New Beginning

"It's been so boring, there has been nothing to do at all since the pandemic started. And all Cons have been canceled. It's been well over a year, they should just start them again." Jacob said on a voice call.

He was talking with some of his closest friends, his 'fellow degenerates' as they always called themselves. They occasionally shared Furry content among themselves, be it memes, games, or porn. At first, it was done as a joke, but eventually, they all ended up becoming Furries. Except for his friend Dante, who had been one since the start.

"True, I have done almost nothing productive for more than one year already. After I got fired from that IT job I had I barely managed to live off my savings until now. Good thing they paid a lot, those old wankers." Responded Matthew.

"Hey Sam, what was it that happened between you and-" Jacob began speaking but was stopped halfway as he felt his chest tightening more and more each moment, he started feeling dizzy and it was harder to remain conscious by the moment.

'This is bad, I have to do something, anything' He reached for his phone and dialed 911, hoping that they would arrive on time. He put his headset back on despite struggling to do so. He was surely not going to die without giving a final goodbye to his friends.

"Well, my dear degenerates." he struggled to get the words out "It seems... we won't get to reunite at the next Con." He said as he slipped into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, the ambulance arrived too late and he died shortly after paramedics entered his apartment.

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Darkness was all which surrounded Jacob. He wasn't sure how he was still capable of thought as he was supposed to be dead, he remember well what happened.

He could still feel the phantom pain in his chest, or did he even have a body right now? he wasn't sure, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

Amid the emptiness of the void he suddenly saw a board appear within his vision, almost like something out of a videogame.

{[ Karmic Fragment awakening, initializing basic analysis. ]}

{[ WARNING: Host condition critical. Genesis protocol authorized. ]}

{[ Selecting appropriate world for rapid host development: > 'Corruption of Champions' world, 'Xianxia' variant, selected. ]}

{[ Contacting world consciousness to allow user's existence. ]}

'Oh god, anything but that world. It's even worse since it's from the modded version where everything is even stronger.' Jacob knew he was fucked by now, both figuratively and literally.

{[ Selecting species with highest adaptive potential... ]}

{[ "Eevee" species selected. ]}

'Hold on a moment, Eevee? Well, it was to be expected if this Fragment chose based on the species' evolutionary adaptability, although I'm not so sure about being stuck in a form that's essentially the size of a chihuahua. I won't be able to intimidate anyone like that. And even the eeveelutions aren't that large, they at most reach a good 3 or 4 feet tall.'

{[ Attempting to modify Eevee template from quadruped to bipedal. . . Success ]}

'Well, at least It won't be as easy for me to get confused for a wild animal as I certainly would've been if I had been a normal feral Eevee. And changing the body of an Eevee and its evolutions to a bipedal form would definitely make them taller.'

{[ Attempting to further increase Eevee's evolutionary potential. . . Success ]}

{[ Added 10 potential Eeveelutions for originally missing pokemon types ]}

{[ Added 2 potential Eeveelutions based on new world's rules ]}

{[ Side effects due to extensive template modification detected. . . gender changed to 'Hermaphrodite' ]}

'That... might be problematic. I don't really know how to feel about having both genders' reproductive organs... although I don't think I'm entirely opposed to the idea.'

{[ Procedures complete. Good luck, Fatebreaker. ]}

And so, darkness came once again, as he smiled to himself while looking forward to his new life.

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After what seemed like only a few moments consciousness returned to Jacob, making him jolt upwards as he quickly analyzed his surroundings. He knew very well the world he was brought to was extremely dangerous, especially to the current him that had no equipment or abilities to defend himself.

{[ System restart complete. Welcome again, Host. ]}

'System is there a status window of sorts? Could you show it to me?'

{[ Displaying Status ]}

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Name: ??? (Jacob)

Species: Eevee

Gender: Hermaphrodite

Age: 0 000:00:01:36 (Y DDD/HH/MM/SS)

Level: 1

XP: 0/100

DNA points: 0

System Points: 0

[ CULTIVATION ]

Cultivation method: none

Body Realm: Grade 0 - Mortal || [Grade 1 - Bone Strengthening Rank 2]

Energy Realm: Grade 0 - Mortal || [Grade 1 - Energy Gathering Rank 2]

Soul Realm: Grade 0 - Mortal || [Grade 1 - Soul Refinement Rank 3]

Heart Realm: Grade 0 - Mortal || [Grade 0 - Mortal]

[ TITLES ]

{Fragment Holder - +20 to all stats, grants [Endless Adaptation] passive}

{Fatebreaker - +100 LCK, +20 CHA }

[ PARAMETERS ]

STA: 320/320 (CON x10)

MP: 330/330 (INT x5)

SP: 102/102 (WIS x2)

STR: 40

CON: 40

AGI: 50

INT: 70

WIS: 60

CHA: 70

LCK: 160

[ ABILITIES ]

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[ PASSIVES ]

{Endless Adaptation [lvl.1]: Allows the user to change his body's species freely between species that have been unlocked through collected DNA. Also allows the user to upgrade aspects of a species after it has been unlocked or grant permanent bonuses or abilities across all forms.

All species incorporated into [Endless Adaptation] also grant boons to the ORIGIN of the user, ranging from minor to major which include stats, stat points, or abilities from the species that was incorporated.}

True species: Eevee [0/20 eeveelutions unlocked]

Unlocked species: -

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'System, what do the brackets after my Realms mean?'

{[ Answer: the realm within the bracket represents your current combat capability, this is based on not only raw stats but is also influenced by your abilities and your current health status. Being heavily wounded would reduce your combat capability which would then be updated within the status tab. ]}

'Well, it seems I'll be broken from the start, huh? Those titles are insane, especially Fate Breaker, luck is greatly underestimated in many stories considering how it essentially manipulates probability, even if only to a small degree. I also can't completely comprehend Endless Adaptation. Does that make me some sort of shapeshifter? The stat increases and extra abilities it grants sound extremely good but there's got to be SOME sort of limit to the skill, but I guess I'll find out later on.'

He sighed, 'I don't have time for this now, I should probably find shelter asap.'

'System, show me all available functions.'

{[ Yes, host. Displaying available functions... ]}

[STATUS]

[INVENTORY]

[BONDS]

[MAP]

[SHOP]

[GACHA] > free 10x <unrestricted> tier roll available <

'Great, just what I needed. Hopefully, the gacha will give me some decent things, even more so with boosted rates.'

'System, use the gacha roll.'

{[ Rolling <UNRESTRICTED> gacha ]}

[Rewards obtained:]

> 2x Ability Vouchers

> 1x Passive Vouchers

> 6x Item Vouchers

> 1x Companion Vouchers

'Hmm... system, please redeem all vouchers except for the companion one.'

{[ Yes, Host. ]}

> New abilities obtained:

+ {Blink [200 MP] [lvl.1] - allows the user to instantly teleport to any place they can see within 20 meters}

+ {Acceleration [5 STA/s] [lvl.1] - doubles user's AGI stat while in use.}

> New passive obtained:

+ {Soul trait <FEAR> [lvl.1] - a very powerful soul trait created by the inversion of a strong [Bravery] soul through the usage of special rituals. This soul trait is perfect for manipulation as it has the power to create illusions both to the user's desire or of a target's fears or regrets. The fear-centered illusions can potentially weaken someone's willpower. The possession of this trait also grants the ability to use Rhabdophobia.}

{Rhabdophobia [300 SP] [lvl.1] - utilizes the power of Fear to take control of an opponent's magic within a certain area. Can only take control of any spells and other constructs of magical nature as long as they possess no soul of their own.}

> New items obtained:

+ Endless Beast Scripture [Flawless Grade 9 Cultivation Method]

+ Templar Tower blueprints - the design schematics of the Templar barracks designed by Trace Legacy. These towers can draw mana from the ley lines and utilize it to amplify the user's magic. Its upper floors consist of a control room and barracks. Another ability of the towers is to influence the emotions of those within a radius of 10 kilometers (said range can increase if higher grade materials than those required are used in the tower's construction).

+ Guardian Spirit Blood - a vial filled with the blood of Ori the spirit guardian.

+ (2x) Bottle of Perfect Healing Pills - a special bottle covered in preservation enchantments filled with 3 pills capable of healing any injuries, illnesses, and poisons. The amount of time it takes to work depends on the severity of the issue and the cultivation realm of the user.

+ Celestial Tracers [Masterwork Grade 6 Support Artifact] - this artifact increases the wearer's acceleration by 50%, their speed by 250%, and grants free flight which manifests a pair of phantom wings on the wearer's back while in use. Additionally, 500 units of Energy can be injected into the artifact to reduce damage taken by 40% for one second.

'A cultivation method will definitely be very useful in this world. Hopefully, Grade 8 is high within the system's measuring. The Celestial tracers are going to be extremely useful the whole time since all of its bonuses are percentual. Everything else is great too since the Guardian Spirit blood will let me test out Endless Adaptation, Acceleration will help me go even faster, Blink will allow me to surprise others by teleporting mid-battle, and the Healing pills can potentially save either my or others' lives and I just got 6 of them.'

Jacob's thoughts were interrupted by a rustling noise coming from the nearby bushes, sending him into panic as he quickly equipped the Celestial tracers, which quickly adapted to the form of his paws, and prepared himself to act as soon as he knew what he might be up against.

From the bushes comes out a white mouse-morph dressed in monk robes and baggy pants, also wearing a set of prayer beads on his neck. Tied to his robes is an old wooden staff that has seen some use. The mouse quickly notices Jacob's presence as he finally speaks.

"Oh, I don't think I've seen you around before, Name's Jojo." he pauses before continuing. "Do you need some help? You look like you're a bit lost and I know my way well around this part of the forest at least."

'Oh good, it's Jojo. He could probably help me right now since I don't know the way to Tel'Adre, He'Xin'Dao, or the Bazaar. Even if I know how to find them in-game it's completely different when you actually have to do the traveling.' Jacob pondered for a moment before responding. "Nice to meet you, Jojo. I am kinda lost, do you know which direction takes me to Tel'Adre?"

"Hmm, if you're going to Tel'Adre you're gonna have to go northwest of here, a few kilometers into the desert. You could probably make the trip in about an hour if you go at a good pace. About 2 or 3 hours if you're taking it slow." He responded after just a few moments of thinking.

"Ah, thanks for the directions, Jojo. Hopefully, we'll meet again soon" Jacob responded before heading out. 'I really should get a solid story for when I'm asked about my origin, I don't want to get exposed too quickly, especially here in Mareth where outworlders are either actual Gods or weak "Champions" sent by other realms, which somehow usually end the playthings of the more corrupt races.'

As soon as he was far enough from Jojo he decided to test how fast he would be with his Celestial Tracers, which allowed him to accelerate to about 100 Km/h after just a few seconds of sprinting. 'Holy hell these things are insane. If I'm this fast now I can't imagine after I start cultivating and leveling up more and more. I basically won the lottery when it came to support-type equipment.'