behind, barely discernible from the rest of the natural sounds in the forest, I slowly picked up my spear and waited for it to get closer, it stopped after getting to the edge of the firelight and waited. It felt like forever, but I could hear its muscles creak as they tensed and it eventually leapt into the air, whirling around. I tried to stab it, only to watch it disappear for a second and reappear farther away.

‘Short range teleportation?’ I thought to myself. Looking over the beast I now saw that it was some sort of large black cat, much like a puma, except it had two tails. I widened my stance and prepared for it to lunge at me and watched it as it circled me. I racked my brain for anything that could help me as I knew that this beast would easily overpower me in physical combat.

‘create/destroy water!’ I thought, ‘Blood is composed of a majority of water meaning if i destroy the blood in its brain it'll suffer near immediate death.’

With this thought in my mind, I started preparing the spell in the back of my mind while I focused on the teleporting cat. We stood there staring at each other for a little before it disappeared again, swinging my spear around like a bat, I heard a crack and what I assumed was the cat scampered away into the bushes. I stayed alert to make sure that it didn't feign fear.

I slowly relaxed after a while, putting some more wood on the fire. I cast the alarm spell so that I wouldn't be caught off guard again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple hours later

I woke up, the sun golden had just risen over the mountains in the distance shining light over the fields and trees, and though it felt warm upon my skin I still felt cold deep within my bones. I checked my traps to see if I had trapped any small game, to my delight I had captured a small rabbit. I hesitated, I loved animals, but I had to survive. Putting the small blade up to it neck and closed my eyes as I quickly slit its throat, I felt it try and struggle to get out of my hands but, I only tightened my grip as I felt its movements slow down and eventually all I felt was twitching, skinning it carefully I took any meat i could easily cut off and cooked it after rekindling the fire, and after drying the hide I poked some holes on the edges and slid some twine in them making a small bag. I didn't have the capacity to make it into a void pouch, but some additional storage is better than none. I put up my camp and started exploring my surroundings more thoroughly.

I did find a few more useful plants and what could possibly be the tracks of the teleporting cat. Though I did also find some tracks of a hooved animal, however I don't trust that it's a moose or some other herbivore considering the teleporting cat, but I didn't have much of a choice as I needed armor if I wanted to face any of the bosses or at the very least get rid of the cat so I could (hopefully) sleep peacefully.

It had been a couple of hours since I started following the tracks and I had confirmed one of two things. It was either injured as I had seen a thin trail of dried blood or it had killed something and was carrying it in its mouth, and that it was most likely walking on two not four hooves. It wasn't very long until I was hit with the smell of decay, a pungent smell that threatened to overwhelm my senses, I felt bile rise in my throat, the smell threatening to overtake me.

‘Definitely not a moose’ I thought to myself as I covered my nose in an attempt to block out the smell. I heard something snap from my left. As I slowly turned towards the sound, I saw one of the most horrific creatures I had ever laid my eyes on, it had a lanky emancipated body, long claws extended from its hands, and instead of a head there sat a large deer skull with two glowing sickly green orbs, where its eyes would have sat. We stared at each other for an instant before both of us moved, it lunged towards me, its claws extended, I lunged into its guard and stabbed at its chest. I barely scratched it, I tried to jump back but its claws scored deeply across my chest. The force flinging me into a nearby tree. *crack* I heard it before I felt it but I knew something was broken. I screamed in agony, as I felt myself start to slip, when a single thought wormed into my head.

‘THE SPEARS EFFECT!’ The thought struck me like a lightning bolt, unfortunately the spear was a ways away and that thing was approaching me slowly. I called up whatever little bit of strength that was left within me and started crawling towards the spear, I watched that thing pause for a second before it continued to stalk me. I was sure it thought I was trying to flee but I would have the last laugh, hopefully. I eventually made it to my spear with the beast nearly on top of me.

‘Rage,’ I thought, activating the skill, I felt strength surge throughout my body and the pain within my back diminished greatly. If I focused on it, I could feel a twinge of pain, but that didn't matter right now. I charged the monster with my spear, it attempted to swat me away once again as one would do to a pesky fly, however I stood my ground and while it was painful, I kept going and started desperately stabbing it as many times as I could in the chest. After about 20 seconds of me repeatedly stabbing it in the chest, it finally collapsed into a heap. Using my last few seconds of strength, I mangled its arms and legs just in case it was playing dead.

I collapsed in a heap as I felt the buff's effect end and the agony in my bones made itself known. It took hours to mend them, constant cycling between using the various healing spells and waiting each agonizing hour as my mana regenerated. I had gotten a notification about something, but my focus was on fixing myself. After hours of mending them little by little I was eventually able to stand with little to no difficulty, so using my magic I started the slow trek back to camp with the dead monster in tow.

Transcendence: The First Mission Part Two

I trudged back to camp with the beast in tow, the sun had set long ago with only a small magic flame to light my way, the cherry red flames flickering in its entrancing, yet chaotic dance as the shadows lapped at the edges as I let its light guide my steps back home.

After several more hours I finally made it back to camp with the beast in tow, and after scrounging up some wood to start another fire I opened up the interface.

Defeat field boss(es) (repeatable):

E rank boss “Windigo” killed

Reward(s): Book of Bifrost magic, lesser shard of gluttony (x3), and 8000 karma will be given to the player shortly.
(Karma gained has been adjusted due to current buffs)

Achievement(s):

Monster Mash: You are the first to hunt a boss, you have been gifted 20000 Karma
(Karma gained has been adjusted due to current buffs)

Solo leveling: You have fought and defeated a boss one grade higher than you by yourself the active skills “limit break” and “final stand” have been gained

E: you are the first to hunt an E grade boss, you have been gifted 20000 karma
(Karma gained has been adjusted due to current buffs)

System Alert: You have obtained at least 1000 karma, would you like to unlock the “stats” panel?

‘Stats?’ I questioned to myself before clicking yes, ‘If it's anything like video games this is about to become fun.’

The user has unlocked the stat panel

Hidden achievement “stat man” found

Stat man: you are the first to unlock the stat panel you have earned 4000 Karma
(Karma gained has been adjusted due to current buffs)

Stat Panel
Name: Alexander H. Kane
Species: human
Class: N/A
Subclass:N/A
HP: 200
Mana: 400
Str: 15 (+)
Dex: 15 (+)
Con: 20 (+)
Int: 40 (+)
Wis: 20 (+)
Cha: 20 (+)
Lck: 40 (+)

Active Skill(s):

Limit Break lvl 1 (+)
You have overcome the limits of your frail body and can do so again, temporarily.
Effect: all stats are quadrupled for 30 seconds
Cooldown: (2 days)

Astral form lvl 1 (+)
The monks of old believed that one could untether their soul from their body and achieve enlightenment, they were right to an extent
Effect: Through meditation you are able to temporarily exit you physical body, during this time your body become vulnerable, and you risk attracting unwanted entities however, you also increase your chances of reaching enlightenment

Fire magic lvl 2 (+)
Fire is both a giver of life as well as the taker of it use it wisely lest you burn yourself
You are able to use novice fire magic

Water magic lvl 2 (+)
Water is the lifeblood of all things without it nothing exists
You are able to use novice water magic

Earth magic lvl 2 (+)
Tough as steel, but malleable like gold
You are able to use novice earth magic

Wind magic lvl 2 (+)
Strike as swift as the wind, and as heavily as a hurricane
You are able to use novice wind magic

Passive skill(s):

Last Stand lvl 1 (+)
You are the first to stand and the last to fall, as you weather adversity.
Effect: When you are below 50% health your armor is increased by 50% when below 15% health your armor is increased by 100%

Advanced encryption lvl 1 (+)
Ignorance is bliss, or in this case sorrow
Effect: You are able to encrypt documents you write with an advanced cipher.
(Encrypting 1 sentence takes 1 minute the higher the skills level the faster it is, familiarity with the chosen cipher also affects speed of encryption)

Advanced decryption lvl 1 (+)
Knowledge is power
Effect: You are able to decrypt advanced ciphers
(decrypting 1 sentence takes 1 minute, the high the skills level the less time it will take, familiarity with the cipher you are trying to crack also affect how long it takes)

Language comprehension lvl max
Effective communication is the foundation of trust
You are able to quickly learn, understand, and speak any language after studying or listening to it for a little while

Spearmanship lvl 1 (+)
Primitive pointy technology
Effect: 10% damage increase when using a spear

Craftsmanship lvl 5 (+)
From the dawn of time humanity has always strived to improve.
Effects: You are able to make moderately complex tools, weapons, and armors

Innate Skill(s)

Knowledge of the Ages lvl max

Transcendent effect: Karma gain permanently increased by 300%
Legend effect: when a skill reaches max level it will have a higher chance of evolving into a skill of a higher form
Hero effect: The chance to gain “enlightenment” is increased when training
Soldier effect: language comprehension skill (lvl max) added
Civilian effect: you gain a photographic memory as well as heightened mental functions

Creation lvl max

Transcendent effect: Ultimate crafting knowledge unlocked
Legend effect: Cutting edge crafting knowledge unlocked
Hero effect: High end crafting knowledge unlocked
Soldier effect: advanced crafting knowledge unlocked
Civilian effect: basic crafting knowledge unlocked

Innate combat potential lvl max

Transcendent effect: gene limiter removed
Legend effect: all combat related skills are 50% easier to obtain
Hero effect: all weapons gain a unique effect when used
Soldier effect: the stats of all weapons are increased by 50% when used by the user
Civilian effect: combat awareness, and flexibility increased

‘So that's all of my stats and skills?’ I questioned, ‘but what's with all the plus’s? I don't see an exp bar of any sort.’

I clicked on the plus next to the skill Novice spearmanship and saw a little prompt pop up

Would you like to level up the skill “Spearmanship” to level 2?

This will cost 10000 Karma.

Yes—————— No

‘So that's how you level up stuff? By spending Karma? Seems a bit pay to win but alright.’

After thinking about it for a bit I clicked yes, my available Karma instantly shot down to 41000 and my skill showed that it was now level two with a 20% increase to damage when wielding a spear. I still had 41000 Karma so after a bit more thought I put 40000 karma into my craftsmanship skill bringing it up to level 9 leaving myself with 1000 Karma. With nothing else to buy I started dissecting the Wendigo as best as I could, a lot of its hide was damaged but there was enough to make a cloak and some gloves, the head could be used as a mask after being cleaned, and the bones and tendons could be used to upgrade my spear and maybe make a bow with some arrows.

While I was still dissecting the Wendigo, an ice blue book that shined like a rainbow, and three small purple beads. When I picked up the book another prompt came up asking me if I wanted to learn Bifrost magic. I, of course, clicked yes and felt a wave of knowledge crash into my mind as I gradually soaked it up like a sponge. After a little while It was all neatly organized in my mind and ready to be practiced with. Next, I picked up the small purple beads and looked at them carefully, the system said that they were lesser shards of gluttony though their effect was unknown. This made them potentially dangerous however the name struck a chord with me. If there are gods there are also demons and from my knowledge of anime, and the admittance that the gods fashioned the system after RPG’s so it's not too far-fetched to think that I would gain some sort of ability. I spent a while thinking about it weighing the pros and cons. Eventually, I decided to take the risk, I cautiously picked up and examined the pills one last time before swallowing them all at once, not the smartest move but I thought it would improve my chance of getting an ability.

A cold feeling spread throughout my body, before it exploded into pain, I was screaming before the pain even registered my bones cracked and tore through my skin while my muscles spasmed and contracted all at once, and I felt something warm leak out of my skin, despite all this I felt as though I was freezing. I briefly considered jumping into the fire because i was so cold, but I held on and waited for what seemed like eternity.

I don't know when the cold stopped but I started to feel the heat of the fire again as the pain in my body subsided. Quickly looking over myself I found that my body did not go through any immediate physical change. However, it was a different story once I opened the interface.

System alert!
The user has consumed a lesser shard of gluttony the following shall take effect

You have permanently gained 2 constitution and 1 strength

System alert!
The user has consumed a lesser shard of gluttony the following shall take effect

You have permanently gained 2 dexterity and 1 intelligence

System alert!
The user has consumed a lesser shard of gluttony the following shall take effect

You have permanently gained 2 intelligence and 1 wisdom

System alert!
A random mutation related to gluttony shall be gained
Calculating…
The skill “Hunger” has been gained

Hunger lvl 1
Feeling peckish?
When eating a creature that you have killed you have a 5% chance of gaining an increase in a random stat proportionate to 10% of the stat they had rounded down (minimum of 1) and a 1% chance of gaining a random skill they had, the skills level proportionate to 10% of the skills level rounded down (minimum of 1)

A hidden achievement has been found!

Hellboy: you are the first to gain a sin related skill! All sin related skills will receive a permeate 100% boost in their effects!

Hellish: you have received your first sin skill; you will receive one sin fragment of the appropriate type

‘Well that's pretty cool’ I thought to myself, I didn't know what the sin fragment did, but I bet that it would be useful later on. The thought of the chance to gain skills and stat points from eating the stuff I kill was also pretty cool. I quickly looked over to the butchered wendigos corpse with only one thought.

How do I cook it?

Transcendence: The First Mission Part Three

I don't know what I expected when I tasted the wendigos flesh, but I didn't expect it to be delicious, like fresh veal cooked and seasoned to perfection. maybe it tasted so good because it almost killed me? I don’t know but after I devoured all of the flesh and materials too damaged to use in crafting. A notification alerted me that my strength had increased by 10 bringing it up to 25. However, I unfortunately did not gain a skill though I did expect that I wouldn’t consider it was a 2 percent chance. What did surprise me though was the next notification that I got

System Alert!
The user has devoured a lesser demon of gluttony the skill “Hunger” will level up by one

‘Now that’s interesting’ I thought to myself.

I pushed that thought out of my mind however, as I was unlikely to encounter any more gluttony demons. So instead of thinking about that I prepped all of the materials for crafting, I tanned the hide, and shaped the bones. I took out my barbarian spear and slowly started to replace the materials in it, the handle was replaced with a shaped femur and the blade was replaced with a serrated blade made of the windigos claws, I made a basic cloak and some gloves from the windigos hide, and after cleaning and sanitizing the skull I fashioned it into a helmet, Finally Using the rest of the materials I fashioned a crude bow with a dozen arrows.

System Alert!
The following legend and heroic item(s) have been crafted:

Wendigos claw (Legend grade)
Attack: 35
Speed: 45
Special effect(s):
Decaying strike: when an opponent is struck with this weapon a stack of decay will be applied to them for a maximum of 5 stacks, lasting for five seconds however the time will reset on each successful strike. Each stack causes -15% regen, -10% speed, and -5% armor
Piercing: hits ignore 25% armor
Bleeding: each strike has a 30% chance to cause the bleed effect
Causes the holder to suffer from the decay status when held

Winters hunger (Heroic grade)
Physical armor: 50
Magic resistance: 75
Special effect(s):
Winter's wrath: ice magic cost 25% less mana and does 30% more damage
Hunters mark: you are able to mark you prey and can sense their general location so long as they are within a mile of you
Night sight: you are able to see perfectly in complete darkness
Winters bane: you take 40% more damage from fire (does not stack)

Cloak of Frost (Heroic grade)
Physical armor: 20
Magic resistance: 40
Special effect(s):
Predator's grace: your movements are nigh-silent
Winter's embrace: you are immune to the freezing status effect
Winters bane: you take 40% more damage from fire (does not stack)

Winters hand (heroic grade)
Grave’s touch: you are immune to the decay status effect
Cold blooded: you cannot be seen with heat based detection
Winters bane: you take 40% more damage from fire (does not stack)

Wendigos howl (heroic grade)
Icicle shot: every shot will apply one stack of the freeze effect for a maximum of 5 stacks, lasting 45 seconds, each new stack resets the time: freezing deals 1 health of damage per second
Heavy hitter: weapon does 25% more damage to armored targets
Freezing touch: the user suffers from the freezing status effect

Frost shot(s) x12 (heroic grade)
Damage: 50
Special effects:
Durable: Arrows are 50% less likely to break when being fired and hitting a target
Cold shot: applies one stack of the freezing effect for a maximum of 5 stacks, lasting 45 seconds, each new stack resets the time: freezing deals 1 health of damage per second
Icy aura: damages any non ice based weapon it is fired from

My eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight of their stats, quickly putting them on I felt an immediate change. My footsteps were lighter, and my arms felt stronger. I could see everything as well, as the once lengthy and dark shadows of the forest all but disappeared. I was slowly getting my bearings again when another notification popped up, this one notifying me that I unlocked the set bonus predator which allowed me to eat raw meat with no drawbacks.

It was off putting to say the least, but considering I did eat the wendigos flesh I wasn't completely put off by the idea of eating raw meat. I slowly gathered everything I needed and went hunting.

~~~~~~~~~~Sometime later~~~~~~~~~~

It was terrifyingly easy to hunt normal animals, deer, rabbits, raccoons all of them died easily and all of my previous apprehension toward killing them quickly disappeared as a strange bloodlust overtook me as I continued to devour their corpses for the small chance to get a stat or even a skill. I don't know when I came to but when I did I was surrounded by the gore of various animals mauled and mutilated beyond recognition, blood covered my form.

“What happened?” I asked aloud in confusion.

I sat there horrified for a good while, until I noticed the notifications on the interface.

System alert!

The user has succumbed to the influence of the windigo armor!

The user will lose all higher thought and go on a rampage for x days!

Rewards for killing any bosses during rampage will be withheld

Gluttony related skills will have double the chance of triggering their effects

System alert!

The user has been on a rampage for 5 days,

the user has begun to meld with the wendigos spirit the following shall take effect:

All stats and effects of windigo related items shall increase by 50% from base stats

The level of the skill “hunger has increased by 2

System alert!

The user has been on a rampage for 10 days,

the user has further melded with the wendigos spirit the following shall take effect:

All stats and effects of windigo related items shall increase by 50% from base stats

The level of the skill “hunger has increased by 2

System alert!

The user has killed the E rank boss “Lesser Troll King”

The reward(s) Book of helms and hearts, Lesser Troll Kings tunic, and 8000 karma shall be gifted at the end of the rampage

System alert!

The user has devoured the The lesser troll king

The user has gained 5 wisdom

The user has gained the level 2 skill “rapid regeneration”

The user has devoured a gluttonous creature the level of the skill “hunger” shall increase by 1

System alert!

The user has broken free of the wendigos influence after 15 days, further melding shall halt

I started panicking the more I read through the notifications. How the hell did I go on a rampage, and what the hell does melding mean? I quickly started to look over my body for any changes, my skin on my arms had become stone gray only stopping a little bit after my shoulder blades. My body had also noticeably thinned, and when I tried to take off my gloves it felt like I was trying to tear off my skin. I calmed down slightly when my cloak and helmet came off easily.

I sat down and started to take some more deep breaths, after a while I reopened the interface and navigated over to stats.

Stat panel
Name: Alexander H. Kane
Species: Human wendigo hybrid (Majority human)
Class: N/A
Subclass: N/A
HP: 220
Mana 420
Str 25 (+)
Dex 18 (+)
Con 22 (+)
Int 42 (+)
Wis 25 (+)
Cha 20 (+)
Lck 40 (+)

Active Skill(s):

Limit Break lvl 1 (+)
You have overcome the limits of your frail body and can do so again, temporarily.
Effect: all stats are quadrupled for 30 seconds
Cooldown: (2 days)

Astral form lvl 1
The monks of old believed that one could untether their soul from their body and achieve enlightenment, they were right to an extent
Effect: Through meditation you are able to temporarily exit you physical body, during this time your body become vulnerable, and you risk attracting unwanted entities however, you also increase your chances of reaching enlightenment

Fire magic lvl 2
Fire is both a giver of life as well as the taker of it use it wisely lest you burn yourself
You are able to use novice fire magic

Water magic lvl 2
Water is the lifeblood of all things without it nothing exists
You are able to use novice water magic

Bifrost magic lvl 1
The power of bifrost is said to bring eternal winter
You are able to use novice bifrost magic

Earth magic lvl 2
Tough as steel, but malleable like gold
You are able to use novice earth magic

Wind magic lvl 2
Strike as swift as the wind, and as heavily as a hurricane
You are able to use novice wind magic

Passive skill(s):

Hunger lvl 7
Feeling peckish?
When eating a creature that you have killed you have a 22% chance of gaining an increase in a random stat proportionate to 20% of the stat they had rounded down (minimum of 1) and a 8% chance of gaining a random skill they had, the skills level proportionate to 10% of the skills level rounded down (minimum of 2)

Last Stand lvl 1
You are the first to stand and the last to fall, as you weather adversity.
Effect: When you are below 50% health your armor is increased by 50% when below 15% health your armor is increased by 100%

Advanced encryption lvl 1
Ignorance is bliss, or in this case sorrow
Effect: You are able to encrypt documents you write with an advanced cipher.
(Encrypting 1 sentence takes 1 minute the higher the skills level the faster it is, familiarity with the chosen cipher also affects speed of encryption)

Advanced decryption lvl 1
Knowledge is power
Effect: You are able to decrypt advanced ciphers
(decrypting 1 sentence takes 1 minute, the high the skills level the less time it will take, familiarity with the cipher you are trying to crack also affect how long it takes)

Spearmanship lvl 2
Primitive pointy technology
Effect: 12% damage increase when using a spear

Craftsmanship lvl 9
From the dawn of time humanity has always strived to improve.
Effects: You are able to make moderately complex tools, weapons, and armors

Innate Skill(s)

Knowledge of the Ages lvl max

Transcendent effect: Karma gain permanently increased by 300%
Legend effect: when a skill reaches max level it will have a higher chance of evolving into a skill of a higher form
Hero effect: The chance to gain “enlightenment” is increased when training
Soldier effect: language comprehension skill (lvl max) added
Civilian effect: you gain a photographic memory as well as heightened mental functions

Creation lvl max

Transcendent effect: Ultimate crafting knowledge unlocked
Legend effect: Cutting edge crafting knowledge unlocked
Hero effect: High end crafting knowledge unlocked
Soldier effect: advanced crafting knowledge unlocked
Civilian effect: basic crafting knowledge unlocked

Innate combat potential lvl max

Transcendent effect: gene limiter removed
Legend effect: all combat related skills are 50% easier to obtain
Hero effect: all weapons gain a unique effect when used
Soldier effect: the stats of all weapons are increased by 50% when used by the user
Civilian effect: combat awareness, and flexibility increased

I stared at my various skills and decided to dumb the rest of my karma points into intelligence, increasing it to over 50, hopefully that would help me against that hidden check. There were no more notifications after that so I closed the interface and gingerly put my armor back on. As soon as I did I was bombarded by a splitting headache however it passed just as suddenly as it came. I then quickly made my way outside the forest, the interface said that I had about 6 days left and I planned to make the most of it.

I traversed throughout the various terrains of the tutorial area, encountering many beasts of varying strengths, I devoured each and every one I encountered earning me a plethora of stats, and even a couple of skills here and there. My first stop was the mountain where I encountered the Yeti with its great strength and resistance to ice damage, I had a difficult time restricting it, however with time and patience I was able to fell the beast and devour its flesh, unfortunately i did not gain any stats or skills though its loot was more than worth it.

Afterwards I made my way to the peak of the mountain where I encountered a dragon boss. This fight was so much more difficult than the Yeti solely because it could fly, using the spell create/destroy water I destroyed the blood within the dragon's head instantaneously killing it, I don’t know why I didn't just use that spell for the yeti or even the wendigo, but I digress. I found out when I killed it, I found out that it wasn't a dragon, just a Wyrm. And after devouring it I gained 20 Dex and the skill fire resistance at level 2 so that was nice.

Finally, there was the ocean boss, and I’ll tell you now that it was a walk in the park just freezing the water in it a boom! I did have to drag it out of the water to eat it but that was more tedious than hard, and once again I didn't gain neither stats or skills, but I did get an achievement so that's something.
System Alert!

The user has achieved the impossible!

The user has defeated all of the bosses of the tutorial area! A total of 100000 karma will be rewarded!
(Adjusted due to current buffs)

The user has single handedly defeated five bosses of a higher grade than them the achievement “The bigger they are” and the unique class “Monster Hunter” has been unlocked

Achievement(s)

The Bigger They Are
Grants one hero grade innate skill slot and unlocks the ability to purchase the lion heart innate skill

“Amazing,” I whispered to myself, I thought that you couldn't get anymore innate talent slots, opening the store I went to the innate skills tab and looked up Lion heart

Lion heart
The bigger they are the easier they are to strike

That was all that the description gave, my thoughts wondered what it specifically did though from the description it probably made taking down stronger monsters easierIt was 20000 karma though I could easily buy it, it was still a big investment. But after some more thought about it I decided to make the investment.

Lionheart lvl 3

Transcendent effect: ???
Legend effect: ???
Heroic effect: you deal 30% more damage to enemies above your grade and your attacks ignore 10% of their armor
Soldier effect: you deal 20% more damage to enemies above your grade
Civilian effect: you deal 10% more damage to enemies above your grade

I grinned from ear to ear at the sight of lionhearts effects, it was a huge boon and will definitely help at later levels so all in all I was happy with it. Closing the store interface I checked the time on the quest.

System Message: The quest “Prove Thyself” has been activated.
Quest Objective(s):

Survive 28 days (time remaining 2h 28m 7s)

Completion reward: end of the tutorial

Failure penalty: Death

Bonus Mission (completed): Kill the field boss(s)

Bonus reward(s): ???

As the final hours went by, I gathered my items, and prepared myself for what is to come.

Later on, I would realize that this was a turning point for everyone.

For better or for worse I've yet to know.

Transcendence: We Call this a Difficulty tweak

“Attention Players!” A deep guttural voice boomed from above, “For those of you that have passed the tutorial congratulations, however for those of you who haven't, well…” The voice chuckled darkly. “You aren't here to hear me anyways, now then let's get you all out of that dreadful world.”

As soon as the voice finished I found myself in a room with hundreds of other people. I was slightly disoriented from the sudden shift, but sobered up when the voice started speaking again

"Now then since you are all settled i would like to once again congratulate you all for surviving, out of the 2.8 billion that survived the mana injection a total of 1.12 billion have survived, an amazing amount I assure you. However, let's get on with the rest of it." The voice cleared their throat, “first off none of you will be returning to earth for a good while.”

A large ruckus erupted as people were talking over each other, some of them even broke down further, perhaps realizing that this wasn't just a bad dream, however soon after there was nothing but silence, people were still trying to talk and scream but no sound came out.

“Better” The voice muttered in annoyance, “Now then before we let you loose there are two things you should know. One, you will all start on a variety of planets, some easier than others but all difficult in their own right.” The voice explained carefully, “And two you must all choose a difficulty mode, this will determine what world you will be sent to. Keep in mind that the higher the difficulty the higher the rewards you will be allowed one earth hour to discuss this with your handler.”

And with that little tidbit I found myself back in Thoth's flat.

“Thoth!” I yelled out.

He popped out of a nearby doorway in his human form grinning ear to ear and proceeded to crush me in a massive bear hug,

“I knew that you would survive Alex but to kill every single boss in the tutorial zone? Amazing!” Thoth exclaimed jovially.

I just stood there quietly waiting for him to let go of me.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait for too long, “Um Sorry?” He apologized sheepishly, “I was just excited, this is the first time any player killed all of the tutorial bosses.”

I silently looked at him.

“Come let us discuss what's next.” Thoth gestured over to the couch.

Following him I sat down on the couch and watched as he sat across from me.

“First off, what difficulty do you want to do?” He asked hesitantly.

I didn't respond for several minutes as I considered my answer.

“The hardest difficulty there is,” I said to Thoth.

He nodded gravely, “I thought you would say that, so here.”

He reached over and pressed his hand to my chest. A cold feeling permeated throughout my body as I felt something change within myself.

“What did you do to me?” I questioned, fear gripping my ever so slightly.

“I noticed that you gained a demon skill, so I went around and collected some favors from a couple acquaintances of mine and got some powerful sin fragments.” He told me.

My fear slowly faded, “Is that even allowed?” I questioned.

Thoth chuckled, “technically no but I guarantee that the others are doing something similar as well, and you need not worry too much about losing control to the sins as I made a deal with another god that would let you receive a skill to improve your mental strength.”

“What sort of deal?” I asked.

“In exchange for him giving you the unbreakable will skill you need to sign a patron contract with him.” He explained.

I looked very closely into Those eyes , the look in his eyes made him look beyond tired, switching my focus to the rest of him he looked frazzled, hair out of place, shaking hands, and bags beneath his eyes.

I sighed, “What would this entail?”

He perked up at this, “Well you would get some of his exclusive skills and in exchange you would need to spread his stories, as well as mine of course.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Spread his stories?”

He nodded in a half hearted way, “He, unfortunately, did not owe me a favor like the others so I had to make a deal, I had no way to contact you to ask your opinion so I could only guess.”

I sighed again, “It's alright Thoth you know that I want to become more powerful so I’m good with it.”

A relieved grin flashed across his face, “I thought you would be mad.”

“Wouldn't change anything even if I was,” I replied with a shrug.

“That's fair,” he said.

“So how am I supposed to sign a contract with him?”

Thoth pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen, “Just sign this.”

I took the contract and pen from Thoth and slowly read through it. There were a couple of strange clauses but nothing that would be detrimental for myself, in fact it looked too good to be true. However the last cause made me raise an eyebrow.

“Thoth?”

“Yes”

“This last clause states that I must, and I quote get revenge upon the gods for myself and my siblings, any reason for this?”

Oh, well, um… You see, originally the gods of the apocalypse wished to be the ones to bring the end to humanity as foretold, however many of the other gods voted on the outcome you are currently experiencing,” Thoth finished nervously.

“Did they participate in what happened to me?”

Thoth shook his head, “No they refused to participate after the other gods decided to use humans as toys.”

I nodded and signed the contract, “So long as they did not participate in the mana injection I'm fine with working with them.” I finished saying as I handed the contract to Thoth.

He took the contract and nodded mutely

“Is something wrong Thoth?” I asked curiously.

He slowly nodded, “Do you resent me?”

I chuckled, “yes, I may be willing to work with you and chat with you but I do resent you,” I smiled “I resent all of the gods that caused me pain.”

“I see,” He replied sadly.

“So then who is this other god I had to contract with?”

He paused for a second, as if considering his answer, “He is known as Narinder, one of the horsemen of death, you should get all of the new skills when you are sent to your spawn area so to speak”

“Alright then, anything else?”

“No.”

“Bye then,” opening my interface a selection screen popped up asking me what difficulty I wanted. And after briefly second guessing myself I selected the hardest difficulty. Once I selected the difficulty I felt myself being swept away.

‘Whatever may come’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ll be ready’

I wasn't ready

Transcendence: A Whole New World

I found myself in the middle of nowhere, cracked brown earth laid beneath my feet, gnarled and twisted trees scattered around, with yellowed grass sparsely dotting the barren landscape. With a quick look around and a shrug I chose a direction and started making my way that way. As I slowly made my way through the desolate desert a notification popped up on my interface and after opening up, I was bombarded by alerts and notifications.

System alert!

The user has chosen the difficulty Very Hard difficulty

The users home planet is Equus

The user shall return to their home planet after cooperative mission are completed

System Alert!

The user has contracted with The One Who Waits

The innate skill Unbreakable Will is available for purchase

System Alert!

The users Patron The One Who Waits has gifted the player the following

The innate skill “Unbreakable Will”
A legend grade innate skill slot
The Legend grade weapon “Reaper's Blade”
The Legend grade Book of death magic
Note

System Alert!

The players patron Thoth has given the user the following skills

Rage
Indolence
Jealousy
Ego
Avarice
Desire
Starvation

System Alert!

The skill Hunger has advanced into the skill Starvation!

System Alert!

The user has gained one of each sin skill, the achievement Sinner Man has been unlocked

Achievement(s):

Sinner man: you are the first to gain all sin related skills! All sin related skills will receive an additional permanent 100% boost in their effects!

An avalanche of pain overtook my body as I felt my entire body structure shift, bones breaking and snapping into place, tendons twisting and pulling, blood and pus oozed from every pore and gash in and on my body. I forced myself to stay awake throughout the entire ordeal. Soon I felt everything within my body settle as I finally collapsed into a heap.

After lying there for what felt like hours I gathered the strength to pick myself back up, I checked the interface one last time to assign my new innate talent to the legend slot

New Innate skill

Unbreakable will

Transcendent: ???
Legend: the skill Absolute Focus gained
Hero: Cannot be melded unwillingly
Soldier: Mind alternating effects have no effect
Civilian: Every 10% of health lost increases damage by 10%

Skill gained

Absolute focus
Focus brings enlightenment
When maintaining a spell, it will stay active until the user willingly dispels it

‘Well that's broken’ I briefly thought to myself, ‘But useful.’

After picking up the Reaper's blade I began to follow the now setting sun in hopes of finding some form of civilization though I knew that I was unlikely to come across one in these wastes. Days passed by with neither food nor water in sight forcing me to rely upon the create water and good berry spells. When I finally saw a town in the distance energy coursed through my body, however the closer I got the less energetic I became, as what laid before me was no longer a town but the still smoldering remains of one corpses of various horses as well as what looked like unicorns and pegasi, it was disappointing considering I was looking forward to a nice warm bed, at least there's plenty of food around here. However, I did find it mildly strange that the bandits left their pack animals behind to die, but beggars can't be choosers.

After skinning a couple of the strangely colored horses and cooking their surprisingly succulent flesh I went about scavenging the ruins of the various houses for anything of potential worth. As I went about my scavenging I found more and more corpses of horses, some of which were even wearing some sort of clothes, though it only donned upon me when I found a baby swaddled in a blanket still held in their mother's grasp.

Horror coursed throughout my body as I realized that these animals were sapient. However despite my horror I could still taste the lingering sweetness of their flesh on the tip of my tongue, I was stuck in a dilemma should I continue with my macabre feast or should I start using the good berry spell to sustain myself instead, I sat down and thought about it for a good long time various reasons as to why I shouldn't popped into my mind however there were two simple reasons that shot every other reason down first and foremost they are delicious plain and simple and secondly they weren't human. I felt with a great amount of certainty that they were sapient in some way but why should I care? I wasn't here for pleasure; I was here to get stronger and if I needed to eat these horses then so be it.

System Alert!

The user has unlocked the achievement heartless due to actively choosing to continue consuming the flesh of another sapient

No karma will be awarded

All gluttony skills will gain 5 levels if none are present then the user will automatically gain one

The user is partially melded with a windigo melding shall increase by another 20 percent

System Alert!

The user melding with [Wendigo] has surpassed 50% causing the following to occur (effects adjusted due to innate skill unbreakable will)

All gluttony related skills gain 5 levels

The active skill voice mimicry (level max) is gained

The passive skill disturbing presence (level max) is gained

Your biology has further shifted

Voice mimicry lvl max (active skill)

Never follow the voices, unless of course you are the voice

After listening to another speak you can mimic their voice, the longer you listen to them the more accurate the voice is.

Disturbing presence lvl max (passive skill)

Every being possesses a fear response, few are able to exploit this you are one of these few

Those near you naturally feel perturbed and will naturally want to leave your presence, however some may instead wish to get closer to you.

Unlike last time there was little pain possibly due to me already partially being a wendigo. I continued collecting what items I could from the ruins of this town and reluctantly butchered the former inhabitants for jerky after which I would bury their bones. It wasn't much but I suppose it was better than leaving their bones out in the open. Soon after I had finished burying another batch of bones, I heard gentle crying behind me. There sat a light pink child. Kid? No no um foal! That's right! There sat a young foal crying as she looked at one particular corpse perhaps it was a sibling or parent. I sat down next to her or at least I believed they were she due to their hair being in curls. I sat there in silence as she continued weeping, eventually I hesitantly placed my clawed hand upon her head and started to pet her on the head. The crying suddenly stopped as she shivered ever so slightly as I continued to gently pet her.

“Who were they?” I asked the young girl.

She sniffled a little bit longer before answering me, “He- he was my Papa.”

“I see.”

“Are you gonna eat me too?” she asked, looking up at me.

“No,” I responded simply.

“Why not?”

“Because... -I paused for a brief moment- Because you are still alive.”

“Ok,” she responded mutely.

“Would you like me to bury him?”

“Why?” she questioned.

“Why do I want to bury him?”

She shook her head “No, why are you being so nice to me?”

I shrugged, “Cause I wanna.”

Her eyes scrunched up as she looked at me, “Really?”

I slowly took off my helmet and looked her straight in the eyes, “Do I need to have any other reason?”

“I- I guess not,” she finally relented.

Placing the helmet back upon my head I got to work building a grave for her father. It didn't take very long and soon he was buried. A small primitive head stone adorned his grave.

“What was his name?” I asked her.

“Glowing Embers.”

“Ok,” walking up to the makeshift head stone I used my magic to carve his name into it.

“How does that look?”

“It's… nice.”

“That's what I was hoping for, now then I'll be continuing what I was previously doing,” I stated to her.

“You mean you're gonna keep tearing them apart?” She numbly said in horror.

“Yep.”

“Isn't that hypo… -she paused for a second to try and think of the word- Hypocritical?” she questioned.

“Hmm well I suppose if you want to you can point out any friends and other family of yours so I can also bury them although the others I will be harvesting them.”

“Oh, well umm… I guess.”

I gently patted the ground next to me for her to sit, and after a bit she came over. She was very withdrawn, and I could often see tears streaming down her face, but she told me which of the remaining corpses were her friends, whom I would go and bury. Soon enough there was a small graveyard and as I buried the last one, I looked at my surroundings to confirm that it was the last body. After confirming there were none left, I walked up to the young girl. Her tears had long since dried, the light in her eyes having long since died.

I bent down on one knee as I looked down at her, “That's the last one.”

“Ok.’

“I'm leaving now.”

“Ok.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

She looked up with her eyes wide, “Really?”

“I won't force you to go with me, but I think we both know you won't survive out here for very long,”

She thought about it for a moment before nodding and slowly getting up, “Can I- Can I ride on your back?”

“Sure,” I slowly picked her up and put her on my shoulder much like how I used to do with my sisters when they were younger.

“Thanks,”

“No problem kid, -I thought about it for a moment- So what's your name?

“Cozy Glow.”

Country Roads

Author's Note

I'M BBBBBAAAAAACCCCKKKK :pinkiegasp:

Got distracted for a good while there with college, work, and all that good stuff but here yall are! A new chapter and with summer coming around now I should be having some more freedom for a good bit

Country Roads

It had been a few weeks since Cozy decided to travel with me, and in all honesty I haven't a clue as to why she decided to, after all I did kinda butcher her fellow townsfolk granted I didn't kill them but still I wouldn't have faulted her if she call me a monster and ran off to who knows where. But regardless here we are camping out in some place called the Everfree according to the map I scavenged from the ruins of her town. Cozy had initially freaked out after I told her we were staying in the everfree, something about timberwolves, but calmed down when I informed her that it was only temporary, as I only needed to stay here for a day or two partially so Cozy could rest but mostly because I wanted to hunt and since we’re in a obviously cursed forest there's bound to be some deadly predators maybe something like a basilisk or demon.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a tent or any sleeping bags, and the only material I had to work with was the hides of her fellows so instead I opted to build a little ground bungalow with a woven grass floor. Using some bones and flint I fashioned an axe and chopped down a couple of trees which I then cut, straightened and stripped their logs into some makeshift roofing, I then dug out a large enough area for both Cozy and myself to comfortably move and sleep in. After that I built the supports and set up the roof. Finally, I wove together a grass floor so that less heat would be lost. We wouldn't be able to light a fire down here but that shouldn't be much of a problem considering it wasnt winter and that if needed I could go and skin an animal. After that I started building a fire pit outside for cooking. Soon after I had the fire blazing I started cooking some food, mainly meat but I did have a couple of wild vegetables I had foraged for cooking as well.

Soon after our meal came the fading light of the dusk and with it the satin darkness of the evening, Cozy opted to head to bed instead of sitting by the fire, and with her no longer in the open I headed into the forest. My helmet afforded me perfect night vision albeit colourless save for shades of grey, around me I could hear the soft scurrying of vermin, the murmurs of birds and the silent rustling of the wind through the leaves. Here in the forest was awry with beasts both mundane and mythical in nature, however I paid little heed to those that seemed mundane and hunted those of the magical variety.

Scaly green lizards with the head of a chicken, ferocious lions bearing the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion, a hydra with many heads, and many more beasts of magic. And with them came a plethora of stats and skills. From the lizard chicken came 10 dexterity and the skill petrifying gaze, from the lion bat I received 20 strength and the skill venom synthesis (paralysis), and finally after devouring many heads of the hydra I gained 80 points of intelligence and the skill ultra-rapid regeneration, a skill that will most likely save my life.

System alert!
The skill rapid regeneration has been replaced with the skill ultra-rapid regeneration!

Ultra-rapid regeneration passive lvl 1
That's an axolotl health! Ba Dum tsss
The user will regenerate 0.1% of their health every second
Lost limbs will take 5 hours to fully regenerate

System alert!
The skill petrifying gaze and venom synthesis has been gained!

Petrifying gaze active lvl 1
Once a curse, now a blessing
At the cost of 50 mana the user can imbue their sight with the chance to turn others into stone the chance of this occurring is based upon the level of the skill, distance and the combined stats of the target, if the targets stats are lower than the users chance of petrification will increases and vise versa.

Venom Synthesis active lvl 1
Venomous not poisonous!
You are able to secrete venom from your appendages at the cost of 10 mana per mL
Current available venoms that can be synthesised

Paralytic venom

With that out of the way I made my way farther and farther into the forest, until I eventually found myself before an ancient castle on the other side of a canyon. Unfortunately whatever bridge that had led to the other side had long since rotted away, No matter as it was simple enough to climb down and scale up the other side, though it did take a couple of tries to do so, due to the unstable terrain. Once I was on the other side I of course began exploring the dilapidated ruins, spear and scythe at the ready to lash out at anything that dared to strike me.

No ancient guardian nor great beast attacked me while exploring the ruins unfortunately, however I did find several interesting sights as well as a mostly full treasury area. I couldn’t take it all with me so I simply took the most valuable looking items, many of which seemed to be magical in nature due to the ambient mana surrounding them. The most bizarre of all of them was probably the small abstract statuette made of solid gold, considering its weight, that fit in my hand, pocketing it. I headed back to camp and went to sleep for the night. Waking up the next morning I made Cozy breakfast with the remaining wild vegetables and continued through the forest, nothing happened on our trek through the woods. However once we made it to the other side was a different story. Ahead of us lay a bustling harbour with ships coming and going and all manner of creatures making their way about the day, ponies, gryphons, dragons, and other creatures I was unable to discern from a distance. Making our way closer we were met with wide eyes and mouths agape, several times we were stopped by guards and were questioned on who we are to which we gave a simple explanation to them.

“My charge and I are simple travellers and seek passage across the ocean, we have no intentions of causing neither harm nor discontent amongst the citizens here. Simply allow us to be and we shall be gone by weeks end.” They looked wearily at me before Cozy piped up.

“It's ok, misters, he's not a monster, he's just got a scary mask on!” Cozy explained cheerfully. The guards looked at me expectanting me to take off said mask. To which I reluctantly obliged with a sigh. After revealing my true face they nodded their heads and gave us a simple warning before letting us be on our way.

Making our way through the town wasn't hard however finding the port surprisingly was, but after asking for directions from an admittedly terrified local we were quickly able to find the port with various ships of all different sizes and lengths. I approached a few with my mask off so as to not scare them, but unfortunately they all refused to even hear us out, at least the pony driven vessels by the looks of it. Eventually I found myself at the only other available ship, a cargo ship by the looks of it.

‘Queen Anne’s revenge eh?’ I thought to myself. The ship itself was by no means in top condition from what I could tell on the outside, the mahogany wood was splintered and cracked in some places patches of various colours could be seen covering holes in the hull of the ship the mast itself seemed to still be in good condition from what i could see and while it made me hesitant to see if i could secure passage on this boat, if it was this beat up and still floating then the captain was either a genius or a fool either way they were my last chance before I had to go see if I could rent an airship. Walking up to one of the crew members I hailed them.

He was a gryphon with light tan feathers for the body with off-white feathers from his neck up. His golden eyes watched me as I approached him.

“Hello there sir, I was hoping to purchase passage for my ward and I, might I ask where you are heading?” I asked the gryphon.

“Do you have the bits to even purchase passage to wherever we are heading?” She asked me

“Indeed I do.” pulling out a sack of bits hanging to my side I presented them to the griffiness.

She nodded her head before continuing, “Very well then sir our current destination is Gryphonheim.”

“Splendid that is the destination we seek, might I ask if you are the captain or is it another?” I questioned further.

“No sir the captain is currently out on business right now, however, I am the first mate of the ship so I do have the authority to grant you passage on our vessel.” She explained, annoyance creeping into her voice at the mention of the captain.

“Then I would like to purchase passage for two if it helps. I have rations worth about 2 weeks for both myself and my ward, I am also adept with a bow and spear, and I am capable of using a wide range of magic.”

“Magic huh?” She questioned.

“Yep,” holding out my hand, I formed an ice shard.

She nodded hesitantly, “Alright then considering you have rations for the both of you and the pony as well as you being a combatant it'll be 50 bits.”

Taking out my sacks of bits once more I counted fifty and handed them to her. She nodded and put them in a sack around her waist.

“Welcome aboard Queen Anne’s revenge sir I am first mate Gwen, I’ll show you to the spare sleeping quarters.” She explained as she guided us onto the very pristine deck of the ship where a motley crew of well kept individuals were busy loading various pieces of cargo.

“Alright then Lads” Gwen called out to the crew on deck, “These two will be joining us on our voyage to Gryphonheim treat them as you would me, understood?”

The various crewmen nodded before continuing with their tasks. Gwen led us down the stair to the lower deck, passing what i had assumed are various crew quarters were led to the guest/spare room it's only furnishings being a bed with a dull whitish grey mattress, a deep brown desk, and a lighter brown stool, the only light source being a lamp that was currently off.

“They voyage is about 3 weeks, once you runout of rations, chow times are at sunrise and sunset, with a snack at midday, keep your room clean and stay out of the way of the crew if you have a question about anything you can ask me or an unoccupied crew member.” Gwen further explained before walking away to finish whatever she was doing before we had interrupted her.

Settling in I put my pack down and took off my armour there wasn't really a point to have it on right now anyways, Cozy had said she was gonna take a nap so I went to explore the ship to leave her in peace. Dodging some crew members going down the stairs with crates I made my way back to the top I was greeted with the sight of the various crew member hauling stuff onto the ship where it was then taken below, not wanting to disturb them i climbed up the centre mast to the crows nest where i hung out until we departed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 weeks later

The last three weeks had been quiet, no pirates or monsters or really anything of actual note honestly. I would often go swimming in the sea when I was bored much to the disbelief and amazement of the crew. I'd also hunt some of the local sea life might be why nothing had attacked us honestly but I digress. Stat gains from the sea life were negligible but welcome when they triggered. I had also been chatting with some of the crew these past two weeks, mostly small talk with nothing of real significance. Though most of the crew seemed to be really hesitant to speak to me, the ones who did talk to me gave me plenty of info regarding plenty of otherwise mundane things such as the invasion of Griffonstone and the fall of Gryphonheim due to the theft of some statuette they called the Idol of Boreas. I would tell them about my various adventures and how I got my armour and so on and so forth. They were amazed that I had made my own armour and weapons> I also helped around the ship in exchange they taught me how to properly maintain and man various positions and areas on a ship. This all accumulated in me getting another achievement.

System Alert!

The user has learned how to maintain and use a ship the Achievement Seaman has been given

Seaman
What do you do with a drunken sailor?
Gives the seafaring skill and allows the purchase of the in depth nautical knowledge innate skill

System Alert!

The user has obtained the passive skill Seafaring

Seafaring lvl 1
One of the oldest forms of travel known to man
Allows the user to effectively operate basic naval vessels

It was a pretty good skill all things considered, and I honestly enjoyed my time on the ship, i got to hang out with some decent beings, spend time practising and showcasing my magic to the crew and of course help out with the maintenance of the ship, but all good things must come to an end. When the Queen Anne’s revenge hit port, Cozy and I bid them farewell and started making our way to the train station of which they were kind enough to tell us how to get there. We stopped on the way to resupply before heading to the station and purchasing a ticket to Griffinstone.

On the train I took out that strange statuette that id found in those old ruins, Maxson, one of the crew members on the ship, had described the idol of boreas to me in great detail and had showed me a picture of it from some history book, the statuette bore a striking resemblance to said idol and while the odds are slim that it is the real deal. If it was well I'd be able to make the deal of a lifetime and if it wasn't? Well, I'm sure I could fight my way out with Cozy.

With that last thought in mind, I gazed out the window as the various trees quickly passed by. Whatever may come, I'll weather it just as I always have.

A Deal Of A Lifetime

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait had a lot on my plate recently, that got taken care of recently so expect updates more often

A Deal Of A Lifetime

It was several hours before the train had stopped, and stepping off of it I was met with a depressing sight. Browns and grays as far as the eye could see as if the land itself had died along with the kingdom, buildings in various states of decay and disrepair surrounded a steel gray tree that died long ago and atop of it nestled a palace as dilapidated as the rest but admittedly in a much better condition considering it was made of stone and not wood as far as I could tell.

As we made our way closer to the ruins of this once great city we slowly came across more and more gryphons, many of which gave us a wide berth. I gave a few a passing glance, most looked like your regular old fantasy gryphon with the eagle and lion combination. However, some were part owl, raven, and so on, while others seemed to be part jaguar or panther and various other felines. It was honestly all pretty interesting. Eventually, fewer and fewer gryphons started to cross us as we made it further and further up the path to the palace, soon enough two heavily armored guards flew down and blocked our path.

“And what manner of beast are you?” the guard on the left questioned his features shadowed by his visor.

“I am no more a beast than you, regardless I seek an audience with your king, As I have a proposition for him,” I stated to the guards.

They stared at me briefly before chuckling, “You honestly think you can go see the king? Really?”

I gave them a dry chuckle, “I don't think I can go see them, I know I can go see them.”

The second guard gave me what I can assume to be an appraising glance over, “And why would you think such a thing, beast?”

“Because you couldn't stop me even if you tried,” I stated before walking past them, the shafts of their spears splintering and shattering against my hide as I shoved my way through them I could hear startled shrills of alarm as they flew off. Continuing on my trek towards the ruins they dared to call a palace more guards blocked my path, this time in what could barely pass for plate mail the armor rusted through, the helmets bent and ill-fitted, with their blades bearing more cracks and chips than a ravine. And yet they stood before me resolute, we stood there facing each other for what felt an eternity until eventually, another one stepped forward from their ranks.

It was another gryphon, of course, their armour just as rusted as the rest of his platoons if not more so, save for what was left of the golden accents and inlays on their armour. They wielded a pike its shaft riddled with dry rot and the head was little more than a hunk of refined iron. As he took off his helm I took in his features, molted mist gray feathers with sharp tawny eyes that attempted to pierce through me.

“I am Commander Adamantios, state your business and the reason for your trespass creature.” He commanded his voice boomed out.

Doffing my helm I obliged him, “I have come here to seek audience with your king commander, as I bear something of great importance to this land. Something of which I found on my travels.”

“This item being?” The commander questioned me, pressing for more information.

“Something I do not wish to disclose with loose lips and prying eyes,” I replied resolutely

The commander's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he attempted to read me, I had relaxed my stance showing that it was not my intention to fight at least not yet. His gaze eventually wandered to Cozy who had remained silent throughout the interaction. His gaze softened ever so slightly at the sight of her.

“Very well then sir, we shall escort you to the king where you shall meet him, however, I must ask that you hand over your armaments to us before we can take you to the king.” The commander requested extending a talon.

“Unfortunately I am unable to comply with such a request commander,” I could hear the slow unsheathing of weapons behind the commander.

I put up a hand in an attempt to placate them as I continued, “Not because I do not wish to however, but because any who wield my weapons besides myself will be harmed so long as they hold them.”

The commander's eyes widened ever so slightly at my explanation and after a moment nodded, “Very well then are the arrows for your bow enchanted?”

“They are, however, the enchantment won't harm another if held,” I explained.

“Very well you may keep your bow but I must ask that you hand over the arrows for it, as well as leave your other weapons outside of the throne room none shall touch them I assure you of that.” The commander relented before gesturing for the arrows.

After a moment of thought I agreed, handing over my quiver of arrows, before allowing them to escort me just outside of the throne room where I placed my spear, sickle, and bow. Before entering the throne room proper.

At one point it must have been a place of grandeur but now cracks and crags lined the walls where jewels and gold once adorned them the floor once polished tile was little more than rubble swept away giving way to the long dead tree the palace sat upon, then of course there was the massive hole in the throne room. However, there was one piece untouched by time a pedestal of shining metal with tiny glyphs and symbols inscribed into the edges of it. And there behind it was a throne once an awe-inspiring seat of power now little more than a relic of a memory. And sat atop it was the king wearing a crown of gold. Complementing his silver feathers and fur of a deep muted blue, his eyes though were a sharp gold that threatened to pierce one very being.

Those very eyes attempted to pierce into me, into my soul. After about a minute of studying me, he turned his gaze to Cozy who sat upon my head, studying her as well before turning to the commander.

“Commander Adamantios why did you bring this creature and filly into the throne room?” The king questioned his deep voice resounding throughout the throne room.

The commander briefly bowed, “King Alexius, The being before you has come to seek an audience with you. For he claims to bear an item of great magnitude and importance.”

The king gave a slight nod before turning back to me, “Very well then let us get introductions out of the way, I am King Alexius Argyro The Silver King, and first of my name. What is yours?”

Taking Cozy into my arms I gently placed her on the ground as I straightened my back further pronouncing my already towering figure.

“I am Alexander Hamilton Kane, I am both a scribe and warrior, a scholar and mad prophet, a caregiver and a butcher, a saint, and a sinner. I come here not bearing a gift but an opportunity for the both of us.’

Slinging my back off of my shoulder I took out the statuette, “I believe this may very well be yours.” I proclaim holding it aloft.

You could hear a pin drop, as everyone collectively held their breaths. They all instinctively knew

“Give it here,” The King requested beckoning me forward.

“Not before you agree to my terms,” I said quickly putting it away.

They all bristled at my words behind me I could hear the sounds of weapons unsheathing before the King put up his claw.

“State your terms mister Kane,” The King's voice boomed across the room silencing all other noise.

“The highest title you can give to one without noble blood and one duchy of approximately 500 square kilometres of land, it needn't be developed I shall do so myself,” I explained calmly making my demands.

The bristling of the king subsided completely before he chuckled. “Something I would’ve done regardless of your request, however, you must understand that with a title you will be bound to protect the kingdom whenever I deem it necessary should you accept a title.”

“So long as you do not interrupt my work I will do much more than protect this kingdom, I shall rebuild it into an empire spanning coast to coast,” I proclaimed loudly and resolutely.

For the first time in this interaction, the King cracked a smile as a glimmer of ambition sparked to life in his eyes, “Now that's something I look forward to seeing Mr. Kane.”

A Start

“So this is my Duchy?” I asked looking over the map of the gryphon nation or Grýfon spíti as they called it.

“Indeed it is Your Highness,” Exclaimed Hermogenes with a deep bow.

Hermogenes was a small gryphon with tawny brown fur, copper-colored feathers, and amber eyes, he was an exploratores of the Boreas auxilia and was appointed as my assistant and messenger.

In my last few weeks here in this kingdom, I have made several discoveries first and foremost being that the Gryphon culture was a strange mixture of Greek, Roman, and British culture. Their alphabet was Greek, but their armies were structured like the Roman armies down to what they called their various commanding officers, and on top of all that their noble classes were primarily British. It was frustrating, to say the least as it left me with tons of questions that would likely never be answered. But right now I needed to focus.

“Unfortunately the other noble house has already taken the more coveted flat lands surrounding us Apestalménos tou Voréa,” Hermogenes continued nearly groveling at my feet.

Another thing that I found out? After returning the Idol I was worshiped as either a hero, a god made flesh, or usually both. Very annoying at times but it did have its uses as it gave me quite the reputation and plenty of leverage, as well as something new in the system.

System alert!

The user has returned the Idol of Boreas to its rightful owners!

The following effects shall occur!

The Title: Hero of Gryphon Kind has been unlocked!

The Effect Blessing of Boreas will permanently be applied!

A hidden quest has been revealed

100K Karma gained
(Karma gained has been adjusted due to current buffs)

The Gods of this world are taking an interest in your actions

System Alert!

The user has gained the Title “Hero of Gryphon Kind”

All stats permanently increased by 10
All gryphons will permanently regard you in reverence

System Alert!

The User has gained the “blessing of Boreas”

All stats permanently increased by 10
Grants access to hidden class

The Hidden Quest “Restoration of an Empire” has been activated

Quest objective(s)

Restore and reunite the Gryphon empire

Failure Condition(s)

Death of the user
Loss of the Idol of Boreas

Failure penalty

Completion Reward(s)

500K Karma
The item Crown of Boreas
A Fracture of Greatness

The bonuses were damn nice and that thing about a hidden class piqued my interest but I couldn't find anything on the system about classes, at least not yet though. Focusing back in on the present I ask Cozy a question.

“What do you think Cozy? Good enough?”

Cozy climbed atop my head to get a view of the surrounding area.

“With your ideas Uncle Alex? It's perfect!” She exclaimed in excitement.

The Biggest change so far has been Cozy Glow, she has gone from down and mopey to joyous and motivated. The exact cause is unknown to me but it might have to do something with my Disturbing presence skill as it does state that some would be drawn to me likely the mentally disturbed, and there was no doubt after everything thats happened she is disturbed in some way to put it lightly.

I smiled surveying the land, “I agree, this area is ripe with opportunity.”

“Hermogenes are there any reasons as to why this area has remained undeveloped?” I questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

“Three reasons my lord, the first and most pressing being that an ancient dragon has taken residence in that mountain over yonder,” Hermogenes explained pointing near the top of the largest mountain before continuing, “Second is a lack of available flat lands or fertile fields to sustain a labor force, and third is a lack of available funding.”

“Alright then let's go talk to this dragon, it can talk yes?” I further asked.

“Indeed it can my lord,” Responded Hermogenes.

“Perfect lead me to it, I can climb easily enough just keep Cozy with you.” With nary a protest, Hermogenes led me up the mountain it was quite steep but I was able to easily dig into the stone with my claws as we made ours to the top. Soon enough we made it to the entrance of a large cavern near the top of the windswept peak.

“Alright, then both of you stay away from the entrance, depending on how this goes I'll be coming out spotless or drenched in blood,” and with that, I entered the cave.

Piles of gold and jewels littered the floor of the massive cavern, gilded weapons, armor, and furniture strewn about. The air carried a faint scent of metal and rot, and there in the middle laid a dragon with deep blue scales, seemingly asleep however I knew better than to approach without caution.

“HEY!” I hailed the dragon, “I KNOW YOU AREN’T SLEEPING AND YOU KNOW I won't FALL FOR IT SO LET US NOT DO THIS SONG AND DANCE!”

The dragon to its credit stayed “asleep” for several more seconds before sighing and picking up its head.

“What do you want little beast?” The dragon asked, his deep voice echoing throughout a cave.

“I simply wish to speak,” I say putting up my hands to placate the large beast.

“Then speak, before you are unable to.” The dragon threatened, apathy dripping from his voice.

“I have come to ensure either your assistance or noninterference in my endeavors, I was recently awarded this mountain range as my domain and I plan on industrializing it and you, are in the way.” I finished explaining.

The dragon began getting up from its position, eyes narrowing and jaw setting in fury. “In the way huh?” He questioned, “And what makes you think that you can come in here and just insult me like that?”

“Now now, I am simply stating a matter of fact,” I explained, “After all our goals are likely at odds with each other. You simply wish for peace while I wish for rapid industrialization and I know from experience that it can get quite noisy doing that.”

“So what?” The dragon further questioned.

“So, that means that there are two options, either serve me or die.” I declared taking out my sickle and spear.

“You think I would serve you?” The dragon asked incredulously.

“No, but I thought I’d ask anyway.” With that, I steeled myself for combat.

And steel did I need, quicker than most would be able to act the dragon attempted to roast me with a split-second decision I activated rage and limit break multiplying my stats by 7 times pushing my dex to 406 and strength to 315 I was swiftly able to dodge his fire breath with ease. Jumping atop his head I used my sickle to excavate his eye and into his skull where I made short work of his brain.

‘Honestly fighting opponents without magic is a breeze just turn the brain into pudding and BAM deader than a door,’ The thought passed through my mind quickly but it did raise a question. Didn't I choose the hardest difficulty? What is so hard about all of this? Or am I just that busted? Questions aside I now had a crap ton of food, materials, and funding to take care of as well as the notifications in my vision.

System Alert!

The user has killed an adult dragon!

100K karma has been awarded!
(Amount adjusted due to current buffs)

The title “Dragon Slayer” has been awarded!

Dragon slayer

Permanently increases all stats by 10
Grants access to a secret class

A shard of avarice has been awarded!

News of your martial prowess shall spread throughout the land!

Spearmanship upgraded from level 2-5!

Gained the passive skill “Swordsmanship: sickle lvl 3!”

Everything was pretty hunky dory with all that I had gained so I started slicing off a bits of the dragon, couldn't let all that meat go to waste after all. I was there for hours gorging myself until I heard the sound of plate armor behind me.

“Captain Adamantios!” I called out jovially turning around, “You are just in time for dinner, see I just killed this overgrown snake and couldn't possibly eat it all myself, come join me in this feast!”

I watched as the commander stopped dead in his tracks looking over the corpse of the dragon and then over to me eating said corpse.

“Is everything alright here my lord? Hermogenes told us you were attacked by a dragon.” The Commander choked out his eyes widening in surprise as he finally realized what he was seeing.

“Everything is perfect Commander, me and the dragon just got into a bit of an argument and I won.” I cheerily explained as I continued to devour my food.

“I see that my lord…” Adamantios mumbled, still staring at the corpse.

“Here,” I say offering him a jagged slice of raw flesh, “I tried cooking it but it's immune to fire, but it is very flavorful.”

After several moments he took the cut of flesh from me and slowly put it in in beak, his eyes lighting up from the flavours. Soon the rest of the troops gathered around and we had a merry feast on the flesh of the departed.

“So where are Cozy and Hermogenes Commander.?” I asked in between servings.

“They are back at that camp you had set up my lord,” One of the soldiers explained happily chowing down on his share of the food.

“So how did you slay it?” another soldier asked.

I shrugged, “Big targets are the easiest to bring down so long as you know what to go for, their size makes their weak points bigger and their movement slower if they don't have magic that can negate those two things. But in my experience go for the eyes or center mass to hit vital organs.” I easily explained between bites.

They all listened with rapt attention holding on to me every word as I further explained how to take down large opponents. We were there for at least 2 more hours before the Commander interrupted me.

“So what do you plan to do with all of this gold?” The commander questioned looking around at the piles and piles of gold and jewels.

“Use them for funding my industrialization of the area, which reminds me.” Opening back up the interface I started scrolling through the shop, much to the confusion of everyone else.

“My lord?” A soldier asked as he observed me scrolling through nothing, ‘Are you okay?”

“Indeed I am, see I have a special ability that allows me to trade a special type of currency for various types of knowledge, observe,” I explained selecting a book of golemmancy for fifty thousand karma and watching it appear in my claws. Looking around I watched their jaws drop at the sight of a book materialize out of nowhere.

“See?” I said holding up said book.

They all nodded dumbly in shock at what they had just observed. Putting it back down I clicked the learn prompt that appeared in my vision, new information flooded through my mind as the book disappeared. Opening back up the interface I read through the new message.

System Alert!

The user has learned the skill “Golemmancy”

Golemmancy lvl 1
The oldest of golems stem from Jewish mythos
Allows the user to create simple golems

System Alert!

The User has killed and devoured an Adult Dragon the following shall be awarded

The passive skill Dragon scales will be awarded
gain 100 points in strength

Using 140k karma I maxed out my craftsmanship skill and golemmancy skill bringing both to level 10 and bringing my death magic to level 5 floods of new information came to me in droves about various processes and spells. Getting up I turn to the Commander.

“Commander tell me, is there a messenger guild of some sort?” I questioned.

“Yes sir there is.” the commander replied

“Perfect,” Finishing my food I left the new pop-up from the system as I made my way from down the mountain and into my temporary camp. The camp was very basic by anyone's standards with only some tents and a campfire. The tents were all handcrafted by myself from locally sourced pelts as were the sleeping bags.

Walking into camp I was immediately glomped by a tiny pastel pegasus.

“Hey Cozy,” I said cheerily as I gently hugged her.

“Are you ok!? What happened? Is anything thing broken? Is there a dragon out to get you?” She exclaimed in panic rambling on and on in increasing volume.

“Hey, hey, it's okay Cozy,” I gently chided her putting a claw to her muzzle, “I’m okay, the dragon is gone, and there's no one after me.”

It took her several seconds before her breathing calmed down tears streaming down her eyes.”I just can't, *hiccup* I just can't lose you too.” she finished wailing into my chest

Gently sitting down I held her to my chest as I slowly stroked her mane. Hermogenes slowly crept up to the side of me, looking down at Cozy as she slowly calmed down in my arms.

“Is everything okay here my lord?” Hermogenes questions quietly.

“Just a bit of a scare nothing to worry about Hermogenes,” I replied whispering back to him.

“Very well then my lord, I shall be in my tent should you need me.” He said as he turned around.

“Actually,” I replied as he turned around, “Could you send a message to the messengers guild? I need some flyers printed and delivered to the surrounding nations and duchies if possible.”

“Of course my lord,” He responded bowing down, “It would be my honour, however, what would you like for them to say if I might ask?”

I shrugged slightly “Workers wanted both skilled and unskilled labour regardless of background are welcome withn the duchy of Latveria, Housing and food provided along with pay, payment to be determined by position and type of labour. ” I finished monotonously listing some conditions off.

“Latveria my lord?” Hermogenes Questioned.

“That is the name of my Duchy,” I explained.

“Very well then my lord, it will be done.” Turning back around Hermogenes made his way to his tent to gather some things before leaving while I continued to sit there gently petting the foal fitfully sleeping in my arms.

Author's Note

See? told yall id be doing updates more often! Anyways please do tell me how yall like the story! Ill keep posting it regardless of engagement but it would be nice to get a feel on how yall think about everything so far!

See yall next time!

-Tene

Character Sheet

Author's Note

This is just Alex's character sheet that is updated with each chapter showing all current equipment, skills, and stats if you have any questions about clarifying the sheet feel free to ask.

Character Sheet

Total karma: 135k
Name: Alexander H. Kane
Class: N/A
Title: Hero of gryphon kind, dragon slayer
Blessing(s): blessing of Boreas
Race: Hybrid (Human/wendigo) 45%/55%
Racial Bonus(es):
Human

Karma gain permanently increased by 25%
You have an additional resistance to fluctuating temperatures
When creating something new the chance of success is doubled
Karma gain increased by an additional 25% (additional karma bonus is because he has gray eyes)

Wendigo

Wendigo innate skills voice mimicry and disturbing presence unlocked
???
???

Primary Patron:
Thoth
Primary patron bonus(es):

Karma gain permanently increased by 50%
User will automatically know the advanced encryption/decryption skill
Users innate magic potential shall be increased by one level
User has an increased potential for time magic

HP: 420
Mana 1220
Str: 145
Dex: 58
Con: 42
Int: 122
Wis: 45
Cha: 40
Lck: 60

Equipment:

Reapers blade (Legend grade)
Attack: 60
Speed: 70
Special effects:
Soul harvest: when a living creature perishes nearby gain 1 soul each soul temporarily increases the weapons damage and speed. Each soul lasts for 5 minutes afterwards it wil dissipate into the aether. Souls can also be consumed to regenerate 50 health or temporarily increase stats duration of the temporary stats are based upon number of souls consumed and stat amount increased.
Serrated: plus 50% damage against lightly armored targets
Bleed: strikes have a 20% chance to cause bleed
Soul eater: when consuming the soul of a powerful being permanently upgrades the weapons stats
Soul bound: May only be wielded by those who have made a contractwith a god of death, those who touch it without permission will have their torn asunder
???
???
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Innate skills:
Knowledge of the Ages (Transcendent)

Transcendent effect: Karma gain permanently increased by 300%
Legend effect: when a skill reaches max level it will have a higher chance of evolving into a skill of a higher form
Hero effect: The chance to gain “enlightenment” is increased when training
Soldier effect: language comprehension skill (lvl max) added
Civilian effect: you gain a photographic memory as well as heightened mental functions

Creation (Transcendent)

Transcendent effect: Ultimate crafting knowledge unlocked
Legend effect: Cutting edge crafting knowledge unlocked
Hero effect: High end crafting knowledge unlocked
Soldier effect: advanced crafting knowledge unlocked
Civilian effect: basic crafting knowledge unlocked

innate combat potential (Transcendent)

Transcendent effect: gene limiter removed
Legend effect: all combat related skills are 50% easier to obtain
Hero effect: all weapons gain a unique effect when used
Soldier effect: the stats of all weapons are increased by 50% when used by the user
Civilian effect: combat awareness, and flexibility increased

Lionheart (heroic)

Transcendent effect: ???
Legend effect: ???
Heroic effect: you deal 30% more damage to enemies above your grade and your attacks ignore 10% of their armor
Soldier effect: you deal 20% more damage to enemies above your grade
Civilian effect: you deal 10% more damage to enemies above your grade

Unbreakable will (Legend)

Transcendent: ???
Legend: the skill Absolute Focus gained
Hero: Cannot be melded unwillingly
Soldier: Mind alternating effects have no effect
Civilian: Every 10% of health lost increases damage by 10%

Passive skills

Last Stand lvl 1
You are the first to stand and the last to fall, as you weather adversity.
Effect: When you are below 50% health your armor is increased by 50% when below 15% health your armor is increased by 100%

Advanced encryption lvl 1
Ignorance is bliss, or in this case sorrow
Effect: You are able to encrypt documents you write with an advanced cipher.
(Encrypting 1 sentence takes 1 minute the higher the skills level the faster it is, familiarity with the chosen cipher also affects speed of encryption)

Advanced decryption lvl 1
Knowledge is power
Effect: You are able to decrypt advanced ciphers
(decrypting one sentence takes one minute, the high the skills level the less time it will take, familiarity with the cipher you are trying to crack also affect how long it takes)

Language comprehension lvl max
Effective communication is the foundation of trust
You are able to quickly learn, understand, and speak any language after studying or listening to it for a little while

Spearmanship lvl 6
Primitive pointy technology
Effect: 60% damage increase when using a spear

Craftsmanship lvl 10
From the dawn of time humanity has always strived to improve.
Effects: You are able to make highly complex tools, weapons, and armors

Starvation lvl 10
Gorge yourself
When eating a creature that you have killed you have a 10% chance of gaining an increase in a random stat proportionate to 40% of the stat they had rounded down (minimum of 1) and a 10% chance of gaining a random skill they had, the skills level proportionate to 20% of the skills level rounded down (minimum of 1)

Ultra-rapid regeneration lvl 1
That's an axolotl health! Ba Dum tsss
The user will regenerate 0.1% of their health every second
Lost limbs will take 5 hours to fully regenerate

Fire resistance lvl 2
The only burns you have to fear are verbal ones
Decreases fire damage by 10%

Absolute focus
Focus brings enlightenment
When maintaining a spell it will stay active until the user willingly despels it

Voice mimicry lvl max (active skill)
Never follow the voices, unless of course you are the voice
After listening to another speak you can mimic their voice, the longer you listen to them the more accurate the voice is.

Disturbing presence lvl max (passive skill)
Every being possesses a fear response, few are able to exploit this you are one of these few
Those near you naturally feel perturbed and will naturally want to leave your presence, however some may instead wish to get closer to you

Seafaring lvl 1
One of the oldest forms of travel known to man
Allows the user to effectively operate basic naval vessels

Indolence lvl 1
Could go for a nap right about now
When health drops below 25% you temporarily fall into a deep slumber quadrupling your defense and recovering from all wounds over the course of 10 seconds
(cooldown of 1 week)

Ego lvl 1

Oh? You're Approaching Me?

Deal 25% additional damage when attacking an enemy of lower strength than you, 5% chance to cause the Fear debuff in enemies

Desire lvl 1
To want is to live
Deal 25% additional damage to enemies stronger than you, 5% chance to apply the broken debuff on enemies

Avarice lvl 1
what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine
When killing an enemy the user has a 5%* chance to steal a skill from them at 30% of its level
*chance scales up or down based upon the power difference between the user and opponent maximum chance of 40% minimum of 1%

Dragon scales Lvl 1
Hard as diamonds tough as steel
Grants the user 5% magicresistence and 7.5% physical resistance

Golemmancy lvl 10
The oldest of golems stem from Jewish mythos
Allows the user to create complex golems

Active Skill(s):

Limit Break lvl 1
You have overcome the limits of your frail body and can do so again, temporarily.
Effect: all stats are quadrupled for 30 seconds
Cooldown: (2 days)

Astral form lvl 1
The monks of old believed that one could untether their soul from their body and achieve enlightenment, they were right to an extent
Effect: Through meditation you are able to temporarily exit you physical body, during this time your body become vulnerable, and you risk attracting unwanted entities however, you also increase your chances of reaching enlightenment

Fire magic lvl 2
Fire is both a giver of life as well as the taker of it use it wisely lest you burn yourself
You are able to use novice fire magic

Water magic lvl 2
Water is the lifeblood of all things without it nothing exists
You are able to use novice water magic

Earth magic lvl 2
Tough as steel, but malleable like gold
You are able to use novice earth magic

Wind magic lvl 2
Strike as swift as the wind, and as heavily as a hurricane
You are able to use novice wind magic

Bifrost magic lvl 1
The power of bifrost is said to bring eternal winter
You are able to use novice bifrost magic

Rage lvl 1
Feel the anger flow through your veins
Triples all physical stats when active and reduces physical damage by 25%
100 MP to activate 2 mp per second drain

Jealousy lvl 1
No fair! Why do you get it and I don't?
You may mark a target as your obsession allowing you to know their location at all times while they are within 50 meters of you, you deal 100% additional damage to your target, and 50% less damage to all other targets while you have an obsession marked. You may only have one marked target at a time.
300 MP to activate

Death magic lvl 5
To die is to live and to live is to die
You are able to use standard death magic

Petrifying gaze active lvl 1
Once a curse, now a blessing
At the cost of 50 mana the user can imbue their sight with the chance to turn others into stone the chance of this occurring is based upon the level of the skill, distance and the combined stats of the target, if the targets stats are lower than the users chance of petrification will increases and vise versa.

Venom Synthesis active lvl 1
Venomous not poisonous!
You are able to secrete venom from your appendages at the cost of 10 mana per mL
Current available venoms that can be synthesised

Paralytic venom

Transcendence: The Beginning

6/27/23 10:37 pm

I was on one of my “thinking walks” because walking helped clear my head. I had a test tomorrow and while I should be studying for it I just wanted some time to myself. It was a cool night in Houston, a perfect night to go for a walk. However, it was cut short when a car nearly ran me.

“SHIT!” I screeched before barely scrambling out of the way. I saw the car fly past me and into a nearby tree.

I sat there processing what almost happened to me until it finally clicked that the person in the car needs help. Scrambling back onto my feet and yank my phone out of my pocket and try to call 911 but no one answered. I tried calling multiple times to no avail. Quickly making up my mind I run to the now smoking car in an attempt to pull the person out if they're still alive, though at heart I knew that they had likely died on impact. When I got to the car I knew that I was right the man was half was out of the windshield and despite it being blurred by the thick black smoke I could swear that he was bisected at the waist. Stumbling back in horror I tried to call the emergency services again, this time someone picked up.

“911 what's your emergency?” A young man answered with a slight waver in his voice.

“I need you to send some paramedics down to 43975 Spring Ave. Someone crashed into a tree!” I yelled out somewhat hysterically, as my panic slowly crept up on me the seriousness of the situation dawning on me.

“Another one?” the operator asked, a hint of confusion and despair creeping into his already shaking voice.

“What do you mean another one?” I questioned as panic slowly gripped my already fraying mind.

“We’ve had a number of calls about various car crashes, people dying in the middle of the sidewalks, stores, and so on.”

“What's going on?”

“I don't know, but whatever is going on it isn't any good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the months more and more people were found dead, the death toll was in the billions and it was still increasing. Each day people would die and many others would deteriorate, governments from all over the world joined hands and attempted to work on a cure, They failed. They couldn't find the cause of the sickness. Eventually it became to much and they collapsed. All that was left after two years was just a handful of people, myself being one of them, we were not spared either. We grew weaken and weaker as the days ticked on a few of us died until eventually only I was left, dying on my cot. With my final second ticking near I fumbled for my phone, bringing up a picture of my family a lone tear streaked across my pale face. I wished I could’ve done more however, i knew that it was pointless as I couldn't have done anything. And with that final thought in my mind, I breathed my last and died.

Or so I thought.

End of prologue

Author's Note

I am well aware that the beginning here is rough, however I like to believe that the other chapters are much better in this regard.

Thx for waiting and reading. :twilightsmile: