P-System Log

Jerome's been walking for a bit. My perception "dome" is following him. Another point for the Origin System being right. Looks like I really am attached to him.

Fuck me, man. Am I going to be stuck like this forever? It's neat, having this kinda semi-omniscient magic System thing going on, but do I really want to spend eternity stuck like this?

Questions for later, Parker.

For now, I have to figure out how the hell I can cast the magic that I'm supposed to be able to.

Parker [ALIAS: P-System] Class Race Level PERSONAL_SYSTEM SYSTEM - Stat Current Maximum W Inertia 38316 38317 Mana - - Health Skills [W%M;G,P] Titles [System], [Reincarnator]

Other statistics have been deemed irrelevant.

P-System Log

Aside from the obvious--I don't have any stats like a human should--there's one key difference between me and Jerome.

The W Inertia stat.

I don't know what it does. I haven't been able to see what others have. But I can see my own. Is that what makes me a System? Or does it do something else?

I don't think I can truly understand what it means until I link up with the Origin System again and pick its brains. Still, I can maybe glean certain things from it.

It dropped by a single point. The only thing I can think of that might have triggered it was the bitchslap I gave to that [Apprentice Mage]'s spell. What does that indicate?

Inertia is the tendency of an object to stay in motion or stay at rest. Basically, how resistant it is to an outside force, or the angular momentum divided by the angular speed in circular motion. How does that relate to magic? It shouldn't be a consumable property, but I lost a point somehow. Is it going to come back? What did I even gain? Am I just substituting it for mana?

There's just too many damn unknowns. What W stands for, its specific purpose, what the term "inertia" even means in this context--come to think of it, I got transported to a fantasy world as a disembodied System, it's entirely possible that the word means something different here--and so much more.

Whatever the case, it doesn't look like I'm going to run out of it anytime soon. That might change when I learn how to make Jerome's spells actually become spells, but that's a problem for then.

P-System Log [important thoughts 1]

Do I even want to cast Jerome's spells? From all appearances, this guy's not the brightest, and he's kind of entitled, too. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go full murderhobo once I start casting spells for him, to be honest, and I don't know if I like the thought of that.

On the other hand, what happens if I don't? I know next to nothing about this world (thanks a lot, Origin). Maybe Axel's master is strong enough to forcefully recalibrate me. Maybe my ol' buddy Origin will step in if I'm not doing the right job.

I... I don't want that. Keeping myself alive and me is my number one priority, and from what the Origin System told me, one that I already managed to fail at last life. I'm not going to let that happen again.

Besides, I'm pretty sure I remember being told that Jerome's job was to defeat the Eternal King. Not sure what that entails, but the name sounds like an endboss that's guaranteed to have some level of cruel rule to its name. I'm not going to stand by and let people suffer, and if Jerome is going to be a force of enduring good, it should damn well be my place to enable it.

Also, I do have to admit that I like the idea of being able to cast magic. Even if it's not my own. So...

Guess that settles that for now.

P-System Log [poetry]

roses are red

violets are blue

origin, are you listening?

if so, then fuck you

P-System Log

We're on our way to the village right now. It's not inside my dome, but I can kind of make it out off in the distance. Looks like a really bog-standard starting village, if I'm being honest. I can't make everything out, but it's got all the markings of one. We'll see more about it when we get there.

Axel and Jerome are having a conversation. Wonder if I can get any information out of it.

P-System Log [Conversation Jerome-Axel 002]

Jerome: Tell me more about this world.

Axel: The tutorial didn't cover that?

Jerome: It was... incomplete. I don't know how to describe it, but there were parts of it that I know were missing. Broken pieces flung off into the void.

Axel: Alright, I suppose I must provide.

Axel: The village of Maplecrest will welcome you with open arms. We receive many of your kind--

Jerome: Reincarnators? There's a lot of us, then?

Axel: Reincarnators, yes. We used to get more, but the rate has dropped off recently. Only about one a month, these days.

Jerome: So you're a starting village.

Axel: The hometown in which I was born and raised being referred to as a "starting village" rubs me the wrong way, but in essence, yes. We are one of the Edge Cities.

Jerome: Edge Cities?

Axel: We exist on the outskirts of the Continent. Here, we lie unmolested by the reaches of the Eternal King.

Jerome: Oh, I think I remember that from the tutorial. He controls a lot of the Continent, right?

Axel: Forty-four percent. Legend says that the Eternal King himself exists at the very center of it all, in his Forgotten City where the world itself crumbles away into nothingness.

Jerome: I was told my job here was to defeat him. Why should I? I wasn't told much beyond him being a fearsome force of darkness or whatever. Why should I care?

[Parker's note: hey, the other reincarnation actually has some sense to him! Maybe his really shit Insight doesn't mean everything?]

Axel: The Eternal King and his forces are anathema to us Integrated.

Jerome: Integrated refers those of us with the System, right?

Axel: Correct. It is not exclusive to you reincarnators. The Eternal King brings with him an indescribable, inexorable Integration-destroying force. Living in his domain is lethal to those of us native to these lands, and so we've largely been forced to the Edge Cities. Every day, another of our outposts falls, another Edge City falls to the Eternal King's march.

Jerome: So the System wants me to end the domain.

Axel: As a reincarnator, it is your purpose. The System sends us brave souls like yourself to liberate us from the Eternal King's wrath.

And how has that been going for you so far, huh? 44% left uninhabitable? Also, if these guys have Systems too, are those Systems also people like me? I feel like the answer is no. I don't know where the feeling is coming from--information from the Origin System, maybe? Ugh, get out of my head.

Jerome:

Jerome: Can I level up by doing this?

Axel: A question better left for Master K'lon. Between you and me, though, I think you can. I've heard tales about the great [Wandering Hero] Arthur Samson. He was a reincarnator that passed through this very Edge City, and I've heard that he's over level 150 now.

Jerome: I'm in, then. As long as I can get this stupid System of mine fixed.

Axel: For your sake and ours, I hope so too.

P-System Log

Fantastic. More of what I already knew. I'm damaged goods, right now. Hopefully meeting this new guy will help clear things up for me. At the very least, I'll be able to try a spell. The manipulation I did with the perception dome earlier seemed to do the trick for blocking the [Assess]--if I'm lucky, the same principle will apply to casting spells.

Just as important, though, is the information Axel just gave. The Origin System was awfully stingy when it was giving me details about what I was actually supposed to be doing here, but Axel has contextualized it some.

Final boss is the Eternal King, I already knew that, but the nature of its--or his, I guess--threat is nice to know. Self-preservation is a decent motivation for Jerome to go for it, but somehow I don't think that's going to be his focus. I could practically feel him light up inside when Axel was talking about leveling up.

Speaking of which, am I supposed to be handling levels? Apparently, I'm supposed to be casting his magic, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was even more that I'm supposed to do.

This isn't going to be the last time I complain about Origin, I don't think. Could I have at least gotten some direction? If I'm able to manage his level of power, can I just jack it up to infinity and then steamroll the Eternal King and be done with the mission?

The issue is I don't know how to do any of these things. I think I can approximate a spell now that I've witnessed a couple, but I have no idea what a level up looks like.

Looks like we're approaching the village. There are buildings in my perception dome now, quaint little wooden structures that really scream "generic fantasy village". I think I can perceive what's inside of them, and it's all generic stuff like you might find in a procedurally generated home in one of the newer-gen open-world RPGs.

The warping sensation that I felt with the magic is back now. Are the items inside these buildings magic too? No, it can't be that. I'm fairly sure that a loaf of bread doesn't have any magical properties to it.

Am I causing the warps? I'm gonna try focusing on them a little more.

Focusing...

There's something there. In the warps. Almost solid, like I can reach out and touch it.

New skill unlocked: [Assess] You may identify objects and enemies around you. P-System Log Well, that's something.