Even when the world has beat you down can you find the will to get back up and keep trudging on? Will you have the time and energy to do what is needed? What about when that task is reaching out a hand to someone who has hurt you deeply? Will you beat them down as they have done to you, or will you show uncommon kindness? I truly hope that I would be able to do that when the time comes and show the world that it does not define me.
Therion could feel it even before he opened his eyes, something is not right. Looking around all he could see is a white expanse unfolding before him. I could still feel my body sitting on the floor of his house, but my perception is wherever this is.
"We finally meet face to face." I whipped around to where the monotone voice came from and saw it. A featureless mannequin sat just behind me resting its head on its hand. "To answer your first and second question, yes I am the system and yes I brought you here when you died. For your third that you are just now considering no, I did not directly kill you. Your forceful awakening of essence on earth did most of that. All I was able to do is give you a little more time to save your sister." I just stared at the system blankly slowly processing the info dump.
"Now that I have your full attention, there is a reason I brought you here and gave you your death affinity." The system sighed and adjusted its position before continuing, "This world's essence is out of balance and an essence wave could happen sometime next year. That is very bad for you, for me it will only set my plans back a few centuries. Where you come in is your great affinity to essence. When I intervened with your awakening on earth, you had absorbed a lot of death essence. So much that my plan for me to give you a powerful death affinity tied to Cythar worked much better than I had expected."
At that he stood up and pointed at me. "All around the world death essence is being suppressed greatly. If the last true land of death is wiped out before the essence wave happens most of the world's population will be destroyed by the backlash." He looked me in the eyes before continuing. "Protect the deadlands, that is my task for you. If you fail, there will be no second time. Now be gone, I have things to handle." With a wave of his hand, I was thrown back into my body.
Falling on my back, I sighed. "Why can't anything be simple?" I asked myself while rubbing the back of my head. "Well, that was an info dump." Thinking back on it would not do me much good right now. My mother would know what to do. "I'll ask her later. For now, time for the fun stuff aka Magic!" Ever since my past memories awoke fully, I had been waiting for this moment. "Status!" I excitedly shouted. Normally you don't have to shout it, but I am too excited to try to open it using my mind.
[Name: Therion]
[Race: Human] [Teir 1]
[Affinity: Death]
[Essence 320/320 (1/m)]
[Core Cards]
[Energy: Undeath (Epic)] [Charge 16/16]
[Field: Necropolis (Epic)] [Charge 16/16]
[Skills]
[Card Manipulation] [Cultivation]
[Card Collection] [Card Creation]
[Attributes]
[Strength 8/28] [Stamina 7/27]
[Intelligence 16/36] [Wisdom 12/32]
[Traits]
[Well of Death]
Looking at my stats, I had to open and close it in order to make sure it is real. From what I remember there are a few things in my stats that a normal tier 1 would not have. First of all, I have some stats a bit above the average for my tier. Normally 8 in every stat is the average I should have gotten for the training I did. Stamina being below that I could understand. I hate stamina training. It is so boring, all you do is exhaust yourself until you can't move, rest and then repeat that. I would much rather be trying to raise my intelligence or wisdom stats.
The other part of my status that should not be there is the trait. I didn't think that what I did for my core would get me a trait, but it did, and I am not going to complain. Then there are my core cards. The known rarity for cards starts at mundane and then goes common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. Some say there is a rarity or two after that but if there is a card of those rarities it would be priceless. The kind of priceless that kingdoms would rise and fall for.
'Show description for my trait and core cards.'
[Well of Death]
[Description: Due to your unusual core your regeneration and storage of essence has been greatly enhanced.]
[Effects: Boosts natural generation of Death energy fivefold and doubles the capacity for Death Energy. When the core is full you will automatically generate a fog of Death Energy around you.]
[Energy card: Undeath (Epic)]
[Description: As a mutation of death essence, undeath essence instead gives control over the dead and what comes after.]
[Effects: Grants the user control over undeath affinitied essence.]
[Field Card: Necropolis (Epic)]
[Description: What was once a great city of the living is now a bastion of the dead.]
[Effects: Allows the user to store limited amounts of items or entities inside the field card.]
As I scrolled through the description, my eyes quickly grew wider and wider! Now, my insane regeneration of essence made much more sense. Also, the fact that my field card could possibly store living, or undead in my case, is incredible. That means that while I still might produce card blanks to store stuff I won't have to. I have heard that while they are easy to form from essence, it can get tiresome to produce hundreds of them each week to store stuff.
Now the 'control over undeath essence' is something I need to figure out. So, I decided to find my mother to ask about it and tell her about what the system said. As I thought that my eyes widened, "I forgot to tell them it is over. Shoot, I should go get them." With that I ran to the door, threw on my leather boots, and promptly ran into the barrier just in front of the door. Sitting up from where I had fallen, I rubbed my head and wondered if getting floored was becoming a habit.
The barrier was probably made by my mom, so the first place I should check is her study. Turning to head to the entrance of the basement, I saw a light on in the living area. It is strange because the rest of the enchanted lamps in the house were dormant. As I entered the living room, I saw a note on a coffee table between the lamp and the clock.
Dear Therion,
If you are reading this, it means that neither Ignis nor I have returned to the house yet. During your cultivation a pillar of death energy shot up into the sky, so Ignis decided to guard the entrance of the valley. I, once I have written this, will head to the graveyard and raise the house's barrier. Until it comes down or we tell you otherwise please head to my study and create your first cards. My spell stuff probably won't work with whatever essence you get, but it's a start.
If we have still not returned by the time the barrier falls, prepare for the worst. This valley we are in is on the border between a tier 3 and 4 zone. Deep in the cave system where the river comes from is an inheritance dungeon. The only thing we know about it is that it is for death affinitied entities only. It should have something in it which will help you.
No matter what happens prioritize your life above everything else. Even if we are not with you to guide you, we know you will do great things in the future. We love you.
With love,
Elizabeth, and Ignis
P.S.
We're sorry but this line will only appear if our lives have been taken.
We will always love you, but your father and I will haunt you for the rest of your life if you become consumed in the desire for revenge. Live your own life, not ours.
As my tears soaked the page, it got harder to read. When I finished it, I just stood there. The pain I had felt when I first remembered my family on earth could not compare to how I felt now. They are gone. My mother would not put those last few lines in there to mess with me. For the first time in a while I felt truly alone. The two pillars that supported my life are gone. That is a fact I have to live with.
Sometime later, I woke up curled on the floor. The note, crumpled and covered in tear stains, is the last thing they will have written to me. I sat up and flattened it out. "I need to preserve this." The thought rolled around in my head until I thought of a solution. A card blank can store it and keep it from deteriorating further. Also, after turning it into a card I can summon it whenever I want. With that in mind I sat up.
As I entered my mother's study, I was once again struck by how mundane it is. She is a corpse witch! You would at least expect a skeleton to be hanging on the wall, but instead it is just bookshelves, a desk, and shelves for storage. The exciting part is all the books on the shelves. There seems to be a book for every crafting subject imaginable. The one I am looking for is not as magical as something like familiar creation, it is just Introduction to Card Cultivation.