A door opened into a dark comfortably furnished room, its orange lights flickering to a slow start as Andrew walked inside. Setting the large book bag down by a large white square sofa, its cubed edges gave a tough exterior that didnt cushion much. After setting the bag down andrew turned to a small sink and washed his hands.
He turned on a large holographic television placed over a kitchen island and he watched the news as he made himself something to eat. His mother had been kind enough to drop off many ingredients with the limited salary she had for him to get started with living alone.
Using a small kitchen knife to cut some carrots as he watched the television with interest.
"Scientists have been unable to find a prototype that generates enough energy to activate the beam. Due to the high amount of energy needed it is said to need either an extended period of time to charge or a really power immediate source. Scientists are now looking to utilize some younger fighters skills to artificially charge the power." A woman reported with a large business smile.
"The first launch has been successfully completed and the transportation is now open for extended testing. We expect to see significant progress for the weeks to come."
'Not that you haven't already made some progress.' Andrew thought to himself as he finished up a couple more ingredients before throwing a pot of water onto the neatly compact stove given to him.
Waiting for the pot to boil Andrew turned around and walked across the medium luxury apartment towards the sofa. Sitting down and reaching slowly over the side of the couch to reach for the bookbag, grabbing a random book off the top.
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Perseverance until blood (passive)(upgradable)
Damage stacks repeatedly by 0.5% per strike until user is struck.
(Spell will not be activated unless user is 100% hp and in combat. Stacks reset after 1 minute after last attack.)
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"Well, lets see how this works." Picking up the book he murmured deeply. Seemingly in thought as he relaxed his back into the firm outlining of the sofa.
Opening the book slowly. Once again information poured into him.
Perseverance until blood was an absorption skill, each strike dealt while the spell is in effect will cause some of the opponents soul to tether to the weapon. Creating a forced link as it absorbs the STR out of the opponent, effectively using their own strength against them.
This builds up inside of your own soul as the tethers strengthen and can only be broken by the strike of the opponents.
Looking at the worn down book from the dust in his hands, Andrew pondered for multiple moments.
"Why has nobody taken the time to learn this spell? I could name a few professional fighters who would kill their own parents for this kind of book" He spoke to him self as he closed the book.
Looking around the room as he thought about ways that people didn't find these masterpieces. The thoughts only increased as a message flashed in front of his retina.
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Congratulations! Spell Perseverance until blood now learned!:
Perseverance until blood: Damage stacks repeatedly by 0.5% per strike until user is struck.
(Spell will not be activated unless user is 100% hp and in combat. Stacks reset after 1 minute after last attack.)
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The book in his hands felt lighter as he read the message, but nothing changed.
Andrew sat there in wonder at the stupidity? Obliviousness? Of his classmates. Who would leave these spells out in the open and not take them. Because He knew that at least half of his class would sell their left arm for some of these.
[Maybe The books react with ones soul power to display a spell worthy of their own power.]
The deep voice suggested, his voice now contained emotion as it stated thoughtfully.
"Maybe, but i doubt it's that simple. But regardless, it's ours now." He gave a light smile as he stood up.
The pot of water boiling let out a whistle as steam tried to escape the glass top put on the large pot. Releasing the large lid Andrew tossed in multiple ingredients for a small stew. Giving it a small stur as he poured in some stock and a little bit of red wine, hidden in a cabinet of course.
Letting it simmer he turned around to pick up another book as he waited for it too cook properly. His grey shirt tightened as he leaned his back against the island to read the small book.
———-
Eyes of the impervious (evolvable)
Allows the user to intimidate opponents by giving the user an authoritative aura.
Causes slight impairment to opponent depending on int stat difference between user and target
When being used dex is decreased by 40%, causing you to not go any faster than a jog.
———-
"I had a hard struggle learning this one last time, hopefully this time around ill be able to actually do something. Hell, maybe i cant at all." He muttered to himself, mostly to dull out the ringing silence.
Even with how quiet the apartment was Andrew couldnt concentrate as he decided to put the news channel back on for more background noise, the anchors talking fading to the background as he skimmed through the book.
Andrew closed his eyes and tried to sink the information into his mind, the details of the book formed words and paragraphs infront of the endless darkness of his eyelids. The words slowly floated back further into the darkness. Slowing down after becoming barely readable.
Andrew reeled back in shock as he opened his eyes to find himself in a completely different location.
"What the hell?"
[ooooo, looks like you're experiencing your first soul domain. How exciting.]
"What do you mean by that? I don't even know what that is, how the hell would you know?"
[.... don't worry about that]
The voice replied back slightly nervously.
[Anyway, a soul engraving is when the earth has reached its first point of maturity. Everybook you will read from now on will now give you a trail to unlock the spell. Normally books are scattered throughout the world in dungeons, prizes from defeating animals or from runes and finally wills.]
[Your planet seems to be nearing the first stage of maturity for lack of a word. But after this books will be scattered throughout the world in various tasks, these first couple of years are usually given to the world to be able to stand a chance. Like a practice run before a race in a week.]
"That makes little sense though, why would they arrive and just give everyone a spell or just make everyone start from zero. Like a video game. What about the last spell? Why didn't that one have one."He thought of a response to the long dialogue given to him.
HIs hair was now starting to sway as he looked around his surroundings. The cold atmosphere was covered in sprawled out dark stained rock and short vibrate almost blue grass. No trees were in sight as he looked around once more, before reaching down to sweep his hand through the grass around him.
[Because your world is too modern for that, if that were to happen many people would break down in fright and they wouldn't like that. As for your other question iiiduunaaaa] he let out a sound that slurred multiple words together to say he doesn't know.
"They?"
[the creators of the system, they seem to hand out walking sticks to every new world depending on where they start.]
"Aren't you a system?" Andrew asked back, deeply confused by what he was hearing by the earnest voice radiating in his head.
[Not quite, You have been blessed by the one and only! I'm only taking over for a short while with my power.]
"That answers nothing"
[not supposed to, you'll find out soon enough…. I think]
Andrew was getting a little annoyed with the supposed lecture that was leading nowhere as he looked around his surroundings, not finding anything besides the midnight purple horizon. Studying the sky he followed a long trail of stars, their galactic blue hue swerved together until it stopped a certain part. Andrew watched intently as the stars seemed to be coming to him.
"There.. Moving?" Andrew asked himself questioningly as he looked at the slowly trailing stars before they sped up sharply.
The swerving stars spun in a large circle speeding up dramatically as they nearly collided with each other. They kept spinning, reaching an untraceable speed as they started to fuse into a long white ring creating a large oval in the sky.
"Mmg hat nwww" A muffled voice appeared out of nowhere as it blared through the world around him as strong as a hurricane.
Andrew gripped the ground with his hands as he was thrown down to the ground immediately. His left arm spasmed as he did so, causing a red stain to appear onto his wrapped bandage. The long grass wasn't being torn as it held his body weight against the large gust of air.
"Ah, I see. Another challenger." The voice was more clear and this time it was a lot softer, the breeze no longer came but the pressure behind the voice was immense. Like it could crush him with his voice alone, but it was rather deep.
'Looks like you found a twin' He spoke to his system sarcastically to try and help lighten his mood. His back was already covered in a thick layer of sweat as his legs wobbled trying to push himself off the hard ground. He strained his neck up towards the small circle of stars.
A large eye stared back at him, it was a dark purple with a mix of deep red. A canine eye, not a human eye.
"A Darian? How did you get here?" The voice demanded harshly, slamming andrews body to the ground once more. Luckily he caught himself by his arms to lighten his fall, dirt pushed into his fingernails as he gripped his hands.
"Ugh, too weak at that." The voice rang out in disappointment as Andrew struggled to push himself off the ground.