The Crucible of Immortality: Book One: Synthesis

by Leto Blackman

  Chapter Two: The Real World

  I hold her in my arms as I watch her life slowly fade away. The anguish washes over me like a tsunami and I pull her close to me and I sob. I look up as footsteps approach. With anger, I look upon the one responsible for her death. My heart turns instantly to ice and I say through clenched teeth "I will kill you.". I raise my hand as I feel the wrath of a thousand suns leave me...

  ~

  I jerk awake as the dream fades. I quickly shut my eyes as a brilliant headache pounds in my head. "Ugh.What.The.Fuck." I moan. The same dream, I feel like I have had this dream for years, yet it also feels completely new. I wipe tears from my eyes. I try to shake off the déjà vu like feeling. "Take it easy, Jax, your body has been through quite a bit. You will feel better in a few minutes." I hear Kala console me.

  "Dammit, I was hoping all of this was a bad dream." I say quietly, my mind flashing to the actual dream I just woke from of the woman that died in my arms.

  I start laughing "I mean come on! I'm on an alien world, that has an omniscient robot overlord and I have to "play" a game that is now my life!" I laugh louder and start crying at the same time. I then grab my head as a wave of pain hits me. "Fuck, remind me not to laugh for the next hour. My head hurts too much." I tell Kala.

  "Shhhh... It's Okay, Jax. I'm going to use Heal on you. It will help with the pain." She says softly in my ear. A bright light envelopes me and I immediately feel better.

  With some trepidation I open my eyes. There is a beautiful blue sky with a twinkling silver arc painted across the sky, which must be the Administrator. Some clouds have a shimmering purple color, which I at first assume are from light refraction. However, I look at the sun and realize the clouds are not getting their color from sunlight. I sit up and take stock of my surroundings. I am laying in a field of grass with trees all around me. Or, I think they are trees. They have thick red hide-like material instead of bark. The leaves look like green angel hair pasta that is fifteen feet long, they sway in the light breeze, they are beautiful if not a bit odd. The grass seems normal enough, although when I reach down to touch it the grass seems to react and pulls away. It is a perfect day and feels to be in the low eighties in temperature. A slight breeze is blowing, bringing smells of nature and life.

  I turn to my left and yelp out loud. There is a floating ball of energy, it has a swirling rainbow of colors. It is about the size of my head and is about five feet off the ground. It is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. I am transfixed by the swirling colors. "Hi, Jax, it's me. Hope I didn't startle you." Kala says. It's her voice, but now it has taken on a song like quality.

  "Wow. Kala, that's crazy. What are you?" I ask her.

  "I am your companion, Jax, this is my birth form. Until I take my bonded form this is how I will remain." She explains to me.

  "I have no idea what any of that means, Kala. What are these forms you are talking about? And what did you do to me a moment ago? What was that bright light? Since this is a "game" is there magic?" I ask her, immediately feeling silly as soon as the words left my mouth. Before she can respond I exclaim loudly "God damn! It feels SO good to be on solid ground. This air is amazing. I can't tell you how much I have missed greens and blues and life! I never want to go back to the monotony of space." I look around with a grin on my face. It is so beautiful here.

  "Yes, Jax, it is wonderful for me as well to finally be born and to experience this world for the first time. The forms I am speaking of are how I am represented in this world. Right now, I am pure energy held together by my consciousness. You are my master, Jax, it is your right to choose my bonded form. My bonded form can never be changed after it is chosen. Please consider this seriously. No Jax, there is no magic. However, with the Xoria, and the potential they unlock, there are many things you will be able to do that you may think of as "magic". For the sake of simplicity we will call the use of powers as casting. The Heal I cast on you was my will power exerting itself on the Xoria in you, commanding them to heal you faster than normal.

  Since I am your companion your body and Xoria trust me and allowed me this small amount of control. If anyone else were to attempt this it may not work. It depends on the level of trust between the caster and the one being effected. If an enemy were to try to cast something harmful or negative on you, the Xoria would attempt to resist and protect you. There are many factors that would determine the level of harm something or someone would be able to do to you. Are you ready to choose my bonded form?" She asks me timidly.

  "Umm, huh. I can't make that decision, Kala. I already chose your name, and please, do not call me your master. You are your own intelligent life form. I will leave the nature of your bonded form in your hands. Well, if you had hands! Haha. Sorry, bad joke." I smile sheepishly at her. "What forms can you take by the way? Does your form need to be relatively the same mass and size?" I ask her.

  She doesn't respond for a few minutes. The colors in her pulse and change in complex patterns. "Kala? Are you okay?" I ask her.

  "Sorry, Jax, I did not mean to concern you. I do not know what to say..... Thank you. I know you have been in a whirlwind of new experiences in the last few hours. It shows the empathy you hold that you are able to think of others even in the midst of everything that is happening. I will ponder on this for a while, choosing my bonded form is a huge decision. Please know you have my gratitude, Jax. To answer your question, I'm not sure, but I believe I am able to choose a form many times my current size." She flashes warm colors at me, which I assume as her smiling at me.

  I hear a loud thunder like sound and see one of the shimmering purple clouds burst like fireworks. That was strange, why did I hear the sound before the cloud burst. The scientist in me taking over and trying to come up with a theory. There must be different gases and possibly elements not found on Earth here.

  I stand up and stretch. Wow. I feel amazing. Never have I felt so alive, so full of energy. My thoughts feel clearer and quicker. I look down at my body. Oops! I'm completely naked. But damn, I look great. My body looks more muscular and toned. The small love handles I used to have are gone. I look down and see strange marks on my hands. On my right hand is a black circle with a white symbol in the center. It kind of looks like a combination of Japanese and an ink blot. On my left hand is what looks like a stylized eye.

  "Kala! Is this what you meant when you said my stats would have a real life effect of my body and mind? And do you know what these marks on my hands are?" I ask her excitedly, also blushing at the same time as I realize I'm taking to her naked.

  "No need to be embarrassed about your current state of undress. You need to realize I have never seen a human before, nor do I have the same views on modesty that you do. Although the longer I am bonded to you the stronger the link between us will grow and I may begin to adapt human emotions. As the link grows stronger I will be able to know your feelings and your location as you will know the same of me." She flashes a smile at me again. "Yes, your attribute points will have a direct effect on your body and mind. If you put more points into intelligence you will become smarter and so on. I'm not sure what those marks are, Jax." She says.

  Huh, well that's pretty awesome. "Hey, so how do I get more attribute points?" I ask her.

  "You have to level up silly!" She states this in a slightly condescending tone.

  Oh yeah, this is a game, but do I really need to play it? I mean, this is still real life, can I just live on this new world and ignore all these silly pop windows and stats? This is so strange, what highly advanced race would make a whole planet into a game? Or maybe they didn't view it as a game? Who knows, maybe there are answers out there on this large world. I think about being in the Creation Realm, and I blush. As an experiment I try to will clothes onto myself. Nothing happens, well it was worth a shot. I should have spent more time there, I could have lived as a god, not that living as a god really interests me. But, I could have had more fun.

  I walk up to one of the closer trees and
touch the long rope like leaf/branch things. They are extremely soft, I tug on it and it comes off the tree with a sucking sound. I look up and see what kind of looks like the inside of a mouth that the branch come out of. The mouth closes for a moment and then a small green branch comes out, it's about the size of my index finger. That is so strange. I pull a few more down. Then I start to wrap them around my exposed manhood like a toga. After a few minutes of wrapping and tying knots I am wearing a green rope loin cloth. Something pops up in my vision. I issue a small yelp and back away, but it follows me. I quickly realize that it is a translucent window with text.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Crafting (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You have been here for only twenty minutes and you already learned your first skill, nicely done. Crafting is only limited by your imagination, so go forth and put shit together. Newly crafted items will have 1% higher stats and 1% increased durability.

  Experience awarded: 15

  Collo Vine Loin Cloth (Crafted by Jax Stone)

  Rarity: Trash

  Quality: Shabby

  Durability: 15/15

  Armor: .5

  I read over the info in the windows and then laugh. "Kala can you see these windows in front of me?" I ask her.

  "No, what do they say?" Kala says. "It seems I have discovered a skill called Crafting. Check out my new underwear." I twirl for her.

  She laughs, it's the first time I have heard her laugh before. It's a magical sound. She makes a coughing sound "Jax, you seem to be popping out."

  I look at her confused and then look down and see my penis hanging out between vines. "Shit!" I swear, and then tuck myself back in. "Well, whatever, I think it's pretty damn good for my first try at crafting." I wonder if I can make a whole set of clothes from the vines. I pull another vine down, as soon as I do the tree shudders and then all the vines are pulled back into the mouths. Then one thick red vine slithers out and sways back and forth. I slowly back away, not sure what it is doing, but it seems to be a defense mechanism. The red vine seems to sense my movement and slams into the ground in front of me. I scream in surprise and jump back.

  "Jax, you should probably stop messing with that tree, it looks quite angry. I stand a few feet back studying the tree. It is fascinating, I wonder if it is a type of animal, it reminds me of something that would live in the ocean.

  I am standing there engrossed in my thoughts a small animal quietly walks within a few of me. I notice the movement out of the corner of my eye. I jump back as I turn my head quickly to see what it is. It looks like a small fox like creature, except its ears are tiny and it has wicked looking horns on its head. Its fur is a greenish brown color and seems to shimmer making it almost vanish in the tall grass. "Kala! What is that thing?" I ask quietly, trying to not startle the creature.

  "Oh! It's your first animal, Jax! This is exciting! This is a great opportunity to learn a few things and to gain some experience." She says slightly louder than I am comfortable with. The creature snaps it head to look at Kala. It lowers itself more into the grass almost disappearing completely. What the hell!? Kala and I have different ideas as to what is exciting. "Okay, first thing you need to do, Jax , is look at the creature, concentrate, and think Analyze." She whispers. I look at the creature and think Analyze. An opaque window pops up in front of me.

  Name: Small Horned Illax

  Level: 1

  Synthesis: 12%

  Health: ????

  Stamina: ????

  Mental: ????

  Race: Beast

  Disposition: Hostile

  Abilities: ????

  Loot: ????

  Hostile? What did I ever do to it? "The Illax is a pack hunter, so I would get ready to attack it before others arrive." This is crazy. I'm naked and have no weapons.

  All of a sudden the Illax leaps at me and skewers my leg with its horns.Small Horned Illax does 11 piercing damage to you!

  A notification pops up. Fuck! That hurts. I kick at it and miss and almost fall down. It leaps again and bites my hand. Small Horned Illax does 4 piercing damage to you!

  I grab it with my other hand and smash it into the ground. You do 10 crushing damage to Small Horned Illax and stun it!

  Man, these notifications are getting annoying I think. The creature is stunned on the ground, I feel almost sorry for it as I crush its head with my foot. Critical! You do 20 crushing damage to Small Horned Illax! Small Horned Illax (Lvl 1) has died. You receive 13 experience points.

  I slump down to the ground. Wow, that was intense. "Hey! Jax! Jax! Are you okay?" Kala is shouting at me as she floats down.

  "Why are you yelling at me Kala?" I ask her in confusion.

  "You went into some kind of rage blackout! You kept smashing the head of the Illax with your foot over and over and you were mumbling You killed her. What was that about?" She asks me with concern.

  I look over at the Illax and quickly turn my head and barf. I look down at my foot and leg, they are covered with blood and gore. I barf again. "Ugh, that is so gross. I don't know what happened Kala. I don't remember doing that overkill." I say as I wipe my mouth off. A bright light envelopes me and my wounds begin to heal.

  "It's okay Jax, I was just worried about you. Do you feel better now?" She asks me.

  "Yes, thank you, Kala." I say.

  Other notifications have popped up. I focus on them.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Unarmed Combat (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You had no choice but to learn to use your body as a weapon. With further use your body will become a killing machine! Constitution and Strength increase by 1 point each every five levels of this skill. Any damage inflicted by your body does 5% more damage. Natural armor increased by 1 per level.

  Stamina Cost: 5 per attack

  Experience awarded: 15

  Congratulations! You have learned the skill:

  Analyze (Novice, Lvl 1).

  You can now learn basic information about the different lifeforms on this planet. Level this skill to gain greater knowledge. Intelligence will increase by 1 point every five levels of this skill.

  Mind Energy Cost: 10

  Experience awarded: 15

  I will the notifications to disappear. Then I lay onto the ground and close my eyes. "Kala, is there any way to not have notifications pop up when I am in combat?" I ask her.

  "Of course, all you need to do is think about your notifications and will them to be minimized during combat." She tells me.

  I do as she says, I don't need those distractions when things are trying to kill me. I sit up, I notice there is now three colored bars of red, blue, and green at the bottom of my vision. I assume these represent my health, mind, and stamina. I will them to disappear and to only appear when in combat or situations that I expend them. I get an idea and look at Kala and think Analyze.

  Name: Kala

  Title: ????

  Level: 1

  Synthesis: NA

  Race: ???? (Unbonded)

  Disposition: Friendly

  Skill 1: Heal

  Skill 2: ????

  Skill 3: ????

  Loot: ????

  Huh, interesting. Not a ton of info. Seeing the loot area kind of disturbed me though. I felt intense anger flare up for a moment at the thought of someone killing Kala for loot, or for any reason.

  "Hey now! You have to tell a girl before you Analyze her!" She flashes red at me. I guess that is her angry face.

  "Sorry, Kala, didn't know it was a big deal." I apologize to her.

  "No biggie, Jax. It's only because we are linked that I knew you did that. However, some higher level beings will know if you try to Analyze them. It can be considered an invasion of privacy by some." She says.

  "I'll keep that in mind, thank you, Kala." I tell her. I notice the blue mental bar appeared again with a small portion gone. I watch it slowly refill and then disappear. I get another idea and see if it will work. I think to myself User
Sheet, a new window pops up.

  Name: Jax Stone

  Age: 28

  Gender: Male

  Level: 1

  Experience: 15%

  Synthesis: 100%

  Race: Progenitor

  Focus: Undermined

  Fame: 0

  Health: 100/100

  Mind Energy: 200/200

  Stamina: 100

  Health Regen/sec: .2

  Mind Regen/sec: .3

  Stamina Regen/sec: .2

  Strength: 10

  Constitution: 10

  Endurance: 10

  Dexterity: 10

  Agility: 10

  Intelligence: 20

  Wisdom: 18

  Luck: 25

  Base Melee Damage: 6-10 (Unarmed)

  Base Ranged Damage: 0

  Base Mind Power: 20

  Base Armor: 2 (Natural)

  Afflictions Resist Chance: Physical (5%)

  Mental (10%)

  Critical Hit Chance: 5.75%

  Critical Hit Damage: 150%

  Marks:

  Mark of the Progenitors: Once per day you may use Soul Touch to gain an intrinsic understanding of anything you are touching. May allow access to varying rewards. You must be in physical contact with object.

  Mental Cost: Variable (100 minimum)

  Effects 1: Learning new skills is 25% easier.

  Effects 2: Permanent increase of 10 to Luck Stat

  Effects 3: Allows user to open Lock Boxes of the Progenitors

  Mark of the Watcher: You have been awarded an Unbonded Unique Companion. Mark of the Watcher grants a one time use of Petition of the Watcher, the Watcher will hear and grant one request. (Uses 0/1)