Several hours later, Samael's pitch black eyes shot open. He frantically looked around and saw the corpse of the goblin laying next to him. He raised his hand to push himself into a seated position, then froze. His hand was covered in his own blood. Along with the red stains, a putrid substance, jet black in color, was strewn all around him. The smell was unbearable and made him wretch and gag.
[Attunement complete]
[Initiating Proto-System protocol 1.56.4… ]
[Complete]
[Partial System access granted.]
[Analyzing Ascendant…]
[Complete]
[Would you like to access your status sheet?]
Still confused, Samael looks around for the source of the voice. His disoriented mind was unable to cope with the unimaginable pain he had just gone through. Not finding anything that could be the source of the voice, Samael chose to ask out loud to try and get an answer. "How do I do that?" Samael asked, his voice echoing out amongst the trees.
[Center your mind upon yourself and will your System page into being]
"What does that even mean? How do I will something into existence?" Samael sighed. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind on himself. He had recovered from the disorientation from attuning to The Great Paths, but all of this was still new to him. Just earlier that day, he had found out about magic being real, then the entire world fell into chaos within seconds. It was too much to handle for one person, even with his circumstances. Compared to everything that had happened today, being hunted by the Guild seemed insignificant. A mere inconvenience in an overall far greater set of problems. His thoughts were a mess. He couldn't focus at all.
[Detecting mental distress related to Proto-System awakening]
[Temporarily numbing emotions to increase success rate]
[Current chance of successful awakening: 83%]
Immediately his mind turned serene. Samael used this chance granted by that mysterious higher power to try and focus his will on himself. To try and will his status page into existence. Instinctively he knew that if he managed to do it once, it would become significantly easier the next time. Something told him that when he gained full System access, it would be as easy as breathing. This however, was an advantage he was unwilling to give up. Given the dire circumstances regarding what the Guild might do, Samael would take no chances at taking his time with gaining at the very least some measure of power. Time stretched as seconds turned into what felt like hours. Eventually he felt something pop within his mind, and a flash of light appeared in front of him.
[Proto-System awakening success detected]
[View status?]
"Yes." He spoke. The light morphed into the shape of a parchment. It had a slight yellow tinge and the edges were frayed lightly. Ancient text that he could somehow understand covered the parchment. Despite its somewhat fragile appearance it carried an ancientness that was simply surreal. Around where the parchment floated in front of him, the very world seemed to bend and warp, gravitating inwards. To Samael, it almost seemed like the event horizon of a black hole surrounding the page.
[Name - Samael
Age - 18
Species - Human (Common)
Level - (0/100)
Attributes -
Physical Strength (11)
Physical Fortitude (14)
Agility (18)
Dexterity (23)
Mental Strength (17)
Mental Fortitude (16)
Soul Malleability (47)
Soul (362)
General Skills - Pain Acclimation Lv1 (Common), Appraisal Lv1 (Common)
Passive Skills -N/A]
"System. Is it possible to get an overview of System page functions?" Samael asked.
[Providing basic Proto-System knowledge package…]
A sudden influx of information flooded into Samael's head. The meaning of attributes, levels and skills. Each attribute represent an aspect of his existence. Overall the stats represent his physical, magical and metaphysical capabilities in a standardized, easy to digest format. Based on the knowledge package he was above average for all his stats, but his Soul Malleability was almost 10 times higher than the average of 5 for Soul Malleability and Soul Fortitude was almost 75 times greater. His physical stats were only about 50% above the average of 10 for humans, whilst his mental stats were barely above average sitting at just barely above 15, he analyzed. Going over the massive amount of information that had been shoved in his head provided a lot of insight into how the system worked, which he felt grateful for. He had never had much time for things like video games since he was constantly on the run, so a rundown of the basics helped him greatly.
Samael then thought of the information he had gotten about the stats themselves. It wasn't a linear growth in power with each stat increase. Instead, the more of a stat you had, the greater the impact of each stat. This meant that even though his Soul Malleability was almost 10 times greater in raw stats, the actual power of it was closer to 2.8 million times greater than that average. The meaning of each stat went like this;
Physical Strength - The representation of physical capability, power and explosive strength.
Physical Fortitude - The representation of physical resilience, natural healing speed as well as resistance to poisons and venoms.
Agility - The representation of nimbleness, speed and reaction time.
Dexterity - The representation of physical and mental coordination and fine movements.
Mental Strength - The representation of will, determination and grit.
Mental Fortitude - The representation of mental resilience, resistance to mental strain and mental attacks.
Soul Malleability - The representation of your capability to move, manipulate and transform energies within your soul as well as manipulate your soul itself.
Soul - The representation of the magnitude of your soul, resistance to soul attacks and soul damage.
I see now… All I need to know now is how I can use this information to my advantage. I need every bit of power I can get my hands on right now. Both individual and political. I will survive this, no matter what it takes… A serious look took over Samael's face as he searched his surroundings visually. No more of those monsters close. I suppose it's time for a hunt. He was ready. With this new way of growing stronger and truly surpassing human limits, he would go all out. He didn't know how many others had gained access to this Proto-System, but he would use the advantage it gave to its fullest potential. He would rise to the peak, no matter what…