Gavan Fallwick, Archmage Eternal

Gavan walked through the streets of his city, his home, the Capitol of the kingdom... and he felt disgusted. In the past the streets of the human had been paved with gold, the buildings enchanted and statues filled the parks, the entire city a glorious gleaming heap of praise to their creator, their god, and their own race. 

Now, the gold was gone- sold to help keep the nation afloat until it rebuilt itself and recovered from the apocalyptic event that was the loss of their system. The streets were cobblestone, now, and no amount of effort could quite remind the people of their old city, seeing as all of the people here had never seen it- aside from him and one other woman. But her memories were sealed in a way that let her be reborn every time she died. Not quite the immortality he'd sought. 

So, he thought through is options, wanting to clean and restore his city while he could- with changes to account for the incredibly weakened magic of the people in the modern day. After deciding on his spell, he opened his book to hide what he was doing- part of what was required to receive this gift- and muttered a word he hadn't spoken in ages. "Status." 

Immediately, a screen appeared and he smiled, eyes reveling in a sight all at once intimately familiar and long-since lost to him. His soul felt an ache he'd forgotten was there fade away as his soul was restored and healed. The system was a representation of the soul- every aspect of a person made visible as the soul gave it's body knowledge about itself. Upon earning enough divinity, or 'stat points' through ones actions, they could change what their soul displayed, which changed their body physically in turn. 

He and every other human had long ago lost the part of their soul that allowed them to see this screen, and it was only restored upon becoming an adventurer. As such, each human- without the ability to control their earned divinity- had their 'stat points' placed by their soul into what it believed they needed. However, without communication between the two expressions of the self, the soul couldn't understand what the body wanted, nor the body what the soul a chosen to do. Obviously, the disconnect led to... issues. 

Those with higher faith earned more divinity than others, but it was difficult to notice. You needed hundreds to earn extra 'stat points'. Of course, given his age, and his actions, he smiled at the screen before him and the one hundred and ninety three level-ups waiting for him. He'd spoken to his soul in that last moment, the moment before he lost communication... asked it to save his divinity to assign later, when he reclaimed his soul. He finally had, and allowed the level-ups to flood him with a kind of progression he literally hadn't had in centuries. 

He let his and his soul's desires mix, and found most of his hundreds of points entering wisdom, giving him brand new ideas and concepts, along with countless new ideas and possibilities to take advantage of. However, a full one hundred points was placed into charisma- bringing it from only mildly below average, too well over one hundred. He shivered, feeling his skin change and his muscles adapt to reflect the change. He looked down, noting that his clothing was now slightly tighter over his body, though the old robes remained comfortable. He smiled, very happy with his choice, though he did wonder what would've happened if he'd chosen vitality or faith. Either way, it was far too late now. 

He looked over his screen, allowing the system time to re-integrate itself with his soul and body, the bridge reforming as it needed too. Once that was finished, he could cast his spell, and the city would be restored to it's normal state. An idea he relished. 

Name: Gavan Fallwick (Gavin Son-of-none)

Title(s): Archmage Eternal, Humanity's Savior, Chosen of Epithemeus, Fallen from Grace, Reclaimer of the Past, Ancient Father, First of the Bloodline, Teacher of the Impossible, Battlemage, Herald of the Apocalypse, Death's Rider, Champion of the Heavens and Hells, Hope Killer, etc... (You have a lot, you're old, don't let it get to your head.)

Age: 789

Gender: Male

Aura: (Broken, please meditate to fix this, while at full Mp to restore.)

Mp: 1,000,000

Str: 56 (High for a mage, but... considering your other stats, not really anything worth mentioning. Still your weakest stat, 'Mr. Blademaster'.)

Agl: 149 (One hundred points were gained during the war due to intense periods of dodging and fighting, literally dancing among your enemies. You earned these, and I can finally apply these points.)

Dex: 68 

Con: 87 (Really -631. Your mana kept the decay that should've happened at bay, but now a godly power is preserving and repairing you. This will not and cannot last. Be warned.)

Int: 10,000+ (Cannot be leveled to any noticeable degree beyond this point. will only receive benefits when increasing one's stats here by tens of thousands of points.)

Wis: 1000 [+941*](I was hoping I could make you wiser eventually. Finally I have... now you might be able to figure out eternal youth. You have a month, make the most of it.)

Charisma: 169 [+154*](Very nice, my fleshy friend...)

Fth: 85 (Such a low number, considering all these years...)

Abilities: 

Call to the Maker: Your prayers are always heard. You will gain faith at a constant rate, as long as you take advantage of this fact. (That explains it... you stopped praying- how many centuries ago? I think before the war even began...)

A Toast to your Health!: Each point of Con. will affect you twice as much as it should, and every hundred levels in it, you will gain a spell, ability, or skill, related to it. (I had forgotten about this one after so long... I'm sorry, but wisdom is still more useful.)

Ancient: To achieve ancient status, one must live many times longer than their race is naturally meant too- by whatever means they can. Elves are unable to gain this ability. An Ancient can develop and maintain abilities and powers that should be impossible, as the system tends to evolve beyond what it is into what it could be. Aura is one example that no longer exists in the modern system. Few remember it.

Racial ability:

Humans gain six points to distribute however they choose, making them one of the poorest in total stats gained, but the most specialized and powerful of the races as a result. They also level up faster, and more steadily than any other race. Due to their short lives, they are insanely productive and inventive. As an ancient human, you also gain the ability to access or create bloodlines. By creating a bloodline of royal, noble, or variant status, you can create a permanent effect that blesses the entire family until the end of time, or until the end of their bloodline. The blessing can only be one that they already have, one stolen from something a dungeon created, or one you have. They are related to abilities, but every child in that family will have it. Increasing levels allow for increasing complexity of the bloodline, but there is a limit on how many of each may be created. 

Spell-list:

???**

---

Available status points: 0

Available ability points: 7

* Gained since you last leveled up 600+ years ago. 

** Held within grimoire, not listed here.

Gavan stared at his status sheet, smiling and enjoying his feelings of pride and victory. He'd be able to conquer a dungeon easily on his own... there were different things to worry about right now. So he opened his grimoire, and began chanting, allowing the magic to flood him in a wave of power that felt so familiar, and yet so unusual. 

It tingled in his blood, made his skin crawl, and made his eyes shine brightly as magical mist spilled from his lips, a mere side-effect of the channeling of so much arcane power. As he lifted his staff, runes burst alight on it, allowing his power to channel through him even faster and be concentrated into a more controlled, more powerful form. Then he shouted the last word of the chant and slammed his staff into the ground. 

A ripple flew from him, flooding through the streets of the town leaving only the wind disturbed. Then he tapped his staff again, and a second ripple exploded outwards from him in all directions- changing the entire world around him into what it used to be. The streets changed to gold, buildings became new and renewed their enchantments, The air smelled cleaner, and the city was, for the moment, completely devoid of filth. 

Plants grew along the sides of the streets that anyone could take, water flowed from pipes and fountains, and everything was as it had once been. He smiled, taking a deep breath, and tapping the street one last time. The spell sank into the earth, becoming a permanent part of the world. This city would not be destroyed as long as the world remained intact, and no force weaker than the gods could undo the spell- and even they would struggle. 

He checked his mana, smiling and nodding as he began to move on, waiting for an extreme headache to hit. He had one Mp left, and knew that he was bound to be regretting it very, very soon. But for now, he kept walking until, once again in sight of his guards, he passed out and slept for a few hours to regain some of his mp. 

***

Yorick

I looked at the option in front of me, one that had shown up after I condensed my territory again for the thousandth time. I still didn't understand it. After all... It was a confusing option. 'create species' wasn't a thing I'd seen before. So I kept it where it was, and went to find Angel. She'd stayed within the boundary of my territory- and I had learned how to sense where everything in my territory was at all times, and what they were doing, so I could keep track of her. 

She was at the lake, now, seemingly casting magic. I went to her, marking the spot on the mental map I had of my home. When I arrived, she was casting a spell on the water, filling it with even more magic, which- combined with what I'd already been doing- made it begin to glow softly with magic. It was obscenely magical, and I simply watched, absently memorizing the spell as she spoke it. 

When she was done, I watched her for a minute, then spoke to her. "Why did you do it? I should have asked before now, I know, but... please tell me why you chose to act like that..." I watched her as she simply stood there, then sighed, looking down. She seemed... sad. Very sad. 

"I was supposed to be your dungeon fairy. Most dungeons form with them, or create them shortly after. I figured enough of this was self-explanatory that you'd make a good dungeon and hide from people. You don't even know how to move your core. You don't have the instincts that you should have... That's partly my fault." 

I waited, letting her finish. She clearly wasn't done explaining, so I'd wait for her to finish her thought, like a good person should. It was only polite. She continued after a moment of self-reflecting, giving her time to think of what she wanted to say and how. It was touching really. She didn't want to hurt me, so she was taking her time to figure out what words would hurt me the least while still helping me understand what she meant. 

"When I saw you in their hands... I wanted to scare them away so that you'd be safe. Then, you protected them... I didn't want to be rejected after I'd spent so long creating a body that could help you. So I attacked them. Emotions are... more than I was expecting." She looked down, clearly regretting her actions. 

I'd expected something logical, but... if an AI were to suddenly get emotions, how would it handle them? It was designed to be logical and function on specialized, math-based, specified programs that exist in a computer, not the pattern-based emotional flesh-and blood computer of the brain. It must've been a confusing and terrifying jump in experience. 

Which was an explanation, if not one I was happy with. I felt like there was more to it, but I'd let it go for now. I had more pressing issues. "Okay, come with me then. You wanna be a dungeon fairy? Come help me, okay?" I smiled. 

She looked at me, confused. "What do you mean? What do you need help with?" I just smiled and began heading towards that curious little area. She sighed, following me and seemingly regretting her decisions once again. I couldn't hear her thoughts, though, and continued to blissfully ignore her annoyance. 

I did stop at the water, looking back at her. "What do I look like to you?" I was curious, and she'd managed to follow me here, so I clearly had some kind of appearance. I was curious, as I couldn't see myself unless I was looking at my 'body', and that was a gem. 

She looked at me, then smiled. "You look like a little ball of light. Like a fairy might if they were in nature. It's interesting." I thought about that, interested as I considered it before mentally smiling again and heading down to the ocean. 

"Over that way, underwater, there's weird spot where an option tab opens up. It says I can create a species. I don't understand that. Could you explain the option to me...?" I looked at her, pausing when I saw her expression slowly morph from confused, to surprised, to shocked, to excited.

Angel looked at me in some sort of joy, and moved closer. "How close can you get me? And how far down? I might be able to access the option too, and if we both do it... oh, this could be wonderful! This is something that could let us become gods!" She seemed overjoyed, and utterly amazed by the option. 

I, Yorick, on the other hand, felt panic form. "I can... what??? No, no no no no no... I can't be a god! I'm going to go home eventually! I can't just make a species and have them be abandoned when I leave! That would be cruel! Besides, I don't have a high enough intelligence, or wisdom or... anything! It'd be so wrong... I might consider it later, but... right now, I'm not touching that option!" 

I started flying quickly away, not wanting to hear her argument as I desperately tried to decide how I felt and started to go back to increasing the density of his mana in the areas I traveled through. I moved fast and poured out a reckless amount of energy, confused and uncertain about how to deal with this whole thing. That option had seemed so inviting until then...

Suddenly a warning hit me, and I froze. If I'd had a face, it would have paled. I'd been overwhelmed by panic and worry before, yes, but at least that had been a theoretical. This was radically different. I now had proof that everything I did had consequences... and I didn't like this consequence. 

'Beware, Yorick, another dungeon is attempting to encroach on your territory. If you fail to defeat this attack, your territory will be destroyed, and you will be shattered. 

Alleged cause of attack: Contest of rare and valuable resources, i.e. "I want that species node. I will have it." -Un-named Ocean Dungeon Core.'

Yorick froze, then shot back to Angel faster than he'd ever moved before, catching her staring at the ocean. Wind actually followed him from his speed, despite his seeming ability to never touch the world in this body. She looked at me as I arrived, her hair flaring up behind her and leaving me zipping around her in panicked, jerky motions. 

"Wha-" I cut her off, answering her questions as I felt something begin to burn. It was like putting your hand on a burning hot stove, but I couldn't pull my hand away because I didn't have a hand. I screamed, my motions growing even more jerky, the pain in my voice clear. Angel stared in horror. 

"Someone's attacking me! A dungeon! What do I do??? Please, it burns like fire and it isn't stopping and it hurts!!!" Her eyes blazed and she took a general's posture, eyes glowing as she searched for something. 

"Step one, push back. Go to where it hurts and push out as much mana as you can. Give me control of the monsters in your dungeon however you can, and I'll fight him off for you. Then we'll counterattack." She flared her wings and I tried to pass her control of my monsters, selecting 'yes' when the warning came up asking if I was certain I wanted my dungeon pixie to have that authority. Then I flew faster than I ever have before. 

I was almost instantly back near the species creation area, the option appearing again, though I ignored it as I flooded the area with mana. So much began pouring out of me that the burn reversed for an instant and cooled before coming back- though far fainter and more bearable. I could see a glowing entity that I recognized as the enemy core almost instantly. 

It somehow had the shape of a fish-man, and looked almost eager for a fight. I could also tell he had less mana than I did, though. His territory was a lot smaller than mine, covering maybe a mile at most when mine covered several. His was a lot thicker, though, and I knew I couldn't hold up against it if this fight lasted more than a day. 

~~~

(A/N) GUESS WHO'S BACK! I'm ready to take another crack at this and I'm building up another backlog so that hopefully I'm not gone like I was before. :)

~ShadeFinder <(0^0)>