As i made my way through the thick forest i was bombarded by my newly acquired senses. My vision seemed similar in many ways to my previous life, but an additional sense had formed in my brain itself, making me very aware of the aura of everything living around me. From insects crawling under the leaf litter to the birds perched and hidden amongst the myriads of tree branches. All of it was shown to me, their movements, their colours, their very essence. It was overwhelming me the deeper i went, till i suddenly had to stop and shout.
"Fuck off!"
The critters scattered away from me rapidly and i was left with a little more peace and clarity.
It would seem you're having a difficult time adjusting to your new body.
"No shit."
I was not at all happy to be hearing voices in my head at this moment. Out of a frustration for the situation i found myself in i slammed my fist into a nearby tree. Anticipating the incoming pain i recoiled quickly to look at my hand but instead a deep cracking sound followed as the tree caved in on itself from the impact and fell over towards me, narrowly missing my shoulder.
"What the hell is going on?"
As we said, you have been reborn here in the future with a new body. Earth has changed drastically since you were alive.
I sighed audibly and continued trudging down the slowly steepening slopes, hoping to find either civilisation or at least a source of water, though i wasn't hungry or thirsty at this point, it would only be a matter of time and as a former soldier, i knew the importance and hierarchy of survival. The voice continued despite my indifference to it.
To keep Earth preserved, post-physical humans began to congregate here to look over the planet as guardians and to stop technological advancement in areas such as gunpowder and so on. soon it became essentially like retirement. When a human had done everything, they had wished to do, they would return to Earth. Those humans who had grown tired of existence, began to merge their consciousnesses with others, transferring energy and giving up their being. Now Earth is preserved in a medieval by a single energy made up of countless humans who have returned here to pass away. That entity is me. The combined consciousness.
"Right" i added not really comprehending the enormity of what the voice was saying.
As the voice ended its sentence i picked up a presence ahead of me that made my heart race. There were three humans... no four. One was seriously wounded and close to dying, the other two seemed to be about to kill again. I ran forward out of instinct more than anything else and almost collided with a tree 10 meters ahead. Wow i move fast!
In what seemed an instant, i came to a stop within sight of the people. Two men had a woman tied at the wrists, she was battered and bruised, kneeling and crying next to what appeared to be her child. The boy was only 10 or so and had a stab wound through his chest. I began to see images flash through my mind, memories of the jungles in Vietnam, the dead civilians and soldiers alike. I couldn't even hear the Two grizzled and filthy men yelling at me to stay back.
Suddenly, one of their blades was bearing down on me. I reacted from instinct and caught the blade in my hand. It sliced straight through, leaving my fingers scattered below, in that same moment i had swung my own arm which was now inexplicably as large and shapely as a club. My arm connected with the man's head, and he crumpled to the ground, instantaneously dead. The other man stepped back in fear; his arms began to tremble.
"What the Hell are you?"
He turned to run and i reached out, somehow my arm whipped out in front of me like a vine, wrapping around the fleeing man's neck. With a yank of all my might, a sickening crunch was followed by another thud. The second man's neck had snapped, and he too crumpled to the ground in a heap.
It took a few moments for the adrenaline to subside, but as it did i swiftly recovered my senses just in time to see two whisps of light emerge from the deceased men's chests and fly into mine. The voice spoke to me again as it happened however it was different this time, almost robotic.
[Light obtained. No new skills discovered. Now fully healed.]
"What the hell was that?" i yelled out to the voice, hoping to get an answer.
You could save him if you wanted.
Understanding the meaning of those words i looked over to the woman and dying child that lay nearby. walking slowly i approached. The woman was clearly terrified however she still had presence of mind enough to block her son from me it a last effort to save him. I couldn't blame her. There was clearly something monstrous about my new body that i would need to get to the bottom of later. But for now...
What do you mean i can save him? I have no supplies and he's clearly not going to make it to a town.
You have a moderate healing ability. Close your eyes and focus. You should see a light if you direct your consciousness towards your centre.
With little time to argue, i followed the voices instruction. I had done some meditation in my time, being of Asian descent and having lived with PTSD for many years, meditative practice was a regular staple of my older years. Focusing inward i quickly discovered the light and in doing so, like a flood gate had opened, i was suddenly aware of myself, my "abilities" my "status".
[Name – Selwyn
Species – &**!&Daffodil??
Abilities:
Healing Herbs - Moderate
Body control
Photosynthesis
Cyanide – Low]
All of it became clear to me except for species, what did it mean by daffodil? I quickly searched my brain for healing herb and focused on the concept. As i did, a green liquid began to form at the tip of one of my fingers.
Apply it to the wound
Following the voices instruction i moved toward the child again. She screamed in a language i didn't understand. Suddenly the same robotic voiced spoke out.
[Language of the World discovered]
I was instantly able to comprehend the woman screaming to leave her and her boy alone. I spoke in a soft tone in a language i had never spoken till this moment.
"I can help, let me try to heal him."
She blinked bewildered for a moment, looked at her two deceased attackers and decided in the moment that she would trust me in this desperate moment. reaching out slowly i held my hand over the stab would and the green liquid dripped slowly as from a broken Fawcett. for a few moments nothing happened, and an anxiety grew ever so slightly in the pit of my stomach. What if the voice was lying?
My fears quickly subsided when suddenly the wound began to slightly glow. A few seconds later, small vines as thick as hairs began to reach from each side of flesh and close the cut skin like an ultra-fine sewing machine. I expected that the boys' mother had not seen the microscopic effects of the healing ability, or she might have creamed, but what she could see is that they would had closed completely and the boy was now breathing again.
"He's lost a lot of blood; I'll help you carry him to your home. Here let me get that off."
I cut the rope binding her wrists and dripped a couple of drops of the healing liquid on her head while she was standing. her bruising and cuts healed slightly, and she began to weep.
"Thank you... Thank you."
These were the only words she could muster at the moment as she leant over her sone and hugged him tightly.
How does it feel to have interacted with the system for the first time?
"Was that magic? I thought this was Earth not some fairytale."
Ahh let me quote a famous author from your time "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". The system simply interacts with your consciousness and body on an informational level. If Atoms are the building blocks of matter, then information is the level below that, the true fabric of reality.
"So, this system enables me to be a superhuman? What was that light earlier? It spoke to me in a strange voice."
That light was you absorbing the life force of the creatures you kill. This has been the way of life since life was born, Creatures, killed ate and absorbed energy wastefully. The system simply enables it to transpire with 100% efficiency. As for the voice, you are the only entity in the world that can hear it, hear us.
"Why am i the only one, what make me special?"
You aren't special. When we first initiated the system, we made a joke that if any plant could absorb enough energy through the battle of life then we would bestow upon it all the knowledge and guidance we have.
"I'm the product of a joke?"
In most basic terms, that about sums up the situation.
All of this was still incredibly baffling and despite the explanation i felt i understood about as little as when i started. I had so many other questions to ask but the sun was swiftly approaching the horizon and light was now scarce. Using the gap in conversation with the voice, i walked over to the mother who was still sobbing but now looking at me with some curiosity and apprehension.
"Here, let me carry him. you will need to lead the way. She hesitated before nodding and standing up."
"What is your name?"
"Eline"
"I'm Selwyn, it's nice to meet you."
"You too."
I carefully picked up the child and focusing on my body transformation skill, wove my two arms into a makeshift hammock which carried the nearly weightless child (at least from my perspective) without too much distress. Eline quickly walked across to the two corpses and gave each a swift kick before emptying their coin pouches in her own and then setting off down the dark slopes of the cliff forest.