Voidborn - A Sci-fi LitRPG

The outside intrusion of another voice had Malan stiffening, his frayed nerves still on edge after everything that had happened. He took a moment to straighten his thoughts, and used it, now he wasn’t about to bleed out, to ascertain his surroundings before replying.

Without a word, the central display shifted to a space view in response to Malan’s thoughts, with the left of the three blazing to life with a system map view and the status screen moving to the screen on the right. He’d been so caught up with the small matter of not dying followed by the bizarre experience of levelling that he had neglected to actually check where they’d jumped to, or even whether it was safe.

“I did an initial threat scan immediately following the jump, pilot, and other than a nearby planet and the Sparrow, detected nothing of note.”

“Appreciated,” Malan said, examining the system map. “What do we know about the planet?”

“Negative. My available data is currently limited to what you already knew. I was able to follow the jump route of the Sparrow rather than jump randomly to ensure the highest chance we landed in friendly space as possible.”

Malan nodded. That checked out with what he saw on the system map to his left. The planet below had no name, and only carried information that could have been discovered by a basic planet scan. A jungle planet by the looks of the humidity and flora density, with slightly elevated oxygen levels and patches of toxicity that would likely enough to be ignored.

It had two moons, but other than confirming that there were other planets in the system, Malan was able to tell nothing else about it from his display. Instead, he turned his attention to the hail he’d received from the Sparrow.

“I read you, Elena—glad to see you made it out okay. How are we doing?”

“Alive. That jump fucked the fixes we made in the jump drive, though. We’ll need to see about repairs in-system or else we’re stuck waiting for rescue again. That said, I’ll happily take that over where we just came from.”

Malan scoffed. “No kidding. Do you know where we actually are? My…ship hasn’t got any up to date starmap data.”

“Ship my ass. Don’t be coy, Malan. I’ve served alongside Starbound before. I’ve never had the chance to see a first flight up close, but I know exactly what I’m looking at—congratulations. And, whilst we’re on the subject—out-fucking-standing work, Malan. That was the only play I can think of that would have gotten us out of there still breathing. A touch unhinged, I have to admit, but it worked a treat.”

He couldn’t help the broad smile that swept across his face at Elena’s words. She said exactly what she meant, and whilst she’d always been fair as their Captain, direct praise was a rare thing.

“Thanks, Captain.”

“No, not Captain. Not anymore. You answer directly to the Nexus and UGC High Command, now. You’ll be needing to make your way there as soon as possible. Your days trying to hide and undersell your potential are done.”

Malan winced. That was an aspect of his new lot in life he’d intentionally been trying to avoid. There had been a lot of downsides to the life he’d been living, but at least he’d been able to exist in relative peace, encounters with Beric notwithstanding. Eat, work and sleep. Monotonous, yes. But also peaceful. Easy.

The Starbound, however, were all nominally under the command of the UGC. They were given a lot of independence, to be sure, but so was a dog on a particularly long leash. When the UGC tightened it, there was nothing to do but come to heel.

Malan wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On the surface, he understood it as a check to the great power the Starbound wielded. They pledged their services to the UGC so that none of them could ever pose a direct threat to humanity. If one stepped out of line, or turned traitor, the others would be able to step in and stop them. In addition, the Starbound were obligated to defend human worlds against threats when discovered, or when ordered to by the UGC.

In return, the Starbound were given access to resources, finances and whatever support the UGC can offer. A good system—in theory. Beric’s disdain of the Starbound as a group hadn’t been entirely unwarranted.

“I know I’ll have to go,” Malan said reluctantly. “But I can at least make sure you’re able to get on your way safely, and I’ll need to supply my ship for a journey anyway. Is there anywhere we can get you the parts you need in-system?”

“Fair enough. I won’t pretend I’m not glad to have the support of a Starbound with me. The jump took us a little too close to Frontier Space to be sure we’re safe from pirates or scavengers—wait, you asked where we actually were. I’ll send through the system data now. The planet below actually has a small indie colony with a trading outpost. We’ll hopefully be able to land there and get what we need,” Elena replied.

“Understood. I’ll see you planetside, Elena.”

The communicator crackled, then shut off. Almost immediately after, his system map flickered, and extra information began popping onto the screen, filling in the blanks.

The planet’s name was Mykeser, and carried a small, independent colony a few hundred strong. According to the data, they were one of three colonised planets in the Nolin system, and they appeared to produce enough food from the flora and fauna of the planet for all three colonies, and traded it for the other resources they needed.

They were not too far, in relative terms, from Scucin, the system they’d just jumped from. Both were on the edges of Collective Space, an area of the galaxy independent of the UGC where human collectives ran their own areas of space having chafed under the rules and regulations of the UGC. Most of the larger Collectives were formal allies of the UGC, as were plenty of the smaller, but on the fringes were plenty of small colonies, groups of people who didn’t fit in anywhere else, trying to make their way for themselves.

Being so close to Frontier Space—where no UGC or Collective influence was present—meant undefended ships or colonies were particularly at risk from the pirates, raiders and scavengers that made their home as far away from the rule of law as they could possibly manage.

Nolin lay especially close to the borders of the Frontier, and it wouldn’t surprise to Malan to hear that Mykeser and its neighbours regularly saw off local pirate groups. It was true that he wasn’t particularly keen on heading to the Nexus, but being totally honest, he couldn’t in good conscious leave the Sparrow essentially unarmed.

On his viewing monitor, he saw Elena begin their descent to the planet below. However, instead of following her, he turned his attention back to his status screen, and brought up the notifications he was yet to look at.

Unsurprisingly, there were a slew of enemy killed notifications he had seen during the battle but not properly dismissed. He flew through those, paying comparatively little attention until the second to last one, were something a little different caught his eye.

Abyssal Vephid [Lv. 5] Killed

Enemy of a higher level killed. Bonus Celestial Energy Harvested.

2 Units of Organic Polymers Gathered.

He frowned at that, the implications racing through his mind. He’d killed some of the Abyss, and had somehow gathered resources as well as the celestial energy.

“Upon acquiring resources from a natural source,” Tanwen chimed in, “the transference of celestial energy will include that resource also. I am able to sort and store these resources for you, to a limit. The units of organic polymers are currently being held in our admittedly limited cargo hold.”

“Huh,” Malan said, developing a slight headache from trying to work out how this all worked. “And what can I use these resources for?”

“I believe certain upgrades will allow you to use gathered resources for crafting, though we do not currently possess the capability, and I am not aware how we can acquire it.”

Malan nodded absently, and then forced himself to move on. There was potentially exciting possibilities implicit in that, but until they worked out how, it was moot. He’d simply have to gather resources in preparation.

Finally, he turned his attention to the last few notifications he was yet to read.

Titles acquired. Please choose whether or not to accept the title awarded. The titles you do and do not accept will affect future skill progression, quest allocation and stat growth—as well as how certain factions and groups will view you. Consider carefully.

New Title Unlocked!

[Voidborn] - You have survived your trial by fire and have emerged from the ashes touched by flame. Your bond complete, your natural affinity to celestial energy grants you access to paths few others will ever travel. Grants 2% buff to all stat totals, access to Voidborn Race Skills.

New Title Unlocked!

[Abyss Slayer I] - You have faced down the worst of the galaxies horrors and instead of fleeing, removed them forever. Grants an extra Stat Point to allocate as you choose.

Progress to next rank: 17/50 Abyssal Creatures Killed.

Malan leaned back for a moment, considering what he’d just read. In his opinion, both titles seemed like a no-brainer, but the initial warning about accepting titles had him searching fruitlessly for any potential downside. However, after a few minutes of frowning that only worsened his growing headache, he eventually relented to the fact that if there was going to be a negative, he wasn’t being told about it.

He accepted both titles, and quickly allocated his extra stat point into Energetics, before checking his stat screen once more.

Status

Name: Malan Tierin

Race: Voidborn [1]

Alignment: N/A

Pilot Level: 3

Class: N/A

Stats

Energetics: 71

Synergetics: 61

Cognizance: 51

Titles: [Voidborn], [Abyss Slayer I].

Basic Skills: N/A

Class Skills: N/A

Race Skills: [½ requirements met]

Alignment Skills: N/A

Upgrades: N/A

Just then, a new notification flashed across the screen, drawing his eye.

New Quest Available: Resupply.

Land at the Spaceport and acquire supplies for onward travel. Rewards available upon completion.

“Tanwen, can you bring us in for landing just behind the Sparrow, please? This just reminded me—the notifications during the escape said there would be quest rewards. I think I’ll have a look whilst we land.”

“Affirmative, Pilot.”