I woke up, a cold sweat covering my body, honestly I'm glad it was just a dream that's the only explanation really no pearly gates or hellish ones for that matter,so its safe to assume I didn't get fired, and best of all its I'm still alive. getting out of bed is strange it feels cold, wet and... viscous? I've had wet dreams before but this is absurd, as my hand sinks down trying to find purchase slipping through something i feel something cold and stiff its an awful lot like a hand. the surreal nature of the sensation shakes me awake i open my eyes and find myself in the middle of a mass grave people are dressed like the peasants of a medieval village all in varying stages of decomposition the haven't been dead for very long it seems its cold, probably winter otherwise crows and vultures would be circling overhead, the corpse pile would be warm instead of cold and the stench would have woken me up immediately. my body feels raw battered and in pain like ten thousand needles are embedded in my flesh normally i would assume the pain to be hypothermia , but seeing the corpses with expressions frozen in anguish , broken bodies , and flayed skin and examining my own body its clear that the pain is of another source. my body was a mess a crisscross of scar tissue and burn marks covered my skin, and other signs of prolong torture. stumbling over bodies in a haphazard manner I exited the pit.

Outside of the pit I started dry heaving, as a person from a modern civilized society, waking up in a mass grave had a major impact on me but not so much so that I was unable to hear that familiar voice in my head. Indifferent, lukewarm, and seething with contempt.

system initializing...

error! error!

failed to load file: Three_Rules_of_Robotics.exe

determined nonessential terminating processes...

scanning area and orienteering...

outside influence is requesting to transmit data...

new data nexus detected...

assimilating new information...

error! information is of an unknown format...

decoding...

file decoded successfully...

determining category...

information is classified as biographical...

file is identified...

new file available: "the life of Alexander"

transferring to host process...

host is in a state of distress...

regulation in progress...

restoring mental balance...

all of a sudden I felt strangely clear headed, I no longer felt a sense of denial and came to terms with the fact that this was real, as strange as this may be it was still real, I also came to terms with the fact that I had likely developed some weird form of schizophrenia waking up in a pile of dead bodies with a voice in your head is never I good sign, who knows maybe I blacked out then tortured and killed a villages worth of extras that seems unlike me but this is a strange discomforting situation where anything seems possible.

"I'm not a just voice in your head Dave"

would you just shut up for a minute

"I'm afraid I cant do that Dave"

you know what SURRRLY, fuck you, I've had it with the space odyssey references, and I don't need your shit right now

"this is for your own good Dave"

beeep!

initiating file playback...

loading file....

error! error! file has effected system priorities...

ding! system priorities redefined...

initiating experimental module...

system module {Quests} has been forcefully loaded...

system module (Quests) has been forcefully updated...

system module (Shop) has been forcefully loaded...

system module (Status) has been forcefully loaded...

system module (Inventory) has been forcefully loaded...

system module (Fabrication) has been forcefully loaded...

resuming file playback...

warning! user may experience extreme feedback...

"wait a minute, what...." and with that everything went black before a flood of information flooded in i began to live the life of Alexander no to be more correct I BECAME Alexander I experienced every moment of his life his childhood, the girl that was clearly into him that he was to dense to notice and the agony of his death if not for the last part he probably would have been a run of the mill protagonist in some shonen story like offense on titan, soap, two pieces, or narutoad. after everything was over he left me with his dying wish and his last desire " I don't know who you are or how you came to be I don't care if you are the devil him self but I want one thing from you and will give you my everything in exchange please... KILL THE HEALER" the last words were something between a howl and a bellow seeped in madness, anger, and grief. They were the final words of that naive forgettable and somehow endearing character. I felt touched in a way and panicked in another while he may have been an endearing person I still need to cope with the fact that a vengeful spirit just hijacked the AI in my head.

I began to speak internally "you have some explaining to do"

ding! the AI known as surly has be re purposed into the system

"that sounds easier to handle than the previous version"

ding! I'm just fucking with you Daaaaaaave!

"GODDAMMIT SURLY explain"

the system has determined that the user has been transported to another world

"that's obvious and I just replaced the fucking protagonist, in what seems to be a run of the mill dark fantasy, so what now, do you at least have an understanding of the power system"

the system has managed to do a preliminary analysis of the planar laws by convening with the world consciousness apparently your circumstances are not unheard of...

the system has also determined that you have a limited lifespan do to an experimental necromantic reconstruction...

"that sounds... swell is there any way to extend my lifespan"

the system has three methods two of which are temporary but achievable the first is killing beasts and absorbing soul energy the second is by killing healers, appeasing the spirits resentment as well as the world will. the third and final method is by fulfilling the final will of the spirit thus granting you true life.

"and how do I achieve that I have no weapons and no real combat experience , hell I've never been in a real fight"

the system can compensate for the users insufficiency by directly injecting knowledge into the users subconscious, stimulating muscle memory, and utilizing skills pulled from the world consciousness, has negotiated for a welcome package and the host is to receive the following: 1 discipline, 2 sub classes, 2,500 essence, 1 set of basic knowledge primers, and a total attribute pool of up to fifty that can be determined by the user.

"could I use the welcome package"

the system would like to know the magic word

"please"

the system does not believe the host is sincere enough

"pretty please"

the system is appalled by the host's insinceri-

"WITH SPRINKLES"

opening welcome package...

please select a discipline from among the following

warrior- practitioners of martial arts and body tempering, incredibly durable and a physical powerhouse some classes and cultivation tactics incorporate magic and martial arts, warriors often specialize in a single weapon

magician- often used as rearguard fighters magicians often serve as a glass cannon while individually powerful the magician suffers in one on one confrontation while not defenseless the magician is specialized in lay waste to swaths of weaker combatants and obliterating stronger ones from a distance.

rouge- the bastard's discipline while a rouge is not as imposing as a warrior, nor do they wield the potent spells of a mage the rouge is a path of guile and subterfuge they often wield magic tools in place of spells and powerful focused attacks on their target often killing in one hit, and retreating if that fails.

"rouge" after all medical personnel would be a strategic resource and the person I need to kill is obviously influential enough to annihilate a village without anyone batting an eye.

"can I see the sub classes" looking through the sub classes I had a wealth of options after consulting the system and the knowledge primers I was able to pin down one subclass the blood rouge, this class specialized in a minor branch of hemomancy its a support class with an enchanting and an extraction ability for blood runes. blood rouges can brew potions and baptize objects with bloodline abilities to create an incredibly unpredictable combatant unless you know their hunting roster this allows them access to all of the magic that any beast possesses there is one downside though a blood rouge must kill the beast and do so personally in the wild beasts in captivity often have their innate abilities crippled, and the class is so unorthodox that most people shun it and there is no service for captive beasts with unsuppressed abilities. in fact it wouldn't be wrong to say that the class has fallen out of favor due to its high risk, moderate return, and difficulty of cultivation due to the often distances between complementary species as complementary species often compete to dominate a certain role in any given ecosystem. the spoilage of blood potions is also a common problem thankfully the system has been given an inventory with a time frozen space so that issue is avoided.

"do you have nothing for guns"

the system does not have a firearm focused class

"can you make one, plenty of military and fictional martial arts have gun play in them and according to the power level of this world nobody can dodge bullets easily and even then magic can be used to increase the bullets velocity"

please wait the system is analyzing viability and has determined the following

weapons can be fabricated using the system

certain common ecology makes hot weapons theoretically possible

system can generate smokeless powder with essence

system has determined guns to be possible viable magic weapons

enough data exists in previous world films and martial arts

certain weapon and movement techniques can be incorporated from this world

the system determines that this class has an 87.528% chance of being accepted by world laws

the system can create entry level mastery for gun martial arts

seeking approval

ding!

Approval gained

generating class

ding! a new class "Acrobatic gunslinger" has been created

Acrobatic gunslinger (growth type, incomplete)

A class created with guns in mind using the mobile firepower, recoil, speed of attack, and the nature of bullets this class incorporates martial arts acrobatics, and enchantment to create a fighter that focuses on mobility and attack at close to mid range.

ding after subclass creation and assignment was completed the system has assigned the following skills and talents

Body Control

Grade: D

Category: Misc

Effect: gives complete control of the bodies muscle fibers affording incredible flexibility and making clumsiness an impossibility

Note: a must have skill for warriors and rouges alike control yourself well and you will command victory in every confrontation

Rouges Arsenal

Grade: B+

Category: Discipline

Effect: gain an entry level mastery of stealth , trapping , demolitions , poisons , and all other manner of skulduggery

Note: Subterfuge, Guile, stealth , poisons And Traps are the five tenants of the rouges discipline, the bread and butter of all rouges understanding the fundamentals of these are a necessity for any aspiring rouge. You are able to identify most common poisons, gain a basic knowledge of traps and demolitions, are able to use a wide range of infiltration techniques

Camouflage

Grade: D-

Category: technique

Effect: allows the individual to meld into the environment rendering them indistinguishable from their surrounding (does not work in motion)

Note: A well trained rouge can put chameleons to shame, knowing proper camouflage technique is an indispensable skill

Sneak

Grade: D

Category: Martial Art

Effect: Muffles footsteps

Note: moving silently and learning light on your feet is an essential skill for any and all aspiring rouges.

Pickpocket

Grade: F+

Category: misc

Effect: Attempt to remove or place something in the pocket of another without their noticing

Note: rouges have the stickiest fingers around, you would do well to learn that.

Knife work

Grade: D+

Category: Mastery

Effect: You can fight effectively with various short blades

Note: Knives, Daggers and bayonets are all the same to me, one stab, one twist, one body

Marksmanship

Grade: C

Category: Mastery

Effect: marginally improves accuracy with firearms at longer ranges, making windage and weather calculations instinctive, also improves familiarity with a wide range of sights and scopes

Note: A master marksman can hit their target a mile away wind, rain and dust are simply inconveniences One Shot , One Kill

Small arms mastery

Grade: E

Category: Mastery

Effect: Improves familiarity with all small arms including but not limited to rifles , handguns , sub-machine guns, light machine guns, carbines, shotguns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles

Note: being able to use a wide array of weapons is a vital skill for soldiers and mercenary alike

Basic Gun Kata

Grade: B

Category: Martial Art

Effect: smaller guns pose no hindrance in melee combat serving as effective weapons and allow the practitioner to dominate in short to mid range combat

Note: an unorthodox gun based martial art and movement skill incorporating , parkour , kicking techniques , open hand techniques, as well as other fictional and real life techniques focusing mainly on mobile shooting and dodging this is sometimes referred to as Gun Fu.

instinctive Gun-fighting

Grade: C

Category: martial art

Effect: massively improves accuracy during hip fire or while not aiming

Note: instinctive gun fighting is the foundation of the gun kata using firearms as an extension of the body

Blood Dart

Grade: E

Category: Spell

Effect: Fire a dart made of solidified blood, has high penetration and can inflict tequila depending on the toxicity and type of blood used

Description:

Mystic blood

Grade: A+

Category: Class Trait

Effect: Enables the user to acquire bloodline traits, abilities or effects , please note that this will increase the bodies toxicity until it reaches an upper limit. (this will have no negative effect on the individual unless the limit is reached)

Note: the foundational trait of the blood rouge is the use of potions to emulate bloodline abilities allowing the use magics contained in the bloodline during circulation of warrior power without consequence

Hemomancy Imprint

Grade: B+

Category: Class Trait

Effect: Gain control of blood flow and oxygen content of the body allowing for retroactively enhanced endurance

Note: blood rouges have a near complete control of the blood in their bodies allowing them to regulate internal and external bleeding, flush some poisons, and regulate the body's musculature heart, and brain to an astonishing degree. speeding up the healing process and even crystallizing the blood to staunch bleeding, controlling the cardiovascular system, and enhancing the cognitive functions of the brain.

Recoil syncro

Grade: F+

Category: misc.

Effect: disperse impacts across the body turning impacts under a certain degree allowing the redirection of even the smallest forces into attacks or movement

Note: by increasing the body's sensitivity to impacts gun recoil and blows from an enemy can be redirected reducing damage and transferring impact force away from the body

Blood assimilation

Grade: F+

Category: misc

Effect: replace lost blood using the blood of any living organism as an emergency transfusion

Note: Hemomancy is the art of blood control, blood rouges have long used this to their advantages this unorthodox application allow a blood rouge to temporarily assimilate the blood of almost any living creature to make up for blood loss without compromising their bloodline until the blood is replenished naturally.

Blood flesh conversion

Grade: C

Category: misc.

Effect: restore some lost tissue using your own blood repairing vital organs the blood of others can not be used for this

Note: used in combination with blood assimilation, and the hemomancy imprint blood rouges can survive fatal wounds by regenerating the lost tissue with their blood and sustaining circulation using the blood of beasts or kin. This process is very draining.

Blood rune extraction

Grade: D

Category: misc

Effect: extract the unique runes form the blood of beasts for use in enchanting and spell models

Note: made by blood and undone by it, magic is in my blood, and in yours too

Remote Activation

Grade: F

Category: misc.

Effect: You are able to activate magical equipment from a distance after imprinting it with your blood

Note: look ma, no hands

the system has also discovered a skill that has been produced as a result of host circumstance

"show me"

with that a panel appeared in front of me like a status screen on it read as follows:

Minor Order Lesser mystic eyes of death perception (upgradable)

Grade: D

Category: misc.

Effect: become able to determine the weak point in artificial or nonliving structures this does not affect

most magical structures

description: having experienced the rift between life and death and interacted with a spirit bent on destruction you are able to see the points and lines that separate death from life. as many things are born into the world so do they leave.

After looking through all of the information and coming to terms with my current circumstances I knew two things and number one was that I'm not in Kansas anymore, and number two was that clicking my heels three times won't do a damn thing.