Lorn woke up in a bed, the stench of food filling his nose. He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. It took him some time to realize he was in the One World and not the real world. Although the digital world was eerily similar to reality, there were subtle, but definite differences between them.
He was in a small room, modestly decorated, but cozy quite cozy. There was a bowl of water left beside him, with all his possessions stacked neatly together. There was also a small note.
[Will be back soon.]
Lorn grunted and pushed himself off the bed. He noticed that his right hand, which was bitten by the wolf, was without wounds. There wasn't even a scar. He grabbed at it and realized he wasn't sore in any way either.
He then remembered the godly feeling he had when he used his Rejuvenation spell. And that was only one skill. There were countless other things he could do in the world. He was now sure the One World was going to be a success.
But he then remembered the gut-wrenching pain of having his hand bitten by the wolf. Perhaps he could tell Reina to dial down on the pain a bit. Since the One World was inherently more dangerous, people would be more prone to be hurt. And since the game was meant to be something enjoyable, there was no need to make people needlessly suffer.
Speaking of enjoyable, Lorn picked up the mirror and looked at his Status. Who didn't love seeing their stats go up in video games?
[Name: Lorn Ashin]
[Title: N/A]
[Spirit Partner - Sybil Plath (F)]
[Health: 100%]
[Spirit (F): 100%]
[Strength: 1.8]
[Dexterity: 2]
[Stamina: 1.6]
[Agility: 1.8]
[Intelligence: 1.5]
[Willpower: 2.4]
[Sense: 0.3]
[Boon: Enhancement; Manipulation (Imparted); Specialization (Imparted)]
[Innate skills (generalized): Nimble hands Lv.6; Flexible Body Lv.5; and 25 others.]
[Obtained skills: Strengthening Lv.0; Rejuvenation Lv.1]
[Imparted skills: Point of Gravity Lv.0; Gravitational Pull Lv.0; Spirit Visualization Lv.0]
[Immersion: 43%]
[WARNING: A foreign spirit is attempting to control yours!]
[WARNING: A foreign spirit is attempting to control yours!]
[Player willingly accepts the intrusion.]
[SKILL LVL UP: Rejuvenation Lv.1 – Gained 0.2 Stamina]
[WARNING: Your Spirit is depleted! Imminent loss of consciousness!]
[CONGRATULATIONS: For using a skill for the first time, gained the 'Willpower' stat! Skills are easier to use! Gained the 'Sense' stat! Your spirit is easier to sense!]
[Conditions for Forced Spirit Bonding fulfilled. Checking compatibility between the participants' personalities. Spirit Bonding successful!]
[CONGRATULATIONS: You have gained a Spirit Partner, Sybil Plath. Bond level – F. Her affinities are imparted onto you. Three random skills are learned. As the Bond's level is still low and the two partners are unfamiliar with each other, no other bonuses are applied.]
[GAINED AFFINITY: Manipulation (imparted). As the boon's imparted, you do not receive skills. Your stats do not increase. If you receive a skill on your own, that would give you the Manipulation boon, you can receive the bonuses then. If your Spirit Partner dies, the Affinity will be lost.]
[GAINED AFFINITY: Specialization (imparted). As the boon's imparted, you do not receive skills. Your stats do not increase. If you receive a skill on your own, that would give you the Specialization boon, you can receive the bonuses then. If your Spirit Partner dies, the Affinity will be lost.]
[GAINED SKILLS: Point of Gravity Lv.0 – Willpower multiplied by 1.1; Gravitational Pull Lv.0 – Willpower multiplied by 1.1; Spirit Visualization Lv.0 – Sense multiplied by 1.1.]
[NOTICE: You cannot unlock skills without the aid of your Spirit partner. You can share each other's spirit (up to 10% of the total amount). Your growth will be shared to a degree.]
A ton of notifications littered the mirror. Lorn looked through them all diligently and got an understanding of what happened.
'To save my arm, Sybil must've controlled my spirit using hers… But that lead to us being bonded spiritually. Did she know this was going to happen? She must've known…'
Lorn felt grateful to Sybil for saving his arm, but he also felt a bit cheated. Now, he was unable to learn any new spells or level them up without her help.
But thinking about it, he supposed it wasn't that big of a deal. Surely there were ways to get rid of the bond somehow. And besides, the gains he got were big. Two boons and three skills. He was also grateful to have finally leveled up a skill. With how hard it was for him to use Rejuvenation, he would've surely suffered if he was learning alone.
Sybil basically carried him through the early stages of learning his Spirit techniques.
Lorn decided to be thankful to Sybil and then looked at the skills he got.
'Point of Gravity and Gravitational Pull… I guess these are what allows her to manipulate things.'
Although he wasn't sure what exactly the first skill did, the second one was surely used to pull things towards the ground, or maybe even towards her. And since Lorn only received three of her skills, there must've been a 'Gravitational Push' somewhere in her skillset. That one must've been used to shoot stones at her enemies.
As for Spirit Visualization, Lorn had few ideas. Since it raised his Sense, it must be something that helped him with his spirit control.
Anyway, Lorn was sure they were all useful.
The problem was his Immersion rate. Already, it rose to 43%. The last time he checked, it was only 25%. The fight, his injury, his attempt at using his skill, the soul bond and the time he spent sleeping must've really affected his immersion rate.
If he wanted to play it safe, he was better off logging out now. But he logging out so quickly was also bad. He needed to stay here for at least three days to have the highest chance of not receiving brain damage. So far, he was only here for a day.
He wondered if he should do nothing for the next two days so he could safely log out after it? But that was also bad. He needed to impress the researchers, so sitting tight wasn't an option.
As he was struggling with his situation, he heard someone enter the house. Sybil entered the room the next moment, holding a variety of foodstuff in her hand.
"Oh, you're finally awake," she said as she put them all down. "I was wondering if I overdid it when I healed your hand completely. After all, you've been sleeping for two days now."
"Thank you," Lorn got up from the bed.