It happened all in a single second, everybody world-wide was going about their own business and daily lives. Then a voice spoke inside every single person's head.
[Stage1: Zombie Apocalypse - Integration Period. 30 Days. Treasure Chest drop rates increased 2x. Survivor Coin drop rates increased 2x. Quest Rewards increased 2x. Experience Points increased 2x. Skill level up rates increased 2x. Mana Regeneration increased 4x.]
[Welcome all of humankind to the Zombie Apocalypse, difficulty rating E+ tier. humanity Is too weak, the point of your new reality is for powerhouses to emerge. But as an undeveloped world with no Mana or Qi Cultivation, humankind is too weak to survive in this new era. You have all been blessed with increased attribute points gained for the first 25 levels, and amazing benefits to make up for the lacking power of your Race as a whole.]
[Every human being will be granted 1 Offensive Skill, 1 Defensive Skill, 1 Movement Skill and 1 Weapon Mastery Skill that you may choose from an expanded list. Before you all pick your desired Skills, I recommend that you think in RPG terms of what you want to be. A Tank, DPS, Healer, Debuffer, Long Range, Burst DPS, PvE, PvP and so forth. Your selections will now begin. All of humanity will be given 1 hour to make their decisions.]
Fenrich was in the middle of a sparring session with his fellow disciples when the change began. It was also at this moment everything came to him and made crystal clear sense. The lucid dreams he has been experiencing, slaughtering zombies, mutant beasts, fellow humans and then later on vampires, werewolves, draconian, merman races and so forth. Those dreams that he "experienced" no longer seemed as if they were just dreams.
Every time when he awoke, something changed inside him, the experiences he gained he was able to replicate in his daily life. It was also why Fenrich was now sparring in a gym against various martial artists of varying styles. None were so-called Cultivators, but their unarmed and armed combat were able to help him in his "dreams."
A screen appeared in front of Fenrich. But unlike the others, he did not choose to take the assistant Skills that were being provided to all of humanity. They were all trash, and would only help their race adjust to the new reality, there will be superior seedlings appearing, times of chaos brought rise to those with talent and hardwork beyond the norm.
Everybody was isolated so no one would be aware of the others' choices, and it was at this time Fenrich chose to make his counter offer.
"I offer to refuse the great overseers' generosity to give my humbled being a well-rounded foundation. May this humble one make a request of the great overseer?" Fenrich questioned, and began waiting.
1 minute…. 3 minutes… 7 minutes… 20 minutes… Then the screen in front of him changed once more.
[You seem determined and have thoroughly thought things through. What kind of a request would you make of me, Fenrich Albaston?]
Fenrich gulped, the screen changed but now he was also much more aware of the "sense" that something was watching him. His ears could even pick up on the slightest of amused chuckles.
"I would like to request two things actually, great overseer." Fenrich spoke out testing the waters. He knew he had "somethings" interest, and he was always told by his father. It was easier to ask for forgiveness than it was to ask for permission.
[You may make your requests, I will decide whether they're worthy enough or make a counter proposal.]
"I would like to exchange all my Skill options for an evolvable Bronze tier Divine Body, and an evolvable G tier Soul Weapon." Fenrich said but was unable to feel any kind of immediate regret or second guess himself.
[Interesting… very interesting Fenrich Albaston. I also made a similar choice all those trillions of years ago, I can approve of the evolvable Bronze Divine Body, but for the evolvable Soul Weapon… the zombie apocalypse difficulty will go from E+ to D- now, let me inform you E+ is already enough to eradicate all of humanity even with these boons and bonuses. The D- difficulty is able to wipe out the Milky Way Galaxy, do you understand the weight of what you just requested?]
Fenrich took a long and controlled breath in, then slowly breathed it out through his mouth. "I do, I believe in my fellow humankind that with chaos, my brothers and sisters will rise in the face of this game."
[Very well. I will be keeping a personal eye on your growth, and the growth of humankind. You have just made this a make or break situation, please do entertain me and one day, I will appear before you in my physical form.]
[You have been awarded with the evolvable Void Blade Asura, Bronze Tier Divine Body.]
[You have been awarded with the Blank G tier Soul Weapon. The Soul Weapon will appear before you in the form of a seed. It will be necessary for a germination period in which the seed will enter your Soul. You will be given an Uncommon weapon of your choosing for the meantime until your Soul Weapon Seed is done germinating.]
[You have been awarded with Abyssal Soul Cultivation Manual.]
[Farewell for now Flame Bearer, may your race evolve and survive the Game to ascend to the 7 Layers.]
Fenrich was given freedom of movement, he sat down cross-legged with the back of his hands on his knees open palms upwards to the ceiling.
"It's time to begin as the Origin Essence is now integrating Earth."
Fenrich entered the perfect Cultivation state, making his mind as empty as the "void" itself. Inhaling a deep breath in through his nose, Fenrich expanded his senses and began projecting his Will outside of his body.
Fenrich used his Will to begin circling around him at rapid speed, forming a cyclone that was slowly sucking in tiny motes of azure blue lights. At the end of the cyclone, his Soul formed the shape of a funnel that was directly above his head where his brain was.
Sweat began falling from Fenrich's body as if he were sitting in a sauna, steam began emitting from his body as all his organs were put onto turbo mode with no internal cooling fans to remedy the situation.
"Only when a muscle is torn can it rebuild and grow back stronger. I will risk my life to complete a Gold Mana Body. I was always told diamonds are made under pressure, let's prove it!"
Fenrich's eyes snapped open as his eyes within the sockets exploded, blood gushing out staining his clothes and the floorboards beneath himself. The pain was transmitted to his soul and multiplied beyond the norms any human being could sustain. But for he, who knew the tortures that would soon appear. Pain would not become his master, Fenrich would master the pain, find solace within and embrace it!
Fenrich further urged his Will going from 1 to 300 instantly, making it circulate around himself faster. Despite his empty eye sockets, nose, ears, mouth, anus blood gushing out as his flesh gave way. Fenrich was willingly destroying his body and "committing suicide" to push himself to evolve. The damaged Soul will take time to recover, but with a 30 day period, it was impossible for there to be no natural treasures to heal the Soul.
"I will not let you all die!" Fenrich smiled wickedly as a shroud of demonic-white aura began radiating out from within the depths of where his Dantian would be.
Within the vast emptiness, there was an 1 inch tall flame, and above that flame was an old scripture that looked like it would be held within a museum for ancient history. On it words written in an unknown language read Holy River Demonic Art.
The scripture was releasing the demonic-white energy, it was then being purified by the flame to later be released through his inner circulatory, muscular, skeletal and endocrine system. Forming a yin and yang of destruction and creation.
Unknowingly a demonic-white and azure blue cocoon formed around Fenrich in the shape of an egg. Body, Soul, Will were being stressed to the limits and further enhanced even when they reached the breaking point many times. The only thing that stopped Fenrich's body from blowing up like a watermelon dropped from a 10 floor building was his force of will. This on its own was a form of tempering that could only be achieved by the enlightened and Cultivators.
"Crack"
Forty minutes quickly passed, the full hour given to humanity ended. All of those who made their "locked in" selections were awarded their Skills.
"Crack!"
Fine spider-web-like cracks formed on the eggshell. A holy demonic white aura tinged with azure blue burst out in ripples invisible to the naked eye. Numerous notifications popped up within Fenrich's vision, he smiled successfully despite the complete feeling of emptiness that pervaded his body and Soul.
Fenrich muttered softly so as nobody else could hear him.
"Status Page"
[WARNING!!!!!!!!! INJURED SOUL: 0/100%]
Name: Fenrich
Level: 0
Race: Human, ???
Health: 350/350
Stamina: 350/350
Mana Points: 0/300
Strength: 10 (35)
Endurance: 10 (35)
Vitality: 10 (35)
Agility: 10 (35)
Intelligence: 0 (35)
Physique: 10 (25)
Mana: 0 (25)
Luck: 10 (25)
Undistributed Points (10)
After seeing his own status page, Fenrich then moved to his notification.
[Congratulations! You have successfully created a Gold Mana Body. All attribute points increased by +80. Advanced attribute points increased by +50. Mana Body is temporarily locked. It will be unlocked after your Soul is fully recovered due to Mana being a stat based off of the Soul. Attributes will be distributed after gaining your Mana Body permanently.]
[Congratulations! You have succeeded in the initial stage of Body Refinement. All basic attribute points +15. All advanced attribute points +10.]
[Congratulations! You are one of the lucky few out of 8 billion to be a quadruple stat natural awakener. Strength, Intelligence, Vitality and Agility gain a base +5 per level on top of bonus attributes for the first 25 levels
[Congratulations! You have performed 2 minor achievements. Your Class choices has been upgraded from Common to Uncommon choices.]
[Congratulations! You have earned the Title - Mana Body Progenitor (Locked.) The Title System will be unlocked 10 days into the Integration period. All attribute efficiencies gained by titles will be applied to basic and advanced attributes. Note: Not all Titles give attribute points as rewards, there are some Titles that give other benefits outside of attribute points.]
[Congratulations! You have earned the Title - Death Seeker. You have willingly pushed your life into the gates of Hell before your new Hell even began. The grim reaper smiles at you and has given you the Reapers Blessing (Locked.) The Blessing System will be unlocked after the integration period is lifted. Gods, God Queens, Deities, Primordials will then be able to give out Blessings to humankind.]
Fenrich held his head within his hands after reading through his notifications. A soul-splitting headache assaulted him intensely, reminding him of his damaged Soul more than loud enough. Physical pain was one thing, pain on the soul level was something nobody would be able to withstand until getting their first Class evolution.
"Inventory."
Fenrich spoke out loud this time, arousing the attention of his fellow peers. Within his inventory was an Uncommon Weapon Selection Coupon. Mentally tapping it was a real pain in the ass, as even that stressed his Soul.
Fenrich made his choice and chose the Steel Greatsword option.
Steel Greatsword [Uncommon]
Level: 0
Durability: 300/300
Strength +3
Passive Ability 1: Auto Repair. Every hour regains 15 points of durability.
Passive Ability 2: Adds an additional 25 kilograms of weight to the weapon.
Fenrich stood up and wielded the Steel Greatsword. It was 4 meters long in length, and had a thickness of 20 inches. With his 35 Strength, it felt just right within his hands. The added weight was a bonus, as without it would be too light. Even wielding it one-handed was not an issue, Fenrich got into a form visualizing a copy of himself 12 feet away, then began a shadow boxing spar with himself.
It was time to condition his body, turning those memories from "theory" into honed muscle memory.
After thirty minutes passed, Fenrich spoke out loud, grabbing the attention of his peers.
"For any of those who have chosen Greatsword, Sabers or Longswords, I can give pointers and assistance with those weapons. As for anybody else, sorry. Those are the weapons I'm specialized in."
Out of the 40 individuals, only 3 had taken those weapons as their choice. The majority were a mix of spears, bows, and staff. Only two were more specific as one had sadanaga and the other, also like Fenrich, had a greatsword and a shortsword In his offhand.
These two in particular are known as the "elite" of their gym, they both originated from asian countries and had expertise in their weapons and dual wielding style. They neither showed superiority or raised their nose in the air towards the others they spoke and interacted with.
"Ren, Chiaki, you all heard the voice that sounded within our heads. After getting people familiar with the weight and way of handling their new weapons, Skills and so forth. We should form a group to go out scouting for food and resources. We seem to be lucky, electricity and power is still a thing. So we should aim to get crockpots, woks, pans, pots, portable cooktops and so on." Fenrich said aloud, knowing full well it would take them everything they had to survive, and to include all those around them.
They were all brothers and sisters that would nearly beat the shit out of each other during sparring, then go for drinks afterwards. They had become a tight knit family, at least Fenrich hoped that they could remain that way.