Solitary Sword Sovereign

Cultivation!

As soon as Modus faded away, the world melted into its usual color and time began to flow again. Will still stood by himself in the middle of the street. He acted rationally when everything was happening, but the reality of what happened suddenly hit him. He felt as though he had taken morphine. He was numb with euphoria. His worries melted away and his mind swayed as though he was floating in water. Yet, he started to wonder what he should do next.

"Become immortal? How am I supposed to do that?"

Will was familiar with the concept of ascension into immortality. His Chinese novels heavily included this idea as part of the main story lines. Unfortunately, in most of the novels that Will reads, this was a feat regarded as almost impossible. The characters that were able to achieve this state had a lot of help from other characters and developed surpassing talents.

"Sigh"

"I can't think like this. I've dreamed of this, now it is happening. I can't let it drift away or let it seem so impossible." Will thought.

Will understood what Modus meant. He needed to improve his skills and gain new abilities. Grinding was going to be the key to doing this. If he just focused on these two things at first, then the goal of immortality won't be too far out of his reach. Will smirked at the thought that the luscious figure that was before him would become his. Just as he began to fantasize, the system spoke.

"The user system shall begin."

"Begin? –Wait, what?"

Will knew that he had missed something when he was off in his daydream about Adelda.

"Ding! You have been given the class Sword Apprentice. You receive 600 bonus points as the first user on Earth to hold two classes. The system is ready to modify your body. Please say begin when you are ready."

"Huh?"

Will looked around to make sure that no one was around to see what would happen.

"Begin"

Will was blinded by a light that seemed to engulf his body. A cool calming sensation flowed about his body, Will felt as though he could feel all of the modifications that were happening to him, even down to the cellular level. It was as if he was both within and separate from his body. Then a wave of pain took over. It was a rough sharp pain as though he were being sliced by a thousand knives all over his body. When the pain reached his brain, he felt something change within him. He couldn't tell what it was, but he knew that something was different about him. The pain was rampaging about his head. It was at this point that Will realized what was happening. The two sensations were energies working together to change his physical body down to the very minute structure of his existence. When the two energies began to slow, the pain and pleasure began to decrease. Will was unable to comprehend this sensual experience of pain and pleasure. He lost consciousness.

When Will's eyes opened, he was staring at the ceiling of his room. He turned his head to see his aunt looking over him very concerned.

"Will, are you feeling alright?"

Will nodded his head. She was a very kind middle aged woman. She was one of the very few that Will felt cared about him. He assured her that he was well. His aunt interrogated him for a few minutes. She wanted to know what had happened. The neighbors found him unconscious in the middle of the street. Will told her that he must have overworked himself and passed out when he went for a walk. She didn't believe it, but she knew that she would be able to get anything else out of him.

After their discussion, Will's aunt went to make him something to eat. She wanted to take him to the hospital. Will was not against the idea, but asked that he have some time to rest and something to eat first. The moment she left the room, he stripped the clothes off of his body. He was eager to see if anything had changed. To Will's disappointment, there weren't many changes. He did seem to have a bit more muscle mass and was somewhat more defined, but there was nothing significant enough outwardly to notice if he wore clothes.

Will dismissed the idea that what had happened was a dream. Though he didn't look much different, he felt that something had changed. He felt stronger, agile and flexible. He tested his body by moving things about his room and stretching in different ways to see how far he could stretch his new body. He wasn't able to test his agility just yet. He was still in his room and his aunt would be suspicious if he left. However, he did notice more things that had changed. He didn't need his glasses anymore. They hindered his eyesight. Without them he could see farther and much closer too. He could see the lines on a fly's wing that was outside in the street; Will could even hear the buzzing of its wings as it struggled against a small breeze that threatened to blow it away. This was astonishing! His room was completely insulated, but he had the hearing abilities of a super being.

The more Will concentrated on these new abilities, the more he gained some control and understanding of them. He sat on his bed and closed his eyes to see what he could do. He could hear things within a 50 meter radius! Then a strange sensation filled his body. It was as if he extended outside his physical body. Will could feel the atmosphere around his body and feel every bit of moisture in the air. He could control it!

"Water Meister!" Will exclaimed in excitement.

He jumped off of his bed and ran to his bathroom. He opened the tap slowly and concentrated on the water that began to flow out of the tap nozzle. It didn't fall into the sink as it would normally. No! It snaked its way out of the tap and into the air as Will manipulated with his mind. He was able to coil the water around his body, moving it in every direction and shape he could think of.

Will wanted to test how far he could control water. He closed the tap and thrust the water in the shape of a snake outside the window. He slithered it in the air above his neighborhood, farther and farther from his house. Will couldn't believe how he was able to do this, and so easily too. When the snake reached about 15 meters away, he could feel his control of the water slipping. When it reached 30 meters, the snake fell apart and rained down onto the street. He knew he could control any amount of water within a 15 meter radius with his current level of power. But, he could only control its movement, he couldn't change the temperature, in other words he couldn't change it into a different state, such as steam or ice.

After more experimentation with his control over water, Will sat down on his bed again. He felt as though he were forgetting something important. He started to remember everything that had happened.

"Ah, the system, that's it!" He said aloud.

Just as he remembered it, the system flooded his mind with instructions on how to use the system.

Once a user becomes a part of the system, they gain abilities, powers, and a class. To increase their power and ability level, a user must gain experience. The way to gain experience is by being in the system and killing demonic creatures. By doing this, a user will be rewarded and level up. Users cannot leave a dungeon once it has been entered. Each world has a set amount of dungeons. A star on a dungeon represents 50 points that may be earned by defeating the boss. The reward goes to the user who defeats the boss.

The system selects users randomly throughout a world. Only a certain percentage of a population above a certain age may be a part of the system. When a user is chosen, they will remain in the system until the end of their life. To make a non- user part of the system, it will require a payment of 25 points. However, the system will determine their abilities and class. If a payment of 200 points to the system occurs, one can have any individual become a part of the system, and they will have the ability to choose their class, abilities, and parameters.

Every user has a menu with a list of five options.

[Information]

Information contains information on dungeons and creatures; however, all information has a price.

This also allows a user to talk to anyone in the world for 1 point. But, the user must know the individual's full name and have already met them. A user may pay 1 point to message anyone in the world for a day.

Moreover, this is where a user may add an individual into the system and allow them to state their class parameters and abilities.

[Stats]

This allows a user to view their abilities, level, and class.

[Storage]

This is a space of 1 cubic meter to store any non-living items. The storage space increases as the user reaches higher levels.

[Map]

Map shows a layout of the area up to a 100 meter radius around a user. It shows users and creatures that are within the 100 meter radius, depending on the circumstance. This too increases as the user reaches higher levels.

[Management]

This allows users to form groups with other users. These groups may be guilds, alliances, parties or an organization on a large scale.

To see this menu page, a user must close one eye and navigate using their hands.

As soon as this information had finished loading in Will's brain, more information began to flow into his mind. Something was different. This information was not about the system, it was about cultivation!