"So...why are you two here? Can I just have one night of uninterrupted sleep?" I asked.
"If only it were that easy!" Gaia said.
"Well, I wouldn't mind going to sleep." the other one said sarcastically.
"Hmph. Well, I'm here because I was a bit worried is all..." Gaia said.
"And I'm here because I have something to tell you." the other figure replied.
"Okay...First things first. Can I know your name, or give me something to call you?" I asked.
"I already told you, I'm you. But I guess you don't believe me still. Instead..." they paused. "Call me Rei." they said.
"Rei? Is that really your name?" I asked.
"No, it's not. I'm borrowing it." they replied.
"Borrowing?" I asked confused. "Well, whatever. That works for now, Rei." I told them.
"Anyways on why I'm here. I know you have your suspicions on me, and on everything going on in the world. All I know for sure with everything that is going on, is that the answers have something to do with the F.C.F." they said. "In the year that you'll be working with them, I urge you to find out what it is." Rei said.
"On that, I actually agree with this one." Gaia chimed in. "I'm not sure of anything, but somethings been irking me about the F.C.F. As well as the circumstances around Alexander's betrayal." they said. "Alexander...he for sure has killed many human beings...but for what reason I'm unsure." Gaia replied.
"This is all too confusing. For now I'll look for some answers, but I don't know what I can do alone." I replied.
"Well, you aren't entirely alone." Gaia replied. "We're here, and the stronger you get, the stronger we'll get. The stronger we are, the more we can help you!" they said. "For now, while you're working with the F.C.F. try and get to level twenty. By then, I should be able to give you some more of my power, and you should be around A-rank by then." they said.
"R-really? A-rank?" I said bewildered. "If that's the case, I'll take on as many missions as I can." I replied.
"Yeah, I'll help you out a bit too, at least until you get some answers." Rei replied.
"I...see, Thanks?" I replied.
"Sure, anyways, take a look at your System when you wake up. I added something that should help you get stronger." Rei said.
"And I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't add anything weird." Gaia replied.
"Heh." Rei chortled.
"Okay, I guess time's up. See ya." I replied as I felt my consciousness returning to reality.
"Ah. Just what is going on..." I sighed to myself as I woke up. "I guess I should check my System skill." I thought as I gathered mana to my forehead and said 'System'.
[Vernon]
Rank- C
Level: 12
Strength - 25
Intellect - 20
Luck - 20
Dexterity - 30
Attribute - Light, Fire.
Abilities:
Mana-manipulation - S-Rank, System - S- Rank, Basic Sword Mastery - E, Soul-Connection - No Rank, Questing - Ex Rank Latent Abilities Hidden.
***
I quickly closed my system in disbelief and then re-opened it. "Q-questing? Isn't this too ridiculous?" I thought to myself. As I continued to sit in confusion I decided to take action. I gathered mana into my forehead once more and said 'Questing'. Lo and behold a new menu appeared before me. "Quest 1/5. 'Get Stronger' " was written on the screen. There was more information under that read "In order to become stronger you must clear three fields and a dungeon. Time to complete: One Month. Reward: One Skill-book."
"I have to clear a dungeon and three fields for just one skill-book? Isn't that way too unfavorable." I questioned aloud. "Rei..." I uttered to myself out of anger. "Hah. I have to do these things anyways to get stronger, so I can just think of it as a bonus." I continued.
"Let's see what else it says." I thought. Under the quest information for 'Get Stronger' was another sentence that read. "Acquire more quests from desperate people or under extreme circumstances. You can have up to five active quests at once." The skill read.
"It feels as if Rei is trying to desensitize me to the world." I thought. "Whatever, if it makes me stronger that's all that matters." I continued.
*Ring Ring*
As I was thinking my status watch started to ring. I started wearing it again to avoid suspicion, also because it was the only way for me to get in contact with people.
"Hello?" I responded to the call.
"Hello, this is Agent Bryant with the F.C.F. We have an assignment ready for you, please come to the headquarters as soon as you can." Bryant said.
"Got it. I'll be there soon." I replied. The call ended and I began to get ready. On the way to the F.C.F. I stopped by a nearby weapon shop to pick up a weapon I ordered. It was a one handed sword that was slightly longer than the swords I used. The sword was made of the iron from a meteor that landed after the fissure occurred. It also had a light-attuned monster core that I found from one of the monsters I defeated built into the handle. It was a perfect weapon for me to easily manipulate light mana during my fights. Rather than using my hands or eyes to guide the light mana, I can use my sword.
Finally, I arrived at the new F.C.F. headquarters and made my way to the conference room. It was there that Agent Bryant began to detail the assignment to me.
"Your job today is to clear the C-Rank field, Swamp Of Calamity. Like the name suggests it's a swamp area teaming with reptilian type monsters, as well as some giant insects, and magical plants. The area has become overrun with monsters lately, and if it continues we may have monsters attacking the city. The swamp is on the way to the Tears of Calamity, so you should be familiar." he said.
"Ah...yeah. I was there not too long ago. Then can I head out straight away?" I asked.
"Oh- uh yes of course. Would you like a partner assigned with you?" he asked.
"No, I'll be doing my missions solo for now." I said as I did not want to become attached to another person in the year I would be here.
"Then, I'll get going." I told him.
"Alright, good luck." he replied.
I then set off to the outskirts of Lyons towards the Tears of Calamity. The field I'm going to is a bit to the north, in the swamp area. "Looks like this is the spot." I said as I arrived. From what I could see there were alligator like monsters, although much bigger, roaming the swamp. There were also some large snake like monsters, as well as giant mosquitoes. I pulled out my sword and began my onslaught. "Sorry, but I gotta take out some frustrations." I said under my breath and jumped into battle. "Infinite Burn" I said aloud, drawing the attention of many nearby monsters. I focused the skill onto my sword that was glowing with light mana. "Light manipulation" I said as I swung my sword in the air, leaving a streak of fire that ignited countless giant mosquitoes. "Now that that's out of the way." I said. "Your turn." I look coldly at ten giant alligators that were rushing towards me. I ducked down holding my sword in my right hand and coated it in light mana. I then stabbed forward releasing the mana in the form of a projectile, which pierced one alligator. I then slashed to right at one of the charging alligators. The gator spun and parried my sword with it's tail, which seemed to have iron like spikes on it. I then dodged backwards as it tried to bite me, I then lunged forward and stabbed it through the top of the head. At the same time, two gators charged from behind me. Instead of turning to fight, I dashed forward and jumped onto a nearby tree. Before the gators could catch up I charged my sword with light mana and gathered normal mana into my left hand. "Mana-Manipulation" I said as I jumped down to the charging gators. I let out a blast of mana from my left hand that struck one gator down, then using the force of the blast I spun mid-air and stabbed my sword downward. "Light-Manipulation." I said as I fired a projectile of mana from my sword, piercing the other gator through the body. The rest of the gators seemed to be much younger, and were easier to defeat. I quickly made work of them, killing a total of ten gators and five giant mosquitoes. I gathered the gator skin, teeth, claws, and whatever else I could get from them before taking a break.
"Let's take a look at my stats, System." I said as I sat down under a tree.
[Vernon]
Rank- C
Level: 13
Strength - 30
Intellect - 20
Luck - 20
Dexterity - 35
Attribute - Light, Fire.
EXP To next level 15/4000
Abilities:
Mana-manipulation - S-Rank, System - S- Rank, Basic Sword Mastery - E, Soul-Connection - No Rank, Questing - Ex Rank Latent Abilities Hidden.
-
"After all that I barely got half of a level, and these are strong monsters too. I'm gonna be here a while." I thought to myself. "Let's try something different." I said as I charged mana into my legs and crouched down. "Mana-Manipulation" I said as I used mana to propel myself through the sky. I landed on a boulder-like platform in the middle of the swamp. "Light-Manipulation" I yelled as I lifted my sword into the air. I created a sort of beacon to bait monsters to me. I could see heads and tails poking from the dirty swamp water. I could also see a swarm of giant mosquitoes gathering. "Perfect" I said staring at the swarm. "Infinite Burn" I released my skill along with the abundant light mana I gathered around my sword once again and ignited the swarm. I then released the mana gathering at my feet with mana manipulation. A shockwave occurred throughout the swamp. Due to the shockwave many of the young, weaker monsters instantly died. There were some minor injuries to the stronger monsters.
"Looks like I got most of them." I said aloud. "About twenty of the big ones left, huh..." I said as I dashed, hopping between sturdy objects until I was back on land. The monsters followed me and began to circle. I gathered light once more towards my sword, but this time I would try something different. I shaped the light mana into a blade, then began to apply mana-manipulation to it. What occurred was two completely opposite types of mana battling each other atop my blade. I used this opportunity to release both types of mana at the same time and spun in a circle. What occurred was a whirlwind of an explosion, knocking me one hundred meters back first into a tree. What I saw when I got up shocked me. Not only were all the monsters dead, but the whirlwind cleared up half of the swamp along with it. "I don't know what I just did...but I should probably not do that again." I thought to myself after seeing the pure destruction of the swamp. I felt a pain running towards my forehead, "Not again..." I thought as my System screen popped up.
"You have completely a step to your quest, congratulations." the screen read. "Rei...did you really need to make this a feature..." I complained to the screen as if it could hear me.
"Yes :^)" the screen replied back, as if it was actually listening to me. "I figured you'd stay in the swamp until god knows when unless you were notified when to stop." he said.
"I see, well that actually makes sense. I probably wouldn't have checked the skill until night-fall. Thanks..." I replied, somewhat ashamed.
"NP, GL : ) " the screen read.
The more I talked to him the more familiar it felt. I decided to gather whatever materials I could find and went home for the day. I killed roughly forty gators. I could not calculate the mosquitoes since I burned them to a crisp. Besides those two, I found the remains of a few snakes. Luckily, I was able to find one monster core, although I couldn't tell it's elemental affinity.
I finally arrived home and went to sleep. For the first time in a while, I slept the entire night uninterrupted.
[Vernon]
Rank - C-
Level: 15
Strength - 35
Intellect - 20
Luck - 20
Dexterity - 40
Attribute - Light, Fire.
EXP To next level 200/6000
***