Chapter 3: Tiny Panda

 

Huh? These are some interesting hallucinations. I definitely received some kind of grievous head injury yesterday. First I can't remember the last few days and now I’m tripping out thinking the world is being taken over. Well…at least I have an excuse to forget everything for the rest of my life. Gotta look at the upsides when you have a traumatic brain injury.

I stand up and stumble towards the door leaning against it. It gives and I stumble out into the hallway. Coming face to face with my youngest step brother Carter Warrick. He is a bear of 13 year old who is almost as tall as me even though I'm 5 years older than him.

 

“ Hey, weird question, are you seeing shit too?”

 

The nervous look on his face confirms that this is either real or some kind of mass hallucination. If it’s the second I need to get myself some of whatever this stuff is, great visuals on this stuff.

 

“I am scared Pax. What do we do?”

 

Carter may be twice as wide as me and built like a brick shithouse but he has always been as soft as they come.

 

“Listen man, let's gather the family and see what’s going on. I’m sure they are awake by now.”

 

I reach out and pat his shoulder and we turn down the hallway and pass my brother Tactus' door on the way to my mother and step-fathers room. I hear him rummaging through his room, obviously looking for something.

 

“Tactus! Let's all meet in the living room!” 

 

I yell through the door as I am passing by. As I get a few feet down the carpeted hallway before the door is whipped open and my brother pokes his black haired head out the door. Holding what I can only assume is a katana.

 

“Bro! IT'S HAPPENING!”

His exuberant shout shows that he is already convinced this is real and will be just like one of the trashy lit-rpg books we both love to read. He steps out the hallway next to Carter. He is a head shorter even though he is older by a year. He looks remarkably like me save for the brown eyes and slightly bulkier build. I have always been a little on the lithe side. Not that I’m complaining. With a jawline to put robert patterson to shame, bright green eyes and black hair on my six foot frame, I can humbly say I am one attractive man. Carter is good looking in a giant blonde teddy bear kind of way, overall our family kicks ass in the looks department. 

 

“Tactus I swear to god we are not going to start going full samurai on people until we understand what is happening.”

 

“Paxxxxxxxx, This is like my dream come true! Just let me enjoy my samurai dreams for like 10 seconds.”

 

Tactus has always been a dreamer, weirdly enough he got all the handy-man skills but none of the down to earth attitude that usually go with them. I shake my head at him and continue down the hallway. Before we even get halfway there my step father steps out of the doorway to my parents room. 

 

“What the hell is going on here? Did any of you touch the thermostat? This seems like carbon monoxide poisoning to me.”

 

Calder Warrick was the grizzly to Carters teddy bear. Towering over me in the hallway he is just as intimidating as usual, but I know inside is an extremely kind and practical man who loves the whole family greatly. 

 

“Innocent.”

 

I say as I toss up my hands. 

 

“It's the rpg apocalypse!”

 

Tactus enthusiasm won't wane for a while I'm sure. If it is what he says then it will be less exciting when society collapses and we are neck deep in mutated giant octopuses or something.

“Dad, we really have no clue what is happening. I was dead asleep and then suddenly I was astral projecting into the ladies bathroom at school and now I’m back here.”

 

All our heads slowly turn to Carter.

 

“.......Lucky bitch.”

 

We all mutter at the same time. My mother, Anat Warrick, shows up behind Calder dressed in a robe and slippers. She is by far the shortest person in the hallway and her pixie haircut is still mussed from sleep. Anxiety practically radiates from her. She has never been the most level-headed.

 

“We need do something”

 

Very helpful mother. Her voice is tight and a little higher pitched than usual. We all look at each other for Ideas.

 

No dice. I guess it's onward with plan A.

 

“Well before Tactus starts talking about the bushido code we need to have  a family meeting and figure out what's going on. If what that hallucination said is true then we have less than five minutes left before something happens.”

 

I try and get everyone back on track. I get nods and affirmation from everyone. I lead the way to the stairs and start heading down. Have to make it to the east wing of the house and meet up with the rest of the family before anything goes down. Yeah we do have wings in our house. We are kind of ballers like that. Well, really just two wings. More like two distinct halves to the house but still kind of cool. 

 

I make it approximately 5 steps down the stairs before I feel something coming again. 

 

BZZZZTTTTTTT

Currents of power shoot up all my limbs and converge in my brain which explodes like a microwaved grape

.

.

.

.

A boundless white expanse. A throbbing headache. Disorientation. Why am I getting deja vu? 

 

I swivel my aching head back and forth looking for anything really. It's extremely off putting to stand on a plane of white devoid of any sense of beth or corners. I feel like I'm standing on a solid floor but my eyes are getting no indication If i'm actually standing on anything at all. Uncomfortable.

 

[Creating Optimal Tutorial Guide For Citizens Based On Personality And Past Experiences] 

 

Well this should be fun. That feels like enough of a confirmation to confirm that this is in fact a rpg-pocalypse. Lets just hope its the fun kind where everything isn't trying to kill us and society does not collapse into bands of raiders pillaging each other to stay alive. Fingers crossed. I used to fantasize about this kind of thing and imagine myself getting some overpowered skill or gift and dominating the world. Keeping my family safe and collecting the most beautiful women. I thought I would be calm and excited. I believed I would be confident and immediately start making great choices to maximize my power. Now that I'm here I just feel anxious. I'm sure that's just because the fear and panic haven't had enough time to set in yet.

 

[Tutorial Guide Creation Complete]

 

[Beginning Tutorial]

 

“Hello Pax Kane! Welcome to your personalized tutorial on how to use the gifts of the great and mighty system. I will be your guide Bibi!”

 

Are you fucking kidding me? I was kind of hopeing for the classic super hot beauty I could bond with and later summon to be part of my harem. No, I got a 9 inch tall flying panda with incredibly undersized butterfly wings that floated back and forth erratically like a hummingbird on crack.

 

“This is the optimal form to teach me incredibly important life saving knowledge?!”

 

Am I a six year old girl and just don’t know it? Now is not the time to be having an Identity crisis.

 

“I was created this way to ease your fears and help you focus on the new knowledge without being too boring to make the tutorial unenjoyable. I am at your service Mr.Kane.”

 

Her town does not come off as hurt or whiny but I still get the distinct impression she is unhappy with my lack of appreciation for her form.

 

“Well…..Okay? Good enough, just teach me something so I can stop feeling like I am a monkey in a world of einsteins.”

 

“Thats the spirit!”

 

I didn't know pandas could smile. I really wish they couldn’t.

 

“We will start with the background knowledge of Clayton Prime and what the system is.”

 

“Still a shit name for a planet.”

 

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“Well you humans picked it not me.”

 

Huh. Pandas can shrug too. Already learned so much in this tutorial.

 

“Okay here we go. The most important information you need to understand is that there are an infinite number of universes outside of the one you live in. These Infinite universes are constantly being contested by the 5 greater beings. The system is one of them. They wish to quantify and empower each universe in a clear and consistent fashion. The other 4 big guys don't matter to you. It is literally and infinitely miniscule chance of you ever interacting with them.”

 

Interesting. System seems like a cool guy. Crazy multiverse war, also very cool. Much epic.

 

“Now for a history lesson before we get to the nitty gritty of the system. Approximately 7,500 years ago this planet reached a point in its life cycle where it could support the power of the system controlling its laws. The nearest empire being the Gray Empire they were tasked to send a delegation to settle this planet. They arrived safely and established a human presence on this planet. They prospered for a few hundred years before a meteor impacted earth. The inhabitants did their best to mitigate the damage and saved the planet from complete annihilation, but they could not save it from massive damage to its core. This damage set the planet back a few thousand years and cut off the colonizers from the system and the rest of the empire. Over the last few thousand years humanity here has forgotten where they came from. Today the core finally healed to an acceptable level to establish connection to the system and begin the process of bringing you back to the empire.”

 

Bibi starts making huffing sounds after her little bear lungs got all that out in one breath. Quite the history dump. A Lot of history questions answered and alot more created. I ponder for a moment and come up with a few questions I would like answered.

 

“What is this energy that the core of the world produces? How many empires are out there? Are they going to be coming here to seize control of this planet once again?”

 

“Hmmm. Essentia, 421, and yes.”

 

Well that was concerning.

 

“How long will they take to get here?”

 

“Could be a month or could be a decade. Depends on how functional the portals left in this universe are, and how many wars the empire is waging at this time.”

Vague and concerning but I guess not really my problem at the moment.

 

“Okay now that the past is out of the way it's time for you future Mr. Kane! Your body has already been adapted to the new laws of the world but your panel has yet to be calculated. Ah if you are wondering, your panel is the way you view all of the information on your stats, skills, bloodlines and anything else important. Now just say View Panel and it will automatically be calculated for you.”

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that this will hurt but I don’t see much of a choice. Let's hope the agony is less soul rending than usual this time.

 

“View panel.”

 

A warm soothing wave starts moving up and down my body. Almost like a nice warm bath but on the inside.

 

“Oh thank god, this is actually kind of soothing.”

 

Relief is palpable in my voice.

“Hehehe yes, very soothing.”

 

My guide's dark chuckling and avoidance of my eyes has me tensing but it's too late. Something reaches inside me and pulls my circulatory system out of my body through my pores. I tilt my head back to scream as blue laser beams like lights shoot out my eyes and mouth. All I see is a kaleidoscope of shifting blue and golds with the occasional smug panda mixed in. My agony lasts an indeterminate amount of time. Really couldn't tell. I think I was screaming, probably was. 

 

“This system is evil and was purely designed to make me suffer.”

 

I groan out as lay on the floor. Eventually the after images from the lasers fade out and I am left with the first view of my panel. Their are a few interesting notifications blinking too.

 

[Awakening Essentia Nodes]

 

[Nodes Awakened]

 

[Calculating Statistics]

 

[Statistics Calculated]

[Bloodline detected]

 

[Checking Bloodline Database]

 

[Last Living Fullblooded Member Of This Bloodline]

 

[Assigning Primus Status And Empowering Bloodline]

 

[Panel Creation Completed]

[Pax Kane]

[Tier 0]

[Statistics:

Physical:

Vitality:          10

Strength:         9

Agility:           11

Dexterity:      11

Perception:  15

Stamina:       10

Mental:

Processing:   10

Wisdom: 13

Memory: 11

Acumen: 10

Charisma: 12

Intuition:       11

 

Bloodlines:

 

Kane(Primus):

 

200% bonus to skill acquisition

50% bonus to skill leveling

 

Aremia(minor)

 

15% increase to all nature related skills

10% increase to all bonded non-humans and their related skills.

Skills:

 

None

 

Boons:

 

None

Titles:

 

None

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