Minos and Me

On a moonlit night, as the stars shone bright and the cicadas hummed, a rather harrowing event was taking place.

A mother was holding her infant child close to her chest, running through a pitch black forest. Chasing after her were a pack of wolf-like humanoid monsters with fur akin to steel wool and claws as sharp as kitchen knives. Their red, pupil-less eyes displaying a strange mix of savagery and cold intelligence.

The mother ran as fast she could, her hooves pounding the ground with an intense, steady rhythm. If only she knew that this was all part of the hunters' plans.

"We're almost out little-oh no!"

The mother and child soon came to a clearing and were preparing to sprint pass the treeline and into the open terrain, but it was for naught. The mother and child had come not to an open field to which she could run harder, but to a steep a cliff overlooking a rushing river.

The wolf-men began to slow down and encircle the mother and child in a menacing manner. One of the wolf monsters that looked noticably larger from the rest began to step forward, signaling for his compatriots to hold their current positions.

<It's. Over. Hand. Us. The. Child.>, the large wolf monster said in a growling, halting voice.

The mother took an instinctual step back, almost falling over the ledge but catching herself before she did. In this moment, the mother began to look towards the heavens and prayed.

{Heaven's above and stars that guide us. Please. Show me the way.}

Suddenly as if answering her plea, a brilliant meteorite shining with the colors of rainbow streaked across the sky, catching the attention of both the mother and the wolves. The group watched as the meteorite flew over the horizon and crashed into the earth. The moment of impact was incredibly powerful, illuminating the night as if it was day for just a moment.

However, this moment was long enough for the mother to see that the river below was far reaching and flowing towards the direction of the fallen meteor.

{A sign!}

The mother stared at the child slumbering away in her arms. She couldn't help but notice how small he was, how his little horns had barely grown in. A look of sadness flashed across her face, followed by determination.

{I can only pray that you grow healthy and strong, my little starlight.}

The wolves were still somewhat stupefied from the sudden meteor strike, so they failed to see that the mother had started taking several steps back towards the cliff's edge. She was already at the cliff's edge when the leader of the pack finally noticed.

<Wait. Stop.>

But it was too late.

The mother leaped off the cliff and into the raging waters below, using her body to protect the infant within her arms. The wolves helplessly ran to the cliff's edge to see where she fell, only to hear a splash.

<No!>, the lead wolf cursed. He angrily grinded his teeth before turning to one of the subordinate wolves.

{Send word back to the elders. Have them send the hornets. You lot, go down the river and find the child. The rest of you, with me.}, the lead wolf instructed in a strange dialect.

{Yes, alpha!}, the wolves declared before splitting off in different directions.

{If I cannot claim your child's power, then I shall extract it from your shrivelled corpse!}

_________________________________________________

[System reboot...Complete]

[Gathering Data of Current Universe Laws...complete.]

[Assessing host's condition...complete.]

[Host status...normal.]

[Condition...unconscious.]

[Restoring consciousness to host via electrical stimulation in three...two...one...]

*BZZZZZZZTTTTT*

"GAHAHAHA, WHY?!", a young man screamed as he bolted up awake and began to frantically pace and take in his surroundings.

"Who? What? Why? When? Whe-"

[User is currently acting hysterical. Activating sedatives and information dump...now.]

The man suddenly stopped pacing about and fell onto his back as a deluge of information flooded his brain. In a matter of seconds, he learned a lot about his circumstances and what led up to it.

First, he re-learned that his name was Jordan "Jordie" Freya. He lived a relatively mundane life that came to an abrupt and violent end when he fell victim to an oh-too-common tragedy that can occur when the general populace is given unfettered access to deadly weapons with little scrutiny. As compensation for his life being cut short, he had been sent to another time and place to live life to the fullest.

Second, the world he had been sent to, Echdinara, ran on "monster taming" rules. This meant that the people of this world had the ability to grow stronger by signing spirit contracts with the various monsters that populated this world. Depending on what type of monsters have been contracted, a person is able to perform all types of crazy abilities by borrowing their partners' power. A tamer is only as strong as their monsters and vice versa.

Third, as additional compensation for his impromptu death, Jordie was given a System. Like the otherworld travelers before him, this System was designed to make sure he didn't die like a punk so easily as well as provide some guidance for his future goals. Unfortunately he didn't know what it could do right now due to all of it's features being locked. He could access the mailbox though, but he didn't poke at it yet.

And lastly, and most importantly, he was naked.

"Well then, that explains...most things. Still not sure why I'm in the middle of a freaking crater though", Jordie mused, "Hey Mister...Miss...System, can I get some clothes?"

[This System has no gender so you may choose any form of address, as long as it's respectful,] the System responded.

"Oh. Okay...guess I'll go with Miss for now. Now about the clothes?"

[Please access your mailbox now to receive your Starter Package.]

The cartoon icon for a mailbox with a red exclamation mark began to form in his mind's eye. Focusing on the icon, a prompt box asking him to open the package suddenly activated.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained", Jordie thought as he accepted the package. A flurry of prompts soon flooded his mind in a rapid-fire manner.

[Beginner's Armor Set x 1 has been added to inventory.]

[Magic Satchel x 1 has been added to inventory.]

[Beginner's Weapon x 1 has been added to inventory.]

[Beginner potion set has been added to inventory.]

[Analyze Skill has been added to host's repertoire.]

[Mental Map has been added to host's repertoire.]

[Two quests has been added to objectives.]

As the last prompt finished being read in his head, threads of light manifested out of nowhere and began to wrap themselves around Jordie's body. A moment later, the light threads had transformed into some comfortable leather armor, a traveler's backpack and a rather crude looking club.

As Jordie admired his new items, he couldn't help but think to himself, "Is this magic or super science?"

[Yes.]

"Don't read my mind."

[You are my host, you have no choice.]

"Curses."