Pandora skipped down the hall as she called out, “Augustus!” A man leaned out of a hallway, brought a rifle up, aimed at her, and fired as she casually walked forward. Pandora activated Absorb Kinetic Energy and then moved next to the man and punched him. She hadn’t tried to act in the same combat round before. She’d been limiting herself to one action per second. This time though she wanted to see if she could attack a second time since her Combat Log and Personal Information were working again now that mana had saturated the planet.
She was pleasantly satisfied when it did seem like she was able to, so she ducked back out of the hallway the guard had leaned out of and pulled up her Combat Log.
Combat Log
Perform 1st Action (5 Stamina) // 61,525 of 61,530
Activate Absorb: Kinetic Energy (33 Mana) // 61,497 of 61,530
Bullet Kinetic Energy Absorbed - Base Damage 3 converted to 3 MLA // 3 MLA of 6,153
Perform Move Action – (10 Stamina) // 61515 of 61,530
Perform 2nd Action – Physical Attack (25 Stamina) // 61,490 of 61,530
Basic Attack: (Attacker +3,072 Dex Bonus) Versus (Defender Defense 2) // +3,070 To Hit.
RND 100 (35) + 3070 // Attack Successful
Damage 3,073 ((Base Damage 1) + (3,072 STR Bonus))
Level 8 Human Guard takes 3,073 points of damage.
Level 8 Human Guard has died.
End Combat Round
Combat Round Cleanup
Hit Point Regeneration: +1 - Hit Points 1,848 of 1,848
Stamina Regeneration: +308 - Stamina: 61,530 of 61,530
Mana Regeneration: +63 – Mana: 61,530 of 61,530
End Combat Log
Pandora pulled up her SYSTEM Log which she hardly ever looked at. That log gave a play-by-play, including all Combat Log entries which she ignored because she’d already reviewed that information. No, what she wanted to look at was what kind of XP she got for killing the Guard.
Congratulations! You have killed a Level 8 Human Guard.
Guard Level 8
Current Level 4
XP Award doubled // 800 XP to 1,600 XP
XP 9,750 (8950 + 1,600)
Pandora read through the SYSTEM log quickly and then closed it. When she looked down, she found the corpse of the guard still hanging on her arm which had gone completely through his chest. She activated Absorb Item and converted the man and his equipment into MLAs.
You have Converted 256 pound Level 8 Guard to 256 MLAs // Current MLAs: 259
Pandora went through the various menus and set the notification settings to only inform her what her MLAs were when she reached 80% of her capacity. As for the Combat Log, she sets the notifications to off. Now that she knew it was working she could look at it when she needed to review something but otherwise, she would only need to check things when she was testing out abilities and new attacks. Right now she knew she could Absorb, move, and attack each combat round without taxing her mana or stamina. She could also Attack and heal herself with MLAs as long as she had the MLAs to do so.
With her little review over, Pandora went back to work. As she came around the corner she began walking down the hallway as gunfire erupted from the other end. This time she did not absorb any of the attacks and instead ignored them as she kept walking forward. The bullets were doing 3 points of damage each. Pandora had a Damage Threshold of 6. As she walked forward her jumpsuit was shredded until her modesty was no longer guaranteed, she didn’t care.
She didn’t automatically kill every guard she came across. She even allowed them to flee, which they did when they realized guns weren’t having any effect. Some of the guards had pistols with armor-piercing rounds which ignored 50% of the Damage Threshold. Since they only did 3 points of damage, they still bounced off her body. M16 rounds bounced off as well. Sniper Rifle rounds, on the other hand, hurt. The first sniper round to hit her plowed through her Damage Threshold and did 43 points of damage.
“If it bleeds I can kill it,” the soldier called out.
Pandora ignored the soldier and proceeded to walk down the hallway. Bullets bounced off of her as she drew closer and closer to the murder hole the sniper shot came from. She slapped one soldier and smacked another. Pandora was trying to leave them unconscious, but she didn’t have as much control as she’d like and knew she had killed at least one of the soldiers.
The sniper fired again. This time Pandora absorbed the kinetic energy and the round dropped to the ground at her feet.
“What are you going to do now, this is a Titanium reinforced…” The sniper started to taunt while he reloaded his weapon until he paused as the titanium reinforced vault door, with the murder hole in it vanished as Pandora absorbed it. Since it was a very heavy door, a ton to be exact, Pandora gained 2,000 MLAs.
Pandora smiled at the soldier, “You were asking about what I was going to do now because there was a vault door in the way?” Pandora asked as she looked around as if looking for a door that should be there, “What door?”
“What, how?” the soldier asked as Pandora reached forward and grabbed his tunic. She looked at him and smiled right before she threw him down the hallway behind her with just enough force that he slid all the way to the elevator. Still, he hit the door and lay still, knocked unconscious.
Pandora turned back to the hallway behind the murder hole which was only 50 feet from Augustus’s office. As she made her way forward again she looked around and checked corners and doors for any more resistance as she made sure there wasn’t anyone else hiding. When she made it to the end of the short hallway she stood before a set of closed ornate wooden doors. She didn’t see anyone, which meant whatever Augustus had planned was on the other side of these double doors.
Pandora knocked. These doors opened toward her so she grabbed a handle on each door and pulled. As the doors swung open a soldier garbed in a black and grey kamishimo, the type of clothing a samurai wore, he stood with a Katana in a rested position on his right side. As the doors opened, he swung his Katana forward, he stepped with it and rotated it so that the sharp edge was on top as he tried to cleave her in two starting at her groin.
Pandora’s perception allowed her to take this all in so that she could activate Absorb: kinetic energy. The katana easily sliced through what was left of her jumpsuit and underwear. She also recognized that it was a well-aimed strike because even though all the kinetic energy was removed from the blow she felt a phantom clutch her gut as her mind tried to tell her she’d been hit in a very sensitive area.
This asshole tried to slice her in half starting with her…
Pandora moved. She grabbed the katana and ripped it away from the soldier and swung the Katana down toward the ground, up between his legs, and sheared his body in half right to his neck where she stopped the blade. She wanted his brain intact so could feel and know what had happened to him. A quick death would have been too good for this asshole. With his one Katana sticking out of his neck, held by Pandora, she looked into his eyes and waited. As the look of shocked realization came into focus and he looked like he’d try to take a deep breath to scream she withdrew the katana straight back, rotated 360 degrees, and decapitated him.
Caspa’s voice whispered into Pandora’s head, “Damn Pandora, you took both of his heads,” which broke the tension and allowed Pandora to take in the room where Agustus sat behind the desk.
Augustus’s eyes followed the head as it fell to the ground and then bounced and rolled a bit before coming to a stop, “So, you made it passed all of my security. You do realize that no matter what happens to me, you are dead don’t you?”
“Hello, Augustus. It’s nice to finally meet you, even if you are a misogynistic asshole,” Pandora said with a smile. “Why do you think I’m going to die?”
“If you kill me, a lot of people will die.” Augustus declared as he tapped his chest.
Pandora looked thoughtful for a moment but couldn’t come up with anything that might mean so she asked, “First question, who is going to die? Second question, how are they, or we, going to die?”
“If you come quietly, I might answer your question, I may even let you live,” Augustus said as he made a point to look over Pandora’s body that was showing through her torn-up jumpsuit.
“I honestly don’t know why the women of this world didn’t just kill all of you pigs in your sleep,” Pandora stated flatly as she absorbed her jumpsuit, which left her naked for a moment before she molded the chaos within her to create a new pristine jumpsuit.
“What? How” Augustus stated in surprise.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Don’t you worry about it,” Pandora said with a trace of heated anger in her voice as she moved quicker than Augustus could react. In a moment she was behind him and grabbed the top of his head as she activated her ability Amalgamate. Pandora’s body flowed over the leader of this world and began the process of breaking him down and adding him to her. Like Micheal Carpenter his attributes and levels gave him no chance and Like Michael, Pandora threw the echo of that monster's mind into the room she’d created within her Mindspace to keep his personality from contaminating hers.
There was one anomaly that she detected that was ejected from him. Agustus had a pacemaker attached to his heart. Suddenly, memories from Augustus flooded her mind and she remembered the specs and purpose of the object that had been attached to her, no, his heart. It was a fail-safe device with a dead man's switch, attached to nukes buried within every major headquarters building of the Empire. In fact, there was a One Megaton nuke beneath this room
Pandora held her breath as she waited for the nuke to go off. There was a flicker as the room grew bright for a moment and then shifted to a bright blue that grew in intensity and exploded outward with an energy wave that passed right through her. As the energy passed through her messages populated her vision.
SYSTEM UPDATE
Mana Saturation has reached 100% Mana Reserves at 2% Globally
25 Nuclear devices, each with a 1-megaton yield, have been detonated
The SYSTEM does not allow the detonation of nonSYSTEM compatible Nuclear Devices.
Temporal Reset authorized
Temporal Reset has taken effect, Thank you for your Patience.
Detonations have been converted to Mana and added to ambient mana.
Global Mana Saturation has exceeded 100%
Leylines have been disrupted
Dimensional Rifts have opened Randomly
Mana Input to Earth has increased by 2,500%, this will decrease by approximately 1-5% per day as leylines stabilize.
Universal SYSTEM Notes:
1) This is now a SYSTEM-maintained Universe
2) The ambient magic of this Universe is set to normal or 100%. All magic-based classes are available.
3) No limitations on technological advancement or technology-based classes will be imposed.
4) All Users have a chance to unlock abilities unique to themselves. While it is true that most entities are born with one or two innate abilities it is also true that this SYSTEM has been configured to suppress and adjust the abilities of entities to more suit their personality and style when unlocked.
5) User levels will increase as described previously. 1,000 XP per new level cumulatively. 1,000 XP to reach level 1. 3,000 XP to reach Level 2 (1,000 + 2,000) and so on.
6) XP is awarded based on the User or Monster Level at 100 XP per level of defeated creature as modified by level disparity.
7) Users that receive the “You Have Died!” message and have an ability or class that allows respawn or those users Resurrected by other Users with Classes, Abilities, or Spells that allow for Respawn or Resurrection are reduced in level to the bottom of their previous level. For example, to reach level 3 would require 6,000 XP. If a user had 5,999 XP and was killed they would be reduced to Level 1 with only 1,000 XP upon respawn or resurrection. They would lose all XP earned between levels 2 and 3 and then lose level 2 as well. Additionally, any abilities, skills, or spells that have a prerequisite minimum Level for use may not be utilized until the prerequisites for the ability, skill, or spell are met again.
8) All SYSTEM-based support Classes are currently automated
9) SYSTEM-based Shops are available in all Geographic regions that have a population of at least 1 million Users. Personal Shops and Merchant Classes can access the SYSTEM Shop once classes or abilities are unlocked.
10) Universal SYSTEM-Based Monetary Conversion rate is as follows: 100 Copper = 1 Silver or 1 Credit // 100 Silver = 1 Gold // 100 Gold = 1 Platinum
There are of course more universal rules to The SYSTEM but as some of your cultures believe, figuring things out for yourself is half the fun.
The following information is specific to inhabitants of Earth
1) Mana Density has a direct correlation to random Mana Events. Mana Events can include but are not limited to Dungeon Creation, Monster Spawns, Dimensional Rifts, etc… There is no way to predict what will happen. Note: As a rule, SYSTEM User densities of more than 1,000,000 users dramatically increase the likelihood of Mana Events.
2) Dungeons created on Earth will gain experience and grow until they are strong enough to connect to the Labyrinth.
3) All weapons of mass destruction have been rendered inert. Individuals may Acquire classes that can create and utilize similar weapon types and effects.
4) When these messages end the SYSTEM-mandated stability will end and the natural processes will commence.
Welcome to The SYSTEM version 10.0.0.2
Pandora transformed into Augustus Maxamillius Caeser as she moved over to his terminal and began unlocking all of Michael Carpenter's access that Augustus had locked. Pandora then went through and transferred everything of the Empire that Augustus had to Michael Carpenter’s accounts. Pandora liked the Northern Territories and planned to expand her holdings from there so she could at least get them set up before she moved on to looking for her family.
A moment later soldiers burst into the room, “Sir we need to evacuate you, There has been a breach.”
“I know, she came in here, made some crazy demands, and then removed the fail-safe from my body,” Pandora said from Augustus’s body as he reached down and picked the fail-safe up off the ground. Why do you think we all just received messages stating that 25 nuclear devices went off?
“Yes Sir, Of Course, Sir, Where is she?”
“She disappeared. Secure the facility and lock it down. I don’t know what is meant by mana events but I would like this facility to be secured and protected as best as possible.”
“Yes, Sir!” The soldier called out before the four left the room and calls started going out over the local radio net which still seemed to be working.
Pandora went through the system and found a map that designated all the Empire quarters worldwide and who the leaders of those various branches were. She sent copies of those files to her computer up in Scarborough and then stood. She was done here and needed to see what was going on. After reviewing the facility map she turned left from the desk and walked to the wall which opened a hidden door automatically. It was keyed to Augustus so it worked for Pandora while she was wearing his body.
Augustus stepped into the Elevator and took it to the viewing booth in the Colosseum. Once upstairs it was a simple matter of stepping into a shadow, shifting to her dragon form, and flying away from the city center before returning to the Material Plane and heading north back to Scarborough. What she hadn’t expected was the various colors of light that were popping up all over the place. She had no idea what the various colors meant. She saw white, violet, and blue coming into existence and expanding and then popping as monsters appeared where the lights had been. Monsters? That’s when the screaming started.
She altered course to look at what was coming out of the light. Luckily It looked like grey and white flashes contained giant-sized versions of normal animals. For the most part, where they popped up the men were able to kill those monsters. The monster that came out of the violet light appeared to look like a bus-sized Scorpion with two tails. Pandora realized immediately that the people here would not be able to deal with it and used her breath weapon to send it to the Shadow Realm. As she’d dived toward the scorpion-like creature, a soldier with a rifle shot at her but after he saw what she did and the fact that she flew off toward the blue monster spawn he went back to protecting those around him.
The Monster from the blue spawn was a little bit more of a problem. It was a Storm Giant. Well, that’s what she’d describe it as. It was around 50 feet tall with lighting cracking all over its body. Well, it was cracking until the bolt was released and struck Pandora. It was so unexpected that she forgot to absorb it and soaked the damage
WARNING! You have been Struck by a Lightning Bolt for 75 Points of Damage.
Pandora allowed her trajectory to change, came down, and decided to use its head as a soccer ball.
Combat Log
Round One
Perform Move Action – (10 Stamina) // 61520 of 61,530
Perform 1st Action (5 Stamina) // 61,515 of 61,530
Basic Swipe: (Attacker +3,072 Dex Bonus) Versus (Defender Defense 88) // +2,984 To Hit.
RND 100 (15) + 2,984 // Attack Successful
Damage 6156 (((Base Damage 6) + (3,072 STR Bonus))x2 (Critical Strike))
Level 600 Storm Giant takes 6155 (Damage Threshold -1)
6,155% Chance of knocking unconscious
Level 600 Storm Giant has been Knocked Unconscious
End Combat Round
Combat Round Cleanup
Hit Point Regeneration: +1 - Hit Points 1,848 of 1,848
Stamina Regeneration: +308 - Stamina: 61,530 of 61,530
Mana Regeneration: +63 – Mana: 61,530 of 61,530
After her attack, Pandora landed right next to the Storm Giant, reached out with a claw, and tried to rip its head off.
Round 2
Perform Coup De Grace
Perform 1st Action (5 Stamina) // 61,515 of 61,530
Coup De Grace: (Attacker +3,072 Dex Bonus) Versus (Defender Defense 0) // +3,072 To Hit.
Coup De Grace Successful
Damage 1585 (Remaining Hit Points 1585 of 7,740) – Coup De Grace Special Attack removes remaining hit points and kills a defenseless target unless interrupted.
End Combat Log
Congratulations! You have killed a Level 600 Storm Giant
Storm Giant Level 600
Current Level 4
XP Award Quadrupled // 60,000 XP to 240,600 XP
XP 129,750 (9750 + 120,000)
Congratulations You have reached Levels 5 – 15. You gain 4 Attributes per level and 1 skill point per level. You have 40 unspent attributes and 15 skill points to spend.
ONE-TIME SYSTEM MESSAGE: As a one-time courtesy, All SYSTEM Users after their first kill will receive this message. Any monsters that spawn randomly or that are found in Dungeons or the Labyrinth may be looted for treasure. Simply touch the corpse and think or say “Loot.”
Pandora shifted to her Human Form in her black jumpsuit and walked up to the corpse of the Storm Giant. Holding out her hand she touched it and thought, Loot. The Storm Giant's body evaporated as a very familiar box appeared on the ground where the giant had been and a new message popped into her vision.
Congratulations You have unlocked access to your previously discovered magical items, The Wizard Orbs. As access to mana and magic was locked upon your arrival within this SYSTEM the orbs were set as a conditional award.
Required Conditions
Magic must be unlocked within this SYSTEM Environment, Magic Unlocked, Condition met.
A creature of equivalent rarity must be killed. Wizard orbs are an item of Master rarity. Master rarity Storm Giant was killed, Condition met.
All Conditions were Met, Locked Item was issued.
Pandora opened the storage container and called forth her 21 Wizard orbs which began to orbit her. She set them to defend her as she shifted to her Umbral Dragon Form and launched into the sky. It was time to hunt and try to save as many people as she could.
