A Revelation

The caravan was massive, with no fewer than four hundred wagons stretching out from lead to rear. The sheer size of it left him feeling a little overwhelmed. Just a few months ago he didn't even know such a thing could exist. He walked past the seemingly endless line of wagons until he reached the very back, wanting to ensure complete privacy for his thoughts. He was sure that he had traveled farther than anyone in his village, maybe in all the villages of his people.

He couldn't believe how quickly his reputation had grown among the travelers of the caravan. With his greatly expanded vocabulary, the word infamous came to mind. His final blow in the "games", as he heard the people calling it, was sure to create an air that kept others away from him. He was fine with that because he needed to spend his time getting prepared for his own journey, the path to finding his family, those taken from his village.

Today, he gained access to another great power that he could use to accomplish that single task, his Primary Quest. He still had a couple of weeks left in his servitude to Miranda. He had promised her a month of work in exchange for his safety and joining the caravan. The caravan itself was still a month away from their destination, a place called the Golden City. All that Cyrus could get out of Jarl was that he was certain that Cyrus had never seen anything like it.

He sat down in the lotus position and got comfortable, took a few relaxing deep breaths, and called out to his mentor, "Queen, we have things to discuss."

Queen responds, "Greetings user Cyrus, congratulations on your victory in the battle today. You fought bravely and well."

Cyrus was not expecting the praise from Queen, generally she was very dry but she seemed to finally be warming up to him. He noticed it a little last night when they were working on the designs for his new armor, she began to become more free with her knowledge of the inner workings of their world. She explained carbon-fiber nanomaterials, which he was close to understanding but it was still just out of his mental reach.

"Thank you, Queen." Cyrus replied, we have a lot of things to go over, let's start with bringing up the display of my current statistics along with the quest that I have underway."

The display looked much more defined through the Time Goggles, that's what Cyrus had decided how to refer to them.

User Name: Cyrus

Race: Human 

Class: Temporal Warrior 

Age: 16

Level: 4

Experience: 120/800

Strength: 10 (12)

Dexterity: 10 (12)

Constitution: 11

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 10 (12)

Charisma: 11 (13)

Health: 48

Will Power: 48

Skills:

Foresight

Dimensional Storage

Minor Creation

Current Quests:

Primary Quest– Find out what happened to the people of the village in the shadow of the mountain

Cyrus examined his statistics and hoped that the bonuses he was receiving through his knives kept coming with the next level. If they did, he could see that he could possibly add three additional points to intelligence. This would give him a severe bump in his cognitive capacity allowing him to truly understand some of the major concepts that Queen had tried to teach him. He was certain that it would also be a tremendous help when it came to him studying air magic under Miranda.

Cyrus questioned, "Queen, are there other displays that I have not thought of that you can train me in?"

Queen responds, "Absolutely user Cyrus. Allow me to introduce you to the Inventory screen that could answer many of your questions about the items and supplies that you carry."

Cyrus saw a new display as his statistics disappeared and was replaced.

Inventory:

User Created Carbon Fiber Nano Armor

- This Armor is in excellent condition and has a 50% resistance to elements.

Crescent Blade of the Temporal Warrior

- This weapon is in excellent condition and has several advantages when wielded by anyone that holds the Temporal Warrior class:

Durability, blades will never dull.

Advanced Technique, User has an innate ability of use.

Attribute Growth, Each level a blade will enhance a single point to a single attribute to a maximum of 1 point each.

Knife belt and bag

- This item is in excellent condition contains the equivalent of 6.3 gold pieces.

Temporal Spectacles

- This item is in excellent condition

Ability Enhancement, drastically increases all system control abilities.

Dimensional Pocket

- This item is located outside of our space/time dimension

Contains: 10 snowballs, 1 small red cloth, 1 large cut emerald gemstone

Cyrus was impressed and had even forgotten about the 10 snowballs that he had put in his Dimensional Storage; he also liked the term pocket better and decided to use that reference in the future. "Can I do anything else in this display, Queen?"

Queen responds, "Yes, a user can get an in-depth statistical analysis of specific items by focusing on anything found within the inventory."

Cyrus raised an Eyebrow to this and concentrated on the Knives. He was happy to see that the display did get more detailed and even brought up an outlined picture of the knives. One particular line told him that upon the next level up, intelligence would be the skill that would get the bonus point. That is the information he was looking for.

"Queen, I need to gain that level in the next two weeks. It's time that you explained to me in more detail how I make these quests happen." Cyrus stated.

Queen responds, "Quests are a learning opportunity for users, it places the idea of advancement within the subconscious which allows the system an easier access to make subtle changes in the physical and mental construct of the user." There was a slight pause as Queen again seemed to sigh as she realized that Cyrus could not understand her explanation.

Queen responds, "When you tell me that you accept the given quest, you are allowing me access into the depths of your thoughts, I can amplify those thoughts and expand them. This makes it possible for me to enhance your mind in a way that is much faster and more relevant to progress. It is the same for your muscles and your organs, your breathing and your heart rate. When you accept a quest, it gives me true access to your physical body where I can make changes that you need to improve rapidly and safely."

Cyrus considered her words and he actually understood that entire explanation. It made sense because when he was in the middle of a quest, he was more mentally focused, intuitive, stronger and faster than when he was not in a quest. Even when he sparred with Jarl during his daily quests, he knew it would be different if it wasn't a quest. He probably wouldn't even do it.

Cyrus smiled, "Thank you Queen, I understand. I appreciate you taking the time to explain that. Now, do you have a gift for me?"

Queen responds, "I do, user Cyrus! You enjoy gifts!"

Cyrus opened his eyes from his meditative position and laughed at the seemingly more emotional Queen. He liked this new interaction. He looked down in front of his crossed legs and saw the nanoparticles begin to swirl as the dirt twisted around and began to form a new item. It looked like two items were being formed as a familiar pair of boots materialized directly in front of him.

Cyrus was a little confused, "Queen these look just like the boots that I'm wearing. The ones we just made last night."

Queen responds, "You will like these better, the system has complete access to a far wider range of material sciences and although they look like your boots, trust me, they are different."

Cyrus slipped off his new boots from last night and put on these. They fit him perfectly but so did the others. He stood up and there was a slight bounce to his stance, he felt lighter and more agile. He sent the mental command to bring up his statistic display and say that another point had been added to his Dexterity score. It now sat at 10 (13).

He almost let out a "woohoo" in excitement about that and decided to check out the inventory screen. It had another line added that listed the boots and he concentrated on the line to find a detailed outline of a boot that explained it would allow him to walk much more quietly and not be heard, they would also allow him to walk further without getting tired. This was a fantastic gift.

"What other displays do we have Queen, this is great!" Cyrus said excitedly.

Queen responds, "This is known as the customization display." A new screen appeared in front of him with a detailed picture of himself wearing exactly what he was wearing now. Cyrus took a step back with alarm on his face.

Cyrus exclaimed, "Queen, this is me?"

Queen responds, "Affirmative, this is a perfect display replica of the user Cyrus."

Cyrus had almost drawn his crescent knives when he saw the display in front of him. The figure spun slowly, showing every angle of view. The cloth armor was dark with slight blue highlights, the hood pulled over his face making it impossible to make out any details. The round Temporal Goggles that covered his eyes were the only thing visible under the cowl.

If he had not known what they looked like, he would have said they have an insect like quality to them. The display in front of him showed the exact image of the demon that had kidnaped his mother while the storm destroyed his village.