[Chapter 2 Awakening 2]
As I got up to wash after taking in everything I saw in my dream, let alone getting a new system, I was in quite a state of shock. I washed myself off as I stepped out of my shower, slicking my mid-long dusk gray hair away from my sadly feminine silver eyes as I looked at the black male in my reflection in the mirror.
With matching gray wolf ears and a tail that is constantly seen, a tuft of matching hair on my chest in the mirror, and a smile on my face, For a new opportunity, but sadly, it was also bittersweet.
I would have to start back at level 1, thus making 7 years wasted, but it could also be a good foundation to go forward as I wasn't the strongest, compared to others in my family of werewolves and demi-humans
I was looked down upon for having a standard system as opposed to any variation of a werewolf system; I wasn't hated, just looked at with pity and regret by all but my mother, brother, and sister.
My mother had a priestess system that gave her favor with the Egyptian goddess Nut, of the sky and heavens. We were very well off because of that and were given opportunities most wouldn't, but sadly, only my brother and sister were well off.
My older half-brother was given an interdimensional system, and my younger half-sister an elite songstress system, both living their lives how they wish. We all stay in touch, well, my mother and sister do, but I try my hardest not to take handouts and make something on my own, with my own skills.
My mother and sister wished I'd go to a peaceful zone realm and just live an easy life, but my brother and I always wanted to adventure, be the strongest we could be, and make a name for ourselves.
Realms are split into different categories: safe, standard, battle lands, or far zones. Safe zones are basic life in one of many different earth-like places. Everyday typical life is the par for the course. Besides that, systems are more based on talents like singing, lying, writing, artist systems, and even some popularity systems. Standard is the current world after the Great Fall War or the end of the battle from my dream. Many worlds and dimensions blended into one. But basically, this is where most adventures start or end, as you'll see many monsters and beings here.
Living by the rule of strength and might be opposed to law and order, death was something common here, and you'd see more fantasy-like races here you'd think were nothing more than fairytales.
The universe, or THE WILL, put unbreakable laws in place for each realm. No one from a higher realm could go to the safe realm without being suppressed if they tried to because THE WILL would actively hunt them down to restore balance. However, many powerful beings or gods had their hands in basically ruling over some of these realms for faith or other reasons.
Next is the battle and far zone. The battleland is just that—a place of endless fighting for power, resources, and fame. However, there is a level requirement to go there unless one system bypasses the Level rule or you were born there. in which case you were limited in moving; if not, you would be forced to the standard realm. Most serious people would go there to get stronger, facing better and more crazier challenges. This is governed by the high powers, who are constantly changing.
But the far realm is a place THE WILL cannot touch. It's a chaotic place with many unknowns and opportunities. Many who wish to ascend above the powers of THE WILL go there to gain unfathomable power. If not, die outright. I would never go there in my life depended on it, but there are many cracks in every realm that one could slip into, the higher realm you are or if ya have shitty luck.
"Well, great, I'm back at level 1, and my stats are shit, and I lost all the skills and magic I learned"
I'd be pissed if this wasn't a common thing for new system integrations, I could relearn them instantly if they were compatible with me and my new system, but I could also be a coin toss as the named system know the users better than them making them lose powerful skills that would not help them in the long run.
Classes are mainly used by the strong or the lucky. Due to the skills they had gained, one could be a jack of all trades or a hybrid build. But that was a class in name only. I was what you would call a spell night, or at least that's what I made myself be. However, there are ways to gain a class or a true class as some called it, yet the methods are few and far between. Most would give up on chasing a dead end even though the benefits are great.
It wasn't easy learning magic and swordplay that meshed well. I was subpar at best, sinking most of my stats into intelligence, which tends to make one smarter and make one's magic more potent.
However, the odd thing is that my intelligence was originally 20, but with this new system, I have felt no decrease in my mental strength. Oddly, maybe the scaling is different due to the system being different. Then again, I have a luck stat now that's oddly high, as I summoned my system to properly look at everything as it popped up in front of my eyes on a dark purple screen.
_Status_
Name: Blaze Hope Nights
Race: lower werewolf(evolution not ready)
Bloodline:---------
lv:1
exp:0/500
gold:19,562
Hp:50/ 50
Mp:20/ 20
Str:4
Int:2
Agi:6
Con:5
Luck:19
Stat points: 21
_Unique ability_: [Aura manipulation lv:1]
_Active skills _
[Claw slash lv:1] [Lycans rage lv:1]
_Passive skills_
[Predators Body lv:1] [Unyielding Soul lv: max] [Devour:lv:0]
I ignored the race and bloodline trait as I could easily assume that my system would allow me to evolve into a higher breed of werewolf. The bloodline trait was blank and gave me no information, so I gave up on that for now. As for my stats, it gave me quite a brief explanation of each one, and I was pretty surprised.
HP or health points is how much damage the user can sustain before death
MP or mental power is the limit of one's mental capacity not necessarily tied to only being a percentage of one's energies (mana and or ki) as it also shows how much mental stress one can overgo before going into an unconscious state or mind out state which will force the user bodily harm.
STR is the value of the user's physical strength, as well as physical skills and/or job skills, using said stat.
INT is the value of the user's intelligence, which not only makes one smarter but also allows the user to process information faster and comprehend new and old information. It increases one's potency with magic and arcane energy (mana only) and influences proficiency.
AGI is the value of the user's speed, nimbleness, and body reaction speed. increases the effectiveness of one's five, or sometimes more senses.
Con is the value of the user's overall constitution, both physical and mental. It increases the user's resistance and natural health, as well as the overall capacity and potency of one's inner life energy and external integration of life energies (ki).
So far, all these stats seem self-explanatory, or so I thought. These normal stats now held more value to other things that I or others may not be aware of. For example, the con is my overall healthiness and toughness rather than just a simple HP boost. This would also explain my low int, as it's my overall mastery of both mental capabilities and magical prowess, as many dumb individuals could still have a great magical ability.
I was also surprised as it directly told me what stats affected mana and ki, as those are two energies many learn and use to get a leg up over people. Werewolves are naturally very in tune with ki, but sadly, I wasn't blessed as such. one of the many reasons my family outcasted me in a way.
I always preferred magic anyway, and mana is easier to learn. Even if one does not naturally know how to manipulate mana around them, one can learn from teachings. Ki, however, is very hit or miss, as it's different for everyone. The ways one is taught are more tips or vague things one must understand to feel the energy.
Learning to channel mana into a spell is difficult if you don't know the ways, but mana can be used to straighten the body. That was my go-to method with swordplay as it was more effective as the only spells I knew were basic fireball and mana skin.
I'll have to try channeling my mana to see if I can learn it through the system. After seeing this final stat and my skills, I was getting off track. As I was drying off my naked body and tail, many faded scars could be seen on my slender yet slightly curvy frame.
I always was a fast, flexible fighter rather than a simple boxy frame which only added to my androgynous looks that annoyed me to no end when many would call me a woman or when guys would hit on me as I would mostly tell them to fuck off as they were never my type anyway.
Looking at the final stat, I felt my heart skip for a second as this wasn't a typical RPG luck stat for bonus damage. No, Luck is the unique stat given to the user, as luck represents going against causality. Suppose the user was put into a situation where one would typically fail or get nothing. In that case, the user's existence makes it so that even something can give nothing to benefit the user, but luck is not all good, as there must be equal exchange to going against causality.
So, the user will suffer to grow as the user did before gaining the system. Lycan wanted the new user to work five times harder to grow stronger, but do not fret, as each improvement makes the user able to go against said suffering. The strong make one's fate, and in turn, they will no longer be forced to suffer but fight the suffering.
Gained stat points cannot be used to increase luck. Only the users' actions, certain quests, and items can raise luck. The higher it is, the more valuable the reward the system will give the user.
"T-this is bullshit! I'm given a stat that will not only give me good shit but will make me suffer to get it. That's not lucky. That's fucking ..bullshit, just ahh!"
I screamed out to myself in my empty apartment building, slumping on the floor....fuck it. I've suffered already, so at least this time, I know I'll be rewarded for it, right? I've always hated those bastards with better systems and skills, always taking from me, but now I won't suffer in silence but with a hidden grin.
What I lose, I'll only get rewarded with better! Maybe I've gone mad, or maybe I've finally understood it all. I've never preferred an easy win. I always preferred challenges anyway, and with this cheat, no matter what, I would get something as I would earn it from my hard work. After calming myself down it was time to see what was new.
Bringing up my unique ability, I'd say the hard work of my past paid off as I started to read the description in detail.
[Aura manipulation: one can manipulate one's aura or the Soulforce that comes off one's very soul. The fact that you have this ability shows how strong your very soul is. As aura comes in many different colors and forms, you can use it in many different ways, such as object construction, spells, buffs, and even curses, depending on one's imagination and sufficient Soulforce.]
[Aura is measured not by a number but by the culmination of stamina and mental strength. As one soul has no measure but can expand and grow, one will know their limits without them being shown.]
[Your aura color is gray, meaning your aura is defined in a state of neutrality, as it can be positive or negative. Both will give it different straights. It will not be raw power but refined and defined. Your soul is in the perfect balance of pure and corruption; it is up to you to choose how to use this aura.]
[Claw slash lv:1 throws out claws magical energy 5 MP (can be further straightened using aura) ]
[Lycan Rage lv:1 temporarily doubles all stats for five minutes while increasing the damage one takes. This is a unique rage skill that can only be used by werewolves as the primordial werewolf Lycan could use the strength and power of a fully transformed werewolf in a non-transformed state while keeping the sanity of the mind however, the bloodlust to hunt will grow if one manages to devour the heart of their prey the increase in all stats to go up by 2 as well as reset (max stack of 3) cost 45 MP cool down 1 hour ]
After evaluating my only active skills, I found that they were pretty good, as I had good range and a busted rage ability. However, the requirement to eat the hearts of my prey meant that I would have to eat whatever I was fighting.
I'm not above eating human or sentient life. We werewolves thrive off it. I've just never done the killing. I've only been given what others would hunt, but that would also mean I'd have to eat trolls or goblins. The thought alone made me want to puke....but my mouth was also drooling at the mere thought of ripping into one and eating it whole.
Only now did I finally understand the name of my system: It would make me want to eat the things I'd fight to grow stronger.
~User has unlocked a hidden quest~
~Quest devour to grow strong~
~The user has managed to understand that this system requires him to eat not just food but a strong life to gain even more strength. The user came to the conscious conclusion that to get strong, one must throw away some form of morality.~
~Eat hearts of strong living life (0/3)~
~Reward 500 exp~
~Failure increases bloodlust till the user is forced to eat life or death.~
~As a bonus for first-time hidden quest unlock skill devour has been upgraded to lv:1~
Surprisingly, I wasn't mad or distraught. Without knowing until now, I was smiling madly, elated with the prospect of doing this. Before, I never saw a use for eating people or monsters; we just had the urge to do so, so there was no real benefit besides its taboo nature, but now I'll gain something from this. I quickly looked at the passive skills as I got my low-ranked gear.
[Predators body lv:1 Your five senses are as sharp as predators, enhancing all your senses]
[Unyielding soul lv: Max, your soul will not bow down to any man, king, or the infinite gods above you. Because of this, you can stave off any mental and spiritual invasion flung your way]
[Devour lv: 1 the main skill of your system. Most will grow strong from killing and training. Still, you will gain random permanent stats from the enemies' hearts you eat with a slight chance of gaining an ability from the eaten foes at lower levels, a higher chance from foes at your level, and an almost guarantee from enemies 10 levels or higher.
Ability 2 not only does flesh and hearts sate your hunger and strength but also monster and magical cores. ]
As I finished putting on a pair of black cargo pants and a faded dark purple shirt, I looked at my old, worn mana steel straight sword. Picking it up, I wondered if this would even do me any good, as I was better off selling it. Since it had a low-level fire gem in it, the blade itself could sell for about 500 gold.
The blade was about to snap, and my new stats and lack of mastery skills would slow me down. I was no longer a simple spell knight needing 12 intelligence to make the sword light and burn with life or at least 7 STR to hold it up properly. I would swing it around to get the basic sword mastery 1 skill, but if it breaks, then I can kiss that idea goodbye until I buy a new one.
Just as I was about to say fuck it and walk out the door to sell it and buy a basic sword to start hunting, I felt oddly compelled to look at the gem as id have to be insane as I pried the gem free with little resistance. My mouth began to drool and salivate.
"It said monster cores and magical cores, but a simple fire gem?....nothing lost, nothing gained."
Against all my reasoning, I swallowed the gem, gagging a bit and coughing as it was not the best decision. only when I was going to reprimand did something flash before me
The low-rank fire gem has been infused with mana for so long that it became a conduit for fire, meeting the requirements of a low-rank fire core user gained +3 INT.