This S.O.B. System

Asher stepped out of the mansion to call back but was met with a face he hadn’t seen in a long time. 

 

“Hey McKenzie,” he said. The Gravmancer studied him for a moment. Asher remembered he was naked and quickly put clothes on. 

 

“Surprised you remember me,” she said. It had been almost 2 years since Asher had gone with her and the other members of a dungeon diving team. McKenzie had been heavyset then. Now she was skinny and her large rack was calling to him. Long dark hair and in leather armor she was quite pretty. He thought she was a lesbian back in the day, so he never hit on her. 

 

“How could I forget the sexy Gravity girl that helped pop my dungeon cherry?” Asher asked. She rolled her eyes but chuckled. Gravity mana around her, she floated in the air. “How’d you find me?” 

 

“Wayne sent me,” she said. “Daphne told him where you were.” 

 

“Fuck,” Asher said. “There goes my secluded hideaway. What’s he need?” Pulling out his red-Akira Glider he was soon flying next to her back to the guild. 

 

“Some big meeting that sprung up at the last minute. That leader from Rapture is here.” That intrigued Asher, he wouldn’t mind getting closer to her. “And some old woman too.” 

 

“Old woman?” Asher asked. 

 

“Yeah, showed up out of the blue. Wanted to see you and Wayne and the others.” Asher didn’t like the sound of that. His mind went to Nora, he worried she might put him on a new quest. 

 

“What you been up to?” Asher asked. 

 

“Not much. Went looking for family after the tutorial. Have a sister and mom that didn’t fair too well. Your mom and dad started taking care of them, so I help them out when I can,” she said. “What about you?” 

 

“Same old same old,” he said. “Seducing dames. Fighting aliens.” 

 

She laughed. “Anymore princesses?” 

 

“Actually, I married that one elf princess,” Asher said. “Our kid was just born.” 

 

“What!” She said. “No way.” So he told her about what he had been up to. It didn’t take too long to get back to the guild hall. As he landed, dusk had set and the full moon was out. Not too many people outside there were a few whispers as people recognized him. Asher walking in the front. The once conference and vendor rooms had been torn down for one big guild meeting room. Asher was waved in by a secretary. 

 

The meeting room had a large slab for a table. Around it he recognized most everyone there. One or two were from the new guild additions, but the rest he knew. He groaned loudly as Nora smiled at him. “Not you,” he begged, sitting down in one of the few empty seats. McKenzie nodded to Wayne and headed out. 

 

“Miss me, boy?” Nora asked. “How was my quest?”

 

“Long,” Asher said. “I almost quit so many times,” he grumbled. “I’m never doing a quest for you again.” 

“Cut it out,” she spat. “You were paid, handsomely I might add. And you saved a few billion lives, at least.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Asher said. “It was still stupid. It would have probably been fine if I wasn’t there.” 

 

“No, it wouldn’t have,” she assured. Asher looked up to her, but couldn’t see a lie in her eyes. The Future System was still bad news in his book. “Besides, you saved more than those on Prime. I see we have new occupants of Earth.” She eyed Lastoo sitting across from Asher. 

 

“Alright. Fine. Guess I’m glad I went. But no more long quests,” Asher said. “Let’s stick to easy herb picking and killing monsters.” 

“No promises,” Nora said. “I’ve been sent on another quest.” 

 

“Ugh,” Asher said. 

 

“Hush,” his mother cut in. Asher noticed his sister in her arms. Sitting up straight he reached out for her. His mother frowned but handed Rachel over. Experienced with his own son he cradled her as Nora continued. 

 

“For those of you who don’t know. I am one of many oracles or seers on the planet. It just so happens that my control of the mana that allows visions into the future are a little more accurate,” she said. Asher had hoped to never see the woman again. He wanted her to be some wise old hermit he would go to for advice now and then, like in the movies. Now she appeared to want to play an active role in their guild and his life. 

 

“Asher told us about you. Which is the only reason we called everyone. What brought on such urgency?” Wayne asked from the head of the table. 

 

“We are 12 days from the first guild trial,” Nora said. “Outing Joshua Ellis from the Rapture guild has sped up my timeline a little.” Asher was a little surprised she knew about that. His eyes went from his sister to Grace. The buxom blonde looked away from him to Nora. 

 

“Grace, what was the main goal of the Rapture Guild?” Nora asked. 

 

“To bring people together,” Grace said. “Protect the innocent. To-”

 

“No, the real goal?” Nora asked. Grace gave her a confused look. “Joshua’s real goal was to bring together all the Seven Heavenly Virtues.” That was news to Asher. 

 

“The what?” Joan asked from the other end of the table. 

 

“The Seven Heavenly Virtues,” Nora said. “Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Patience, and Humility. All counterparts to the Seven Deadly sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, and Pride.” There were murmurs around the table. Asher knew many of the Seven deadly sins, and his mother did have the Chastity System. He didn’t know there was a whole set like her though. 

 

“Alexandria and Grace, you are both part of the Virtues,” Nora said. Asher looked to his mother, she simply nodded. Apparently it wasn’t news to her. “I know you and Grace were drawn to one another through your mana. The sins were drawn to one another as well. I don’t know if this is normal on other planets. But I’m sure Asher can attest to the uniqueness of Earth.” 

 

Everyone turned to Asher. “Yeah, most Systems I’ve run into aren’t very cool. I read a paper a while back that unique systems disappear the longer a group is in the League. As they give up on their own gods people try to focus on the mana types and systems that are the strongest. There are still rare ones, but from what I’ve seen. Earth is pretty unique. I’ve never seen a Batman or some other System based on fictitious characters.” Asher looked to Lastoo, the devlin. He shrugged, he didn’t have an answer either. 

 

“From what I have seen, the sins and virtues balance one another out,” Nora said. “The sins are all together. Because the virtues are still scattered we need to bring them to one place. Or the Sins could rise in power and become an issue in the future.” 

 

“How can they rise in power?” Wayne asked. “Can’t we just outlevel them?”

 

“They’ve already been in touch with sponsors,” Nora announced. “All of the sins were watched during the tutorial. A unique manifestation of wrath, greed, gluttony. Just because other planet’s didn’t have these Systems, doesn’t mean they can’t understand the possible strength they could wield. If left unchecked they could rival any guild with the right resources.” 

 

“How strong are they?” Bishop asked Asher. 

 

“From what I’ve seen? Strong. Not level wise, at least the last time I saw them. They were all in the 30s. But since then they could have gotten lucky with higher tier dungeons in their area. For all I know they could be at my level,” Asher said. He didn’t want to divulge his exact level in the group of unknowns. “Their mana and skills were strong though.” 

 

“What do we need to do?” Wayne asked. 

 

“You need to gather the other Virtues,” Nora said. “Since the sins were watched, so were you virtues. When you are all together I hope that counterparts to the sponsors for the sins will reach out to you.” 

 

“This all sounds a little shady. It’s odd that you’re just showing up now. Why do you think this is needed?” Asher asked. 

 

Nora studied him for a moment. Then she surprised him by saying, “Because you will die.” Asher rolled his eyes. “I have seen it.” 

 

“So have I,” Asher said. “But I’ve also seen what comes after. And I’m still there.” 

 

“Maybe,” she said. “But maybe you aren’t. What happens then? Right now there are hundreds of guilds holding off on doing what they want just in case they step on your toes. You are the highest level. But not for long. Individuals are catching up to you. More heroes have awakened. None of them Lawful Good. You will be their target. How many times can you dodge death before they succeed? Then when you are out of the picture, what will happen? The guild wars will start.” The room was quiet as she looked around. 

 

“Right now you are all lucky that Asher is here. Ask the Pumakin how these Initializations usually go,” Nora said, staring at Aneela and Batman at the end of the table. “War. Death. You think losing over half your population was bad? Wait until the guilds really start fighting. Many have already made their move. How do you think so many in your group got guns?” She looked to Grace. 

 

“I mean, this is America. Wasn’t there a bunker somewhere with a bunch? Or some guy’s basement?” Asher asked. 

 

Nora chuckled. “So many guns of the same type? No, the Old Glory guild made a move on you. Supplying weapons to other guilds around you, just to see what would happen.” 

Asher’s mana flared. Standing up he was ready to kill the old guildmaster of Old Glory. He hadn’t heard much from them, but that meant war in his book. “Sit down,” Nora ordered. “Old Glory supplied a lot of guns to a lot of people. Just to sow chaos. You can deal with them during the Guild Trial. For now, we need to gather the virtues.”

“Why now?” Asher asked, still standing. His anger ready to make him kill whoever needed it. 

 

“Because of the trial,” Nora said. “There wouldn’t be a better time to try to get a sponsor interested in the Virtues. I know you have your own sponsor. But there will be others distinctly interested in the power of the Virtues.” 

 

“Damn,” Asher said. Handing his sister back to his mom he sat back down. Running his hands through his hair he moved Old Glory to the top of the list of things that need to be dealt with. “Okay, how do we go about it?” 

 

“I know where most Virtues are,” Nora said. “I can send some to find them. But one is currently where they shouldn’t be. You will have to get them.” She stared at Asher. 

 

“Where? Who?” 

 

“I am not sure which. But they are in Las Vegas.” 

 

“Where the sins are,” Asher said with a sigh. “Fine. I’ll go get them.” 

 

“Hold on,” Nora said. “You will need someone to help you find them.” She looked to Grace. Asher put on a wide smile. 

 

“Okay,” he said. The blonde blushed. “Let’s go.” 

 

“Sit down,” Nora said. “We must hurry, but there is more to discuss.” 

 

“Fine, fine,” Asher said. “Keep going. What other big matters must we discuss?” 

 

“The war you started,” Nora said. The room became quieter as everyone studied Asher once more. 

 

“...What do you mean?” He asked. 

 

“You know what I mean,” she spat. “The Aartiliak’s you made angry.” 

 

“Damn,” he said under his breath. “Heard about that?” She nodded. “What do you want to know?”

 

“We would all like to know,” Ria said. Her voice like a whip that made Asher jolt. “Why haven’t we heard about this?” 

 

“I forgot,” Asher said. And he had, mostly. Just pushed it out of his mind as he made himself busy. “For those of you who don’t know. The Aartiliak are kind of the head honchos in our sector of space. The Roktai are a close second, but the Aartiliak are known to start wars for resources.” He locked gazes with everyone as he spoke. This appeared to be news to Lastoo as he frowned. “During my Champion Trial, I won a planet called Tiint.” Thinking on it he pulled out his silencing charms. Throwing them around the room just to be safe. 

 

“My wife, Lyola of the Roktai, had a survey done on the planet in the last few months. They completed the survey and the planet is worth over 100,000,000 Syscos.” That was a shock to all of them. 

 

“100,000,000!” Lastoo said. “That’s far more than most any planet is worth.” 

 

“Exactly. The Aartiliak want it. They offered a few million Syscos for rights to do what they wanted to the planet. I told them no. They didn’t take kindly to that. They gave us a deadline to give them an answer, and that has since passed,” Asher said. 

 

“But they can’t come here, right?” Wayne asked. 

 

“They could. It would take time. But they could be here within the next year by simply not using the Etherstream,” Asher said. No one liked that answer. “To help counter that I have made an alliance with the Roktai. In exchange for their wartime assistance. They have mining rights to Tiint on 2 of the 5 continents. Splitting the profits. I had a Terraforming ship commissioned and it should arrive on Tiint soon. It will begin mining resources and all profits will go to a possible war effort on Elantontrin.” 

 

Many let out sighs. Relaxing with the news. “So we are safe?” Ria asked. 

“No,” Nora answered. “The war will happen. Sometime within the next 6 months the Aartilliak will start it. And sometime within the next 1 year they will attack Earth directly.” Asher didn’t ask how she knew. “This war is unavoidable,” Nora announced. “Not only Tiint, but Earth is valuable as well. I have come across information about deposits of mana crystals that would make Aartiliak want Earth. Whether it is now, or 4 years from now when we join the League, they will be coming.” 

 

“What should we do?” Asher asked. Relief filling him knowing that maybe this whole thing wasn’t his fault. 

 

“You will need to recruit,” Nora said. “What was your agreement on troops to the Roktai if war broke out?”

 

“10,000 for now. More over the next few years as we recover and leveled,” Asher said. 

 

“And your guild charter doesn’t account for wartime does it?” She asked. 

 

Wayne shook his head. “We have no agreement on troops. How do you expect to fill that?” Asher looked to Henry. The old general scowled. 

 

“Come on Henry. There has got to be people out there that want to travel to new worlds and fight in wars,” Asher said. “I need you to start recruiting.” 

 

“There are a lot, but kid. War? We are talking war from space ships landing on planets, right?” He asked. 

“I have no idea,” Asher said truthfully. 

 

“Me either. None of us know,” Henry said. “I was only in the military a few years. We are going to need generals if we want to actually make a difference. And wars with System users? Where do we start.” 

 

Asher rolled his eyes. “Old Glory,” he said. Nora nodded. 

 

“Exactly,” she said. “There are a lot of interconnecting parts to this, Asher. We have a lot of people with skills we need. We can’t just go around killing them all.” 

 

“I only killed a few,” he grumbled. 

 

“You killed more than enough,” Nora said. “That needs to stop. I’m serious about trying to prepare for the worst case scenario if you die. Community can’t be known as a bunch of murderers.” 

“The universe is so much worse than that,” Asher said. “I’m so sick of tiptoeing around people that try to kill us.” 

 

“And yet, we must,” Nora said. “There is a chance, boy. A chance that this timeline won’t get all messed up like I showed you. And that chance is only possible if you calm it down. Play the nice guy. For god’s sake, you’re the lawful good. You shouldn’t be killing.” 

 

“That trial was bull,” Asher said. “How can you label someone off of one test?”

 

“If it’s such bull, why is it still the title you have shown on your status screen?” Nora asked. Asher blew a raspberry at her. She called him out on his own hypocrisy. He wasn’t sure why he kept Lawful Good there. He hated the name, but honestly he loved it too. An idea that maybe he really could make the right decision when it was needed. Bringing up his status screen he studied it while others talked. 

 

Name:	Asher Whitmore		Skills:
Alias:	Quinten Hardly		Acting	LVL MAX
System:	PORN STAR		STD Immunity	LVL MAX
Level:	70		Roleplay	LVL MAX
Experience	165,994/800,000	0+%	Prop Manifestation	LVL MAX
Title:	Lawful Good (10)		Relationship Screen	LVL 15
Guild:	Community		Ahegao	LVL 12
Syscos:	89,625		Survival	LVL 20
			Tracking	LVL 22
HP:	240	/240 (5)	Brawling	LVL 22
MP:	210	/210	Battleshout	LVL 22
			Domination	LVL 18
Stats:	0		Powerstrike	LVL 30
Strength:	80		Justice	LVL 24
Dexterity:	70		Battle Instincts	LVL 24
Endurance:	80		Weapon Throw	LVL 22
Agility:	70		Full Body Control	LVL MAX
Wisdom:	70		Mesmerizing Gaze	LVL 21
Intelligence:	70		Healing Touch	LVL 28
Luck:	52		Mana Sight	LVL 36
Charm:	51		Revenge	LVL 30
			Role Immersion	LVL MAX
Custom Stats:			Mana Sense	LVL 31
Dick Length	9 Inches		Share the Love	LVL 22
Dick Diameter	2 Inches		Cleanliness	LVL 30
Fertility	Off		Dragon Palm	LVL 15
Pheromones	20		Sex Bomb	LVL 28
Libido	10		Coupling Mana	LVL 25
Height	6'-5"		Orgy Control	LVL MAX
			Empower	LVL 17
			Casanova	LVL 20
			Kama Sutra	LVL 15
			Mana Manifestation	LVL 18
			Tantric	LVL 12
			Stunt Double	LVL MAX
			Rage	LVL 15
			Lust Frenzy	LVL 7

 

He was tempted to change it, but every time he tried, the other titles didn’t sound as good. Asher had played D&D once or twice, and always he rolled a warrior or barbarian. He wanted to play a Lawful Good paladin, but knew they weren’t as fun. Since getting the title he had tried to live by the creed of a Lawful Good. He wasn’t sure where he lost himself lately. Just coming back home and seeing everyone under attack by fellow humans made him angry. 

 

Why was he a million miles away from home, and yet he was safer there than in his own back yard? He thought back to Siela, who didn’t understand why she was unsafe with her own people, but safe with humans. Asher didn’t really have an answer for the way things were. But maybe he should calm it down again. No more killing guildmasters or random people that fired guns at him. It wasn’t like he had much to worry about from normal people anyway. Why couldn’t he just put on a strong exterior like Superman and put up with their crap?

 

He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard people running and yelling.