Before the skeleton and before the system, before anything really, there existed the Void. A dimensional space in between, ever expanding and yet small, everlasting and yet still. Time lost all meaning in the Void, there was only space and in this space, the soul was frozen in time.

Some time later something caused the soul to stir for a brief moment.

Initiating The System

Processing....

Finished processing.

Soul detected!

Searching for a suitable vessel…

Searching…searching

Error! Suitable vessel could not be found.

Continue searching...

Unknown time has passed yet again and a soul was stirred for the second time. This time however, something changed.

Warning!

...soul damage detected...

Initiating a forceful removal from dimensional space

Detecting a suitable vessel…

Target found!

Infusing soul and vessel…complete!

Core creation...complete!

Unbeknownst to the master, he felt like the ritual happened seconds ago.

It worked? But of course it did, I wasn't meant to fail. He thought as he came to. “Now let's see where…What are…? Are those skeletons over there? What's happening right now? Is it an illusion? Sailas? SAILAS? DISCIPLE?”

Skeletons kept marching, increasing the distance between them. Confusion only led to more questions as a blue screen appeared in front of him, paralyzing him as a slew of notifications popped out.

The System setup complete

Detecting soul [Ancient] and vessel [Skeleton] infusion

Skeleton no longer a minion

Level reduced from level 29 to level 1

Searching…

Affinity [Space, medium] detected

Affinity [Time, medium] detected

Affinity [Arcane, medium] detected

Status unlocked

Skills unlocked

Achievements unlocked

He couldn’t move or see, no more, the flashing screen blocking his sight. The slight panic slowly started creeping out to him. Transparent blue screen was all in his sight now. Ignoring the skeletons he saw, he focused back on the screen and a notification it was displaying. Once it was finished, the blue screen stopped flashing and he felt he could move again.

“Haah, hallucination?” Must be! Could it be a side effect from the ritual or occupying a new vessel? I’ll play along for now. This is new though. I don't recognize these words. “What does it mean by “fused” to a skeleton minion?? Wait, waaait...this isn’t a hallucination?”

It was at this moment the master realized what he was seeing was very much real and something went terribly wrong with a ritual. For one, he wasn’t in a tower anymore and Sailas was nowhere to be found. Panic returned yet again as he looked down at his hands.

“Oh no, nonono what is this? Where is my skin, where is my BLOODY SKIN?? It's all bones, bones AND

As a newly initiated being would you like to choose a name for yourself?

BONES???”

Name available.

Name accepted!

“WHAT?”

He went down to his knees, everything happening all at once making him feel like his head was going to explode. Again!

Achievement unlocked: Old Soul [perk applied]

Achievement unlocked: You got soul [ perk applied]

Achievement unlocked: Millennial [perk applied]

“WHAT??”

Taking a deep “metaphorical” breath the master, now named Bones, tried to process the situation he found himself in.

“Skeletons walking? Sure, why not?! And why wouldn’t I be one? I was old enough I might as well be A SKELETON!!” an angry outburst of hallowed sound came out of Bones.

*sigh* “What have I gotten myself into...is this even the same world anymore?”

It was different, his voice...it sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a well. There was a slight echo in his voice and...it sounded more mechanical than human. He looked down, not sure even how, but he could see the whites of his bones and dirt smeared on them. He could hear the rustling of the leaves in the trees on a breezy night. He didn’t understand how it worked and he couldn’t wrap his head around it. His mind was entirely focused on the blue screen in front of him. He felt dizzy.

Reading again through the notifications he stopped at the status one.

“Status?”

As he said it aloud, another pop up appeared.

Status

Attributes

Name: Bones

Race: Undead Skeleton

Class: ???

Profession:???

Hp - 50

Mp - 50

Sta - ∞

STR: 5

AGI: 5

END: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 5

WIS: 5

Free points:

It took him a moment to collect himself and process what he was seeing.

Is this supposed to be me? Words and numbers written on the sheet by this...blue screen of death?

Name is *groan*...“race undead? What? Like vampires and ghouls?” No class, same as a profession. What is a class anyway? Attributes? Strength, agility…ah, i see… they seem to apply to my physical attributes, or to be more precise, these skeletons' physical attributes. Intelligence and wisdom at 5? “That’s insulting. I find myself to be rather intelligent and with old age, more wise.” Clearly a mistake was made.

As he focused attention on his race again, he received more detailed information about it.

Race: Undead Skeleton - Skeletons are magic creatures made from the bones of the dead. They are very common among undead, almost as common as Zombies. User with the ability can summon undead skeletons as minions. Though they can be raised as mindless creatures in areas with corrupted mana, with never ending hate for the living. Their power source is a mana core and their behaviour is highly aggressive towards the living. On rare occasions, given enough time, skeletons can gain sapience.

Undead Traits: Doesn’t need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe.

Weakness: Vulnerability to light magic, bludgeoning damage and to some extent, fire and ice magic. Healing spells have no effect.

Undead Skeleton: +1 STR, +2 VIT, +2INT [per level in race]

“I'm not sure what to think of all this, but for now, I want to leave this place. Where in the world am I anyway?”

Looking north where hundreds of skeletons marched, following a necromancer was a no go. “Hunter left east. Guess I'll head west then.”

And so the three characters and an army of skeletons, went separate ways. Through the forest surrounding a once upon a battlefield, into the unknown. Bones were striding with difficulty through tall grass, large bushes and long trees that stretched to no end. Truly massive trees. He was sure he hadn’t seen trees that tall in all his years being alive. As he was walking, his focus was turned to notifications. Achievements…what were those perks he gained?

He stopped next to a tree. Leaning against a tree, arms crossed, Bones contemplated how he should go about it.

“Achievements?”

A screen listing his achievements opened up and he read through applied perks.

“Right right.”

“Perks.”

Perks

Old Soul - Your soul has been baptised throughout the ages, since before the system, further strengthening it. Greatly reduced all negative effects on the soul. (Mind control, Identify, Soul attacks etc.)

You got soul - Your soul has been looking for that perfect someone for ages. Finally finding your other half, at least some of it, you have discarded your skin and flesh. You are now a soul and skeleton and no more. If the skeleton is destroyed, the soul will be damaged.

Warning: As long as a soul isn’t destroyed, the skeleton can reform. Not all attributes apply to the skeleton. Read information for more details.

Millennial - Congratulations, you have aged! Not many can count their age in millenia. By exceeding over a thousand years of age, you are considered immortal. You don’t have to worry about grey hair or wrinkles on your face anymore. You will be as you are, forever and ever. Cannot age, can still die by other means.

Reading carefully descriptions of so-called perks took time to process. Having finished, Bones stood there frozen, still leaning against a tree. His mind, blank. After a few minutes…

“It was supposed to be hours...HOURS! How could thousands of years have passed? Not one but plural? More than one…???”

"No wait… wait wait, it doesn’t change a damn thing, except for being a skeleton in the middle of a forest, talking to myself.”

Not a different world then, same world? “What in the world happened then?”

He crumbled down to a sitting position, his hand clamping around his head. He started laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Cannot age? Was something he wished for. To become immortal, to be powerful and now? He was immortal, immortal...he repeated the word like it was his mantra. He slapped his non-existent cheeks to snap out of it. Bit different then what he expected but this was a chance he needed. A chance to start anew, to follow a different path to power he so much urged for and maybe! Just maybe! This system could provide him with a path. Again, his mind back to the screen, he tried Inventory, an option locked to him it seems, but was coming out empty. Seeing no point standing there thinking about it anymore, he got up and continued clumsily walking, still not getting used to having no flesh or muscles. Few hours in, the sun was already high in the sky, barely reaching through the canopy of overhanging trees with its rays. Forest was alive with birds calling and distant roaring of beasts. It’s going to be a long walk but something to look forward to.

Fiddling about, slowly he was getting used to screen being there and doing what it does. Most peculiar system. He thought. He again wondered how it came to be. Hopefully he will find some answers soon. For now he would continue inspecting what system had to offer. One of them being skills.

Skills.

Processing…

ding

Undead racial skill: Mana Vision automatically added

Processing...

Detecting...skill found!

Skill: Calm Mind added

Skill: Mana Manipulation added

Skill: Mana Sense added

Skills

Racial skills

Mana Vision (racial active/passive) - grants the ability to perceive the world around you by infusing mana into your eyes. Infusing more mana will result in increasing the effect and radius at the cost of mana.

General skills

Calm mind (passive, upgraded) - you have experienced a lot, you've seen it all. You have learned to keep your mind calm. Reduced crowd control effects (fear, pain, mind control etc) on you.

Mana manipulation (passive/active) - you have proven yourself capable of manipulating mana around you both passively and actively. Control and the amount of mana manipulated increases with skill level.

Mana sense (passive) - your heightened senses allows you to better perceive the mana around you. Effect increases with skill level. Synergy with a skill: Mana Vision detected, increased effect when using both skills at the same time.

I see, mana vision was it?! From the moment I came to, I could see and hear thanks to the skill I guess. Racial skill automatically added hm...I do wonder, if there are other skills I could learn? Time would tell. Calm mind, mana manipulation and mana sense.. “Not bad at all, I can work with this!”

Bones steadied his mind and focused his senses to his surroundings, feeling the mana. It was dense. Denser than before and he could feel the mana, flowing, mingling about, never in the same pattern. He imagined pulling on it, attracting it towards himself. Nothing was happening at first but slowly, he was pulling tendrils of mana to himself. He extended his arm, palm pointing towards the sky and imagined a small vortex of mana above it. After concentrating for a minute, a small vortex of gentle bluish colored mana appeared swirling atop of his palm.

These were the basics, this is how he learnt to manipulate mana before. By visualization. Of course, it took days before he could pull it off in his old life.

Now? It was easy, like trying to ride a bike after a long time. Bit bumpy at start but once he started doing it, he was doing it automatically. A few hours of testing his mana manipulation, he heard more ding sounds of incoming notifications.

ding

Mana sense leveled up

Mana manipulation leveled up

Mana manipulation leveled up

It was getting darker, the sun setting behind the horizon, barely noticeable in the shade of a forest. It’s been more than half a day of walking through the forest when distinct sounds could be heard. Not your usual sounds of birds calling, insects chirping and ferocious beasts lurking. Deep raspy voices could be heard and some manner of speech not understandable to anyone but monsters. There was a camp a bit more than 100 meters away.

Bones lightly threaded nearer, which wasn't very hard he noticed, being a skeleton and weighing almost next to nothing. When he was close enough he saw them. Kobolds! It wasn't his first time encountering them but he distinctly remembered them not being as tall, standing on two legs or as buffed. Kobolds of today are apparently tall enough to reach his torso. Dressed in animal parts with crude weapons in their tiny hands? Claws?

They usually had higher defence due to scales covering their body but…these were just looking pathetic. Hopefully weaker too. He observed their surroundings a bit and noticed there were only 4 of them, all far apart from each other. There was a distance enough between to sneak upon them.

Should I just leave them be? A thought crossed his mind as there really wasn’t any reason to kill them. There also wasn’t any reason NOT to kill them and that was good enough for him. This will be his first encounter since becoming a skeleton. His plan was a simple one. Sneak upon them and poke them to death, one by one.

He didn’t attack immediately, but spent more time observing his targets. Know thy enemy and all that! He knew kobolds could see well in the dark and their scales provided a certain amount of defence. One of them had gotten pretty close to his hiding place now. Surprisingly not noticing anything strange. Bones figured it was mostly because of his rather skinless and fleshless stature. Making him harder to notice and frankly, who would suspect a bunch of bones sneaking around?