-Francis POV-
Waiting for something to happen, I closed my eyes.
"Um, system, is something wrong?"
<[Host, you should look in front of you.]
Hm?
Following the instructions, I saw the small figure of a ghost on the ground.
That's weird. Did it die? I kneeled down to touch it, but it's light began to run rampant across my body, causing my body to explode.
*Boooom!*
-----------
*Gasp*
I immediately gasped for air as I lifted myself from the ground.
Didn't I blow up?
What happened?
{Hello, Guardian} said a robotic female voice behind me.
Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw the small Ghost that had blown me up earlier floating in the air.
{Hello, Guardian, I am your Ghost. Apologies for the little... incident earlier. I couldn't move at all, and when you touched me, the light inside me blew you to pieces. Well, it worked out in the end since it allowed me to revive you as a Guardian}
Oh yeah, I think you need to die and be revived by a Ghost to become a Guardian. I guess it blew me up on purpose because of the system.
"It's fine. By the way, can I use Light?"
{Yes you can use Light, but the other ability seems to be locked for now} the Ghost said as it glowed, a soft light came out of it.
Others? She must be talking about Darkness
The light started to condense and flowed straight into me.
I gathered the energy into a ball and imagined it distorting the space around it.
Immediately, everything around me started to slow down, as if time itself had slowed. And it had.
I canceled the ability, making everything return to normal.
Heheheh, it wasn't as hard as I thought.
I could already make the Hunter's time dilation.
It wasn't that hard since I'd read a lot about Void powers on the Wiki.
It seems all that theoretical knowledge came in handy.
I still have more abilities left to test, but I'll mess around with gravity and space powers later. I don't want to accidentally create a black hole or crush myself and my little brothers with gravity.
"System, show me the sword skills."
<[Affirmative, downloading skills into host.]
Knowledge of swordsmanship immediately began filling my head: sword stances, footwork, and everything I needed to know about wielding a sword.
<[New skills obtained:
<[Deadly Sins (7-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Horizontal (1-Hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Horizontal Arc (2-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Horizontal Square (4-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Howling Octave (8-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Lightning Fall (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Nova Ascension (10-Hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Rage Spike (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Savage Fulcrum (3-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Serration Wave (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Sharp Nail (3-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Slant (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Snake Bite (2-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Sonic Leap (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Uppercut (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Vertical (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Vertical Arc (2-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Vertical Square (4-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Vorpal Strike (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}
<[Fell Crescent (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Reaver (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Slashing Ray (1-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Treble Scythe (3-hit) {Mastery-0%}]
<[Spinning Shield (Defense) {Mastery-0%}]
[A/N: I will make a separate chapter with detailed descriptions of the sword skills.]
That's a lot of skills, and they're just the one-handed sword skills. Imagine how many more I'll have to master once I move on to the bow, katana, and rapier.
Besides sword skills, I also obtained mana knowledge. For example, when you use [Vorpal Strike], you need to swirl the mana around the sword while thrusting to add extra piercing damage.
You also need to change the nature of the mana.
Another example is the sword skill [Sonic Leap]. If you change the mana nature to wind, your speed will increase dramatically, causing the charged downward slash to be faster when you leap toward your target.
Each mana nature has a different effect:
<[Wind: Faster strikes and increased speed
<[Water: Smoother transitions between strikes, ideal for multi-hit sword skills
<[Fire: Significant increase in attack power
<[Earth: Increased defense
<[Ice: Slows enemies and inflicts damage over time if they are hit
<[Lightning: Boosts piercing and stagger, useful for parries and breaking guards
<[Darkness: Obscures your attacks and skills from your opponent, making it harder for them to perceive incoming attacks.
<[Light: Improves accuracy and the effectiveness of skills, especially when combining multiple mana natures
For now, I can only use one element at a time when using a sword skill, but I'm sure I'll be able to use multiple mana natures once my mastery increases.
Now that I have everything, I think it's time to check on my brothers.
-3rd POV-
After Francis finished preparing and receiving all the system benefits, he made his way around the large tree and walked into the clearing where he and his two brothers had agreed to meet after checking out their systems.
Sitting on a rock, Francis finally saw two distinct figures approaching.
One was clad in black tactical gear, carrying an R301 rifle, while the other wore light armor, with a bow and shield on his back, a blue sword at his waist, and a new mechanical arm.
"Damn, Francis, looking fresh with that gun on your leg holster, though it's not as good as my R301," Angel said smugly, clearly proud of his tactical gear.
"You really are dumb, Angel. I can't blame you, though, since all you play is Call of Duty and Apex Legends. That gun and bow could beat your R301 easily. The only advantage you have is fire rate," Alex replied sarcastically.
Angel wanted to argue, but he couldn't.
Though he enjoyed playing first-person shooter games, he'd never played Destiny. And considering the crazy powers in that game, he wouldn't be surprised if Francis' gun had a built-in aimbot or could shoot fire.
Francis chuckled at their argument.
It had been about an hour since they'd been stranded in this strange forest, and seeing his brothers bicker like usual kept his mind off the fact that they had no idea where they were.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's sit down and talk about our new abilities," Francis said, gesturing for them to gather. They nodded and took their seats on the ground.
"I'll go first," Alex began. "My system focuses on abilities from The Legend of Zelda. I got some basic armor, arrows, a bow, a shield, and, surprisingly, the Master Sword." He drew the iconic blade, displaying its gleaming surface.
"The sword can vanquish evil, destroy magical barriers, and break curses. I also got the Ultrahand ability. It has many uses, but the only one that's unlocked so far is 'Recall.' I can rewind time for an item or a person, but only for five seconds. I'm sure the limit will increase as I level up."
Both Angel and Francis were impressed by Alex's abilities. Angel didn't know much about Zelda, but the idea of rewinding time sounded seriously overpowered.
Francis, however, was more familiar with the abilities and was surprised to see Alex gain the Master Sword and Recall so early on.
Alex sat down, and Angel stood up, ready to present his own powers.
"My system is the Soldier system, which allows me to access guns and equipment a soldier would use. It's not just modern gear either. I can get weapons from video games, like the R301 from Apex Legends." He pointed to the rifle in his hand.
"I bet I could get stuff from Halo or other games, but I haven't tested that yet. Besides that, I've got another ability."
Angel aimed his R301 at a nearby tree and fired. The bullet struck the tree, and ice instantly spread from the impact, encasing the tree in frost.
Both Alex and Francis stared in surprise as the ice covered the tree.
"I can enchant any kind of item, giving it elemental properties. That was an ice-enchanted bullet. I could use it to make ice platforms or immobilize enemies. It costs mana to make the enchantments, though, I have [Speed Enchantment] and [Hand enchantment]. [Hand Enchantment] requires me to enchant the item by hand, this process takes a while, and then [Speed Enchantments] allow me to instantly enchant an item, but it costs twice the mana you would use when [Hand Enchanting] the item. And I also need 'Mercenary Points' to buy more ammo from the system store for my gun. I get those points from completing missions and killing opponents," Angel explained.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Angel pulled out a sheathed sword with a white handle. Alex didn't recognize it, but Francis did immediately.
"You've got Yamato?!"
Yamato was infamous for being able to cut through anything—even space itself, though technically it didn't cut but separated things.
Francis was beyond jealous that Angel, of all people, had obtained such a weapon.
Francis was certain Angel wouldn't even use it. He'd probably stick to guns.
The only reason Angel even knew about Yamato was because a friend had recommended the DMC 5 campaign to him. Without that, Angel wouldn't have bothered to watch it.
With puppy eyes, Francis asked, "Hey Angel, maybe, just maybe... could you give me the sword?"
Angel narrowed his eyes but then grinned. "Alright, but the next legendary assault rifle you get is mine."
Angel could have asked for Francis' bow or hand cannon, but he was more of an assault rifle guy.
Francis grinned widely. "Deal!" The two shook hands to seal the agreement.
Angel handed over Yamato to the now-drooling Francis. "Hehehe, my precious!" Francis immediately attached the sword to his right waist, completing his arsenal.
The best part? Angel had asked for a "legendary" weapon, but Destiny's highest rarity was Exotic, which was even better than legendary.
So in Francis' mind, Angel wasn't getting the ultra-rare gun he was hoping for.
At most, Francis would give him a second-tier weapon, just like he asked for.
'I should probably start working on dual-wielding once I master one-handed sword arts,' Francis thought, smiling to himself.
Angel sat back down, leaving the floor to Francis.
"I blew up."
"...?" (Angel, Alex)