Evan felt a chill going down his body, as a breeze passed by. It rushed passed the curves of his newfound self, and by feeling said breeze he could kind of make out the shape of his body, Satan's magnum opus: an EGG.

An...... EGG? What did I do to deserve this Satan? Why do you hate me? How am I supposed to survive in a fantasy world as an egg? Wait a minute... can I hatch into a dragon? But my species said armorling on my status table....

He opened up his status tab again, and decided to look through his different stats and skills.

Alright, so a few things I already know, one: I'm a species known as 'cursed armorling' and I'm level 1. That knowledge doesn't help me one bit... Two: I have no alignment, creations or blessing but I do have the cursed status. It does say'dunngeon spawn' though. Maybe I'm in a dungeon. That would be nice, no people to laugh at my egg-shaped greatness. The confusion is starting to go away I think, since the percentage is going down (confusion(20% ->10%). I guess I'm pretty adaptable. Either that or geting to confusion(100%) is really difficult.

Three: My stats seem pretty horrendous. None of my stats even reached the number 1. I wonder what the stat points are based on. What creature has 1 in every stat? Humans?

All of a sudden a blue window pops up, the same way the status window appeared.

Congratulations: You've discovered your status!

All stats are based off off the extinct humanoid race Armaci.

Each stat point (1) refers to the average stat of a fully grown Armaci,

with no skills, class or added stats in any way.

In comparison: the average human has an average stat of 0.8 in each category. This without added stats, skills or class.

Satan are you listening in on my thoughts? Armaci huh... I wonder if I could be their king....probably gotta get stronger first though. Plus being king of an extinct race isn't exactly impressive. Who would serve me?

My royal self needs apt servants, to represent me. Fossils won't get the job done.

Anyways, I wonder if I can ask the system for more information about my stats... System, what does every stat do?

Once again, a blue window pops up.

Each stat-category empowers different facets of your being and your power.

Furthermore; most skills and powers are locked behind a stat and skill(lvl) requirement, along with a general (lvl) requirement.

Strength:

Increases physical damage of all neutral attacks and skill-attacks. Increases carry weight. Increases effectiveness of neutral defense and skill-defense.

Strength not only empowers one's self, but also one's allies. ~ Veroq gongba, High-general of the Atrapsis empire on the Mitro continent.(West continent).

Agility:

Increases attack speed of all neutral attacks and skill-attacks. Increases movement speed. Decreases cooldown on all attacks.

I find that a high agility stat allows you to weave in and out of battle, practically making you immortal. ~Ferin Dermosa, most infamous thief on the Baro continent(East continent).

Dexterity:

Increases effectiveness of all attacks. Inreases critical-hit rate of all neutral attacks and skill-attacks. Improves crafting skill and crafting speed. Improves crafting insight.

Many people have failed me throughout the years.... but my hands, my hammer and my mind... they've never failed me. ~Drogbuk wineslear ~Royal head-smith of the dwarven empire Dorok(northern continent).

Intelligence:

Increases mana pool/core. Increases spellcasting-speed. Increases velocity and ailment-power of all neutral spells and skill-spells. Increases critical hit rate of all neutral spells and skill-spells.

Magic is a beast, leading us to our future. Intelligence is a chain, to keep that beast under control. ~Hadran cornera, chairman of the Andera continent magician's alliance(south continent).

Attunement:

Increases mana absorption-rate. Increases spell casting insight, increases spell crafting insight. Increases effectiveness of all utility-spells.

As we attune ourself to mana, we conform ourselves with the will of the world, becoming a part of it. ~???????, ????????? (buried continent)

Wisdom:

Increases all neutral spell and skill-spell damage. Increases all elemental resistances. Increases all ailment resistances, except for corrupted ailments.

Wisdom is the book of life, written by our own failures and loss. It leads us, however, to our personal victories and gains. ~Amenotep, patriarch of the jade dragon clan, on the Fucul continent(central continent).

Jesus christ, Satan. I didn't ask for an entire bible on stat points.... I guess I should read it properly...

Why is the quote under attunement followed by question marks? I guess it's someone important. A king maybe? Of course, it has to be, only a king is worthy of such respect, thank you very much. One day my quotes will be under each stat category, for every newborn armorling to look up to me! Just wait Satan, you haven't seen me get serious yet!

So as I understand it; I've got to raise my attunement and agility if I want to get anything done. How do I do that?Skills maybe? "Status, explain my skills!"

Skills are an essential tool to survive in the world of Markos.

They usually utilize Hp , Sp, or Ap to activate.

Different skills have different effects, but remember that all skills are just a means to an end.

Skills:

Passive

Curse of the dungeon(lvl~)

Effects: Immune to cursed ailment, Weakness to holy magic(1.5x)

You were created by the dungeoncore of a dungeon. Therefore you're born cursed.

Though armor(lvl1)

Effects: Decrease all incoming physical damage by a flat (5) damage points, increase by 3 per skill lvl. Decrease all incoming physical damage by (0.2%), increase by (0.1%) per skill level.

Because of your species, you are born coated in a weak, fragile layer of metal armor. The metal slowly increases in quality and rarity as you grow up. Certain conditions can be fulfilled to influence this proces. (conditions: ???)

Active

Sense mana(lvl1)

Effects: Sense and visualise mana. Increases attunement depending on understanding of mana. Attunement increase ranges from {0.001 to 0.01 increase}. The maximum attunement increase increases by {0.005} per skill lvl.

Mana is all around you. By sensing it, mana senses you.

Sense corruption(lvl1)

Effects: Sense and visualise corruption. Increases the hidden stat corruption depending on understanding of corruption.

Corruption increase ranges from {0.001 to 0.01 increase}. The maximum corruption increase increases by {0.005} per skill lvl.

When you stare into the void, the void stares back into you.~???????

Once again, Satan gave me way too much information. Also that las quote.... didn't someone on my old world also say that? Satan, that's plagiarism!

So I have to use Sense mana to increase my attunement. Sadly I don't have a skill to increase my agility. How am I supposed to cas magic while laying down. Huuuuuhhh... I guess complaining won't get me anywhere.

Let's try sense mana....nothing's happening. "Skill use sense mana!!!!" ......

.....

Nothing. Just me and my thoughts here then....

Pleeeaaaseee ....

All of a sudden a bunch of little starlights lit up around Evan. They looked like a curtain of little glowing lights, floating around. Evan started to see these lights in his mind, despite the fact he couldn't see anything else besides those lights.

Oh, I guess that's mana. I wonder if I can interact with these.

The little balls started to move, floating towards Evan as if he was a magnet. The moment they came in contact with him, he started to feel warm, as if he was laying down next to a heater. Her tried to bring the little mana nodes inside his body, slowly but surely... The nodes converged in the center of his egg shaped, armored body. They started to spin around each other, and more and more nodes joined the spinning ball of lights.

All of a sudden, a notification popped up.

Congratulations! You have formed your first mana pool!

AP + 15

Achievement unlocked: Diligent newborn

{for forming your mana pool within 10 minutes after birth: AP + 10}

Ap? What does thet stand for? My mana count I guess... Attunement points maybe? Let's just go with that for now.

Congratulations! Attunement has increased by 0.01.

Congratulations! Through reaching an attunement stat of at least 0.01, you have unlocked racial skill Levitate(lvl1)

Levitate(lvl1) (Active)

Effects: Levitate your body sligtly above the ground (1 cm). Allows movement in any direction. Spend 1 mana point per minute while active.

Can transform into a passive skill by meeting certain conditions: Levitate reaches (lvl10)

Through centuries of evolution, your armorling ancestors have discovered that levitation is the most effective way to carry around several tons of armor.

Levitate, sweet!!! Now I'll be able to move around! I guess skills kinda work like an instinct. Trying to force activate sense mana didn't work, so I'll just have to get a feel for it.

Evan tried to move his body around a bit, shifting his weight, but he was to heavy to move. He tried pushing his mana pool upward, inside his body, the same way he used to flex his muscles as a human. After a few seconds, his egg shaped, one eyed body started to float, about 1 cm above the ground. He pushed his mana pool forward, and pushed his egg upward, so that his eye could look forward, if it could actually see in the first place.

He leaned forward ever so slightly, and could feel that his body was moving forward. He continued, and after about 10 seconds, he bumped into something.

A wall maybe?.. If only my eye actually did what eyes are supposed to do, you know SEE.

Maybe I need a skill to see?

After a bit of experimenting with his mana, he tried to form a strand out of his mana pool, and directed it towards his eye, at the front of the egg. All of a sudden the mana sprays out of his eye, then somehow came back. His vision cleared, and it felt like he saw for the first time.

Congratulations! Through your experimenting, you have unlocked the racial skill Mana echo(lvl1)

Attunement increased by 0.01.

Sense mana reached (lvl2)

Mana echo(lvl1) (passive)

Effects: By sending out light mana pulses, and then receiving the pulses through your armorling sensory organ, you can sense your surroundings on a superficial level. Range and speed of reception increases with each lvl. This skill costs no mana.

The armorling species has a large, black eye at the center of their round body, which senses its surroundings. It's not as sensitive as a humanoids eyes, but no mana, disturbance or spell will go unnoticed before their sensory organ. ~Henry Balak, Professor at the Andera Alliance: school of magic.

As Evan opened his eye, he finally took notice of his surroundings. He saw thet he was in a cave like structure, with only one entrance. Below him what look to be a heap of hay. The only difference is, that the hay seems to be moving. He thanks Satan that he's levitating, no longer lying down on top of living grass.

I guess I should've expected a cave. It did say that I was created by a dungeon. Wait a minute... does thet mean that I have no parents? I guess it's not much different from my life on earth, but having a supportive family would be nice for once. I don't know how attached my species is to their young in the first place. I guess I'll head off on my own then.

As evan moved forward, towards the only exit of his new home, he noticed a light blue veil. Evan guessed that it's made out of mana. He hesitated for a moment, before slamming into the barrier. Suprisingly, he passed through unharmed. He followed the winding cave, before finding a large opening, still underground, and still very much cave-like. A bunch of weird flora adorns the walls. The plants range from mushrooms, to lilypads floating on mana waves, rather than water. Because Evans sees through mana, he can't tell what color the plants are, but since the mana lights up differently around each plant, he guesses that the mana has about the same color as each plant it surrounds. For the first time Evan notices that the mana sticks around the plants, the same way it did around Evan when he was practising his mana sense.

Out of the dense mana bushes, a new cluster of mana, arrives this time a deep shade of red mana.

Magmataur lava hound(cub) (lvl 3)

Oh, It's a little dog! So cute! My kingdom will have dogs everywhere, I swear. Each household must have at least one dog! Why is the mana around it red though? Fire element mana? I've read enough fantasy books to know that red means fire.

The dog beared his teeth and started to snarl. Evan didn't quite think it was quite cute anymore in that moment, seeing as the dog is significantly larger than Evan himself.

Shit! He could eat like three of me for breakfast! Easy there boy.... Easy....

The dog sees Evan backing up, and crouches, before stalking closer and closer, snarling.

You know what? Fuck this, I'm outta here!

Evan tries to rush back to his cave, but before he knows it, the cub is upon him. Because Evan can only levitate, he panics, and tries every trick he has.

Warning! You have taken 6 Dp! Your health has dropped to 4 Hp! (11 - 5 (tough armor(lvl1)

He's to heavy, I can't levitate anymore! Come on, mana... Come on, mana, don't fail me now...

In his panic he started to circulate his mana pool, before sending it out in one blast trough his eye.

The cub got hit by the wave of rogue, storming mana, and got blown backwards al least 2 meters. Evan activates levitate, and rushes back to his cave, now that the dog is distracted. He rushes trough the winding cave, and hears the hound cub running behind him. It was about to catch up, when Evan noticed to light blue barrier in front of his cave. He flies through the barrier unharmed. The cub, however, was not so lucky. It slammed into the barrier, it's own residual, red mana slamming into the blue veil. The red mana starts dissipating bit by bit, before all of it is gone. The dog starts to stammer before falling to the ground, seemingly exhausted, right before the barrier.

Yes! I knew that barrier would save me! But, now what? It's still alive I think.

Congratulations! Through getting hit, and surviving a potentially fatal encounter, you have unlocked you health pool!

Hp + 15

You have unlocked achievement: Newborn struggles

{Through getting hit within 10 mintes after birth: Hp + 10}

Congratulations! Though armor has reached (lvl2)

Congratulations! You have learned skill Minute mana pulse(lvl1)

Minute mana pulse(lvl1) (active)

Effects: Send a pulse of mana towards your opponent, disrupting their surrounding mana and dealing 3 Dp (damagepoints) The range of this attack is (5) meters. This skill costs 2 Ap per cast. Range and attack power increase by 1 unit each, for every skill level up.

This skill can be upgraded by reaching certain conditions. Conditions: Reach skill (lvl10). Reach attunement of 0.1.

Our ancestors realized that mana could be a weapon, as much as a tool, when the skill Minute mana pulse was invented, along with the discovery of fire. ~Grenton Wells, popular historian of the Eastern continent, and Author of the bestseller: "Primordial mana and spells"

So I can kill this dog with my new skill? I'm sorry dog, I don't want to do this. You brought this upon yourself.

Evan continued casting for another 2 hours, continuesly regenerating Ap, then casting Minute mana pulse on the dog over and over again. Rinse and repeat. Finally he received a notification.

Congratulations! You have slain Magmataur lava hound(cub) (lvl3). You have received 32 exp.

Congratulations! You have reached lvl 2. You have been awarded one skill point.

Congratulations! Mana pulse has reached lvl 5.

Congratulations! Through tiring yourself out over and over again, you have unlocked your stamina pool!

Sp + 15

You have unlcked achievement: Newborn Marathon

{Through exhausting yourself within 10 minutes after birth: Sp + 15}

Congratulations! By unlocking you stamina pool, you have unlocked skill Cardio(lvl1)

Cardio(lvl1) (active)

Effects: Through physical effort, you can increase your agility. Agility increases by (0.01) for every hour you spend using this skill.

The amount of agility gain increases by (0.002) for each skill lvl up.

Running through the Mitro Steppes is the epitome of freedom. Your hair flying through the wind, the sun shining in your eyes.... Perhaps the herd of savanah-grove rhinos running behind you kind of ruins the moment, but it's a niche hobby, you can't expect everyone to like it. ~Rogba Slo, barbarian chieftain of the Slo tribe, Mitro continent. (East continent)

Finally! I can increase my agility! Now my status should be looking a lot better, after all those gains! Kinghood, here I come!

LVL

2

Hp (health points)

35/35

Ap (attunement pints/ mana)

3/25

Sp (stamina points)

14/40

Name

Evan Willsborough

Species

Cursed armorling

Alignment

Dungeon Spawn(100%) True neutral(100%)

Blessing

None

Creations

None

Ailments

Cursed(100%) Mana exhaust (23%)

STATS

Strength

0.2

Agility

0.001 (immobile)

Dexterity

0.1

Intelligence

1.5

Attunement

0.021

Wisdom

0.5

Skills (available skillpoints)

1

Passive

Curse of the dungeon(lvl ~) Though armor(lvl 2)

Mana Echo(lvl1)

Active

Sense mana(lvl 2) Sense corruption(lvl 1) Levitate(lvl1) Minute mana pulse(lvl5) Cardio(lvl1)