LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1: Welcome to the Multiverse
I scanned the room around me as I pushed my panic into the pit of my stomach. The world has somehow stopped and I needed to figure out what was going on. Panic would not help me with that. I caught the eye of my professor a surge of relief spread through me. From what I could tell he was frozen which meant that I wasn't experiencing some kind of delusion or health scare. At least I hoped that was what it meant. I tried to open my mouth but it was like the thoughts couldn't reach my lips. I wasn't even sure I was straining against anything. I was just about to give up when a voice ended the silence.
Greetings Citizens of Planet Earth. Earth has met the minimum requirements for introduction into the multiverse. Assimilation has begun. Please Standby.
I locked eyes with my professor and found confirmation that he had heard the voice. I tried in vain to move my arms again. There was nothing I could do. I took a deep breath and focused on what I knew to be true. The entire room was locked down. A quick glance told me that my laptop hadn't gone into sleep mode so I hadn't been stuck long. I took a glance at my phone and had to resist another surge of panic. There was no way that it was still 3:59. It was hard to tell time like this but had to have been at least a minute. I was about to search the room for another clock when something dawned on me. It was silent. I strained my ears not sure if it would help or not but there was nothing. At first, I assumed the AC unit had died but there was no noise from traffic, there was no noise from the hallway or the campus.
This meant that either everything had completely stopped because of the voice or that all the sound was leeched out of this room. My gut said that it was likely the first option. The fact that nothing moved not even clothes told me that we were likely in some deep shit. My first instinct was that the rapture had come but since no one had disappeared I quickly discarded that idea. I was about to consider that this was also a super elaborate dream when the voice returned.
Analysis of Earth complete. Mass Ungraded, Energy Ungraded. Earth has been deemed insufficient for normal assimilation.
That didn't sound good. I had no idea what the fuck "ungraded" meant but it certainly wasn't good. A part of me wondered if the environmentalists were right and that we had failed to take care of the world. I braced myself for some divine punishment but no pillar of fire or lightning came. A quick check told me that I still couldn't move. I reached out with my thoughts mostly out of curiosity. A second later I opened my eyes in horror as the voice returned. A small bit of panic rose inside me as I looked for my professor's gaze. Had I just fucked up?
Due to insufficiency, Earth will be melded with other nearby planets. Improved values. Mass: Low 3rd Realm, Energies Low 3rd Realm. The topography of planet Earth has been randomized. Spawn points have been generated. Local wildlife will be improved to provide suitable challenges. Link to the Multiverse has been initiated. Tutorial Protocol Initiated. Welcome People of Earth.
When the voice finished I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I would probably be the worse human in all of history if I managed to piss off some sort of god by thinking of it. Of course, it would also be a bit ironic since that was kind of what prayer did to begin with. What did it mean by melded with other planets? Was Pluto going to be in the Pacific in a few minutes? Also what in the world were spawn points and the tutorial protocol? No sooner did I think the question did a blinding white light engulf the room. I squeezed my eyes shut as sound exploded all around me. It was like someone had unmuted the TV.
My feet found solid ground a second later and the clamor of voices grew even louder. I opened my eyes and what I saw made me gasp. I, we were all standing in between three massive skyscrapers. My shock only grew when a woman with pale white skin and light blue hair began to descend from the sky. She took each step with certainty as if she wasn't stepping into the open air. The voices around me grew silent as she got closer. The smile on her face told me that her arrival had the impact she wanted.
"Greetings humans of earth. Allow me to welcome you to the Tutorial. There are millions of groups just like this introducing the rest of your kind to the glories of the multiverse. I am sure you all have many questions some of which might be answered."
A group near me muttered something in a language I didn't recognize. It sounded a bit like Chinese which sent my mind whirling. Had the voice teleported people from all over the world? I remembered what it said about randomizing the planet and my blood ran cold. What the hell was happening? I couldn't fathom the level of power someone would need to teleport people around let alone how they would make sure everything arrived correctly—a voice with a heavy southern drawl called out from somewhere behind me. I turned in that direction but before anyone could do anything a gunshot rang out. My head snapped in the direction of the woman expecting to see her fall from her perch. Instead, she summoned a sphere of wind around the bullet and held it up before her. She examined the thing as if she had just found an interesting bug.
The crowd around the shooter parted as everyone desperately moved to get away from him. I caught sight of him, a dark-skinned man in blue jeans and a dirty white shirt. I assumed he was a farmer or laborer of some kind based on the callouses on his hands. Suddenly an intense pressure descended on the crowd. I fought against it with every muscle in my body but it was like an angry god was pressing me into the ground. I was forced to one knee as a dark storm cloud appeared above us. I found the skywalker who had abandoned the bullet and stared down at the man with pity in her eyes. Every instinct I had told me that something bad was about to happen but there was nothing I could do. The shooter was in worse shape. He had been forced to lay on his stomach. I opened my mouth to apologize, to convince the woman to let the man up when a crack of thunder louder than any I had ever experienced exploded around us. A second later a bolt of lightning the size of a person shot down from the clouds. The bolt hit the man before anyone could react. I covered my eyes against the light.
When I could see again my eyes went wide with panic. He was gone. My mind struggled to comprehend what just happened. How could a bolt of lightning leave nothing? I turned my attention to the sky as the clouds slowly dissipated. The pressure had faded soon after the bolt so he could stand. Although a look around him told him that no one else had. I gritted my teeth and stood. I locked my eyes on the woman who was now on the ground. She stared back at me and cocked her head to the side.
"You didn't have to kill him. He couldn't... you knew he couldn't...." I stammered while I fought to organize my thoughts. My fear was rapidly replaced with anger. A voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to stop. That if this woman could summon that lightning then she could just as easily kill me. None of it mattered to me though. That man didn't have to die.
She stared at me for another beat and then laughed. The sound only served to inflame my anger. I stepped toward her not sure what I was about to do. "Listen you have a misunderstanding. I am not the one that killed that man. Although he attempted to do so to me while using a forbidden weapon. The audacity was amusing. No, it was the System that killed him. If he hadn't been so hasty I would have explained things to all of you." She then turned and hopped into the air. I half expected her to fall but instead, it was almost like the air was solid for her.
What the hell is "The System"? Was it the voice? Did that mean she wasn't the person in charge of it? I took a deep breath and calmed down. I needed to know what was going on. I looked back at the spot where the man stood and shook my head. The others had gotten to their feet while I was distracted but I didn't care. I watched the woman jump up until she was more than a hundred feet above us.
"Now as our unfortunate volunteer just showed me, my fellow tutorial workers are protected by the System. Not that we couldn't protect ourselves from people at your level. Now I imagine you all have a lot of questions so allow me to begin. You all are in a moment of opportunity. As we speak the System has randomized the topography of your world. On top of that, several of the planets in your system have been combined with yours. The increase in both mass and energy will lead to an abundance of natural treasures. These treasures will be the first step in the next era of your lives."
She held up her hand another sphere of wind appeared. The sphere slowly lifted off her palm before it expanded to the size of a beach ball. The sphere floated and danced through the air like a small star. I watched her and realized what she was doing. She had baited her hook with the promise of power and based on the reactions all around me It had worked.
"You and all those like you. Your fellow tutorial participants are worthy of your species. A mere ten percent of you had the potential to become cultivators. The potential to strive for greatness and carve a spot for yourself in the greater multiverse. Regardless of who you were in the past, you have been given a new life as the chosen of humanity."
"What's a cultivator?" A voice called out from somewhere in the crowd. The question was set up so perfectly that part of me wondered if it was one of the other workers who sat within the crowd. That thought was quickly abandoned though. I was pretty sure that they wouldn't need to trick them like that. I mean she could command the wind.
"To cultivate, to become a cultivator is to steal from the very heavens. It is a path forged in conflict where every step is to take opportunities for yourself. At its core cultivation is an improvement, to be better than you were yesterday, last year, and the century before that."
The more she talked the more interested I became. I wasn't sure what steal from the heavens meant but it was clear that it would give him the power to do the things the woman did. It might even give him the power to resist the System or whatever it was that told it what to do.
"Now I can see that all of you are excited to begin but there are a few things that you need to know first. For now, you all must learn how to access your System screen status screen or heaven's screen. You of course may call it whatever you like. The screen is accessed through concentration and will."
I closed my eyes at that point not particularly interested in the rest of her explanation. I took a deep breath and then thought "Status". I waited a second but nothing happened. I tried to each of the options she gave but none of them worked. I opened my eyes and a glance around told me that some people had managed the feat but most hadn't. Including a woman a few feet away who glared at the man next to her. He had a faraway look in his eyes. I initially thought he had just dozed off but I could see his eyes move as if he saw something I couldn't.
Come on Amari. Concentration and will. I thought to myself as I turned my attention back to myself. I tried the commands again but nothing had changed. What was I missing? Concentration and will. I muttered the words to myself before I got an idea. I changed tactics. I took a breath to calm myself and ignored the words and what I thought should happen. When I felt I was ready I opened my eyes and pulled the screen into being. It appeared so suddenly that I needed a second to process what happened. I can't believe that worked. I chuckled to myself as I reviewed my stats.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 1
Species [1]Human
Titles
Limited Titles
Agility 6
Constitution 6
Intelligence 10
Luck 7
Perception 4
Strength 6
Wisdom 8
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
It was startling to see my attributes listed like that. It was both proof of the things I had done and admonishment of the things I hadn't. Four points in Perception felt painful, especially if ten was considered the basic number. Of course, if it did then I was in a bit of trouble. I wasn't sure what Luck was good for but I figured it was better to have it than not have it.
"It looks like a good number of you have figured out how to access your screens. Congratulations. That screen will form the basis for your future development. Your attributes are mostly self-explanatory. Agility reflects your speed, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and other such things. Constitution is your physical endurance and vitality. Intelligence is your mental acuity and processing speed, it also impacts how long it takes for you to absorb Information stones. For the more mage-based classes, it will act as your Strength stat. Perception is your ability to see things around you. Pretty straightforward and very important. Strength is your physical brawn. Any who wants to fight with a weapon will need a fair amount in this. Lastly, you have Wisdom and Luck. Wisdom reflects your mental defenses and your effectiveness with certain kinds of mental impact abilities. Luck is harder to explain and you will likely discover its use as you explore the multiverse. For now, let's say that it will help improve your odds of survival and the discovery of things. It is also the only attribute that you can't increase with your levels."
I couldn't help but grin as the woman explained everything. Based on my attributes a mage class with maybe a secondary focus on Wisdom would be ideal which sounded pretty good if I say so myself. I always ran mage when I could run raids in MMOs and well I had no interest in hand-to-hand combat. Especially not if genuine monsters were in the world. I wasn't about to fight a monster with a sword or spear either. I bet acid burns or fire was pretty damn painful.
"Now though it is time your status screen reflects your status." I turned my attention to my screen just as a surge of energy filled me. It felt like I had just drunk an espresso shot but the changes to my screen were even more interesting. I had gained a title called "Chosen" that gave me a flat boast of five attribute points. This included luck. I wasn't sure how many points I could expect to learn but 35 points were more than enough to have me feel good about my progress.
"You all have received the "Chosen" title. Titles are your chief concern while in the 1st realm. You need to spend your time collecting as many as you can alongside a series of other challenges before you can attempt your evolution. I am sure you are curious as to what evolution is and why you should go after it. I won't explain everything to you but I will tell you that each improvement will provide you with an increase in your longevity. If you reach high enough your life span would be measured in the millions of years instead of the few short decades you could expect before.
It was like a bomb had gone off with that revelation. I caught more than a few people eying the woman with greed and curiosity. I could admit that the idea of eternal life had a certain appeal to it. Of course, it wasn't truly eternal but who could even comprehend a million years? I looked up at the woman who smiled like the Cheshire cat. It was clear that she had intended to ignite a fire under everyone. She waved her hand and a simple brown rug appeared on the ground in front of me. I looked around and saw similar mats appearing in front of everyone. I quickly turned my attention back to mine. The mat looked like it was woven from bamboo. It was smooth but slightly textured and was covered in strange symbols. The mat itself was a simple rectangular and was about six feet long and maybe three wide.
"Now it's time for you all to learn how to cultivate."