Since the beginning, the Point Store and the System at large had been a pain in Blake's behind. The generosity of the Administrator had been spit in the face by the ridiculous costs. Not only that, even though more points were supposed to be earned via quests, only one near impossible sudden death one had been given. Even in the last call the Administrator seemed to argue with the System for its treatment of Blake. Now that Blake needed 1,000 points to upgrade Telepathy and another 100,000 to gain Skill Share!
This all changed today. Setting the Nap to 100,000 years and settling in the Mana Geyser as a bed, Blake slammed on the "Confirm" button. In a blink of an eye to them, an eon passed. The System rang out notifications throughout the passing time, but each of them were ignored by the parameters set up. Glancing around, the world around Blake didn't seemed to have changed much. The Map of the world didn't show much going on either. It also appeared that all the previous connection to the Magma Serpents had disappeared. Either they died, got more powerful and cut off the connection forcibly, or somehow left the range of the skill. It didn't matter. It was time for the first purchase. Bringing up their Status, Blake looked for that sweet sweet System Point number.
[ STATUS ]
Participant 000549144: Blake
Species: Basic Volcanic Rock (Lucky)
HP: 100/100
Mana: 10,000/10,000
Strength (STR): 0
Intelligence (INT): 15
Wisdom (WIZ): 12
Dexterity (DEX): 0
Constitution (CON): 100
Charisma (CAR): 0
Luck (LUK): 110
System Points: 3,100
Current Quests: None
Current Perks: Former Life's Memories, Point Store, Growth Tutor System, Source of Magic, Calendar Module, Advanced Watch Module, Lucky, Extreme Heat Resistance (Lv.1), Extreme Physical Damage Resistance (Lv.1), Focused Mind (Lv.60), Magic Vision (Max), Mapping Module (Max), Inspection Module (Max)
Skills: Expert Fire Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Metal Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Earth Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Wood Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Water Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Ice Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Wind Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Lightning Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Light Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Dark Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Gravity Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Time Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1), Expert Space Elemental Manipulation (Lv.1) Napping (Lv.99, Can be upgraded), Telepathy (Lv. 99, Can be upgraded), Telekinesis (Lv. 97)
"Hahahaha! Yes! In the blink of an eye I've earned 1,000 points! And Napping can upgraded too. This is the power of Napping. My stone form hasn't even got a scratch on it either. Eh? What's this?"
Flinging themselves in the air from the joy of their discovery, Blake felt like a thief. Even if there wasn't any compounding interest, the years that passed were negligible to them. Only the points mattered. While romping around the pavilion the entirety of their body was exposed to Magic Vision to be seen. A small sheen coated their stone form. Less than a millimeter thick, it looked that someone had painted a clear layer of acrylic on Blake. Stopping for a second, Blake used all the applicable skills to examine the coating. After Inspecting it, the System gave an answer.
"Participant has slowly converted the mana of the Geyser into their form. This transformation has no affect currently on the Participant. Further exposure to a heavy concentration of Mana for extended periods of time may cause a change to Participant's form. Time remaining: 999,900,000 years"
Stunned, Blake could only process the notification that came out due to their investigation. A change? After all this time? Blake had assumed that they would remain a Basic Volcanic Rock for the rest of eternity. Now, a route to change had emerged. For others with a limited lifespan, the years that needed to pass would have been an insurmountable obstacle. But with Napping, that amount of time would pass in the blink of an eye. The future was looking up.
As for the present, Blake saw that the cost of upgrading both Napping and Telepathy was 3,100 system points. Exactly the remaining amount that they had. Without a care in the world, the system points hit rock bottom. Once the number zero hit the status screen a notification rang out.
"Participant has reached zero system points. Please complete quests or earn hidden achievements to earn more system points."
The subtle tone of mockery in the notification's voice could easily be chalked up to imagination. However, after spending so much time with the System, Blake knew for a fact that the System was like a snobby high-end shop clerk that couldn't be bothered to do their job properly. Every time that Blake entered the Store, they imagined coming into a classy boutique that catered mainly to higher beings like Administrators or advanced Participants. People like Blake were akin a teen coming in with their parent's credit card, buying whatever they wished without a care in the world. It was truly an unfair treatment. Didn't the Store clerk know the pain and torture that Blake had to go through upon being dropped into this world?!
Before any complaint could be voiced, two more announcements rang out for the newly upgraded skills.
"Participant skill "Telepathy" has been upgraded to "Soul Speak" (Lv. 1). Description is provided below."
"Participant skill "Napping" has been upgraded to "Meditation" (Lv. 1) Description is provided below."
"Soul Speak: Allows the user to speak directly to a target's soul without the need to understand the language. However, only basic understanding is imparted to target at low levels. Participant will only get basic ideas of what target responds with. Higher levels grants more understanding and multiple targets to connect to."
"Meditation: Allows user to passively sense the world around them, increase mana recovery, and feel refreshed more quickly in less time."
As Soul Speak's info flooded into their brain, Blake once again reached out to the lava sea to find some targets to connect to. Surprisingly, it seemed the number of Lava Snakes and Magma Serpents had increased. Did the brutes manage to learn some decency and make peace between themselves? Either way, it didn't matter to Blake. Even if there was a bustling utopia under the surface, it would be gone in just a Nap or two. Connecting to a local Magma Serpent, broken thoughts started drifting into their mind.
"Fo-od. Hungry. Mating season soon." Fragmented growling words that sounded like a furnace burning came from the Magma Serpent.
"Yup. Nothing important here to listen to. At least it's easy to tune out." The sigh that came to Blake was more of met low expectations than disappointment.
Now it was time for Meditation experiments. Focusing on the skill, it seemed the same as Napping. Hoping that this skill wasn't a bust, a day went by in a flash. Coming back to, it felt that Meditation allowed the mana from the geyser to flow into Blake's body more easily. If the old method was akin to a cheesecloth, the new method felt more like a siv. Since it takes up to 3 billion years for a diamond to form and Blake is basically a changing stone, perhaps Meditation would cut down the time needed to 1 billion years or less. Maybe this change could also increase their mana as well. How much magic could be shoved into a rock anyway?
Well, soon all that would change. Strength, beauty and riches would soon be theirs. Happily cuddling up in the Mana Geyser, Blake ensured that the parameters had been set. They also added any changes to the Mana Geyser as well to wake them up. Now that a path to change into a new form had opened, not a single day should be wasted. Selecting 100,000,000 years to pass, eagerly Blake hit the button.
-----
As the eons passed and the world slowly began to change, the Mana Geyser stood strong. The relative calm after the moon forming asteroid allowed the crusts to solidify. Water, previously vaporized and brought by colliding space junk, coalesced. First, puddles could be seen scattered across the land. Slowly, they became larger and larger. Streams became rivers, lakes into oceans. One by one, each of the separated bodies of waters connected forming a vast blue ocean.
The lava lake, home to the first signs of magical life, dried out way before any of this happened. The crisis of its inhabitants created chaos and death. Without any fleshy bodies, they would leave behind no fossils. The barbaric lifestyle ensured no lasting testament of their existence passed through the ages. One by one the corpses of pure flame sputtered out, returning the mana and elements back to the world. Where fire and earth once ruled, water and air replaced as the new masters.
And in the endless, unchanging void a single shout of frustration echoed through the cosmos.
"WHY HASN'T BLAKE CALLED ME YET?!"