Prologue

In the years after "The Devastation", the apocalyptic war between the nation's of earth, the rise of "The Gifted" began. The Gifted were Individuals with specific gifts, talents, and powers. Some were able to call upon the powers of the mind, unleashing various gifts depending on the Individuals spiritual nature. Others could use the powers of the body, and raise their strength, speed, reflexes, and more. And still others could call upon the elements. Over the years, more and more Gifted began to be born around what was left of the world, and as the people repopulated, eventually being one of the Gifted was the norm.

During the War The discovery of a new resource was found know as Xirilium, a highly toxic and massively explosive substance, and with that discovery came the destruction of entire nations of people. The death toll was ludacris and the war lasted nearly 10 years. The end resulted in the planet being sparsely populated, and the rise of nature. The wildlife, flora, and fauna had mutated on a cellular level. While some plants and animals had remained relatively unchanged, having slight difference in appearance than their old counterparts, others had changes completely, becoming vicious and developing abilities their predecessors would've never been able to dream of.

These new Beasts made it hard on the new human race, constantly attacking the people during the day, and raiding their towns in packs by night, destroying the fortification measures taken by the hardworking citizens. As new technologies discovered, the humans gained the ability to fight back at the Beasts, along side the Gifted, and take a hold on the earth once again.

Eventually entire cities formed once again, and the earth's population grew and more Gifted were born. At some point the earth no longer had anyone in it who didn't have some kind of ability, and thus a new age was born. Though one thing remained the same, only the most powerful became the social elites, and the weakest were treated like scum.

The year is 2193, my name is Zalin, and I have no gifts, talents, or powers to speak of. Which makes me the weakest person on the entire planet. In all honesty, Zalin preferred it this this way. He would rather not have any abilties. Yes, not having any at all made him a constant target, every day he had to endure the constant bullying, disrespectful glares, and snarky comments. But in the end, he humbled himself, never letting it bother him, and kept on living his basic life.

Zalin enjoyed his basic lifestyle. Unlike others in the world, he couldn't make a living going to remote parts of our still recovering planet, completing a kill or recovery mission. Instead he had a normal job maintaining various websites for various corporations, from the comfort of his small one room apartment. Comfort was an overstatement. His apartment was small, but it had all the amenities he needed as single man in his early twenties. These days, comfort and relative safety meant the same thing to Zalin.

He had finished his work for the day, and the continuation of the online enterprise would continue for another day, he sighed and jumped into his bed.

A notification on his cellphone went off, which brought Zalin out of thoughts. For him to receive any kind of notification was odd. He had no friends, no living relations, and didn't involve himself with public affairs or online communities. He pulled out his black cellphone, a red blinking light flashing, letting him know to check his phone. He held the camera up to his face.

Facial Recognition Complete, said a quaint robotic voice. Phone is now unlocked.

His screen flashed to life, and the notification from an app he had never seen or heard of appeared in the center of his screen.

What is The System App?, Zalin mumbled to himself.

He tapped his finger on the notification and ones and zeros flashed over screen before becoming entirely black. As he wondered what his wrong with phone, knowing we'll that he could not afford to replace it, words began to appear on its surface.

Welcome to the System App, would you like to know more about the app and what it does?

Y/N

Zalin stared at the screen for a moment and clicked the Y option. What's the worst that could happen?, he thought to himself.

The System App is no ordinary phone application, said a cheery robotic voice. It can change your entire life in an instant. All you have to do is agree to the terms and conditions of use. Does this interest you?

Y/N

Zalin thought it over, and even if it was a scam, he couldn't find a reason not to learn more about it, and clicked the Y once again.

Great!, the cheery robotic voice chirped again. You must agree to the terms and conditions of use before proceeding. Do you agree to the terms and conditions?

Y/N

What is this thing?, Zalin lamented mentally. It hasn't even given me any terms and conditions yet. Whatever..., he thought as he once again clicked the Y button.

Great! Now let's see what System you're compatible with....

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I sincerely apologize User, it seems you are not compatible with the standard Systems that we offer...

Well that figures, Zalin mumbled to himself, he was used to being weak, and now even an application on a phone was denying him.

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As an alternative option, the cheery voice continued, would you instead see if you can have a brand new system created to suit you, the User?

Y/N

A new system? He cocked an eyebrow and sighed. Why the hell not? He'd come this far. Zalin clicked Y.

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Opening scan mode...

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A scanner like radiance shot out through his front facing camera lens and drifted over his body from head to toe for a few moments then vanished back into the lens.

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Scan completed...

A New System has been created...

First of its kind detected...

You, the User, have gained exclusive access to The Empathic System...

Do you accept the invitation?

Y/N

Zalin clicked the button again.

Are you sure?

Once the invitation is accepted there is no way of changing your mind later. Do you still accept?

He was growing frustrated. Yes damnit, Zalin thought as he clicked the Y again.

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Confirmation Confirmed...

Spiritual Evolution is imminent...

Restarting the User...

Thank you for choosing the System App, the cheery voice rang out...

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What do they mean Spiritual Evolution and User Restart...

The world around Zalin began to bend and swirl, nausea rising as his stomach lunched inside of him, and then darkness set in as he completely lost consciousness.

-

Zalin found himself floating in the inky black darkness. He looked around, but there was nothing to see, just the darkness as far as the eye could see.

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Welcome to The Empathic System, user Zalin. Would you like to complete the System Tutorial to automatically be boosted from level 0 to level 1?

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Verbal Confirmation is now Accepted!

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Please choose Yes or No...

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Yes, I accept, said Zalin, his curiosity peaking...

Excellent, said the all too familiar cheery voice.

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Please wave your hand...

Zalin did as he was told and three hologram-like panels appeared before his eyes. A main screen showing his stats, name, and level, all set at zero. The left hand screen had an extensive list of abilities, all gray in color and barely legible. And the screen to his right displayed a gray, again, barely legible talent tree. What is this?, thought Zalin.

As if sensing the question, the system replied...

Before you are your three main system screens, more tabs to the main, center, screen will be added as you progress and level. All abilties and talents will remained locked until you've reach an appropriate level to access them.

You have been awarded 10 stat points to use as you please. Please be mindful of how you choose to use these stat points, as certain abilties require specific stats.

You have been awarded 1 ability point! Ability screen is now legible, transferring to your current language.

The ability screen blurred briefly and the gray words changed into the common language, the language now used by earth.

You can now access the abilities screen! New abilties will become available to you as you meet the minimum requirements to access them.

Congratulations! The Talent Tree is now unlocked!

You have been awarded 1 talent point!

Complete your talent tree and gain new and enhanced abilties! Once the talent tree has been completed new tabs will be unlocked!

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User Zalin, congratulations! You have gained 100xp, you have reached level 1! Your Strength Stat has improved...

Your Agility Stat has improved...

Your Defensive Stat has improved...

Your Constitution Stat has improved...

Your Charisma Stat has improved...

Your Luck Stat has improved...

You've gained 5 stat points!

You've gained 1 ability point!

You've gained 1 talent point!

-

Zalin still understood very little of what was going on. This is all seemed like a wild dream, vivid, but still just a dream. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, wishing just to wake up. This was just as exhausting as if it were really happening to him.