1 Ordinary (1)
Val was by all accounts outstandingly normal. His life could be broken down into into three simple words.
Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
And yet this exceptionally ordinary life brought nothing but peace and comfort for him. He neither had great ambitions or longing for grandure. He was by all means, content with the simple things in life. However that wasn't to say that he didn't long for the extrodinary. Far from it.
Because his life was so ordinary, the moments in it which something unusual like the discovery of a new food dish, or seeing a shooting star for the first time, became precious memories to himself.
At this moment however he was feeling something that can only be described as otherworldy.
-------
Val woke up to find himself laying down in the middle of a forest. At first he thought he was dreaming because the tree in front of him were tens of meters high and towered above everything. The scenery before him was full of life and sounds of wildlife abound. The scene reminded him of a hiking trip he once took to as part of a business trip, however this forest in front of him felt different.
It felt more vibrant, more alive, more... ancient.
It didn't take long for him to realize he wasn't dreaming as the sounds of far off unknown animals and the crisp smell of the fresh hair left him with a sense of confusion and foreboding. Val wasn't sure why he himself wasn't feeling more scared in regards to the situation. It was like the forest was having some sort of calming effect on his mind. Or maybe it was something else.
Val slowly got up before checking his body and looking closer at the forest he was stranded in.
He took a deep breath, then slowly released it as he let the reality of the situation hit him. After a few seconds he started walking. He didn't have a set direction in mind or thoughts of how he was going to survive.
He was instead filled with a sense of awe and wonder and was compelled to move forward. Danger may lay ahead but he wasn't to concerned as he knew at this point that he had already died and the new reality in front of him was something he couldn't resist. All his life he had always yearned for the extraordinary while living an ordinary life, and now the extraordinary went out of it's way to welcome him.
He walked for hours before before he finally stopped.
He felt exhausted but also strangely alive. This was likely due to a strange energy that had been building up inside him ever since he started walking. He wasn't positive what it was or where it came from but it gave him a refreshing and somewhat intoxicating feeling. As it's been building up he's felt that something would likely happen once his body was fully saturated with this energy and now he was at the precipice.
He sat down next to the trunk of a tree and let his exhausted busy relax.
'It won't be long now, probably a few minutes left,' as soon as Val thought this something extraordinary happened.
[5:00 Minutes until full integration]
[4:59]
[4:58]
[4:57]
[4:56]
Val's heart started rapidly beating the moment the gray translucent notification screen popped up in front of him. In that moment nothing existed but the screen and the timer slowly ticking down.
.
.
.
[3:43]
.
.
.
[2:01]
Minute by minute, second by second the timer continued to countdown as Val continued to subdue the excitement in his heart.
Val didn't understand the circumstances before him but he was still excited none the less because he understood that something extraordinary was about to transpire.
.
.
.
[0:30]
[0:29]
[0:28]
.
.
.
As the final seconds were counted down Val failed to hold back the waves of emotions. His face broke out with an unrestrained smile and his heart reached a crescendo as a symphony of euphoric emotions blasted his very being.
[0:09]
[0:08]
[0:07]
"So this is what it feels like to experience the extraordinary?" he asked half absentmindedly as he watched the timer reach zero.
[Integration complete.]
[No previous information registered.]
[Would you like to register and active the 'Idle Vanguard System'?]
[Yes]/[No]
There were two options available for Val at this moment but at this point there might as well have only been one.
He instinctively said yes in his head and the screen in front of him registered his selection before slowly dissipating. As the notification screen in front of him disappeared his surroundings also started to faded away as well.
Actually it'd be more accurate to say it was like he was slowly being drawn into another space as the world around him broke into pieces. Before long he found himself standing in a dark empty space with nothing but endless darkness around him. The ground below however was hard and reflected an image of himself. It was as though he was standing on top of a mirror and was looking down at himself. Despite there not being any light around he could still accurately seeing himself reflected back. It was truly sureal.
His world did not stay dark for long however before a small ball came into existence followed by a notification.
[Welcome to the 'Idle Vanguard System'.]
[For the first time registration a few rewards will be gifted.]
[Please customize avatar.]
The light suddenly transformed into an identical copy of himself.
Val was momentarily shocked by the sudden appearance but slowly adjusted before he started to scrutinize the figure before him. As he reassessed himself the mental critiques he'd always held towards his body started to transform the figure before him. Slowly the figure transformed and morphed into a 1.9 meter tall individual with short black hair, a well defined body, and gray eyes that had a slight luster to them.
After a few more changes Val was satisfied by the tranformation.
[Confirm changes?]
[Yes]/[No]
'Yes,' he thought as he looked at the perfectly sculpted figure before him with satisfaction.
[Commencing changes.]
Val felt a warm current flow thought out his body before he suddenly blacked out. When he came to he realized he was looking at the figure at eye level. Upon further inspecting he realized he now looked exactly like the figure before him. He was immediately ecstatic at the revelation.
[Avatar selection confirmed.]
[Beginning orientation...]
[Welcome to the 'Idle Vanguard System'.]
[You are currently within the dream space of the system. Time does not flow so long as you are within this space.]
[The main function of the system is to help the registered user accumulate experience overtime in anything they have learned. The avatar will continuously build up experience until the skill or knowledge base they have been working on reaches max capacity or evolves.]
[The avatar can be upgraded to improve their experience accumulation speed, however certain requirements will need to be met first.]
[There are more sub-functions to the system but those have yet to be unlocked.]
[Current status displayed below...]
[Status]
Name: Val
Race: Human
Level: 0 (001/100)
Avatar: LV 1
[Idle items]
Energy Absorption: LV 1/3 (009/100)... (010/100)... (011/100)
Navigation: LV 1/2 (077/100)... (079/100)... (081/100)
------------: Lv --/-- (---------/---------)
[Knowledge bases and skillsets will have different rates of accumulating experience. The rate will be affected by Avatar level and previous skillsets mastered.]
In addition to the notification Val received a host of information that explained the full capabilities of the system in it's current state. After he assimilated the information he came to understand the nature of the space he was currently in. It was both a real and also not real place that represented the system and the experience he was accumulating.
Val looked at his avatar which was now sitting down crossed legged with his eyes closed seemingly meditating. Additionally Val noticed a new presence in this space directly behind his avatar. Or maybe it'd be more accurate to say he felt it's presence.
Right behind his avatar was a small sapling that had seemingly sprouted out of nowhere. Unlike himself or his avatar, Val noticed that the sapling did not have a reflection below it. Although it was a bit peculiar Val didn't put to much focus on it as he was slowly being pushed out of the dream space.
When he came to he saw that he was back in the forest in the same exact place he was before.
He looked up and around him and realized that something felt different. For some reason he didn't feel as lost all the sudden. Or more accurately he felt as though his ability to navigate through this forest was slowly improving. This was of course his LV 1 [Navigation] ability having an effect on him. As he thought about it the a notification screen popped up showing the current rate of experience accumulation as well as description of the ability.
[Navigation: LV 1/2 (085/100)... (087/100)... (089/100)
-Allows for accurate traversal from one location to another.
-Effect 1: (Locked)
-Effect 2: (Locked) ]
Although the description was short that didn't take away from the effects it had on him. He was feeling more and more attuned to his environment. As the experience bar kept climbing his spatial awareness kept improving until the bar was finally full.
*Ding*
[Navigation leveled up!]
[Navigation: LV 2/2 (000/200)... (001/200)... (002/200)
-Allows for accurate traversal from one location to another.
-Effect 1: Internal compass
-Effect 2: (Locked) ]
As soon as the ability leveled up he immediately felt the effects of the new unlocked function. The internal compass basically allowed him to be aware of where he was at any point in reference to any given direction.
That ability was very useful to him at this moment as it'd help him carefully make his way out of this forest. Val's attention was now drawn to the second ability that was currently idling, [Energy Absorption]. The system had labeled this ability as a passive ability meaning he wouldn't be able to manually increase the experience bar for the ability unlike like his [Navigation] ability. Val was disappointed since it seemed like the [Energy Absorption] ability was having an effect on his overall level. He was currently at level 0 and his experience was barely increasing due to [Energy Absorption].
With all the information the system gave him, he knew that he'd need to find or discover abilities similar to [Energy Absorption] to increase his level. Additionally he would not be able to gain experience from killing monsters or wild animals as. He would have to rely on his abilities to level up.
Despite that however, Val was still excited. After all he was in a brand new world that was likely more extraordinary than he could imagine and in order to explore it he first had to escape this forest.
With that thought in mind Val stepped forward with a confident smile on his face.
