System and Gate of Creation

"Scythe Mastery... Mana Reaper? What the hell is this shit?" Drew mumbled as he stared at the strange panel in front of him.

'System... Like in those fucking books?'

A look of shock slowly crept up on Drew's face.

"Hmm..."

Thoughts jumbled through Drew's mind as he started to decipher the meaning of what was in front of him.

'Affinities is how attuned you are to a specific element for magic or weapon for fighting,'

'And my Affinity with Scythes are at the 'Master' level... though my Scythe mastery is only at level 1, whatever that means,'

After inspecting the skills he had a little more thoroughly another panel popped up to the side that seemed to explain the descriptions of the skills.

-

[Scythe Mastery: Lv: 1]: Your current level of mastery with the Scythe. The pace at which you increase this skill varies depending on many factors but the main one is your Affinity with Scythes. Once you assimilate a basic amount of knowledge on Scythe Mastery the status page will gain more information.

[Mana Reaper: LV: 1]: This skill allows you to steal mana from its targets. Varying degrees of strength at different levels. Basic magic resistance is gained. Non-Transferable

-

"Hmm..."

'Scythe Master is effectively my current skill while using Scythes. While Affinity seems to be my innate talent for using Scythes. So since my Affinity is at the 'Master' level I should be able to learn much faster than those below the Master rank,' Drew concluded as he read the description and compared it to the previous screen.

'Mana Reaper...'

Drew thought for a moment before remembering the peculiar words that Atun had said to him when they first met.

'You have not a drop of magic to your name... But like a leech drawn to blood, magic comes to you yet does not heed your call,' - Atum

'I can draw upon my opponent's mana... Though it isn't really of any use since I don't have an affinity with a single magical element,'

Drew frowned while thinking of the possibilities of the skill in depth.

'If I am fighting a mage of some sort I should be able to have an advantage as they find their 'Fire Power' running out at a rate that they are not used to... and the magic resistance is quite useful, perfect for a mage killer like in those games,'

The sun had long set and Drew decided it best to rest and sleep on the knowledge he had gained throughout the day.

-

Drew awoke to a knock on the small wooden door that led into his closet of a room. He hurriedly stood up, stumbling as he did so, and noticed he was still wearing the robes he had changed into yesterday.

He shook his head and cleared his mind as he opened the door gently to see who was here to greet him.

The door opened silently as if having had its hinges recently oiled.

The door swung open with ease and a young woman in white robes, not dissimilar to his own.

She had brown hair that seemed to have speckled spatterings of gold weaved in between her locks.

Her face was round in nature yet had an innocent glint to it. Her eyes, however... were a different story.

The deep pupils that filled her eyes were pools of calm milky white liquid that seemed to gently ripple every now and then.

She stared at Drew with an interesting stare before gently murmuring something in a soft-spoken voice.

"Um... I couldn't quite catch what you were saying," Drew said sheepishly as the girl turned slightly red at his statement.

"S-sorry... My name is Sylva, It's a pleasure to meet you," Sylva said in a slightly louder voice.

"My name is Drew, it's nice to meet you as well, Sylva," He said with a nod and a simple smile.

'She seems to be in her early twenties... A little older than me,'

'And her ears... how strange,' He thought as he found her ears to be slightly pointed compared to his and the other people he had seen.

Sylva stood and quickly examined him for a short period of time and after having confirmed something she nodded and beckoned him to follow her.

The walk out of the room was more simple compared to the walk towards the garden he had made with Atun yesterday.

After a few twists and turns, they seemed to have reached their destination.

Drew examined the architecture of the area around him with great interest as it seemed to have an immediate change after they made the last turn in their route.

Instead of polished marble and stone, they seemed to have walked into a simple cave that was more natural than even the garden.

What stunned him the most, however, was the fact that they had arrived at a golden gate that was surrounded by a strange mystical light made out of complicated runes.

"What is this?" Drew asked with clear amazement in his voice.

Sylva took a deep breath in before answering him.

"This is our only Relic of Bram that we keep within this temple,"

"It is called 'The Gate of Creation',"

"It seems to be able to examine those who stand within its light in a way that none of us here within the church would be able to,"

"It should allow you and Atun to figure out what the best path for you to take is,"

Drew nodded but a slight amount of anxiety filled him.

'What if it discovers the system?'

Drew shook his head to get rid of the fear and looked at Sylva with anticipation.

"Just simply walk into the light by the gate and all shall be revealed," She said in a calm and soothing tone.

"Alright..." Drew said sheepishly as he slowly walked forward into the Gates light.

[The System has detected that an unknown entity is attempting to examine the host!]

[Would you like the System to hide any knowledge of the host?]

[Yes] [No]

'No... I mean yes... Just hide yourself System,' He answered the system in a confused manner.

[Confirmed]

The light gently washed over his body and he felt that an image was slowly appearing within his mind.

He could see himself... and even see some things hidden deep within himself.

He was taller than before... at about 5 feet 10 inches tall. He also weighed a bit more at around 20 pounds heavier.

His body was defined clearly with muscles and his body was built in a more athletic manner than it was before.

His hair was cut incredibly short though it did not take away from the charm that was present within his stance and his features.

Drew's face was angular and looked to have been made out of stone.

The most surprising thing, however, was the startling milky blue eyes that shone with faint starlight.

[System has detected a useful energy source, would the host like the system to absorb it?]

[Yes] [No]

'I guess...?' He thought in a confused manner.

After a few seconds of silence, a powerful suction force appeared within his chest, and began to suck the golden rays inside of himself.

It was as if he was robbing this special gate of its magic!

He could hear faint shouting in the distance but could not make any words out as he felt pure energy flood his body and cause euphoria to flood within him.

After what felt like a few moments of this a strange murmur could be heard in the rays that were getting sucked within him.

'Hmm... A child with the ability to absorb the energy of a god? How strange...' An old voice called out faintly.

'And you are not even of my kin! Quite strange indeed,'

'At this rate, you will absorb it all,' The voice said with a touch of worry in his tone.

'How about this boy... I don't have the ability to stop you exactly in my current state but if you stop willingly I will make it worth your time, my people need this artifact of mine and it is best if you do not rob my people,' The old man said with a clear sense of danger coming from his tone.

'System! Stop absorbing the energy, now!' Drew commanded as he realized he was messing with forces he did not even come close to understanding.

[Confirmed. Stopping absorption process]

A second after the words of the System echoed out the suction force stopped and Drew fell to his knees with exhaustion evident within him.

'Good choice, boy,'

'Feel free to take this minor blessing as my gift,' The voice finished as a new type of golden energy flooded his body for a moment. It washed over him like a warm shower and seemed to cleanse him of the exhaustion he just suffered.

Silence filled the room the next moment and a simple notification came from the system as something seemed to have changed with it.

[The system has reached 84% maximum energy limit. After the user reaches 100% the system will upgrade and the user will be able to choose an aspect to improve or introduce within it]

[The user has received the [Blessing of Bram] skill and has unlocked the appropriate magic affinity]

After he finally came back to his senses he looked around him and found that the light of the gate had diminished by a large amount and Sylvas had tears flooding from her milky white pupils as she shook in both anger and betrayal.

'But why?' Drew thought to himself and then realized that he probably greatly weakened the only artifact they had of their god.

'But why the face of betrayal? It's not like I truly befriended her specifically,'

'Strange...'