'Villain system?' Adam wondered as the holographic image showed another screen. This one looked somewhat similar to a profile page, except in the background he could see different figurations that his bionic hand could turn into. One of them being a flamethrower.
'Yeah, I don't think I got this from a simple accident,' Adam thought with a slight shake of his head. Whatever had brought him into the past probably had given him this arm and passed it off as the result of some accident.
However, he was pretty sure a regular doctor wouldn't give him an arm that could turn into a damn flamethrower.
[Inheritor 1]
–[ General ]–
- Name: Adam Haeschutt
- Age: 18
- Rank: First Spawn
- Type: Enhancer
–[ Stats ]–
- Qi: 150
– Focus: 25
– Conservation: 20
– Application: 15
– Defense: 30
– Creation: 20
[Basic scan of Inheritor complete. Now scanning the Inheritor's Artifact]
'Artifact?' Adam thought as he looked down at his arm, figuring that's what the system referred to. So far, pretty much everything was straightforward and what a hero would see on a philosopher's stone.
He had never heard of a 'system' like this in his past life; however, any hero could get their Qi evaluated by these mysterious stones that suddenly appeared in multiple cities. These stones, often attributed to the same entity that gave Qi to a select few, would detail almost all of this information, so it wasn't new to him.
The only part so far that was new was this First Spawn rank thing. Before, none of the stones divided people into ranks; that was an entirely human thing.
As he waited for the system to give him new information about his artifact, Adam refreshed himself on the basics of Qi illustrated by the stats section.
First, the stat Qi basically just represented the total accessible energy of a person. It was like a hero's fuel tank, where expending all of that energy would render them essentially useless.
Therefore, one of the first things anyone would train was Conservation. Although the complete scope of its uses was more nuanced, this stat could be simplified as retaining Qi. Those with higher Conservation are able to use Qi more freely, as their bodies would naturally adapt with that usage and thus regenerate Qi faster, or not expend as much.
It would be like if two people ran a multiple-staged race and one recovered their stamina far faster than the other in between laps. Or, to continue with the racing analogy, it could also just be that due to various factors, such as better breath regulation, one person is able to run at the same speed as another for far longer.
In essence, Conservation could boil down to simply this: if Qi was a representation of the maximum potential someone's energy had, Conservation represented the ability to remain at that peak potential for longer.
Moving on, Focus was a simple concept that could yield huge rewards. To put it simply, Focus was the ability to decipher anything about an opponent. A truly skilled individual would be able to see another's type, energy fluctuations, whether their Qi was focused on attack or defense, and even emotions.
Application could basically be seen as the ability to use Qi as either an attack, buff, or debuff. However, there were other fringe cases one could employ, such as applying more Qi to one area, thus hiding a deadlier yet smaller application of Qi in another. Because a battle between two heroes involved an endless amount of deceit, Application was also a high priority to learn.
If Application was the ability to use Qi offensively, Defense was the ability to use it... well, defensively. This isn't confined to just durability, but rather it could also include things such as resistances.
Then finally there was Creation, which most limited to their battles against Kaiju. This is because Creation took an insane amount of Qi to maintain. However, against goliath beasts that could rise thousands of feet in the air, Creation was vital to learn. By projecting their Qi out into the world, a hero could create a huge astral projection of themselves. Out of everything that separated two heroes and their ability to combat higher-class Kaijus, Creation was definitely the biggest gap.
[Scanning Complete]
–[ Artifact ]–
- Name: The Mantle
- Level: 1
- Quantum Cores until next level-up: 25
– (Note: You can obtain Quantum Cores by completing quests, killing other Heroes, or killing Kaijus)
- Modifications: 0/5
– (Note: Modifications can be purchased in the shop, rewards from a quest, loot from other Heroes or Kaijus, crafted using Quantum Cores, or ###)
The system paused for just a moment, as the last method of obtaining these modifications seemed to be purposefully hidden from him. Then, it continued by giving an explanation as to what these Modifications were.
– (Note: Modifications are similar to perks from video games, as they are passive effects you can utilize by modifying your artifact. By leveling up your artifact using Quantum Cores, you can also attach more Modifications. However, do note that when you craft a Modification using Quantum Cores, those Cores can no longer be used to level up your artifact)
- Gadgets: 0/3
– (Note: Gadgets are similar to skills. They come in various forms, but in essence, your artifact can be used for a variety of boons, such as gravity manipulation once you become stronger. Gadgets can only be earned by leveling up, and it is impossible to have more than 3 at a time. However, by utilizing forging, you can combine 2 Gadgets.)
–[ Stats ]–
- Quantum Energy: 225
– Imaging: 35
– Efficiency: 15
– Kinetics: 30
– Shielding: 15
– Mech: 20
– (Note: While the stats utilizing Qi and Quantum Energy serve different functions, there is one stark difference. Because they are different energy sources, Qi users don't have a natural defense against Quantum Energy and vice versa.)
– (Note: If the Inheritor wishes to upgrade his Qi, he now can. However, the only way to do so is through Quantum Cores or quests.)
After that last message, the holographic dulled for a second as it seemed to be loading some kind of message. Adam let out a hearty sigh, overwhelmed by this new frontier yet excited all the same.
Nobody had ever heard about Quantum Cores, at least to his knowledge. Therefore, he essentially would be the first person to ever have this kind of power and would thus naturally be strong.
Additionally, this system gave him some sort of agency in his life now. Instead of fighting against all odds as one of the weakest Wasted and yet still falling short of any kind of power, now he would get stronger after every fight.
Sure, he was going to start at pretty much the bottom, but still. He was used to making that level work. Though, thinking on it more, he realized two of the ways to upgrade his new artifact thing were impossible to do.
His success would basically hinge on what the system quests were.
[First quest received: Kill the future Exalted Theo Madred]