[John, Pioneer: Research Diary] 

year 0 day 0 of Origin

After escaping the forest that I appeared in a few hours after noon, the plain I reached was already being camped in by various Pioneers that came with me.

(Pioneer seems to be the System’s term for those with Blessings as the first generation, we will see if the term sticks in the long term)

Some crafting-aligned Blessings are quite an advantage in this beginning phase. 

A fire mage (aided by his Blessing or not is unknown) managed to burn through quite a few wolves as they attacked the camp, giving this group enough food for a few days. This estimation doesn’t take into account the fact that there are still people coming out of the woods and the plains even now.

It seems the majority of Wildlife has a longing for the energy we emit, the wiser ones stay within the forest watching their brainless colleagues blow themselves up against overzealous combatants.

The sight of a giant of a man tearing a wolf into two wasn’t a sight I thought I would see in my lifetime, yet here we are. Then again my lifetime did end at some point but I know I must change this perception of myself.

I am alive and still myself.

This small line was underlined several times in the diary as if to emphasize its importance.

…

Some physical Blessings did change some Pioneer’s appearances from very slight to massive modifications.

According to the gigantic wolf-tearer, his original size was one of a 1m65 young skinny man, which is hard to believe as he laughs loudly from his 2m50… at least.

He merely mentioned that his Blessing is a physical one but not its name or effect. Considering that in this first uncertain phase of social interaction, nobody knows how well this group will keep itself together, keeping a trump card close to their chest is a good move. I nicknamed this person of interest as [Hercules] after the Greek hero due to his physical similarities.

Blessings can but do not always affect the physique of individuals. The new depth to my eyes is also a physical mutation, as minor as it is. 

After a few physically changed Pioneers accepted a few questions from me, I deduced the following: 

It seems that these changes occur when the Blessing has a big effect on the individual. A massive change is needed for it to start affecting the appearance of Pioneers. This happens in two cases. 

If the Blessing supplements something the Pioneer was really bad at or if the Blessing’s ability is overwhelming, this correlates to its grade.

These changes relate as well to the Internal and External Types of Blessings. It seems that most Blessings are treated by the soul as an Add-on that is implanted in them. The connection is easy enough to use to be treated as instinctual due to how profoundly they were connected by the System but, in the future, a skilled enough Soul Mage could potentially cut the connection temporarily between the Pioneer’s Soul and its External Type Blessing.

On the other hand, Internal Blessings make up a minority of them and change their Host for the Blessing’s ease of use. As such, the protuberance on the Soul created by an External Blessing isn’t there. The Blessing is absorbed by the Soul and changes the Host themselves from inside, melding into them. While it neutralizes this newly discovered weak connection point, this forced change in the cradle of our Origin that is the soul is worrying. If someone manages to discover what makes a Blessing Internal or External and isolates it, they may realize how to create a sort of virus of the Soul to change the target from the inside. I’ll report this as a Bug Report to the System in the hopes that this menace is worrying enough to be patched.

I’m not sure what case Hercules falls in but in mine, I can guess easily enough what my Blessing’s situation is considering the information the System gave us.

The materials that couldn’t be treated yet due to a lack of qualified hunters were absorbed by a Crafter with his Blessing to repurpose the matter for other uses. With around 5 burnt wolves who were missing most of their meat, they managed to create tents and basic supplies for survival, including cooking utensils for a Cook type Blessed.

While at first glance the cooking Blessing seems pretty useless, the man himself seems as happy as he can be cooking. The other Pioneers looked at him with pity at first but his use changed their opinion rather quickly.

While Probatio mentioned that the Blessings are random, I wonder if some affinity with them isn’t required. From what I managed to glean through my discussions, while some were confused with their Blessings, nobody was unsatisfied with what they got. 

Even a person who confided in me that their Blessing was of the lowest grade possible mentioned their happiness to its uses. They apparently can stretch themselves out around ten times their normal length. “My future is bloody limitless lad! Just you wait to see what I can do with that!”

Regardless of what they actually achieve, their enthusiasm makes me root for them. I’ll note to the reader that the System’s grading System isn’t everything.

As a test, I asked for an ax to cut down some trees and had them absorbed. While most things couldn’t be made considering her proficiency in the Gift she obtained, creating paper was a plant-based material close enough to the consumed matter to be made. This allowed me to get this journal to write my thoughts in with charcoal in a vague pencil shape. I’ll try to switch as soon as possible to better writing methods.

After this first day of interaction, around 100 Pioneers of various origins managed to get to this camp. While not all were friendly, this first phase of civilization, if we can call it that, is too important for everyone to be messed with. It seems nobody is confident enough in their gift to try to take the lead by wile or force. Small groups have begun to form depending on the World people came from. I’m writing these words from a circle group around a fire camp with a dozen technological Pioneers. Considering what they’re all talking about, it seems the basics of technology are covered and will be made fast enough. New never seen before branches of science will be developed with time. I can only hope we do not regret our choices.

A night watch was temporarily created to protect us during the night. Elemental manipulation to make basic earthen walls around us as well as braziers to extend our vision were set up. It seems the enthusiasm of arriving hasn't worn off yet on most as there were enough volunteers to create enough defense squads to create a basic defense system.

This allowed a lot of individuals to make use of their Blessings and shine. I went to bed a few hours after dark but I still could observe incredible phenomena. Magic-wise, I observed elemental manipulation as well various summoning circles that were used to make glorified Pokemon battles against the invading Wildlife.

After my visit to the outskirts, was particularly intrigued with those less flashy Blessings such as the one used by the temporary commander of the outpost. He could coordinate individuals from his tent without any information from the outside fields and could even send them to others at a certain distance.

Another one of note is a Blessing of adaptation or perhaps devouring, I managed to catch a Pioneer devouring parts of some slain enemies raw, granting them parts of their strength. There were no physical changes after the first few seconds where their body contorted from the forceful upgrade it went through. Even with my intuition and heightened perception I was almost found out by them. This Pioneer did not see me yet they almost felt me. Considering their Blessing takes strength from Monsterkind roots, I expect them to develop in the same direction as them, with this strange connection to the system they have. After a few queries to [System Blessed], professionals, and glorified Druids (even though we still don't have classes), it seems that this is what almost discovered me. It is Instinct.

AaronJI

Introducing a new world with an amalgam of systems really is lore heavy, isn't it?

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