“Hmm, Heaven’s Path. So not Limbo. Guess I was wrong.”, I thought to myself then asked “Arigulius, can you tell me about these pop-up screens I keep seeing?”.
“They are a manifestation of the Malentine Universal System, or the System as most call it. It tells you when changes occur to yourself. You can also call up other screens to get more information on items and review your status. Just think status, and a screen should pop up.”
So, as you can guess, I immediately thought “status”, and yes, a screen popped up.
[Name: Trevor Ervine Johns]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Unselected]
[Level: 1]
[Stats:
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 15
Endurance: 15
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Perception: 15
Luck: 15
Charisma: 15 (to humans)
]
[Skills:
Combat 5
Magic 1
Weapons 3
Sword 1
Dagger 10
Unarmed Combat 5
Identification 1
]
[Spells:
Cure All 5
Heaven’s Heal 5
Mana Dart 5
Wind Blade 1
Fireball 1
Cleanse 1
]
[Talents:
Regeneration – Legendary
]
[Gifts:
Linguistics – Epic
Master of Skills - Legendary
]
[Titles:
Mr. Perfect
]
“That is a lot of information. Why are all my stats at 15?”
“I believe it is because you created the ultimate human body and mind when you chose to become corporeal. You instinctively understood that you needed to be the strongest you could be when you attacked the demon. However, I must warn you that you cannot maintain a corporeal form in Heaven’s Path. We need to get you to a world where you can exist.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“So, I am being reincarnated? Can I go back to Earth?”
“Unfortunately, no. You will not be able to return to earth. Also, you will keep the form you have now rather than be reincarnated. Creating the form had a side effect of soul damage, therefore you cannot return to Earth, but must go to an essence infused planet. There you must stay for at least 5 years to repair the damage. If you die before then, your soul will become corrupted.”
“Corrupted soul sounds bad. What will happen to me then?”
“Nothing good. You may become undead, a monster, or possible even a minor demon. You may lose your rational mind and become violent and try to kill everything around you. You may even cease to exist entirely, which, unfortunately, is the best option for a corrupted soul.”
A general feeling of sickness overcame me and I thought I was going to vomit. I bent over and started gagging.
“Heaven’s Path is beginning to reject you. Come let’s go to the nearest essence rich planet.”
With that, Arigulius picked me up in a princess carry and started flying. Princess carried by an Angel, now that’s emasculating, no, not embarrassing at all, I thought to myself.
“What should I expect when we get to the essence planet?”
“Essence can turn into mana. Mana allows magic to work, so magic will be available to you. Essence also tends to create pocket dimensions, so dungeons will be there. Some dungeons have monsters in them. Some don’t. Those that don’t usually have value in resources. Most dungeons do a reset on a periodic basis, varying from 1 day to 1 year. When dungeons are left alone for too long, they break and monsters are release. These monsters are usually mindless and wreak havoc on the local populations. Whether that is humans, elves, dwarves, humanoids, or wildlife is no concern to them.”
An intense pain started in my chest. It felt like a bad case of indigestion, but it seemed to be slowly increasing in intensity.
“How much longer until we get there?”
“I am afraid it will take a while longer.”
In the short time we talked, the pain started to spread throughout my chest and stomach. It was taking all my will power to not scream out. I started to try to concentrate on keeping my breathing steady as if I was doing my martial arts forms, in hopes of reducing the awareness of the pain.
[You have gained the talent Meditation - Epic]
[You have gained the skill Partitioned Mind 5]
Of course, this broke my concentration and the pain returned like a tidal wave, crashing on my mind and forcing me to scream just before I blacked out.
