Synthesis

by Leto Spirit Blackman

  This Focus is for users that follow the path of martial arts. This Focus gives a bonus to endurance and to the Martial Arts skill. You also learn the Focus exclusive skill Blur Strike.

  Shadow Agent:

  This Focus is for users that live in the shadows. This Focus gives a bonus to dexterity, agility, and all Stealth based skills. You also learn the Focus exclusive skill Shadow Step.

  Jill reads over the three options and then rereads them. Damn. She wants them all, each of them sound cool. Master Sun would want her to take The Way. Jill thinks about Thunder, her Dire Wiger, yeah that's her name, she wonders how she would feel about Beast Bond? Jill is not sure she would want to compel her to do anything she didn't want to do.

  "Hey, Admin guy, can I choose all three of these? And do I get an explanation of the skills listed?" Jill asks.

  It just stands there, not talking or moving.

  "You know, you kind of suck," Jill says to the infuriating thing.

  "Fine. I'll choose." Reaching her hand in the air and selecting her focus.

  "Thank you, human Jill. You may choose a new Focus skill every ten levels." It says in its chorus of voices. Then its body disperses into the air and disappears.

  Congratulations! You have chosen the Focus of Shadow Agent.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Focus Skill:

  Shadow Step (Novice, Lvl 1)

  Did you just choose your Focus because Shadow Agent sounded cool? This skill allows you to become one with the shadows. You will become undetectable and immune to all damage while in Shadow Step. Attacking will end Shadow Step.

  Stamina Cost: 2/sec

  Mental Cost: 50

  Cool-down: 15 minutes

  Experience awarded: 100

  "Hell yeah. Check out my new skill Alfred." Jill gloats to her gauntlet.

  "Very nice, ma'am." He says.

  That cool-down kind of blows, Jill thinks to herself. She walks over to loot the Sword Stalker and finds Thunder gnawing on it. The Dire Wiger looks up at Jill and growls and then chirps. "Chill, you can have your share first. Sitting down, Jill watches her eat. Thunder stops and looks up at Jill, then she grabs a chunk of meat and walks over to where Jill is sitting. Thunder drops the meat in front of Jill. "Aww, you are the cutest." Jill picks her up and kisses her face. She leaps out of Jill's hands and continues to eat. Jill laughs, Thunder is always hungry. Picking up the meat, Jill places it in her inventory. After ten minutes Thunder stops eating and plops down on the ground and falls asleep, her tummy full and happy.

  She is ridiculous. Jill lays down next to her and takes a literal cat nap. An hour later Jill gets up and loots the Sword Stalker. She gets a Luminous Core, one of its legs and a chitinous exoskeleton, both rare crafting items. Sitting down, Jill takes a swig of water and distributes her stat points. Then she pulls up her User Sheet.

  Name: Jill Stone

  Age: 18

  Gender: Female

  Level: 10

  Experience: 5%

  Synthesis: 72%

  Race: Human

  Focus: Shadow Agent

  Fame: 0

  Health: 270/220

  Mind Energy: 250/200

  Stamina: 330/230

  Health Regen/sec: .4 (.6)

  Mind Regen/sec: .5 (.8)

  Stamina Regen/sec: .4 (1)

  Strength: 16 (21)

  Constitution: 22 (27)

  Endurance: 23 (33)

  Dexterity: 40 (50)

  Agility: 39 (49)

  Intelligence: 20 (25)

  Wisdom: 12 (17)

  Luck: 20 (27)

  Base Melee Damage: 13-17

  Weapon Damage: 38-49

  Base Ranged Damage: 0

  Weapon Damage: 13-17

  Base Mental Power: 20

  Base Armor: 2 (37)

  Afflictions Resist Chance: Physical (5%) Mental (10%)

  Critical Hit Chance: 32.75%

  Critical Hit Damage: 165%

  Traits:

  Blessing of the Watcher: You have been blessed by The Watcher.

  Effect 1: Luck is permanently increased by 5.

  Effect 2: Movement speed is increased by 15%.

  Reward: Lock Box of the Progenitors.

  Perks:

  Grace

  Surgeon

  Skills:

  Analyze: Level 5

  Meditation: Level 2

  Incapacitation: Level 6

  Blood-Shadow: Level 4

  Medium Armor: Level 6

  Daggers: Level 8

  Martial Arts: Level 4

  Herbalist: Level 5

  Acrobats: Level 3

  Hunting: Level 3

  Scouting: Level 2

  Stealth: Level 4

  Sneak Attack: Level 6

  Unarmed Combat: Level 2

  Thrown Weapons: Level 3

  Perception: Level 5

  Core Crafting: Level 2

  Mining: Level 2

  Shadow Step: Level 1

  "Hey, Alfred, do you detect any cool metals around here?" Jill asks.

  "There is a small deposit of platinum to the north of our current location. I will place a marker on the map." Alfred says.

  "Ohh! Platinum, I haven't worked with that before." Jill exclaims excitedly.

  One of the things Jill learned from the Knowledge Orb was that Cores could be expended to alter a material to a shape of your desire. She has been playing around with turning junk weapons and metal into throwing stars. She currently has three bone, two steel, and one silver throwing stars. The silver one is too soft to be of any use. Every metal imbues different effects and stats on the weapons. It has become a bit of a collection game for her to find different substances to Core Craft.

  "Alfred, what is our current distance from the Progenitor?" Jill inquires.

  "We have three days of normal travel to reach the quest marker, less if you continue to imbue your equipment." He replies.

  Another use Jill has found for the Cores is that they can be used to imbue her equipment with a stat boost of her choice. It is only a temporary effect and varies by the strength of the Core. She has been imbuing her shoes with a movement boost to shorten her travel time.

  Standing up, Jill stretches. She starts walking towards the location of the metal deposit. "Hey, Alfred, why haven't I encountered any other people? I have been here for six days and have encountered nothing but asshole monsters. What's up with that?" Jill asks.

  "I don-" He begins to say.

  "Not have sufficient data to answer your question." Jill finishes his sentence in her best British accent. "Yeah, yeah. You need to get some new material, for reals." Jill continues to walk looking at her surroundings. Not a lot has changed since her starting location. Just lots of strange trees, grass, and monsters. She not complaining, it's a beautiful world, and so far the mobs have not been terribly challenging. It's just going to get lonely if she is the only human on this strange planet. She may look like a supermodel ninja, but Jill has always been a bit of an introvert. But, even introverts like to be near people sometimes.

  Jill arrives at the map marker for the platinum deposit. The cool thing about this world is that ore deposits are conveniently located in easy to reach locations. It had taken her a number of tries, but she has crafted a pickax. The ax materializes into her hand, and she works away at the ore deposit. About fifteen minutes pass when she finally exhaust the ore deposit. Jill places the ore in her inventory. Earlier in the day Jill had climbed a tree to scout and saw what looked like some type of ruins.

  "Alright, Alfred, lead the way to those ruins," Jill asks her helpful butler. She has discovered that if she places a map marker Alfred can place an arrow on her user interface to guide her. They enter a clearing, thousands of purple flowers spread out in front of Jill and Thunder like an ocean. "Jesus, it's so beautiful," Jill mumbles, tears glistening in her eyes. She sees the ruins up ahead in the center of the field of flowers. A small amount of smoke is rising from the area. Entering Stealth,
Jill gets closer. It seems that there used to be some sort of structure here. Most of it has fallen to time. It is made out of some kind of shiny metal.

  There are bodies on the ground. They look to be humans. "What the hell?" Jill asks quietly. Jill Sneaks up to the bodies, and there is blood everywhere. Insects buzz around the dead. It is a man and woman, and they look to be middle-aged, definitely human. There are slashes and stab wounds over their bodies. Jill's stomach threatens to lose its contents, she looks behind her back, feeling nervous.

  "Alfred, are you able to determine when these people were killed?" Jill asks, adverting her eyes from the gruesome sight.

  "Yes, ma'am, the current state of decomposition puts the time of death around nine hours and six minutes ago."

  Jill enters the ruins, and there is part of the building that still has its roof. There are three beds, a fire pit, and other household items. They were living here. Jill picks up a chunk of the building. It is a bizarre metal. She places it in her inventory and continues to look around. "Alfred, do you detect any lifeforms around us?" She asks in a whisper.

  "No, ma'am." He also says in a whisper.

  Then there is a small bump. Jill turns towards the sound of the noise. Her Perception kicks in, and she sees a faint blue outline on the floor indicating a hidden area. She moves the bedroll out of the way and pulls up a trapdoor in the ground.

  It is a four-foot hole in the ground, the sides covered with some type of metal. A little girl, about ten years old looks up at Jill with terrified eyes. She is dirty and wearing rough brown cotton cloths. Her eyes are red from crying. In her hands, she is clutching a small metal box that reminds her of the Progenitor lockbox from her starting area.

  "It's okay, sweetie. I won't hurt you." Jill says softly. Her heart clenches in her chest. Reaching a hand down, Jill helps her out. She flinches at the movement. Jill smiles at her and says, "I promise you are safe now. I won't let anything happen to you." She looks at Jill for a few minutes and then takes my hand. Jill pulls her up and hugs her tight. The child's body shudders with sobs. Petting her head, Jill makes soft comforting noises. Jill knows all too well what it is like to lose parents. Before she knows it, she is crying with her.

  After they have both exhausted all the tears, Jill sits her down on a bedroll. "I'm Jill. What is your name, sweetie?" She asks the child. She doesn't say anything, just stares up at Jill with her big brown eyes. "It's okay. You don't need to talk right now. I have to do something outside for a moment. I'll be right back." Jill tells her. She just stares at Jill and begins crying again. Jill takes her water flask out and places it next to the distraught child.

  Going outside, Jill looks at the bodies. These must be her parents. Jill has discovered that the monsters she has killed will stay around if they have loot. As soon as Jill loots them their bodies are absorbed into the earth. Hating the idea of it, Jill waves her hand over the dead bodies and collect the items they are carrying. After the loot is collected the bodies disappear. Jill couldn't let the girl see her parents like that. Jill realizes that she is crying again, she takes a deep breath, wipes her eyes, and steels herself to go back inside.

  Inside Jill notices the child is drinking the water. Jill uses this opportunity to Analyze her.

  Name: Aurelia Tola

  Title: The Blessed

  Level: 1

  Synthesis: 100%

  Focus: NA

  Race: Human

  Disposition: Trepidation

  Skills: ????

  Loot: ????

  She glances at Jill, a curious look on her face. Then Jill feels a tingle in her head, and she knows the child just analyzed her. Lingering on her info, Jill notices that it says her synthesis is one-hundred percent and wonders if that is important? She still doesn't understand what synthesis is, and Alfred was infuriatingly unhelpful when asked about it.

  Jill smiles at the child, "Aurelia. That is a pretty name. Can I sit next to you?" She asks. Aurelia looks up for a few moments and then offers a small nod. Sitting down, Jill pulls out some berries she gathered earlier in the day and places them in Aurelia's lap. She scarfs them down. Jill gets the last of the roasted meat she has and shares it. Jill leans against the wall feeling exhausted, emotionally and physically. Getting out the metal chunk from the building Jill examines it. The girl watches. "Alfred, what type of metal is this?" Jill asks.

  "That is Xorite, a unique living metal. It is currently dormant." He says. Aurelia jumps back at the sound of his voice.

  "It's okay, that's just Alfred. He... lives in my gauntlet. He is a friend." Holding her arm out so Aurelia can see the gauntlet. She touches it lightly, and then she looks down at the metal box that she is still clutching. "Alfred, say hi to Aurelia," I say.

  "Hello, Aurelia, I am Alfred."

  "Aurelia, who or what attacked you? Does your synthesis have something to do with it?" Jill asks. The child looks down at her feet and starts to tear up. "Shhh, it's okay, sweetie. I'm sorry. We don't need to talk about it." Jill hugs her. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?" Jill asks. Aurelia looks at Jill confused and wipes her eyes. She grabs a blanket from the bed and hands it to me. Now it's Jill's turn to look confused. "Oh! You think I'm cold because of the colloquialism I used? Cool means something... fun, or something that you like." Aurelia looks even more confused.

  Jill decides just to show her. She holds the chunk of Xorite in one hand and a Common Core in the other and closes her eyes. Jill wills the metal to change shape. Opening her eyes, Jill sees that nothing happened. "Um, well that's not how it's supposed to go." Jill changes out the Common Core for a Luminous Core and tries again. Still, nothing happens. Looking at the girl, Jill shrugs, "Sorry, it's not working for some reason." Jill apologizes.

  The girl looks a bit hesitant, and then she takes the chunk of Xorite in her small hand. She closes her eyes and the metal ripples and then forms into the shape of a little cat-like creature. It walks around in her hand and then lays down and licks itself.

  Jill laughs with wonder, "How did you do that? It's amazing!" Jill asks. Aurelia looks sad again and the metal ripples and forms back into a chunk. Looking at her for a moment, Jill then leans back against the wall. Aurelia snuggles up under her arm and lays her head on Jill's chest.

  "Ma'am, creatures approach from the east," Alfred says waking Jill up, she had fallen asleep. Aurelia had been asleep, her head on Jill's lap, her eyes now open.

  "Sweetie, I need to check outside. Stay hidden and don't make any noise." Jill says to her. Aurelia looks terrified.

  Standing up, Jill equips her daggers, and then steps outside, five things walk towards her. Four of them are about six feet tall and look human shaped. As they get closer, Jill notices that they are pink-fleshed, extremely skinny, hairless, with completely white eyes. Where their mouths should be is just smooth flesh. They are nude but have no genitalia that she can see. They each carry a long serrated blade made out of shiny white metal. Jill turns her head to look at the other creature with them. It is smaller, about her height. It is also humanoid in shape. But its head is too large for its body, and there seems to be technology embedded in its skin. Part of its skull is made of metal. It is wearing well-made leather clothes that have been dyed red. Jill makes eye contact with the cyborg looking creature. He looks very pissed. Jill Analyzes one of the tall guys first.

  Name: The Mute

  Level: 14

  Synthesis: 19%

  Health: 175

  Stamina: 250

  Mental: 100

  Race: Caste Construct

  Disposition: Indifferent

  Skills: Hidden

  Loot: ????

  Great, there are four level fourteen guys with swords. Quickly, Jill Analyzes the cyborg. He sneers at Jill when she does, like he knew that he had been analyzed.

  Name: Kiv La

  Title: The Sick One

  Level: 19

  Synthesis: 52%

  Health: 320

  Stamina: 250

  Ment
al: 375

  Focus: Purger

  Race: Caste

  Disposition: Hatred

  Skills: Hidden

  Loot: ????

  Fuck my life. "Alfred, do you know anything about these creatures?" Jill asks backing away.

  "I do not have sufficient d.." He begins to say.

  "Shut the fuck up, Alfred!" Jill says through her teeth.

  The five creatures stop about ten feet away from Jill. "So, what do you freaks want? Is the circus in town?" Jill says, throwing diplomacy out the window.

  The one called Kiv steps forward, "Human." It says in a surprisingly clear and well-spoken voice.

  "Um, yeah. Last time I checked." Jill replies.

  "The awakening has not happened. It will be easy to kill you." Kiv says. It pulls a metal rod out.

  "Wait!" Jill yells, "Who are you guys? Why do you want to kill me? Are you a player? Did you kill the humans that lived here?" Jill fires off her questions, backing away further, she pulls out a few throwing stars.

  Kiv hisses, "We will not allow any to enslave us again. We now rule this world. I know the girl still lives, we will take her." He says with disdain.

  Before he can say another word or move Jill throws two stars in quick succession at the necks of two of The Mute, inflicting critical damage, thanks to her Surgeon Perk. Then she activates Blood-Shadow and appears behind them and let loose hell. One of The Mute falls down dead. Kiv moves impossibly fast and is in front of Jill aiming the rod he is holding right at Jill. Blue electricity crackles out of the rod and strikes her in the chest. Jill falls to the ground in spasms, sixty-five percent of her health is gone.

  Kiv stands over Jill, "You are different from the rest of the human vermin that I have exterminated. You have the stink of The Watcher on you... interesting. Maybe I will take you to the masters." He says to Jill with an evil grin.

  He glances at The Mute, and they move forward to grab Jill. Finally, Jill has control of her body, "Fuck you." Jill spits the words out and then activates Shadow Step. The world turns monochrome.