The Lady of Stone

I was climbing mountains, their names don't matter because I forgot them. I had reached the summit of mountains so high it couldn't be fathomed. I started climbing down and when I got reception I was flooded with news-messages, all saying that a mountain-range had been experiencing tectonic activity and that the earthquakes had already claimed a lot of lives.

I checked their name and found that it was the mountain-range I was currently in. I sighed. "Of course, just my luck."

I looked for a place to hide out and saw a hill with a few trees. I was walking towards it when the quake hit. The earth rumbled out in rage and land started to move from higher parts of the mountains.

It had recently rained so it was even worse than normal. I started running, keeping my bag close, if necessary I could survive at least 2 weeks on rations, a little longer if I skipped some days.

I could hear the slide coming closer, like a hound breathing down my neck. I ran as fast as I could but it was too late, I couldn't outrun the wave that was the bringer of my death.

You know what the worst part about dying by being buried under the earth is. Not the inability to breathe or the endless darkness, no it was the time it took to die. You could feel your body struggling because of the lack of air, your life flashing before your eyes as you lie there, waiting for death to come, waiting for something that you know is an inevitability.

In the end, it was like falling asleep.

Afterwards I felt like I was floating around in water. 'Did I die, was it all a bad dream?' These were the kind of thoughts that passed through me. I opened my eyes and what I saw still haunts me today. I saw the world of the death, souls desperately struggling to live, to hang on to life for trivial things.

I did see one of the most surprising things I'll ever see, I saw a person that seemed like a combination of a fish and a human succeed in hanging on to life, forcing their soul back into their body.

Then, something floated over me, a caped man, I couldn't make out any features except his emerald eyes that brimmed with curiosity when looking at me.

I don't know what happened but after that I felt like I was sent flying and thumped onto the ground, fainting.

{Installing system

Installing AI ... ... completed

Installing rootpack ... ... completed

Installing mental alignment package ... ... complete

Booting up welcome protocol.}

{Welcome, Lizbeth Johnson, to Relon, a world of swords and sorcery. You have been granted a second chance at life. In this world every being is blessed with a system, allowing for a few interesting possibilities to occur. You have been given a special form so that you shall never die from asphyxiation again.}

{Full system Boot-up initiated

Showing user status}

{User: Lizbeth Johnson

Sex: Female

Race: Sandstone

Level: 0

Stats: Showing most relevant

STR: 10

AGI: N/A

DEX: N/A

INT: 20

STA: 10

Skills:

Refinement Lvl. 1, Death affinity, Earth affinity Lvl. 1}

At the time I couldn't remember dying, it just felt like I was floating in eternal darkness.

{AI activated}

[Why hello there, how you doing]

I was so confused. I had read reincarnation stories but shouldn't I reincarnate as something more humanoid, not as sandstone. Also, HOW DOES SANDSTONE HAVE A GENDER AND WHY DO I HAVE NO AGILITY OR DEXTERITY?

[Oh, you are the most unevolved form of the golem race, a piece of stone. Since you have no limbs to speak of you can't move or do anything in particular.]

AAAAHH, I hadn't paid attention to the voice in my head before but it was fucking weird. I wanted it to stop, especially since it could read my mind.

[Oh, don't worry, I can't use it to harm you in any way because I can't interact with the outside world.]

Yeah, real reassuring disembodied voice in my head. I really should make that shorter ... I name thee, DeeVee, Dee if I don't feel like thinking even that length.

{Congratulations, you have obtained an achievement.

First step towards system integration

Difficulty: Meh

Start on the path towards system integration by accepting the annoying AI as an inevitability and giving it a name.

Rewards: A thumbs up, 10% system integration progress}

What the hell was that Dee?

[That was the system telling you you did something good or special. It's called an achievement and you get rewards for it.}

And what's system integration?

[I have no idea, I need 100% system integration to access that information.]

Wow, you're useful.

{HEY! LISTEN HERE MISSY, I ...]

Luckily, I didn't need to hear his rant because I had found the mute button. After waiting for a while I unmuted Dee. I had one sole reason for this, I had no idea what I should do.

I was blind since I was a piece of condensed sand. I could feel but I couldn't move, so that made me think. Dee said I was an unevolved golem so that means I should be able to evolve right? RIGHT DEE?

[Geez, you don't need to yell. My ears hurt.]

How does that work, you're a disembodied voice, how do you have ears?

[It doesn't matter ...To answer your question on what to do, check the refine skill.]

{Refine Lvl. 1

Allows you to refine your body to become a better rock giving you access to skills that have an actual use.}

You're serious ... Dee, can I sleep?

[Yes and no, you can enter a sleeplike state but since you don't have a body that consumes real energy, you don't need it and thus don't have any real form of it.]

Can I keep skills going while I sleep?

[Yes, I can turn skill on automatic mode, the system handles but then that means that you can't use any special techniques.]

Ok do that, I'm going to sleep to try and keep my mental energy high. And with that I fell asleep.