Using the System

"What the?!..." Alex almost fell off the bed when he had a voice. He looked left and right for the owner of the voice but he couldn't find her. Yes, he heard a feminine voice. This greatly surprised him because he could still remember locking the door. After calming down and the disappearance of the voice, Alex looked at the holographic screen in front of him and read the contents.

'Oh, so that was the voice from the system! Well that's a great surprise because I didn't hear any voice before. Oh, I guess it was because I was unconscious,' Alex muttered to himself after seeing that the contents on the screen are similar to those that the voice had said. He then decided to proceed with his plan and then thought of tapping on queries again.

[Queries activated....Please ask your question...]

'What is the golden system?' Alex inquired through his thoughts. This was the first question he wanted answers to. This was because he was suddenly a master to a system that he knew nothing of its origin.

[The Golden System is a source of power meant for the master. The golden system would do all it can to help the master reach the apex of power in the universe and beyond. It is a path that the master would use for his purpose.]

Alex was again flabbergasted. Reaching the apex of the universe? Really? He was a mortal stage rank 1 who hadn't even awakened at the right age. Now someone is telling him that he can reach the apex of the universe? He was just an ant in his town, even his step brothers were above him. Now a universe? Let alone the world, even being the top in a continental level was a big dream to him.

Alex then decided to ask the next question in mind. 'And how can the system help me in becoming strong?'

[The golden system has several features that can aid the master in improving his powers immensely. These features will automatically unlock when the master reaches a certain power level.]

Oh, now Alex got to understand what the system meant by saying that it would aid him gain power. But everything has a price in this world and there are no free lunches at all. Alex knew that there was no way someone or something would just give him something this overpowered for nothing. There must be something that he must do in return. He just hoped that it wasn't something like, 'In return for great power, you must handover your soul or...body?'

'What is the price that I am required to pay for the assistance from the system?' Alex threw forth another question.

[In return to the assistance, the master must accomplish a certain mission when he grows stronger. Only when the system deems that the master is capable enough of handling the mission with minimum risks, would the master be given the mission. This is a sequential mission. There are rewards after every mission so it won't be free.]

Alex turned silent again. He now knew the price he had to pay. A mission that he had to complete, that was his price in return for assistance to gain strength and not strength directly. After all, strength isn't something that one can just grant as if it is cabbages. One had to pay a price for instant strength and most of the time, it was sacrifices. Not animal but human sacrifices.

'What kind of rewards can I receive?' there was another question.

[The rewards depends on the mission that the master has undertaken and the completion rate. High level missions with high completion rate would grant you better rewards. Apart from the main mission, there would be circumstantial missions. There would be those that would be mandatory and those that would be optional.]

Alex gave it a thought and nodded to himself. The only thought lingering in his mind now was that, there would be mandatory missions. Of course he didn't need to ask the consequence of not completing the mission as there would obviously be a punishment for it. His only worry was that, the system would give him a mandatory mission that he would not like.

'What can be found in the store and how can I unlock it?' Alex pushed forth another question.

[ The store contains almost everything that the master will need. This ranges from artifacts, potions, weapons, skills, affinities, knowledge and many more. To unlock the store, a specific condition must be met] The feminine voice sounded again in Alex's head.

When Alex heard what the store contained, he couldn't help himself from anticipating the time the store would be unlocked. Just imagining the weapons that he could obtain from the store, Alex couldn't help but glee from ear to ear.

He then remembered something. Where did all the things that he had placed on the table disappear to? That was the question that he asked next.

[ All those that were present during the system awakening were consumed. That was the condition required for several system features to be activated. The ring for the inventory, the short sword for weapons, the skill book for skills. These are those that you'll get for starters. The rest would come at a particular level. As for the dagger, it is in the inventory with all the others. They just acted as catalysts but were not consumed.]

Hearing this, Alex finally got to understand what was confusing. That meant that if he didn't have any of those things present, the the system would not have activated at all. He wondered if this was just luck or was it fate? After all, getting all these things together from different sources only for them to have a similar function, activating the system.

Finally, Alex decided to ask one of the biggest questions in mind. 'What is the source of the system and the mission?'

[ Conditions not fulfilled. The answers to your question cannot be given until you fulfill the required conditions.] The voice replied to his question with an answer he didn't need at all.

'What can I say, trying to keep secrets to yourself, huh? Well what are those conditions?' Alex finally decided to know the conditions so that he would know what to expect in the future for the missions to come.

[The conditions are locked. Master will have to find them by himself.] Again, the reply that he didn't want. What's wrong if he knew? Why not just tell him so that he can start trying to fulfill the conditions as early as now? These were the questions Alex asked himself but he had no answers to them as it seemed that the system was hell bent on keeping him in the dark.

Seeing that his questions won't get any answers, he decided to go back to the home screen and enter the inventory. The inventory was like a world of its own. White floor with a space of about a hundred meter squared. This was indeed a huge space for someone like Alex who carried all his belongings in a backpack. It seems life in the dungeon would get easier.

Inside the inventory, Alex saw the skill book, the short sword, the dagger and Simon's ring. They were all intact and he could get them out with a thought. With a thought, the dagger appeared in his hand. Again, with a thought, it was back into the inventory. Alex couldn't help but laugh out loud. He had hit a jackpot for sure.

Making sure everything was fine, Alex decided to freshen up. The system awakening had really drained him. He needed a lot of rest for sure. Just as he was about to go into the bathroom, he remembered about the system awakening skill book. He wondered where the heck that book had disappeared to. He didn't see it in the inventory.

Knowing that he wouldn't get the answers unless he asked using the queries, he decided to freshen up first before dealing with the issue of the missing skill book. Alex entered the bath and took a warm bath before coming back to the room and tucking himself in the warm blankets.

Four hours after resting, Alex woke up. He got off the bed and stretched for a while. After that, he requested for a meal to fill his empty stomach that was already complaining about not receiving its rights. After the dish, Alex decided to learn the skill that he had bought from the guild, 'iron hands'.

Just as he took out the book, the screen appeared in front of him.

[Beginner quest started..... Kill fifty monsters one stage above you in forty eight hours.... Mission rewards.....Rank 1 mid grade dual swords and rank 1 mid grade skill steel hands....]