I am in a void. A massive expanse of absolutely nothing. I have no body. Only my mind still exists, but I can tell there is nothing around me. It feels like I just got here and have also been waiting here for this moment forever.
Ah, I died. This must be what it’s like after death. I suppose it could be worse.
My thoughts and memories feel normal, but my emotions feel locked behind a glass door. I can still tell that they exist. They are just not available to me right now. My entire experience as a human tells me I should be freaking out right now, but I cannot. My mind tells me to just think things through logically and be rational.
So I wait. I have no idea for how long, just until something happens.
“You’re not dead. I just moved you here temporarily so we could speak privately.” A calm man's voice tells me, coming from everywhere at once. Despite having no ears, I can hear him perfectly.
“What is happening?” I ask with no mouth.
“Like I said, I just want to speak with you for a moment. You will be returned to your body after I am done with you. And sorry about your emotions, but you initiates always tend to freak out so much, so this is better for the both of us, trust me.”
I hear his words, and for some reason I do trust them. Anyone that can do this can surely kill me with less effort. At the very least I should hear him out.
“Okay, what do you want to talk about? And who are you?” I ask in a perfectly calm and polite voice.
The voice gives a small chuckle before responding. “I am called Peros, and I am what the locals refer to as a ‘Great Being.’ And my purpose for our conversation today is simple. I want you to work for me.”
“What is a ‘Great Being’? I think Merrick mentioned those once. You guys created the planet, right?”
“A Great Being is someone who reaches the absolute pinnacle of their own power and then goes further. We are not bound by body or consciousness, having shed our mortality on the path to power. Many cultures new to the [System] refer to us as ‘Gods,’ but that term is misleading, so we don’t use it.”
Oh, so he's like a god or something. That explains why he’s able to do all of this. A job pitch, though—I didn’t see that coming.
“What’s the job? And why me?”
“I am in need of someone to do my bidding on Helot, and with an initiation ongoing, there are no better candidates to choose from. You have proven yourself as one of the more… interesting initiates, so I thought I would extend the offer to you before someone else takes you into their employ.”
At least it seems like he is asking me instead of just making me a magic slave or something.
“What kind of work would I be doing? And what’s the pay?”
“The work is simple, and mostly things you will be doing anyway. Tasks like clearing out monsters, searching old ruins, maybe killing the agent of one of my rivals—all things you will be capable of. And for the pay, I can offer something few else can: special [Quest]s, like the one you just finished.”
I know I should be shocked, but my lack of emotions forces me to respond calmly.
“You gave me that [Quest]? Why? What did it do to me? After I received the completed notification, it felt like I was having a magical heart attack. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“Yes, I did. And I did it as an experiment, to be honest. Because of several coincidental factors, such as your low level, no offense, and the fact that the ritual fight was two versus one, I was able to bend the [System] to give you a [Quest] with quite good rewards. You should be grateful. Not many people survive having a [Beast mana-heart] form after birth. It is a great boon to have.” Peros says with no emotion in his voice.
This story has been stolen from NovelBin. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
So this guy used me as an experiment, and now that it worked, he wants to hire me? And what is a [Beast mana-heart]?
“What is that? What did you do to me?”
“You will have to find that out on your own, unfortunately. I am currently unable to give you any worthwhile information or help, as giving you that [Quest] took most of the influence I have over the [System]. It will take a few weeks to regain it.”
This guy is pretty shady. Is he even telling me the truth? He doesn’t seem malicious, and the way he spoke about experimenting on me felt like he did it because the opportunity arose, not as some sort of grand plan. If he’s telling the truth, this could be a huge boon. If he’s lying, well, it’s not like things can get much worse than they already are.
“I’m not agreeing yet, but how would this work? Do you just give me new [Quest]s, and I complete them?”
“Yes. I have many loose ends and errands to run all over the planet. You will be assigned to the ones that I think you can complete to my satisfaction. Once you formally agree to be my agent on Helot, giving you [Quest]s and rewards becomes much easier.”
“What about when I return to Earth? Will I still be your ‘agent’ then?”
“No, our agreement only extends to the time your initiation is ongoing. After you have returned back to Earth, you are no longer my concern.”
This seems like it could be a decent deal. Gaining a powerful benefactor while getting stronger will help me survive and get back home. The possibility of fighting another person for this guy's benefit worries me, or at least I know it should, so I take it into consideration. I know that I will have to do a lot of things that I don’t like before I can even think about going back home, and at least this way I get paid for it.
“Okay, I agree, but I’m not worshipping you.”
Laughter fills the void once again. “I do not require worship. My power is my own. Now that we have come to an agreement, I will send you back to your physical body. I will call upon you when you are ready.”
I feel my consciousness slip away as everything that doesn’t exist here fades to black.
***
Before I can even open my eyes, my entire body aches in pain. My chest feels like someone has taken a sledgehammer to it and then let all of their friends have a turn. I can feel the dried blood on my side from the many open wounds. They don’t seem that deep, at least. I use [Mana Sense] to try and examine my body, hoping that it’s not too bad.
The first thing I notice is that my heart is producing more mana, a lot more. Easily more than triple what it was before the goblin fight—what could have done that?
And then it all floods back to me.
The pain of having mana invade its way into my heart, worming through every inch of my body to get there. I remember it acutely, causing my breathing to grow ragged as my heart rate increases. And the conversation I had with the being that apparently did this to me. Was that even real?
I continue to scan my body, looking for anything out of place, and once again, I find something new about my heart.
In the very center of my heart, a small rice-grain-sized crystal of mana exists.
Oh fuck, is this going to kill me? I can’t have anything solid in my heart! That kills people!
Merrick’s voice breaks me out of my panicked thoughts.
“Ray, what the hell happened to you? You look like total shit.”
I groan and open my eyes, not daring to get up yet. The rest of my body hurts too much.
I should check my [System] status. Maybe that will tell me something.
[You have slain multiple enemies]
[Level 15 forest goblin]
[You have leveled up to level 6]
[Level 15 forest goblin]
[You have leveled up multiple active skills]
[Space Control] lvl 5
[Mana Shaping] lvl 6
[You have leveled up a passive skill]
[Mana Sense] lvl 5
[Ray Alder] lvl 6
Race
[Human]
Active Skills
[Space Control] lvl 5
[Mana Shaping] lvl 6
Passive Skills
[Mana Sense] lvl 5
Traits
[Adaptive Affinity]
[Beast mana-heart]
Affinities
[Space]
Allegiances
Peros
Well, it really does look like I have a new boss.