[ SYSTEM NOTICE: Congratulations! You have Awakened, and the power of your System is within your grasp. ]
Honestly —
It was as if the universe enjoyed watching him squirm. Though the shock from yesterday — don't think about it — had yet to wear off, the overwhelming need to scream had.
Or, well, it had for a while. Waking up to such a message made him want to scream for different reasons.
First of all — what the fuck.
Second of all — It should have been impossible, and the fact that Morpheus' Grasp was both still around his neck and still itched, though significantly less than it had before, told him as much. There was no way that he should have the ability to awaken a System while still Bound.
… third of all, if that's even a thing, what the fuck.
"What the fuck," Carter uttered, eyes wide, and thoroughly ruined his chances of getting an award for being a cool and aloof any time soon.
The message — visible to him through a window-like rectangular projection in his eyes, though he knew instinctually that it wasn't actually there, updated.
[System Type: Unknown.]
[System Rank: B — S+]
And then, just below it, another message —
[WARNING! Conflicting information detected. Second MANA cluster located. MANA cluster neutralised — all systems optimal.]
Okay.
He had absolutely no idea what any of that meant. But first —
"I'd heard about it in passing, but why would a gift by God look like something from a computer?"
No answer. Of course. Instead, once he blinked, the warning had faded, and he was instead faced with… nothing. No — not nothing. He could feel something had changed.
It was like breathing pure air after living in a factory for your entire life — completely new. He felt whole in a way he never had before.
That, in a way, cemented the facts more than the messages themselves did — He had somehow unlocked a System. Which, you know, was completely impossible, but cool.
Wonderful. Now, step two, actually using it. Alas, Carter wasn't quite the tech-savvy nerd God had apparently assumed mankind was built from. And probably been right, considering what he knew of the world of those who weren't bound.
"I, ah… Options?"
The sound of a ringing bell answered his voice. It burst from nowhere and seemed to be contained within his head — and with it, a wheel of options surged in front of his eyes, coloured in a faint, pinkish red.
________________
[SYSTEM]
[USER]
[QUESTS]
[ACTIVE EFFECTS]
_________________
Interesting.
Again — Carter wasn't exactly tech-savvy, but he held an instinctual knowledge of how to operate the system. Perhaps, since it was supposed to represent his essence given form and power.
Therefore,
"User," he called out softly, and the [System] bent to his will. With a shifting animation similar to a spiral, the window collapsed into itself and reappeared with a different shape — thinner, with some flare near the corners.
[User: Carter]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 75/75]
[Level: 1]
[Title: Bound]
[EXP: 0/10]
[STR: 10]
[DEX: 13]
[CON: 8]
[CHA: 10]
[INT: 13]
[Points: 0]
— Well.
He tried to ignore the whole "Holy shit I have a System" thing and focused on what was important — that being what exactly this User Page told him.
First of all, it seemed pretty clear that, regarding his stats, 10 was the average — rather, a perfectly average Human Being would have 10 on all stats. By that assumption, his 13 Dexterity and 13 Intelligence were flattering, though likely nothing compared to those with more experience in their [Systems]. The 8 in Constitution was … unfortunate, but thoroughly expected, given his living conditions.
It would likely need to be fixed soon, however, if such a thing was possible.
Next — HP and MP were simple enough to not need explanation, but [ Title ] wasn't the same. He had no idea what [ Title: Bound ] gave or took from him, nor did he know how to learn about it. Finally, the EXP necessary to Level Up was… surprisingly low. 10 wasn't a lot, though he supposed that made sense for a Level 1.
First… experimentation.
"Title."
The screen zoomed into that section, and Carter had the suppress the urge to mutter 'Yes!' and pump his fist.
[Title: Bound]
[-25 Total Mana, -10 Total Mana Increase per Level, -50% MP regeneration, ???, ???]
[You are magically bound by Morpheus 'Grasp. The gems siphon your natural generation of Mana, your active reserves of mana and its development. Your natural occurring ??? is also bound.]
… He winced.
That was… harsh. It would probably not mean much in the higher levels, but for now, it painted a very grim picture about his future as an active user of MP. As a Level 1, it was doubtful that he had any Skills to use, but it would soon come to be a harsh disadvantage.
And those "???"... Certainly something to look into when he had the time. He wouldn't ponder upon them now — perhaps the System was merely warning him that his knowledge of the item had holes in it, and therefore couldn't provide a more detailed explanation?
He wouldn't know, he wasn't God.
Now — having checked the [User] tab, and having a decent idea of what awaited him within [Active Effects], he switched focus — The last two windows of interest, [Quests] and [System]. Out of those, one took obvious and immediate priority.
"System," he ordered, wondering for a moment why it was that the [System] seemed to respond only to verbal commands. Alas, he would ponder upon such things later, for now he had a new window to obsess over for a few more seconds.
[System Type: Unknown.]
[System Rank: B — S+ ]
[SKILLS]
[TALENTS]
Interesting —
A vague (very vague) summary of the System itself followed by accessible options. The window was large enough to fit more, so his best bet was that he would unlock more information and options as he leveled up.
For now — "System Rank," he called out, but no explanations came. A shame; he had the feeling B — S+ was a good thing, but without concrete information, it was hard to make sure, and therefore dangerous to assume. No; he'd have to think on that later.
"Talents" brought up only an empty window full of [???] Options, so he was forced to move on.
"Skills."
[SKILLS:]
[ Dash: 5 MP/Second]
[???] (Q)
[???] (1)
[???] (3)
[You have (0) Skill Points remaining.]
Ah.
Interesting. Clearly, the numbers between () indicated how many points unlocking each Skill would cost him. It surprised him to note that he did, in fact, have an available Skill, even if the [System] failed to present him with a description… not that it mattered. 'Dash' was somewhat self-explanatory, as far as he was concerned. The (Q) probably indicated a Quest completion, which meant that particular Skill was a reward and not a part of his basic progression.
Odd.
But while he was on the subject… time for the final check.
"Quests." Called out Carter. Ping! — answered the world in the tune of a chiming bell…
And a pop-up window straight from hell.
[QUEST! "Merit and Mettle."]
[You have discovered a traitor in your midst, and the revelation has left you shaken. Power corrupts, and Grandfather has power within the Bound — but not for long. Figure out what he's after… and then get rid of him for the good of the many.]
[Objective: Investigate Grandfather. (0/1) ]
[Objective: Expose Grandfather (0/1) ]
[Objective: Kill Grandfather. (0/1) ]
[Bonus Objective: ??? (0/1) ]
[Reward: 300 EXP]