One With The Abyss

For the first time in a while, I took a break.

I took out the drake meat, as well as some of the materials I had gained from lower floors and began cooking it with fire magic. It was divine and thanks to the large size of the drop, I still had plenty left.

Following that I decided to properly meditate and cultivate my abyssal energy. I hadn't needed to really, but did find that when I did it improved the speed of my aura growth; the flicker had already grown into a large fireball of power within me and I was excited to let it loose.

After I felt I could no longer cultivate I turned to my new system. I hadn't really taken the time to look into what it could do and now I decided to; by default the system opened up into the talent page:

(A/N: Do not get used to this kind of system screen. I really don't like using SH's table system, but it would be hard to show what I want to show without it)

"I don't think I've ever looked at this?" I said, choosing to enter the 'settings' tab of the system screen.

"Okay..." I said, looking over the page, it was short but quite to the point. ]Talent Order] changed the ordering of the talents in my menu, so if I desired I could have [Assassin] be the first talent in the list. Useful, but not necessary; I left it be.

[Talent Name] was slightly more... weird.

With it I could change the name of the talents, with some restrictions. Simply put, I could alter how others see my talents; that was the most practical use of the option I could find. However, it came with some restrictions.

For example, I couldn't take [Elementalist] and call it something like [Talent 1]. The talent name still had to be related to what the talent did, so I couldn't take a body talent and name it like a magic talent.

I saw no real benefit to using this for the time being; I left it be.

The last one was something I was intrigued by.

It allowed me to change how proficiency levels were measured. Instead of a level system, I could change it to stars, or a bar to fill; but what really intrigued me was the final option available: [Proficiency Level: (On/Off)]

"I can turn proficiency levels... Off?" I wondered aloud, surely that would make the system that measures a talent's potential... Moot.

"Not really." Abby chimed in, fitting back into her expository role as she always did, "Proficiency levels are just there to allow regular people to comprehend their abilities... If anything, I recommend you turn them off all together."

"What! Why!?" I felt the level system was helpful for me, "Surely it is only a positive for me to know how much I can improve."

"But that isn't how much you can improve." Abby said matter-of-factly, I obviously didn't understand.

"You are rather slow aren't you." Abby mocked playfully.

"Just explain already you ass."I grumbled, wishing I could read her mind as she did mine.

"It's simple, the max proficiency is not how much each talent can improve and you regularly prove it again and again."

"Talents can evolve and become stronger the more their user pushes the boundary of what they can do with it. But when most people reach their final maximum proficiency level they become complacent and believe they have reached the very peak of what they are capable of."

"Even you show this!" I was confused by what she meant, so she continued, "Against the yeti you gained... Enlightenment, or something similar in regards to shapeshifting thanks to the soul pain clearing your mind for quite a while."

"But, when you reached level nine you do very little in trying to push that skill further. If I hadn't told you it would be able to open a gate within the abyss, you likely would have allowed the talent to drop into the back of your mind."

She was right, even after the yeti I had fallen into that complacency, it was pure accident that I managed to reach level 9 when fighting the ghouls; and after that I hadn't really done anything with it. 

"So... I should just turn them off? But how will I tell I am making progress?" I asked.

"Talents are a part of your soul, enhancing them is enhancing your soul; you especially are sensitive to matters regarding the soul so it will be easy for you to tell." She responded, she clearly wanted me to abandon the idea of talent levels.

"Okay... But then why did abyss already lose its talent level?" I asked, the final doubt in my mind after her tirade about levels and complacency.

"That talent is... Well, it's an outlier." Abby said, losing steam slightly, "For starters, it is the talent that this entire system is built upon and more than that it isn't really a talent in the first place."

"It's more like an interface for you to interact with the abyss and all of its powers. You're still not capable of witnessing the abyss and so it has to present itself in a way that you are capable of comprehending. Think of it like a supercomputer with simplified names for all the processes it can do such that the technologically illiterate can access it."

That made sense to me; it didn't really act like the other talents did; not even before it upgraded. I mean it was a talent with zero potential - that alone was abnormal.

So, with all the facts laid out before me it was clear what the best choice was and so I made the choice:

[Proficiency Level: (On/Off)]

I looked back at the talent list and for a moment it felt strange, but that changed as the different 'centres of power' within my soul became clearer: Which were closer to being enhanced; which possessed superior power. It was similar to someone losing their vision later in life, then regaining their autonomy by enhancing their other senses.

"It does feel slightly better I suppose." I said to Abby, I could feel a general sense of agreement from her and if she had a body she would no doubt be nodding right now, "Time to look at the rest of the system then."

I clicked back, entering another screen with a set of options:

"Skills..." I muttered, "I can't get any skills."

This was obviously the first tab I opened, simply because of how useless it was; I didn't even see a need for it to exist. That was until I saw what was on it, then it kind of made sense:

"So it exists for the purpose of equipment skills..." I said, "Seems a little pointless, but whatever."

I quickly went back to the main page, seeing that settings was pretty much the same as it was for the talent and there was no value in switching up anything for something that mattered so little.

My next stop was [Personal Information], I wanted to see what the system recorded about me. I wouldn't get the opportunity to compare the difference between the abyssal system and the old one as I never had the chance to properly look at the old one; being too busy fighting for my life and all, but I still felt a weird sense of excitement in regards to the information. It was reigniting my love of the LitRPG genre after losing it due to... I don't know: Abandonment and being left to die.

"Okay. A few questions." I became confused immediately, "But first, why no name?"

"That'll be because of what happened with abyssal soul." Abby said, "Your soul was completely restructured, hence you lost your identity, and therefore your name."

"Then why is my age the same?" A simple question, with what Abby likely believed was a simple answer:

"Your soul was restructured, not remade. If you turn a painting upside down it looks different, but it's fundamentally the same thing."

I wasn't really satisfied with the explanation, but it would have to do for now. Onto the next set of questions:

"And the question mark after my race?" I asked.

"That'll be from Shapeshifting, it has likely slightly altered you genetics." Abby responded

"Okay, then what about the class thing? Also what is a class?" I asked, it was blank like my name, but I didn't even know such a thing existed in the first place.

"The class is gained at level 10, but you can't increase your level so you also can't gain a class." That I understood, "What classes are is something that doesn't affect you. They just increase the chances of gaining skills that line up with the class choice. Your sister probably has some light related class and that bully girl probably has something like a barbarian."

I flinched slightly at the mention of those 2. It seemed my trauma was not entirely gone, but I ignored it and posed my final question.

"Finally, the blessing. What's that?" I asked.

"Simple. Sometimes, higher beings bless lower beings." Abby said, "In this case, the abyss has blessed you: The mark. Though in reality it's like plugging an extension cord into itself to gain 'infinite electricity'."

"The blessing doesn't really do anything because you are the abyss."

Everything I wanted to know was answered and I was about to close the page when Abby stopped me.

"You can choose a new name you know." My finger stopped in mid-air, hovering over the return button. Contemplating.

"... I'll consider it."

The last order of business was [Stats], though I didn't expect much.

(A/N: In case you think her stats don't make sense considering her strength; remember her abyss talent stops them from growing at all. In the end only abyssal energy matters, soul is a different thing entirely)

"I feel pretty strong for someone with such low stats." I giggled, though my soul seemed to be doing pretty well.

I decided to look into what the stats did. For the most part, they follow a trend in what they do. Strength, speed and intelligence determine the power of the related act: Total physical strength, maximum speed and acceleration, overall power of magic.

Endurance, agility and wisdom determine how long I can do these actions for as well as my defences. Endurance grants stamina and physical defence; agility determines flexibility and how well my body can move; finally, wisdom determines total mana pool as well as magic defence. Abby said stamina would also become aura when it awakened.

Finally the last category was what I considered 'finesse'. Dexterity controlled how well I could use weapons and my control over my body during combat; perception was about fully being able to 'perceive' everything around me as I moved; and soul determined my control over magic. I presumed it was so high due to my [Abyssal Soul] talent, but it may just be because of how good I am with [Elementalist]

That was everything. I had seen everything my new system had to offer and fully understood what it could do; there was just one last matter of business.

"I want you to tell me about the gates." I said, "I want to know how I'm supposed to open them."

Abby sputtered and stammered for a moment, before she calmed herself, likely reading my mind and seeing I don't plan on letting this go.

"Fine..." Abby relented, "I'll tell you what I can."

"First is creation. This is the activation of your abilities and awakens what you can do with the talent - but you've already opened that gate so it matters little."

"While the gates can be opened in any order... The second gate: [Formless] is as I have told you. You open this gate by completely abandoning your form using shapeshifting; becoming unrestricted in how you appear."

I nodded in understanding, that was already somewhat clear to me.

"Then there's the sixth gate: [Void]. [Void] is opened when your body is perfected, advancing [Abyssal Soul] into the next stage, in order to do so you must turn your body into the perfect vessel for abyssal energy."

I hadn't expected to have 2 of the necessary talents for future gates, but I was glad I did. It made things easier.

"The next three are ultimately intertwined so I will tell you their keys all at once."

"[Weightless], [Timeless] and [Dominion]. The only way to open these gates is to gain control over the Genesis Elements."

"Genesis elements I asked?" I was confused, Abby already told me I already have the best magic talent, "Did you omit more information again? Damn!"

"I did, but only because these three are different."

"The 3 Genesis Elements are not like the others and so few people have ever wielded them. But they grant powerful abilities that are not only connected to each other, but also the abyss. To fully understand I must talk about 'the advent of creation', would you like to hear?"

I nodded, righting myself as I had begun to slouch.

"Very well. In the beginning there was nothing; and that nothing was the abyss, an endless plane of no light, no dark, no up, no down; literally an existence void of anything. Until there was... Something."

"Spontaneously and without reason there came something and that something split into three, becoming three distinct existences within the nothingness: The Genesis Elements."

"The Genesis Elements existed for an indeterminable amount of time, as time had not yet formed properly, in a space that did not yet exist, made of a material that was not possible; however, that changed when the Genesis Elements flared to life."

"First came space, in which everything was held. infinite universes and dimensions; impossibly grand in scale and endlessly vast, all contained within the abyss. The space element allowed for a place where existence could begin"

"Next was matter. From this everything came to be, all of existence is formed from matter and even the reversal of anti-matter can ultimately be traced back to matter. The matter element gave birth to existence itself."

"And finally came time. From this existence sprang into motion, propelling it forward and allowing it to grow and change. The time element provided meaning to what had been created before it."

"There was space, in which all was contained. There was matter, from which everything was formed. And there was time, that which gave existence meaning."

"And it is only by gaining command over these three powers that you may open those gates."

I was completely shocked, these were powers that I couldn't ever fully comprehend. I understood their concepts for sure, but wouldn't this be controlling existence itself?

"No..." Abby proceeded to explain what this power really was.

While in some aspects it did allow me to command the universe, in that I could manipulate the fundamental building blocks that existence was built around; even I had limits. Firstly, space - this was the least limitted of the bunch, it came with very few restrictions besides not destroying the entire multiverse, that I could do.

Next was matter, a little more complicated - it would be almost impossible to create or entirely destroy matter, meaning nothing new could be made and nothing old could be destroyed. What matter magic would do is allow me to alter and change matter as I wished, but even that came with restrictions. Living beings would be incredibly difficult to alter all thanks to the [Soul] stat. Every living being, even those like plants and bugs had a soul, that then gave off energy which interferes with matter manipulation meaning I couldn't just turn someone to stone and kill them to stone as the energy cost and process would be beyond difficult to manage. More than that, soul energy emitted off of a person could surrounded them like a barrier, they didn't even have to know it was there to do so; the stronger the soul, the harder it is to change them.

Finally was time - in regards to restrictions the final of the 3 elements was like a middleman, very few restrictions, but heavily enforced. Unlike matter and space - where their restrictions would just be difficult to achieve - time's restriction was simply not possible to achieve: Time reversal. It was not possible to go back in time, as time could only ever go forward since it was first formed. Of course I could still do other things with it, like see slightly into the future or slow down time around me to the point where it appears to have stopped, allowing me to move freely, but I could never reverse or go back in time. That was the rule.

"What about the last gate?" I asked, Abby had not even mentioned [Eternal].

"I cannot, you will know when you are ready." I wanted to push her further, but her tone told me there was no point, so I dropped it for now.

"Well... I better get to work then." A life of greatness was laid out before me, I wasn't about to pass that up.

So, I went to face the 40th floor boss, not knowing that greatness was appearing faster than anticipated.