Rays of morning sunlight pierced through the dense canopy of the forest, filtering down in fragmented streaks of gold.
The shafts of light danced upon the dew-covered leaves and fell gently on the sleeping form of a young boy nestled beside the corpse of a monstrous beast.
Davin stirred.
The sunlight warmed his face, pulling him out of unconsciousness with a soft groan.
His head throbbed as if it had been rattled in a storm, and his body ached with the weight of unseen chains—like he had wrestled titans in his dreams.
"Ugh..." he groaned, shielding his eyes from the intrusive light.
Then, a familiar voice rang out in his mind.
[Good. You're finally awake. Now, I suggest you leave this place as soon as you can.]
"Huh? Why?"
[Well, you are in a forest which has magical beasts. Also… there's a dead feralkin right next to you. Technically, you're in a monster's graveyard, and others might come sniffing around. It's simple logic—if—]
'Wait… I'm alive?!'
His heart skipped a beat. With a sudden jolt, he twisted his head to the side—his breath caught in his throat.
There it was.
The creature from last night—the ladybug-like Feralkin beast—lay still on the forest floor, unmoving, cracked wide open at the skull.
Its once-lustrous eyes were now dull, and its chitinous body had begun to stiffen in rigor mortis.
That's when his mind pieced everything together.
'...' He rose into a sitting position slowly, eyes wide, lips parting as the previous night's events played in his memories.
[Host? You really should get going. I also recommend harvesting the creature's parts while you—]
"Wait a minute." His voice turned sharp.
"You have some explaining to do."
[About that...]
"You almost got me killed!" he snapped, bitterness bubbling in his chest.
"I get that your job is to protect the Time Orb… but I don't want to fucking die!"
There was a pause. Then:
[Calm down, and allow me to explain.]
He said nothing, arms folded, lips pressed into a thin line.
[To begin with—yes, you were in real danger. But you also possess the Curse of Pride, which is designed to protect you. I knew you wouldn't die, although… the curse did drain more Pulse Points than I anticipated.]
[To add on that, I wanted you to gain some pulse points... but your curse had other plans. It used up 97% of your stocked up points. That miscalculation is on me.]
'What do you mean 97%—?'
[And lastly, the Time Orb has a capability of picking up mana signals from a far. And as well as attract others using its signal.
It is well hidden yes, but it will constantly draw magical beasts towards to put you in trial. In this case, that is when I step in.
I will act as a judge, if the beast is beyond your capabilities to handle it, by simply drawing it away. But if you can handle it, I'll let it through. To test your growth.]
'But this guy was way beyond my ability to handle it?!' He pointed out at the corpse beside him.
[Not exactly. I also consider your capability when you are in you berserk Pride state.]
'...' He then quietly stood up, his expression blank.
He had just learned one more frightening fact about his system.
[Which is why increasing your stats is vital. Because it will also increase your survival chances...]
"...Haah," Davin exhaled heavily, brushing hair from his face.
"The more I understand this system, the more terrifying it is." He muttered to himself.
[Negative... I'm not terrifying, you're just lazy.]
'But I feel like I unknowingly signed a contract with the devil for having you...'
[...]
'Or is it you that is the dev—?'
[You should check your stats]
'Why are you avoiding the question?' He narrowed his eyes.
[...]
"Fine. Open stats"
A golden screen immediately lit up with navy blue words:
[Status Tab]
[Name: Davin Bluemoon]
[Age: 7 years]
[Race: Half-Origin]
[Strength: 21] (400 Points for increase)
[Intelligence: 27] (400 Points for increase)
[Agility: 19] (400 Points for increase)
[Vitality: 14] (400 Points for increase)
[Stamina: 90/160] (200 Points per +10 stamina)
[Health Points (HP): 280/280] (Increases with increase in vitality by 10 HP)
[Mana: 0/0]
[Skills: 1]
[Pulse Points: 3160]
[Pulse Consumption: 10 Per day]
"When did my stats go up?" He wondered.
[You received a one-time bonus after defeating a high-tier Feralkin bare-handed.]
'And that one skill?'
[The admin bought it for you.]
'Huh…' Davin gave a slight smile. But it quickly faded...
'Wait, my Pulse Points were over 4000 yesterday... how much did I burn during that curse state?'
[4000.]
"Okay, that's terrifying." He frowned.
Now it was clearer than ever. The Curse of Pride didn't just empower him—it bled him dry of points.
If he ever entered that state without enough points…
He might accidentally die.
'Pride comes before a fall...'
[What is that host?]
'Just an old saying from my past life.'
[Interesting.]
"Open skills."
[Skill tab]
[Owned skills]
[Curse of Pride: One who sees themselves above all.]
— Bloodline curse.
[Tier: Mythic]
— Passive skill. Auto-activates under threat.
— One of the Seven Curses inflicted by Fate upon bloodlines.
—Pride was given to the Origins, the proudest race in the *** Realm, and came to be known as Origin's Pride.
—First activation: x10 amplification to all stats.
— Subsequent use: Stat boost decreases, but raw attack power increases by x10.
[Cost: 100-500 Pulse points per minute of use depending on your body's state.]
— Warning: There are higher chances that the cost will increase!!
[PS: Though listed under skills. It is not counted as a skill by the system. More of a curse, cause that's what it is...]
***
[Forge]
— System skill.
[Tier: Uncommon]
— Passive.
— Allows crafting of weapons/accessories using real-world materials: metal, wood, beast parts. Requires Pulse Points to fuel creation.
***
[ Skills available for purchase]
[Celestial Eye]
— Bloodline skill.
[Tier: Rare]
— An appraisal skill that gives the bearer information about a target, be it a living being or non-living thing.
[PS: The skill is not effective against living targets far stronger than you or higher tier enchanted objects. The dead are not counted as stronger targets.]
[Cost: 2000 Pulse points]
"What is the tier stuff? And Forge is a system skill?"
[There are six tiers for value and rarity of objects or skills in your case. I'll list them from the highest value.]
[Mythical, Legendary, Secret, Rare, Uncommon and lastly Common.]
"Oh...It's almost like in a game I used to play."
[So if your skill—Forge, for instance—is classified as uncommon, it means it can only produce uncommon effects. In Forge's case, the best you can craft with it are uncommon-tier weapons and artifacts.]
'Okay...'
[As for a skill being either a system or bloodline skill.]
'...' In still silence, he awaited the system's answer.
[You inherit bloodline skills from your parents. System skills, on the other hand, are also inherited—but from past system users and the Admin himself...]