Imperious, Chapter 008 - Heritage (Patreon)

Pixel was slow to react when Anna posed her question, flickering and actually buzzing a little bit now and then. Was it doing that ‘asking permission’ thing? Whatever it was, it gave her time to take a moment and review the rest of her character sheet.

Name: Anastasia Flitt
Race: Human - Terran
Class: Caster (Level 1)
Profession: None
Tier: Mortal
Heritage: Imperious Monarch

Resources:
HP: 55/55 | SP: 55/55 | MT: 0/61

Attributes: Available Free Points: 9
Strength: 10 | Agility: 7 | Intellect: 9
Vitality: 11 | Endurance: 11 | Willpower: 13
Awareness: 9 | Insight: 10 | Presence: 15

Titles:
Youth of the Integration (Common), Precursor of Earth (Common), Pre-System Warrior (Epic)

Skills:
One-Handed Bludgeoning Weapons (Common-Base), Identify (Common-Base), The Human Spirit (Uncommon-Base), Adaptable (Uncommon-Base), Heavy Armor (Common-Base), Personal Firearms (Common-Base)

Spells
Mana Barrier (Common-Base)

There was a lot to unpack from the first section alone, not even mentioning the Heritage and the rather ominous text associated with it. She set it aside while Pixel pulled itself together and worked her way through. There was a Profession section, which implied that there were crafting classes which in retrospect should have been obvious. How could any society survive with only combatants? Seemed kind of obvious that there needed to be other things to keep the world turning. She wondered what kind of professions were available and what would work well with her class.

Speaking of class, her class had a level but there wasn’t an actual level section. Would her profession have a level as well? Seemed like a pretty strong possibility given that it was listed immediately after her Class. She rubbed at the dark rings under her eyes and looked down at the next line. What was a Tier? Hers said ‘Mortal’ but did that imply that the other tiers weren’t… mortal? Her eyebrow rose. I’m not sure what to make of that.

After that and-she glanced at the still flickering Pixel-unfortunately skipping over the heritage for a bit longer, she sighed and moved on to her attributes.

I got a plus five bonus to Strength, Vitality, and Endurance for Pre-System Warrior. That means my base strength was actually five. Her eyes trailed down the rest and back up. I know I’m not the smartest person on Earth, not stupid either. Is my base strength actually really low? She looked down at her thin arms. Okay yeah, fair. Her eyes moved down, nodding along to the attributes until she got to her presence. Uh… okay why is my Presence so high?

“Miss Anna. I have received permission to provide you with a basic explanation of Heritages! I am a bit curious as to why the line has appeared on your sheet given that you are from a newly integrated universe. How very strange!” Pixel chirped cheerily. 

She glanced in the direction of the glowing ball, “Aight, shoot.”

“I’m sorry?” It asked, she could swear she saw it tilt to the right.

She closed her eyes and sought patience, “Give me the explanation.”

“Oh! Of course!” It said delightedly, “A Heritage is a unique ability passed down to an individual through a variety of means.” The system entity explained, “Either through blood, the will of a past ancestor, or simply by birthright, the presence of a heritage sets an individual apart from the rest of the multiverse, providing them unique abilities and traits that may color their future trajectory,” It continued. “Some of these potent abilities are even untethered from the need to utilize mana. Very bizarre.”

Anna pursed her lips and squinted, “Sooo… if I happened to have one, how do I learn more about it?” She pressed.

“Simply focus on the line in your character sheet, the same for all other lines, you can review the description of your skills, class, and other things that way!” Pixel offered.

“Right,” She nodded and focused on the words.

True Inheritance of the Imperious Monarch

You possess blood that boils with imperial resolve and command. You have inherited the ability to take direct control over your presence and imbue it with intent. None stand above you and to bend the knee is anathema to your existence. Your instincts compel you to dominate and take, fueling your insatiable march forward as you bring order to the world before you. This heritage is still mostly dormant and with time and growth it will display more of its innate abilities. +5% Pre. 

Attributes Per Level: +3 Pre, +1 Ins, +1 Awa

That name was a mouthful and in no way helped explain where the hell it came from. Inheritance? Pixel said it was something someone got from an ancestor or parent by blood but… how? It was true she didn’t know her dad but she was pretty sure this kind of detail would have come up in conversation, that, and he was obviously human. She was born way before the integration. She sighed, not wasting any more brainpower on the name of the damn thing and kept reading. She mouthed along with the words, her expression growing more and more concerned as she moved along.

Imperial Resolve? Direct Control… None stand… My instincts… dominate? She ran her fingers through her hair and stared at it, reading it through again. It at least explained how she was able to apparently control her presence the way she did in order to hide from the skeletons. She could imbue it with intent, something she both understood and completely went over her head. She tried to parse out the rest and frowned again when she got to the line about bending the knee. Is that why she’d lost her shit when the Skeleton demanded she serve it? It was a direct challenge to my heritage and it would not tolerate it. 

“Miss Anna? Did you find something interesting? Your series of facial expressions have been rather comical!” Pixel pointed out.

She shot the damn thing a look, “Har har,” She grumbled and gestured at the screen that the little lightbulb obviously couldn’t see, “It’s called True Inheritance of the Imperious Monarch, says I can control my presence and imbue it with intent. I think it also makes me get pissed off when someone tries to boss me around,” Anna rambled, putting her hands on her hips, “At least this explains why my presence stat is so high, percentage bonuses are pretty nice. I also get three presence per level, plus a few other things.”

Pixel went quiet and she glanced up at it. “Pixel?”

“Mmm?” Pixel mumbled, slowly drifting to the right.

She narrowed her eyes, “You’re looking shifty.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Anna!” Pixel protested, its volume rising in place of its inflection to show protest.

She turned towards it, “Do you know something that I should know?” She demanded stomping in its direction. It quickly backed away, “Get back here!”

She chased the little ball around the room, nearly knocking over a few things before she finally jumped and grabbed it. She was honestly surprised it was a solid object, she had assumed it was just a mass of light. It wriggled in her grip, feeling kind of like a jellyfish. She frowned and squeezed a little bit. “Miss Anna please! I can’t go into details! Some things I don’t have permission to talk about!”

She frowned, “So there is something I should know!” She groused, starting to squeeze and twist, she pinched it as well, it was surprisingly malleable. Given that it didn’t seem to react very much to her abuse she assumed it wasn’t actually capable of feeling pain. That was confirmed a heartbeat later.

“Miss Anna we system entities cannot feel pain for this very reason! I apologize! Just know that your heritage is a very good one, an extremely good one! Top tier for sure!” It assured her, “It also explains your temper!” It offered as if it was trying to placate her. Clearly it didn’t understand people very well.

She frowned, “So I have a temper huh?” She growled and pinched it again despite knowing how pointless it was. She sighed and let it go, “Fine,” She grumbled and flopped down onto the ground. “Well at least its something to figure out in the future.”

“There you go! A goal!” Pixel quickly said, floating a bit higher than it had been earlier.

She stared up at the ceiling and let her thoughts settle. Was it really that important to know? It would probably help her understand it better and use it, but if she was being honest with herself, no. She turned her head and stared at Pixel, “It’s a side quest at best,” She said with a grunt and sat up, resting her arms on her knees, “Whatever it is, it’s mine now and I’ll figure things out as I go. I have no intention of not using it. It kept me alive while waiting for you.”

She closed her eyes, they felt more tired than usual even as her body felt full of energy, “So what now? How do I start my tutorial oh great and mighty proctor?” She asked, waving her hand at the frustrating glowing gooball.

The new topic seemed to get Pixel into a good mood. It bounced back and forth in the air, “Most tutorials have pre-designed tasks and procedures but they all have the same goal. To allow the participants to get stronger by confronting monsters, learn about their new abilities, earn rewards and chase after achievements and titles. As we are on earth, such an organized approach is impossible!” It said cheerily before pausing, “Oh, that’s bad.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty bad,” Anna said with a nod. “Ideas? System put you in charge.”

“Creating a quest is a significant undertaking,” Pixel said, “I can’t just… oh!”

“Oh?” Anna sat up. “What’s ‘Oh’?”

“Just a moment! There we go! That was easier than I thought!” Pixel said cheerily.

Quest Alert!

<Tutorial 1>

You have been stranded on Earth for the duration of the integration process. While external factions struggle to stake small claims on this changed world before humanity returns, you stand alone, able to go wherever you like. Stake your own claim and grow in power as you act as Humanity’s harbinger.

Claim the Local Area Node (0/1)
Eliminate the competing groups in your Local Area (1/7)

Rewards: 5000 Iron Credits, Title, Uncommon Equipment Token

Anna blinked at the notification and leaned back, pursing her lips together as she read it over. There were a few things to unpack but she had to admit, she was impressed. The little thing just up and made a quest. She wasn’t sure how much Iron Credits were worth but she assumed it was a decent amount of money. It wasn’t a slay five hundred enemies quest, which was nice, but the completion conditions did raise one concern.

“There are other groups besides the skeletons?” Anna asked hesitantly.

“Oh yes! After the initial planetary reorganization some factions from the multiverse were allowed to enter limited areas on the world to set up small colonies in advance as a small challenge to the native sentient race to reclaim their world. This neighborhood happens to be one of those areas,” Pixel explained merrily, “It would appear that in this case seven advance groups were sent to this local area, with the skeleton champion being the leader of one.”

Anna clicked her tongue, “And they haven’t showed up at my doorstep already because…?” She asked, looking up at the little ball of light with a frown.

“They’re likely taking a more sensible approach and securing a base camp rather than going straight for exploring. Factions are only allowed to send small teams and if the team is lost their claim is lost as well,” Pixel said, bobbing about in the air.

Anna mulled it over, “Okay, makes sense. So I just gotta kick ‘em all out.”

“Kicking them out would imply survival of both parties,” Pixel said, it’s volume dropping a bit, “Claiming a territory, no matter how small, on a newly integrated world is an enormous opportunity. They will likely only leave under the pain of death.”

Anna straightened her shoulders, “Fair enough,” She said with a growl and marched over to her gear lined up on the ground. She reached for the robes, “Last question, is there an inventory function?” She asked, she’d honestly been trying to open an inventory for a while, it seemed inefficient to just run around carrying a bunch of shit.

“I am unfamiliar with the concept, if you are referring to storage, you will need an item or skill capable of such things. Storage skills are a hallmark of some professions. I apologize but you will have to learn more about professions on your own, Miss Anna. After you discover one I can give more details,” Pixel said.

She nodded, “I get it, no big deal,” She said and snatched up the robes. “First things first, familiarize myself with my skills and stuff, then get a look around the neighborhood,” She said as she slipped the robes on over her clothes. It felt awkward. Oh, the robes probably count as clothing. She grumbled and tossed off her jeans and shirt, pulling the robes over her head and cincing it tightly with the belt. The breastplate came next which was her first time experiencing a proficiency skill kick in.

The information just popped into her head as to how to put it on. To her surprise it only took a couple seconds, the straps and buckles all sitting just right and the breastplate clearly fitted to her body. She’d believed Pixel but it was still weird that it’d been a full twice the size when it was on the Skeleton Champion. Gauntlets and boots came next, largely hidden by the long tail and sleeves of the robes. She tried to figure out where she could put the spellbook only to notice that there were small loops on the spine. She ran upstairs and came back down with a duffle bag. She removed the strap and clipped it to the book, throwing it over her shoulder.

“Nice, that works,” Anna nodded to herself before reaching down and picking up her cudgel and tucking the gun into the belt of her robe. She glanced at the TV and smirked at her tired face. She still looked as weary as ever but for some reason she felt more impressive with a black breastplate on brown robes. She rested the cudgel on her shoulder and glanced back at the door before reaching down and grabbing the duffle bag. She'd do some food looting while she was out. “No point in delaying any longer,” She said with a breath before glancing up at Pixel.

“You coming?” She asked.

“Of course! It is my duty to observe you as you go through this unique experience, I am your tutorial proctor, after all,” Pixel said brightly.

“Uh huh, well at least you’ll make a good light source,” Anna said with a shrug and a grin.

“How rude!” Pixel protested.

Anna chuckled a little before letting out a breath and fixing her eyes on the outside, a frown crossing her features. Six more groups huh? She felt her blood boil. I’ll show them what happens when they try to claim what’s mine. I’ll make this place a safe one for mom to come back to, I swear it.