Gasp!
'Oh no!'
That was my first thought when I suddenly appeared in this hell of a jungle. My body and mind were in full panic mode.
This jungle had trees so dense that only some sunlight was able to reach ground. Fortunately, it was still day time ,or else my visibility would have taken a sharp blow.
After sometime...
I calmed down, quite quickly. Then I inspected my surroundings. Being a human, and an avid web-novel reader, I had some basic semblance of adaptation to the surroundings I was in.
'Seems like I have isekai'ed to a fantasy world where magical beasts roam unhindered. So magic and other things should exist here? ' I thought to myself as I caught sight of a grey bunny.
Bzzzzzzz---
The grey bunny was looking quite metallic. I mean it had the shine like a metallic surface for a few moments on the outer surface of its skin, also called fur.
Bzzzzzzz---
And from the information I got out of nowhere, there were magical creatures here in this world. And when I say I got it from nowhere, I really mean it. Well, cliche after cliche. But my guess was right, yesss!
Buzz----
I felt like it was inserted inside my brain by some force in some weird way. But whatever. Who cares. Certainly I do, but not in my current situation. Again a cliche.
Buzzz-----
It generally happens in those fantasy novels. I thought to myself. Ignoring the buzzing sound I heard around me.
Now that's some solid fantasy world I have isekai'ed to, I guess. But things were going far from smooth. I was in middle of nowhere. And I didn't even know where to go.
[ Ding! ]
And finally as I was beginning to despair from the depths of my heart, a heavenly sound echoed in my mind. Well, actually it was normal sound. But to me, it felt heavenly. You get what I mean ,right.
Especially to those who are well versed in the way of web novels and manga, it was a heavenly sound. Because it meant that the miraculous, fantabulous, fantastic system has finally arrived.
I heaved a sigh of relief. I thought I was a goner before this sound reached my ears. After all, it was pretty much treated as the most basic service provided to the transmigrators nowadays.
I started mentally recalling and shouting every single command I have ever seen to summon my status window. And finally the system answered.
' System Status '
******************
Ultimate Avatar Roleplay System
Host Status
Host Name : Reigen Korosenai
Height : 176 cm
Local Name :?? (Liam)
Occupation : ?? (Student, formerly)
Blood group : O-
Stats :-
Strength: 6 ,
Perception:10,
Endurance: 5,
Charisma: 7,
Intelligence: 8,
Agility: 9,
Luck: 6
Note : 5 in all stats is the standard value for an average person of this world.
******************
'What type of status screen is this?!' I thought internally. 'Did I get myself and unresponsive system, by any chance?' I thought.
Then I was check if the system was responding towards any other commands excluding status screen. But my actions were once again interrupted by the annoying buzzing sound from before.
I looked around to check where it was coming from. Then, I was shell shocked to see a swarm of palm sized bees rushing towards me.
Damn !!!!
All the danger alarms in my head went haywire. If they could be manifested in reality, their sound alone would have killed these super large bees in an instant.
Sadly, reality didn't work as per my wish. Knowing this, I bolted towards the path which felt most familiar to me.
I didn't even had the courage to look back. I just kept running until the forest gave way to a large clearing in the depth of it.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
I started taking deep breaths to soothe my nerves. I thought I was going to die there, yet again. The thought alone was chilling, not to mention the presence of those bees only served to amplify that.
And as I collected myself, my gaze landed on the towering alchemy tower looming in the distance.
Yeah! Bingo! Applause!
Exclusively for those who guessed it right. As for those who didn't, I will explain further.
As you can see, the body that I currently possessed went by the name Gaus or better known as Dyson.
The previous owner of the body was a simple pheasant born child. He helped his parents cultivate their land. But due the ongoing war, his parents were forcibly conscripted in army.
And as fate would have it, due being inexperienced and well past middle age, they died while they were near the battle field.
The empire, as consolation, provided Gaus with meagre compensation money and gave him a small arable piece of land.
Gaus, being a pheasant (not pissant) child, was actually quite glad for their support. Thus, months went on.
Fortunately, one day, a supposedly master Alchemist took an interest in Gaus, and Gaus became a servant. But after Master Zerek saw his talent in alchemy, he took him in as his disciple. A true turn of fortune, for better or ..... for worse.
But that fellow was a complete fraud. He only knew basic alchemy. After emblezzing money from both this empire and the enemy empire, he ran away.
Leaving Gaus with nothing but some random alchemical materials, some money and a letter sent through a messenger bird. And barely any alchemical knowledge.
The arrival of the letter happened during the time when Gaus visited Dark Forest surrounding the alchemy tower.
And this attracted the super sized bees living in the Dark Forest. So, Gaus wasn't able run away from those creatures to a safe place. And got his head injured by some coconut like magical fruit.
This effectively took his life and helped me take his place. Moral of the story : Misfortune is a greater friend than fortune. It always follows, or precisely stalks.
Well, that aside, I haven't even checked the contents of the letter.I was eager to know if that Gaus's master was a fraud or not. But just to be safe, I surveyed my surroundings.
Then I went inside the alchemy tower through the alchemical door which had password device like my previous life.
Have I mentioned the rune turrets surrounding this tower. They looked quite intimidating. So I had to follow a specific route to get to the door.
After getting inside and locking the entrance, I swiftly made my way towards the top most floor, which was the highest floor by the way. I mean obviously.
Yep, the alchemy tower my master had was only a few storey tall. But it also had a functional transmission system and a complete array with multiple functions.
The transmission system was connected to speakers and cameras, which looked like bricks, scattered all over the tower.
Whereas, the array can be understood as a magical lift. It was used to go to any floor by entering voice command. It worked on the teleportation principle, as per the array master. Although it had other functions too.
And it was built by some of the con money that my supposedly fraud master had. It had a minor spatial array which was quite expensive.
Gaus had only come up to the top of the alchemy tower once in the past. That was the first time he had come to the alchemy tower.
Zerek had brought him around and specifically instructed him not to come to the top of the tower under any circumstances.
This was the materials warehouse and was everything Zerek had worked on. With a ding-dong sound, Gaus finally arrived at the top of the tower.
He had once again arrived at the place where the treasures were gathered. Except that it was now as bare as a famous baldie's head.
Those things aside, after reaching the top floor and making sure no one else was there, I opened the letter. The letter went like this :
*********
Location: Near Alchemy Tower
To:?
Oh, my adorable Gaus, when you read this letter, I was already far away from home. I don't have much time left. I'm very sorry, my dear student. There's no need to be surprised or sad. In fact, I was the one who escaped punishment.
In fact, strictly speaking, I am not a good teacher. In the two months I spent with you, I did not teach you any practical alchemy.
This Alchemy Tower doesn't belong to me. I used to be an apprentice alchemist. Yes, as you can see, no one would believe that I'm a 50-year-old apprentice alchemist, right? I did some odd jobs under the original owner of this Alchemy Tower, day after day. However, the owner of this Alchemy Tower never came back after going out again. As an apprentice alchemist who has worked for 30 years, it's only natural that I would be greedy and impersonate the owner of this Alchemy Tower to inherit this magnificent Alchemy Tower.
A few months ago, the royal family of the Orm Empire found me and said that they would give me a large sum of gold coins as a reward. They wanted me to help them refine some low-level alchemical soldiers to help them. They were very eager to defeat the hypocritical Pope empire. Which did the same, by hiring me for work.
I created an inferior product based on the alchemy notes left behind by my original master, which is a product that probably cannot withstand a single blow. I wasn't young anymore, so I planned to make a fortune out of the royal family of the Orm Empire and run away, but I never expected to be exposed so quickly!
Remember! The rune turrets outside the Alchemy Tower had long been emptied by me. They were all empty shells that looked good but were actually useless. In the few years that I had inherited the Alchemy Tower, I did not have a stable source of income to support me in fulfilling my great alchemy dream. I had long exchanged the core skills of the rune turrets for gold coins!
When you see this letter, I might have already died. The gold coins that I extorted from the royal family of the Orm Empire and the wealth that I had accumulated in my life were all placed in the magic box on the top of the tower. The password is your birthday, 1212. Although you have only followed me for two months, I know that you are very hardworking, very talented, and extremely fond of alchemy. Take that money and quickly leave this place.Also, I have stashed the money given by Pope Empire in another hideout. A genius like you should not be confined to such a small place. I hope that you can spread your wings and soar, and I hope that you will become a great alchemist whose name will shake the world in the future!
Signing off,?
Zerek Ryan.
***********
And as I turned the letter, it truly had the location of the hideout written on it. In bloody red letters.
" Surely, I wouldn't be captured ." I said with certainty. As I knew that the real name of Gaus was Liam in Empirical records.
Gaus was the nickname he was given by his birth givers. And Dyson was name given to him by Zerek, the con man.
Also, due to the high density of monsters in Dark Forest, no one dared to approach recklessly. Thus, there was near impossible chance of being surrounded by the two Great Empire's armies.
The empires wouldn't stop their ongoing war just due to some loss. But once the war comes to a standstill, they will surely turn their attention towards this matter.
And to protect myself, I could only rely on this non sentient system. But the problem was how am I going to use it. It didn't even give me a simple user manual.
I tried summoning my status screen once again. And it was definitely different from the previous lack - luster one.
' System Status '
******************
Ultimate Avatar Roleplay System
Host Status
Host Name : Reigen Korosenai
Height : 176 cm
Local Name :Liam/ Dyson
Nickname : Mas
Occupation : Apprentice Alchemist (Half Star)
Stats :-
Strength: 6 ,
Perception:10,
Endurance: 5,
Charisma: 7,
Intelligence: 9,
Agility: 6,
Luck: 8.
Alchemical materials: None.
Alchemical Recipe : One Star - Humanoid Soldier.
Avatar Summoned : None.
Avatar Summoning (remaining): 1.
Stats Points (SP) : 1.
Avatar Upgrade Points : 0.
System/ Activity points: 1,000.
Note : 5 in all stats is the standard value for an average person of this world.
******************
There were new options aside from my personal information and stats. I mentally tried clicking the Avatar Summoning title.
And a new window popped up in front of me.
*******************
Would like to summon an avatar ?
[ Yes ] [ No ]
Note : This function is for permanently summoning an avatar, and is irreversible.
*******************
I clicked on [ Yes ] without a moment's hesitation. A new window flickered into existence.
*******************
Avatar Summoning Successful!
Please name the Avatar and configure it's settings as per your wish
*******************
Then I named him ....