Chương 2: B1 | Chapter 2

Aidan When I regain consciousness, I find quite a few things happening all at once. For one, the smiling guy that was sitting across the desk in his own chair is now pacing back and forth while muttering about Guide bonuses or something. And for two, I have quite a few messages playing out in my vision. Before I can get to reading them, though, the no-longer-smiling guy notices me and quickly asks, "What the hell just happened?!" I blink before asking in return, "Isn't that your job to tell me?"

He opens his mouth, only to close it again. Then he mutters, "Right, I suppose it is…" He shakes his head and focuses on me, "Okay, just read what your messages are telling you. We've already lost a lot of our time in here, so we need to hurry if I'm to get a good bonu-" The man pauses mid-sentence and continues, "If you're going to survive." I narrow my eyes a little at his slipup – not that it's the first time he's mentioned bonuses considering his previous mutterings – before I focus on the words in my vision.

Of which there are many, with quite a few talking about things I'm guessing already happened. Considering how I'm currently awake now. As for the changes to my body that I feel? I decide to ignore those for now. ◊ Searching for species qualified for the user's Bloodline and void affinity… one species found. ◊ ◊ User will now be changed into a Void Crowne by the System. ◊ What's a Void Crowne? Also, isn't crowne kind of old and outdated as a word? I glance down before looking back up at the messages.

Only for my eyes to immediately bounce back to my hands in my lap that I now realize are paler than before. But more important than that is the strange black mist rising from my skin. The mist is rather eerie and doesn't look very natural. Which should be obvious, seeing as it's, well, rising from my skin and all.

"What the…" I mutter with a frown while raising my arm over towards my face. It looks like the mist is also passing through my clothes as I see it rising from my shoulders as well. But the mist is the only thing I see that's different about my body now. Well, except the black claws at the tips of my fingers in the place of finger nails.

"Please inspect yourself later," the former smiley guy says, sounding rushed.

"Check your messages first. We don't have enough time for you to be looking at yourself." I look at him with my eyes slightly narrowed for a moment before returning my gaze to the messages again. Because he's probably not wrong. After all, I do have questions. And if he really does have a limited amount of time to talk with me, then I want to be able to ask those if I can. So I continue reading the messages. ◊ User has successfully been changed into the Unique Lifeform known as the Void Crowne.

◊ ◊ As there are now two Unique Lifeforms known as the Void Crowne, the species will no longer be- ◊ ◊ERROR◊ ◊ Unable to remove the Unique Lifeform label. ◊ ◊ERROR◊ ◊ Your source mana has now been awakened! Congratulations for becoming one of the Awakened of the Multiverse! ◊ [As a newly awakened Void Crowne, you now have access to your System Status! To see your status, simply state out loud, 'Status', and it will appear before you! As a Unique Lifeform, your Class and Profession have been automatically assigned to you!] I blink as I begin to realize how similar this System thing is to a videogame. Also, I can't help but notice that my hunger really does seem to be fading for some reason. But I'll get to asking about that later. For now I state out loud, "Status." Then more words appear in my vision.

◊◊◊◊◊ Name: Aidan Vale Species: Void Crowne(UNIQUE) Bloodline: Void Devourer – Grants a passive drain that drains the source mana of anything the Devourer touches except for living organic creatures. Class: Void Devourer – Level 2 – Iron Rank Profession: Void Creator – Level 1 – Iron Rank Affinities: Void(500%) Titles: Preawakened Iron Rank Physical: 7 Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Magic: 7 Mind: 7 Soul: 7 Stamina: 70 Mana: 70 ◊◊◊◊◊ I open my mouth to speak, only to be startled when I realize the guy in the room is currently standing right next to me looking over my shoulder. And the only reason I realize that in the first place is the fact that he mutters some rather unusual and creative swear about cats and mothers. Then he looks down at me with what almost seems like fear in his eyes as he says, "You're really a Void Crowne…"

"That's what the System says," I comment with a frown.

"But what is a Void Crowne, and why did the System have to change my species? Also, what's a Bloodline? And a Class and Profession?" My words seem to snap the guy out of whatever funk he was in as he mutters to himself about how lucky he is.

"That bonus is in sight!" the man exclaims with a wide smile directed at me as he claps his hands without even bothering with trying to hide it anymore. Then he begins answering my questions, "A Void Crowne was supposed to be a Unique Lifeform. Which is a phenomenon where an entire species is created by the System and universe in conjunction and only has a single member of its species in existence.

But it looks like your Bloodline gives you a far greater affinity for void magic than any other species can handle, so the System forcefully turned you into a Void Crowne. Something that has never happened before. With a Unique Lifeform, at least. It has happened for other species." Okay, that doesn't really answer much while answering a lot.

"What's a Bloodline?" I ask, deciding that it might be better to ask one question at a time.

"It's something every being in the Multiverse is born with. But not all beings are equal, and some Bloodlines are far more powerful than others," the man who I believe said something about being my Guide says.

"They can be anything from a passive ability that is always active, to an active one that can only be used from time to time with a cooldown in-between every use. A period of time when the Bloodline can't be used. The Bloodlines are pretty much in a dormant state while a being's source mana – the source of their everything down to the last strand of their DNA – is inactive. So they only fully activate and show their effects when the System activates your source mana.

Although some Bloodlines can have effects even when dormant if they're powerful enough. Like yours seems to be." My eyes widen at that before I look at the effects of my Bloodline again. [Void Devourer – Grants a passive drain that drains the source mana of anything the Devourer touches except for living organic creatures.] Devours… hunger… Is that where my hunger comes from? I blink as I realize something. My hunger is gone.

A grin stretches across my face as I shoot up from my chair and barely hold myself back from pumping my fists into the air.

"The fucking hunger is gone!!!" I exclaim out loud as tears begin to leak from my eyes. Only for said hunger to begin very slowly appearing again. Albeit barely noticeable. I blink before muttering, "It's back…?" Then I sit down, and it vanishes again. Um…

"If by hunger, you mean your absurd Bloodline that's devouring every scrap of source mana that it can find that's not pinned down, then it probably felt satiated by the source mana in the chair you're sitting on," the Guide says with a slightly amused look on his face.

"It is a System Item after all, and those always have untethered source mana in them. It's what makes them magical items in the first place." I frown at that, but he doesn't give me any time to ask more questions.

"Before you drive us into another tangent, I'm going to answer your other questions," he says with a nod while walking over to his seat across the table. And the moment he sits down, his creepy smile returns, and he begins speaking as if he's reading off some textbook.

"A Class is the method a user – aka you – utilizes to levels up through combat. It will gain source mana for every being slain by you, and will grant specific benefits to you depending on the Class itself in the form of Class-specific skills. Classes also determine the exact spread of stat points each person receives every level, along with the exact effects of each stat on the person. Meanwhile a Profession is the method in which you level up through non-combat related actions.

It will gain source mana for every action of significance taken by you related to your Profession, and grants specific benefits to you depending on the Profession itself in the form of Profession-specific skills. Professions also grant additional stat points every level to specific stats that are beneficial to your Profession." Definitely like a videogame.

"Focus on the words of your Class and Profession to see what effects they have," the Guide continues, no longer sounding like he's reading from a script or a book. I do exactly as he says, following which two more lines of text appear in my vision. [Void Devourer – The Class belonging to the great Void Crowne. The ruler of all void creatures. Void Crownes are known to devour the source mana inside of any items that contain source mana, advancing their level even as they sleep so long as they are digesting an item. Thanks to this unique aspect, Void Crownes are feared by all in creation. ◊ Grants the user 2 points in every primary stat per level. Physical stat points will be heavily focused on the user's physical strength and their physical constitution. Magical stat points will be heavily focused on the user's magic power and their magic resistance. Mind stat points will be heavily focused on the user's mental offensive and defensive prowess. Soul stat points will be evenly spread out.] [Void Creator – The Profession belonging to the great Void Crowne. Known as the masters of manipulating the source mana, Void Crownes serve as the only Void Creators in the Multiverse. Being capable of creating life through the manipulation of source manas, Void Crownes create their own void creatures to fill their armies and to fill the System's known database of the not-yet-fully-explored Void Realm. ◊ Grants the user 1 point in Mind and 1 point in Soul per level.]"The stats can be broken down between the four primary stats," the Guide continues as if reading off a textbook again. Clearly uninterested in this part of his job. Which makes me wonder why he thinks he deserves a bonus.

"All parts of your physical body are determined by the physical stat, including your strength, speed, reflexes, regeneration, perception, and so forth. Meanwhile all parts of your magical body are determined by the magic stat, including your magic power, mana capacity, mana efficiency, and mana resistance." Seems pretty simple. And, again, very game-like.

"Like-wise, all parts of your mental facilities are determined by the mind stat, including the strength of your mind against mental attacks, the power of your mind to dish out mental attacks, and the speed at which you can think," the Guide says.

"And all parts of your soul are determined by the soul stat, including the strength of your soul, the purity of your soul, how much of your soul they can express outside of your body in the form of their aura, and how powerful your aura will be when expressed outwardly." Not so simple. But at least the mind stat sounded kinda simple.

The Guide's eyes glaze out for a second before he frowns and says, "We don't have much time left, pal, so let me get down to the last things you'll no doubt ask me about now and I can answer your questions after that, kay? M'kay." This guy is kind of rude.

"Awakened individuals in the System are separated into seven different Tiers of strength, with varying requirements to ascend into the next Tier starting from Iron Tier, then Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Adamantium," the rude man continues.

"To reach Bronze Tier, you have to raise one of either your Class or Profession to level 25 and own one Title. Which isn't too hard. Oh, and Titles are given out by the System along with special perks like stat boosts and other effects when you accomplish something the System recognizes. And an affinity is something that affects how powerful your magic will be in that specific element. And that should be about it." A few seconds pass in silence.

"So, any questions?" the Guide asks without so much as a budge in his creepy smile.

"Oh, and you have about three minutes to ask them." Shit.