BEGINNINGS

‘Where am I?’

It was pitch black and even if the spirit could see, doubtless it would have mattered. Floating in space, it felt rather disconcerted but couldn’t figure out why. Soon a popping sound echoed through the pitch blackness and a wave of new stimuli flooded in. It felt...cold. It still couldn’t see anything, but the soundless space filled its hearing with a dull invisible thumping that disconcerted it. It should be able to smell, hear, see, and taste; but it went without such senses. It could only feel cold...

With growing fear it found that it had no memories at all yet it knew a few of these concepts. A sudden wave of feeling overcame the spirit and obscured all thoughts of the frigid space. Instead it felt as if it were on fire. Almost burning in the heat that went away as quickly as it came. As the spirit contemplated the pain it had felt, a ‘Voice’ intruded on its thoughts.

“Greetings young one. Welcome to my world! Dramatic enough? Oh well. Lets see... NPC_file_CM00H01. Ah, one of the combat programs, and a new version too.

“Excellent! Creating shopkeepers and the like was starting to bore me and making warriors from a base is even worse. I mean I need to create stats, storyline, equips, etc… Why they give a program like you after all this time makes me wonder though. Oh well.”

The loud voice barely fazed the spirit but it still caught all of the spirit’s attention. The spirit started to wonder what it was and why it was ranting until it figured the presence would say it anyways.

“Well then. Let us start the process.”

Please choose a race and gender.

Race and gender? The spirit wondered why it had to choose when it was pretty sure that everything was already assigned before hand. It also didn’t know what were the races or even the genders so it tried to ask a question. It found a new problem though, as it couldn’t figure out how to speak.

Trying to figure out what to do, the spirit let out a feeling of confusion.

“Just choose. Or leave the choice to me. It was definitely faster when I did it all myself, even if it was boring...”

There seemed to be some exasperation from the voice but the spirit didn’t understand or care at the moment. Right now it was better to get out of this dead space and it couldn’t be quick if it had to do everything itself. The spirit was restless and hoped that the feeling from before did not return.

The spirit sent out a feeling of compliance and hoped that it would work.

“Ha ha… well now...

“Since you are a combat type and the first program I’ll be personally creating, I’ll have to get my A-game on. I see male has already been set. And… File H01, can I do all of your options? I really want to get this over with…”

Again the spirit sent out a feeling of compliance and soon felt the ‘Voice’ continue in glee.

“Hrm. Male. Also being Human is a must for the first thing I make. As a baby he will start off weaker than the other races but I guess I can change his mature look in return.

“Hmmm, thin but muscular is good. Not too good looking but… yes! Above average which is still very dependable and likable. Good things in a warrior.

“A smidgen of magical talent… whoops? Oh well... I can’t change his programming but I can tweak the behaviour of his parents.

“And for his name...Damien? No I always think that’s a proper evil person’s name. Oh! Michael, since the name is rather synonymous with ‘good’. And…. and…….. and………”

The spirit was kind of in shock at the excitement in the voice but decided that its lack of knowledge would have been bad to make decisions with. Ignoring the intense voice, which was rather difficult, the spirit managed to just take in the information without listening. The spirit decided to analyze what had been stated from the voice and listed several points in its head.

First was that its creation would not be done by itself. Instead it gave the ‘Voice’ all the choices and didn’t really think it was a bad idea. Second was that the spirit was called ‘new’ by the ‘Voice’. Whether this was true or not remained to be seen, but it couldn’t check it out now. Third was its future. Becoming a warrior with some magic seemed...good? The spirit really had nothing to compare it with so it couldn’t really say with confidence. At least it would have nice parents...

How it managed to do so was a mystery but the spirit didn’t ponder much on anything at the moment. After the spirit was finish with its analysis it noticed a few boxes in front of it . Or in front of its essence...

Due to intense concentration against all that noise, you have gained the stat ‘Concentration’. +10 to Concentration.

Due to being quiet beside a powerful being, you have gained the skill ‘Stealth’.

Stealth. Beginner level 0. (75%). Active and Passive Skill[p=left]Allows you to hide in the shadows or even in plain sight, depending on the level of the skill. Will level up based on the actions you do and when you use the skill.

Use requires 50 mana/minute.[/p]

Due to being close to a powerful being, you have gained the skill ‘Willpower’. +10 to Willpower.

Due to analyzing the situation when others would not have, you have been granted the subskill ‘Instant Analyzation’.

Instant Analyzation. Beginner level 0. (72%). Active Skill[p=left]Allows for analysis of the situation, monsters and their actions, and of weapons in a fraction of the time.

Depending on how quickly you wish to cram the information in, more mana is needed to do so.[/p]

These boxes that appeared in front of the spirit were erased one at a time as he completed and understood each of them. More to think about it seems. It could see the benefits of all the skills and how to use them all...kind of. It still couldn’t remember anything and -

Sharp pain went through the spirit again and it would have groaned if it could. It actually may have because the voice directed its attention back to it.

“Done! Well young program, time for your adventure to start! No, no peeking. You said I could choose and I choose to keep all of this as a surprise.

“No worries though, since I see you have no idea about your future I will allow this scene to stay as one of you memories. I’ll stop the system from deleting whatever you got just now so good luck!”

You are Male.

You are Human.

Loading body structure.

Loading file.

Merging body structure and AI file.

Erasing memories. Error in Memory Erasure process. Memory Erasure process has been forcefully overridden.

Resetting all stats. Error in Stat Resetting. Stat Resetting has been forcefully overridden.

Resetting all skill. Error in Skill Resetting. Skill Resetting has been forcefully overridden.

Welcome to ‘Gaia’

Michael was aware. Compact and extremely uncomfortable, Michael struggled in the hands that were handling him roughly. Blinking his teared up eyes, he noticed various things about his surroundings. One was a gasping woman looking at him with love. She looked rather frail and pale but Michael was instinctively already stretching his arm towards his mother, desperate for her touch. He didn’t understand the feeling but he was sure that she wouldn’t hurt him.

Michael was also aware of a man beside the woman. He was rather large, much too large as he loomed over both Michael and his mother. His face was hard and had lines across his cheeks and one almost hitting an eye. He didn’t look threatening though, and he looked lovingly at Michael.

Looking up, Michael saw another woman’s face. This face was old and the wrinkles were strange to him and he couldn’t even see her eyes. She was looking at the man without any regard for him. What caught Michael’s eye was a metallic necklace with a bright red bauble in the center. It swung back and forth and -

“It’s a boy!”

A squeal from out of sight made Michael aware that he was distracting himself with bright and shiny things. Michael decided to try out ‘Instant Analyzation’ from his time with the voice and focused on the name of the skill. He managed to pack only a bit of time into a second before it left him gasping. He felt quite a bit of pain in his head and tears came unbidden to his eyes. He desperately tried to contain the emotions he felt.

“I-is there something wrong with him!?!”

‘Gah, she noticed.’

The shrill scream alerted Michael to her notice and he wished he had been less outright about his pain. Michael’s mother was extremely worried that her baby who, healthy at first glance, was all of a sudden gasping for air and sweating everywhere. Even the man was worried and he was looking at someone behind Michael and old lady.

“There shouldn’t be anything wrong with him. Give him to me.”

A hand suddenly took Michael away from his mother. Frail, old, wrinkly, and yet strong if you were to actually look at him properly. Those would be the best description for the face Michael was all of a sudden facing. He was probably much older than the old lady and gave a kindly smile to the very small Michael.

As Michael was checked over by the old man, Michael started to calm himself. When he was back to a normal state the old man looked Michael straight in the eye and Michael decided to stop his intense concentration. The old man only saw a distracted baby and nothing entirely wrong with it. So he raised a finger and poked him in the chest.

“Status check!”

Michael’s StatusAge0RaceHumanClass-Guild-Fame0Infamy-Health50Mana1/50

Status[p=left]Normal[/p]

Michael jumped at the loud noise and as the old man looked blankly at Michael, a box appeared in front of him. This time however, Michael couldn’t read what it said. He figured the old man was looking at the same box and was the reason it appeared.

“There is nothing wrong with the boy. His ‘Condition’ is normal. His Mana is a little low though, but it is recovering with no problems.”

Michael heard a sigh behind him. All of a sudden Michael was exhausted. Before his eyes rapidly fell he felt soft hands carry him. He also noticed a few boxes in front of him…

In ‘Gaia’ a child’s birth isn’t a highly celebrated event. Due to the diligent forces of the Guilds and Churches in the cities, rarely has a child ever died during their birth. Due to the lack of problems, the birthday of a child is usually just celebrated by the parents before being marked down by the Church of Information.

The only important events a child would participate in is when they reach the age of 10 and the age of 20. After that they are allowed to decide on the path their future will take.

The first couple of weeks went quickly for Michael as he was taken care of, mainly by the young woman who he later found out was his Mother. The man that was constantly beside her was actually younger than he previously thought but the rough look he had made him look older. He was Michael’s Father and held Michael like he was made out of thin porcelain. This caused the woman to say something to him and laugh, but Michael still didn’t understand what they said yet.

“You don’t need to hold him like that. He may be small but he can handle a little squeezing here and there.”

“Hrm…”

Even in those awkward hands though, Michael was content. He knew that he was being treated as such because his Father was afraid to hurt him so he didn’t complain too much about it. Looking up at the big man, Michael made a few sounds and awkwardly tried to pet his Father’s nose.

A wide grin split the man’s face and he brought Michael closer. Soon their foreheads touched and Michael could feel the warm, almost hot touch of the older man. It was a comfortable touch and Michael felt safe when he was so close to him.

Drowsiness affected Michael once again but before his eyes fully closed he could almost see a warm glow surrounding the three of them.

Although Michael mainly saw his parents taking care of him, he occasionally saw strangers around as well. His Mother changed him, bathed him, fed him, and rocked him to sleep. She did everything as she raised him and Michael could feel the tie between them growing closer. His Father was also constantly around and his warm presence made Michael smile quite a few times.

The strangers he saw though were mainly ignored. They were the ones who took the dirty cloth when he got changed, or brought the food during his meals. There was always a person in the background and Michael started to wonder who or what they were. His family had a happy atmosphere but he felt it was a little ruined when he saw the extra person.

After a month passed, Michael was given a separate room from his parents and slept alone in the crib for the first time. He was uncomfortable without the warm feeling of his parents, but for some reason he slept quickly once he settled down.

His dreams were chaotic and wild.Colors flashed and pictures moved through but he didn’t understand any of it. Unknown emotions swirled and eddied with the dreams but he didn’t know what any of them were or meant. So he slept. Slept and wallowed in the chaotic dreams.

Over the next few months, Michael despaired at his situation. He already noticed that he was different from other children when he was introduced to several playmates a month after he slept in the new room.

Soon after though, his parents decided he needed a few playmates so they asked around town and invited several children around Michael’s age to come and play with him. Soon enough this became a weekly practice that Michael felt was useless.

His ‘peers’ were easily distracted by small things and Michael had taken over the role of leader of his new pack. The group consisted of three other boys that seemed to like playing with dirty stuff like mud, bodily fluid, garbage and the like. Michael wondered where they even managed to acquire all that since the babies never left their mother’s arms and couldn’t even travel a good distance. Yet they always had something smelly or slimey in their hands and Michael kept well away. The two girls followed the boys too but they played with each other more than with the others. They mainly sat across from each other and lightly smacked each other’s hands in a rough kind of game.

All five of the babies stared at whatever Michael did though, since they also noticed he was different. For example, when Michael stared at them, the babies usually stared back and this went on until something attracted the baby’s notice. None of them could keep up the staring for long and for some reason this built up a system that meant Michael would lead them all to do something. When a baby cried, but Michael didn’t, the others usually didn’t either and the lone baby usually stopped too. When Michael cried, the other five immediately took up the howl and the effect was immediate attention from the adults. Usually he did this when he noticed more than one baby with a smelly aura around them. He was pretty sure he saw the color green wafting around them.

Simply put, Michael was bored. He almost wished the ‘Voice’ was back so that he could ask for a memory wipe in order to become as baby-like as his posse. The things that could have interested him, the books around the house, plants and alchemical equipment his mother kept, and weapons both his parents had were all placed away from him. He understood that babies like his friends would be in danger with those items but he couldn’t help but dislike the ‘Voice’ for his bad luck.

After the past few months of just squirming on the spot with his group, Michael decided to change his personal mode of transportation. Basically all he could do was roll all over the ground or sit up so he couldn’t get anywhere fast. When he didn’t pay attention, some of the boys sneaked up on him and spread brown smears across his shirt and face which meant he had to go around with that smell for hours before help could arrive. The first time that happened, he cried and got the attention needed to change, but when he heard a comment about how dirty he was he started to keep quiet out of a form of embarrassment and maybe pride. He wasn’t the one who spread it but he was the one being talked about. So he kept shut until the end and dragged out the time with the smell. Oh yes, he could now understand what everyone was saying, even if he had no idea how to do it himself.

Changing his mode of transportation required some thought though, and Michael examined the room he was in. Michael was in one of the various large empty rooms in the house, specifically the baby playing room. Some of the other rooms included an Alchemy room, Weapon’s and training room, Crafting room, Cooking room, bedrooms, living room, and even a baby changing room. He had already been given the Grand Tour from his ecstatic Father. From the amount of time it took for his Father to finish, Michael decided that it was a rather large house.

In the baby playing room there was a large fenced area in the middle of the room. Not very high, it was still tall enough to keep babies from going over, especially when said babies couldn’t even crawl. It was, however, quite useful for what he needed. The distance though… sighing, Michael kept the target in sight and started moving. He used a foot to kick a side of his body over and the kick allowed his body to roll towards where he wanted.

Michael rolled his way over to the fence very slowly and finally grabbed a part of it. Pulling himself up was a painful experience for his unaccustomed arms and he shook from the effort. Soon though, he managed to pull most of himself up so he started to focus on moving his inactive feet. Pulling his legs properly under him, Michael tried to steady himself on his two legs like he had seen the older ones do. His baby posse were all staring at Michael and wondering about what he was doing.

You have gained +1 Strength

You have gained +1 Willpower

You have gained +1 Concentration

Michael tried to ignore the boxes floating in front of him, since he couldn’t read it, as he kept trying to stabilize himself. It seemed he did lose the ability to read when he was born, and now those boxes appeared with gibberish in them. He did understand that the last gibberish +1 box appeared more often than not and he wondered whether it was a good thing or a bad thing… NO, keep your concentration on the goal!

You have gained +1 Concentration

Tsk. When his legs stopped wobbling, Michael decided to test his limits. He gradually let go of the fence but grabbed it when he was about to fall over. After repeating this a couple more times he succeeded in standing upright without the need of the fence. By this time there was another dozen boxes in front of him but he just ignored them and they went away. Tired at what he had done, he grabbed the fence once more and slid down to the ground. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Over the next couple weeks Michael kept testing out trying to stand upright for as long as he could. He also learned to crawl finally but since the other 5 babies also did it; he wasn’t really impressed. Still he was able to stand upright easily after his ‘training’. The boxes had stopped the day after he tried again so he pretty much forgot about them.

After he could stand up and sit down without the help of the fence, Michael decided to tackle the next challenge. Walking. His legs had strengthened a bit after all the moving about and he could even control them to a greater extent. He kept an image of an adult moving and tried out the movements himself.

This time when he stood up and tried to move a leg forward he fell face first to the ground. While he was in pain and about to cry, the other staring babies burst into laughter which caused Michael’s pain to change to determination. A glare just threw them into new bouts of laughter and Michael got embarrassed all over again. For the next few days Michael just sat wherever he was placed in the pen and thought of different ways to tackle this problem.

When he finally thought of a plan, Michael crawled over to the fence once more. He stood up quickly and then proceeded to walk along the fence slowly, in order to get the feel of each step. His hands were constantly on the fence and guided him along the entire ring. As a handhold it was sufficient enough for the task and he got the movements down soon enough. Another box appeared in front of him…

You have gained +3 Wisdom

Which he ignored. Another few days of this and he could walk without the support.

***

When he could finally walk he sped it up a little at a time. Before another week was done, Michael was able to run around the fenced area easily. After a few days of doing so, another box appeared and was promptly ignored.

You have gained +2 Agility

When the various parents came to pick up their children and Michael’s mother was speaking to them, Michael decided to show off. As the adults were speaking Michael slowly pushed himself off the ground and the voices around him slowly died out. After reaching his full height, Michael then calmly walked to the fence. He then ran around the area and chortled at the open mouths of all the parents. He should have expected it though. He was only 7 months old yet was already running. He then thought up something on the spot.

Michael stopped in front of his mother and looked her in the eye.

“M-m-mama”

It was a little difficult but Michael had been mouthing various phrases that the mothers were trying to get the babies to say. He understood that the word he spoke should be directed at his mother, so he spoke it and wondered what the reaction would be. His mother started to tear up, and when she finally calmed down she ran out of the room and shouted for his father.

“Aaron! AARON! Michael just spoke! HE CALLED ME MAMA!”

The other mothers were still holding their children yet they looked Michael with an expression Michael didn’t understand at the time. They also seemed to look between Michael who was standing up and staring at them and their own children who were still drooling a bit and digging for jewels. The maid who had been behind his mother, then went towards Michael and picked him up. She was one of the three maids in the household and he was familiar with them enough that he didn’t resist the unfamiliar arms.

Due to gaining the attention of adults at such a young age, you have gained the stat ‘Charisma’. +10 to Charisma.

You have gained the Title: Target of Envy. Because this is your first Title the stats, rewards, and penalties for this title has been doubled. ‘Target of Envy’ title has been automatically equipped.

Target of Envy

[p=left]Due to your advanced skills in life compared to your compatriots, you are the target of envy from others.

You will be less forgettable but will also gain more animosity from anyone you ignore.

+20 to Charisma.

+20 to Agility.

+10 to Strength.

+10 to Vitality.

-100 Fame.

People who do not like you will start to spread false tales about you and increase your infamy.[/p]

Michael just ignored the rather large boxes that appeared and fell asleep as soon as he was placed in his crib.

Staring into a blue crystal ball, Aaron leaned across his desk to smile at Michael’s antics. He had noticed Michael’s feelings about the other babies but since he didn’t see anything wrong with it he just ignored it most of the time. The problem came when Michael acted oddly. Climbing on his feet and trying to walk? Why and how did Michael figure out that? Aaron had been around enough toddlers to know that walking was a gradual practice that takes longer than what Michael went through.

What Aaron was more interested in though was the trial and error that Michael went. When he failed at walking the first time, he just sat there and seemed to ponder something. Indeed, his eyebrows furrowed and he even crossed his arms in a look of determined focus. it was all Aaron could do not to rush upstairs and crush Michael in a hug. Michael just looked too cute at that moment.

Once Michael stopped his pondering he immediately went back to the fence and started walking again. This time he succeeded in properly walking and Aaron was amazed at what his son had come up with. Michael soon ran and Aaron couldn’t help but smile in pride. He was a little worried though since Michael did not seem to be a run of the mill child.

Laughing at the faces of the other mothers, Aaron heard his wife’s shout and slowly stood up to go to her. He turned off the crystal with a word and met Celia at the door upstairs. As he gently coaxed her story out, Aaron secretly formed a schedule for his son, and he also hoped he wouldn’t have to get his own teacher involved unless it was necessary for his potential…

The first and second years passed with barely a notice as Michael got accustomed to his growing body. After climbing over the fence several times and wandering around the house unsupervised, his parents directed a maid to keep an eye on him and not get him into any trouble. A maid was always assigned to him and he soon got to know their names and positions.

The most common maid assigned to Michael was Lucy. Short and thin, Lucy was the smallest of them and also the nicest. She was generally tasked to take care of Michael because she was the midnight Maid and took care of the house all through the night. How she could go with a lack of sleep was quite unbelievable to Michael who still took 13-18 hour naps.

Happy to help and talkative, Lucy was the best source for Michael to get a better hold of the language. He still didn’t know to how read but she read different books for him every time and he would memorized the words, even if he couldn’t see the writing. He would figure it out later.

Still stiffening at being carried by others - but getting used to it - Michael was carried up and down the stairs he approached. There were only a few times he would have the privacy to crawl on them as his legs were still way too short for him to properly climb stairs, and he could only reach the upper floors when he had a lot of time.

The second floor was the main study area. There were three rooms given over to libraries and the amounts of books were staggering. Michael had been trying to practise reading but he couldn’t make heads or tails of the books. It was considerably harder to teach oneself to read their first language but it got more difficult when the books were in more than one language. Even when he tried to compare the written words with Lucy’s spoken words, he still got jumbled up from the act.

One day his Mother walked in him as he attempted to read a book that was supposedly titled ‘Green Oysters and Chicken’.

“Michael, do you want to play outside with your friends or stay inside and study?”

Friends? Michael was a little confused at the word since he didn’t have anyone close enough to call a friend. Maybe she meant those babies that hung around him?

“Study?”

“I’ll teach you my hobby of Alchemy and Herbalism. With those two you can learn how to make potions - drinks that people can use to heal themselves with.”

Michael nodded at the information and stayed silent for a few moments. He soon lifted his head and gave his answer.

“I’ll try studying then.”

With that simple sentence, Michael solidified his future. He didn’t think he needed any reason to go outside at the moment and he really wanted to practice this reading that everyone else could do. Studying seemed much more fun though and Michael hoped he would be able to read soon.

Being led out of the reading room, Michael entered the Alchemy room on the same floor and sat down on one of the chairs behind a table. The room was filled with a warm heat and the smell was full of different herbs and spices. The room was a cramped space with two tables, one filled with different herbs. The table Michael sat on was filled with books in and some vials of dark red or blue liquid.

Michael’s first lesson was to read the fundamentals of Alchemy. First though, was learning how to read.

“Umm, I don’t know how to read.”

Michael’s tone of voice was mixed with some pleading and frustration. He had thought he could teach himself to read but he didn’t even know where to start. Hearing Michael’s admittance, his Mother looked at him for a bit. Arms cross with a finger tapping her cheek, his Mother stared at him for about a minute before turning around and leaving the room. In a short while she came back with a gray thin book.

“Place your hand on the book and say ‘Learn’. When you have done it correctly you should know.”

How can anyone do that incorrectly?

Michael erased his dissatisfaction at being treated like a baby again. His mother was looking down on him with a soft but pleased smile and he decided he didn’t need to argue with her. Besides, he knew how ineffective a baby arguing was. Michael placed his hand on the book and shouted - with some minor satisfaction -

“Learn”.

The book glowed under his hand and Michael’s satisfied smile was replaced with a look of worry. The shock he felt from the light made him nearly drop the book but by focusing he was able to hold onto it. A second shock came when the book disintegrated into small lights and rushed towards him in a rush. Hands closed, the light entered him and he felt his head tightening. Information surged into his mind and he saw boxes appearing in front of him with legible words.

You have gained the skill ‘Language Comprehension’

You have gained comprehension of the language “Human”. ‘Language Comprehension’ has gained experience. ‘Language Comprehension’ has leveled up.

Language Comprehension. Level 1 (0%). Passive Skill[p=left]You are able to learn various languages as you listen and examine words from it. At the same time, this skill will grant the ability to read and write in that language more quickly.

5% quicker language acquirement for every level of ‘Language Comprehension’.

Languages available:

Human (100%)[/p]

“Ohhh my baby is so excellent. Never leaves me disappointed.”

Michael’s mother was buoyant with pride at Michael’s ‘accomplishment’. She grabbed Michael and gave him a tight squeeze as he stared at the boxes. He asked his question when she finally let go of him.

“Mama, what are these boxes that appear in front of me?”

As the boxes disappeared, Michael’s mother gave another adoring look at Michael and began to explain. Her tone took on a deep meaning and the words sounded practiced. Her expression said she had been waiting for this question.

“In the past, all of the races in Gaia were born in different ways. They were also all ignorant of themselves and their strengths, and this caused destruction when some of the races overused their gifts. Upon witnessing this the all-Goddess, Janira, gave the sentient races a way for them to keep track of their growth. These boxes in midair tell us what we have gained when we accomplish various tasks.

“If you want to see all of your stats, just say ‘Show Status’ to see your own limits and ‘Show Skills’ to see what you have properly learned. There are other ways to get more information but those two are what everyone can make do with. If you want to know more, go to the church of information and ask them. Not now though. Now we are going to start studying.”

Michael decided to not use those two phrases till he was alone and instead to start paying attention to his Mother’s lessons.

First thing he was supposed to do was to read the books on alchemy and herbalism. ‘Alchemy’ was a branch of Crafting that focused on combining different materials to create a beneficial or dangerous substance. In general terms, Alchemy focused more on combining different herbs and liquids to create Potions or Poisons and an Alchemist was usually well respected for doing so. These Alchemists usually had a sub-skill ‘Herbology’ which allowed them to take aspects of plants, combine them, and then form a proper liquid from it.

Some other kinds of alchemists though did different things. Some had the ‘Metallurgy’ sub-skill as well and hoped to create a specific Alchemical potion that will be able to transmute lower grade ores into a higher grade version. These usually end in failure but the lure of easy gold meant that many people would continue to walk this hopeless path.

Others were Druids who used Alchemy to strengthen the plants and aspects of nature. Through the use of potions, plants would be able to grow strong and recover injuries while poisons could be used to kill off parasitic plants. Although Druids may seem good, many Druids actually created potions that turns most Plants sentient, from which the Druids then died when their army of plants betrayed them. These plants then become a dangerous threat to the local wildlife such that they are stated as monsters and are hunted down by everyone. They also give quite rare ‘sentient plant’ materials as well. It is obviously illegal to make a ‘sentient plant’ farm.

Herbology was a more general subject and involved intense knowledge of a large variety of plants. Michael was given a general encyclopedia of plants that detailed their visual appearance, general environment they could be found in, and distinct taste. Michael also learned how to properly water and care for different plants so that he would be able to do so when he could.

Taking care of plants is much easier than trying to search the wild for a specific plant so many Herbologists usually had small grove of plants. Michael’s Mother only had five plants that he could see and the only real useful one was the Mint plant that she used as a cooking ingredient. The others seemed normal and unimportant.

Michael was only 2 years old at the time but he gorged on the many books he was given and mentally made a list of the various plants and liquids he would be using. He categorized everything in his mind, and in the various groupings he sorted them all based off their effective uses and aspects. For example the Mint plant was placed in the General Plant grouping and had good uses in cooking and alchemy as it had the aspect of improving taste greatly.

By the time the day ended, Michael had a small repertoire of plants that he mentally memorized. His mind was absorbent due to his young age and being strangely mature. His Mother didn’t suspect a thing though and she quizzed him lightly before the day ended. After another crushing hug, Michael was led by Lucy to his room to sleep. Michael had been able to acquire the Alchemy and Herbology skills and was happy enough in the end.

After studying and learning, you have gained the skill ‘Alchemy’

You have gained +7 to wisdom and intelligence from learning ‘Alchemy’

After studying and learning, you have gained the skill ‘Herbology’

You have gained +5 to wisdom and intelligence from learning ‘Herbology’

Alchemy. Beginner level 0. (23%) Active skill[p=left]This skill allows for you to be able to create healing and poisonous concoctions. There is also a rumor that the skill can create potions with incredible enchantments but such knowledge is unavailable at this time.

Healing potions are 5% more effective.

Poisons last 5% longer.[/p]

Herbology. Beginner level 0. (17%) Passive skill[p=left]This skill allows for you to analyze the various properties of plants and come up with an estimate of its uses and effectiveness. At higher levels you may even be able to create new potions just by glancing at the plant and thinking of its uses.

Can see 1 property of a plant.

Potions and poisons are 2% more effective.[/p]

Initially shocked at the speed he was going, Michael was told the various rankings of skills in the world. He was told that there were six ranks of skills a person would be able to gain. Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced - Expert - Master - God. He was kind of shocked at the God rank but was told it was really rare to see a person reach that high. Legend tells of only 10 god ranked people yet there were hundreds of skills and millions of people. Simple math tells the impossibility of gaining that rank. Of course, Michael had no notion of math yet so he didn’t know. His mother’s face was enough to tell him how rare it was to get a God ranked skill.

Lucy tucked Michael into bed and closed the door of his small room. He could still hear everything though as he laid in his bed and reviewed what he had learned. With the soft sweeping of Lucy’s broom, Michael fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

StatusNameMichaelAge2Level1Class-Fame0-100Infamy0TitleTarget of EnvyGuild-Health230Mana270Stamina250

Strength17 + 10Dexterity13Vitality13 + 10Intelligence23Wisdom28Mana Control5Critical Chance0.01%Agility19 + 20Concentration31Willpower13Charisma15 + 20

[p=left]Special Skills and bonuses:

‘Target of Envy’ grants:

+20 to Charisma.

+20 to Agility.

+10 to Strength.

+10 to Vitality.

-100 Fame.[/p]

SkillsStealthBeginner level 0. (57%). Active and Passive skillInstant AnalyzationBeginner level 0. (40%) Active skillLanguage ComprehensionBeginner Level 1. (0%) Passive skillHerbologyBeginner level 0. (67%) Passive skillAlchemyBeginner level 0. (23%) Active skill

AffinitiesFire1Water1Earth1Wind1Light2Dark2Nature5

Michael now has:

A renowned potion making teacher

Da Prologue that no one seems to read...Have you met the Kanes?

So, finished up to chapter 7 of the NPC revamp. Now its my decision to either upload on a weekly basis or twice a week.

Chapter 1 is pretty weak since its mainly done from the original. The other chapters barely touch the original and I feel they are much better in terms of quality and story.

Oh well, comment and post. Also vote so I can get back in the top 50! This has been my blatant advertisement.