"My head . . . " Mumbling to myself, the feeling of pain was crazy, it hurt like hell. Looked around to see what this place was; I was in awe of the room.
It was certainly big, that was for sure, at least two times bigger than a normal room. It Had a pristine plain white color to it with walls with a painted golden decoration of clouds and rose thorns; The bed I was sitting on was huge, pretty sure a queen size bed with clean white sheets and multiple pillows neatly arranged, On the foot of the bed was a large couch. Like the rest of the room white but has grey floral patterns on it.
There was a glass sliding door that led to a balcony. Aside from the sunlight coming from the window, another source of light was the massive golden chandelier - adorned with jewelry and other precious materials.
I need to know what happened to me and why I'm in this room. The last thing I remembered was being in that park and getting attacked by that thing, whatever it was, and then it was dark.
"D-did I die and come back?" It couldn't be right, yet that was the only possible explanation for how I could survive and end up here. It was clear as day magic exists here as I'd seen several people using foreign abilities here so that wasn't too far-fetched; nevertheless, I don't want to test that out.
I hope this wasn't to become a recurring thing of me waking up in random unexpected places I got out of bed.
[WELCOME PLAYER]
Uh, what was that? In front of me was some kind of hologram screen; a simple semi-transparent blue screen floating right in front of me displaying the words WELCOME PLAYER.
"Am I still dreaming?" I said to myself looking at this thing in confusion. I look around behind it, and it's pretty much the same displaying the same message as the front.
[NEGATIVE PLAYER, THY ISN'T IN THE LAND OF DREAMS]
Ok so I'm dreaming but to make sure I pinch myself. Yep, I felt the brief sting, maybe I am awake. Still, this leaves the question of what the hell was this thing, "WHAT ARE YOU!"
[I AM THE CALAMITY SYSTEM, BUILT SPECIFICALLY TO HARNESS THY FULL POTENTIAL TO THE MAXIMUM]
"W-what?" It was a lot to take it.
[LIKE I HAVE STATED BEFORE, I AM A SYSTEM CONSTRUCTED AS A 'VIDEO GAME' FOR THOU TO HARNESS ALL THY POTENTIAL]
"Though who made you, and why me?" I said curious as to what sort of entity had built this Calamity System.
[THAT INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED FOR NOW AND SECOND IS THY HAST MET THE CRITERIA FOR THE CALAMITY SYSTEM]
That sounded hella sketchy and it raised red flags for me. Though from what the system said maybe I'll get the information later. Another thing that bothered me was the criteria a bit.
"Criteria? What are these criteria?"
[THAT INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED]
"Ok . . . " That's suspicious this whole thing is suspicious and sketchy. I don't trust this Calamity System - keeping all these secrets from me.
[DOES THOU WANT TO START THE TUTORIAL?]
"Sure?" I shrugged.
[THIS IS THOU MAIN INVENTORY]
Then in an instant, the screen expanded revealing a lot of things. "Wow it is like a game," I muttered seeing the inventory, something like from an MMORPG.
__________________________________
[Name: Jackson Maverick]
Level: 0
Title: Incel|Loser
[STATS]
Points: 0
Strength: 1
Speed: 1
Defense: 2
Mana: 0
Calamity Point: 100
[SKILLS]
---
---
---
---
---
[QUEST]
[SHOP]
__________________________________
My eye twitched at seeing the title, feeling a bit irked at how the system was insulting me, "R-really System? Incel|Loser?"
[TITLES ARE SELECTED BY WHAT MOST PEOPLE KNOW THY BY]
"God dammit but it makes sense certainly I'm not the most popular person . . . " Didn't have that many friends, guess you could say my two sisters were my only friends. Speaking of which, seeing how I'm Isekaid here, most likely I was hit by Truck-kun, they must be grieving over me.
[THAT MUST-]
What . . . "Did you say something?" I'm pretty sure I heard the System say something.
[NEGATIVE PLAYER, I HAVE NOT SAID ANYTHING]
"Are you sure about that?" I know the System will probably keep insisting it hadn't said anything.
[AFFIRMATIVE I HADN'T SAID ANYTHING TO THOU]
Yep, this just adds a layer of distrust I have to this System.
I then began closely looking at my inventory; seeing how miserable my stats were disheartening but understandable I was at a low level that's what to expect. However, that last stat caught my interest.
Calamity Points: 100
"Hey System what does that last stat mean?"
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION]
What felt like a hundred times keeping secrets from me; this is frustrating as hell, "Really System? Aren't you supposed to help me grow strong, what's with all this secrecy?"I asked hoping to get some answers.
[SOME SECRETS ARE BEST LEFT UNSOLVED]
Yeah, my suspicion meter is beyond the roof at this point but I won't be able to budge the System to give me its secrets.
"So what about these two at the bottom can you at least tell me that?"
[THE QUEST OPTION IS WHERE I'LL GIVE THOU CERTAIN QUEST TO FINISH AND GAIN REWARD]
I pressed the Quest option, and my inventory screen disappeared. Replaced by another screen, albeit thinner and longer, though this one was just a blue screen, no quest whatsoever.
"Hey, where are the quests?"
[CURRENTLY, THERE ARE NO QUESTS AVAILABLE BECAUSE THY ARE TOO WEAK TO COMPLETE THEM]
"Heh, that sucks but anyway what about the shop?" I asked.
[THE SHOP ALLOWS THOU TO BUY ITEMS AND SKILLS]
I nodded, "Ok so it's like a regular shop but what money?"
[THY SHALL USE THIS WORLD MONEY TO BUY FROM THE SHOP]
"Ok I'm starting to get it now," Then I heard the doors creaking open. Huh, who was that?
It was a girl; she looked a bit older, maybe two years or so. Long wavy blond hair wearing a black headband; beautiful smooth white skin; crystal-like sky blue eyes and cute pink lips. She was wearing what looked like a stylized white coat with two long tails, having red accents on it.
"Oh my, you're finally awake!" She said, her voice soft and delicate. Just looking at this beauty made my heart beat faster and a certain limb gets hard.
"Uh yeah um, where am I and who are you?" I said. Still confused about where I am.
"You're in my house, I found you at the park unconscious - oh right my name is Lucien Vun White," She performed a quick bow.
"Thank you, my name is Jackson Maverick," I said to Lucian who sat on the edge of the bed.
"No problem and this isn't my room it's just the guest room," She said joyfully, meanwhile I was shocked, this was the guest room.
"What happened to you, Why were you unconscious?" She said.
"Well I-I was attacked by something. I don't know what it was," A shiver ran down my spine; my hand kept shaking from the fear I had felt I couldn't get out of my head. The horrifyingly vivid memory of whatever that thing was raising its blade to stab me. Even now when I'm sure I'm perfectly fine I still feel the cold blade pressing down on my stomach, threatening to tear me apart.
"From the sounds of it, you were attacked by a Demon," She said.
"Demon, is that the thing that attacked me?" I guess those things were called Dmon's, quite fitting, but I waited for her to answer.
"Wait you don't know what a demon is?" She asked Surprise was evident on her face.
My cheeks were heating up, nodding my head. I was curious as to what was the creature.
"Well for starters demons are dangerous creatures that have all kinds of different abilities. All of them come from a mysterious plane of existence, infinity in size, the dimension is called Hell." She said.
Wait, Hell exists here! I looked at her with wide eyes. If so does that entail Heaven exists, God, or Angels? So many questions flooded my mind, that I wanted to ask her.
"It's weird That you don't know what Demon are or Hell is." She said.
"Uh, it's because where I'm from we don't encounter these things much," I said coming up with a lie on the spot.
"Hmm I guess but anyways. Demon can escape Hell by going through Hell Gates. Portals the demons used to come here." She said.
Hearing all these things sounded so absurd but after experiencing what I have it isn't that far fetch now.
"Hell Gates can either spawn from dark places isolated with no life, think deep dark caves or abandoned mine shafts are prime places for Hell Gates to spawn and a place abundant with Mana can spawn one too."
"Mana?" I said to her, Confused, but also intrigued.
"Wait you don't know what Mana even is?" She asked, exasperated by my cluelessness honestly it was embarrassing; I chuckled nervously in response.
"Well Mana is essentially the life energy of all living beings and it flows all around us, it's what keeps us alive, like water or food. Without it, we'll die. Despite everyone having access to Mana, only about a good thirty percent of humanity can even use Mana to its fullest potential," She explained.
Hearing her explain it I got a good grasp on the concept, it's similar to the energy source all Shonen animes usually have.
"Still I don't understand how come you've never heard of Demon or Mana for that matter," Lucian said.
"Um, well it's because I come from a secluded town, yeah, my parents didn't want me to be involved in this whole Mana and Demon's stuff hehe. . . " I hope to god she'll fall for it, I feel the beads of sweat dripping down on my face.
"Well if you're from a faraway place then what are you doing here? You know it's getting pretty dangerous around here in the capital with all the Golden Throne activity."
That organization again, Golden Throne. Guess they're a big-shot criminal organization from the looks of it. But I'll probably research that later. For now, what should I answer . . . . I know.
"I want to find a job since my hometown is in a financial crisis," I said that's a believable excuse as to why I'm here; I doubt she'll believe me getting transported here from another world.
"Uh, you're looking for a job? If so then where is your Job I.D?" Lucian raises her eyebrows at me, probably expecting me to show this Job I.D, something I don't have . . . Crap I have to come up with something.
"It's that . . . Um . . . You know . . . " I tried to come up with a good response but all I came up with were stutters.
"You know what?" She crosses her arms.
"I lost my Job ID! Yeah, I lost it to that Demon attack destroyed." I nodded, great job for coming up with a brilliant excuse.
"That's bad . . . . "
"Yeah it's ba- wait why do you have that horrified face on you?" Lucian had a worried expression; like when you hear some terrible news.
"Haven't you heard? The Supreme Heavenly Council and the King made a new law in response to the latest string of Golden Throne attacks; citizens with no Job I.D shall be immediately imprisoned for twenty years."
What kind of law is that? I thought. Crap, I'm gonna be in prison for twenty years. I haven't even had my virginity taken away yet, oh god my stomach feels sick.
"W-what kind of stupid rule is that," I said.
"Yeah, the public was really against the new law. So far they haven't changed it," Lucian gave me an apologetic shrug.
"I guess no Job I.D means time in prison and can't get a job." I summarize.
"Uh-huh," She nodded.
"Do I still need it when the jobs are low like working at fruit vendor stands or something?" I said, if I'm going to survive in this new world I have to get a job unless I want to be a homeless beggar. Truly a fate worse than death.
"That too requires a Job I.D," She said. Oh shit.
"Can I get another Job I.D?" I asked, hoping to god there was some way.
"Well if you finished school you can get another one by asking an Official registrar but those cost at least one hundred thousand Silver and since you aren't a citizen here you'll have to go back to your hometown Official registrar to get a job I.D" Lucian explained.
I'm a dropout, certainly don't have enough Silver and I don't even belong to this world. I'm super screwed right now.
"Oh god, I'm going to be a homeless beggar." I fall into the bed, dreading my future. Imagining myself on the cold streets freezing to death as people pass by, barely giving a passing glance at me while I eat some can of beans I found at the trashcan, and worse of all, hobo doesn't get the hot girls but other hobo girls.
"Well, I believe there's a way to help your current predicament." She gave me a sly smile.
"Wait really!!" I look at her, my newfound goddess, my Savior. Suddenly her appearance seems to be ten times better than before and more angelic-like.
"Yep, it's clear to me you don't want to go to your hometown for some reason. So I have another way for you to gain a Job I.D." She said.
"What is it?" I asked, desperately I don't want to be a homeless beggar or be imprisoned. I'll practically do anything.
"Well, I have some illegal connections." She said, this immediately raises many red flags.
"Uh, are you sure this is safe and why are you telling me this openly?"
"Well yes it's safe, that's why I'm suggesting this option, and I know you won't tell the Royal Guards. You don't have a Job I.D. You should be in prison right now."
"Well fair point." I felt a sweat drop on my head.
"But anyways, using those connections I could forge you an Arcana Student entrance."
"A what now?"
"An Arcana Student entrance is a letter that lets people apply to one of the Four Arcane Academy."
"Woah." I don't get what Lucian is saying but hot damn it feels impressive.
"Ok, ok so what do they do?" I said.
"Well, the Academy's main purpose is to hone and train the student in the ways of Arcana, and after four years of learning they'll be able to choose the three careers that specialize in Arcana: Slayer, Royal Guard, and Arcana Mage."
"Slayer, Royal Guard, and Arcana Mage?."
"Arcana Mages: are people who deal with the Demon threats. This one is probably the second most popular job out of the three.
Royal Guards: are people who uphold the law; they protect the citizens and deal with mundane related crimes. Probably the most popular, and sought-after job since it pays well, and it's the safest out of the three.
Finally the Slayers: are people who specialize in dealing with criminals who use Arcana and rogue Arcane Mages or Royal Guards. It's the least sought after because it has the highest death toll out of the three, but it pays the best." She explained.
"Woah that was a lot to take in but I get what you're saying, though still, I have some questions," I asked.
"Sure what is it?" Lucian said.
"Well, what the heck is Arcana? I doubt understand it." I said.
"I figured you'd say that," Lucian said.
"Well, it's because um, my parents forbid me from learning all these things because they sure do hate Arcana-related stuff." I hope my lie seems to be believable.
"Sure - anyways to answer your question; Arcana is the practice of manipulating the Mana in our bodies to benefit us. There are five Arcana types:
Weapons Bearer, Mana Arbiter, Elementalist, Transformation, and lastly the rarest Specialist." Lucian explains.
This kinda reminds me of a Shonen power system.
"Weapons Bearer: people who conjure weapons that their abilities are tied to, and use it as a conduit. For example me." On her hands were two bright glowing balls getting brighter and brighter.
"Woah . . . " I muttered seeing how magical is it. The two balls disappeared, in their place were two guns, black while the others were white. They looked like pistols but more bigger and robust and had golden thorns-like patterns on them.
"I'm a Weapons Bearer. These two guns' names are Adam and Lilith."
"It's so cool!" I probably had screamed like a girl but I didn't care, it was so amazing seeing these two guns.
"Thanks but back to the main subject." She made the two guns disappear in the blink of an eye.
"Mana Arbiter: They use their Mana to change either the world around them or themselves. For example, people who can grow big or have mind control abilities are Mana Arbiters.
Elementalist: They used the basic five elements. Water, Earth, Air, and Fire. And sometimes even their advanced elements. Manipulating the elements with their Mana.
Transformation: They use Mana to either change parts of their body or their entire body; they can transform into anything like mundane things; foxes, dogs, or cats. To more powerful creatures like: Dragons, Griffiths, and Unicorns.
Lastly the rarest of them all," Lucian said.
"The Specialist right? How rare is that."
"So far in recorded history only two individuals we know so far are Specialists." She said.
That blew my mind away. "Wait there are only two people!"
"Yep, these two are the 'Great Sage' the first ever Specialist and the second ever Specialist. The strongest Human in the entire world, Midas Von Yue."
"Specialists: unlike the rest they have all the traits of the others," Lucian said.
"What?" I said
"Specialist has every trait of the other types of Arcana: they can control the elements, transform, have a weapon, and manipulate the world or themselves with Mana."
"That's so cool!" I want to be a specialist!
"Now a solid majority of people only have one Arcana type; however, there are at least four point five people who are known as Hybrids: they're people who have access to two Arcana types," Lucian said.
"Another important thing to mention is everyone has a different set amount of Mana inside of us it isn't endless. Some people have higher Mana than others, but if someone ever runs out of Mana they'll die." She continued to explain.
"Yikes, that sounds scary," I said.
"Don't worry our bodies are naturally gaining Mana by just simply breathing, an entire minute and a quarter of Mana has been filled in you," She said.
"Oh thank goodness."
"There's still a lot I haven't explained yet, like how you can reinforce your limbs with Mana to strengthen it, and so much stuff but I'll do it another time." She said.
Thank goodness that was a lot of things to process. Arcana types, Specialist, Arcana Mages, etc. It's so many things but I'm starting to get it.
"So you agree to the plan of going to one of the academies?" She said.
"Yeah, sure." I nodded it was my best way out of this predicament.
"Well first to even make sure this plan succeeds we need to make sure you even have an Arcana," Lucian said.
I'm pretty sure I'm either a Mana Arbiter or potentially a Specialist because with the Shop I can buy skills - I should be safe on that part.
"I'll be back in a second." Lucian got up and walked out of the room.
A second later she appeared holding a glass of water. "Here you go." She places it on the table right next to the bed.
"Water? . . . "
"Well this is called the Water Test, by placing your hand in the water I'll unlock your Arcana by flowing my own Mana into you. If the color of the water change then you have an Arcana.
The watercolor depends on what Arcana type you have.
Red is for Weapon Bearers
Blue for Mana Arbiter
Yellow for Elementalist
Green for Transformation
And finally White is for Specialists. Also if the water is a mixture of two different colors that means you're a Hybrid"
I placed my hand into the water as she told me to. Lucian grabbed my wrists I felt the touch of her soft skin; it made me blush a bit.
"Invoke Release!" Lucian shouted. My hand felt weird, it was lighter and simultaneously heavier. Between her fingers grasping my wrist I saw blue lights shining.
She lets go of my wrist, "Now let's see."
Excitedly I watched as the water was changing. From the transparent water to turning into a murky, becoming more dense. The color darkened until it was pitch black; it looked more like oil than water.
Black, what does black mean? Does that mean I'm a Hybrid? I turned to see Lucian, she also had a look of shock. "Hey Lucian is this normal?"
"No, this isn't, I have never seen this before . . . ." She grabs the glass cup, takes a good minute, and examines it like it is some kind of strange creature.
"So what does that mean? Is it bad or am I hybrid?" I said.
"I have no idea, I might search it up in the library." She said, shrugging before placing the cup back on the table.
I wonder if the System is the cause of it - if so that means it is my Arcana.
"Well, I'll get going now, take a rest for now, you'll need it for the future," Lucian said standing up.
"Hey Lucian thanks for helping me a lot but why are you doing this? We're like strangers," This question bothered me like some annoying fly.
She gave me a cute smile, seeing it made my heart beat faster. "It's because I think you're cute. I like cute boys."
"W-what!" My cheeks were heating up. This was new, never in my life, aside from my two sisters, had anybody complimented me. It was a strange feeling, a foreign idea that somebody thinks I'm good-looking in some way.
She walked over me, pinching my cheek. "Also if you impressed me . . . " She leaned near my ears, she spoke, her hot breath gently caressing my ear. "I might give you a 'special reward'. "
W H A T
She walked out of the room before I could even say anything, stopping momentarily to give me a wink and then leaving the room. Everything around me seemed to blur and slow down, my heart beating faster and faster along with the several erotic images that appeared in my mind.
"Calm yourself Jackson no way a beautiful girl like Lucian would be interested in me . . . Right? Like I'm a pretty average guy, the most interesting thing about me is my scar." Yet that thought of Lucian giving him that 'special' reward. Doing the deed with a beautiful girl like her, I can't pass this up, I will get stronger.
"Hey System I want to be stronger," The System's blue screen appears floating in front of me, like my words summoned a genie.
[IF THOU DESIRE TO BE STRONG I SHALL GRANT THY. STATE YOUR REASON TO FIGHT]
"What? . . . " I re-read that again, stating my reason to fight. What kind of question is that? Um, I guess . . .
"T-to have that special reward Lucian mentioned." My cheeks were heating like fire, I physically tried to shrink into the bed to be as small as possible, thank god the System seems like the type to not be interested in making fun of me; sure it isn't the most heroic or grandiose reason to fight but hey I'm not some Shonen MC despite how cool that that is . . .
[IF THAT IS THY REASON TO FIGHT THEN SO BE IT.]
I heard a ping sound. The quest screen appears this time having a quest in it - It was one single quest with the title 'Critical Quest'.
"This it?" I asked the System.
[POSITIVE I HAVE ADJUSTED THE QUEST TO THOU CAPABILITIES, DO NOT FRET OVER THE QUEST BEING TOO DIFFICULT. IF THOU WANT TO START THE QUEST PRESS IT]
"Alright then, game on!" I instantly cringed at my attempt to sound cool but never mind that I pressed it.
__________________________________
[Name: Jackson Maverick]
Level: 0
Title: Incel|Loser
[STATS]
Points: 0
Strength: 1
Speed: 1
Defense: 2
Mana: 0
Calamity Point: 100
[SKILLS]
---
---
---
---
---
[QUEST]
[SHOP]
__________________________________
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