A stream of red blood fell like rain. Rüdiger moved far too quickly for Adarin to process it and pressed the pulsing white pearl into the blood-covered crystal obelisk.
Adarin’s world shattered.
In a flash, he stood on a flat circle of plain, rusty metal. A pool of black water, less than one meter across, dominated the center. He turned his body in a circle and noticed that the platform was being orbited by eight stars—points at an indeterminate distance, each a different color. He recognized the green of the Heart node, the white of Divination, and the purple of Necromancy.
His heart beat faster as he fell into a battle stance, knowing it was reflexive and likely pointless here.
Suddenly, Liora appeared beside him. As he focused on her, he saw a different world superimposed onto this one, as if she was standing in a portal. Through shimmering light, he made out a golden pond in the middle of an obsidian-black rough landscape. The same eight stars orbited her, but two—green and purple—burned with incandescent brightness.
For the first time, he studied Liora’s appearance. Her once-clean robes were torn and bloody. Her long black hair was woven into a simple ponytail. Her expression was a mixture of shocked youthful naivety and the grim determination he had only ever seen in the faces of true veterans. She took a step toward Adarin.
“What is happening with this—?” she asked, trailing off, seeming unsteady.
Adarin didn’t look at her. “Well, you should be familiar with how this works.”
Liora shook her head. “This… I’ve heard the priestesses talk about it, but this isn’t how it’s supposed to look.”
“The tattoo?”
She studied her arm. The eye of black ink was absent. “It’s supposed to start talking to you.”
Adarin pressed his eyes shut and shook off the irritation. Of course I’m getting special treatment.
He spat out the words: “Very well.”
Adarin closed his eyes and took a deep breath while Liora shifted uncomfortably.
I really need to do something for her confidence. If she stays with me.
Adarin smiled wryly. Yeah. Add that to my to-do list.
He tried several commands to interact with the environment—simple things at first. The 203rd attempt finally triggered a response.
Red text in blocky letters appeared in the air like pieces of smoldering iron.
ERROR
Liora looked at it curiously. “What does that mean?”
Adarin felt the headache coming on and chuckled bitterly. “Error? Error means you are fucked.”
But then the headache subsided, and the words altered.
Special initiation conditions detected.
Linked entities detected.
Processing…
Initiating communal development mechanics.
Initiated.
The glowing text broke into pieces and reassembled itself into words floating before both Adarin and Liora.
Liora’s shoulders were tense. She looked around herself like a deer, unsure whether to bolt or freeze.
Adarin placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. She stilled.
Then he turned and studied the new text—his first, then hers.
Initiation complete.
Progress upgraded from G to F tier.
That was where the similarity ended.
New attributes assigned.
Cog: 192 Mov: 125 Res: 174 Per: 133 Soc: 93 FREE: 0
A smile split Adarin’s face. Well, judging by those numbers, I’m doing pretty great.
Then he frowned. Well… except my social evaluation. “I guess that’s fair. I am a cynical ass.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
He murmured the last part aloud.
Liora turned to him. “What are you saying?”
Adarin smirked and shook his head. “Nothing important.”
As her frown deepened, he corrected himself. “Liora. I’m sorry.”
Then he studied her attributes.
COG: 113 MOV: 71 RES: 126 PER: 137 SOC: 88 FREE: 0
He looked her in the eyes. “So, what do you think?”
She shifted, then took a deep breath. “Those values are good, right? I’ve only ever heard whispers—that most people sit around a hundred, and the Initiated climb higher. But I don’t really know. The system never let me close enough to see.”
Adarin clenched his jaw. Fantastic. Escaped one bureaucracy of numbers only to get dumped into another. At least back home the scores didn’t come with glowing tattoos.
“Well, at least the system doesn’t seem to mess with my every move.”
“So,” he asked, dragging out the word, “how exactly does this help us?”
Liora smiled faintly. “Oh, adventurers—after initiation and after certain limits—get implants that enhance each of the five attributes.”
She looked at his values. “You should be getting an implant for everything except social.”
“For me…” She turned to her screen and nodded with satisfaction.
“I will get implants for my Cognitive, Resistance, and Perception attributes.”
As soon as she said this, the glowing text flared and changed.
Initiating implant selection to complete physiological update into F-tier.
Cognitive Mod Tool:
? Arcane Accelerator – Increases casting speed of spells by core tier × 35%.
? Combat Meditation Module – Speeds up perception of events in lethal situations by 100% and increases cognitive clarity. (Trainable)
? Predictive Processor – Divination core tier × 3 per day, you may look divination core tier × 1 seconds into the most likely future.
Choose one implant.
The blinking text pulsed beneath the descriptions.
Liora and Adarin looked at each other.
He tilted his head, studying her options, committing them to memory—more from habit than any hope of debriefing intel.
She studied them, lips pressed tight. Adarin explained the tradeoffs, but before he finished, Liora’s finger was already hovering over the second option.
“Perception speed. Clarity. That’s what I need,” she said, more to herself than to him.
“Lean into your strengths,” he said aloud. “You should pick that. It’ll vastly improve your abilities.”
He smirked. Plus, maybe it’ll finally stop you from tripping over your own robes.
She tilted her head, then nodded and selected it.
The text swirled and changed again.
Choose Resistance Module:
? Reinforced Skin – Add a composite weave that grows with your strength, making skin 100% harder to pierce.
? Reinforced Bones – Composite weave to your bones, increasing damage resistance by 100%.
? Emotional Resilience Module – Increase resistance against illusion and mental effects by 50%. (Trainable)
Distantly, Adarin noticed his own text blinking more insistently. A headache gathered like a thunderstorm. He ignored it.
As Liora looked at him, he thought through her options.
All of those are good. But…
He looked at her. “Given your healing ability, I’d assume brain trauma is your biggest danger?”
Liora nodded. “Yes. We can restore almost anything… except the brain and spine.”
Adarin opened his mouth—but she had already slammed her choice onto Reinforced Bones.
He ground his teeth. Wonderful. Strategic planning by reflex. Truly the mark of a professional.
Her text updated:
Choose Perception Module:
? Arcane Eye – Divination core tier × 2 per day. See magical structures for core tier minutes.
? Night Vision – Enhances remnant light by ×100. Night becomes your playground.
? Diagnostic Touch – Touch someone to learn their health and physiological state. Depth depends on focus and Alteration core tier.
Liora looked at him, chewing her lip. “If I take Diagnostic Touch… I could save people better. I wouldn’t have to guess anymore.”
Adarin frowned. Yes, she’s wise. But not always right.
He considered. “How well do you understand magical structures? Would Arcane Eye help?”
She hesitated. “But I’m a priestess. A healer.”
“If you had Arcane Eye, it could help with healing—and…” he paused, “…other magics. You’d be aware of all magic for a few seconds.”
Liora shivered, torn between duty and temptation. Adarin caught it instantly—the same expression he’d seen on recruits gambling with live ammo.
Liora nodded and selected Arcane Eye.
He allowed himself a moment of curiosity. Maybe this will finally give me an edge again. Something predictable.
Adarin turned to his own blinking text. He focused his will on it. Nothing.
Then, the incandescent text fractured. Black spider cracks spread.
Oil-black letters appeared:
NON-STANDARD PHYSIOLOGY DETECTED.
SYSTEM OVERWRITE DETECTED.
IMPLANTATION PROCESS: ERROR
SYSTEM OVERWRITE DETECTED.
AUTHORIZATION: ERROR
AUTHORIZATION FAILURE
BRAVO-LEVEL OVERWRITE USE DETECTED
OPTIONS: CONFIRMED
…
ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.
Adarin’s vision bled black. One thought cut through the static—
Someone else is inside the system with me.
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