Prologue Arc
Meeting the Pervert and the Dragon
After going about grabbing a bottle of Booker's from the basement bar (also how awesome is it that I can actually say that!), I went about looking for something to eat along with it…only to discover that food wasn't something I was originally provided.
I honestly don't have a clue how I missed that during my original tour of the place.
I mean sure as [The Gamer] I didn't have to eat or anything. That still didn't change the fact that I enjoyed doing so. Especially considering I would literally kill myself all over again if I couldn't cook at least as a hobby. You know, instead of my job like I used too. Plus if anyone was to ever come over (and as soon as the supernatural in town discovered me I see this happening quite often) they would probably get suspicious if I didn't have any food in the house since my public file probably indicated that I was a chef. Though with all that said, there was one kinda big problem at the moment…
"Where even is the nearest store?" I muttered in irritation while scratching my head with one hand while the other was occupied with the, still unopened, bottle of bourbon.
"Knock Knock Knock"
Blinking in surprise, I turned to the front door with raised brows as I could only wonder who could possibly be knocking. The devils in town couldn't have discovered me that quickly…could they?
Placing the bourbon down for later, I opened up the front door to be met with someone I did not figure I would meet this quickly.
'Well this is unexpected,' I thought dryly as one, Issei Hyoudou, stared back at me from where he was scratching the back of his neck in a nervous fashion on my front porch. The future Red Dragon Emperor looked exactly like his manga/anime counterpart from the wild mess that was his brown hair to the same, matching, brown coloring in his eyes. Today he seemed to have forgone wearing the Kuoh Academy Uniform like he usually would, and he instead donned a black jacket with gold highlights, a red undershirt like he would the usual uniform, and a simple pair of blue jeans to finish the look.
'{Observe}'
[Name: Issei Hyoudou]
[Race: Human][Gender: Male] [Age: 16]
[Titles:] [Shameless Pervert] [Future Red Dragon Emperor]
[Sacred Gear: Boosted Gear (Inactive)]
[Level: 3]
[HP: 550/ 550] [HPR: 11.0]
[MP: 2.5/ 2.5] [MPR: 1.5]
[SP: 550/ 550] [SPR: 11.0]
[STR: 2] [AGI: 5] [VIT: 22] [END: 22] [INT: 0.1] [WIS: 3] [LUCK: 1]
'The hell is up with those VIT and END stats?!'
"Uh hi there, I'm Hyoudou Issei, one of your new neighbors." Issei said pleasantly (though for some reason his grin was a little twitchy) while pointing to his own house which was literally right next door. Something I only barely managed to catch as I was still boggling over his VIT and END stats, and the sheer grain of sand that made up his INT stat. For Gabrial's sake it was an effing decimal!
"Neighbor huh," I muttered aloud while turning to where he was pointing to see his canon home before the renovations of Volume 4, I think, took place.
"Yep," Issei chirped (Okay seriously, why is his smile twitching?) before looking at me as if waiting for something-oh! Right he probably wanted my name.
Shaking my head to clear it of theories about his stats (for the time being), I gave him a small smile (Okay seriously what the hell; he just full body twitched?!) and replied. "Well my name is Fall Warren, and before you ask, yes I am American," I said bluntly but not unpleasantly while putting out a hand to shake.
Issei stared at it for a couple seconds, seemingly having an internal war over whether to take the hand or not-anddd I think I know what this is about now.
"Yeah I had figured you were a foreigner from your looks," Issei chuckled while finally seeming to get a hold of himself enough to meet my handshake…and call me a pretty boy under his breath.
Something I responded to by possibly trying to crush his hand.
I also took that moment to mentally question what made me look different because, honestly, Issei looked American to me. Maybe it's just the art style of the world messing with me because even in the manga and anime the characters didn't look necessarily Japanese or English or anything of the like.
"F-Fall-san m-my h-hand," Issei stammered out while gritting his teeth and trying to claw his hand out of my grip-oh! Whoops!
"Apologizes Hyoudou-san, I'm afraid I don't know my own strength sometimes," I said dryly but still dropped his hand all the same. My point hopefully made clear over the fact I heard him.
"A-ah r-right," Issei winced in turn as he blew on him comically, red glowing hand-wait, what?
Rubbing my eyes quickly, I found myself still looking at the comical scene of Issei now waving his pulsing, red hand around in order to try and reduce the swelling.
'Anime logic is gonna be a thing…great.'
Thankfully Issei seemed to get over it quickly enough (while now shooting me a stick eye of course), and huffed in what I think might have actually been respect.
That aside, now that I've got him here. Perhaps he can help me with my current problem?
"Well Hyoudou-san, I am using the correct honoric, right?" At his reluctant nod I continued on, "Well since you probably know the area and all, you think you could direct me towards the nearest grocery store? I just finished unpacking, and I only now realized that I didn't have any food in the house."
"Oh," Issei said looking a little surprised over the question before grabbing his chin in thought. "Well there is one about a block that way," he said waving down a left hand street," but if you don't mind a longer walk there's a shopping center about three blocks that way that would probably provide a better variety," he said pointing right this time.
Looking up in thought for a moment, I decided it would probably be better to just get all the food related things out of the way instead of just a few. Plus I would have a pack mule in the form of the pervert in front of me, so win, win. Upon voicing this aloud, minus the pack mule thing, Issei just nodded in understanding.
"Sure thing, come on I'll show you the way, it's not like I have anything going on right now," he said with a carefree shrug as he walked down my porch.
We made our way down the road for about a solid thirty feet. I repeat. Thirty. Feet. That's how long it took Issei's, very limited, self-control seemed to utterly snap.
"So what's your favorite thing about a woman?! It's the oppai right because mine are because how could you not love oppai, and-"
For a solid three minutes this is how the conversation went. Issei just ranting on and on about tits and his love of the female figure while I just stared at him with the most deadpan face I have ever made in my life.
'I'm honestly surprised he held on for that long,' I thought with an internal sigh.
"Ok, for one, shut up," {Intimidation} activated for a moment, and damn was it effective if the fact that I could hear his mouth click shut was any indication. "Secondly, I met you not five minutes ago. Do you really think the first thing I want to talk about is tits?"
Issei had the gall to nod his head at my question before seeming to actually consider my first point which resulted in him sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Weird, I don't remember him having that tick.
"Hehe sorry about that, I just…really like oppai." Obviously Issei, obviously.
"Well what brought you to Kuoh Town then?" Issei asked as a means to steer the topic somewhere else. Something I greatly appreciated.
"Oh well, some…complications came up back home, so my aunt thought it would be a good idea for me to move here." I said trying to not look all that sheepish myself because I honestly hadn't thought my past would be brought up this quickly.
"Huh, alright, but why would your aunt decide you should move here instead of your parents?" Dammit since when is Issei this observant?! His INT is literally a decimal point! Actually…I guess his observational skills would be WIS based now that I think about it.
"My parents died when I was two," I said nonchalantly and continued even after Issei stumbled beside me. "I've lived with my aunt ever since. I actually used to have an uncle who lived here, and he even owned the house I'm living in now which is one of the biggest reasons why it was decided I'd move here."
"Oh…sorry about bringing up bad memories," Issei apologized hesitantly as if not sure how exactly to word it. Though most people don't really know how, so I can't exactly hold it against him.
"Like I said, I lost them when I was two, so I don't really remember them," I said with a shrug since it was true.
A bit of silence settled between us as Issei retook his guide position before he finally broke the silence.
"What's your uncle's name? You know the one who used to live here; I might have known him considering he used to live next door."
Blinking at the question, I mentally chuckled over the fact that I already had to bring up the sole connection I was given to this world. Externally I stuffed my hands into my hoodie pocket (I also paled slightly upon realizing my revolver was still in said pocket), and I looked up as if in memory.
"Yaegaki Masaomi was his name. He used to work for the local church I do believe…oh and if you didn't catch my use of the past tense it's because he died a couple years back too." I said with the same tone as before which caused Issei to stumble once again. The uncomfortable air my words created coming right on back.
While Issei probably took this opportunity to wonder things like "why do I keep saying things that bring up bad things", I went about wondering why exactly I was directly related to someone from this universe.
Masaomi Yaegaki, for all those wondering, was actually an exorcist who used to work in Kuoh alongside Irina's dad, Touji Shidou. The problem arose; however, that Masaomi soon fell in love with the local Devil in charge of the area, one Cleria Belial. This led to the both of them being killed by their respective factions as the factions were still in a state of cold war.
Though if I had to bet, both faction leaders probably didn't know about their respective higher ups killing them off considering how much they were rooting for an actual end to the cease fire in exchange for legit peace.
Now the kicker to all of this; however, is the fact that I did in fact have an uncle in my past life whose name was Masaomi Fall who had married into the family and took our last name. The files I was given about my current life even went as far as to show pictures of the man which led to me realizing that the two men looked exactly the same. Hell, when I read the files about him, they even had the same personality types and annoying habits.
So perhaps it was just fate that led to me being related to someone from this universe, maybe they were just the mirror images of each other. My bet however was the [Gamer System] decided to have some fun and just made me related to at least one person in order to fuck with me down the line.
"You know that name actually sounds familiar," Issei said, breaking me from my thoughts in the process.
"Really?" Because, seriously, you would have still been pretty young when he was in town.
"Yeah but like I said it's only familiar. Maybe I heard his name in passing or something?" Issei finished in a mutter while clearly trying to remember because not being able to remember how he knew the name honestly seemed to be bothering him.
We were both soon broken from our thoughts; however, upon Issei announcing we had arrived. The shopping center itself was pretty ordinary all things considered as it had the standard stores for food, clothing, and other varied merchandise.
The overall shopping took about an hour to complete; however, as Issei kept commenting about some of the girls we passed. I even had to physically drag him away a few times before they caught him ogling them. I did not need my pack mule getting beaten to a pulp at the moment. And while I could have simply used my personal dimensional pocket thingy, i.e. my [Inventory]; I couldn't exactly use it with Issei around. He may be an idiot at times, but even he would notice the loss of groceries.
"Hey, it's the Junk Shop!" Issei exclaimed as we were making our way out of the mall. Internally I wanted to berate him for calling any shop a "junk shop" as it was pretty rude…until I saw that the shop's name was in fact The Junk Shop. Not the best advertisement there people.
So outwardly I just asked, "Junk Shop?"
"Yeah, that place has tons of stuff! Old books, movies, game systems, and bunches of other random bits and pieces." He said with a smile that was actually pretty lust free. As in he wasn't imagining the place having old porn books or movies.
Just to make sure though, "as in smut and porn?" I asked deadpan.
Issei proceeded to sputter for a second before frantically shaking his head negative, "No! The place just has some really cool stuff you can't usually find nowadays. Heck, I bought an old NES from there…I'm a bit of a Dragon Quest fan." He finished sheepishly.
Raising my hands to the sky, shopping bags and all (hey I got another STR point) I uttered in relief, "thank fuck I have someone I can talk gaming with," while also having to bite back the laugh of him being a Dragon Quest fan considering his title of Red Dragon Emperor.
My reaction spurred the both of us into "gamer mode" while agreeing to stop by The Junk Shop later on in the week in order to look around.
Getting back to my place also led to me inviting Issei in, and upon viewing the "Wall of Gamer", as I had dubbed it, Issei literally went about kneeling before the wall and praising it in all its awesomeness. Upon seeing the basement area in all its man cave greatness Issei practically begged me to come over again in order to hang out which I agreed too easily enough. I mean sure he was a perverted idiot, but that didn't change the fact he was at least a nice perverted idiot. Unfortunately Issei had made plans with the other halves of the Perverted Trio later that day, so we decided to wait for the time being to hang out.
After he left, I finally went about making myself something to eat, a salad and baked chicken, in order to drink my bourbon. I only really did this because it helps me to have something in my system before I drink alcohol.
Half a bottle of Bookers later while I had also been looking through a bit more of my new personal information, I finally remembered that I had a new randomizer to open.
[You have selected -Uncommon Item Randomizer-. Would you like to open it?]
{YES/NO}
After a quick click of {YES}, I was surprised to find that instead of a roulette wheel like the Sacred Gear Randomizer, I was instead given a slot machine. A quick pull of the lever soon led to the slots whirling down until eventually the first slot displayed what looked to be a book, the second displayed the word DARK, and the final slot showed what looked to be the romanumarl for II.
[Congratulations you have received the Uncommon Skill Book, Shadow Spike!]
Shadow Spike {Uncommon} {Item: Skill Book}:
An uncommon skill of the DARK element gained from a Skill Book. This skill allows one to manipulate shadows in just the right way to make a solid mass of shadow appear in the form of a spike.
Grants skill: {Shadow Spike}
Requirements: {DARK Manipulation Lv5}, 10 INT, and 10 WIS
[As we are sure you have figured out, skill books are in fact a thing, though you should know that you can only learn skills from Skill Books as long as you have the Affinity for it.]
"And how exactly do I go about doing that?" I asked aloud.
Ding! Quest Alert!
[Tutorial III (Elements Chosen and Phantasms Gained)!]
A new tutorial is now available to help you understand Affinities, Phantasms, and the Crafting System!
{Objective: Complete Tutorial III}
Rewards: 750 Exp, 10,000 Yen, Uncommon Item Randomizer]
Accept / Decline
A quick press of {Accept} led to a new text box appearing.
[The Garage Area of "Your House" has now been unlocked. The Workshop Area of "Your House" has now been unlocked and is located within the garage.]
"I'm guessing that the tutorial will start there?"
Making my way towards the garage, I quickly realized why exactly I hadn't yet ventured into it before. Apparently the door leading to the garage simply hadn't been there before (trust me, I would have noticed it otherwise), and now that it was unlocked I found it located near the front door. Going inside I was met with a rather basic garage all things considered (though clear of any vehicles unfortunately) with the only things of note being the worktable/chemistry area that took up the entire farthest corner from the garage door.
"So how exactly do I go about doing this?" I asked aloud before another text box appeared.
[Alrighty then! To begin with let's have you choose your first Elemental Affinity!]
[NOTE! It would be in your best interest to choose one that will benefit you now than in the future as you can only gain new Affinities via reaching a certain level of mastery over your first chosen affinity, or by finding a Phantasm that grants the affinity when it is in use.]
[Elemental Affinities (Pick 1)]
DARK
LIGHT
EARTH
FIRE
WATER
WIND
Wincing slightly at the "noted section", I couldn't help but feel it was giving me that warning because my original plan had in fact been to try and get a LIGHT Affinity. Mainly since I was gonna not only be dealing with devils rather soon, but stray devils were also a rather big issue even right now.
Heaving a sigh, I went with the obvious choice of DARK as not only did I already have a Skill Book available for that type, but I also had a still "Unawakened" Phantasm that was DARK as well. Something I'm hoping to fix in a few minutes if this tutorial's title is anything to go by.
[Congratulations you have gained the Elemental Affinity, DARK!]
[A new skill has been discovered thanks to a specific action!]
DARK Manipulation, Passive {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
You have gained power over darkness itself. With this skill you can now grow in your powers of darkness, and if you become good enough perhaps you can even gain new titles and skills!
Grants ability to use, control, and create DARK based skills
Skill Level is additional DMG and DEF for and against all DARK skills
[Ok now that you've chosen your Elemental Affinity let's go about having you learn that new Skill Book!]
Following the instructions, I went into my Inventory and pulled out the Skill Book. The Skill Book itself was completely black in color with the words Shadow Spike sprawled across the middle in a glossy black that made it stand out from the rest of the book.
[Would you like to learn the skill –Shadow Spike-? (YES/NO)]
{Requirements: {DARK Manipulation L̷̢̗̖̟͕̻̎̍͗͒́v̵͔̣̮̠̠̠͂͠: 5̵͔̠̥̳̗͍̙͆̋̓̎̂̓̈́͂͛͝͠ }(Re-calibrating for first DARK skill learned...) Lv 1}, 10 INT, and 10 WIS
Well that's pretty nice at least.
Clicking {YES} the Skill Book exploded into a mass of black pixels that proceeded to flow into my body. Once all the pixels were absorbed the process, knowledge, and power behind my newest skill were pretty much copy/pasted into my brain.
[A new skill has been discovered thanks to a specific action!]
Shadow Spike, Active {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
By sharpening and hardening the shadows on the ground you can now project shadows into a lethal form.
Cost: 5 MP
Deals 10 (DARK) Magical DMG + Base INT
"Eh that's about what I figured for an Uncommon Tier Skill," I thought aloud while setting off a {Shadow Spike} in the open space beside me. The {Shadow Spike} appeared to be well over three feet tall, and I could even make it larger by pumping more mana into the attack. The little experimenting I did actually gained Exp for both {Shadow Spike} and {DARK Manipulation}.
[Great! Now that you've got yourself a new Affinity and skill let's see about working with your Sacred Gear. Firstly go into the {Phantasm} Sub Tab.]
Following the instructions given, I found myself looking in the {Phantasm} Sub Tab where the only Phantasm I had available was the Dragon Phantasm.
[Now click on your Dragon Phantasm, and it should give you the opinion to "Wake Up" the "lost soul" as it were. When this happens, focus on the Phantasm, your Sacred Gear will know what to do from there.]
Upon seeing the "Wake Up" screen, I clicked the {YES} button given, and I was only slightly surprised when the black Phantasm appeared from my chest and floated in front of me. Focusing on the "lost soul" before me I tried simply looking at it and seeing if I looked at it hard enough it would work. When nothing happened, I started to get a little annoyed before I really tried to focus on the Phantasm in its entirety.
I focused on its black coloring.
I focused on the feel it gave off, the heat, not warmth that's too…nice. The heat it gave off was too angry. It was too vicious to be considered nice or warm.
I focused on the way the small flame flickered back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…until shapes started to form and the color began to shift. A pair of dark grey, metal talons, sharp enough to tear and shred anything it touched. Flat plates and sharp edges of metallic nature compounded its base. What almost appear to be tail feathers sharp as blades yet flexible enough to be considered organic. A pair of spiked wings sharp as any sword. And finally, a head that bore more similar to a bird of prey than a true dragon, bearing a razor sharp beak, a plumage of blades, and glowing red eyes that seemed to wish carnage upon any it would call an enemy.
(So focused was I in all of this, I didn't even notice the heat that started emitting from my body, nor the golden flames that started licking at my form, or even the golden flames that formed a third eye above my brow.)
I saw all of this and realized something. I knew what this Phantasm was.
I knew its name.
"Awaken," I intoned, the words echoing in my own ears and the space around me, "Horus, The Black Flame Dragon!"
And out of the flames (that I had not even realized until that moment had grown even larger than I was tall) a metallic talon formed, soon followed by a second. Then the head of a bird of prey bearing the same glowing, red eyes as before burst forth with a cry of vicious pride. The same pair of wings and rear soon followed before the dragon appeared whole; the same black flames that it originally formed from streamed off its body yet now bore streams of dark silver from its frame and revealed that, while whole, it was still an apparition and not solid.
That still didn't stop it from locking its bloody red gaze with my own and proceeding to stare me down with ferocity and power in its gaze. A gaze I would not back down from as I knew, I somehow knew that if I looked away for even a moment I would fail.
I don't know how long the stare down continued, and I only vaguely noticed the build up of Horus's flames as the temperature in the room soon reached that of a furnace. Finally something in the dragon's gaze (because even if it bore more resemblance to a bird its presence still held the same (if not greater) weight as the only other dragon I had met firsthand) seemed to spark to life like living coals. Horas then gave one final cry (the cry of a predator acknowledging an equal I would later realize) before it lunged forward into a burst of black and dark silver flames.
It was only then did I even realize that I was practically engulfed in golden flames the same intensity as its own. My own flames then flared forward to accept the lost (yet proud, and predatory, and oh so vicious) soul as a part of myself, in turn converting the black and silver flames that sped towards me until only golden flames remained.
Once the golden flames finally receded, I dropped to the ground panting and gulping in as large breaths of cooling air I could as the temperature in the room finally began to drop to comfortable levels, and it didn't make it feel like every breath I took in was like breathing in actual fire.
"Holy mother of all that is righteous that was terrifying," I gasped out practically in shock-
Before a shifting of something metallic echoed from the back of my mind, the weight of something (that was not there before) moving in the newly discovered void in the back of my head, heavy for a scant few moments before it seemed to recede until all that was there was the slight presence of something…vicious.
"Oh…well that's a thing," I uttered in shock as {Gamer's Mind} allowed me to process the fact that I now had a mother fucking dragon in my head.
[Danggg son that was a lot more intense than we'd thought it would be. Still you've now got your first Phantasm and a relatively powerful one at that! We'd recommend you read through your new Phantasm's skills and maybe some info about your Sacred Gear.]
[Also since you kinda went into that without advanced warning here's +2 VIT. You know just to be nice.]
"Y-Yeah I'll get right on that," I stuttered out still in shock. I didn't actually move to do so for about a solid five minutes; however, as I tried to get acclimated to the new presence in my head.
It was strange. The actual weight of the new addition wasn't all that big really; if nothing else it was just heavy enough for me to acknowledge it was even there. Rather it was the feelings coming off its presence that gave me pause.
That viciousness that wished to burn its enemies to ashes.
That unnatural ferocity that popped up at seemingly random.
That stubborn pride that seemed unjustified yet warranted at the same time.
The predatory glee that bleed off its form like the flames it breathed and lived from.
These were the feelings of a dragon. Actually no. Not a dragon…an Evil Dragon.
"Well…that's rather concerning," I muttered after coming to that particular realization. Hopefully having Horas wouldn't cause any problems down the line.
My worries being pushed away for now, I went about looking over Horus's info in order to discover what exactly he could bring to the table.
Horus, The Black Flame Dragon, Tier III {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
A Tier III Phantasm of the DARK element. This Evil Dragon Phantasm is an existence originally created from humanity's fear of fire, as such this force of nature can take in all the negatives of the world and burn them to nothingness. It is a spirit specializing in both close and mid-range techniques thanks to its use of Black Fire as well as the sheer endurance and power all dragons hold.
[STR: 10] [AGI: 5] [VIT: 20] [END: 20] [INT: 10] [WIS: 5] [LUCK: 1]
Unused Skill Points: 0
Skills:
Black Dragon Scales, Passive {Lv: 1}:
Like all dragons, the scales of this Black Dragon give complete resistance to his own flames, lesser resistance to other flames, and a general defense to whatever your victim-ahem opponent may throw at you.
Gives complete Resistance to Black Fire.
Grants 20% Resistance to FIRE Affinity skills (and complete immunity from regular fire)
Grants 10% Resistance to all Physical and Magical DMG.
Black Fire Manipulation, Passive/Active {Lv: 1}:
By empowering dragon fire with negative emotions, their natural color has changed to black while their power has increased as well as the heat they produce.
Cost: 25 MP a second
Deals Base STR + Base INT + 25 (DARK & FIRE) Magical DMG a second
Unique Skills: {Emotive Boost I}
Dragon Breath, Active {Lv: 1}:
Breathing Dragon Fire is a basic skill all dragons have. Duh.
Cost: 5 MP a second
Deals Base STR + 10 (FIRE) Magical DMG a second
…dear Gabriel, those stat boosts.
It also needs to be said; {Black Fire Manipulation} is going to be devastating. Especially since by the sheer rules of this shonan anime world; emotion empowering attacks are a staple of the genre. Secondly, I have to wonder if I will be the one breathing fire or will Horus appear and do such; I'm probably gonna need to check that. Thirdly, what the literal fudge is up with that Passive Skill?! Finally, I suppose it really was for the best that I chose DARK as my Affinity if this is what I'm gonna be working with.
(The prideful preening like sound that resonated from the back of my head was what I hoped to be Horus's pleasure that I thought of his skills so highly. Also don't ask how I knew he was a male, I just freaking knew alright!)
Once done looking over Horus's stats and skills, I went about pulling up the information given to me about Trinity Tuner.
Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner, Passive/Active {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
Also known as The Plane of Boundless Souls, Trinity Tuner is a Sacred Gear with the potential to become Longinus Tier. It's main ability is to create an inner world that allows excess souls to reside in. It then can combine lost souls and spirits (otherwise known as Phantasms) to either the owner's own power or that of their weapons.
Active Phantasms (Max: 1): Horus, The Black Flame Dragon
[Phantasms awoken by Trinity Tuner are added to the user's Soul Plane (also known as a Reality Marble), a space within a person's soul where the "definition" of that person is defined and protected. Phantasms within the Soul Plane can then be linked to the Trinity Tuner thus giving the user access to a portion of the Phantasms original power. Only a certain number of Phantasms can be linked to both the user's Soul Plane and Trinity Tuner at the same time; however, thus making some Phantasms required to stay on standby within the Soul Plane until they are switched with a current Active Phantasm.]
[Trinity Tuner has the ability to grow stronger by collecting more Phantasms and putting them within the user's Soul Plane. Using Phantasms in combat also grants the same just to lesser extent.]
[Phantasms have the ability to grow stronger as well. They grow by fighting alongside their host which allows the connection between the two to grow stronger; thus allowing more of the Phantasm's original power to be made available to the user. Phantasms do have a MAX level; however, when reaching this MAX level a certain item or event will be needed to "evolve" that Phantasm into a new form. Said new form will grant powers that the Phantasm did not have during its first life OR granting them access to powers they gained later in life.]
{Every Level up gives Phantasm +1 to all Stat Points and random additional boost.}
{Every 5 Level ups gives Phantasm 1 Unused Skill Point to use on any chosen skill.}
{Every 10 Level ups a Phantasm has a chance of unlocking a new skill. The chance to unlock a new skill is made higher by having a better bond with your Phantasms.}
{It should be noted that new skills can be gained even after level up as long as it does not exceed the Phantasm's level divided by 10.}
"Damn that was an info dump." My mind was practically reeling from the information I just gained. Don't get me wrong, the information I gleaned from that small reading was actually very useful, but damn if it wasn't a little much.
"Is that all for the tutorial?" I asked aloud while dismissing the screens I had been reading from.
[Almost! As you probably saw before, instead of just creating another tutorial to give you easy EXP and cash, we're just gonna include your crafting lesson in here.]
"Well that's a little rude," I muttered from, just like the system said, the loss of the easy EXP and cash.
[Oh don't be a whiner. Anyways, we're gonna use some of the Magic Saturated Cloth you got in the last tutorial to make you some equipment! Firstly you need to go to your crafting station and take out the cloth you got.]
Following the instructions, I pulled out some Magic Saturated Cloth I had available while walking toward the work table set up along a wall of the garage.
Soon enough a new text box popped up displaying the information about the cloth as well as crafting recipes for two new items.
Basic Mage Hood {Common} {Item: Hat}:
A basic item for anyone starting down the path of a Magic Specialist.
Grants +5 Magical DEF and +1 WIS
Requirements: {Crafting Lv1}, 3 Magic Saturated Cloth, 1,000 Yen
Basic Warrior Gloves {Common} {Item: Gloves}:
A basic item for anyone starting down the path of a Physical Combat Specialist.
Grants +5 Physical DMG and +1 STR
Requirements: {Crafting Lv1}, 3 Magic Saturated Cloth, 1,000 Yen.
"Wait but I don't have {Craft-
[A new skill has been discovered thanks to a specific action!]
Crafting, Passive/Active {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
Creating, repairing, and so much more, all you need is to craft some more!
Allows access to Crafting System…obviously
-ing}…I guess I could use a bit more STR without using up Stat Points," I said with a twitch in my brow because don't ask me how, but I just somehow knew that my [Gamer System] was actively trying to screw with me.
Besides it's not like I couldn't just come back and make the hood when I got more cloth. Though that does also make me wonder how I get more recipes.
Upon choosing to create the Basic Warrior Gloves, I kinda just went into auto-pilot as I began crafting the gloves. I mean seriously at one point I am 99% sure I started using a needle and thread, and I had never touched either in my life. After a solid five minutes of auto-crafting, I finally finished the Common equipment. The results weren't nearly as satisfying as getting my first Phantasm, but all the same I knew it would help. The gloves themselves were a deep purple in color. Enough so to look black. There was also a toggle button in my [Inventory] which allowed me to turn them into fingerless gloves which I must admit to liking much more.
[Great job! As we're sure you know you can actually equip the gloves in your [Inventory] Tab along with any other equipment you get down the line. Another neat thing we thought we should point out is if you didn't catch it earlier, you can in fact upgrade and enhance equipment like your new gloves with materials, enchantments, and your Phantasms. Just be warned that there is a limit to how much one piece of equipment can be upgraded.]
[Another major thing to note is that you cannot start making new gear other than the two types available (gloves and hats) until you find/buy Skill Books allowing such.]
[Hint: See about going to the Junk Shop you discovered earlier today.]
"Fair enough," I grumbled while going about properly equipping my new gloves.
Quest Complete!
[Tutorial III (Elements Chosen and Phantasms Gained)!]
A new tutorial is now available to help you understand Affinities, Phantasms, and the crafting system!]
{Objective: Complete Tutorial III}
Rewards: 750 Exp, 10,000 Yen, Uncommon Item Randomizer]
[Level Up!]
'Might as well see what's in the Randomizer,' I thought, wondering what exactly I would get.
[You have selected Uncommon Item Randomizer. Would you like to open this? YES/NO]
A click of yes and one pull of the lever later had the symbol for a medal, the letters LUCK, and the Roman Numeral, II, appeared on the slots.
[Congratulations you have received the Uncommon Item, Lucky Charm!]
Lucky Charm {Uncommon} {Item: Accessory}:
A charm enchanted by a sorcerer wishing for better luck, this item contains what can only be described as concentrated luck!
Grants +20 Magical DEF and +10 LUCK
"Not bad, not bad at all," I mused while looking over the charm. It had taken the shape of a traditional four leaf clover with the addition of a silver border around the edges. In the end, I decided to grab a decent looking leather cord from the worktable and strung it along my neck as a necklace.
With that all finished, and since no new quest was popping up at the moment, I suppose I have the opinion to do whatever I want. Though getting some more levels would probably be for the best. Plus I still need to test out my new Phantasm.
"{ID Create: Battle Zone}!"
Soon enough I found myself situated within the world of red moons and undead walkers once again. Before I could begin my search for enemies; however, a new pop up appeared.
[Well look at you deciding to be smart with your time. We thought it would be a good idea to inform you that your IDs are a bit more unique than the traditional kind. That said, here is something to help you understand.]
[You have received the Undead Zone Map!]
[The Menu Tab –[World Map]- is now available.]
"Now that's interesting," I commented while focusing on the mini-map at the bottom corner of my vision. Not enough to distract me in battle, but just bright enough for me to see the area layout as well as red blips I could only imagine as myself and the surrounding mobs.
[As you might have been able to figure out, you are currently in the Undead Zone. A place where only undead based enemies will spawn. Travel far enough to the West or East; however, and you'll end up in two entirely new Zones. If you were to travel South; however, you would end up in what is known as the Neutral Zone. Within the Neutral Zone is where you'll find locations such as the Market, Library, Forges, and many more.]
[In order to progress into the other areas of your ID; however, you will be required to complete one final test of your skills. To make absolutely certain that you understand how to use all the opinions available to you; this final tutorial will be given. Until you beat said tutorial all other Zones will be locked to you, including the Neutral Zone.]
[Until then…happy hunting!]
Ding! Quest Alert!
[Tutorial IV (Conquer The Undead Zone)!]
A final tutorial to test your progress and will to fight in this new world!
{Objective: Complete Tutorial IV, and defeat the Tier 1 Boss of the Undead Zone in order to progress through the Instant Dungeons.}
Rewards: 5,000 Exp, 50,000 Yen, 1 Rare Item Randomizer, 1 Random Tier II (DARK) Phantasm, and access to the rest of the Zones!
{Bonus Objectives X 5: +500 Exp per Bonus Objective completed}
Accept / Decline
[Until this Quest is completed you cannot progress past Lv: 15, you cannot gain any new Phantasms, any new skills, or any EXP once this level is reached, and only until after this Quest is completed will you gain access to such!]
[It is a final test for your progress using what you've learned after all!]
"…I am very...conflicted."
Said conflicting emotions would have been pretty obvious to anyone who would have happened upon me at that moment.
For one, I was actually quite interested in the rewards this particular quest would give me. The randomizer and the temptation of a new Phantasm honestly made the trial ahead quite interesting. Plus a part of me did understand why such a tutorial would need to exist, especially in such a dangerous world as this one.
On the other hand…I'm pretty sure my twitchy brow and extremely strained smile (that showed far too many teeth) would clue anyone into the fact that I was fucking pissed.
The shit ton of bloodlust and rage practically radiating from me in waves, the fact that Horus appeared in a flash of golden flames from my sheer drive to try and release my inner wrath upon anything at the moment, and the fact that my cutlass was practically a flamethrower from the amount of {Black Fire} I was channeling into it (Emotive Boost was a lot more sensitive than I thought apparently), probably just added to the picture.
"Horus," I called with a surprising amount of neutrality in my tone.
The neutrality Horas knew was obviously fake as fuck if his spread wings, bloodthirsty look, and war cry were any indication. The fact that Horus got an instant 5 levels from my brief lapse in rage was considered a side note at best.
Staring down the street at a small horde of zombies that shambled towards me (us), I raised the flaming sword in my hands and uttered the words that sealed the fate of every unliving thing in this wretched Zone.
"Let's go on a rampage."