1 The Beginning

"Wake up, big brother, this message can not be repeated," a sweet, cheerful voice called to Diego in the darkness. He groaned as he slowly woke up, his body feeling heavy and stiff.

"I've missed you, Diego, although it seems like just the other day to you, I spent another thirty-five years after your death roaming all over earth. As you will come to understand, I was never truly a member of your world, but it served as a test for me. One of the conditions of my test was to choose a soul to germinate a 'Seed' and, needless to say, you left a lasting impression on me. You raised me for five years after Mom died and then you scarified yourself me by knocking me out of the way of the car.

"Sadly, your karmic rating was too low for normal recruitment, but I called in a favor and made a deal. The favor was from a friend to create you an intelligent System to help you tap into the true power of the 'Seed', but the conditions of the deal were that you were placed in a hostile world with a 'Common Seed'. Make no mistake, the power can be just as powerful as any other, but each require a unique approach and a lot of diligence. I won't even be told of your power or where you will be placed unless you can transcend your new world which won't be easy.

"No matter which world you awaken on, it will belong to the 'Dark' faction. Corruption runs rampant throughout all forms of government and live by the saying 'Victory through any means'. Trust is the rarest commodity in their world, so you must make sure you don't expose the truth of your origins or you will meet with a gruesome end unlike anything you can imagine. There is great danger, but there is also chance at greatness. Raising your karmic level in world of sinner will be easy as long as you don't lose yourself to the darkness.

"This is all the time I have left, so make me proud and find me again when you step into the 'next' world, Diego!"

As soon as her words finished, Diego was slammed with flood of foreign memories as his body was wracked with a sudden burning pain that made him feel like he was being cooked in a frying pan. He couldn't help but scream out in pain as the sensation only intensified with a migraine that made his head feel as if it was splitting.

::System Booting Up::

::Detecting traces of Searing Cobra King venom within 'Host's' body. Activating 'Seed's' regeneration abilities::

::Detecting 'Previous Host's' memories are fighting 'New Host's' integration with the body. Drawing conflicting personality into 'System's Database'::

Although he could not see the text dancing in front of his shut eyes, the pain in Diego's body quickly began to ease. Finally, he opened his eyes for the first time and looked up to a night sky filled with stars and had three moons. He thought back to the woman's voice he had heard before and, although it sounded more mature, there was no mistaking his little sister's, Emily, voice. His memories were a bit jumbled at the moment, but he could still remember the impact of the car which was comparable to the pain of the snake venom.

He sat up and found himself in a sea of sand. Dunes of red were all he could see in the light of the largest moon, which was silver in color, but that was it. No animals, no plants, not a single sign of life in any direction.

"System!" Diego said, hoping for something to happen.

::How can I be of assistance to 'Host'?::

The blue text floated in the air with a slight glow before him which made his eyes widen with surprise. "Can you only use text or could you speak as well?"

::I am limited to text until I have fully integrated with you and the 'Seed'. Once finished, commands functions will be activated, one of which is 'Speech'::

"Alright, how long will that take?"

::11 hours, 42 minutes, 39 seconds::

"Okay… Do you have any information on this world?"

::I have cataloged the 'Previous Host's' memories::

"Then where in the hell am I and where can I find somewhere safe?"

::The Teoran Desert and, bases off the 'Previous Host's' memories, the safest place for you at the moment is right where you are::

"The middle of the desert is the safest place for me?"

::Correction, 'Host' is currently on the outskirts of the Jobin Oasis which is patrolled by the 'Previous Host's' clan::

"So, why is here safer than what I'm guessing is a city?"

::'Previous Host' was just assassinated by younger brother, so it is recommended that 'Host' waits until I have fully integrated and can unlock your first set of abilities::

"My younger brother killed me?" Diego exclaimed, outraged that family would turn on each other.

::Correction, it was the 'Previous Host's' and his younger brother::

"It's my body now and I felt the venom. It was cruel."

::'Host' is recommended to not apply the morals of your former world to the logic of this one. The 'Previous Host' killed two of his fourteen brothers and is required to be the last one alive in order to inherit the position of Patriarch in the clan::

"Hmm…" Diego mumbled as he rubbed his hairless chin in thought. Clearly, this world was unlike anything he was used to, so it really was a better idea to just sit out here and see what he could learn about the world he had found himself in. "Can you start teaching me what I need to know about this world and the former person who had this body?"

::Creating a series of log entries based off of the 'Previous Host's' memories::

::The Telryn Clan has existed for five hundred years when they first took over the Jobin Oasis…::

Throughout the night, Diego simply sat in the cooling sand as he read through the information that the System provided. The 'Previous Host' had been a young man named Ishu Telryn and the fourth eldest son of Barru Telryn, current Patriarch of the Telryn Clan. Their clan controlled the whole oasis, but Diego barely considered it a city with just around a thousand people living in the area and most of them belonged to their family.

The fighting between him and his brothers just started when their father had turned fifty, four months ago. Every son above the age of twelve was expected to fight for the seat of Patriarch and so far, five had died… six if he included Ishu, but no one else would know he had died if he returned.

That was another option, to flee from this oasis and migrate to another, but there would be a stigma that followed him if he chose such an action. Rogues that traveled the shifting sands of the desert were considered little more than locus to many tribes and were often killed just for not being a member of their Clan.

His only real choice was to fight and win the position of heir. Once he did, he could receive the Clan Emblem then travel the desert for five years to temper himself before becoming the Patriarch. Although he had no plans on becoming Patriarch, the position of heir can with access to a lot of benefits that the System had encouraged him to get as they would make his future journey much easier.

Ishu did not know too much about the world outside of this little oasis, but he did know about the Anzoli, the true rulers of the Teoran Desert. Rensa was the capital city of their empire which was placed where the great river, Solun, split into the three lesser rivers, Oli, Kau, and Eba. The Telryn Clan sent a wagonful of gold and gems as a tax to the Anzoli every ten years and there were always horror stories of those who could not pay.

Diego considered his options after the system also explained the 'Seed' within him and what he needed to do to harness the power within it. The 'Seed' was a fragment of an Ancient God's soul which gave him a piece of that power and, if he nurtured it right, it would allow him to create his own Godhood. His 'Common Seed' granted him the gift of speed, but he could instantly see the problems with it as speed was countered by defense and traps. The System specified that he would have to rely on the world's methods to increase his strength and the defense of his body. Ishu was using the clan's Body Cultivation Technique which required natural treasures to increase his body's strength, but Diego had the feeling it was quite low in the scale of the world.

No matter how he looked at the information he had, Diego could not make up his mind for the future. Ishu had preferred to chase girls than attend history lectures with his brothers or stop by the library, so there were many blanks within his knowledge of the world. Diego's joy, though, was that the System said it could scan the contents of the books in the library and create new logs to inform him about the world. Once he gathered more information, he would be able to start making his plans for the future.