Mana Star System: Soul Rebirth

"Okay, it"s time to check out the [System Shop]," Donis thought excitedly. With that declaration the shop opened up and almost overloaded Donis"s baby brain. There were thousands upon thousands of options in front of him all neatly alphabetically and numerically sorted. He brought his eyes to the bottom of the status window and noticed that the numbers at the bottom said [1/877]. His baby mouth mouth agape, "I.. I wonder if this is JUST for the 100sp I own.. I couldn"t imagine.. what in the world?" Donis thought.

"[Intelligence +1] – [50SP], [Stealth 1/50] – [20SP], [Charm 1/4] – [80SP], [Inspect Upgrade 1/5] – [95SP], [Punching Novice 1/20] - [5SP].. the list goes on like this... I have too much to look into.. It"s insane what I can do! This function here upgrades my Perception, this one here upgrades my METABOLISM? REALLY??" Donis mentally screamed.

-[System] Picking up Mental Degradation, Calming Down Recommended.-

"You"re always on the ball aren"t ya System?" thought Donis suspiciously. "System, is there maybe a hint system in place to help me decide what to do?"

-Yes. [System] Requires Upgrades to Make use of That [Status] Window.-

"You know I actually deserved that one," Donis thought. "Okay fine, can you give me a search functionality at least to go through all of these?"

The [System Shop] slowly formed a search b.u.t.ton but with no search box.

After a long thought about what Donis could possibly need, he decided to search for a few things. After a bit of blind digging he realised that you don"t necessarily need to think of just the skill word. If you can think about it, it"ll narrow it down for you to the nearest options. After coming this far he had to think really hard. What does he need to survive? What can he do from the time he is born to the time he grows up and has to use his power? He knew that he had to become strong to protect his family, friends and most importantly himself. To accomplish all of that, it"s better to start early. He"s read enough novels to know not to be stupid and give up opportunities like this.

Knowing that he"s going to get the [Wisp] Mana State he didn"t need it now. Even if he wanted it, [Wisp] Mana State wasn"t in the list anyway. Its cost might be too high or you may not be able to upgrade your states this way. He left the thought for now and has come to a few decisions. He"s definitely going to upgrade his inspect, but he needs to see what it actually does right now before finalizing his opinion.

"[Inspect]!" Donis mentally declared beaming his vision towards the bed underneath

-Wooden Bed –

Low Quality-

"Huh.. that"s low quality? Well okay, the description is basic, but maybe there"s nothing to show there, lets try some more," Donis thought. He then inspected everything in the room and there were only two things of note. The plants in the room and his mother. The plants had one more thing under them.

-Eriora Planis –

Lowest Grade –

Ingredient-

The mother on the other hand only said her name and age. "Okay, confirmed, the upgrade has to happen. I feel like [Inspect] is always the OP power they get, so lets see if its worth it," Donis thought.

Donis has decided what he"s getting from the [System Shop]. "[Inspect Upgrade 1/5] and [Immune System 1/20] for [100SP] total". Immediately a euphoric sensation flooded over his mind and body, knowledge of both upgrades filling his mind as if it was instinctual. He knew that his body now couldn"t catch the common cold or it"s variations on this planet. It was definitely a plus cause now he won"t have to worry about training his body or mind in these unknown conditions.

Firing [Inspect 1/5] at the plant now gives him;

-Eriora Planis –

Lowest Grade [1/5] –

Alchemical Ingredient –

Non-toxic -

This was good, even a great upgrade. It gives a good bit more info, not as much as Donis would prefer, but it"s definitely worth it. His mother had a similar upgrade in status.

-Morissa Laurent –

Age: 22 -

[Level 12][? EXP] -

[Mana State: Wisp] -

"Brilliant okay, I don"t ever have to worry about forgetting anyone"s name!" Donis said, mentally wiping sweat off his baby brow. He was surprised it even showed their level. Being twenty two, his mother didn"t seem to have a very high level. Or if it was high, Donis really had no way of knowing right now, he needed another person to compare it to.

A notification popped up in Donis"s peripheral vision,

-[Side Quest] acquired. [Side Quest] Level Up [Inspection] to Level 2. Reward: [25SP]-

"Huh, another quest. I think this may be because I now own something that can be upgraded. That may mean that the System naturally tries to reward me for getting stronger.. Hmm.. Maybe. I need to test everything out more. If I get another side quest after I level it up, we"ll see if I"m presented with another," Donis mentally monologued.

In the midst of his monologuing Morissa had gotten up. She had some strength now and was able to walk around the room una.s.sisted. Picking up Donis and bringing him back to her bed, it was time for feeding! Donis noticed he was getting excited to be fed, his baby instincts kicking in. He wasn"t sure if this body could affect him but this definitely proved it"ll have some effect on him at the very least. He shudders at the possibility. Morissa noticing this brings the blanket towards her and Donis.

***

In the town Korrin was staying in, we can see the now semi-sober carriage driver preparing his vehicle for the journey to the hospital. He wasn"t a regular carriage driver issued by the government, he was a driver for hire. He"d go anywhere as long as the coin was good, or the alcohol plentiful. Korrin walking out noticed him and immediately threw his hands up in protest. "Finally you woke up, I was wondering if I should even pay you at this point!" said Korrin. The driver turned his head, eyeing up Korrin up and down. With a grunt he turned back to his vehicle. Wasn"t much of a talker, or still drunk, Korrin noted, and made his way over.

"When"s the soonest we can leave? I need to see my wife, she"s just given birth, I really don"t have time to waste, she"ll murder me!" said Korrin, adding far too much info for the driver. Presenting a great effort the driver spoke with a noticeable slur, "Msir.. we"ll leav as so-soon as I chek the tires." Korrins wrung up face lightened at the news. At least he won"t have to smell the driver for much longer.

With this news Korrin decided to check out the local shops. Even if he was late now, the driver"ll have no reason to complain. Leaving the makeshift tavernside camp, Korrin headed towards market place. It was bustling with people, merchants shouting prices and customers flocking to the loudest voices. All of these shops were outside kiosks that had their wares upon small stands proudly displaying their greatest produce, or their shiniest trinket.

Korrin spied a building that had a few customers in an orderly queue speaking to some woman hanging outside a ground floor window. Making his way down he saw the sign above the building reading "Maroise Readings" in bold letters. He"d never had his fate read, but has heard that it was utter tripe. Stealing the coin of devastated families stricken with grief to give them a false sense of closure for their lost ones. He abhorred these people, but noticing the queue, he had to come see what it was all about. He was.. curious if all else.

After waiting in the queue for five minutes, their eyes met. She was a worn woman somewhere in the late thirties, early forties. Her eyes spoke of a lot of misery, but her voice brought warmth to Korrins ears. "My dearest friend, I congratulate you," spoke the woman. "With what may I ask, my friend," said Korrin, copying her greeting. "Your wife has just given birth to a healthy baby boy, it"s a joyous occasion for everyone, so I shall congratulate you," smiled the woman.

His eyes shot open, a chill running down his spine. "How..how did you know? How could you possibly know about the gender of the babe I haven"t even met yet?" Korrin shot back. "Friend, I know a great deal, but not all of it pleasant. I try to give my customers the pleasantries first, before I give them grave news," said the woman, her warmth lightly flickering. Korrins gut was telling him that she may be a real Soothsayer. "How much for a reading, friend?"

The woman held Korrins hands within hers, lightly tracing his his thumbs to his wrist with her index fingers. A golden hue lightly tracing the path of her fingers upon his hand until an intricate design Korrin had never seen appears. The woman begins humming lightly to herself as her eyes slowly close. Korrin is visibly sweating. What is she going to see? What is she going to say? Her eyes opened wide, lingering for a moment before a sadness befell them.

"Korrin, your son will become what he wishes to become, but a vile energy appears within his lifetime. It is of great importance that this will come to pa.s.s, but I know not what is the outcome. The fates they are cruel to me, as yet they tell me of chaos, but show me not the way to cure those stricken with such fates. It is up to you what you do with this information," finished the woman, her eyes dropping to the now faded marks on his hands.

"She knew my name when I haven"t said a word to her... I have a chilling feeling about this.." thought Korrin. "Woman, what is your name and what are these energies you speak of?" said Korrin. "Friend, I am Maroise. Yet they prefer to call me Grave Caller, as I only bring speakings of death," said the woman. "So why would anyone come to you if you only bring sorrow?" beamed Korrin. "We are but morbidly curious creatures, and what is more morbid than their own death?"

***

"I sure do love living! Lounging around, eating free meals and most of all, existing!" thought Donis. After reading everything each and every skill in his existing status windows provided, he came to a conclusion of being beyond happy right now.. but.. "Leveling up [Inspect] is hard!" whinged Donis. He"s inspected everything in this room hundreds of times over and he saw absolutely no change in his [Inspect] level. Can he even upgrade it this way he didn"t know, but he was so G.o.dd.a.m.n bored that he needed to try it. "Please, anyone new, please just walk in so I can start [Inspect]ing you!" pleaded Donis. As if the fates themselves were listening to Donis, his father, Korrin walked in.

"Honey, you"re looking as beautiful as the day I met you!" proclaimed Korrin. Feeding Donis, Morissa slowly turned her head with a frozen smile. "h.e.l.lo there, sweetie. Where have you been?" a forced laugh escaping through her still closed mouth. Korrin swallowed hard and quickly brought up the flowers from behind him. "Uuhh.. I love you?"