Imperious, Chapter 006 - Getting Started (Patreon)

For an instant, Anna had the soul shaking feeling of being in many places at once. It was like her entire body had been broken down into its most basic materials, the fundamental components scattered across an inky black void filled with an uncountable number of stars. Every molecule seemed to have a portion of her soul attached to it, spreading her sense of self throughout an indeterminable distance. She was everywhere, okay, not really, but it was the only way she could describe it. The most unsettling part was that it didn’t hurt.

The strangeness only increased as she felt a change take place within each and every one of those separate molecules, a deep set shift that brought with it a brief sense of connection.

SYNCHRONIZING

The feeling intensified; deep, fundamental concepts bombarded her very being. Her world, her universe expanding beyond anything she could rationalize with her mind as it was. Bits and pieces stayed, though, ideas and notions that clung to her out of a sense of familiarity.

INTEGRATING

The molecules began to move, pulling together towards a singular point. She was being rebuilt, reconstructed, piece by piece as her sense of self grew more and more clear. One particle compounding upon another to restore that which had been scattered in order to study her at her most basic level. A flood of information spread through her being, a rush, a whirlwind, a cascade of feelings and emotions and realizations before, finally, she was whole again.

She floated in that space and marveled at the stars before looking down at her body. It didn’t look different, but it certainly felt different. Not stronger, not faster, just… more.

Then she fell, the void rushing past her until she sat up and opened her eyes. She was back in that all white room, her chest rising and falling rapidly with deep breaths. She whipped her head around and reached up to touch her face, grab her arms, flex her fingers, check and make sure every piece was where it was supposed to be. She looked down at her hands and rubbed her fingers together, “Holy shit.”

“And that’s it! Integration complete, welcome to the Multiverse, Anna Flitt!” Pixel said, in its jolly chirp, darting down to float at her side for a moment and orbit around her head before returning to its spot floating across the small table from her.

She looked up at the tiny ball of light, “So… what happens now?” She asked only to feel the buzzing at the back of her head intensify. She grunted, grasping the back of her head and wincing. “Shit!”

“It looks like you have a few notifications! They must have been building up. Some notifications were blocked as you didn’t have access to your character sheet! Normally people don’t have that many when they integrate, very interesting!” Pixel said as it bobbed up and down, “You will be able to access them and your character sheet once you leave this place and enter a tutorial. A simple thought will be able to call up any screens you have access to, including your notifications of course!”

Anna grabbed on to a part of that statement like a drowning man, “I’m entering the tutorial?”

“A tutorial,” Pixel corrected, for some reason getting caught up in semantics. “Yes.”

Anna pursed her lips, “So there’s more than one, should have realized that based on the notifications I got right after all this started,” Anna mumbled, “What are the chances of me getting into the same tutorial as my mother?”

“There are over one million tutorials active on your world at the present time with two having been ended because of the total loss of life of all participants,” Pixel said flatly. “The likelihood of being added to an active tutorial with an open slot that a specific participant is also in is very low.”

Whole tutorials have been wiped out? She tried to do the math but really didn’t want to think too hard about it. The thought made her a little sick, “It’s only been a day!” She protested.

“Such are the realities of the multiverse, survive, thrive, or die! It’s very simple,” The glowing thing chirped as if it was the most basic thing to understand and she was stupid to not think that way as well.

Anna thought about her experiences thus far, she supposed she couldn’t argue the point even if it flew in the face of everything she’d known in her life before. Her fingers clenched tightly on the table between her and Pixel, her eyes shaking a little. She could feel that heat in her blood again, that searing sensation that was more clarifying than disorienting. 

“Unusual, the larger sample size of humans from your world reacted to those words with disgust, yet you are smiling, why?” Pixel asked, floating down as if to get a better look at her face.

Anna looked up at the thing, “Am I? Not sure, I just feel…” She breathed, “...excited,” She tilted her head, “So I get to go to a tutorial?”

“It is required-” The entity froze again and actually let out an odd buzz for a moment before it seemed to come back to itself. “Given your circumstances you have been barred access to the standard system tutorial. You should have gotten a notification during the initial integration.”

Yeah, she remembered now, frankly it didn’t bother her as much as she’d expected hearing it first hand, “You got any information on those circumstances?” She asked.

“I am afraid not,” Pixel said, “I am a temporary existence with limited access and authority within the system and once my task is complete I will cease to be. My knowledge is quite finite.”

Anna tilted her head, “So, what, this System is going to dump me back on earth alone without any guidance while everyone else gets a walkthrough? I obviously know nothing about how all this works, I’ll be alone unlike everyone else, is it trying to get me killed? That hardly seems fair,” Anna said, crossing her arms and fixing the ball of light with a stare. “Throw me a fucking bone here.”

Pixel hesitated and began buzzing again, the buzzing intensified, and then a fragment of that vast something peered at her for a moment. It didn’t unsettle her as much as it had the first time but it still made her skin crawl and her blood boil. “ACKNOWLEDGED.” This time she had a moment to experience the voice that came out, it was cold, mechanical, and reverberated in her bones. 

A notification appeared.

Quest Alert!

<Experimental Tutorial>

The System has acknowledged your exigent circumstances and assigned this Juvenile System Entity as proctor for your tutorial. Your tutorial shall take place on Earth and tasks will be generated based on your surroundings automatically. Participation in this experimental tutorial is optional and may or may not result in a different expected learning experience compared to standard tutorials. 

Rewards may vary.

Do you consent? Yes / No

Anna blinked, Is it implying that it’s taking advantage of my situation to test a new idea for a tutorial? Her lip twitched, Alright. Sure.

The rain hit her face before she even realized that she was back outside, standing where she had when the integration began. She blinked, turning around in a circle. It was still the dead of night and the skeletons were still littering the grass in front of her home. The only difference was an added source of light floating over her head. She looked up and squinted at the little ball of floating energy that was still buzzing and flickering. 

“Uh… okay,” She looked around and then down at herself. She looked at her hands again and it finally hit her that her wounds were gone. She felt great! “Thanks for the heal system,” She mumbled.

“Brzzztttrrtttzzz,” The little ball of light fizzled above her before falling still.

She looked up at it again, “Uh… you good?”

“What? Huh? Who? Where?” Pixel blurted. “Where am I? Oh! Hello! I-” It paused and then seemed to dim a little bit. “Oh dear…” 

That was a new emotion from the little thing, “What?” She asked.

“It would appear I’ve been assigned as a proctor for an experimental tutorial. I’m to accompany you here on Earth. That seems dangerous,” It commented and she could almost feel it frowning, “Though I suppose the rewards offered for this task are… acceptable.”

Anna’s eyebrows rose, “You were offered rewards?”

“I am a living thing connected to the system, even if it created me, a task ordered by the system would of course include rewards! Seriously!” It sighed, it actually sighed! “I was prepared to cease to be after assisting you, but now…  uh… if I complete my task satisfactorily I will be made into a true life form. How… curious.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Anna asked, perplexed.

“I am not sure how I feel about it,” It said thoughtfully.

Anna shrugged, “Well, you got time to figure it out,” Anna said, she wasn’t about to try working out the meaning of life standing out here in the rain with a floating ball of light. She scratched her neck and felt the buzzing again. “As for me, I’ve got notifications. I’m guessing I’ll be able to select my gear and spell and everything now?”

That seemed to pull Pixel out of its thoughts, “Oh! Yes! You can begin right away.”

Anna shrugged and walked back into the house, she wasn’t going to do it in the rain. “Cool, I’m gonna dry off,” She said before pausing and glancing over her shoulder. “You coming, Pixel?”

“You still insist on giving me a name?” The ball of light asked, floating up to follow her inside.

“You don’t like it? Sounds like we’re going to be spending some time together, it feels wrong not to treat you like someone with an identity,” She said.

It paused for a moment, flickering, she figured it was thinking. “I… do not hate this, name, thing,” PIxel said as it floated over her shoulder providing sweet illumination to her powerless home. She had it follow her to the first floor bathroom and snatched up a towel to dry herself off before throwing herself onto the couch in the living room and finally, finally, pulling up her notifications.

You have chosen the class: Caster

Please choose a weapon proficiency.

A surprisingly long list of weapon types appeared in a window in front of her. She scrolled through it and quickly found a commonality. They were all relatively simple weapons not intended for someone following a path of martial technique or anything elaborate. Staves, Knives, Bolas, it even had a proficiency for Cooking Implements. She snickered, she could use a frying pan as an actual weapon. Freaking weird. She scrolled all the way down before and frowned a little.

“No gun proficiency, that sucks,” Anna mumbled.

“Unfortunately, such a proficiency is not available for your class choice,” Pixel pointed out.

She glanced at the floating ball and nodded. She didn’t like it but it made sense she guessed. She went back up and selected the only option that made sense given her personal experience. Seeing as the class would offer her an item to match the proficiency, she figured it was a good opportunity to replace what she’d lost.

One-Handed Bludgeoning Weapons (Common-Base)

You are proficient in the use of single handed weapons that deliver bludgeoning and crushing blows to your targets.

As soon as she made her choice the window disappeared and there was a low thud at her feet. She leaned forward and looked down to see a long metal rod at her feet. It was about the length of a baseball bat and was even roughly shaped like one, a grip at one end where it tapered down and the opposite end widening before ending with a heavy tip adorned with small circular protrusions that looked like they’d hurt like a bitch if you were hit with them. She reached down and picked it up. She could tell it was significantly heavier and more solid than the bat, but it didn’t feel unwieldy or difficult to hold for some reason.

Humble Iron Cudgel (Common-Grade)

A simple iron bludgeoning weapon crafted by an unknown smith to be wielded in battle.

“Works for me,” She said, reading the small prompt that appeared next to the weapon, describing it. “Looks like I have some kind of identification ability?” She asked aloud.

“It is a racial skill, you can see it on your character sheet,” Pixel said, still sounding a little distant and thoughtful.

Still wrestling with being alive, I’ll leave ‘em be, She thought. “Thanks, I’ll check it out once I’m done with my selections.”

“A reasonable approach,” Pixel mumbled.

Please choose a Circle Magic Proficiency

Alright, magic! Here we go-

“Woah,” Anna breathed.

The following magical categories are available:

First Circle Magic: Arcane Magic
This category of magic is governed by logic and the application of formulae and script in order to produce a magical effect by manipulating the fabric of reality within its conventional rules.

Second Circle Magic: Divine Magic [Locked]
This category of magic is governed by the intercession of divine beings, deities provide the inspiration and assist in the processing of mana in order to produce a magical effect.

Third Circle Magic: Natural Magic
This category of magic is governed by the interaction with natural forces, elementals, naturally occuring spiritual beings, and ritualism to aid in the casting of spells.

Fourth Circle Magic: Outsider Magic
This category of magic is governed by the interaction with extra dimensional entities and external forces, either by forming a pact with another being or forcibly channeling mana through them in order to cast spells.

Fifth Circle Magic: Innate Magic [Locked]
This category of magic is governed by gifts innately possessed by the individual, either through a bloodline or racial ability and varies widely.

As you do not have any active connection with a divine being, Second Circle Magic: Divine Magic is locked.

As you do not possess the innate traits required, Fifth Circle Magic: Innate Magic is locked.

Five circles of magic, each of them seemed to be an overarching category. Two of them were locked for her for obvious reasons, though this list alone provided her with more information about this multiverse than anything else had so far. There were gods, actual gods. That was an existential minefield that she wasn’t willing to wander down just yet. There were also races out there with innate magic powers that they were just born with. Seemed a little unfair but she wasn’t going to get hung up about it.

As for the other three categories. Arcane magic seemed like the kind wizards used and was the most interesting for her, though the word ‘formulae’ gave her a bit of pause. While she wasn’t bad at math by any stretch of the imagination she just kind of hated it. Her mom had hammered it into her for, well, forever. That made her almost immediately shy away from Arcane magic. Natural magic seemed interesting, ‘natural forces’ could mean a lot of things. Fire powers? Cool. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to pray or give offerings to some kind of spirit though.

Outsider Magic, though, that was interesting as well. It carefully avoided what kind of entities it was talking about but she had a pretty good idea. Demons and stuff. She rubbed her neck, she wasn’t sure if she was willing to go around summoning demons. What if she had to make a pact with one? Would that make her subservient to it? The very thought made that strange heat in her blood intensify again and she frowned. Yeah, no, not an option. Not unless there was a guarantee that she wouldn’t have to obey some otherworldly being.

She frowned, she hadn’t known what she was expecting but to be quite honest, this wasn’t it. She glanced up at Arcane Magic again and let out a sigh. At least mom prepared me for this, she said and made her selection.

Arcane Magic (Common-Base)

You are proficient in the use of arcane magic, working within the fabric of reality you use the fundamental language of the multiverse to convert mana into a wide array of effects. Arcane magic belongs to the First Circle of magic.

You have selected Arcane Magic. Generating starting spells list.

Finally, the good stuff.