Congratulations! Aether use unlocked! You are now able to make use of the mystical abilities tied to Aether manipulation, allowing you to cast and understand magic, in all of its many fantastical and myriad forms.

[Dimensional Rift] uses 215 Mana!

Mana cost is nullified by [Soul Chrysalis]!

Mana at 100/100. You are regenerating 2 Mana per 5 Seconds!

Arcturus snapped his eyes open to see sunlight above, streaming in through a layer of water under which he was submerged. His limbs flailed in a panic, and he was terrified he would die as quickly as he’d been reborn… until he suddenly remembered he could swim, in a flash of awareness.

Strength Check successful!

Intellect Check successful!

You remembered you could swim before dying of your own shocked stupidity.

He shoved himself to the surface as his subconscious snarked in his mind, chalking it up to a manifestation of his new comprehension of the world. Desperate for air, he broke the surface of the water mere seconds later, squinting against the sun streaming into the clearing he found himself in. He appeared to be in some sort of forest glade and could smell the various scents and aromas he often associated with nature hikes with his father.

Treading water, he realised he was in the middle of a large pond that was being fed by a small waterfall behind him, set against the steep incline of a plant-covered natural wall. First things first, then, was getting his way free of the water and finding civilisation.

The strength of his limbs when he started forwards, however, stunned him — momentarily catching him off-guard with each powerful stroke and kick. He felt… good. Good in a way he never had before, as if he were positively brimming with more energy than he ever had before.

He reached the edge of the pond quickly and hauled himself out of the water. In that moment, he also realised he was absolutely naked, a fact that caused him to rapidly check the area for anyone he might have missed, tensing in pre-emptive embarrassment. Only when he’d certified he truly was alone did he relax, turning back to the water.

Crystal clear blue water greeted him, drawing a raised pair of eyebrows. It was not normal to see water so… pure. In fact, he’d never seen water that wasn’t at least somewhat murky or darker in form. The pond before him, however, was almost translucent in the way someone’s swimming pool might have been. He could have seen someone at the bottom of it as easily as at the top, and there weren’t even fish or animals within it. Had it not been for the clear evidence that he was in some sort of forest, Arcturus would have sworn it was an artificial location.

Looking down, he caught sight of his reflection and froze. His features were… different, and yet for some reason he knew they were finally right. His hair was a near-perfect blend of black and platinum blond bordering white, in a mix that was both surprising and somehow natural in a way he never could have achieved artificially. It was as if he had taken both colours and balanced the mix precisely, with neither given more or less favour than the other.

His features were also different to what he remembered; symmetrical and sculpted in a way that seemed far more natural than the common asymmetrical nature he recalled. His jaw, his cheekbones, even his nose! They were as close to perfectly aligned as he’d ever seen, to say nothing of his ears, which were actually notably pointed at their tips. He experimentally touched one, prodding at the soft tissue and whistling before continuing his study of himself.

Moments later a sharp breath escaped him when he finally noticed his eyes, and Arcturus realised he didn’t need to bend down to see exactly what had changed. His eyesight wasn’t the only thing that had vastly increased; so too had his colouration. Where before he had possessed strange, but not overly rare rusty-brown irises; now instead he beheld the world with a pair of scarlet orbs that were just a shade darker than vivid. A mild case of heterochromia had even manifested with a perceptible but thin golden ring around each pupil that offered a kind of depth and intensity to his gaze he had previously lacked.

Arcturus blinked at his own reflection, nonplussed by the sheer immensity of the changes to his features — features that were, he somehow knew, finally what they always should have been.

An abrupt ringing in his ears caused him to wince, and he reflexively grabbed his head, squinting against the noise and blinking widely, jaw working as if to try to rid himself of the intrusive sound. Noises assailed him suddenly, attacking his hearing in a growing level of volume, causing him to clamp his palms over his ears. The pain abated, albeit only mildly, and he swept his eyes around the clearing. Was someone attacking him? He didn’t sense anything in the way of hostile intent, but that wasn’t always a clear indication.

Wait, sense? Since when did he sense things?

Don’t ask me, this is your mental breakdown.

Ignoring the voice (that he already regretted missing) Arcturus blinked when the ringing eased up, slowly and cautiously pulling his hands from his ears as the noises assaulting them seemed to even out. “Well, that was new…” He muttered to himself, before his eyes widened at how crisp and clear his voice had come out. He could even very nearly judge the volume he’d used to the decibel, and could tell that he was speaking in what most would consider a smooth baritone.

Of course! His ears were more sensitive, having none of the noise decay one would have experienced throughout their life. He was fully reborn, which meant none of the bodily or sensory degradation he’d experienced had remained.

Yet somehow that also didn’t fully fit. Once again he reached up, touching the tips of his ears and frowning. Better eyesight, almost supernaturally good looks, sensitive hearing, a feeling of powerful energy inside of himself, the ability to sense the world around him… His eyes widened with sudden realisation. “Holy shit. I’m a fucking elf.”

Intellect Check successful! Insight Gained: “Elven” features.

In spite of your supposed understanding that they only exist in fairy tales, you nonetheless have stumbled upon the inescapable truth that you bear a striking resemblance to a supposed Fantasy species. Are you sure you didn’t mess up that rebirth process, Arcturus?

The voice of his subconscious, apparently also his personal in-built universal guide, was ignored as he set his new senses to task and searched for the most likely avenue out of the forest. He didn’t know how deep inside he was, or whether or not the people he encountered would be hostile. He should have stipulated a friendly location when he’d willed himself to… wherever he was. Earth, it seemed, in spite of the implausibility of the pond he’d encountered. Perhaps he’d found himself in some eccentric billionaire’s private resort, that would have been just the sort of thing he’d expect to happen to him.

"Well, what now?" He muttered, before falling back on his arse as a screen appeared before him.

⚜️MAIN QUEST⚜️

QUEST NAME New World, New Life DIFFICULTY Moderate STATUS On-Going

DESCRIPTION

Following a catastrophic encounter with mysterious, otherworldly individuals at your school, you were seemingly killed and transported to an astral place known only as 'The Highest'.

There you encountered a being of extraordinary power named 'Order' who informed you of the new reality of your existence. Refusing to accept the paths forward offered by the closest being to God you will likely ever encounter, you recklessly threw yourself out of The Highest and into True Oblinion, where you were promptly torn apart by the energies of the void.

Despite this, and through methods unknown, you managed to not only preserve a shard of yourself within the void of non-existence, but to construct a Chrysalis of pure energy that served as a means to facilitate your rebirth into existence, within non-existence itself.

Following this, you were transported to what appears to be Earth - except you were issued a quest by some sort of video-game-esque status screen that defies your understanding.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE Survive

"Survive? What the hell does—?"

A prickling of his senses, or some sort of extrasensory warning flared up in Arcturus’ mind, and he spun on his heels abruptly. From one edge of the clearing, seemingly undetected until it no longer needed to remain careful, the most massive wolf he’d ever seen — in life or in fiction — came into view. Its fur was black, with two gleaming yellow eyes and a mouth large enough to swallow both his legs in one bite. He scented blood, foliage, and forest aromas on its pelt; as well as the faint odour of rotted meat from its mouth.

"Oh, come on!"

Based on its size and approach, Arcturus didn’t suspect he could chase it off simply with shouting or waving a stick. Instead, he dug into the lessons his father had taught him about unarmed combat, swallowing as he tried to think of a way not to become lunch barely an hour after his emergence into new life. If only he had a means or a way to measure the animal’s strength or speed, either by comparison to normal wolves or some sort of sheet like the one he had for himself.

At that moment, that very information abruptly appeared in the form of a large monochromatic status panel, causing him to stumble in alarm and elicit a snarl of anticipation from the watching beast.

Congratulations! Inspect (Passive, Infinite Scaling) Unlocked! You have succeeded in achieving a basic mastery of the System, and unlocked the ability to view the details of items and individuals. Due to the low level of the initial skill, however, this ability will not function on most higher forms of life! Unlock further progress in the [Inspect] skill to enable higher levels of information access.

Arcturus ignored the narration of his subconscious, quickly assessing the beast’s composition in his mind.

INFORMATION PANEL

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME Dire Wolf AGE 8 GENDER Male LEVEL 3 TITLE(S) Omega

CONDITION

ANIMA 10 HP 100 / 100 1.75 Health Per Minute (HPM) AETHER 1 MP 10 / 10 0.25 Mana Per Minute (MPM)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

Agility

Intellect

Vitality

Perception

Arcana

Willpower

Charisma

Luck

17 (14+3)

15

7

7

(10+3)

0

11

3

2

CORE SKILLS

SKILL NAME

DETAILS

Lone Hunter

(Passive)

This Dire Wolf is a lone hunter, and has survived due entirely to its ferocity and capacity for violence. It is not to be underestimated!

+3 to Strength.

Blood Hunter

(Active)

This Dire Wolf can track a target from miles away, even using days old blood! There’s no escaping this creature no matter how far you run.

+3 to Perception.

Arcturus grimaced at what his mind told him, quickly comparing his own numbers to the Dire Wolf. He was surprised by how even the match-up was, even considering the fact he was utterly naked. Swallowing back his trepidation, he widened his stance, settling into calm as he raised his hands before him and smiled — locking his eyes to the wolf’s own.

“Come get me.” He muttered, which seemed to be exactly what the beast had been waiting for. Quicker than Arcturus anticipated it charged, launching itself at him with a vicious snap of its jaws.

As it sailed towards him, Arcturus reacted instinctively, slamming one hand up to grab the wolf’s throat and another for its central mass, bending his knees and using the creature’s own momentum to toss it up and behind him, feeling the strength of his body exert itself to fling the creature into the grass nearby, narrowly missing the water. Yet even as he did so, he felt a sting as its claws grazed his shoulders, leaving a painful reminder of exactly how lethal it was even without its bite force.

Congratulations! Unarmed Combat (Passive, Level 1) Unlocked! Your life’s worth of extensive combat training has borne fruit! Several styles of martial arts and close quarters combat training have blended together into something uniquely your own, allowing you to be lethal even while buck-naked! Go get ‘em, Arcturus!

Wound suffered! You suffer 8 Damage from Dire Wolf’s claws!

Bleeding! You are suffering 1 point of Damage per 8 seconds from Open Wound!

Warning: You are Bleeding! If your Health drops to zero, you risk dying!

Health at 92/100. You are Bleeding!

Arcturus didn’t dwell on the rapid-fire alerts his subconscious was throwing at him, and instead tried to use his magic, struggling to force it out in some useful capacity against the Dire Wolf turning back to face him. “Fireball!” He shouted, making a throwing motion with his hand to absolutely no effect.

Great work Gandalf.

“Shit,” he muttered, moving back as the wolf prowled again, its golden eyes narrowed on him in consideration. He likely had only a few precious seconds left before it charged again, and he was grimly certain that the throw he had just used wouldn’t work a second time.

He had to be smart, and on top of that he was losing blood, which he knew meant that eventually the fatigue would catch up to him — likely slowing him down at a vital moment, and allowing the hulking beast to make a meal of him.

You suffer 1 Damage from Open Wound!

Health at 91/100. You are Bleeding!

“Thanks for the reminder.” Arcturus muttered angrily, wracking his brain for ideas. Perhaps he could will his aether into doing something, but what? Something told him he wasn’t going to be casting any major spells, not if the world worked the way his brain seemed to be informing him it worked.

He had a feeling his particular form of birth — or rather, rebirth — had been very far outside the norm. He was likely missing some essentials that most people would start with. In the context of a game, if that’s how he was perceiving things, he was something of a wildcard — a glitch in the natural order.

Yeah, because that isn’t crazy talk at all.

A snarl from the wolf pulled his attention back to the present, and Arcturus tensed as his foe charged, snarling at him and racing forwards. In that moment, confronted by the massive spectre of death racing for him, Arcturus emptied his mind of everything but a single overwhelming desire: Stop the wolf. His hands were thrown out before him, and every atom of his body willed that desire to become reality, hoping desperately he wasn’t committing suicide by faith.

Willpower Check successful!

Arcana Check successful!

Congratulations! [Psionicist] (Passive, Infinite Scaling) Unlocked! Through a mix of your high Willpower and above average Arcana, you have unlocked the ability to manifest your will through the strength of your mind and aether. Your Psionicist level will scale with your highest Psionicist ability!

Congratulations! [Telekinesis] (Active, Level 1) Unlocked! Your application of Psionics has unlocked [Telekinesis], allowing you to influence the physical world through manipulated force! [Telekinetic Push] unlocked! [Telekinetic Pull] unlocked! [Telekinetic Grip] unlocked! [Telekinetic Shield] unlocked! [Telekinetic Crush] unlocked!

You have cast [Telekinetic Grip] against Dire Wolf!

Mana at 90/100! Mana regeneration disabled due to combat!

Arcturus stared at the struggling form of the Dire Wolf, its golden eyes wide with panic from where it floated, barely two feet from his body. He could see the energy entrapping it, like a faintly visible bubble of energy, shimmering to his eyes and outlined in black and white intermingling veins of power. Arcturus could also feel the drain on his power, noticing the fact that just the act of holding the creature was depleting his power.

Perception Check successful!

Insight Gained: Aetheric Channelling! Certain spells have effects that continue after they are initially cast, thereby requiring a constant stream of Mana from the caster to maintain. Be careful not to drain yourself of Aether by accidentally maintaining too many channelled spells!

At your current level, [Telekinetic Grip] drains 3 Mana per 5 seconds it is channelled!

[Telekinetic Grip] drains 3 Mana!

Mana at 87/100! Mana regeneration disabled due to combat!

You suffer 1 Damage from Open Wound!

Health at 90/100. You are Bleeding!

Arcturus frowned at the wolf, glancing first to the water, then to the area around him, before looking back to it. A quick mental rewind and he recalled what he had unlocked. He was at that moment sustaining Telekinetic Grip, but Telekinetic Crush would be more useful. Careful not to dispel the grip on the frozen beast, Arcturus focussed his mind, narrowing his eyes and using his magic to attempt to crush the Dire Wolf.

[Telekinetic Crush] drains 15 Mana!

[Telekinetic Grip] drains 3 Mana!

Mana at 69/100! Mana regeneration disabled due to combat!

Even as the wolf compressed slightly, Arcturus immediately released the spell, releasing a ragged breath at the sudden drop in his mana levels. He mentally kicked himself, realising his error: His enemy was level 3, and his [Telekinesis] was level 1.

Any kind of ability outside of simply holding it in place was bound to rapidly drain his mana reserves. He had to think tactically and avoid trying to brute force the situation. With that thought in mind, he instead focussed on the creature’s throat and narrowed his eyes, focusing his Willpower and Aether against the monster’s windpipe.

[Telekinetic Crush] drains 5 Mana!

Arcturus grimaced, arms still raised to hold the creature in place as he felt it starting to struggle against its bindings, his eyes never moving from where they were locked on its throat. Still it struggled, and this time more fiercely, its massive body desperately fighting against the invisible grip holding it in place, attempting to shatter his hold as it felt its throat beginning to give way.

Willpower Check successful! Dire Wolf fails to break [Telekinetic Grip]!

[Telekinetic Grip] drains 8 Mana!

[Telekinetic Crush] drains 5 Mana!

Mana at 56/100! Mana regeneration disabled due to combat!

Arcturus ignored the voice in his head, maintaining his [Telekinetic Crush]. The beast’s eyes bulged in rage and terror as its windpipe closed, and a moment later it spasmed within his telekinetic hold. It was this sudden and massive surge of movement that drew his eyes — and shattered his concentration, destroying the bindings holding it in the process. The backlash hit him like a hammer blow, and Arcturus dropped to his knees, panting heavily at the psychic force that hammered his brain.

Willpower Check unsuccessful!

[Telekinetic Grip] shattered!

[Telekinetic Crush] shattered!

You suffer 14 Damage from Psychic backlash!

You suffer 1 Damage from Open Wound!

Health at 85/100. You are Bleeding!

Dire Wolf suffers 78 Damage from Crushed Trachea!

Dire Wolf is Suffocating for 7 Damage every 3 seconds!

Arcturus looked up to where the beast lay spasming on the ground, its yellow eyes rolled into its head as its body fought for life against the lack of oxygen in its lungs. He could see it dying, thanks to the enigmatic panels that surrounded the creature. He could see its Health — its life force — ticking down with inevitable surety.

Strangely, he also knew with utter clarity that he was only perceiving the universe that way. Something had changed in his essence when he’d returned from True Oblivion, something that allowed him to view the fabric of reality in a way that allowed him to quantify it as if he were reading the source code of the cosmos.

Dire Wolf suffers 7 Damage from Suffocation!

His eyes remained fixed on the wolf as it died, and Arcturus reached out a hand, placing it upon the creature’s massive flank. His eyes closed and he focused on the creature’s breathing as he watched its numbers falling in his mind. In spite of the fact the creature had tried to kill him, Arcturus was stabbed by guilt — and by regret.

In truth it was not the wolf’s fault that he had landed in its hunting ground, and while he was certainly not sorry for living through the contest, he wished he had managed to find some way of resolving the altercation without ending the creature’s life.

Dire Wolf suffers 7 Damage from Suffocation!

You suffer 1 Damage from Open Wound!

Health at 84/100. You are Bleeding!

The Wolf’s spasms grew far less common and the heartbeat thudding in its massive body started to fade. Arcturus moved forwards, resting his head against its torso and listening. He forced himself to listen, forced himself to accept the cost of his own thoughtlessness.

Whether or not he had been attacked, whether or not the creature had sought his death, he had been taught and raised to understand that the advantage of humanity was the ability to think beyond the capacity of other creatures. He was the apex predator, irrelevant of any animal’s natural weapons, and this death — this needless loss of life — was on his head.

“I’m sorry...” he said bitterly.

Dire Wolf suffers 7 Damage from Suffocation!

Dire Wolf dies!

Arcturus found himself surprised by the need to hold back tears, throat tight with emotion as the animal shuddered one last time and fell still. It didn’t help that he hated, hated the idea of an animal in pain… as illogical as it was to feel such a way about a massive creature like the one before him. He squeezed his eyes shut more tightly and fought against the desire to weep — not just for the wolf, but for the entire circumstance of his current existence.

For being naked and alone in a strange place, for suffering through the horror and agony, and crushing helplessness of knowing he was being unmade on a metaphysical level in True Oblivion. For meeting Order and being horribly disappointed, and having to claw his way back into existence by the sheer immutable power of his own will to see his friends again.

Combat concluded! Regeneration enabled!

Mana at 58/100. You are regenerating 2 Mana per 5 seconds!

Health at 83/100. You are Bleeding!

Dire Wolf’s Essence captured! You have gained experience!

Arcturus’ eyes snapped open at the last revelation.

Congratulations, you have reached [Level 2]!

Arcturus spasmed, and then released a piercing, throat-rending scream while white and black energy coruscated across his body, plunging him into unconsciousness as magically fuelled agony ripped through his mortal coil. Reality faded away into indescribable agony.