17. Mission Abort
Callie was returned to her bassinet, freshly bathed and with a new set of sheets and blankets. Her mother hovered over her anxiously for quite a while, obviously disturbed by the black goop she'd seen Callie covered with earlier.
Callie waited a little while, but when her mother still wouldn't leave her side, she opened her System Stats anyway.
--------Stats--------
Name: Caliope (Callie) Griever
Level: 3
Exp: 0/80
Race: Human
Life Stage: Newborn
Cultivation Level: 0 (Locked)
Magic Level: 0 (Locked)
Health: 430/430
Mana: 0/0
Recovery: 1400
Stamina: 15
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Agility: 16 (8)
Intelligence: 40
Wisdom: 25
Willpower: 25
Endurance: 35
Control: 25
Charisma: 60 (15)
Perception: 20
Luck: 150 (15)
Faith: 10
Skills: Reading Lv. MAX; Analysis Lv. 2; Necromancy Lv. 1; Healing Lv. 1; Steal Lv. 1; Flight Lv. 1
Abilities: Fear Resistance Lv. 2; Sleep Resistance Lv. 4; Mental Resistance Lv. 2; Pain Resistance Lv. MAX; Stealth Lv. 1; Study Lv. 1
Traits: UNKNOWN ERROR DETECTED; Curiosity; Necromantic Legacy; Fear of the Undead; Quick Learner; Cute
Professions: N/A
Blessings: UNKNOWN (Error Detected); UNKNOWN ERROR DETECTED; Goddess of Sacrifice; Goddess of Luck; God of Power; Gray the Lich
Curses: God of Cruelty
Titles: N/A (Locked)
Stat Points: 9,970
Skill Points: 52,156
System Points: 25
Mission Points: 11
Building Points: 0
Gold: 110 (-400)
Karma Points: 2,415,866
Divinity Points: 148,528
Universal Points: 2
Ally System (Locked)
Past Life Reward System: 10 Past Lives Rewarded
Not wanting anything weird to happen while her mother hovered, Callie didn't open her Missions tab right away. Instead, she opened her Inventory and took a look at the items she had stored there earlier.
There was the Beauty Stone there, of course, and a couple of mana and health potions. But it was the Ring of Wealth that she most wanted to read about.
'Now, System, I just want to read about the contents of my inventory. I don't want any of them to be opened! And skip the Beauty Stone's description please.'
--System Preferences: Saved--
--Health Potion--
A small potion that restores the user's HP when drunk. Comes in 4 quality levels: Healing Buff, Healing Glow, Massive Healing, and Healing Explosion. Created by using alchemy.
Quality Level of Owned Health Potions: Healing Buff (2)
--Mana Potion--
A small potion that restores the user's MP when drunk. Comes in 4 quality levels: Magic Buff, Magic Glow, Massive Magic, and Magic Explosion. Created by using alchemy.
Quality Level of Owned Mana Potions: Magic Buff (2)
--Flower Clip--
A cute, flower hair-clip that can only be worn by Host. This hair clip is sure to garner attention! Created and can be upgraded by using enchantment. Gives the following buffs when worn: +25% chance of friendship. +10% money earned from people. +1% chance of finding rare alchemical ingredients.
--Ring of Wealth--
A shiny, gold ring that can only be worn by Host. This ring is precious! Created and can be upgraded by using enchantment. Gives the following buffs when worn: +25% money from all sources. +10% discount in System Store. +1% chance of finding rare treasures.
Callie pursed her lips. If only these things came with an invisibility rune! She'd be able to wear them now if they came with it! In fact, as poor as her family was, it would probably always look odd for her to walk around with such nice things.
'System, is there any way I can add invisibility runes to objects I own?'
--Affirmative. Joining the Enchantment Profession Gives Host the Invisibility Rune--
Callie sighed. 'And how much is the Enchantment Profession Package?'
--Enchantment Profession Package can be Purchased for 500,000 Gold--
'Well, there goes that fix. You're a very expensive System, you know that?' Callie said while shaking her head. 'I used to cheat whenever video game systems were this hard in my old life. Couldn't the gods give me any cheat codes for this System???'
Callie side-eyed her mother, who still hovered by her bassinet, looking concerned. It didn't look like she'd be leaving anytime soon. Rather than wait any longer, Callie switched views and went to the Missions tab, deciding to ignore her mother.
--System Store Mission Complete! Claim Rewards Now? Y/N--
'Yes!'
--System Store Mission--
COMPLETE
As a newbie to the system, you should begin unlocking some of the cheaper Premium Features! Premium Features, such as the Store tab, create greater options for Host and hold surprises, as well. Unlock the System Store tab and buy something to help you on your journey!
Mission Objectives:
-Unlock Store. (COMPLETE)
-Buy Item Worth 100 Gold or More. (COMPLETE)
-Use New Item (COMPLETE)
Rewards: +3 System Points; +2 Mission Points; +100 Gold; +10 Exp
Callie wanted to cry with joy. She'd be able to buy most all of the cheaper Premium Features at this rate!
And she had just the thing in mind for her next purchase!
'System, I'd like to Unlock Magic please!' Callie said, her mental voice filled with excitement.
Callie had all but forgotten her mother was still in the room at this point. Unfortunately, her mother was still staring at her quite intently, and became more and more concerned, the more she bounced and giggled, staring intently at nothing.
Completely oblivious to her mother's mounting worry, Callie was imagining all of her magic feats of daring she was about to be able to accomplish...
--Unlocking Magic--
A large screen appeared before Callie's eyes, startling her. It was a large list of things for her to read and choose from, making Callie frown intently.
'I have to choose what kind of mana core I want to develop, huh? Well, what's the difference?'
A pop-up instantly appeared.
--Mana Core Colors--
1-Black
2-Brown
3-Red
4-Orange
5-Yellow
6-Green
7-Blue
8-Purple
9-Pink
10-White
Mana Core Colors determine the quality of your magic and what levels of magic you are capable of casting, White being the most pure and Black being the least.
--Mana Core Capacity--
1-Tiny
2-Low
3-Small
4-Medium
5-Average
6- Above Average
7-Large
8-Huge
9-Legendary
10-Epic
Mana Core Capacity determines the amount of magic available to the user and how many spells the user may cast before reaching their limit, Epic being the largest capacity and Tiny being the least.
Callie looked skeptical after reading this. 'Why would anyone choose anything except White and Legendary?'
--Mana Core White selected. Unlock for 100,000,000 Gold, 100,000 Karma Points, 10,000 Divine Points, or 1 Universal Point? Y/N--
Callie blinked. 'Holy cow! So it will cost more then my System Points to unlock these options? Well, why didn't you show the prices to begin with?'
--System Preferences: Saved--
The pop-up message instantly updated per her request.
--Mana Core Colors--
1-Black (Free)
2-Brown (Cost: 1 Gold)
3-Red (Cost: 10 Gold)
4-Orange (Cost: 100 Gold or 1 Karma Point)
5-Yellow (Cost: 1,000 Gold or 10 Karma Points)
6-Green (Cost: 10,000 Gold, 100 Karma Points, or 1 Divine Point)
7-Blue (Cost: 100,000 Gold, 1,000 Karma Points, or 10 Divine Points)
8-Purple (Cost: 1,000,000 Gold, 10,000 Karma Points, or 100 Divine Points)
9-Pink (Cost: 10,000,000 Gold, 100,000 Karma Points, or 1,000 Divine Points)
10-White (Cost: 100,000,000 Gold, 1,000,000 Karma Points, 10,000 Divine Points, or 1 Universal Point)
--Mana Core Capacity--
1-Tiny (Free)
2-Low (Cost: 1 Gold)
3-Small (Cost: 10 Gold)
4-Medium (Cost: 100 Gold or 1 Karma Point)
5-Average (Cost: 1,000 Gold or 10 Karma Points)
6- Above Average (Cost: 10,000 Gold, 100 Karma Points, or 1 Divine Point)
7-Large (Cost: 100,000 Gold, 1,000 Karma Points, or 10 Divine Points)
8-Huge (Cost: 1,000,000 Gold, 10,000 Karma Points, or 100 Divine Points)
9-Legendary (Cost: 10,000,000 Gold, 100,000 Karma Points, or 1,000 Divine Points)
10-Epic (Cost: 100,000,000 Gold, 1,000,000 Karma Points, 10,000 Divine Points, or 1 Universal Point)
'Hmm. Well, I can afford the big stuff anyway. But you're telling me this one choice determines the magic I can cast for the rest of my life?'
--Negative. Affirmative--
Callie blinked. 'Uh, what?'
--These Choices Effect Host's Starting Mana Core. It is Possible to Upgrade Mana Cores After Attaining One. Also Possible to Develop and Upgrade Several Mana Cores Over Host's Lifetime--
'So, how is that both a negative and affirmative?'
--Starting Mana Core with Higher Quality and Capacity Effects Host's Entire Life, However, the Quality and Capacity are not Immutable--
Callie rolled her eyes. 'If this were a novel, my eye would be twitching at this point.' Callie sighed and continued, 'I guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, I choose White and Epic please. And pay with Divine Points, please.'
--Purchase Confirmed. WARNING: Creating Mana Core Requires System Maintenance. System will be Unusable While Mana Core is Created. Create Mana Core Now? Y/N--
Callie wanted to cry now. 'System will be unusable? What? What does that mean?'
--System Maintenance is Required when Creating Mana Core. System can be Accessed but not Used during this Time--
'Well, for how long?'
--White, Epic Mana Core Creation Takes 26 Months--
'So I won't be able to do missions, or add stat points, or shop, or even use my inventory for over 2 years?!?'
--Inventory and Screens will Still be Accessible. However, No Changes can be Made--
Callie was getting angrier by the second. 'So I can look at and use my stuff, but I cannot buy new stuff or add points? What about skills and abilities?'
--Host can Learn Skills and Abilities the Natural Way, However, Host cannot use Skill Books or Level Up--
Callie didn't bother asking anymore questions. Instead, she frowned and contemplated this news. After all, hadn't she just been thinking of how many different missions she could complete now that she had so many System Points?
Another thought occurred to Callie. 'What about Daily Missions? If I unlock Daily Missions, will I still be able to complete those if you're in System Maintenance, or whatever?' Callie pursed her lips, still thinking, 'For that matter, isn't there any way to do System Maintenance AND keep the System accessible?'
--Host can still Complete Daily Missions if Unlocked before System Maintenance is Initialized. System Maintenance Requires System Resources, if Host Wishes to have Greater System Resources, Host should Unlock System Resources 1 for 100 System Points--
Callie wanted to curse. So, to do more than just unlock Magic, she needed to have already unlocked some of those features. She decided it was best to ignore the Unlock option, because unlocking the system resources was just too expensive for Callie right now. However, Callie really couldn't think of a better time to lose over 2 years worth of system access than when she was just a newborn. After all, there weren't a lot of missions she could currently take on, anyway. This was a time where limited access would cripple her the very least.
But if Callie didn't have access to the system anymore...what was she to do with her newborn body? It wasn't like she had anything except playing with the system to look forward to in her day.
--Initialize System Maintenance? Y/N--
Callie sighed. 'No. At least, not yet.'
--Mission Abort Received. Aborting Mission--
The screen disappeared from before Callie's dejected eyes, leaving her staring into space morosely.
'Well, System, is there anything else that will take System Maintenance to use?'
--Many Premium Features Require System Maintenance to Unlock, However, Time Varies--
Callie sighed again. 'So Unlocking Cultivation would probably take System Maintenance, too?'
--Affirmative. Unlock Cultivation Now? Y/N--
'Why not? Yes! Let's see what all this is going to take to do, too.'
Another pop-up appeared before Callie's eyes.
--Qi Quality --
1-Black (Free)
2-Brown (Cost: 1 Gold)
3-Red (Cost: 10 Gold)
4-Orange (Cost: 100 Gold or 1 Karma Point)
5-Yellow (Cost: 1,000 Gold or 10 Karma Points)
6-Green (Cost: 10,000 Gold, 100 Karma Points, or 1 Divine Point)
7-Blue (Cost: 100,000 Gold, 1,000 Karma Points, or 10 Divine Points)
8-Purple (Cost: 1,000,000 Gold, 10,000 Karma Points, or 100 Divine Points)
9-Pink (Cost: 10,000,000 Gold, 100,000 Karma Points, or 1,000 Divine Points)
10-White (Cost: 100,000,000 Gold, 1,000,000 Karma Points, 10,000 Divine Points, or 1 Universal Point)
The quality of Host's Qi determines their rate of cultivation and growth. Better quality Qi will purify the body and soul faster and create better spiritual pathways, allowing Qi to flow faster and easier through the body, and making cultivation techniques faster and more dangerous.
--Dantian Capacity--
1-Tiny (Free)
2-Low (Cost: 1 Gold)
3-Small (Cost: 10 Gold)
4-Medium (Cost: 100 Gold or 1 Karma Point)
5-Average (Cost: 1,000 Gold or 10 Karma Points)
6- Above Average (Cost: 10,000 Gold, 100 Karma Points, or 1 Divine Point)
7-Large (Cost: 100,000 Gold, 1,000 Karma Points, or 10 Divine Points)
8-Huge (Cost: 1,000,000 Gold, 10,000 Karma Points, or 100 Divine Points)
9-Legendary (Cost: 10,000,000 Gold, 100,000 Karma Points, or 1,000 Divine Points)
10-Epic (Cost: 100,000,000 Gold, 1,000,000 Karma Points, 10,000 Divine Points, or 1 Universal Point)
Dantian Capacity determines the Host's amount of Qi able to be stored within the body at any given time. Greater capacity will enable the Host to use more techniques for longer durations without their body and soul giving out.
'Okay, I want a White, Epic one, please. Purchase it with Divine Points again.'
--Purchase Confirmed. WARNING: Creating Dantian Requires System Maintenance. System will be Unusable While Dantian is Created. Create Dantian Now? Y/N--
'How long will the system be unusable for?' Callie asked.
--27 Months--
Callie sighed again. 'So, even longer than unlocking magic? Darn. Abort mission!'
--Mission Abort Received. Aborting Mission--