Synthesis Read online

  Kala's colors flash in a bright, intricate pattern. She must be thinking really hard.

  "I...I... I don't know, Jax. I have not heard of that race before. This is very strange...." She says in a concerned voice, her patterns still flashing complexly.

  I don't know what to think. Am I not human? I look up to the sky and see the rings of the planet that make up the Administrator. What is going on? I shudder and try to move on. There are no answers to be had right now. "I also have a few Marks that I see on my character sheet." I send her my character sheet.

  "I'm sorry, Jax, I don't know what the Mark of Synthesis does. I guess you'll just need to try it out. Hmmm, this is all very interesting." She starts flashing the color of gold. "However they sound beneficial. You got me because of one of them. Lock Boxes of the Progenitors sounds like they would contain some epic loot. We need to find these lock boxes." She says almost laughing. "Wait." She yells, startling me causing me to jump. "Why do you not have any uses left for Petition of the Watcher? That's not fair. That's like losing a free wish. You are starting to rack up the mysteries, Jax."

  I growl at the world in its unfairness. What or who is the Watcher? That doesn't sound creepy or ominous at all. Ugh, okay. Moving on, nothing I can do about it now.

  I stand up and look down at the Illax. I reach towards the creature and before I touch them a window pops up in front of me.

  Would you like to collect all loot? Y/N

  I select yes. You have found: 1 Small Horned Illax Pelt (common), 1 Small Horned Illax Horn (common), and 1 Dim Core. After a few moments, the Illax fades into the ground.

  I look around me. "Hey. Where'd my loot go?" I yell this world is starting to piss me off.

  "Calm it down drama queen. Geez. All you need to do is think Inventory, and you will find everything there."

  I give Kala a dirty look. "I'm not a drama queen." I do as she says and think Inventory and a window pops up that has five slots and I see my loot taking up two of them. The window lists this as User Flux Holding. I see the Core listed under Wealth. Huh, I guess Cores are what goes for money around here. "Kala, what is the User Flux Holding?" I ask her.

  "That is where all your loot is stored until you get a bag to hold stuff. When items are placed into flux, they are absorbed into your body. It's a great way to keep important or valuable items from being lost or stolen." I look back at my inventory, wait, what? It says that 3/5 slots used, but I only have two items, and the Core does not take up inventory space. I look closer, and one of the inventory slots is shimmering. I focus on it, and a notification pops up.

  Molecularly Bound Pattern detected, do you wish to reconstruct the item? Y?N

  "Um, Kala? There is a molecularly bound pattern in my inventory, whatever that is. It's asking if I want to reconstruct the item. What do I do?" I ask her.

  "What? I have no idea what that is. Maybe just select yes and see what happens?" She says.

  Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this. Here goes nothing. I select yes.

  Error. Insufficient resources detected. Item reconstruction requires 2500 Health and 2500 Mental Energy, or 2 Radiant Cores.

  Well, that was anticlimactic and frustrating. Ugh, swipe the notifications away with my hand in annoyance. I explain to Kala what it said, and she flashes at me what I take as a shrug.

  I look around and then look at Kala. "So, now what?" I ask her. "And... you don't happen to have a pair of pants on you do you?" I ask her hopefully, tucking my manhood back into my crappy plant underwear.

  She laughs and says "No Jax, Sorry. I'm sure we will get you taken care of soon. Maybe. As to where we should go, I'm not sure. I was only given enough information to guide you through these first steps. I have a bestiary of common low-level creatures and other general information. As we do not have a map, I say we just pick a direction and go. I would recommend trying to kill a few more low-level creatures and leveling up. And who knows, maybe they will drop some gear or clothes. Then your bits won't be swaying in the breeze like those trees." She laughs again.

  "You know, Kala, for saying you don't care about my nudity you sure are making me feel self-conscious." She shrugs at me again. Okay, whatever. Let's do this.

  Chapter Three: Go West, Young Man, Go West

  I take in my surroundings, not knowing which direction is what. I look at what I think is east, judging by the position of the sun. To the east are massive, dark, intimidating mountains. Yeah, not going that way. The south and north both equally look the same with a forest of trees. West seems to be slightly clearer for walking. West it is. I start walking, and I begin to notice the wildlife of this strange new planet. There seem to be lots of birdlike creatures flying around. They are iridescent blue-silver and furry. They kind of look like small flying lemurs. Pretty cute actually. That fox creature was cute too though, and it tried to kill me, so I keep my guard up. They won't hold still long enough for me to Analyze them.

  "Hey, Kala, what happened to that fox-looking creature I killed, I forgot what it was called, his body disappeared after I looted it. And why was it carrying something called a Core, and what exactly are they?" I ask her.

  "Upon death, all lifeforms will drop loot and then their body and energy will be absorbed into the planet. Those Cores are self-contained pure energy. The Cores are formed in every living creature on this planet, kind of like pearls. They are the universal currency on this planet. They also have other uses, but I can not remember what." She tells me.

  "These Cores contain energy? Like a battery? What kind of energy? And you said every living creature has one of these in them, so do I have one? Do you? Are you considered 'alive', Kala?" I ask her.

  "Don't be an ass, Jax. Yes, I am alive. Just because I am a life form you do not understand does not mean I am less." She says in a hurt tone.

  "I'm sorry, Kala, I didn't mean it like that. You are right. There are many things on this planet I do not understand. I would be lost without you. Please be patient with me. This is all almost too much to wrap my head around." I say to her.

  "It's okay, Jax, most things in this world are new to me as well. We will both stumble on our journey, and we need to help each other. To answer your questions, yes, I believe we both have Cores in us. As to their exact nature, I don't know."

  We walk along in the perfect weather for about an hour. Everything is so vibrant, the air so fresh, clean. Man, I wish the colony ship could have landed here. I wish Jill were here. She was the one that played games. She would have loved this world. I chuckle to myself thinking about her here. She would probably be a legendary bad-ass by this point if it were her here instead of me. I feel my chest tighten with emotions.

  "Jax? Are you crying? What's wrong?" Kala asks me.

  "I'm fine, I was thinking of my sister. I miss her. I wish she were here. The whole reason she is on that ship is that I wanted a better life for her. Now I won't be there when she wakes up. She will think that I'm dead." I say as I wipe my eyes. I look around at the intensity of life around me. Only the extremely rich and powerful on Earth were allowed to live in the green and lush areas that were left. This world is everything, well besides it being a game, and the wildlife that tries to kill you.

  I begin trying to Analyze everything I see. Trees, rocks, grass and so on. Little information is given besides their names, no levels or abilities listed. I do notice that my Analyze skill has gone up ten percent. That's cool, and I look around for more stuff to use the power on. You inflict 4 crushing damage on yourself.

  Oww! That hurts. I stubbed my toe on a tree branch hiding in the grass. I rub my toe and then pick up the branch. It's about four feet long and an inch thick. The branch is somewhat straight, and it's a dark almost black color with green streaks running through it. I try to Analyze it.

  ????

  ????

  ????

  "What the hell?" I say out loud. "Why can I not get any info out of this stupid stick? And why is the pop-up window green?" I ask Kala with an annoyed tone.
r />   "Wow. You may have found an uncommon item. Your level is too low to identify it, as is mine. But you definitely should hold on to it." She says excitedly. "Wait, I know. Try your ability, Soul Touch, on it." She says.

  I look at the stick, alright I guess it can't hurt. It does take a considerable amount of mental power to cast it, 100 points at least. I focus on the branch and think Soul Touch. Nothing happens. I try again and focus harder, staring at it for what seems like forever, all of a sudden the branch and I emit a blinding light. The green streaks in the branch flash and my mind is slammed with everything there is to know about this piece of wood. I know where it came from, how long the tree took to grow, how it came to be here, everything down to the basic building blocks that form it. I also know that it contains dormant Xoria. I now know that everything on this planet is in infused with Xoria. The ones in this branch are ancient. I fall to the ground with my head pounding, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. I notice that there are notifications that have popped up, but I can't focus on them. Everything goes dark, and I pass out.

  "Jax. Wake up." Kala is yelling at me.

  "Ugh, not so loud," I whisper.

  "You ass. I thought you died for a moment. Don't ever do that again." She continues to yell at me, ignoring my request. She is flashing blue at me, and I know she is crying and angry at the same time.

  "It's okay, Kala, I'm fine. I had no idea that would happen. And you're the one who told me to do it in the first place." I rebuke her.

  "Sorry Jax, I was just worried about you." She says quietly. "So.... what happened? Did you learn anything about that branch?" Her curiosity winning over. I look at the notifications waiting for my inspection.

  Congratulations! You have found:

  Branch of the Midnight Tree (Dormant, Core Bound)

  Rarity: Uncommon

  Quality: Fine

  Durability: 130/150

  Weapon Type: Staff

  Melee Damage: 12-15 Blunt

  -Through the use of Soul Touch you have Molecularly Bound this item to you. You may now use 75 mental energy to Awaken this item, do you wish to continue? Y?N

  Oh man, I don't know about this. The last time I used that much mental energy I passed out. I tell Kala what it says. "I don't know, Jax. That really scared me when you passed out. I mean, I think it's pretty great you found that in the first place. Your luck stat must have kicked in. Do you think you'd be okay if it's not awakened? I do not even know what that would do. It might be dangerous." Her colors are flashing in complex patterns as she is thinking.

  Screw it. I'm going to do. I'm running around an alien planet, naked, with no weapons. I need all the help I can get. I select yes. I feel a massive amount of energy build in me and then shoot out in a beam of light at the branch. It absorbs the light, and then the green streaks start to glow and continue to shine.

  Congratulations! You have found:

  Awakened Branch of the Midnight Tree (Molecularly Bound)

  Rarity: Rare

  Quality: Superb

  Durability: 300/300

  Weapon Type: Staff

  Melee Damage: 15-20 Blunt

  Ranged Damage: 15 Dark Energy (Recharge Rate: 10 secs per use)

  Range: 12 feet

  -Adds 5 Intelligence

  -Adds 5 Wisdom

  -This is a branch of the near extinct Midnight Tree. These trees spent their existence slowly drawing in dark energy from the universe. Their wood was coveted for their density and used as weapons. They were forested until their extinction.

  Wow. That is pretty awesome. A rare weapon and I've only been here for a few hours. Maybe things are starting to look up.

  "Jax? I wish you would have told me you were going to do that." She is flashing red at me. "Anyways, what happened? The branch is glowing now, and the wood looks even darker. It makes me uncomfortable to look at. It's not evil is it?" She asks as she slowly backs away.

  "I think its safe, Kala, no need to worry." I decided to try something and will the info on the weapon to Kala.

  "Hey. That's quite convenient. I just got a pop-up window saying you want to share information with me. Wow. You have a rare staff? Those are some stellar stats on it. I can't believe that was just hanging out in the grass like that. Crazy." She says.

  I stand up holding my new staff, feeling a bit smarter from the stat boost. I notice my blue Mental pool is almost depleted, but it will refill. I grin at Kala and start walking. We continue for about half an hour when I hear something making some voices in the trees near us. It sounds like someone is trying to talk while gargling. I look at Kala, and she shrugs at me. I crouch down and try to walk as quietly as possible.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Stealth (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You seek to hide in the shadows and ambush your opponents! You are now 5% harder to detect, you fade into your environment. Attacks from Stealth deal critical damage and are considered a Sneak Attack, a sub-skill of Stealth. Agility is increased by 1 every 5 levels.

  Stamina Cost: 5/sec

  Experience awarded: 15

  Nice. I better hurry though, I can only be in Stealth for twenty seconds before I'll fall down in exhaustion. I creep up and look through the trees. There is a three-foot tall humanoid-like creature kneeling over a dead animal. It is wearing crude pants and nothing else, and it has long curved claws. It seems to be covered in a slimy substance and is very pale white. Its eyes are milky and may be blind. I wonder if this creature lives underground? I use Analyze on the beast.

  Cave Gibling

  Level 2

  Synthesis: 17%

  Health: ????

  Stamina: ????

  Mental: ????

  Race: Humanoid

  Disposition: Unknown

  Abilities: ????

  Loot: ????

  I send the info over to Kala and look at her. "You should attack it, Jax, Gibling's are horrible little creatures." She says to me quietly.

  The adrenaline starts to pump into my body. I sneak closer and point my staff at the Gibling. I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to activate the ranged attack on my staff, so I just will it to release its energy at the creature. I feel a tingle in my hands, and then a bolt of dark energy shoots out. It slams into the head of the disgusting little monster. Its health bar appears over its head, and it's already halfway gone. I remember how the Stealth skill turns any attack performed while hidden into a critical. The creature shrieks out in pain and snaps its head towards me. Ah shit, it looks pissed. It snarls at me, then jumps into a small hole I didn't see before. Did it just run away?

  "Keep your guard up, Jax, I don't think this fight is over," Kala says.

  I need to ask Kala what her other abilities are. Maybe she can help me in these fights besides healing.

  I slowly step into the clearing. Ugh, I don't like this. I really do not want to be introduced to the Giblings claws. All of a sudden two Giblings explode out of the ground, one on my left and the other on my right. I quickly fire a dark bolt at one that has a wound on it from my critical attack as I run towards it. It yells a high-pitched gurgling sound at me. I grab my ears in pain, whacking myself in the face with my staff at the same time. I notice my health bar has appeared and is down a third. Dammit! That must have been one of its abilities. I shake my head and then run towards the Gibling. It looks like it's about to jump back down a hole.

  "Oh no, you don't," I yell at it. I leap and swing my staff down on its head. My staff makes a sickening wet crunching sound as it cracks open the creatures head. The Gibling spasms a few times and then goes still. Its health bar disappears.

  A warm, bright light glows around me for a moment. My health is restored some. I smile at Kala for the heal. She flashes a smile back at me, then she swirls with intense red colors and then releases a blinding pulse. The Gibling that was running towards me is suddenly wreathed in blue flames. Wow. She's been holding back. That was awesome. The Gibling is screaming and thrashing in the fire and do
es not see me run up to it. I swing at its head, but at the last moment, it ducks and slashes me with its claw. Its attack knocks me down and leaves three nasty looking gashes seeping blood down my body. I notice that a bleeding debuff is next to my health bar, causing my health to slowly decrease, leaving me with less than thirty-five percent health. The creature yells at me and swipes again, and it misses as I narrowly roll away to the side.

  I try to shoot a dark bolt at it, but my staff is still recharging. Fuck. It swipes at me again, and I knock its claw away with my staff. I then quickly bring my staff around and bash it in the chest. I notice its health bar is flashing red. It falls down and tries to claw at the ground to escape. I finish it off with a final bash to its head. You have killed Cave Gibling (Lvl 2). You receive 30 experience points.

  At that same moment, my body pulses with light and all my pain and fatigue disappear. Congratulations! You have increased to level 2. You now have 10 attribute points to disperse.

  I notice another notification, but I leave it for now. "Hey, Kala? Are you okay over there?" I ask her.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" She asks.

  "Yeah, I just leveled up. I feel great." I say.

  "We should probably loot these guys and get out of here. There might be more." She says.

  I wholeheartedly agree with her. I walk up to both Giblings and collect their loot without even looking at them. This whole killing thing is not sitting right with me. I have to carry some of the loot in my arms because my Flux inventory is full. Ugh, I need to find a bag and clothes. I run out of the area with Kala following me. I run for about five minutes and then plop down on the ground, dropping the loot. I sit there trying to catch my breath.

  "Well now, that was fun," Kala states like the mole people did not almost just kill us.

  I look down at my chest, and the wounds are gone, only dried blood is left. Man, I look like a mess. Blood and dirt all over me. I need a hot shower.