Slight Problems

"Stand up.", he told the trio, "Shit, what's happening system!", he secretly thought.

[Host has founded a settlement, as such he has been supplied three humans with basic professions; these professions were affected by the dense metal element and thus Host now has a tailor, a blacksmith and a miner. System recommends you begin introductions.]

He glanced around with an amiable expression and said, "Please, introduce yourselves."

The pale woman covered in soot, who spoke in a faintly Germanic accent, replied, "I am Carla, I'm a Miner who cultivates the Earth Aria, and that's my husband Lin and that's my sister Gari"

"Got any aspirations, Carla?"

"I want to become an Earth Child", she slammed the side of her fist into her palm with a resolute look, however seeing Alabaster's confusion she added, "Oh, an Earth Child is kind of a mix between a Druid and an Earth Mage, and the Earth Aria is one of the methods to achieve that."

"Ambition can be helpful, but, make sure it isn't your downfall.", seeing Carla nod, he turned to Lin.

The short, and as Alabaster only realised after very close inspection, an Asiatic man said "I am Lin, a Blacksmith by trade, I follow the Metal Flame Art and hope to become an Artificer, which is kind of like an Alchemist crossed with a craftsman"

"Great things truly do come in small packages", Alabaster joked to the stout man.

Lin was unamused.

Unfazed, Alabaster turned to Gari. The plump woman, in the same Germanic accent as her friend, answered, "Um, well, I'm Gari, a Tailor by craft, but I can double as a leatherworker, I cultivate the Webweaver's Needle and I hope to become a Thread master, which is similar to a Mage who can control threads"

"I do hope you succeed", seeing Gari faintly smile Alabaster announced, "What do you all need?"

Carla stepped forward, seemingly having taken the position of group leader, "We don't need much Chief: Gari needs leather and extra thread, but sinew will do the trick, and Lin needs a source of oil, any will do, as for me, I don't need anything"

"All right then, I will get us some bison to use.", with that being said he jumped out from the cave entrance and took to the skies, "Say, what did they mean by cultivation techniques?"

[Cultivation is the measure of one's Essence; this is inexplicably linked to the level of one's Bloodline as well, so, the stronger your Essence the stronger your Bloodline will grow, until they reach the same level. A Cultivation Technique is a way one gathers and uses the Essence in their Bloodline.]

"Where can I obtain a Cultivation Technique?"

[As a boon for founding a settlement, you and your people have received a Cultivation Technique Set bound to your territory. You can receive it from the Altar that formed in the centre of your settlement.]

"Thanks, system", Saying that Alabaster swooped down on to a small family of four deer-like creatures, they had all had large, gazelle-like steel horns and silver fur, even the younger ones had the aged fur covering their bodies.

"Perfect", he saw these deer not as his opponents but as veritable treasure troves: horns perfect for handle making, large cloaks of skin and lots of rich meat. Reaching the trough of his descending he grabbed the ridged horns of the largest deer, instantly breaking its front two legs.

STTZZZZZZ

A loud piercing noise resounded behind him, not reacting fast enough, the source of the noise pierced deep into his left calf.

"Arrghh"

Alabaster's grip on the buck relented as he flew up to inspect what'd happened.

He grimaced.

Part of his muscle had turned to iron, explaining the extra weight. He realised this had been a failed venture from the start.

But, there would be no stopping now.

The herd looked on with fury, ready to chase him to the ends of the earth. He needed to win, to survive. A thought struck him.

"If they can hit me down there, why don't I stay up here?"

A scheme was quickly cooked up in his mind, with his innate understanding of his body, his essence and the Air Essence surrounding him, he would attack from the skies.

Flap, flap, flap

The beating of his wings roiled the air around him, congealing its essence to abundancy.

Clap

The tumultuous air raged forward like a storm, shredding the family to ribbons, killing them fast but, painfully.

Weary.

He felt weary, he knew he needed to make it back to Origin as fast as possible to rest. He scavenged what he could: The eight spires, the cores, and a small amount of leather and sinew.

Flap, flap, flap.

He raced to his pockmarked cave, landing and collapsing in the entrance.

"Oh shit!"

He heard a germanic voice call out as his body slip across the cave floor.

"Get him to the altar! Quick!"

He felt his body rise and cradled in someone's arms.

Crack

He fell on to a flat surface with a sickening crunch. He heard light sobbing.

"Stop, all we can do is wait and hope the altar heals him.", a calm voice rang out.

Then the whispers stopped. He had fallen to dreamland.

Colours, colours everywhere, like a cavalcade of madness they rushed at his eyes, stinging with their intense vibrancy.

Swirling, stirring, separating, the hues fought and grew to five: purple, blue, brown, red and silver. Indistinct but oh so defined. He screamed and anguished at the slowly forming symbol in front of him. Five interconnecting rotating curves blazing with terrific energy, as if its existence was pressuring the space around it.

A renewed bout of sufferance began, no matter the will, he could not look away as if the sight directly pierced to his soul.

One once was will be.

The Origin.

Splutter!

He awoke from the premonition in a choking fit, bile and phlegm spilling of the sides of the altar.

"He's awake!"

A ringing sounded through his ears. Slowly, he slid himself up, attempting to stand on his own two feet, but his damaged and atrophied body weighed him down as if he were Atlas holding up the sky. Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap around his back from either side, supporting his weakened legs in movement. He attempted to ignore the pain crying across his left leg as his vision began to return in hazy pulses.

"Oh god, are you okay?", Carla spurted, holding some herbs in her hand, "quick chew some of this, for the pain".

Alabaster gave her a dazed, incredulous look, but swiftly obliged.

"Don't swallow, the leaf's essence will damage your stomach".

Mustering up a hoarse voice Alabaster drawled out, "thank you".

"Don't speak, not until I get you some water.", saying this she rushed off.

"Real compassionate, isn't she?" Gari rhetorically asked. "But the world doesn't always support the compassionate."

Seeing the confusion in Alabaster's eyes she continued, "Never wanted to become a miner, got really unlucky. She never knew her mum, died during birth; so when her da got ill she had to get a job to support the rent and her father's medicine cost. But, luck was never her strong suit, nowhere in the village needed apprentices. So she had two choices: whore her self too the local lord or become a miner in the coal pits. As you can see she became a miner, contracted for 15 years.

Her Da was dead within the first.

But she laboured for 14 more years", seeing a flash of bewilderment cross Alabaster's face, she added, "she had too or be strung up as a criminal."

Seeing Alabaster acknowledge her words, she closed with a final remark, "So, you hurt her and I'll hurt you".

They reached the central hut and Gari threw the entrance open (calling it a door would've been too generous). She placed him on the pile of grey heather that vaguely looked like a bed, leaving as he dozed off.

[Mild Soul Damage detected; Exit from Bloodline Realm occuring]

Alabaster awoke with what felt like the worst hangover of his life, looking around he noticed he was sat in his apartment, not a wood hovel.

"Just a bad dream, eh", he muttered to himself.

In a moot attempt to settle his headache, he took a dose of Ibuprofen and flicked on the television.

"Green Peppers, Bzzzt... YOU FUCKING DONKEY, Bzzt... Crystal Coma Syndrome, Bzzt..."

Wait, what was that last one?

Alabaster flicked one channel back.

"The syndrome that has affected millions still shows no sign of abating, with symptoms such as falling comatose and seemingly suspended animation, it has posed mass panic since it started one week ago. There are still no deaths reported, but the source is still unidentified. However, many have theorised that the syndrome is directly linked to the crystals found in the victim's hand."

Alaster when to itch his face with his right hand.

A dim glow caught his eyes.

"Oh, for fuck's sake."