Reidar’s eyes opened to complete silence. He was on the concrete floor of the storage room, surrounded by cardboard boxes and scattered inventory.
Sunlight shone through an opening in the ceiling. It was enormous, but not enough for the hail to break through and kill him.
Apparently, the lights also went off, as, aside from the sunlight filtering through the crack, there was not a single source of light in the room.
But aside from that, what really puzzled Reidar was how he felt. His body felt in a way it never did.
He no longer felt the bone-deep exhaustion that had plagued him before the sleep. He had never felt this well rested, this alive. It was as if he had slept for days instead of the five hours reported on the clock above.
Then, a notification blazed across his eyes.
The window in front of him appeared semi-transparent white, with golden letters in bold characters.
[LEGENDARY MASTERY ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: First to Wake up]
[First resident to return to consciousness following the Terraforming Process]
[Reward: Title—"The Early Riser"]
Description: Title awarded to the first resident to return to consciousness following the Terraforming Process.
Passive Effect: Grants a +2% chance of finding better equipment when looting.
Additional Effect: Permanently grants +1 F.L.I.P. Attribute point upon acquisition.
Rarity: Legendary (Unique title awarded only to the first resident waking up).
The thoughts about whether what he was seeing was real became secondary at that point, after everything he saw after losing consciousness. Besides, Reidar felt inclined to believe whatever was in front of him was real, so he focused on the content rather than the form.
Reidar blinked at the notification.
He didn’t even know what to make of those notifications.
What the hell did that even mean? Was everyone sleeping to begin with? The words swirled in his mind, confusing him even further.
Then the golden text faded, leaving him with more questions than answers.
He sat up and looked around. Outside, he could hear no traffic, no sounds of civilization. Only an odd chittering noise in the distance.
But the cause was clear given what he saw. The earth began to shift beneath him, and vegetation sprouted as if hundreds of years had passed in seconds.
The hail itself was scary, and Reidar didn’t see much of it to begin with since he hid in the gas station. Though he could see its effects on the ceiling and the large hole it carved through it.
From the corner of his eye, Reidar was sure he saw hurricanes forming in the distance. Not one, not two, but hundreds.
They were far, very far from his position, and he hadn’t been able to observe them more clearly given he was escaping the hail, but there was no doubt he saw them.
Reidar’s thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the... System...
[TERRAFORMING PROCESS: Complete. Environmental restructuring successful. Mana brought to acceptable levels.]
That thing mentioned mana a couple of times during the streams of notifications Reidar got during the entire ordeal.
In such cases, mana had many origins, but there was a common point in all those origins. It granted the ability to use magic.
It wasn’t like he could get an answer out of it.
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[BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION PHASE: Initiated. Mana-induced mutations in the fauna have been detected across all continents.]
[WARNING: Aggressive species transformation in progress. Threat level assessment: Escalating.]
Reidar struggled to his feet with a racing mind. The notifications were undeniably real now. He didn’t feel sleepy anymore, so that veil of confusion wasn’t there making him second-guess, although he was still doing it.
Previously, he believed it was a hallucination, and unless something strange happened to his brain, he was unlikely to see these again, whether in a dream or a hallucination. Nevertheless, they were there. Whatever occurred was affecting everything, not only the flora.
[Current period represents the optimal window for personal improvement. Monster evolution will speed up as the amount of mana in the atmosphere increases.]
[SUGGESTED SURVIVAL PROTOCOL: Combat action is recommended. Passive survival strategies will prove unsustainable. Quest mechanic integrated into the Guardian system.]
[SYSTEM TIPS: To survive in the new environment, residents must engage hostile beings and develop combat proficiency. Suitable quests will be received whenever necessary. Quests might be issued to vendors by residents. If necessary, the reward will be issued by the system.]
[System menu forcefully opened.]
It was at that moment Reidar saw it for the first time.
—[«GUARDIAN SYSTEM MENU»]—
Then, the status screen opened automatically.
Attributes: (S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1), (A.C.U.M.E.N.: 1), (F.L.A.I.R. : 1), (F.L.I.P.: 1)
Titles: The Early Riser
Reidar stared at the floating golden text in front of him. The words and numbers made no sense. Level zero? What did C.L.A.S.P. stand for? And those strange acronyms for his attributes looked like military designations.
He focused on the interface, trying to understand how it worked.
Luckily, the menu was still open on the side of the status screen.
"Help," he said aloud. Nothing happened after different tries.
Reidar focused on the word, willing it to manifest, or open. Suddenly, a blank writing space materialized before him. A cursor blinked, waiting for input.
Reidar hesitated for a second, then focused his attention on what he wanted to know. He formulated his questions with a query.
"What do S.H.I.E.L.D., A.C.U.M.E.N., F.L.A.I.R., and F.L.I.P. mean?"
The text vanished, replaced by new information.
—[«ATTRIBUTE DEFINITIONS»]—
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strength, Health, Integrity, Endurance, Life, Defense): Physical presence and resilience. Regulates raw physical power, capacity to endure damage, and body’s integrity. Higher values increase health pools, damage resistance, and brute force capabilities, among the many things it affects.
A.C.U.M.E.N. (Awareness, Cognition, Understanding, Memory, Enlightenment, Notion): Mental attribute. Dictates mana capacity, the power and complexity of skills you can wield, perception of skill intricacies, and resistance to mental attacks, among the many things it affects.
F.L.A.I.R. (Fleetness, Lightness, Agility, Instinct, Reflexes): Agility and physical instinct attribute. Determines speed, reaction time, precision, and grace. Higher values allow for faster attacks, enhanced acrobatics, and improved dodge capabilities along with increased speed (this also depends on physical strength), among the many things it affects.
F.L.I.P. (Fate, Luck, Instinct, Probability): Fate influences attributes. Affects likelihood of finding rare items, critical hit chance, intuitive decision-making, and probability of favorable outcomes in some situations, among the many things it affects.
Current attribute values of 1 represent the average starting point for all those protected by the Guardian system. These values can increase through various activities.
Reidar went through the information twice. It sounded like something from a role-playing game, but the reality of his situation made it impossible to think about it as just a video game interface. His body felt different, the world had literally transformed around him, and now he had statistics that measured his strengths and weaknesses.
The chittering sound Reidar had felt some time ago grew louder, followed by scratching noises. Then, the scratching ceased, only to be replaced by the sound of glass shattering.