Using the combat knife like a fork, Aoni devoured the meal within a couple of minutes before moving all the stuff that was previously in his pack onto the bookshelf.
Once that was out of the way, he then picked up the small baseball-sized rock known to be the Flume and took in the sights of his new home.
That's right, home.
The reason the lad was mentally labeling this Cave as such was simple: the basic furniture. The bed, the bookshelf, and the desk were all basic materials that spawned in with the lord in the new Territory, designating the space as the Official "Lord's Residence."
It could also be said this was the reason Aoni was brought in from above on his Flume trip instead of up the mountain.
He was shown the location of his Residence and, thus, the basic bed, bookshelf, desk, and fireplace; they were all considered Essential items by whoever was in charge of bringing Travelers to Genovia.
Not only that, but once his Flume was set up and the Territory officially recognized, Aoni would receive a special item, a Totem, which would be linked to his TD, and just like that, he'd formally be considered the lord of this land.
While it may be semantics and annoyingly convoluted, that's just the way things worked. Even if he was, the only person allowed admittance to the barrier Territory in the first place.
Regardless, that didn't solve the issue of where the hell he would set up the Flume, so for a short time, Aoni walked around the Cave until eventually settling on putting the Flume on the same wall as the fireplace.
Having it there wasn't the most OPTIMAL, but it wasn't like he had many options in the first place.
Walking toward the left wall with his Flume in one hand and the combat survival knife in his other, Aoni knelt and pressed it against the cave wall upon making it to where he wanted the Flume to be located.
As if the stone were a small magnet, it stuck to the wall, and the next part was the most annoying; using his knife, Aoni pricked all five of the fingers on his left hand, drawing blood from each, and gripped the Flume Stone like a baseball before speaking.
"Alem, Gratieum dusom actum laytoss Flume."
*hhhhuuuuuUUUUMMMMM*
Just like what happened when he opened the Flume back on Terra, a soft hum was emitted from the artifact as it suddenly flashed in a bright light before hollowing out into a ring and expanding until it was exactly about a foot larger than him in both width and height.
Taking a step back, Aoni couldn't help but relate its appearance to that of a full-length mirror, only it was made of rock instead of…well, whatever mirrors were made of.
Once the Flume finally reached its full size, the hum faded off, and his attention was pulled from the artifact and toward what Aoni had been longing to see his entire life.
Floating about a foot away from his face was the ethereal window Aoni had been waiting for, well, ever since the moment he learned of its existence, The Traveler's Display.
|Initializing|
|Host Located, booting up Traveler Protocol|
|Cateloging Host's data|
|Connection to Flume Registered|
|Territory Acknowledged|
|Establishing Lordship…Established|
|Territory Name?|
"Altium," knowing what was expected of him, Aoni quickly spat out the Name he had always dreamed of calling his Territory…
|Name is taken|
Only for it to be rejected, however, since this was commonplace, the lad was quick on his toes and spat out a chain of names one after the other.
"Vinestra"
|Name is taken|
"Vesaragon"
|Name is taken|
Blinking several times, Aoni huffed before the naming continued.
"Xiphindra"
|Name is taken|
"Altiim"
|Name is taken|
"Valhalla"
|Name is taken|
"Gnarnia"
|Name is taken|
With each failed attempt, He grew more and more frustrated until finally…
"Erula"
|Name accepted, Territory is now the land of Erula|
|Host: Aoni Thurston has been Designated as Lord of Erula|
|Territory Totem has been Generated; speak the mental command to summon it to you.|
|Traveler's Display is now fully operational.|
"YES!" Jumping up and punching the air, Aoni ignored the Totem being spat out by the Flume momentarily before wasting no time in bringing up his TD with the mental command 'Open Status'…
…
…
However, the moment he had, Aoni instantly wished he didn't…because, in that very second that his eyes scanned through those few lines of text, the lad felt the ground disappear as he fell into the depths of despair.
______________________
Aoni Thurston
Age: 16
Potential: One Star/G+ Rank.
Rank: G-
______________________
Attribute Grade: ☆
Attribute: Progression
______________________
Statistics
Attack: G-
Defence: G-
Speed: G-
Energia: G-
______________________
One Star….G+….that was his potential, the strongest Aoni could ever become…the weakest of weak.
With a potential that low, he was no better than a mundane, and the world would view him as such.
He was the bottom of the barrel, gutter trash, absolute garbage, and now Aoni had visual proof of such, and it shattered his heart to know that.
Sure, he had been bullied, but his parents loved him, so even with low stats…in a flash, his mind went to the potential of returning home and living the life of a mundane, but is that what he really wanted? Hell, the fuck no.
Aoni wanted adventure; he wanted fame; he wanted everything that was promised to Travelers but with a status like what was shown…it was all ripped away from him before the lad even left the starting line.
Yet, even as he sat on the ground, having fallen out of shock, something tugged at the back of his mind, almost like a voice, begging him not to give up, that there was more to this story than he was seeing, something hidden between the lines, so fighting back tears, and clenching his teeth, Aoni forced himself to continue reading down the list until he got to his attribute.
Progression…. Aoni had never heard of such an Attribute before; still, that didn't mean much because you name it, and there was an Attribute for it, so with what little sanity the lad had remaining, he gave another mental command to his TD.
'Attribute Description.'
|It is your will to observe progress and mold it into what you desire. Through Progress Points, you bend the world to your own image.|
"What…in the fuck does that EVEN MEAN!" Aoni screamed while punching his thigh with so much force that he gave himself a Charlie horse.
However, that seemed to be exactly what was needed because, directly beside his TD, a much smaller window suddenly popped up, like a text message or messenger notification.
|.01 PP earned|
With that singular notification on the left side of his TD, Aoni noticed that the main screen seemed to glitch out for a second, followed by the sudden appearance of a few minor changes.