Chapter 2: A brave(?) new world!
I groaned as I started to come too. As my eyes slowly fluttered open I thought, 'I really hope this isn't going to become a theme…'
While my head was killing me, to my extreme gratitude it was quickly starting to clear up. It only took a few minutes of me staring up at a blue tinted roof until I was right as rain. Even though I was fine now, I kept staring at the roof in wonder. Every now and then a soft shimmer of ones and zeroes would rise and fall much like a wave of water passing over the roof.
It was then I remembered exactly what had just happened and my muddied thoughts fully cleared up. Softly shaking my head as I stood up I thought, 'Right, I am now a Digital Existence. So this would be the Digi-plane then would it?'
Looking at my surroundings, I was in a rather large room with nothing but a single door. No, calling it a simple door did it a disservice. That thing was closer to a vault door; something you'd expect to see at Fort Knox or some shit. And while the rest of the room had a soft blue glow to it, this vault door had a green glow.
Shaking my head and putting it out of my mind for now, I had something more important to deal with. I would be a lying Corpo if I didn't say I was getting excited when I remembered it. So without wasting any more time, and my voice filled with extreme amounts of expectations and excitement I firmly stated, "Status!"
As I stood there for several long, silent and awkward seconds, full glad was I that I was currently alone. I swore I even heard crickets at one point! I started to look around nervously and then began to list off numerous words that were generally used to open one's system, "Status! Record? Options. Menu. Ah!"
As I uttered the word "Menu" a floating panel that had a slightly pink hue and glow to it appeared in my vision.
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Name: ??? [Please select a new name for yourself]
Race: Digi-Elf
Sex: Female
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
(One time note: You do not have a [Gamer Body]. The above may not be 100% accurate, and can fluctuate unpredictably.)
Debuffs: None
Body: 3(4)
Mind: 3(4)
Soul: 3
Skills/Abilities/Traits
None
Equipment: Bright Lords Ring [Soul-Bound/Upgradable]
Skill Store
Skill/Store points: 0
Quests
Inventory
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As I gave my new system a very fast once over, the first thing that naturally took my attention was the need for a new name. While I was going over several potential names for myself, one of them stood out. Unnaturally so one might even say: Jibril.
Swaying my head from side to side I mulled over the name for several long minutes before I just shrugged my shoulders and entered it. I had no idea why the name felt so right, but it did.
Moving on from the name situation I moved down the list and could only lightly grumble at not having a [Gamer Body]. But it made sense I guess, as I had a Growth System and not a Gamer System.
Before I continued though, I went back to my listed race. I tried to mentally "click" on it to try and get more information, and to my glee I did!
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Digi-Elf: A race of Elves that are born and native to the Digital Plane of existence. While they are Digital, they do not interact with their environment as one might expect. They are true lifeforms and not ones and zeroes as an outsider would expect.
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My eyebrow raised a bit higher the more I read the description for my race. It was nice to know I was not just lines of code, if I was being honest. But the mention of how I interact with my surroundings was what had most of my intrigue.
As I gazed at the massive vault door that was in front of me I thought, 'Maybe that means I can interact with things like they are "Real" and I don't need to know how to "Hack?" That would be great, because I don't know the first thing about hacking…'
Returning my attention back to my stats, or "Menu" as it were, I clicked on body hoping for more clarification.
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Body: Everything that has to deal with your physical (Digital) body. Reflexes, sturdiness, muscles, speed, etc. Human children are a 1. Unchipped Adults are 2. Civilian chrome are 3. Military chrome is 4, with the absolute maximum possible for the race to reach is 5.
You are receiving a bonus of 1 due to your Ring.
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While I was reading the description I muttered, "Huh. So my base is a civilian level cyberware augment. Not too shabby really."
Clicking on mind revealed much the same as body, but just dealing with the brain instead. Things like memory, reaction speed, problem solving and such. The explanation for soul however had me thrown for a bit of a loop as it was super barebones and void of any actual helpful info.
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Soul: The strength of your soul. Most entities never get a soul worth more than 2.
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Grumbling a bit at the pretty worthless description I moved on. Moving down my list to my Ring, my mood improved when I read it was soul-bound. Didn't have to worry about some schmuck klepping my ring. Clicking on it opened up a new interface; a skill tree!
I tried to forcefully calm myself down while going over the tree, 'Well, it's less a tree and more like just levels and what you get for each one.' My Ring was currently level 1 and had only two powers highlighted.
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Banished from Death: You are banished from Death. If you are brought low, your body will crumble away and rebuild in a safe location of your prior choosing. If no such place exists, then you will randomly spawn in the nearest safe space.
Current penalty for death: 100% loss of store credits.
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The sloppy smile I had when I read that I was functionally immortal faded a bit when I went over the death penalty. While I didn't know the full value of the store credits or even how to get them, I was willing to bet they were exceedingly valuable.
Making a promise in my heart to try and never die if possible, I read the second ability the ring gave.
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The Bright Lord: Changes your existence to include the abilities of the Bright Lord Wraith Celebrimbor at the most basic level. Powers will grow/unlock along with the ring.
Wraith Bow and Arrow: Conjure a Digi-Ethereal bow along with arrows. Shooting an arrow consumes Mana.
Wraith Speed burst: Consumes Mana for an explosive yet short lived burst of speed.
Soul Drain: Drain the souls of others to refill Mana and Stamina. Doing so consumes the soul. Strong souls may resist or outright ignore this ability. Requires touch.
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Reading over the abilities I thought, 'Not bad! Even if it's a bow, at least I'll never be without a weapon. Soul drain sounds nasty, and I will most likely end up abusing that heavily.'
Nodding my head I looked at what a level two ring would give me, and I was disappointed to see nothing but question marks. With a sigh I mumble, "Can't win 'em all."
Moving on from my ring, I clicked on the Store. And was I ever wowed by what was displayed! As I started to scroll though the absurdly massive list I couldn't help myself as I whispered, "There has to be… thousands of items to choose from! Is there… Ah! Thank fuck there is a search bar."
As I kept randomly scrolling through the store, I couldn't help but be a little intimidated by the vast selection. There were skills for nearly everything if I had to guess! From things like [Mana Sensing] and [Fire Magic] to absolutely benign things like [Table Flipping] or [Driving Skills]. I made a note of that last one, as while I could drive, I couldn't DRIVE.
Equally as varied however were the prices for all these skills. Some were in the single digits, like the aforementioned [Table Flipping]. While others were in the sextillions or more! One such example was [Minor Time Authority]. While I was excited I could earn such a thing, I was under no delusion it would take a VERY VERY long time to even save up half of the needed amount.
Pushing my excitement back down to realistic levels, I moved on and clicked on store points.
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Store Points: The number of points you've saved up for use in the skill store. Primary acquisition of points are from quests. Points lost on Death: 100%.
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I nodded my head as I thought, 'Nice, simple and straightforward. Moving on!'
Wasting no time, I clicked on Quests next.
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Your active quests will be stored here. You may receive a quest from the system randomly, or from other sources. Most common would be "Gigs" in your current world. Upon completion of a quest (Gig) you may instead have the system turn all earned Eddies (EDs- Eurodollars) into store credit at a 1:1 ratio. This consumes the EDs.
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After I finished reading the description I mumbled to myself, "I see. So I am going to need to find a Fixer at some point…"
Adding that to my ever growing list of things I need to do I moved on to inventory. Upon clicking on it, a UI opened that looked much like a classic inventory of a game. It was currently a 10 by 10 grid, and one of those slots was filled with a present looking icon. Before I clicked on that though, I noticed a "?" in the top right of the screen. Hoping to glean more information about how my storage worked, I immediately clicked on it.
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Your inventory space is dictated by the strength of your soul, as everything is stored in it. There is no weight or type limit, but nothing sentient may be placed in your inventory without its express permission. Time is frozen for objects in storage. Touch is required to place something in your inventory, and you can materialise objects out of it up to 5 metres away.
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Another nod of my head as I thought, 'Nice, another easy to understand function. A little too powerful though maybe? I mean, if there is truly no limit, what is preventing me from placing a moon in my inventory if there is nothing sentient on it? Thoughts for later~.'
I then clicked on the little present icon with a tiny bit of excitement. When I was asked if I wanted to open my starter package, I eagerly mashed the YES button. To my amusement there was a little firework animation as the box opened before another screen came before me and displayed a selection.
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Please select which level of [Possession] you desire. Level 1 has no downsides. While said downsides will grow in intensity at higher levels.
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Raising an eyebrow for a few seconds, I quickly just filed it away as something that Lady Lilith would do. With an amused smirk I thought, 'Well, she did have me select my powers and negatives from a roulette wheel after all. Well, let's see exactly what the EX version of this skill is.'
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Possession EX: You are able to take over anything/body that has even the slightest connection to the Digital Plane with no difficulty. Only Deities of low class and higher may prevent possession. No cooldown, no time limit.
Downside: Forever banished from the physical planes. May only interact with said planes via possession.
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I let out a low whistle as I thought, 'That sure is an EX ability. But being permanently banished from all physical planes outside of possession is kinda harsh. This also hints at the ability to visit said planes outside of possession normally as well… Hmm, next.'
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Possession 10: You are able to take over anything/body as long as it has a mild connection to the Digital Plane. Entities with an excessively strong will or soul may resist or shorten possession time. 1 minute cooldown (Each object has its own cooldown timer), 24 hour time limit.
Negative: You will be hunted by an enhanced *$&@#%$. Defeating them (in any way) will upgrade this ability to EX rank with no further downsides. One (1) year grace period until the hunter is sent.
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My eyes widened as I read through the rank 10 version. I mulled over the pro's and con's of the ability for what felt like hours before I decided to go with this version. In my eyes, my reasoning was sound. I had a one year grace period to power up and get used to my new abilities for starters. The ability to upgrade the skill to an EX rank with no downsides didn't even need to be mentioned really. And I'd be lying if the nerd in me didn't bristle with eagerness at the idea of having my very own nemesis!
After making my selection I was then greeted with 1000 store points and some kind of dagger weapon. When I accepted them, my ring glowed brightly for several seconds before returning to normal and having the dagger disappear from my inventory. Confused, but having an inkling of what just happened I opened up my Ring's menu and I was quickly proven right.
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Wraith Dagger: Conjure a Digi-Ethereal dagger. Damage and strength are linked to the level of the Ring.
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Satisfied with my new toy, I quickly opened the Skill Store and searched for "Materialisation." Scrolling through the list, it thankfully didn't take me too long to find what I was wanting and hoping for.
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Physical Plane Manifestation EX: Manifest yourself on the Physical Plane as a complete Digital Existence. Able to act and be acted on as if you were a proper entity of said plane. If your body is destroyed you merely return to the Digital Plane. No cooldown, low mana cost and upkeep, no time limit. 150% of all your stats are transferred to your new body.
Cost: 1,000,000,000 points.
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Sighing at the absurd cost, I was about to give up when I noticed there was a little box near the top left of the window. Selecting it brought up a menu of what level of the skill I wanted to buy. With renewed hope, I selected the base level.
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Physical Plane Manifestation 1: Manifest yourself on the Physical Plan as an incomplete Digital Existence. Unable to act or be acted on in any meaningful way. Unstable form causes you to look like digital code in a humanoid shape. 24 hour cooldown, Extreme mana cost and upkeep, 10 second time limit. None of your stats are transferred to your unstable body.
Cost: 1000 points. First upgrade is 1000 points, and every one thereafter is double the previous. EX rank will have a unique quest for an unlock requirement.
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With a frown I think, 'Kind of garbage, but to be expected of a level 1 ability I guess. It'll take all of my points I currently have as well… Speaking of points, how much does it cost to upgrade my Ring?'
After a quick look, I found that it would cost a massive 10k points for a level 2 ring.
With a hum I thought, 'So, basically it will cost money from Quests (Gigs) to upgrade my things or buy new abilities. Since it said quests were the primary way to get store points, I don't think I'll come across them outside of that avenue often. And I don't see any exp bars or even a level for traditional levelling. Makes sense, since I don't have a [Gamer Body] after all.. Oh, speaking of!'
I quickly searched for it but to my disappointment it was actually not in the store. With a disappointed sigh, I looked at my updated Menu.
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Name: Jibril
Race: Digi-Elf
Sex: Female
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
Debuffs: None
Body: 3(4)
Mind: 3(4)
Soul: 3
Skills/Abilities/Traits
[Possession 10][Physical Plane Manifestation 1]
Equipment: Bright Lords Ring [Soul-Bound/Upgradable]
Skill Store
Skill/Store points: 0
Quests [1 New]
Inventory
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Smiling at my updated list, I noticed the flashing notification for quests and so with a raised eyebrow I clicked on it.
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~New Quest~
Escape Arasaka RND!
Arasaka scientists have noticed that you are no longer dormant! They are sending some Netrunners to force you back to sleep so they can continue their research into what you are!
Objective: Escape by any means!
Rewards: 1000 EDs. Freedom! Skill: [Inspect 1]
Failure: Put to sleep for 1 year. Loss of quest (Still need to escape though.) Shame!
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My eyes widened as I read the quest, but my attention was quickly pulled to the massive vault door as it released a loud hiss sound. I dismissed my menu as I summoned my bow and took aim at the vault door.
With a light chuckle to myself I whisper, "Trial by fire it is then."
My focus became razor sharp as the last latch on the vault door unlocked, and the massive slab of digital metal swung open!
[author] Here is chappy 2~. No fancy boxes for the system, sorry. They are a total pita and I am also posting this on WebNovel, and that site doesn't support anything but BASIC text~.[/author]