The Idle System Box Set

by Pegaz

  Satisfied, he then went to find his master.

  “Master,” John greeted the Sect Head as he approached the throne. “Can I modify the sect robes? I hate long sleeves and would prefer short sleeves. I did ask those at the Administrative Office, but no one could give me an answer. I don’t think they were in a position to answer my question.”

  Caught off-guard by this odd request, Jamie could only smile. “Sure,” he chuckled. “But take it to an Elder who does clothing designs in the northern part of the sect. I’ll write down the directions for you.”

  John thanked him and went to the teleportation rune.

  One nauseating trip later, John arrived at the right place. He met the Elder in question and discovered she made clothing as a hobby. After a short and friendly conversation, she removed the long sleeves and made the material come up to his elbows. John thanked her and gave her a Life Stone as payment.

  An hour later, he was sitting in the chair at his bungalow, pouring over his books. He read all books on impurity removal first, excluding the six books he read earlier. There were just under two hundred books that mentioned information on removing impurities.

  He’d just finished reading the last book when…

  ‘Ding!’

  Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system’s skills. We have increased the level.

  Purifier - Idlers 135/135, Impurities - 2/3, Compact - 0/3, Speed - 0/3, Time - 22d 9h 4m 24s

  Great, only twenty-two days to go until I get the white state!

  He put it at the back of his mind after that. No point in worrying about it now. He continued with his reading.

  Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system’s skills. We have increased the level.

  Absorption Speed - Idlers 0/135, Beginner - 2/3, Advanced - 0/3, Peak - 0/3

  John smiled at the message.

  Congratulations for thinking up a valid add-on skill. We have included the add-on.

  He finished more than two thousand books in two weeks. The message about a valid add-on repeated itself nine times after he completed a particular book, as if all the info was all unlocked at once.

  Welcome to the Idle System 2.9

  Name: John

  Age: 21

  Idlers: 0/135

  Life Pool: 25,201.6

  Immortality List:

  Absorption Speed - Idlers 0/135, Beginner - 2/3, Advanced - 0/3, Peak - 0/3

  Purifier - Idlers 135/135, Impurities - 2/3, Compact - 0/3, Speed - 0/3, Time - 8d 18h 54m 35s

  Misc List:

  Maximum Idlers - Idlers 0/135, +1 Max Idlers - 134/2159

  Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/135, +1 Idler Workers - 36/2061

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 1)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 1)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 3)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 5)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 9)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 9)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 9)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 9)

  ??? - Idlers 0/135, ???, ??? (Unlocks At Life Stage Level 9)

  So, I’ve thought up all these skills by reading these books, but I can’t use them till I reach Life Stage? Let’s see, Life Stage is about creating Life Systems all around the body. Life Systems are like branches in trees that spread out to let the Life Power travel to the surface of the skin. You start with the feet and go upwards. To do this, I need quite a bit in the Life Pool, but I haven’t got enough yet.

  The Life Pool should be going up by two units per minute but it’s going up at 0.8 per minute. I’m guessing the other 1.2 that’s missing are the impurities that are being filtered out.

  When I get impurities Level 3, at least half of that remaining Life Pool is going to disappear, and I’ll probably be getting around 0.2 per minute.

  With that thought in mind, John took out all the Life Stones that he had collected over his years of roaming. He guessed that he had a few thousand in his possession.

  The Life Pool rapidly jumped, and the green glow of a few rocks grew dimmer and dimmer.

  At the same time that the system was automatically absorbing Life Power, John focused on forcing it out of his blood system in his feet and towards the surface of his skin. Even with the miniscule bit that left his blood system, it felt like his foot was being dismantled from the inside out.

  He gritted his teeth and carried on. He needed to spread the Life Power like a tree branch all over his foot, top and bottom, up to his ankle.

  John learnt the Life Stage levels in the books.

  1 - Feet up to the ankle.

  2 - Ankle to the knee.

  3 - Knee to the hip.

  4. - Hip to the stomach.

  5 - Stomach to the shoulders.

  6 - Shoulders to the elbows.

  7 - Elbows to the wrist.

  8 - Hands.

  9 - Neck and finally the head.

  At Level 9, he should have branches of Life Power over every inch of his body except for a few places like the eyes. John had wondered why the levels started from the feet and not the head. It was the closest to the source rather than the feet, which were the furthest.

  It got answered in one of the books he read, and the answer was for practice.

  If you start with the head and you do not have 100% control and you’re not used to the pain while working, you’ll die 99% of the time. It takes longer going from the feet up, but there is almost a 0% chance of death doing it this way.

  When the Life Power got close to the surface of his skin, the pain intensified and caused John to scream in pain. He was forced to stop for a split-second, and during that period of rest, the Life Power got pushed back to the halfway point. If this had happened in the head part, the backlash would have killed him.

  The old saying about rowing against the waves is true. Pause for even a second and you drift back to where you came from.

  John controlled his Life Power as best as he could to keep it where it was while he took a few seconds to calm down. He gritted his teeth and tried again.

  This time, he screamed out in pain again, but kept full control of the Life Power and kept pushing it towards the surface of his skin. Twenty minutes later, the first bit of Life Power popped out of his foot and into the air, followed by another and another, until all the branches popped out.

  Congratulations on advancing from Starting Stage to Life Stage. We have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.

  John was almost in tears. He slumped down on the chair and breathed deeply.

  So, the system screwed me over by taking the skill points away, made me believe there weren’t any skill points at all, then gives me the one later on?

  This is bullshit.

  Chapter 6

  New Clothes

  The first thing John did after resting for a few minutes was to check his new skills.

  Force - Idlers 0/135, Accelerate - 0/5, Brakes - 0/5, Master - 0/1

  Force II - Idlers 0/135, Speed - 0/5, Control - 0/5, Fuel - 0/5

  Force:

  Accelerate: Go from 0 to 100 while flying much faster.

  Brakes: Go from 100 to 0 while flying much faster.

  Master: Option to hover off the ground by half an inch automatically with 0.01 Life Power per hour usage.

  Force II:

  Speed: Increase the max speed of flight.

  Control: Able to turn much faster while flying.

  Fuel: Uses less Life Power while in flight.

  This is what Tim McNeil, the first Sider who gave technology to the North Kingdom’s ruler, was on about—to use the Life Power as a force and push under the feet.

  So when the Idle System came and checked on the kn
owledge I had gained, it used it to create these skills. I can only use them once I hit the Life Stage level needed... This uses the feet so... Level 1?

  John was still trying to figure out how the system worked. It couldn’t use the knowledge from Tim McNeil before he had Life Power, or before it upgraded to 2.0, anyway, so it waited until the information was useful.

  Now that I’m at Life Stage, I can take on my first contract. But while I’m out there, if I don’t get anything for killing immortals, then I’m wasting my time.

  I should stay and keep absorbing the Life Power here, but it’s a risk I’ve got to do sooner rather than later though. I can’t make any decent plans if I don’t have good information.

  With that, he decided to see his master again.

  ‘Ding!’

  ToolTip - Automatically absorb Life Power from Life Stones inside the Storage Space.

  This information made John’s eyes widen. He put all the Life Stones that surrounded him inside the Storage Space. Though it wouldn’t last as long as his house’s Life Source, he could still use them to keep absorbing Life Power while he was out of the sect now. He kept an eye on the speed of absorbing. Right now, it wasn’t that fast—he reckoned the Life Stones would last him about two years outside the sect.

  John didn’t use his skill point just yet. He wanted to wait until after the impurities skill was finished at the very least. He’s tempted to put it into Force’s Master, so he could just float everywhere. But the Absorbing skill would be a good one too.

  He arranged all the books that were in his house and made sure to split them in his Storage Space. On the left, he placed the unread, and on the right, he put the ones he’d finished. Locking up after leaving the house, he went to see his master.

  Jamie was shocked that John had entered Life Stage already. Only three weeks had passed.

  This new disciple of his was a monster among monsters. Those beastly geniuses out in the universe didn’t have a leg to stand on in front of him. Of course with Jamie’s experience, he didn’t let John see his shock on his face. He maintained an absolute poker face, letting nothing but a small smile slip.

  “I estimated two years for you to reach Life Stage,” he said in a loud voice. “I was completely wrong. I want to know how you did it but everyone has secrets, especially Siders. Suppose you want to go on an assassin’s mission now, right?”

  John nodded at the question.

  “Well, how it works is, we split everyone into short, medium and long distance missions all over the universe. You can’t just keep doing short missions or else you can get tracked back to the sect.

  “You have to do one of each mission to complete a cycle. This way no one can track down our sect’s whereabouts. Any greater teleportation rune that has our symbol on it needs to get unlocked with the sect’s mark that will be put inside your body later before you can use it. Don’t worry, the process is pain-free.”

  John nodded. Guess it’s like an access key card inside my body then. Hopefully, it doesn’t track me or something.

  Jamie knew what was going through John’s head because it was the same thing he’d wondered about all those years ago. With a sagely smile, he continued his explanation.

  “Don’t worry, we give our assassins their freedom. As long as they do at least one short job a year, then the rest of their time are theirs. When they do the longer missions, which could take them up to eleven months of travelling, we drop it to one job every four years. Medium-distanced missions are one job every two years. Of course, that time frame is for Rank 2 Immortals like yourself.

  “We’ve got roughly fifteen million elite disciples out in the universe at any given moment. The number may seem large, but our guild is rather small in the grand scheme of things. Our disciples only come back to the sect when they need to accept a job or rent a place to stay.

  “Because you have only created branches in your feet, you can only take on assassin contracts that have a Rank 2 Level 1 target. Don’t try to kill someone at Level 2 or higher just yet.

  “I’ve also ordered some clothes for you, including a new mask. The assassin’s guild in the mortal world is a branch of ours. The mask you currently have is the best the mortals can make, but now that you’re an immortal, it’s time for a new one.

  “You’re quite lucky that when you came we already had the materials to make the clothes. While I estimated two years, I wanted them done quickly because the materials tend to... perform a disappearing act after a while.”

  With that, the Sect Head took out a short-sleeved shirt, trousers, belt, shoes and an assassin’s mask. The mask looked the same as what John used, albeit a bit sleeker.

  “These can change colours like your old clothes. They offer no defence, but the clothes cannot get stained because everything rolls right off them and that includes blood. They won’t be destroyed so easily.”

  What Jamie didn’t tell John was that these clothes were virtually indestructible—only those at the peak of Immortal Rank 9 could ever hope to even tear a hole in them. He didn’t want John to have a comfortable life, but he didn’t want him dead either. He believed that if John were to know that these clothes were so powerful, it would make him cocky and arrogant. It could cause the death of the very person they were supposed to protect. They were made in a way that only the people who made them could determine how valuable they are.

  Jamie then started describing them.

  “These clothes can alter their size to how big or small you want it to be. The shoes can absorb sound from five inches away from them, so you’ll never make a sound while walking with them on. Also, they can change into whatever form you want, whether you prefer boots, trainers, sandals or slippers.

  “The mask can hide your Life Power and breath, and it has the hood fixed so people cannot see your hair or any other features. It can also change into an earring, headband, scarf or a face mask to disguise yourself however you wish.

  “The shirt, trousers and belt are regular clothes but can change in style to fit almost everywhere in the known universe. When you get into a fight, they can all merge into an armour set.”

  John was overwhelmed by the clothing’s abilities. He could imagine changing from one style to another with different colours or even a difference face to escape after an assassin job was complete. He hugged the clothes like a little kid would hug a new toy.

  “Thank you, master.” John did a little bow, his hands full.

  “No problem,” Jamie replied with another smile. “They should serve you well for a long time. Now, I wish you luck with your first assassin contract. Remember to only accept a mission at the same level as you until you’re much stronger. To get to the mission hub, you can take the portal behind me. Before that, though, I need to give you the sect’s mark.”

  Jamie grabbed something from his bag and then opened his palm so that the object was facing upwards. The rune-type object started floating—it was blood-red. It flew towards John at such a speed that he couldn’t even see any more detail than the colour, hitting his chest.

  “Just relax, it doesn’t affect you at all. We put it inside the chest or head area because you can lose your arms or legs, but if you lose your chest or head, then… Well, it doesn’t really matter whether the rune’s there or not, does it?”

  John heard Jamie’s words but could not concentrate on it. As soon as the rune hit John’s chest, a warning popped up on the system display.

  An unknown foreign object is trying to enter the user’s body. The system has determined that the foreign object is a rune that acts as a key. Does user wish to keep the key?

  Yes.

  ‘Ding!’

  User has accepted the key. Please name it.

  Rogue’s Key.

  ‘Ding!’

  Rogue’s Key has been placed inside user’s body for easy access. If you wish to remove the key permanently in the future, then you will need to complete a task.

  John looked at his stats to check.

&nbs
p; Name: John

  Age: 21

  Idlers: 0/135

  Skill Points: 1

  Life Pool: 25,201.6

  Foreign Objects:

  Rogue’s Key.

  Chapter 7

  First Other World Mission

  So, the system can identify and even block runes? Can it determine if it has got a tracker or anything else attached to it too?

  Either way, now I’ve got access to the sect’s greater teleportation runes!

  “Thank you, master,” John bowed his head once more.

  “It’s fine.” Jamie was nonchalant in his response. “Go and wear the clothes I’ve gifted you, and then travel through the rune behind me to the mission hub. Ask for the information on how it works, and they’ll show you for free the first time.”

  John put the clothing inside of his bag and did a martial arts salute. He then went to the rune at the back, not wanting to change in front of his master. Stepping onto the rune, he disappeared.

  At this point, he’d grown used to teleporting. No longer did he get sick from the travel, however, it did still leave him a bit out of sorts. When he came out on the other end, he was in a small, enclosed room. He decided that was as good a place as any to get changed.

  The shirt, trousers, belt, and shoes were exactly like what he wore when he first bought clothing, with a very basic but sturdy design. The mask was slightly different because of the hood, but it also was similar to his other mask.

  John carefully put the hood over the back of his head and pulled the front of the mask down. When it was on his face, he could still breathe and see just fine. With his thoughts, he commanded it to turn into an earring. To his delight, the mask immediately turned into a black liquid that squirmed across his face to his left ear. It was now a black earring.

  After getting changed, he opened the door and walked out of the enclosed space. John saw what he could only describe as chaos. People in Daoist robes were running about, and above their heads were giant screens displaying an array of numbers next to a reward price.

  The hall was huge. John couldn’t even see two of the walls in the distance. In rows going across all directions in the room were black pillars, reaching up to the ceiling at least forty feet high. There was an enlarged map painted on the ceiling.