How did I end up here?
Indra roamed the banks of the Yellow River. The calming sound of the rushing water as it flowed onward toward the Bohai sea serenaded him as he contemplated his past. The river was a peculiar sight, even now after two years of wondering its banks he wasn't used to the sediment filled waters yellowish tint. He was drawn to the oh so familiar noise, each wave that smacked against its banks was a signal for his yearning heart.
How did It come to this?
Indra sighed, he had finally made his decision. The heavy rainfall had raised the water level substantially, It reached for him just as his heart reached back. The constant weight that loomed over him made his stomach twist, he couldn't wait any longer to let the powerful waters wash it all away for good. His tears were indecipherable from the rain that ran down his face.
After he had run away from the monastery Indra had assumed he'd be on his own. He was wrong, his new family nurtured him back to health after finding him alone, starving. He couldn't make it by himself. Hence the reason he practiced soft style martial arts with the monks, they knew his body was weak. They knew too well. He was sheltered in the monastery, treated differently from his peers. The other students shunned him for his weakness. All their talk of religion and the moral standard they must uphold and when it came down to it they were just children, selfish and mean. With his new family he had to work, they owned a farm and they treated him as an equal, he became friends with the children. He had a brother, Shen and a sister, Zou. They'd treated him like family, for a time. Indra thought he had found his place in the world but he had thought wrong.
Their first trip to the city, a full year after he'd been taken in by them they sold him off to the highest bidder. His brother didn't even look at him as he cried his name, his sister didn't shed a tear as he shed endless streams for her. They didn't care about him, never did. Once again the family had practiced a new kind of moral standard similar to the monks known as Moksha from a whole new religion. This one however Indra had taken a liking to, the only good thing that came of them.
He ran away the first chance he got, he was a little stronger than when he left the monks, he had to be. A full six months had gone by before he finally realized no one wanted him. He tried again and again but no family would accept him. He scrounged for his food everyday, picking from garbages, dumpsters, anything really and his only release was coming here, to the river. It was fitting that it would be his final release.
Henan China was said to be where chinese culture originated, He thought it ironic for it to be the place where he would finally meet his end.
Might as well ponder the past since there will be no future.
Indra inched closer to the edge of the river and something caught his eye. An Osprey flew overhead, it glided gracefully through the air, waiting, watching. They were known for their fishing prowess also known as sea hawks. It looked so free up in the sky. This beautiful creature was free from the suffering of men, if only. Indra envied it.
The Osprey only made him take another step, inspiring him to move towards freedom. The cold embrace of the rushing waters would be such a relief. His foot hung over the edge pushing even more sediment into the Yellow river. He was so close. Indra leaned forward slightly, completely calm, the rain, the river, it was all so serene in these final moments.
Then it happened.
BOOM
A loud noise spooked him, almost causing him to fall to his salvation. He stumbled back. His curiosity getting the better of him. Then a voice began speaking. To his left, no one same with the right and in front where the Yellow river lie. Indra shot a quick glance behind him, still nothing.
"System Initiating.
-Ten
-Nine
-Eight
-Seven
-Six
The melodic tics made him feel like a bomb was about to go off, already there was that loud boom, what next?
-Five
-Four
-Three
He shrunk into himself, fear gripped him and he closed his eyes.
-Two
-One
Indra's entire body tensed.
Zero, Systems start. Please select a username."
His eyes were shut tight, he was prepared for the worst, it never came. He opened his eyes after about ten seconds had passed and took a slow look around.
"What the hell is going on?" He inquired to no one in particular.
It sounded like something you'd hear on tv or from those video games he's heard about, he never really got to play one or even see one for that matter. After a full minute or so he'd calmed down and decided to follow along with the voices instructions, after all, he had nothing to lose. If this was real Indra didn't want to just pick the first thing that came to mind so he thought hard on the question.
"A username huh?" It was hard, The only names anyone ever called him were mean. A short time passed and nothing came to mind. "A username." He repeated as if it would just magically make some genius idea come to mind. Indra was getting angry and he needed to let out his frustration. So he did.
"I just want salvation!" He shouted into the dreary sky. Rain pelted his face, the cold drops cooled him down a bit and he calmed himself.
"Please confirm choice of username, Salvation. yes or no."
"Salvation." he said under his breath, not wanting the system to mistake it for confirmation. It had a ring to it but just didn't feel right. He wanted something more, if this was real Indra would be granted a new beginning. He wanted something that pertained to that.
"No."
"Please select a username."
It's tone was flat, just like it was before. Indra thought hard for a few more minutes until finally something clicked. Genesis. That would be his name.
With a smile Indra spoke. "Genesis." He was satisfied with his choice.
"Please confirm choice of username, Genesis. yes or no."
"Yes."
"Genesis has been set as your username. Welcome to the Conquest System, Genesis. As a new user, you have been given one hundred points. These points are to be used in the system. Use them wisely; you will only gain more points each time you level up. Each attribute represents an aspect of your body."
The system stopped speaking and letters appeared to be hovering in mid air, like magic. There wasn't much else to do but read them.
"Level: 0
Class: None
Energy type:
Bonus Points: 100
Species: Human
Titles: None
Skills: None
Stats, Endurance:7 Agility:7 Strength:3 -Wisdom:6 Intelligence:7"
Indra finished reading quickly and the system promptly began another speech.
"Endurance affects your health and stamina. Agility affects your speed and reflexes. Strength affects your physical strength and vitality, for example, how quickly you heal from physical attacks. Wisdom is how efficiently you use mana or Qi. It affects how quickly you heal from manna and Qi attacks, and it affects cognitive reasoning. Intelligence determines your mana or Qi capacity and is your defense against these types of attacks. Intelligence also affects memory. Both Agility and Strength affect your physical attack power. One attribute can become a primary effector and the other a secondary effector. This is dependent on which class you choose to use."
Indra decided to give his full attention and hope this wasn't some sort of dream.
"There are generally two types of classes, mana reliant and Qi reliant classes. In the early stages of levelling, each class usually depends on one type of energy. Each energy type has an advantage. Mana reliant classes are ideal for long range attacks. They result in overall damage, but not much physical damage. These mana reliant classes possess low strength, endurance, and agility. Their advantage is increased wisdom and intelligence. Qi reliant classes are ideal for medium to short range attacks. They result in less overall damage, and possess low wisdom and intelligence. However, these Qi classes possess great endurance, agility, and strength."
"It is advised to choose a class type suited to your skills. If you choose a class type that does not suit your body, your attributes will be weaker than they should be. It is now time to choose a class type. To choose, please mention the parameters of the class you desire. Please choose within 45 seconds, or the system will select for you."
Even though Indra was quite weak physically his mind was impeccable. He thought about all of the things that he could incorporate into this so called 'class'. Whatever it was he wanted to make it strong. He remembered the principles of Moksha, the ones he learned when he was taken in by his new family. Similar to Nirvana which he learned from the monks but he took more of a liking to it. So many possibilities. Soft style martial arts, Qinggong and Qigong. The possibilities lie within the limits of his own mind. All of which he wanted to be part of his class. He began formulating the words he would say to the system and when everything was perfect he finally spoke.
"Ok system." he said and before he could even finish a buzzer type noise went off signifying the end of the count down. He was out of time.
"Shit!" His downfall, time. Indra was always over thinking things, always dwelling to long on one thing or another.
"The system will now choose a class based on the parameters you have chosen. Do you accept?"
"I accept." said Indra solemnly an opportunity lost. He was confident he would receive some sort of weak class."
"Congratulations, You have been awarded the class of Samsara Breaker."
The class was rewarded almost instantly Indra was sure it must be weak.
"Samsara Breaker hmmm."
Samsara is the cycle of rebirth. The system must have somehow taken in my history at the temple and their religion and used that to make the class but what could it mean, Samsara Breaker?
The class sounded interesting. Did this mean that he would eventually be able to break the cycle as the name suggests? Indra thought about the class for a bit and what it might entail. Until the voice took over his mind again.
"The user system shall begin. The system is ready to modify your body. Please say begin when you are ready."
Indra had nothing to wait for, just minutes ago he was ready to end it all, now he was ready to begin anew.
"Begin."
A blinding light consumed Indra, he closed his eyes but it was so bright he then had to cover them. His body, soaked by rain water began to dry. It seemed to be an effect of the light. his body cooled down, like some sort of soothing, relaxing energy flowed through his veins. His body was changing, he could feel it was modifying him to fit his new class, or so he assumed. Pain erupted throughout the entirety of his small body, like tiny needles were being dragged across his skin, every nerve was aroused by the feeling of pain. His head exploded with the excruciating sensation. Like thousands of atomic bombs were going off, the cool relaxing energy still remained the only thing keeping him sane. His body was different from before, better. He wasn't sure in which ways yet all he knew was it was different. The two energies that seemed to be feuding began to dwindle he realized they weren't feuding but combining, in one final wave of pleasure mixed with the excruciating pain Indra groaned. His vision began to blur and he lost control. Everything began to go black. He was falling, this time his back was to the river, the same direction he fell. Maybe this would still be the end after all.
To his surprise the cold of the water never came something else did. Something wrapped around his body, constricting his arms and carried him away. He couldn't see what. The pain and the pleasure both disappeared and so did everything he was seeing, it all went black.