Sakura petals danced in the wind, slowly descending to the ground. I was currently in what looked like a pasture of silver grass, with a single Sakura tree behind me. I had been standing here for a while, doing nothing but enjoying the scent and sight. I didn't want to admit it, but the realization dawned upon me. I died. Well, there was no room to whine about it now.
'Ugh… that was painful.'
I thought, rubbing my neck with my wing. For some reason I maintained my bird form even after reincarnation.
"I bet it was."
A voice said, startling me.
'Huh? Who are you?'
I looked around and noticed the voice coming from behind a tree. A bit scared, I didn't dare go near the owner of the voice.
"Seriously?"
The person moved from behind the tree, revealing a girl in my school uniform – a skirt, blazer over a white shirt with a red tie loosely fitted around the neck – with tanned skin like a surfer. Her sandy brown hair was shoulder-length, complementing her pretty face. She was the spitting image of someone I knew from my world.
'Maya?'
I asked.
"You don't know the name of one of your very first benefactors? I feel insulted now."
When the figure completely came from the behind the tree with her hands raised in peace signs and a mischievous grin, I saw her eyes. They possessed a weird symbol with various colours. I would have mistaken them for kaleidoscopic eyes, but that was more like heterochromia. I then realized who this Maya faker was.
'My benefactor? A creep like you can't be the great Ancient Goddess that created the world.'
"Excuse you! I am someone who has been with you since before the very moment you hatched into this world! You are right, I am not the Ancient Goddess, but I am something better."
She pouted her cheeks and whined.
'Eh? Who the hell are you?'
"Do I really need to spell it out for you? I thought you were actually smarter than you let on."
'Shut it, you stupid system master!'
"So you did know who I was."
'Of course I did. This is the perfect moment for you to make your debut and try to make me feel awe and respect for you and all that nonsense, right? You even used Maya in an attempt to seduce me and calm me down. Well that ain't working here so show your true form.'
"Disappointing. But it is as you say, I, the Creator of the System and its rightful master, Alpha, have decided to grace you with my presence. I'm sorry, but I can't show you my true form just yet."
'Boo! Boo! Bring in a different system master!'
I yelled.
"Is there really nothing I can do to change your opinion of me?"
She was faking being hurt by my words.
'Huh? You want me to think highly of you? Give me lots of unique skills then!'
I jokingly said, but she said something scary next.
"Seriously? You know too many unique skills can kill you for good, right?"
'W-What?'
She ignored me.
"I'll give you something better."
'Eh? Better?'
"Yeah. Two pieces of advice. First, beware of the he who watches from the shadows. Total creeper. Second, be mindful of the girl who doesn't know time. She could be your downfall."
'Eh? What's that supposed to mean?'
"Can't say more. Takes away all the fun. Still, stop acting so stupid. You might actually die one of these days. And there will be no coming back."
'Oi, oi, stop waving death flags for me.'
I sighed.
'You're a weird one, but you've been helping me out all this while in your own weird way, so I guess I'll trust you this time as well even though I have absolutely no idea what you are saying.'
"Teehee~ Good. Bye then. Hurry up and grow strong, kay?"
My vision was soon clouded with bright light. I could only remember her bright smile as everything faded away.
"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention it, but I hope you like the little gift I left you."
_____________________________________________
Day 24
I woke up to the sound of constant dinging in my head that was giving me a headache.
When I opened my eyes, I saw all sorts of alerts popping out. Maybe because of my headache, my vision was sort of weird.
[You have completed the forced quest: Protect the West from the East]
[You have received your rewards]
[You can gain XP now]
[You can use all your unique skills now]
[You have received your blessings once again]
[You have completed the Side Quest: Defeat the Ogre Tyrant without killing it]
[You have received the following rewards]
[You have received the unique skill: Remorse]
[You have received 300 stat points]
[You have received 10000XP]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have gone up one level]
[You have unlocked the function: Title Effects]
[You have received the Title: Saint]
[You have proven yourself worthy you kind and holy soul. +20 damage when dealing with enemies weak to holy or light magic]
[You have unlocked all system functions]
[You have unlocked the Evolution System]
[You can now choose from various evolution options]
[You have unlocked the Item Box]
[You can now store items in your item box]
[You have unlocked the System Store]
[You can now purchase items from the System Store]
[You have received 100 store points]
[You have unlocked Familia System]
[You can now arrange the members of your familia in a hierarchical order]
[You have unlocked the Complete Skill System]
[You can now level up your skills]
[Some higher beings witnessed your battle and were impressed]
[You have received the |Demi-Goddess of Wisdom Mekala's Blessings|]
[You have unlocked the title: Strategist]
[You are a smart strategist, laying out good plans that end up helping your team win. Your Intelligence has gone up by 10 points. Your strategies now have a three percent higher chance of success.]
[You have received the |Divinity of Mischief, Loki's Blessings|]
[You have unlocked the title: Trickster]
[You cunning bastard. Always scheming in the background just to see your targets fail miserably. Your Intelligence has gone up by 10 points. Your opponents are now likelier to fall for your traps]
[You have received the |Demi-god of War's Blessings|]
[You have unlocked the title: Persistent]
[You really don't like to lose, do you? Your Strength stat has gone up by 20 points. Your stamina stat has gone up by 300 points]
[The Nature Spirits were touched by your actions against the East]
[You have received the 8 Nature Spirits' blessings]
[You have acquired affinities for 8 elements]
[You have acquired the title: One Loved by the Nature Spirits]
[Wow, the spirits actually like you? Nice. Any ability that has any relation to the nature spirit has gained +20 effectiveness. You have gained resistances to all the 8 nature elements]
[You have acquired the skill [Elemental Barrier]]
[For not killing your opponent, you received the title: Compassionate one]
[You kind soul. How merciful of you. May you receive favor in your endeavors. +10 luck]
[System Master ##### was impressed with your battle]
[You have received 300 store points]
[You have received 1,000 XP]
[You have received 200 stat points]
[System Master ##### has blessed you with a Name]
[You are now Hinotori Hyakkiyako]
[Your familia name is now Hyakkiyako's Familia]
[All those part of this familia will inherit this name]
[Your mana circuits have been built]
[You can now use mana]
[You have 300MP]
[Your Magic Power is 50]
[You have unlocked the skill [Mana Regeneration]]
[You have unlocked the skill [Mana Control]]
[Due to your demonic origins, you have unlocked the Dark Arts]
[You have acquired the ability [Dark Element Manipulation]]
[The ninth elemental spirit has taken an interest in you]
[You have received the |Ninth Elemental Spirit's Blessings|]
[The Spirits from the Nether are keeping an eye on you]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Fire Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Light Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Water Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Earth Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Wind Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Lightning Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Ice Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Space Magic]]
[You have unlocked the [Basic Dark Magic]]
"WHAT THE HECK!?"
I ended up screaming. There were just too many alerts for even me to believe. Just too many things. I felt like my brain would get fried, but I suddenly calmed down.
'Ok, let's calm down. Let's look through all of these, one by one. Ok so I got back all my blessings and unique skills that I had before the event. Good, good. But… wait. I don't need to organize this myself. Yo agent, can you hear me?'
<<Yes>>
'Yes! I missed you so much! Wait… that's odd, hearing you say "Yes" instead of "Affirmative". Did you go through some kind change?'
<<…>>
The agent gave me no response.
'That's right. You were never much of a conversationalist, huh? Oh well, moving on then. I got a new unique skill. [Remorse]? What kind of skill is that?'
<<[Remorse]: A unique skill that gives the user the ability to copy, give or take abilities of others. When the user is the one giving the ability, a random skill is given to the receiver, depending on their affinity for the skill>>
'... Another over powered ability! What the heck!? This is next level shit right here. Didn't the system master warned me about too many skills? Why did she send me a skill that would help me accumulate a lot? Is there some sort of limitation to the skill?'
<<Notice: The user can do this only temporarily. The allowed time increases with the higher the user's proficiency is>>
'Ah? A stupid limitation! What's the time limit?'
<<Notice: As of now, 5 minutes>>
'Tch. Hmm, 5 minutes? Makes sense for such an overpowered skill, I guess. What's next?'
<<Notice: You have received 500 stat points>>
'Eh? 500 stat points? You now know what stat points are? Or am I imagining things? Whatever. Invest 100 in strength! 100 in speed, 100 in defense, 100 in dexterity. Now it is between luck, magic and mana. Hmmmm… this is tough. Ok, 20 to luck, 40 to magic and mana each! Considering the past events, I would say I need a crap ton of luck. I don't know what the intelligence stat does, though. Next.'
<<Notice: You have received various titles, as well as the system function [Title Effects]>>
'Eh? So you can see the system? But you weren't able to do so before.'
<<Notice: The skill [God's Voice] has always possessed access to the system>>
'Seriously? No, no. I don't remember you having access earlier.'
<<Notice: The skill [God's Voice] has always possessed access to the system>>
'Ugh… sometimes, I wish I could have proper conversations with you. Whatever, elaborate.'
<<The system function [Title Effects] is one that allows your body to produce certain effects that are not natural. They are comparable to skills, but not as easily obtained and do not have side effects unless stated>>
'Seriously? Ok, I see all their descriptions here. [Compassionate One] is sort of underwhelming, huh. Next.'
<<Notice: You have unlocked all available [System Functions]>>
'Huh, I see all of that, huh? I want to check out the store, but I'll do that later. Next.'
<<Notice: Your level went up six times. You have acquired a new skill>>
'A new skill? What skill?'
<<The skill [Devil Form] is a skill that transforms a devil into their true form hidden in hell. It requires the life force to be used>>
'Eh? A devils true hidden form in hell? W-Wait, but then I'm not from hell. Then does it mean the devil that fused with me?'
<<Notice: In your case, it will boost your physical abilities, mana capacity and magic power by five times, but at the cost of one health point per second>>
'Oh, I'm a special case, huh? Well that'd make sense I guess, but why five times?'
<<Notice: The devils have a restriction that prevents devils past a certain level of power from manifesting themselves in this world. This skill was created to allow those devils to bring out their full capabilities for short periods of time and was taught to weaker devils so they may develop much greater power in whatever Realm they go to>>
'In essence, I'm just a basic devil and I don't have any connection to the devil I fused with?'
<<Notice: Your body was altered into one that could fuse with a devil's. You did not acquire that specific devil's skills, just the average skills any devil could acquire>>
'Hmm… I see. A bit underwhelming, but I can manage with that, I guess. Wait. Does that mean if I get too strong past a certain point my level would be capped?'
<<Notice: That is unknown>>
'Tch… t-that might be a problem.'
My possibly getting nerfed because I achieved too much power wouldn't be good for me.
'Ok… what's next?'
<<Notice: Your Mana circuits were built while you were sleeping. You possess the ability to utilize mana and magic now>>
'Yaaasss!!! Finally! I've been waiting for like, forever! And I see I acquired lots of magic?'
<<Affirmative. You acquired basic magic for nine elements. Due to your devil part, you have acquired the ability to manipulate the actual Dark element as well as access to various forms of dark magic through the skill [Dark Arts]. The higher its level, the more dark magics and power you will acquire>>
'S-Seriously? That's so damned badass! Hehe, now I can be a dark flame master, like that guy who was chuunibyou in middle school, except I actually have powers. What's next?'
<<Notice: A new section was added to your status screen. The [Talent] section>>
'Talent? What's that?'
<<Notice: Talent is the measure of growth of an individual. The higher rating your talent gets, the faster your growth rate. This cannot be altered>>
'I see… next.'
<<Notice: The System Master Alpha has decided to bless you with the name, Hyakkiyako>>
'Huh? A new name? Hyakkiyako? Y-You mean… why would you give me such an ominous name you stupid system master? Ah, whatever. What's next?'
<<Notice: That is it for the inspection>>
