These were the thoughts that flashed through Ryan's mind as he finally entered his small home. He set everything he had bought down on the tiny counter in the center of his kitchen.
As he walked into his bedroom, he finally caught a glimpse of himself in his bedroom mirror.
I almost forgot this is what I looked like back then.
In the mirror stood a 6'2 man, somewhat muscular, but would otherwise be described as overweight.
He almost couldn't recognize himself.
He still had the same piercing green eyes, but that was about it. His cheeks were round and filled with spots, and pimples.
His beard, which was always trimmed to a perfect five-o-clock shadow, had started to show a shade of yellow around his lips from all the smoking.
A terrible habit he had quit not long after the awakening happened in the previous timeline.
He had felt those forgotten cravings the entire day since his arrival in this timeline. But such small irritations had long since been overcome by him. He was the ruler of Earth, cravings had no hold over him.
A long drawn out sigh escaped his lips, "If only I could get my hands on some Clearleaf."
But Ryan knew that was impossible, Clearleaf only came into existence after the influx of mana from the awakening.
Ryan's brows furrowed as he suddenly had a thought.
I wonder if…
He sat down, cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing. In the previous timeline he had stumbled upon a method to sense mana in his surroundings when he was doing his daily meditations.
As he sat there, breathing steadily, he reached an almost trance-like state. In his mind's eye he envisioned his surroundings.
There it was!
It was just a small ripple, but still, tiny almost non-existent ripples of energy floated around the room. This energy resembled steam rising from a boiling pot, they were a light blue color.
An instinct that was honed over nearly a century kicked in, as Ryan inhaled a deep breath, imagining himself drawing the mana into himself. The moment he felt the slight cooling effect of the mana flowing through his veins…
[First connection made with mana]
A female voice all too familiar resounded in his ears.
[Partial system upload commencing]
"What the hell is happening?" Ryan asked aloud, but an indescribable pain pierced through his mind, it felt like someone was slowly inserting a dagger into his brain.
Before he could even yell out in pain the world went black.
***
[Partial system upload complete]
[System integration with Ryan Hale complete]
***
When finally Ryan awoke, it was already early morning of the last day before the awakening would happen.
"Shit… what happened?" Ryan groaned, as he slowly sat up from the cold, hard floor.
That's when the voice echoed in his mind again.
[I have granted you a system to make life a bit easier this time around]
"Iris?" Ryan asked.
[Who else would it be?]
"..."
[If you want to see and access your system dashboard just say or think 'status'.]
"So if I say 'status'..."
A screen popped up in front of Ryan as he said this.
***
[Host: Ryan Hale]
[Race: Human]
[Rank: Lower-Earth]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 6]
[Vitality: 6]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Mana capacity: 0/100]
[Skills: Absorption (Mid-Earth)]
***
"This looks like a game dashboard."
[Where do you think I got the idea from]
As Ryan looked at his stats a grimace overtook his face.
"These stats look terrible, was I really this weak."
A giggle echoed in his head. [They aren't actually that bad, your strength is actually slightly above average, your intelligence is average, but the rest are terrible.]
A self deprecating smile formed on Ryan's lips.
"If you could see me, you would understand why."
Ryan's attention was drawn to his rank.
"What does my rank mean?" he asked, as he got up to get ready for the day.
He still had to go out to buy the radios he would need.
[You don't need to worry too much about that at the moment.]
[The ranks that are relevant to your realm are, Earth, Skye, and Heaven.]
[Each rank is divided into Lower, Mid, and High.]
[Lower-Earth rank is basically just a mortal, or civilian if you will.]
"So basically my skill is just slightly above the abilities of a mortal?" Ryan asked as he got into the shower.
[Not really.]
[There is a significant gap in the capabilities of the ranks.]
[And your skills can also be leveled up.]
"Oh, and how do I do that?"
[By increasing your proficiency in their use… basically you just have to keep using them.]
Ryan was in deep thought as he finished in the shower and started to get dressed.
"In the previous timeline I had to figure out how to control my mana, and activate my skills," Ryan pondered. "Are you telling me that with this system I don't need to do that anymore?"
[In a way yes, but you should still study how the system uses your mana for each skill.]
[This system will only be able to help you get to the Heaven Rank, after that you will need to figure everything out on your own again.]
"Okay," Ryan nodded, he didn't like the idea of someone else doing the work for him.
"By the way, you keep talking about this realm," Ryan said, remembering her earlier words. "What does that even mean?"
[I can't tell you too much about it.]
"And why is that?" Ryan asked, finally dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a T-shirt, ready to get the day under way. "I thought you were a goddess."
[I am a goddess… the reason I can't tell you about it isn't for my safety, but for your own.]
"For my safety?"
[Let's just say that you will be heavily punished if I tell you any more.]
Ryan let out a heavy sigh, he didn't like mysteries. "Fine, what else can this system of yours do?"
[I'm glad you asked!]
Iris sounded like an excited student who couldn't wait to show her professor what she had done.
[Other than to help you control your skills from the start, it can also make use of my space-time skill to search for any items you might look for and…]
"Wait!" Ryan interrupted. "You're telling me that you can search for anything that I might be looking for?"
[Yes, as long as it isn't a living being… that would break one of the rules of your realm.]
"So you would be able to run a search for a plant that I'm looking for?" Ryan asked, if mana is already present on Earth, there is a chance… "What is the range of your search?"
[With your current mana capacity, I could probably search a radius of 100 miles.]
"Can you search the area for some Clearleaf plants?" Ryan asked, barely able to control his excitement.
A wide and eager grin spread across Ryan's face.
"It looks like we're taking a small detour."