[System Newsletter]

[A global, historic record has been broken! Please join me in honoring Vivi[Name Shortened], the Aeon Slug. He has reached his first plateau of maturity in under one hundred years! The previous record was held by Durz, the legendary arch-wizard, who attained the first plateau in a short two hundred and eighty years.

Vivi has attained this feat by consuming a huge quantity of heavenly plants, herbs, and fruits obtained directly from The Beyond, and more specifically, the pure lands. As I've stated before, it's not against the rules for non [Summoning] classes to open portals to The Beyond, but it is Beyond Reckless.

I kid, I kid.

Congratulations to Vivi, and Aeon Slugs everywhere.

A reward will be issued to the Bank of Aeons, with the option of delivery to the Bank of the Sun, or the Bank of Eternal Magic. This reward is guarded by a Custodian of The System, and should be delivered with all haste to Vivi.

His location in the Overcavern Forest is enclosed for speedy delivery. For any interested parties who wish to send their own gifts, congratulations, or job offers, I've also included his coordinates in this message.

Great job, Vivi!]

“Vivi,” an enormous, buffalo sized Aeon Slug said softly, “you fool. We warned you, we banished you, yet you still have not learned your lesson.”

Thus the machinery of justice was set into motion. The reward was sent to the central branch of the Bank of the Sun, located in Solas, along with a sternly written note detailing its manner of delivery.

A squad was assembled, a team armed with magical weapons, enchanted equipment, impressive armor, and tactics and teamwork honed by years of experience. Their instructions were simple; find Vivi, deliver the reward, banish the Custodian who guarded it, and then kill the reckless Aeon Slug who dared to open The Beyond and risk catastrophe.

And also, to confiscate any of the remaining herbs, plants, and fruits of the Purelands and deliver them to the Bank of the Sun.

The order was issued in but a moment, and the machinery was well oiled, efficient, and speedy. There were no second chances for fools like Vivi.

Justice would be swift.

Then, at the last moment, outside of the gaze of the swift and well oiled machinery of justice, the team who had been assembled to fetch Vivi realized what a pain in the ass it would be. Slogging through the Overcavern forest was a great way to get killed, regardless of your level.

So they pawned the job off on someone that someone else wanted dead.

–

The Inevitable looked at The System, still sitting calmly in his chair, watching the show.

“As you can see, there is nothing I can do to help alleviate the situation, and I am a completely neutral party,” The System explained, keeping a straight face.

“I can see that quite clearly,” the Inevitable said, then motioned for The System to continue work on his character sheet.

“I know you think I'm stalling for time,” The System said, indicating the massive stack of paperwork he'd been manually and meticulously filling out, “and that's probably a fair assessment. But this really is a tricky situation.”

“Why not just incarnate me as a regular human, with no special abilities, no Plus Perks, and no memories of who I am?”

The System looked up and gave the Inevitable a strange look.

“That would. . . that would be wasteful. Your point value would be absolutely squandered, I could never do that.”

“Apply the lost 'points',” the Inevitable said, referencing the esoteric value The System assigned individuals and monsters in his balance system, “to that poor soul you stranded on an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean of illusions, with the title [The Last Human]. That's a cruel joke by the way.”

“Oh, but it is funny. He's. . .” The System caught himself. “You're serious? No memories? I can give you everything else, but the memories were the most problematic element of your induction.”

“I don't need them,” the Inevitable said, “I'll know what to do. I am my own destiny, after all.”

“Well. All right,” The System said, and a large glowing portal appeared in the room. It was blood red and gave off an ominous feeling of danger.

“I'll see you soon,” the Inevitable said, and stood up. He grinned at The System, and it was a tremendously unsettling smile. “Very soon.”

Then, he walked through the portal, and his mind was wiped clean.

A regular human male stood in the portal labyrinth. He did not know who he was, or why he was there. He looked at the world Tabula Rasa, blank, ready to learn. And he was already angry. Yes, he thought to himself, he was filled with a deep, and implacable rage. “Why am I angry?” he asked aloud, the empty hellscape answering with the sounds of lightning strikes and humid hot wind whistling across barren rocks.

An enormous, humanoid horse-man walked slowly towards him. His fur was soaked in fresh blood, giving it a wet, greasy appearance. His eyes were the red of evil, full of wicked intelligence, and in his hands he held an enormous scythe.

The man stood his ground at the demon’s approach. Soon, they stood within reach of one another. The demon regarded the man, who stood unafraid.

“Dost thou wish to learn the ways of rage?” it asked, its voice a low hiss.

The man thought about it, then nodded. The demon reached out a hand, and the man took it. They walked, and their path led to the underworld.

And the man was unafraid.

-

Frankie woke up inside the Pocket of Sanctuary, Ben's wish ringing in his pure, clever little mind. He didn't understand much except his element, a trait all elementals tended to share early in their lives.

But of their element?

They were unmatched, peerless geniuses.

Frankie examined the unique, skill shaped utility pocket, analyzing its composition and its rules. Ben never could have pulled it off, but for Frankie? Well, Frankie could do a lot of things Ben could never have done, things he just wouldn't consider possible.

But, Frankie had to admit that he wasn't up to the job. He was just one Lesser Utility Pocket elemental. It wasn't like he could-

“!”

Then, he'd had an idea. He sprang up, his front pointing in the air, and one of his front legs lifted straight up. Simultaneously, a soft flash of purple light burst above his head, like a very dim camera flashbulb. If one were paying close attention to the colors of things, which tended to pay off in The World, they would note that the color of purple above Frankie was the exact same shade as the purple tendrils which so consistently surrounded a utility pocket.

Frankie didn't run, because why would he ever run, instead he teleported nearly instantaneously, using a utility pocket, and moved himself to be right in front of the dungeon crystal.

His front right leg stretched out a bit, then passed through another portal to extend his reach, allowing him to touch the dungeon crystal.

Frankie possessed an extremely special mind, the kind that could parse through the encyclopedia of menus and sub-menus that the Pocket of Sanctuary possessed, until he reached the store page he was looking for.

Frankie frowned, because the item he wanted to buy had previously been priced at ten points, and now it had been marked up to a thousand. Frankie was able to effortlessly access why the change had occurred.

He had been responsible, apparently, for the change in rarity of this item.

Frankie, for one-thousand points, purchased one wand of [Create Minor Elemental]. It appeared in his dimensional matrix, and without ceremony, Frankie opened a utility pocket facing his own body and pointed the wand at himself. The System asked him if he wanted to create a Minor Utility Pocket Elemental, and Frankie said yes.

The wand burned with magic for a moment, Frankie felt a pleasant chill, and a new elemental plopped on the ground in front of him. It was identical to his minor elemental form.

Frankie was so pleased, he bought another wand and repeated the process. Now there were two of them and Frankie felt an instinctual hierarchy immediately form. They looked to him for instruction, and Frankie communicated with them via a complicated series of body language gestures.

No, Frankie couldn't do what Ben wanted alone. But with some help? It wasn't impossible.

Merely time consuming.