Many hours passed before Kenji regained consciousness.
"Good. You're awake. How do you feel?" the scientist asked as she stood a fair distance away from the metal bed, scrolling through screens on the holographic tablet.
Kenji was still feeling the slight sleep paralysis as he held the top of his head while slowly turning to get off the bed.
"Yeah… I'll be fine," he said.
Kenji's composure was regained when he saw the scientist walking over to him.
"Another check up?" he intuitively asked.
Nodding in agreement, the scientist reequipped her robotic eye and began scanning once more. But this time, unlike before when Kenji felt nothing from the process, he felt as if a wide ray of light was moving over his body, most likely due to the newly installed system.
"There seems to be no problems, the 'devourer' system has been successfully installed," The scientist said after she switched her eyes indicating the end of the scan.
Upon hearing this, Kenji couldn't help himself as his lips curled into a smile, he finally became a User and he now had the capabilities to make all his dreams come true. He was so excited that he immediately vaulted from the bed, running straight for the door when he was stopped by the scientist.
"You're in such a rush, do you even know how to activate your system?" She asked with smug tone.
"…"
Being such a hothead, Kenji didn't even think of this; his excitement got the better of him.
"So I thought," the scientist said with a chuckle, "just think of it and say 'System Initiate' and that's it."
Getting over the embarrassment, Kenji nodded before zooming out the door; leaving the scientist with a contented smile on her face.
"I think I've found another one."
***
A bike ride later, Kenji returned home. He was still highly exhilarated as he completely ignored his sister in the living room and dashed to his, closing the door to eliminate the chance of distractions.
Practically jumping into a hovering chair next to a table with a computer, he moved it to the centre of the room.
"Let's go!" He said just above a whisper as he muttered, "System Initiate!"
Immediately after, a bright light shot from his pure black eyes which now changed to a translucent blue before breaking up into hexagon-shaped light particles. With little knowledge of what was supposed to occur when one activated a system, he just thought this was normal.
But when the the light particles began converging and eventually forming the shape of a human, which further materialised into a small-framed, teenage floating girl, Kenji had to think something was wrong.
"Huh?! What the hell?!" He almost fell off his chair as he leaned back in shock.
The little girl, pixie-cut aquamarine hair, emerald eyes with an iris rotating clockwise to anticlockwise that cast the illusion of a wormhole with blue line-circuit tattoos running on both her cheeks; dressed in a rather simple, pink skirt and blouse of Japanese design, spoke.
[Greetings. My designation is Aelida, I am an AI guide programmed into your system, I am pleased to meet you, Host] Said the artificial intelligence, Aelida in a monotone voice with a slight mechanical echo.
Kenji was unable to utter a single word as his mouth gaped, in all his years of following Users, he never once heard any of them report anything like this.
Aelida spoke once more.
[Correct, no other User has ever been equipped with an AI guide. You are apart of the few.]
Hearing this pulled Kenji out of his trance. 'Can she hear my thoughts?' he wondered; As anyone would, he curiously asked about the 'few' Aelida spoke of.
[Yes, I am apart of your system therefore I have exclusive access to your mental functions, which includes reading your thoughts. Also, you are not able to access such information at this time. Please view your status screen.]
Before Kenji was able to utter another word, a transparent blue screen appeared in front of him; very similar to when one activated a holographic tablet or phone, it showed his current stats.
[Devourer System (LVL 1)]
[Name: Hashira Kenji]
[Race: Mutated Human]
[Age: 16]
[Level: 1]
[Experience: 0/50]
[Health: 30/30 ( 1 point recovery per minute)]
[Stamina: 30/30 ( 3 points recovery per minute)]
[Strength: 20]
[Defence: 15]
[Agility: 20]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Species absorbed: 0/2]
[Attributes/Ailments: None]
[Skills: None]
[Free Stat Points: 0]
Noticing his stats, Kenji found something else to focus on. He examined each category.
"My strength and agility seems to be above average, most likely due to my excessive training." Kenji thought with a hand on his chin.
[Correct. The Host has trained his body to an athletic level, giving you a slight edge over other new Users.] Aelida chimed in.
Kenji ignored her as he went back to examining his status screen; everything seemed to be normal in his eyes except the [species absorbed] criteria.
"Aelida, can you please explain that part?" Kenji asked, feeling quite a bit crazy for talking to a computer programme.
[Certainly. The dvourer system is able to completely absorb any species or material, gaining any unique attributes they may possess. The attributes may be absorbed either through eating or any other form of ingestion. The attributes gained depends on how much is absorbed.] Aelida informed.
"What the actual fuck?! I have to eat something to get stronger?!" Kenji fumed.
[Correct. However, as you grow that will not be necessary as the skill evolves. In addition, if the specimen is cooked, no attributes will be absorbed, only stat points, depending on what it absorbed. Normal things will not yield any benefits, such as usual food.]
Feeling quite infuriated, Kenji questioned who would create such a system. The thought of eating something raw was absolutely crazy! Even to someone like him, with his own share of mental issues.
[Now that the Host has been educated on the basics of the system, it is time for your first mission.]
Hearing Aelida, who hadn't moved from where she materialized, say this, brought on a shock. He was about to retort when the information on his status glitched, showing new text on the blue screen.
[Daily mission: Preparing to Harness Strength]
[Information: To hold the unlimited power of the Devourer System, your body must be tempered. Intitated when host activates the system first thing every day.]
[Critera: Run 5 km: 0/5]
[Complete 50 pushups: 0/50]
[Complete 50 sit ups: 0/50]
[Time left to intiate: 1 hour]
[Reward: 20 experience]
[Penalty: 12 hours immobilization]
"This is absolute bullshit!" Kenji roared, "Screw it, I don't care about the penalty."
[I would suggest the Host to complete the mission, being immobilized means that you will miss the Induction Ceremony.] Aelida warned.
When a sixteen year old became a User, they would be required to be inducted in the User Battalion; A training programme for Users only.
Kenji realized this and did a rather loud face-palm. He quickly got up from his chair after clearing his status screen and checked the mission log, he had 55 minutes left to begin the quest; A good enough time for him to find a spot.
Running down the stairs with Aelida flying close behind, he ran smack into his sister, who asked why he was in such a rush.
"Can't talk, gotta train." Kenji used a simple excuse as he ran towards the gym of the house, shaking her head as he closed the door.
Inside the room was a hardcore gym setup; with a treadmill, hydrolic weights and many other high-tech exercise machines. Kenji was ready to take on his daily mission.
He decided to take care of the aspect that seemed the most difficult, in his eyes that was the five kilometer run. As such, he got on the treadmill after doing some stretches.
A few minutes in, Kenji began to feel slightly winded; he was used to sprints and light jogging, this long distance regime needed some getting used to. He pressed forward and completed the running aspect in another thirty minutes.
[5 km run completed!]
Kenji checked his status screen and noticed that his stamina bar had dropped by five, leaving him with [Stamina: 25/30]. Getting a clear understanding of how stamina points worked, he continued the quest.
***
[Daily Mission Completed! 20 EXP awarded!]
Kenji laid on the floor of his gym, exhausted. His stamina points had dropped to only five, leaving him quite tired; He realized that although he had an athletic body, that kind of exercise being done back to back would totally wear him out.
After catching his breath and bringing his stamina to fifteen points, he walked sluggishly to his room.
[What will the Host do now?] Aelida questioned Kenji who fell face-first on his bed.
"I'm going to sleep. And please, my name is Kenji." He replied, feeling quite annoyed by being referred to as 'Host'.
[I see, Kenji]
Aelida spoke but through her mental connection she felt that his brain functions had been halted temporarily due to sleep, as such she was put into temporary deactivation as her body burst into light particles which disappeared after.