Verso stared at the blue, transparent window floating in the air in front of him.
He was so surprised by it that he pulled his hands back from the skeleton, leaving the little creature standing on the floor with it's arms up.
'View the System?' He thought. 'How am I supposed to do that-'
Before he could even finish the thought, a large window of text snapped open right in front of his face.
Startled by this, Verso flinched as his heart jumped into his throat. He scrambled back a few steps, nearly tripping over his own feet in the empty hallway. He quickly looked around, his eyes darting to both of the ends of the corridor.
"Is anyone else seeing this?" He said out loud half heartedly expecting a reply.
But, the hallway remained silent. There were no students or teachers in sight and just as he was about to panic, he felt a soft nudge against his pant leg.
He looked down and saw the tiny skeleton. The creature was tilting its skull, looking up at him with what felt like worry in its hollow eyes. It seemed confused as to why its master was jumping away from thin air.
Verso stood there for a few seconds, wondering if he had finally cracked under the pressure of the awakening as he slowly moved his finger toward the floating window and then looked back down at the skeleton.
"Do- do you also see this too?" Verso asked, his voice quiet almost like he was whispering.
To his surprise, the skeleton slowly shook its head.
'Am I losing my mind?' Verso wondered.
He was standing in a hallway, talking to a pile of bones like it could understand him and staring at glowing text that only he could see.
'I guess the skeleton really can't see it...' He thought, turning his focus back to the window, squinting and trying to read each line of text.
---
[✦Summoner Window✦]
Name: Verso
Title: -
Talent: [Endless]
Core: Uncondensed (0%)
Stats:
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 7]
[Endurance: 7]
[Mana: 4]
Summons: [Nameless Skeleton]
---
"What the hell is this supposed to be..." Verso mumbled as he started at the numbers in shock.
It felt incredibly strange to him to see his own physical abilities broken down into simple digits in front of him.
'Is this like the status window from a video game?'
Verso had spent enough time playing games to recognize the layout immediately. This was clearly a more gamified version of his own life. But as he looked closer, one things stood out to him more than anything else.
That was his talent.
"It says my Talent is... Endless?" He muttered in confusion.
He walked a bit closer to the floating window as behind him the skeleton watched with a concerned look as if it was wondering if it's master had just lost his mind.
"Wha-"
Just as Verso began to wonder what his talent meant, a smaller window popped up right over the first one.
---
Talent: Endless
Description:
As the Heir of the Evolution Fragment and the host of the Evolution System, your Growth knows no bounds.
Perk: [Evolution]
---
Verso read the lines twice.
'Evolution Fragment? What is that?'
The name sounded direct and powerful, but it didn't match anything he had ever studied in school but Verso could deduce that the fragment was what gave him access to this system.
'Last thing I expected my talent to be was a system.'
He looked down and saw the perk, remembering back to how thinking about his talent had opened up the description he focused his mind on the word Evolution expecting something similar to happen.
To no surprise, another system window appeared instantly in front of him.
---
Perk: Evolution
Description:
You and your summons may evolve with no bounds.
---
'Why are all of these descriptions so damn vague?' Verso thought, feeling a bit frustrated.
He looked down at the tiny skeleton as the little guy was still standing there looking like a fragile toy.
"You mean I can evolve this guy further?" He wondered.
The idea of his underwhelming summon becoming something stronger actually gave him a spark of hope. If the skeleton could grow, maybe he really did have a chance in accomplishing his goals.
Suddenly, a sharp sound rang in his ear.
[Ding!]
[Mission Acquired: Pass The Summoner's Academy Exams.]
Verso's eyes widened as right in front of his face all of the blue windows suddenly vanished, replaced by a single red window that felt much more aggressive.
'A mission?'
He leaned in to read the red text.
---
Mission: Pass The Summoner's Academy Exams.
Reward:Function[Fusion]
Failure Penalty: Death
---
Verso felt the blood drain from his face.
The word Death was written in a dark, blood red color that seemed to pulse slightly as if it wasn't a reminder or warning but rather a fact that the system would directly just end his life.
"Bu-"
He looked at the tiny, clumsy skeleton who was slowly hitting it's head against the wall for some unknown reason and then back at the red window.
The Academy exams were so famously difficult that competing in them with years of preparation would not ensure your selection.
And now, not only did Verso have to compete in them with his derpy little skeleton but also with his life on the line.
"What did I get myself into..." Verso whispered to himself.
The excitement of his awakening was now completely gone, replaced by a heavy weight in his chest as the stakes were now set incredibly high.