Astral Hoarder: Embrace of Malevolence

Zimo reached out, his fingers passing through the panel. Holy shit... Holy shit what was this?

Zimo held his hand to his mouth, feeling something that felt like cream at the side of it. But he couldn't care less about all that stuff. All he cared about was taking on the task he was doing and ensuring that he took the time to go where he needed to go. 

So it was holographic? But how was it that he could not touch it? It seemed so real, so definite in the air. But then in the next moment, as Zimo tried again, reaching his hand out to touch it, he felt something when his hand was hit with the panel. It felt solid, and and warm, like a piece of machinery humming with energy.

Holy shit... why was it solid now? Was it because of him? Because of his expectation and wish to touch it? ZImo thought a bit more, and he finally managed to control whether his hand could go through or not. It was based on his intention. How incredible. 

Looking at the set of words again, Zimo thought about the situation, about how incomprehensible it was, and then he shook his head. Why was it talking about the Beasts? Was it referring to the humans? Or the evolved animals? Was every animal out there one of those Beasts if that was the case? 

Tame Yourself, Tame the World, Tame the Universe? It sounded like some weird manosphere phrase that was meant to be said to every man who wanted to be a real man.

Zimos Mind had a million questions, none of which he could answer, at least not yet. Not until he accessed the System. Thinking this far, and now understanding that it was all about his intentions, Zimo got started.

Well, let's go for it. With his hand, he decided to click on the button that was telling him to [Access] the System. In the next moment, Zimo's eyes went wide.

Yep. It was all real now. He had finally gone crazy.

|————————————

|| Universal Tamer System || Stats | Skills | Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————.

Welcome to the Universal Tamer System!

This guide will give you a basic overview of the different pages you'll encounter within the system.

1. System Page: This is where you'll find important announcements and updates.

2. Stats: Check out your Stats here.

3. Skills: This page lists the skills you've acquired.

4. Beasts: See all the beasts you've tamed, along with their information and abilities.

5. Missions: Keep track of your active and completed missions.

6. Store: Browse and purchase a variety of items. The store's offerings will expand as you progress.

Remember: Tame Yourself. Tame the World. Tame the Universe.

Good Luck on your journey!

————————————|

So it was called the Universal Tamer System… Interesting. Tame the World... Yeah yeah... he got it now. 

Reading through the stuff, Zimo couldn't help but narrow his eyes. That was a lot of sections. So there were six pages, which was interesting enough, but funnily enough yet again, he had access to all of them.

Well, why think about it too much? ZImo moved on to the next page, this time mentally clicking on it with his mind. And when he did, he finally saw things moving to the next page the way they were meant to.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System || Stats || Skills | Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

Name: Zimo Banks

BC (Beast Coins): 0

Level: 0

States: {Hint: States for a peak human are at 100s for every category}

—————>

Health, Well-Being, Satiety: 67% ++

Energy, Stamina, Vitality: 63% ++

Mentality, Decision-Making, Focus: 22% --

Mana, Casting, Magical Power: 100%

<—————

Physical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 10s for every category}

—————>

Dexterity (Agility, Flexibility) → 13

Strength (Speed, Power) → 9

Constitution (Endurance, Health) → 7

Intelligence (Memory, Reasoning) → 15

Charisma (Charm, Persuasion) → 13

Wisdom (Intuition, Adaptability) → 18

Spirit (Mental State, Character) → 19

<—————

Magical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 0s for every category}

—————>

Mana (Magical Energy Pool) → 0 (3 * 0)

Arcane Knowledge (Magical Ability) → Rank 2F

Mystic Control (Magical Energy Control and Talent) →Rank 2S

Elemental Affinity (Connection to Elements) → Darkness(S Rank), Fire(B Rank)

<—————

————————————|

Zimo stared at the words, his mind racing. Was he losing it? Had the stress finally broken him? Or was this real... really? Some kind of system guiding him through the madness? Zimo stood there, dumbfounded. He looked around the room, half-expecting someone to jump out and yell, "Gotcha!" But there was only silence. 

Okay... This must be real. Zimo sighed. Well, now was no time to doubt anymore. Now it was time to analyse and lock in.

He saw his name, and Beast Coins, which seemed to be the currency of the system. Interesting. He also realised that he had a thing called a level... If he had a level there might be a thing called a level up, right? If that was the case, then he might be able to see something good come from this.

Jason turned to his States, realising that they were fractions... so they were based on his other stats. His health and energy were pretty low, but they were going up and it made sense. He had just eaten something. It was just that his Mentality was going down and it was already extremely low at that moment. He needed to sleep and if he slept he would see exactly what was going to happen.

Zimo looked at the Physical Stats and he understood that it might be real. He was pretty quick on his feet, pretty smart, and his mental state was pretty high based on his resilience and wisdom having experienced everything he did and built himself up from the ground up. 

But with the Magical Stats… The situation was different. What the heck was that? Mana? Arcane Knowledge? Mystic Knowledge? Seriously?

Where was the actual explanation for any of this?

And why was his Mana 0? Was it because his level was 0?

How was it possible for his Mystic Control to be so high even though his Mana is so low?

And why was his elemental affinity at Darkness?! He thought he was a creature of the light! The fire was funny too. After all, ZImo rarely got angry. He was very tolerant and his main operating principle was "If it's useless throw it away." Since anger was mostly useful as a signifier of the need for change, he normally threw it away, resorting instead to making some time to move in the way he needed to move without the use of anger in his life. 

Well, seeing all this incredulous stuff, he shook his head. It was pretty amazing that all of this was happening. But at the same time, it was also pretty funny that all of it was pretty good. Zimo would never allow himself to let that happen to him and he would ensure that he would get it all working for him at all times.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System | Stats || Skills || Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

{Hint: Only Magical Skills will be listed here. We don't care about your mundane ability to balance on your hands like some ape.}

Taming Skills: {2 Skills}

—————>

>> [Tame (F Rank)]

>> [Beast Eye (F Rank)]

<—————

Magical Skills: {No Skills}

Combat Skills: {No Skills}

Support Skills:{No Skills}

————————————|

Interesting, but still kind of… meh. As far as he was concerned, F Rank was the lowest Rank was it not? At least that was according to his knowledge of the things in the realm of RPG. Did that not make him extremely weak? Jason realised that he could click on the skills and when he did that he soon realised something impressive. He could see the descriptions. 

|————————————

| Skill: Tame (F Rank) |

—————

Description: Tame a Beast according to some Conditions. Can be Upgraded based on some conditions.

Skill Activation Conditions:

—> Elemental Affinity must be similar in type and level

—> Mystic Control must be high enough to counter natural resistance

Upgrade Conditions: 

—> ??

Mana Cost: 2 Mana (Costs more based on the Strength and Level of the Beast in comparison to your own)

————————————|

|————————————

| Skill: Beast Eye (F Rank) |

—————

Description: See the Stats and Skills of a Beast Based on Some Conditions. Can be Upgraded based on some conditions.

Skill Activation Conditions:

—> Beast's Level must be higher than 5 levels above the Caster

—> Mystic Control must be high enough to counter natural resistance

Upgrade Conditions: 

—> ??

Mana Cost: 1 Mana (Costs more based on the Strength and Level of the Beast in comparison to your own)

————————————|

Zimo sighed as he looked at the two pages that appeared, floating in the air like two holographic screens. These both seemed useful. One to Tame Beasts, another to see just whether or not he should tame a Beast.

What interested him the most was the upgrade conditions. So Skills could be upgraded... It was a shame he didn't know how to do that. At least not yet. This was something he would have to discover in the future. 

Thinking about things a bit more, Zimo remembered something and turned his attention to the Barista... Could it be she was a Beast? Could he possibly check...

Nah. His Mana was 0 right now. What Mana would he be using to check?

Zimo shook his head, his eyes going out of focus as he dozed off only to bring himself back as quickly as possible. Damn it. The full stomach was dragging all his blood from his brain to his stomach. He couldn't afford to sleep before he finished this exploration though. 

He would see how these Skills worked later after levelling up. He turned his eyes to the next page which was the Beasts page.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System | Stats | Skills || Beasts || Missions | Store | 

—————

{Hint: Tread carefully, for these ethereal beings, hold the key to both your salvation and your demise. Nurture their essence, for their fate, is intertwined with your own.}

1. —

————————————|

Well, it made sense to him. He didn't even have a Beast. But reading the message a few times, Zimo frowned. What did it mean for his Beasts to hold the keys to his salvation and his demise? Zimo shook his head, shaking off the daze he found himself coming into every few seconds. He was so tired.

Looking at the Missions Page, Zimo was met with a surprise that he could not believe.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System | Stats | Skills | Beasts || Missions || Store | 

—————

{Hint: Missions have certain difficulties, and the more difficult they are, the more rewards you will get. The rewards are in terms of BC.}

1. [Kill your First Deadspawn by Yourself] (Completed!!)

2. [Tame your First Beast]

3. [Enter Your First Tamer's Test]

4. [Kill an Enemy Beast]

————————————|

When Zimo saw that one of the missions was completed, he smirked. So those Zombies were Deadspawn... well he knew it now. Even without using Skills, one would get the results they deserved for sure. He was looking forward to seeing the results of the mission. 

Zimo clicked into it, only to see something interesting.

|————————————

| Mission: Kill Your First Deadspawn |

—————

Description: Kill a Deadspawn all by yourself. Make sure to not let it touch you with the black fluid that left it. Or you will turn into one of them. 

Rewards:

—> Level +1

—> 100BC

Congratulations, the Mission has been completed! [Claim your Reward]!

————————————|

Interesting. But... he couldn't help but wonder why he didn't level up for Beating the Deadspawns, having already killed two of them. Or maybe this kind of system was not the kind that treated everything around him as a Mob like those computer games do. So he could only resort to getting Missions? Or maybe it was the Beasts? He had to grow in concert with them...

Like this Zimo came to understand how this system might work. He would tame Beasts, use those Beasts to level up himself when they beat other creatures, and then use his newfound abilities and strength to go and tame more Beasts, right?

Zimo couldn't help but wonder what a level-up felt like. He was a bit afraid actually. Zimo shook his head. Why was he thinking too much? Just move Zimo! Without thinking too much more, he did exactly that, going ahead and [Claiming the Reward]! And as soon as he did that, he saw the video turn back to the main System page where he saw the Announcement.

|————————————

|| Universal Tamer System || Stats | Skills | Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

Congratulations! You have completed your mission: [Kill Your First Deadspawn] You have received the following:

—> Level +1 → 1

—> BC + 100BC → 100BC

Congratulations! You have Levelled up! You have received the following:

—> BC + (1) * 10BC → 110BC

————————————|

So he got BC just for levelling up too... Interesting. And it seemed to be a multiple of the level he gained. Zimo immediately checked his Stats, looking to see the results and he found himself smiling.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System || Stats || Skills | Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

Name: Zimo Banks

BC (Beast Coins): 110BC

Level: 1

States: {Hint: States for a peak human are at 100s for every category}

—————>

Health, Well-Being and Satiety: 68% ++

Energy, Stamina and Vitality: 66% ++

Mentality, Decision-Making and Focus: 20% --

Mana, Casting and Magical Power: 100%

<—————

Physical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 10s for every category}

—————>

Dexterity (Agility, Flexibility) → 13 (+1)→ 14

Strength (Speed, Power) → 9 (+1)→ 10

Constitution (Endurance, Health) → 7 (+1)→ 8

Intelligence (Memory, Reasoning) → 15 (+1)→ 16

Charisma (Charm, Persuasion) → 13 (+1)→ 14

Wisdom (Intuition, Adaptability) → 18 (+1)→ 19

Spirit (Mental State, Character) → 19 (+1)→ 20

<—————

Magical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 0s for every category}

—————>

Mana (Magical Energy Pool) → 3 (3 * 1)

Arcane Knowledge (Magical Talent and Ability) → Rank 2F

Mystic Control (Magical Energy Control) →Rank 2A

Elemental Affinity (Connection to Elements) → Darkness(S Rank), Fire(B Rank)

<—————

————————————|

Zimo smirked when he saw these values. So when he levelled up, he got one point? Was that true for every level or only the first? Zimo felt his thought slow down as he sat there, and yawning, he figured he must be way too tired. Looking at that Mentality State, Zimo shook his head. It kept going down. This System was too good. 

And then when he saw the Mana, he couldn't help but realise something. Before, his Skill would have never worked because he had no mana. But no he did... So should he try it?

Nah. Just continue reading. Finish your reading. Something told him that this was way more important than anything else. Moving on to the final page, Zimo Saw the Store and he smirked.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System | Stats | Skills | Beasts | Missions || Store || 

—————

{This is the Store, and it will be the place where you get the things you want. You can get everything from here. You use the BC to buy items from here.}

BC (Beast Coins): 110BC

Market

—————>

1. [Potions]

2. [Tools and Items]

3. [Food, Supplies, and Amenities]

4. [Beast Eggs]

<—————

>> [Item Storage] {Hint, this is where your items will go after you buy them. Once you Export an Item, you cannot put it back, so make sure you are ready to do that kind of thing.}

————————————|

Well, that was a lot... Zimo yawned again. He opened up the Potions Page and found himself looking at way too many potions. And then as he read it he found himself falling asleep, his eyes getting way too tired to continue doing everything it was doing. 

Before he could stop himself, he slept right where he was, on that seat, in that store that felt just a little bit safe.

Just a little bit… but in this world… a little bit was not enough.

Little did he know that while he was asleep… The world was turning and everything was going sideways.