James looked at the translucent screen before him and down at the strikingly similar ‘body’ he’d found himself inhabiting for the last few months. A small smile graced his lips at the thought of this being the final day he would need to bear such a cursed existence, but it quickly grew conflicted once the price tag of his next two purchases reflected in his eyes.

———————————————————————

Physique: Human - Archeohomina Variant 

•A physical body based off the original progenitors of the human race within the Halo reality. Evolved over the course of over a million years, they were on average larger, stronger, and significantly more intelligent than their current counterparts. In modern times they are simply known as the ‘Ancestors’ and have long faded into history after being devolved by the Forerunners over 100,000 years ago. 

Cost: 21.27% FP

————————————

Physique: Elder Blood 

•Also known as Hen Ichaer, Elder Blood is considered the strongest magical bloodline throughout the Witcher reality. Granting the bearer with control over Time and Space, to a degree unobtainable by even the greatest of Elven Sages, this legendary power has always been known to be both unpredictable, and extremely dangerous. 

Cost: 67.48% (77.48%) FP

———————————————————————

For not the tenth time today, he wondered if using his new Voucher would be worth it. Just two Physiques were all it took to flush nearly the entirety of his FP down the drain. 

That wasn’t even counting the increase in price every subsequent purchase within this Tab entailed. James had already noticed it upon the first time he’d experimentally placed something in his cart and had thus been compensating for it ever since. It wasn’t much of an issue now, but he knew that in the future, prices would continue to increase. He just hoped it wasn’t exponential in nature and remained within consistent 10% intervals, otherwise he would need to seriously consider any and all future purchases. 

Shaking away those thoughts with a force of will, he clamped down on the impulsive desire to use the Voucher and clicked the {Purchase} icon at the bottom right of the screen. 

The two selections vanished from his menu, leaving both the Halo and Witcher shops greyed out in their wake. James knew where to locate his latest purchases, but he held off for a moment in order to look over the store’s inventory once more. 

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t find anything from those two franchises in a general search anymore. Unless he searched for them specifically, they no longer showed up in the [Shop] at all. That wasn’t much of an issue to be honest, more of a convenience if anything, so he backed out of the Tab and reentered [Body] once more. 

He found his recent purchases off to the side of the standard menu, highlighted green and with an asterisk before them indicating their recent addition to the screen. Curious, James clicked on the new body he’d just bought and it traced after his finger in a familiar drag-and-drop manner. 

Following his intuition, he pulled the item over on top of the rotating representation of his current form before letting it go. It immediately snapped into place and James’ eyes widened as a similar body to the one he’d lost long ago, now floated on the screen.

————————————

[James Kingston]

[Tier: 9-A]

———

[Physique: Archeohomina]

[Abilities: N/A]

[Domains: N/A]

———

{Confirm}

————————————

His new form was so similar to what he once possessed, yet at the same time so much more. 

For one, his height had increased to a staggering 7’5, streamlined with a perfect musculature that no man could ever hope to achieve, let alone maintain, back on his home planet. He was also far more handsome than he could ever remember being, what with his teeth now perfectly straight and the minor defects all across his frame taken care of. Even his formerly flat feet which had always ached on longer days, had been corrected to better serve his new body. 

James poked the image with interest and was happily surprised to find it expand to a life-sized, holographic display before him. To a small relief, it also came along with a limited customization menu which he immediately dove into. While he would’ve been more than satisfied with a body like that, he’d rather not loom over the heads of everyone he met in the future. 

He spent a minute to tone down his proportions to a more acceptable level, bringing his height back to his former 6’2 and adjusting the head of pitch-black hair back to his favored sandy brown. He didn’t see much of a need to do anything else, as he was already quite satisfied with his natural looks and anything more would just feel vane. 

He didn’t yet select {Confirm} however, as he had one more item to add to his build. 

————————————————————

[James Kingston]

[Tier: 8-B]

———

[Physique: Archeohomina, Elder Blood]

[Abilities: N/A]

[Domains: N/A]

———

{Confirm}

————————————————————

It still confused him why and how things were divided into Physiques and Abilities, but after exploring the shop all day, he had long discerned that it didn’t really matter that much in the end. In fact, some, such as the Pokémon world’s Aura, were found in both, with the exact same description no less. So James felt even less inclined to even focus on the distinction in the first place.

No, what really mattered was the submenu that popped up after the second power had been added. 

———————————————

Body: Archeohomina

Mind: Elder Blood

Soul: N/A

———————————————

‘This is some bloody cultivation-type shit, isn’t it?’ James thought with a groan.

The new classification system appeared parallel to the rotating image of his body, which was now slightly leaner and possessed unnaturally teal eyes that matched with the magic utilized by Ciri in the games. 

‘If I follow the stereotype, this must mean that I have to find a ‘balance’ with the three or else I risk losing myself or something like that,’ he sighed. ‘Fuck, there goes my plans again.’

Seeing nothing else to experiment with and quite satisfied with his current looks, James took a one last glance around at his island through his present form’s eyes before finally selecting {Confirm}. Soon after, the menu faded and an alert appeared on the screen, causing him to roll his eyes at yet anotherinterruption. 

He had to stop getting all emotional every time he thinks he’s about to get his new body, it was really starting to drain on him…

———————————————————————

Notice: {Elder Blood} has been found to be connected to an external source. Would you like to either connect to this source, or internalize the power and have it work through you alone?

Warning: This choice is final and can never be reversed once the system has begun integration. 

Warning: Internalizing Powers with external influences can result in a greatly weakened product, however they will still function the same way regardless. Only circumstances caused by external interference will be removed. 

Please make a decision before the system can begin integration: 

{Internal}/{External}

———————————————————————

‘That is… interesting,’ James mused. After reading through the notice, he didn’t even need to think twice about his answer. 

He’d read enough fiction to know that internal powers always out-trumped external based ones. Just look at The Flash, drop him in a universe without the Speed Force and he’s got nothing, whereas Superman can go anywhere and keep his powers. While James was pretty sure that the system could insure he always retained his connection, it wasn’t worth the risk. 

There was also the fact that James didn’t want to be influenced by anything, at all. If he found himself buying something like The Force in the future, he wouldn’t be able to tolerate it dictating his actions in any way. Who cares if it starts out weaker, he could always supplement his powers with others later. 

With no hesitation, he instantly selected {Internal} and the screen faded away. 

He didn’t get his hopes up this time yet, unlike he thought would happen, the system shut down. After a few seconds of confused waiting, a final alert appeared, followed by a countdown timer.

———————————————————————

Warning: User will be forced into an unconscious state while the system goes about [Body] integration. It is highly recommended to find safe shelter for the duration.

——————

Time Until Integration: 29

———————————————————————

“Shit!” James cursed as he started booking it back to his house. While there were obviously no threats on the island, he didn’t know how long this could take and would much rather wake up in his bed than start his new ‘life’ sore from sleeping on the ground. 

There was also the fact that Queen wanted to see if she could analyze the integration process, which he’d completely forgot about when he selected {Confirm} in the first place. She’d no doubt be pissy all week if he left her out of this and the man had no desire to put up with that either. 

It wasn’t until the timer counted down to 5 that he reached his bed, his spiritual body not being ideal for opening doors and the like, and he let out a sigh of relief upon flopping atop its cushioned surface. 

“Queen, it’s about to happen,” he spoke out to the room as his vision began to fade. Sounds which were no doubt her reply drifted through his ears, but his senses were too far gone to discern their meaning. 

As he watched the timer count down through blurry eyes, his entire being was filled with an eager anticipation like no other. He clenched his fists as feeling began to swiftly slip away and only just barely managed to stretch out a small smile as they left him completely. 

His last thoughts were, surprisingly, of his accident, the very same one that had once robbed him of his body. He could still picture the events vividly and they flashed before his eyes in such a way that he briefly wondered if he was dying once again. 

Unable to remove the images from his mind, James chose to smother them instead with memories of his second life. Visions of his AI’s, of Queen, of the people he’d watched playing his games, of the first time he’d read that initial letter and abandoned the possibility of simply fading away into a peaceful afterlife, rushed in to the forefront of his mind and violently forced out the depressing events. 

This was just the start of his new journey and it was time to let go of the past.