After squirming around for hours, Marcus could finally feel the burning sensation that had been torturing him for hours fade away, allowing him to get up. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed with the horribly bright gleam of the light radiating from the cavern he was stood in. There were piles upon piles of riches, stacked to the brim with platinum and gold pieces with scattered magical items everywhere.
Marcus reached out for the riches, stupefied by the incredible fortune he had just found, but as if the world was playing a joke on him, pitch black tentacles ripped out of his back and began devouring the fortune right before his eyes.
Marcus tried to run up to the fortune and grab some of it for himself, but the same tentacles that were coming out of him seemed to be holding him back, keeping him restrained from retrieving the money he had found.
"STOP! THAT'S MY MONEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY MONEY!" he cried out, but no matter how much he cried of threatened, the tentacles would not stop, and his fortune was ever dwindling, now less than half than its initial size.
After a few more minutes of agony, the tentacles finally stopped, barely leaving a hundred platinum coins. Marcus knew this was the most money he had ever seen in his life, but remembering the amount of money he could've had, he felt like crying. He wouldn't have had to work for the rest of his life. He could just buy his sister back. The number of cores he could buy would be unimaginable, and yet that whole fortune had disappeared, and Marcus didn't even know where to.
"WHO DARED TO TAKE MY FORTUNE?"
< "Ugh be quiet. You're annoying" > a voice resounded from his shoulder, but when Marcus turned his head, there was nothing there.
"WHO IS THAT? COME OUT AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE! I'M NOT A MAN IF I DON'T PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!"
< "You don't have to yell you know. I can hear your thoughts" >
Marcus was puzzled now. He was certain there was nothing on his shoulders, but he had definitely heard a voice in his ears.
< "Ugh, you really are hopeless. I'm in your head, genius. What did you think the monolith was?" >
"Monolith?"
< "You don't need to speak out loud you know">
"Oh… ok"
'Can you hear me now?' ('…' will be used for thoughts.)
< "Much better">
'Okay, answer my questions then. What are you? Who are you? Where are you? Why are you here?'
< "Woah woah woah calm down there! That's a lot of questions even for me! And besides, you didn't even ask the most important question when talking to a lady…. No wonder you're single">
'Well what would that question be the- hang on a minute…. Who said I was single?'
< "I can read your memories, fool. And the question was 'HOW are you?'…. take notes because with those looks… yeah you'll need all the help you can get" >
Marcus was in shock. He didn't look that bad! Oh, and also there was a voice in his head with weird tentacles that could read his memories… but that's not the important bit.
'Listen here you lit- wait what even are you?'
< "Well, Mr Fool, I am your very own system, a cheat to life and now your queen that you wi-" >
'Yeah none of that'
< "Fine. Continuing from earlier, I am a system that can assist you in your rise in power. Whilst my actual purpose is restricted information, I can tell you that I can make you much more powerful than you are currently. I have full access to your memories and have several abilities that you will find out at later dates. As for now… why don't you try opening your menu. You can do that by saying 'Open Menu'" >
'Okay then'
"OPEN MENU"
Marcus had yelled because he expected an incredible occurrence like lightning striking of a tornado of flames as an incredible power descended, but instead, he had made himself look like a fool.
< "You have to be the dumbest host I've ever had… you can just think it, you fool. Don't worry about other people seeing the menu by the way. It's invisible unless you choose to show them." >
Either way, Marcus had opened the Menu, and a holographic screen had come up.
It read:
[Name – Marcus Vindictio]
[Species – Human / Inanis]
[Rank – Diamond II]
[Level - 11] [EXP – 0 / 100]
[Abilities]
[Call of the Void]
[Mastery – 0]
[Inventory]
[Silver II Hammer (Uncommon)]
[Silver III Hunting Knife (Common)]
[Skills]
[Weapon Misdirection – lv 7]
[Novice Blacksmithing – lv 8]
[Novice Rune smithing – lv 4]
[Missions]
[None]
'What is this?'
< "Well, Marcus, this is the system. A representation of my power and your key to strength. Simply put, it allows you to see how strong you currently are, and to get good at things through repetition. For example, forging hundreds of weapons would make you better at forging. Furthermore, skills will level up whenever they reach level 10, and your own level signifies your general strength. The levels correlate to your ranks, so level 1 is Bronze I, level 2 Bronze II and so on. Level 11 is Diamond II, your current rank. Experience can be increased by devouring cores and completing missions given to you by me. You won't have to worry about impurities in the cores you devour because of the Void skill you found. Also, you will also be able to see the level of Fallen and other people you see, but stronger ones will be able to tell when you are looking at them, so be careful. Additio-" >
'Slow down, slow down! You're going way too fast!'
< "Ugh, I forgot you were this dense. I'll just remind you as we go along, I guess. Why couldn't my host be slightly smarter" >
She sounded pained, and this annoyed Marcus, who had been on the receiving end of her mockery.
'Last few questions. First of all, where did my money go?'
< "Hahaha you really thought that money was yours? I used all of it to awaken! It's all gone now!" >
Marcus felt a pang of annoyance, before returning to normal.
'Last question. How strong is Diamond II? I've never actually known anything more than Gold but judging by my level I'll assume it's the rank after Gold.'
< "You don't even know this much? By my creator you are useless… Bronze I to III is the rank of a regular humans without any specific talents that haven't absorbed any cores. This takes up about 40 percent of the population. Silver I to III is the rank of someone who has absorbed some cores but isn't particularly strong and doesn't practise any specific martial art or technique. This takes up a further 25 percent of the population. Gold I to Gold III is the typical adventurer who regularly fights beasts and has strengthened themselves through cores and training. Diamond I to Diamond III makes up elite adventurers and mid ranking officers, whilst Platinum I to Platinum III are rather high-ranking officers and maybe a smaller kingdom's elite guard. Palladium I to Palladium III makes up the world's powerhouses, leading armies and serving royalty, or sometimes being royalty themselves. Titan I to Titan III make up the strongest people in this realm, but that's something you need not worry about for now." >
Marcus was shocked that there was that much above him, but he was stoked with excitement at the thought of reaching the pinnacle.
'Okay, system, lets leave this island then. I can't wait to get stronger!'
< "Well, Marcus, about that….">
'What? What is it?'
< "This is the floating island of Delos. Well that's not its actual name, but some guys saw it several thousands of years ago and decided to make a religion out of it. Like its name, the island floats through the sea, remaining in another dimension until three years pass. After those three years, the island reappears in the Human Realm, the one you're familiar with, and stays there for ten minutes. This is because it flicks through hundreds of dimensions, but since the Human Realm has the weakest energy, the barrier temporarily loses strength, allowing people like you in. That means you can't leave for another three years…." >
Marcus fell to his knees. These next 3 years would be long.