"Wait… are you saying you aren't aware you possess magical ability or what you did wasn't magic?"
Mark stood there befuddled, the concept of magic wasn't new to him, he had seen different representations all across media, from books to TV shows, to games and yet he couldn't exactly group what he had been doing as magic.
It wasn't unusual for an outsider to see his abilities and call it magic, however he on the other hand couldn't see it as such.
"I don't know, I just got my abilities." Mark replied.
"I see, go on then."
Mark was about to go on with his greedy careless idea of sucking in all the coins into his inventory when a treasure chest caught his eye.
It stood at a distance from his right flank, the gold on it shining and pulling Mark's attention.
He strode to it, gold coins beneath his feet as he climbed over the little heap of coins in his path.
He placed his hand on the chest, it was cool, and had no blemish, dentation, not even dust was on it.
Mark's eyes sparkled with anticipation, then he lifted open the chest and it freely came open.
His feeling of excitement abated once he saw the contents of the chest.
"What's this?" He blurted, seeing a rolled and tied up scroll made from the skin of an animal.
He bent and picked it up.
He pulled away the little thread that bound it, and the scroll came open revealing elaborate drawings to Mark.
"A map of the forest." He said as his eyes darted across the scroll. Trees, trees, and more trees took most of the paper, with paths being highlighted.
His eyes were in search of something, then he finally found it.
"Aha!" He pressed his finger against the spot, the Gor village of Lemini worshipping goblins at a corner, then he traced his fingers looking for the path he had left from, and that too he found.
"Not feeling too lost now." He said with an exasperated sigh.
Ding✓
[This map possesses an integrable attribute and can be absorbed into the system, do you want to absorb the map into the system?]
[Yes/No]
The question was unprecedented, Mark blinked his eyes to be sure he hadn't just imagined that.
'Again it tells me nothing more, what happens when it's integrated, do I get to still be able to use it?'
These thoughts hovered in his mind. The system had been more than helpful so far, and he had sort of grown into trusting it a little, he still however couldn't dispense the thought of the goddess being involved with it, there was a strangeness to her that he didn't like.
The things he had kept in his inventory were still present, his abilities had been marked and categorized by the system, it had been very resourceful.
"Yes." And as he expected, white light enveloped the scroll and it immediately got sucked in.
[A magic map has been integrated into the system]
Race: Human
Title: Otherworlder, The Goddess's Vestige.
[Ability] [Skills] [Map]
[Affinity] [Stats]
[Quest]. [Inventory]
"Interesting…" As much as he wanted to check through his map, now wasn't the time for such, there was gold in need of looting.
He then moved to the largest heap of gold coins and dug his hands into it.
[A number of gold coins is in close proximity] [Do you want to deposit them in the inventory?]
[Yes/No]
He was sure that he hadn't held any, that his hands only felt inside of the coins and there wasn't any that he actively held.
"Yes"
White light sprang from his hands and began swallowing the coins, zooming to both ends, turning them into a carpet of white.
The growing light stopped, and then disappeared and so did the coins that it covered.
There were still heaps around Mark, ones that he had hoped would be sucked in with the move, but it seemed that there was a limit to the ability after all. He went to them and executed the same move, stealing the gold for himself, until just a few hundred coins lay scattered on the ground.
However, something even more surprising stood in the room with Mark, it had been beneath a heap and once Mark absorbed them into his inventory, it revealed itself.
It was black and lines of green went across it. It stood up from its sitting position and revealed itself some more to Mark.
Mark saw mechanical parts move, whirring as they did. The creature, or rather thing stood at the height of Mark's torso, its back crouched with the pointed nose of a mouse, its hands were thin, little and equipped with daggers.
Its eyes suddenly glowed red, and it turned its head around till its eyes met Mark.
Mark heard a chug from within it and its hands rotated. It began to approach Mark who was backstepping with caution, with shimmering black feet that could cut through even steel.
Mark swallowed as his mind took in all its details, the thing before him was a perfect killing machine and he was its target.
[Killing Automaton]
'I can see that.' Mark gritted his teeth in both worry and annoyance.
He continued backstepping with the automaton calmly walking to him, thrumming with each step.
Ding✓
[New Quest: Machines can use a pair of human legs]
[Main Objective: Survive the onslaught of the automaton]
[Reward: +5 Strength, +5 Agility]
[Bonus Objective: Kill the Automaton]
[Reward: +10 strength, + 10 Agility, +10 Charisma]
Another impossible quest laid in the eyes of Mark, or so he thought.
How was he supposed to kill a thing that looked like it was created for the purpose to kill?
'The doors.' his eyes moved to their corners as he tried to look at the doors far to his left while not turning away from the creeping machine.
Although the machine was taking its time approaching him, he knew and was certain that if he was to turn his back to it, he would surely be attacked in a swoop, with no chance to defend himself.
There was only one thing to do, to fight it and defend himself.