Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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As the water dripped from his body into the boiling tub, Dale rubbed his eyes as he stabilized his thoughts.

"... I look fine, for the most part." He said as he spat out some water

As soon as he recovered his breath, Dale inspected his body by touching all around.

But aside from some lingering pain and discomfort his body looked and felt completely fine.

He knew the pain was real, but it felt so imaginary...

[Dale, two minutes have passed since I disabled my other sensing systems, am I to proceed with their reactivation? Reply within five seconds else I'll reactivate them automatically]

"Ah... Ah yes, I'm fine, resume." He said as he stepped out of the bathtub

'I always ask the VI to disable its sensors, it's the only way for me to avoid the law of robotics.'

'Doing this would force the VI to choose between calling 911 or watching me squirm to death!'

'Just kidding, they'll listen to their masters even if it leads to their death, though they'll advise them if they calculate any possible danger.'

[Dale… I can't help but notice the broken flooring, what happened?]

"Eh?..."

'I completely forgot about it.'

'The initial jolt of pain was abysmal and I ended up punching the ground in anger.'

'Thankfully it wasn't a strong punch, otherwise, I would've destroyed a few floors at once…'

'I have to be more careful as a SuperHuman… The time to move to a house on my own may be coming.'

'If in the future I have any other significant bodily transformations, then it would be better to have a prepared room for it close to my Pod rather then a bathroom.'

'Otherwise, things like this will keep happening.'

"I… Slipped."

"Tell me where I can buy a replacement as fast as possible so that Mom doesn't find out about it."

[I find that highly debatable but if you wish to repair the floor, there's a construction shop right by the road, I just checked and their official website possesses the fitting materials for the task] The Virtual intelligence replied as a projection of a map and a list of items to buy appeared on the wall above the toilet

"Great, I should be able to fix it on time if I rush…"

"If my parents and brother return, just tell them that I… Compromised the toilet and went downstairs to fix the problem, and make sure to lock the bathroom so they can't enter." Dale said with a heavy expression as he walked closer to the mirror

He looked at himself, no real apparent change could be seen, only a young man with a toned body and black hair that was slightly bigger than before since he hadn't cut it for some time

"No changes… Good."

'Maybe I got a tad taller?'

"Can you check my height? Did I grow any taller?"

[Checking and comparing…]

[Dale, your height remains the same, however, ever since the last check-up, your weight has increased from the recorded 98Kg to 168Kg]

[Your shoulders have also grown broader and your muscles are a tad wider, a result of your physical training]

[Overall, you've put some weight but personally, you don't look bad at all] The Virtual intelligence said in a positive tone

"... Thanks."

'I've grown heavier huh… Must be a small side effect of growing stronger.'

'I used to weigh around 73Kg when I was 18, but as I started to work up and my height increased, that went all the way to 98Kg, a rather absurd weight even if I was very tall and muscular.'

'Even bodybuilders of my height wouldn't weigh this much and my body archetype isn't even near theirs.'

'And now, my weight jumped considerably…'

'Well, not now, this is my current weight, and now with the newest synchronization, I'll enter another growth spurt as my body tries to match what just changed.'

'It's always been like this…'

/GROWLLL!/

Just as he thought of that, his stomach exploded with a loud rumbling.

[Dale, shall I notify your parents to bring extra food?]

"... At least three servings please." He said with a small smile

'My parents already know of my gargantuan appetite, so I might as well ask instead of getting hungry later on.'

[Dale, I would like to apologize]

"Huh? For what?"

[I have just noticed the boiling temperature of the water, it seems I made a mistake, please, refrain from touching it under any circumstances]

[My sensors may need calibration, should I contact a specialist?]

"Ah... There's no need..." Dale said awkwardly

"Just forget this ever happened... Though if it happens again, then we'll discuss it then, but don't worry, I'm not hurt."

[Understood]

"..."

'With that out of the way though… I wonder, how much did I change?'

His eyes went to the corner of his vision, the Green Box awaited his command.

So without hesitation, he pressed on it.

[Initiating]

[Dale Houston (19-year-old)

Body condition: Healthy-6; Tired-4; Sore-8; Hungry-3;

Lineology: Mixed race -> North America, South America, European.

Physical Data

-Body: 208 (303)

-Cognitive: 183 (248)

-Mana: 208 (546)

-Unnamed: 250 (630)

Meaningful Abilities: Spear Technique 5.5-Star; Willpower 5-Star; Maintain Emotions 4-Star; Close quarters Combat 4-Star; Exercise 2.5-Star; Spacial Awareness 2.5-Star; Knife Technique 2.5-Star; Inner Manipulation 2.5-Star; Study 2-Star; Gaming 1.5-Star; Analysis 1.5-Star; Simple Meditation 0.5-Star

]

[Recalculating…]

[Overall comprehensive Analysis: 3.2 out of 10, Almost… Almost somewhat acceptable.

Numbers upon numbers… But nothing's changed, there is still a lot to do if he wishes to be recognized as anything but someone carried by the power of old relics.

The irony of the modern bragging about the good life the old built for it.

Through thick and thin, the body has been pushed to the limits of mortal flesh, and through rebirth, new skin grew underneath the old vessel.

A Great achievement, be proud, but not arrogant.

Through the most recent adventure, he understood the insignificance of his strength and the decadent state he was in, now's the time to make a turnaround.

Cast aside pride and embrace mediocrity, do not fear scorn as through understanding where the lowest stand one may be given the right to look upward.

There couldn't be an easier path to follow, no matter how thorny it may be.

Take the step, and like many before, cross the line.

]

"..."

'There's quite a lot to cover here…' Dale thought as he scanned through the text

'My body value is about what I expected, but there is something I'm confused about.'

'Dexterity, it was the sole one out of my Physical Body Stats that did not possess a Ratio change after Flesh Rebirth, yet it seems it's being put in the same classification as Strength and Constitution.'

'Maybe it isn't being classified as the same but the Green Box takes the biggest value and uses it out of convenience?... Seems wrong.'

'Cognitive and Mana are exactly the same as I expected, but then…'

"A fourth one…" He whispered as he touched the glass

'A new Stat, and it's obvious what it is.'

'This is strange, why did it appear now?'

'I previously received Soul Power, yet it didn't appear no matter how many times I tried to have the Green Box update or recognize its existence.'

'But now, it did with Prime Force?'

'Though it's not like anything changes, I was already able to use my Vitality before, what matters if there is a line in the System window telling me of its value when I'm already aware of it?'

'However, it would be foolish to ignore its presence here, I'll keep this at the back of my head for now, however.' He thought silently as he closed his eyes

'Next would be my Skills, and as expected, they all grew, even other Skills such as Study, Exercise, and Analysis grew, but that was already there before I even started the expedition.'

'The two weeks of studying with the elders did put some pressure on me.'

'Lastly, Knife technique leveled up once more, though I expected that given everything increased.'

'Overall, this was a spec increase.'

"But... This..." He said with a sharp gaze

'I have new Skills.'

'I did expect to gain new Skills as that happened before, and now that Azimuth has been released for about 8 or so days, after everything I did, getting a Skill was expected.'

'Last year, I did all sorts of wacky things to get Skills, but I only got those, I never understood what was the criteria.'

'However, what about the 10 Skills rule? I thought I was limited to only that.'

'Was it only a bad assumption from a coincidence? I had ten Skills in real life and my character also has ten slots, so I kind of assumed...'

"..."

'From their names, they must represent my Prime Force Skill and my Class Skill.'

'Interesting to gain them here... This could be interesting as now I can meditate in both real life and the game, improving the Skill's efficiency.'

"Now that I think about it... I think I forgot to meditate prior to going to sleep..."

'What a waste.'

Once he finished studying his more apparent changes, Dale's attention went into the "Overall Comprehensive Analysis", but just as he gazed upon it, he shook his head.

'It's getting a bit better, or maybe harsher, but one thing's for certain…'

'It's not the same person that's writing these… Or if it is, this person has serious personality problems or they are intensively trying to mess with my head.'

'The way they right are constantly changing in tone and even vocabulary, as if the person writing it decided to explain the next line by using a different method of speech to convey whatever emotions it had at the time.'

'From Irony to Sarcasm to Approval to Scorn and whatever.'

'Right now, the message seemed… Supportive.'

'It's telling me to persevere and continue… Well, I didn't need these words to do what I already had in mind, but it feels fulfilling in a sense.'

'That's about it.'

Dale took one last look at his Status and then at his appearance before he left the bathroom.

"I should get going, there's much to do." He said with a smile as he closed the door behind him

/Clack!/

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Notes

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