Elias blinked—intense light pierced his eyes and he winced. His body was aching and an array of System windows layered over his vision, all unreadable in his daze—he ignored them.
"Tessa? Jacob?" He said quickly as he tried to sit up.
The clash between Jacob and the Aberration had been more intense than he could have imagined, was he OK? What happened? Where was he?
More System notifications flashed in his vision—he dismissed them with a thought, banishing them to his periphery as he replayed the battle in his mind. After a few moments he shook himself and glanced at the plain bed beneath. "Must have survived…" he thought, although confirmation was needed.
The hope he felt for a moment quickly soured as he thought of her; Tessa. The Aberrations claw ripping through her chest, her vacant gaze overwhelming him as it seared across his vision. Tears fell freely down his face and he squeezed his eyes shut—it didn't help. Her green eyes, void of the light he was so used to seeing were still there.
He opened his eyes once more and looked around, the room he was in was cramped, it had cream-coloured walls and a small window that streamed bright sunlight directly onto the bed—although it did nothing to fill the emptiness he felt within. His grief was mingled with bewilderment and terror as he reached to his own chest—his hands bandaged tightly he felt for that power within—there was something, pulsing beneath his chest.
He wiped his eyes as he leant back, shaking his head, "How many died?" he breathed.
Elias yearned for the events to have been a dream, but the thick dressings covering him served as proof of the atrocities that had befallen Havens Point. He looked down at his body, took in the strong floral odour of healing salve and—
—[Life Poi…]
"Not now." Elias said as he pushed the notification away.
He didn't need the system now, he just needed time to gather his thoughts and find out who survived the—
—[Quest: Survival 1 has been...] another notification began to form.
"Fuck off!" he shouted, swatting the air.
The notification faded as quickly as it had formed and as it did, he heard a creak; Elias's eyes moved to see the door to the room open—"Jacob…" he thought.
Entering the room was a tall man with grey hair and simple linen clothes. The tunic seemed to have been squeezed onto the man's chest and arms as he sported a bulging muscular frame. Jacobs eyes locked with his own and he held a sombre expression on his face.
Silence held the air as they both held each other's gaze; they were both overwhelmed by emotions and both awful at communication.
Jacob broke the silence, "She's dead, boy, your friend, Tessa—" his eyes held a sorrow that Elias had not seen in five years, "—I'm sorry."
Only a feeling of numbness befell Elias as he found that he could return no words; there was nothing he could say or do now.
-break-
Elias and Jacob sat together in the room for a number of hours; he had cried, and Jacob had silently comforted him. He'd screamed, and Jacob had held him. In the wake of the carnage, a tempest of emotions had surged.
Eventually, they had left the room to walk; Elias had needed some fresh air and Thom; the man who had graciously homed Elias was also desperate to change the bed linens.
He had learned from Jacob that their home had been mostly destroyed during the fight with the Aberration. The creature had unleashed several powerful skills in a gambit to survive; Jacob had shrugged off Elias's concern as if the destruction was part and parcel of a battle. Then, he continued explaining the events of the night and until now:
Over thirty Aberrations had attacked the village, ranging in power—but most being a low Tier One, with only the one that had found Tess being a Tier Two. Jacob had also said that the Tier Two he'd fought was on the verge of breaking through to Tier Three—a level of power that usually never made it past the Empire's borders.
Jacob had single-handedly dispatched a dozen of the Aberrations on his way back to their home, with four being killed by more competent groupings of the villagers. The rest had decided to flee once the Tier Two had been defeated.
Havens Point had lost forty-six villagers, with another twenty-four injured and eighteen missing. Not only that, but two neighbouring villages had also been attacked. When Elias pressed, Jacob had no more information to give, but he suspected that it wasn't the full scale of the attacks. Jacob had asked for a few of the villagers to go to nearby settlements to find out more and had said that he couldn't have done much more in the couple of weeks Elias had spent in bed.
Jacob then went on to explain the rest of the events since the attack and—Elias was only half-listening. He knew all that he needed to, the scale of the attack was larger than that of the past. It was getting worse.
"…and that's why Bertrand and Eve have taken over the stalls for now, meaning we should—" Jacob paused, looking at Elias, "—I know it's difficult, boy. By the accursed Gods, I know. But you need to listen, this is important. It's sheer luck you survived—Unawakened, escaping the square and surviving an encounter with a beast two Tiers higher than you!"
Elias snapped back to the present as Jacob continued on a tangent, "I remember this one time, Garok and I were being chased down by four skulkers, same Tier mind you. They caught up and we—Hah! We barely made it—the skin of our teeth it was boy—" he stopped and put his hands on his waist, "—but you, first you made it past hell knows how many Aberrations—I don't know how you evaded them, and then—"
"Evaded?!" Elias interrupted, "I wish I'd evaded them, I had to face one." The primal rage he'd felt before started to flood him.
"What do you mean, boy? What happened?"
"Back in the village, after I left the square, Mira was—" Elias's mind began to replay the scene from the dirt street away from the square, Mira frozen in terror, "—she was going to die, I had to do something."
"Go on, boy!" Jacob said as he gestured encouragingly.
"I—I stabbed it with a wooden banner pole, as if it was a spear! Went right into its arm. But, it didn't care—it was like I just annoyed it." He gestured, mimicking the action, "I thought that was it, but…If I could save someone, it would be worth it."
Jacob nodded, listening intently.
"Just when I was about to give up, I felt something in my—In my chest," Elias pulled his bandaged hands to his chest, "It was angry, it was powerful and fearless. It wanted me to fight." He remembered the feeling that had welled up within him, it wasn't mana—he knew that now. He'd felt mana when the System had enthralled him in its power. This was different—more potent, more wild, "It was like mana, but…stronger?" he finished, almost questioningly.
When he saw that Jacob wasn't going to speak up, he continued, "It took hold of me, it engulfed my entire body. I felt, invincible. But, I wasn't." Elias waved his hands and looked down at his foot—which surprisingly felt much better than it had then—he thought that it would have taken longer to heal.
Elias kept going, "I attacked it—the Aberration, I beat it with my fists. I didn't stop, my hands were broken, bleeding. I could see the bone of my own knuckles, but, I kept hitting it—" as he spoke he felt the primal urge as if he was in the moment again, his fist clenching and his stomach muscles tensing as he spat, "Over and over, I couldn't feel pain, I didn't care. I just wanted it to die! I wanted everything to DIE!"
Jacobs eyes widened slightly with concern, but he didn't speak—nor did Elias care as he continued: "It did die, I killed it. But I still didn't stop. Not until, the feeling… it just faded. Everything came flooding back at once." Elias winced as just as soon as he'd spoke a phantom pain encapsulated his hands and a shiver ran down his spine.
"That's why I was in such bad shape when you found me, the Tier Two hadn't even attacked me. It was too busy with—"
"I know," Jacob interrupted as he moved forward and gripped Elias's shoulder reassuringly, "I know. But, if what you're saying is true…"
Elias looked at Jacob as he seemed to be deep in his own thoughts, Jacob let go of his shoulder and began to pace, "Well, if that's true—and you killed a Tier one Aberration before awakening? Well, that's almost unheard of in the Empire my boy!"
Elias's thoughts drifted back to Tess, but he forced himself to focus—he needed Jacob's help, "There's more—"
He recounted the encounter with the Tier Two Aberration in detail, Jacob's expression fluctuated between worry, curiosity and a flicker of excitement, ending up with concern as Elias explained his "Limited Awakening."
"Boy, this is… strange, to say the least. I've never heard of an Awakening like this. Plenty happen outside the Chambers, I mean, by plenty. Maybe—" Jacob began to count on his fingers, "Once a decade or so. But it always follows the script—an ability, a Path; usually substandard and then the world moves on."
Jacob ran one hand through his hair and sighed, "But you, it hasn't given you anything…" Jacob paced, his eyes darting between Elias and the mid-distance, "This is interestin' boy, maybe—" Jacobs shrugged with both shoulders, "—Yep, that's it, nothing else to do."
Elias raised an eyebrow as Jacob turned to face him directly, "What do you mean? What are you doing?"
"Relax, boy. I mean, what I'm about to do is considered quite unsavoury in the Empire and downright rude outside of it. But, it won't hurt, you'll just feel a little strange." Jacob responded.
"A strange sensation? What are you—" As he spoke, Jacob raised his right hand, a rune glowing a vibrant orange glowed in the centre of it.
He flinched, shielding himself with his bandaged arms as he expected pain to follow as Jacob pointed his open palm at Elias—but none came, instead a cold shiver ran down his spine, he felt vulnerable, exposed and then, just as quickly as it came, it faded. Elias shook himself and steeled himself to berate the old bastard.
Jacob chuckled as Elias squared off to his mentor and watched as he just waved him off, "Oh, relax, boy. It's a scanning skill I picked up in my youth. Very useful, Now, let me just…" Jacob's eyes seemed to read invisible text, scanning across and then up and down into what seemed to be nothing to Elias's eyes.
Silence stretched on as Elias watched Jacob's expression change between excitement and confusion, "Well, I'll be...This certainly ain't right—"
"—Jacob!" Elias said, interrupting his mentors muttering.
As if he hadn't heard anything, Jacob continued, "But how can you not be awakened and have that much... There's no way... Even if you had been—"
"--I'm right here, don't ignore me!" Elias almost shouted.
Jacob turned to face him, "When you said the System hadn't given you a Path, well, how come you've got stats so high already? What level are you, for some reason, I can't see."
"Stats like mine?" Elias responded, confused, as far as he had been able to tell, he had some pretty mediocre attributes, "If I remember correctly, I've got three strength? Maybe two of three endurance? What's so good about that?"
Jacob opened his mouth wide and then shook his head, "Three? Did we not teach you anything about how to read boy?! Look at it yourself then," he gestured toward Elias and a notification window appeared.
"That's not right…" he thought as he stared at the statistic screen in front of him. It had his name, but—he scanned the numbers, "Seventeen strength? Fifteen vitality?"
"That's not mine," Elias said as he pointed at Jacob, "Are these yours?"
"Hah! Hey, don't be rude, boy. Look, if you don't believe me, check for yourself."
Confused, Elias did as Jacob said, he thought "Attributes" and a moment later the notification came into view—his eyes wide in alarm:
[Name: Elias Grey
Race: Human, Male
Age: 17
Disabled Functionality: N/A
Disabled Functionality: N/A
Life Points: 47 / 91
Mana Points: 41/41
Strength: 17
Endurance: 15
Vitality: 15
Willpower: 16
Intelligence: 13
Perception: 14
Agility: 12
Luck: 35
Available Attributes for distribution: 0]
Elias stood mouth wide open as he read his statistics screen; there was no way this could be right. He knew that they weren't this high before—how had he gained so much since the battle? He was just led up in a bed.
After reading his attributes for the fourth time, he stopped and looked to Jacob, "I don't understand, how—how could they have changed so much?"
Jacob shrugged, unable to hide a smile, "It makes no sense to me at all boy, but—well, I know you don't know too much about the System and in truth, I didn't tell you because the System tends to take care of all of the explanation type stuff when you Awaken," Jacob moved his hands in a rectangular fashion as he continued, "Usually, you get these things we call, 'System Prompts', they're rectangular windows, about 'yay' big, and ever since I awakened, any change could be explained through those."
Elias felt his face flush and his eyes darted away from Jacob; he knew, without a doubt, that the almost dozen notifications he'd told to disappear held the answers he was after, "Ah…" was all he could muster in response.
He explained to Jacob that'd he'd dismissed the System Prompts and his concern with not having read them—to which Jacob only laughed and told him that he just had to bring them back to his attention and that he needn't worry. Elias was desperate to get back to a room and read them all, but his mentor had assured him that there was no rush.
So, they ended up finishing their walk and Jacob talked him through the rest of the events during his slumber. A fair amount of time passed and it was nearing early afternoon—Jacob had told him to review the prompts over the next few hours and join him for dinner. Elias quickly agreed and headed back inside Thom's home, greeted the kind, aged man and then shut himself in the small room, his curious nature temporarily distracting him from his grief.
-break-
[Quest: Survival 1 has been completed. Calculating rewards…] a monotone voice said within his mind as a prompt reflecting the words appeared before him.
It had taken a while, but he'd finally been able to pull the prompts back into view, one at a time. The first on his list—the bizarre quest he'd been given towards the end of the night. He wasn't so sure what to expect, Jacob had dismissed him without any warnings or advice, just a 'They'll explain themselves, boy."
Now, sitting on the uncomfortable bed, Elias stared at the notification, "Calculating rewards? What does that even mean?" he thought. How did the System reward people?
He had heard plenty of tales—stories of Adventurers receiving powerful artifacts; weapons or armour that would go down in history and shape the fate of the decade—but he had an inkling he would not be receiving something like that.
[Bonus reward earned for surviving against a foe two tiers higher than your own]
Elias raised an eyebrow "Did it not take that into account before giving it to me?!"
[Bonus reward earned for surviving with the least possible life points]
Elias let out an audible gasp, followed by a sight of defeat, "Are you mocking me?! I barely survived at all, and you're rewarding me for cutting it so close that getting poked could've killed me?!"
The voice continued:
[Bonus reward for completing a System Quest at Tier 0, calculating final rewards… Final reward calculated, Elias Grey will receive: Tier 0 Skill Enhancement Crystal – Rarity – N/A]
The flat voice finished and an orange light appeared in front of him—the light gave way to the materialisation of an orb, wispy streaks of light bloomed in all directions and finally, a small crystal appeared as the light faded. Instinctually, he reached out to grab the orb; it was almost translucent, with a faint reddish tint enveloping the imperfect sphere. It looked as though it had been chiselled by hand from a larger crystal—and in a rush too.
As he touched the orb, the reddish colour within pulsed ever so slightly before it settled once more. He examined the orb closely, passing it gently from one hand to the other. It was both heavy and cold and yet, it rolled through his hands as if it would float if he let go.
It didn't.
The orb landed with a loud thunk against the wooden floor as Elias groaned at his own stupidity, he bent down and picked it up, glancing quickly around to make sure no one had seen. "That was embarrassing…" he thought.
Taking a moment to forget the last few seconds, he focussed hard on the orb—willing a response from the system, Jacob had said that the System would explain, "So, explain!"
After a few moments of deep concentration another prompt appeared:
[Skill Enhancement Crystal – Tier: 0 – Rarity: N/A – Unable to appraise function and/or abilities of item. You do not possess the Appraisal skill]
With that realisation, Elias knew he wouldn't learn more about the Crystal without Jacob's help, he placed the orb on the bed and moved on to the next system prompt.
[Title Earned: Mons—Correcting—] the text flickered before stabilizing, [—Aberration Slayer – Slay your first Aberration – Reward: + 1 Strength]
Elias raised an eyebrow at the 'correction' the System made but shrugged, he did recognise the title, this was one of the few things he had learned from Jacob's books—the ones he had access to. Titles were granted for achieving specific milestones, ranging from amassing great wealth to slaying an Aberration, or even ruling a kingdom for a set number of years. Jacob had always intended for Elias to get this title, just, not yet.
He dismissed the prompt and moved on.
[Title Earned: Brave Antagonist – Slay an Aberration one Tier above you – Reward: All Attributes + 3]
Elias shook his head at the reward; the System was actively encouraging him to endanger himself. It felt as though the more he planned on endangering himself, the more he would receive, "Well, it's done now, may as well enjoy the reward."
[Title Earned: Potential Prodigy – Single-handedly slay your first Aberration, one Tier above you, whilst still at Tier 0 – You have begun your journey with grit, determination, and, most importantly, power beyond your station. You have faced foes beyond your peers and prevailed. Will your path lead to greatness? Or will you fade into nothingness…? Time will tell – Reward: All stats + 5, All stats + 5%]
This was different from the last couple of titles, it had a description of some sort. Maybe it was the first title worth of genuine recognition from the System? He wasn't sure, but he started to understand where all the attributes had come from. He was surprised with how many titles he was awarded in one go—he recalled how Jacob had said how lucky he was; it also explained some of Jacobs confusion glances when Elias had recounted the story, "Maybe it's rare in the Empire?" he thought.
Elias knew that it was much more than luck that he had survived, he clutched at the space in his chest—where the crimson light had pulled into him. He shook his head and pulled the other three notifications into view.
He gained two more titles: Survivor, for surviving an encounter with one life point, giving plus three to his strength, endurance, vitality and willpower—and Seedling, for completing his first quest for the System, that one awarded him plus one to all attributes.
He had received a bonus of more than seventy-two points, excluding the bonuses to his luck. He couldn't quite work out where they had come from and expected the following notification to solve the riddle.
Without further ado, he opened the prompt:
"This can't be right…" Elias said, his voice hollow.
-break-
Days passed since Elias had reviewed the notification of Titles and rewards, he'd thrown himself into work; clearing rubble, repairing damaged homes and attempting to comfort those who had lost loved ones. One of the days he'd volunteered for a working party trying to clear the rubble near to his home, he'd tried to help but as he approached the site of Tess's final moments, he couldn't contain his own emotions, he'd ended up escorted away by some of the other villagers, they all knew how he felt—because they felt the same.
When the daylight began to fall away, he would practice with Jacob—using a rusted sword he had given him. His movements were clumsy and awkward, far more powerful than he'd ever been before, but it was obvious that an increase in attributes didn't immediately mean an increase in control.
He and Jacob met frequently, his mentor was caught between joviality and curiosity towards him and a seriousness that he'd seldom seen—he spoke of the broader implications of the aberration attack. It wasn't just Haven's Point, or the local settlements that had suffered, No, almost every area of the Empire was affected.
The Aberrations had attacked the entire Empire.
Jacob had said that the far-reaching nature of the Aberration assault was unprecedented in their generation and that the Empire, being completely reliant on their network of Adventurers was ill-prepared for the attacks.
A week after he'd awoken from his slumber, Elias stood in the clearing behind Thom's house, the rusted sword Jacob had gifted him held loosely in his grip. He took a deep breath, centering himself as he'd been taught and began the sword forms. Unlike other days where Jacob would set him off on a training regime, he had decided to join in on the practice.
His first swing almost threw him off balance as his arm moved faster than expected, "Calm down, Elias." He thought as he swang again, the blade whistling through the air—he stumbled again, barely keeping his footing.
"Damn it," he muttered as he tried again, trying to slow his movements. The results were mixed, his swings were jerky and awkward and nothing like the smooth swings that Jacob had shown him.
Frustration boiled up within him. He'd been doing it for days—"Why does it still feel wrong?!"
With a grunt, he launched into a sword form sequence, determined to prove himself—he let irritation fuel his movement, a flicker of crimson flashed over his vision, his sword blurred, cutting through the air faster than he thought was possible—he felt a surge of adrenaline, of pleasure cut through his entire body. "Power!" he thought.
Then the flash of crimson disappeared as quickly as it came—his foot slipped.
The world spun as he lost his balance, sword flying high into the air, he hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind from him. Above him, the sword tumbled end over end.
Time seemed to slow as he watched the blade fall, its rusted edge drawing towards him, "Shit." He thought as it came closer to his face. His face flushing red with embarrassment as he tried to roll to his side. He imagined the irony of surviving the two Aberration attacks—only to be impaled by his own sword.
Then, suddenly, a hand shout out, grabbing the sword from the air only a few inches away from his face; Jacob stood over him, the blade held casually in his hand.
"I'd say that was enough practice for today," Jacob said, offering him a hand.
He took it as he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. "Why can't it just work?!" he thought as anger rushed through him again—crimson flashed in his vision as Jacob pulled him up and he heard something pop—the colour faded and he saw Jacob wince, rubbing his hand.
"I—I didn't mean to—" he stammered,
Jacob waved him off quickly, "It's nothing, boy, just getting old," But Elias could see a curiosity in his mentors eyes, he was staring at him, as if he was trying to analyse him.
"Why…" Elias began, "Why does it feel that even with all these rewards, I'd still lose against an Aberration?"
His mentor stood and examined him for a long moment before nodding slowly, "Power's a tricky thing, my boy. It's not about just having it, you have to know how to use it. Access to the system and it's power is necessary and it helps, sure. But, that's not all there is to it."
Elias frowned and Jacob shook his head, "Now, don't take this the wrong way, those attributes you've got, those titles you've earned, they're great an' all. But they aren't enough. You'll understand soon."
Jacob knelt and picked up a scabbard on the floor, passed it to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "There's so much more to this world, to the System, to you. So much to tell you, I just thought—" he paused and his expression changed to a sombre one, "I just thought I'd have more time to show you."
They returned to the house and Elias couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness burned into him. He needed more power and he needed it quickly.
Tessa's eyes flashed into his mind once more. He had to become stronger, for her, for Jacob and everyone else he failed to save.
Because if he couldn't—what was the point in surviving at all?