Chương 3: Goddess

"Welcome, heroes. I am sure that you all have many questions, but first, allow me to welcome you to my world." Says the goddess standing before me, her voice carries a tone that is impossible to not pay attention to.

"Now you have fallen into my super evil trap where I will consume everything that you are to maintain my immortality!" She cackles evilly. No one else laughs. The goddess frowns.

"Oh come on, can none of you recognize a joke? Oh well, guess I'll just move onto the boring stuff…" She sounds sad, though her prior words most certainly didn't sound like a joke.

"We are currently at the pinnacle. The tip toy top of the metaphorical order of the five realms. What is a realm you might ask? Well, that is something to find out I suppose.

"To put it simply, your goal is to journey back to this place, the pinnacle. You will face all sorts of challenges of course.

"A great journey awaits you, young heroes. Great triumphs are in your futures, though great tragedies are as well. Should you persevere and manage to survive, I shall grant you a reward. Anything you could ever want, given its within my power of course.

"I cannot explicitly force you to partake on this journey. Once you are sent into the realms, whether you pursue this track is up to you. But, should you wish for it, the system – my magnum opus creation – will provide you with a series of quests to help guide your path." The goddess pauses for a moment, glancing over us heroes. She is definitely strange, and I don't really understand half of what she has said. But, it sounds like I will get to go on a journey.

Journeys mean lots of awesome materials to discover and forge with, so it doesn't sound so bad. Oh, and perhaps I can finally settle down like Pa always wanted me to. That part about great tragedies though… well I hope none of those befall me. The goddess continues, "I am sure you are all full of questions. After all, most people of your age will have lived alongside the system, and naturally developed. But you, as heroes, have been expedited in your development.

"As you have likely noticed by now, the system will provide you with basic definitions and explanations. Things that would generally be considered 'common knowledge' shall be explained when required, and occasionally it might help you with other things. It may develop a bit of a personality in its communications to you. Don't worry, it will always be there to help you. Even if its tone becomes a bit hostile.

"Next, we must perform a little experiment. I have placed a coin pouch in front of each of you, try to grab it if you would please." It's a pretty typical coin pouch from what I can see. But mine has the spirit symbol on its side. I try to touch it, but I feel that sharp pain, and the system says: items originating within the system cannot be accessed until corestone is fully ignited. I watch as other heroes also try to grab their pouches in similar manners, and all retreat back when they get shocked.

The goddess laughs, a very light laugh that seems full of niceness and joy. Though her laughing at our pain severely undercuts that sentiment.

"Forgive me, that part always cracks me up. Existence gets old for one such as I. So do forgive me, I am just a lonely goddess, laughing at the folly of mortals." She says, her voice still full of joy. But underneath the joy, I swear I can hear an immense sadness lurking beneath. She continues, "As you have realized, you must ignite your corestone. That thingy there in your chest. Doing so will grant you access to various things.

Like the ability to improve your base attributes, classes, skills, abilities, et cetera. You all are smart… ish, I am sure you will figure it out.

"If you all will please take both of your hands and place them just above your corestone. But be careful not to touch it." I, along with all the other heroes, do so.

"Great, you all have some form of mana sense and can feel the energies in the air. Simply visualize those energies flowing from the air, through your hands and into the corestone." I do as she instructs and visualize the energies flowing. I believe this is how mages are supposed to use spells, but normally it's in reverse, channeling mana out of themselves and into the world to create effects. I am curious to see what reversing the process, as well as adding in spirit energy will do.

Immediately, a rush of energy flows through my hands, making them feel as though they are about to disintegrate. The energy flows into my corestone and I can feel my entire body awaken. I watch as energy surges through all of my channels, nourishing my body and turning it back to its normal color, though perhaps a tad more tan than normal. My corestone radiates an intense energy, nearly blinding me. Once the light fades, I remove my hands and look around the room.

It seems all the other heroes went through a similar process. Uri exclaims loudly to the whole group, "Woah! That was cool, and I feel so alive. Almost as though I can feel everything." Several murmurs of agreement go through the other heroes.

"Good, you all did it properly and we didn't destroy reality. Phew, it could've gone really badly, but you all are a good bunch." The goddess says, apparently relieved that we didn't cause a disaster. Though, I suspect this to also be a joke. She isn't great at making things sound like jokes.

"Alright, now that you all have your corestones ignited, you should have full access to your menus. I will depart and give you a few minutes to look through those. Just simply place your hand over your chest above your corestone, and it should appear." She says, before disappearing back through the gateway. I do as instructed. In my vision appears a strange menu, with a lot of information displayed. I spend some time reading through and understanding it.

Name: Orn Spiritus Corestone: Hero of Spirit Grade: 0 Stars This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Race: Human Class 1: Spirit Mage - Level 1 Skills: [Lesser Spirit Sight (Rare)] Class 2: Magic Smith - Level 1 Skills: [Lesser Inspect (Common)], [Lesser Forging (Common)], [Lesser Mana Imbuement (Common)], [Lesser Metallurgy (Common)], [Lesser Hammer Wielding (Inferior)] General Skills: [Lesser Identify (Inferior)], [Lesser Mana Sense (Common)], [Storage (Unique)] Traits: {Restricted Spirit Nexus}, {Competent Adventurer} Titles: {Hero of Spirit} Stats Vitality: 10 Endurance: 10 Strength: 10 Agility: 7 Intelligence: 13 Wisdom: 12 Spirit: 17 Unallocated Points: 5 Resources: Health: 100/100 Stamina: 100/100 Mana: 120/120 Spirit: 170/170 It seems I have two classes, each with a level.

My newfound knowledge tells me that I can grow stronger by doing various actions, and the level will increase to reflect that. Each class has a description that I take a glance at. First up, Spirit Mage. Spirit Mage Your very spirit resonates with those around you. The Spirit Mage is a rare path in which one learns to bend their own spiritual energy, as well as that of others. The Spirit Mage also may choose to form bonds with natural spirits to varying degrees and with varying effects.

While initially very weak, the Spirit Mage has immense potential. Legends have been told of such mages wielding power able to crush empires without even leaving their spirit realms. A Spirit Mage may often be mistaken for a beast tamer. But make no mistake, no mere beast could ever compete with a true spirit. Stats per level: +2 Vitality, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +2 Spirit, +2 Unallocated Points. Well, that just sounds fucking awesome!

Being able to make some spirit friends and explore the world with them sounds fun. Manipulating others spirits and crushing empires though… Hopefully those parts are optional. It does suck to start off a bit weaker, but I will simply have to learn fast I suppose – as with everything in this new world. Next, I take a look at my Magic Smith class. Magic Smith A truly strange class, combining that of both a imbuer and a smith.

The magic smith grasps both the magical and physical concepts, and works them together into their creations. Not much is known about such smiths, as they are often quite reclusive. However, what tales do exist tell of equipment far surpassing any other. Naturally, the magic smith must be able to defend themselves from those seeking to abuse such power. So many of their methods used in forging have oft been adopted in one's defense as well.

While commonly mistaken as solely blacksmiths, Magic Smiths are unique in that they work with a wide variety of materials. While primarily using metals, they have been known to utilize bone, leather, fabrics, and all sorts of other materials in their creations. Stats per level: +2 Vitality, +1 Endurance, +2 Strength, +1 Agility, +2 Unallocated Points. Woah, that makes me sound way more awesome than it should. Sure, I can use a hammer pretty well in combat.

I can also make some cool equipment, but to wield power that is so sought after? I can only dream that such a day will come. Though uh, hopefully without the whole people trying to abuse it. That does seem pretty unfortunate. Though if I can learn to wield the power in my defense… heck, perhaps I could even learn proper magic now! Below the classes it lists skills, which I can guess relate to my capabilities? It seems I have a few skills in magic smith relating to my smithing.

Oh and it even has stuff relating towards using my hammer as a weapon, neat. I even have some general skills like Mana Sense and something called Storage, whatever that means. Something tells me that there are far more skills to unlock as well. But I have no clue how, and the system isn't telling me how just yet. I also have no clue why it lists Lesser Spirit Sight under the spirit mage part. I have never seen a spirit. Heck, I have never heard of spirit, let alone a spirit mage.

Guess I will have to find some books to hit like the good old days. The skills do have descriptions, but that is a lot of information for right now. So naturally, I move past that and look at my traits and singular title. They each also have descriptions attached, so I take a quick glance at those. {Restricted Spirit Nexus} Your spirit is unusually potent. In order to prevent corestone overload, your spiritual abilities have been limited until your core can handle the pressure.

This trait shall disappear upon first corestone grade up. {Competent Adventurer} You have adventured across the lands and battled many a foe. You have proven that you are at least somewhat competent at this adventuring thing. So here is a nice little bonus. Effects: +1 to all stats, +10% bonus to camp effects {Hero of Spirit} You have been chosen personally by the goddess as one of the nine heroes of the realms. The Hero of Spirit is master of the spirits, as such they shall bend to your will and bow before you.

That is, if you can prove your worth to them. Effects: Doubles capacity for spirit contracts and natural spirits will never harm you unprovoked. Hmm, that adventuring trait is giving me a few stats. Wait, does that mean my stats are even lower normally? I don't know what exactly the numbers mean, but I can feel somehow that they are quite low. Also that camp effect bonus seems curious, yet more to learn about I suppose. As for the stats, I will just have to figure out how to improve them.

My heart races in excitement at all the new possibilities and adventures. Not only at the classes and skills, but also what awaits me in these realms. The Hero of Spirit title seems interesting. It is definitely far stronger than the others. Plus It seems to give vague impressions of further benefits that haven't been unlocked yet. I exit the menus I was in and return my focus to reality. The other heroes all seem to be returning as well. Moments later, the goddess reappears.

"I trust you all have figured things out by now? Great! I have one last thing to explain before sending you away.

"You must've noticed the Storage skill, right? Well it is very handy, allowing you to store all sorts of things, as long as they are non-living. I have included a few starter supplies in there. Y'know, so you don't die instantly and all." I peek into my storage for a moment and see that I have a bit of money, a hammer and some metal bars. As well as some food and a few potions. All standard stuff. This thing seems like it will be really useful, no more lugging heavy metal bars everywhere manually.

"Well, that about sums it up I think. If you're confused about anything, just think about it and if it's basic enough, the system should assist you. I don't know where you will land, you'll probably be nearish a city. But do be careful, monsters do wander about in the wilds." She quickly glosses over that last part, as if it isn't important. But I have a feeling it is about to become very relevant.

"Well, it was nice meeting you all. Have fun on your journeys, o great heroes." She finishes the statement with a laugh that sounds just a bit evil. That can't be a good sign, can it? My seat disappears out from under me and I fall through the floor. Suddenly, I am high in the sky over a forest and falling fast. I scream like a child.