As the room fell silent with Anderson, though he could not help but walk up to the cracked mirror and examine himself.
He stood motionless before the cracked mirror, eyes fixed on his own reflection as if it might blink first. His breathing was steady now, measured. The shock had passed; he knew all that was left for him to do was accept his faith.
All that remained was analysis.
A weak body, low aether capacity, debt, eviction, a world structured around hunters who would kill him on principle alone.
Survival odds were unacceptable.
"Which means," he murmured, "there must be a compensating variable."
The thought had barely finished forming when pressure bloomed behind his eyes… not pain, but clarity. The air in the room thickened, humming faintly, like a tuned instrument waiting to be struck.
Then—
Something clicked.
Not audibly. But more from within his own mind, a transparent blue screen with no origin appeared before his eyes.
Text unfolded across his vision, crisp and emotionless, hovering just beyond reality.
[Alchemist System]
Anderson did not gasp.
He smiled.
Slowly… carefully… as if afraid the thing might vanish if startled.
"A system," he said softly. "Of course...maybe all those novels I read in my free time had some use after all."
The text shifted.
[Functions]
-Status
-Inventory
-Store
-Summon
He examined the list with the same scrutiny he once reserved for experimental protocols.
"Minimalist," he observed. "Efficient. No wasted abstraction."
Status, he thought.
The response was immediate.
------------------------------------
[Status]
[Name: Anderson Alduin]
[Age: 18]
[Class: Alchemist]
[Class Rank: 1]
------------------------------------
His lips twitched.
"This boy had the same name as me... could he possibly be an ancestor in this version of reality?" he noted.
The information continued.
-----------------------------------
[Level: 1]
[Health: 60/60]
[Aether: 200/200]
-----------------------------------
His brow furrowed slightly.
Two hundred.
Low… but not nonexistent.
Enough to work with.
Then came the real problem.
----------------------------------
[Body: 6]
[Mind: 15]
[Spirit: 2]
----------------------------------
Anderson exhaled slowly.
Body at six explained the brittle frame, the constant ache, the hair loss, the scar tissue. This vessel had been abused, malnourished, and pushed far beyond its limits.
Spirit at two…
This seems to be related to my Aether Capacity
His gaze sharpened as the final section appeared.
---------------------------------------------------------
[Skills]
-Analysis [Rank: 1]-Sigil Weaving [Rank: 1]-Potion Brewing [Rank: 1]-Botany [Rank: 1]-Transmutation [Rank: 1]-Novice Elemental Control [Rank: 1 {Flame / Aqua}]-Law of Equivalent Exchange [Rank: 1]
-----------------------------------------------------------
He stared at the last skill longer than the others.
The Law.
Not listed as a passive. Not hidden.
Declared.
"So this system isn't a gift," Anderson said quietly. "It's a contract."
The air seemed to tighten in response.
Everything he did… every improvement… every advantage… would demand payment.
Time, Pain, Resources, and possibly pieces of himself.
And yet…
His pulse quickened.
Not with fear.
With anticipation.
"This is better," he admitted. "A universe that keeps its books balanced."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, already planning routes of progression… methods to raise Body without wasting aether… botanical solutions to physical degradation… alchemical shortcuts that would not violate the Law too severely.
"Low rank," he murmured. "Low level. Low survivability."
Then he smiled again… sharper this time.
"But an infinite ceiling."
Outside, the howling returned… closer now. More distinct. Something moving between buildings, drawn by weakness… by opportunity.
Anderson opened his eyes.
The system hovered patiently before him, awaiting input.
His gaze drifted back to the functions list.
He hesitated… only briefly.
A system that offered power without context was a trap.
But a system that started him with tools…That implied intent.
"Inventory," Anderson said.
The air before him folded inward, like a page turning.
[Inventory]
Two items floated into view… stark against the emptiness behind them.
Anderson's eyes sharpened immediately.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Body Enhancement Potion]
Type: Potion
Grade: AdvancedEffect: Permanently strengthens musculature, bone density, and blood circulationWarning: Severe strain on weak vessels. Improper dosage may result in internal damage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"So you expect me to gamble," he said quietly.
A potion designed for hunters… placed into the inventory of a body barely holding itself together.
Equivalent Exchange, indeed.
Then his gaze shifted to the second item.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Anti-Aether Dagger]Type: WeaponEffect: Disrupts aether flow on contact. Causes internal backlash in targets reliant on aether.Special Property: Damage bypasses aether reinforcement.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is almost too perfect...with my weak body being able to disrupt a monster's aether is almost like a cheat," Anderson murmured as he held the small dagger made from a dark purple and pink prism stone.
Pushing the thought aside for now, Anderson focused on the small green vial, which had a slight glow to it. Removing the cork, Anderson hesitated for a moment before drinking the potion.
"It won't kill me...I would not be alive just to die from something like this," Anderson confidently spoke as he swallowed the potion.
The effect was immediate.
Fire tore through his throat and detonated in his chest. His vision blurred as his heart slammed once… twice… then began racing wildly, pumping like it was trying to escape his ribcage.
He collapsed to one knee, vial shattering against the floor. His muscles seized, bones broke, blood oiled.
It felt as though his body was being rewritten from the inside out… fibers tearing, reforging, tearing again. His spine arched as something deep within his marrow cracked… then reinforced.
Veins throbbed violently as circulation surged beyond what his heart had ever supported.
Anderson clenched his teeth.
Did not scream. No, he accepted the pain with a half manic smile and change as improvement, improvement that would lead to survival.
"So this is the exchange," he whispered hoarsely
His vision darkened at the edges.
He slumped against the wall, breath coming in ragged pulls as sweat drenched his skin. Every inch of him trembled… not with weakness, but with excess… energy flooding systems that had never handled it before.
Minutes passed, maybe longer.
Eventually… he stood. Transformed. His thin body had developed a skinny but athletic build, his ghastly pale skin had gained some color, and his dry, falling hair was now a deep onyx and rejuvenated.
[Body: 6] -> [Body:12]