Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Year 1513 of the Synskil Calendar
Xavier was sitting in the library reading up on magic and the workings of the world. “The Emperor requires you, Lord Xavier,” the head butler announced. Xavier sighed, setting the book on the desk and followed the head butler.
Xavier was disliked by the royal family for he had little interest in following the whims of demons, who the kingdom of demon-kin venerated so much likening to the divine. He’s always been more interested in magic, the manifestation of will, and was easily distracted by it given the chance.
Once he had arrived at the throne room, he stood before the Emperor, his uncle Pablo. Xavier was immediately looked at with disdain by most in the throne room, whereas, his father looked at him with disappointment across his face. Xavier never liked most of them anyway, he was disliked and bullied since he was a child due to his interest in the ‘mundane’.
“What do you require of me, Emperor?” Xavier finally said.
The Emperor continued his stare, then he grinned. “You are to head to the Demonic Realm to find your true self, and embrace your future.”
Xavier took a moment to process this, disgusted, but hid it for he was in the throne room. “I would be honored” he lied through gritted teeth.
He had always wanted nothing to do with the demon realm, Hell most called it. He knew this was an attempt to get rid of him for good, as everyone wanted him gone or to follow the true path, and what better way to do that then send him to the demons?
He had always wanted to know where this worship of demons came from, however his kin didn’t think it worth the time to write their entire history and would rather prove their worth.
The Emperor dismissed Xavier, hoping he never returned, getting him out of his sight as quickly as possible. Xavier didn’t wish to see any of them either.
He began walking through the halls of the palace aiming to get back to the library swiftly, so he can finish his book, whilst thinking to himself.
I’ve been quite tired of my supposed family as of late, they simply look at me with disdain. I’d much rather just research the intricacies of the world and the enigma that is magic. From what I’ve researched, magic is considered part of the very fabric of reality, albeit there is no concrete evidence, pretty much just speculation.
I was forced out of my thoughts when a snap was heard from every direction at once. The hallways began to twist and turn, geometry seeming to become interchangeable yet unbreakable every second. It was hard to focus, and I kept seeing what seemed to be cracks within space itself, with an audible snap with each new crack that appeared.
When I awoke, I found myself in a place of darkness and flame. “Ugh… where am I?” Looking around, I was heavily confused by what I saw. Last I remembered, I had been in the castle's hallways, and now I found myself in this infernal pit.
I quickly figured it was likely the work of my uncle, for he and my brother hated me with quite a passion, probably enough to rival the most enthusiastic scholars.
Quite surprising though, was that there was nothing around me, which didn’t make sense considering what I learned about this place. From what I remember, there were supposed to be demons in every section of hell, so something didn’t seem right.
While I presume the records of hell are distorted by those with a yandere-like obsession…
…wait, what does that mean? Why do I know this word? I’ve never seen it before, so why? It doesn’t even seem to by native language? I shouldn’t be sitting here pondering this, I need to get out of here.
Anywho, the records we have are likely glorified and embellished in various ways, but I needed to get out of here more than anything.
“…Well, better get walking then, hopefully I have some sense of direction in this hell.”
Time passed while he was walking, the scenery shifted slightly here and there, but stayed relatively the same. As he walked, the only constant was the constant ticking of a grandfather clock and the ear-shattering tolls of bells at an unknown interval.
“My ears are going to be bleeding for a while huh?”
“Skill, Basic Hearing Protection, temporarily acquired due to current circumstances,” the artificial voice resounded in his head.
…huh? What? I’ve never heard that before. What are you?
I am the personalized System granted to those with special characteristics.
What are these special characteristics?
User does not have permissions.
How can I get these permissions?
Information is restricted based on a variety of factors.
Can I view my …status screen?
Displaying after assessment and assembly.
Hm, my stats already seem to be modified, because I doubt that’s the base stats. Perhaps it’s something to do with my physical and mental capabilities? I have a class, but it’s locked? So many questions.
…System, why is my luck stat unviewable?
Luck stat is currently higher than normal for a beginner, thus is currently nerfed by the system.
As for your other questions, stats were modified from base to fit your current state. Your class can be unlocked once the Trial is completed or you manage to awaken it naturally. The Trial is available at level 10 or in emergencies.
What kind of system do I have? You said it was personalized.
Your system fits your class.
Ok then, a large lack of information. Let’s just get this going already.
He began to wonder about this barren hell. Nothing could be heard nearby aside from the flames that raged and flickered alike, the ticking of that clock, but there were no bells to be heard. Eventually, Xavier had started to get quite confused, as he had been walking for what felt like days, yet he didn’t feel the need to eat or drink. It was almost like his basic bodily functions weren’t, necessary.
He had plenty of time to question things as he wandered, and eventually, he heard something yelling in excitement it seemed.
“Woah, this game feels so real!”
“I know right?!?!?”
“The devs must have put so much…”
They droned on, and on, and on, for what felt like ages. They chatted about something, with Xavier not understanding a word, aside from a singular one. The name of the God of Trickery and Mischief. Everyone just referred to him as Loki, no one knew his true name. They seem to know the same as anyone else.
He had no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed to know of Him for some reason, and that was interesting enough.
Ding
“Hm?”
System Quest
Objective:
Kill the Humans
Description:
Kill the human filth that dares to enter this sacred place, thinking of this all as a mere game.
Additionally, you will be able to purge the monsters there as well.
Reward:
3 Levels
Failure to complete will either result in death or the Humans desecrating this sacred ground.
…Eh? A system quest? Why might it have such a grudge against humans? What sacred ground?
Looking around, he then spotted a massive temple with a variety of monsters going throughout the area.
Ah, I see now, well then, perhaps I could start hunting here?
Xavier readied himself, aiming to jump the humans when they were in the middle of battle and when they would least expect it.
Battle ensued between the humans, which seemed to refer to themselves as ‘players,’ and the few nearby monsters. They fought tooth and nail with the monsters, slowly managing to gain enough of an advantage to defeat the 3 that attacked them. Yet there were 5 of the players. Why were they struggling? How were they struggling? It’s a mere 3 monsters, how could they struggle this much, from 3? All it would take was a precise shot with a bolt, of any decent material, and they died on the spot. The ‘players’ had the appearance and aura of battle-hardened warriors, so how could they be so… weak?
“Hey guys, we did it. Those monsters were no joke. This game’s realism is insane.”
The ‘players’ sat and chatted about the ‘game’ and its realism, unaware of the threat near them. Xavier had turned cold compared to his usual self. He waited until just the right moment. Then, when they were all distracted, he acted, and the bell finally tolled. With a burst of speed he jumped straight at the one who seemed to be the leader. Reaching him, he grabbed the man’s sword, and stabbed straight through his chest.
“What’s going… on?” He looked down, confused, then he saw his own sword, having gone straight through his heart. He dropped within seconds. The bell tolled, and suddenly there were no thoughts left behind Xavier’s cold eyes, only pure instinct remained.
“W-What? Light-sama is dead? Just like that? B-But his health value hasn’t changed? What’s going on? It says he’s dead and alive?” A timid one said, whilst he trembled uncontrollably.
“How did we miss this one? Doesn’t matter now, we are the legendary hero party of [REDACTED]! We can beat this mere thing with ease!”
The rallying cry from the vice-command? seemed to work, with everyone grabbing their gear and quickly entering a combat stance sloppily.
Xavier didn’t acknowledge them, standing there, then he suddenly took off again with a burst of speed, targeting the weak links within their sloppy formation.
Skill, Ruthless Combat Efficiency, acquired
The smallest smile rose onto Xavier’s face.
One dropped, then after 10 minutes, another. Only once they had 4 of their 8 left did they realize what his plan was.
“He’s targeting our liabilities, get in formation! We must stop him!” he shouted, with a strange wave of mana releasing from him, and it seemed to enhance his teammates' attributes.
“Interesting,” cold and monotone, quiet yet loud, terrifying and somehow calming.
They grouped up, and Xavier couldn’t just pick them off anymore, so, he simply just cast a spell, a basic fireball, the best spell. A few dropped, with only the strongest one of them remaining, but severely hurt. Then, Xavier spoke, but it wasn’t his voice.
ding
Skill, Mana Manipulation, acquired
“Do not taint this realm with your Filth, mere humans.” It decreed, and with every word, the bell tolled.
Then, the last one simply died on the spot, with all of the bodies disintegrating into motes of light.
The motes all went towards Xavier, before disappearing into his body. Then, he collapsed on the spot.
Hours, maybe days, all went by, he laid there unconscious, then he soon began to stir.
“Ugh, my head, what happened..?”
“Didn’t I just kill those humans? I’ve never killed something sentient before… but why do I feel, just fine?”
As a result of gaining the system, until the user can properly deal with mental issues, the system conveniently detaches you from them until you can come to terms with it as one normally would. Aren’t I so helpful? You have notifications to review.
“Well that seems, far too convenient. Might as well look at the notifications.”
User Xavier’s level has risen to level 5 from accumulated EXP gained from kills.
User Xavier has completed a System issued quest. Rewards are available to claim.
User Xavier has completed his first System issued quest, a bonus reward is available.
User Xavier has stat points to allocate. Five stat points are issued base, as well as getting a point increase in every stat with each level up.
“Claim rewards and display System Information.”
“Allocate these here… and done.”
Strength 17 → 24
Dexterity 19 → 25
Intelligence 20 → 28
Wisdom 20 → 28
Charisma 18 → 24
Constitution 18 → 28
“Well that works. Maybe I should take advantage of this great opportunity.” And he walked off towards the temple, aiming to get stronger through this, after all, he’s one level away from his class.
Sneaking over to the temple, he aimed to get information on its structure. Eventually after enough time, he heard a ding.
Skills, Basic Stealth and Basic Analysis, acquired
“Hm, neat. Guess it’s time to start.”
He jumped down, and using the stolen weapons, which hadn’t disappeared for some reason, he fought through the various monsters with surprising speed.
User has killed LVL 3 Zombie.
User has killed LVL 4 Skeleton.
User has killed LVL 1 Wolf.
User has killed LVL 7 Brute.
User… x27
He only stopped once he had cleared the outside, south of the temple.
“That... was... a pain…” he exclaimed between pants. “I’m more exhausted than I thought. I must’ve gotten out of shape, or that was just tiring.”
EXP: 2,414/10k
“I’m barely even a fourth of the way to the next level..? This is harder than I thought. Unless, humans just give an exceptional amount of EXP? Well, I’ll have to test my theory later, hopefully I can encounter more of them? They weren’t that hard anyway…”
He went ahead to the western side, killing the lingering there, getting himself more EXP from it, in around two hours.
EXP: 4,952/10k
“Hm, wait, if I clear all four sides, I might have barely enough EXP to get to lvl 10. I should get access to my class then…” He had said, whilst a crack of a smile graced his features. “Let’s make sure to kill every last one then.”
It took him 5 hours to kill everything left on the outside, and yet he hadn’t leveled yet.
EXP: 9,999/10k
“...you’ve got to be kidding me, 1 EXP away from level 10? This isn’t a joke right…?”
This is not a joke, you are missing 1 EXP to getting to level 10, so best to go and get that one last experience point.
“Fine…” he sighed, beginning to walk to the entrance of the temple.
Walking in, he simply grabbed and killed the closest monster in a second, before leaving and sitting outside.
User has killed LVL 10 Zombie.
User has reached LVL 10, Class Trial is now available, please proceed when ready.
“Finally, that was far too annoying.”
Strength 25 → 27
Dexterity 26 → 27
Charisma 25 → 27
“Alright, proceed then.”
Confirmed, proceeding with Class trial.
