Chương 4: Contemplation
November 12th 2018, 17:50, Hong Kong
"Ugh…" After sleeping like a log for god knows how long, Li Qiu woke up feeling refreshed and full of vigor when he was assaulted by an intense stench.
"Ugh...where did this unbearable stench come from, I remember locking even the vents and.... holy shiet that was from me?"
Stupefied for a few seconds, Li Qiu realized that what he perceived now was the legendary 'internal cleansing' that he had read up in stories during his schooling years.
Li Qiu hurried over to the attached bathroom and sighed in relief, thankfully, for there was still running water in the tap. Even though the water was cold, he didn't mind it much as he washed himself comfortably.
Wrapped up in a turkey towel around his hip, Li Qiu decided to first recollect his bearings before going around in order to search for a set of clothes.
Li Qiu sat on a nearby chair and started pondering about everything that had happened until now.
"All those strange anomalies started to occur when that mysterious golden dust scattered around everywhere after the conch sounds sounded off, and then when my emotions changed I was engulfed by those flames which burned that parasitic thingy which went by Andro...."
<Ding!>
"W-what the, impossible, h-how, I burned that". Li Qiu panicked due to the sudden unexpected sound that echoed within his head, lost his balance and fell onto the cold hard floor.
<Please use commands: open web>
"T-this...." Though Li Qiu felt a bit of panic and confusion, but when he noticed the difference in tone and mode of speech he gradually calmed down and instinctively felt that there was no harm to do as he was instructed.
"Open web"
<Ding!>
<Welcome to the World Wide Web>
<Please select the category you wish to browse>
<Personal>
<Global happenings>
<Information trade centre>
<Maps and territories>
<Power balance/clans/familia>
First things first, Li Qiu willed for the option <global happenings>.
The option displayed plenty of headlines ranging from destroyed buildings to mutated environments.
Li Qiu felt confused as to how such varied information existed here since this was different from the internet humanity had used and got accustomed to on a daily basis. He scrolled through a few but felt his mood turn sour from all those images pertaining to death and destruction.
Li Qiu then decided to look at <information trade centre> to find out what it offered.
The page opened with a highlighted context which Li Qiu read attentively.
The content could be summarized into:
1. The golden dust that mysteriously emerged everywhere in the shape of a housefly's wings was called 'Ari'. They were formed when a divine being or higher levelled life form died.
2. Ari, as they were called, are generally attracted to any containers (can range from any living thing to any non-living thing) that can accommodate it.
3. Once an Ari successfully fuses with a container they give an innate ability according to the traits of its container.
4. After an Ari fuses with a container, it becomes an Aria core which can take any shape, size and can be located anywhere in the container.
5. A container's Aria core can advance further after absorbing a certain number of Aria cores.
Li Qiu's confusion abated a little after reading the short highlighted context. He further scrolled down over to other info only to find that there was a messy stretch of messages from survivors screaming for help, venting their frustration, praying to God, searching for their friends or family members.
On noticing that there was no point in looking further since there weren't any option to filter messages, up vote or even comment, the regular features of the internet were unavailable.
Messages were constantly being updated by the time of posting and seeing the already existing messages which were already over a million and still steadily on a rise, Li Qiu found it futile to try to contact his family by this method.
After Li Qiu finally closed down this page, even though he was eager to view his personal page but he remained patient and selected <power balance/clans/familia> which ended up being empty.
After that, he selected <maps and territories> which showed him a world map (this was just his guess) which was completely black filled with scattered spots of different colours.
<Ding! Use command: my location>
"My location"
The moment these words were uttered mentally by Li Qiu, a certain coloured spot zoomed in rapidly showing his location at the centre as a blue dot.
The strangest thing was that the only part of the map around him that was not black was the path he took from the park until the supermarket after the emergence of the Ari. The coloured path approximately measured 10 metres in breadth.
He could somewhat guess it after a small experimentation session where he walked to and fro for short distances, just to get a vague idea of the scale that was depicted on the map.
Li Qiu noticed two other coloured paths in the supermarket area and was bit overjoyed, since it meant that there were two survivors around him. He decided to meet them after he was done sorting himself. Li Qiu felt a bit of anxiety when he selected <personal>
There were 5 options which appeared:
<Status>
<Innate abilities>
<Skills>
<Race>
<Familia>
His status consisted of a picture of him naked and a display of his attributes or which gamers commonly called as stats.
<Might: 17/84 (World average: 10)>
<Toughness: 22/61 (World average: 10)>
<Agility: 12/18 (World average: 10)>
<Reaction: 6/8 (World average: 10)>
<Aria quality: 1 --> Awakened>
<Aria quantity: 38/38 (World average: 10>
<Note: stats for calculation are only taken after the Ari phenomenon>
Li Qiu was first shocked, then excited about the prospect of his potential might and toughness that was significantly higher than the average human but despaired about his below average reaction.
"Overall, I do have a bit of a head start in terms of Aria quantity and I have to find ways to bring out my full potential first and then find ways to increase my reaction attribute".
Li Qiu then proceeded towards the <innate abilities> option which literally made him giddy with joy.
Li Qiu began hopping around the room like a kid who just got an extra candy and due to a momentary carelessness hit his toes on a stool and then began rolling around on the ground due to the pain "Owie...it hurts".
The reason for such ridiculous stunts and giddiness was because Li Qiu had 3 innate abilities.
<Essence flame>
<Essence sense>
<Materialization>
Once again, after Li Qiu stopped rolling on the ground he sat up cross-legged and began examining the details of his abilities.
<Essence flame>
<There are many substances in the universe which are derived from some type of essence which generally exists in the form of a flame>
<Essence flame owned>
<Soul flame>
<Spirit flame>
<Essence sense>
<Discover the path, source, and movement of all essences>
<Materialization>
<Materialize Aria into different shapes and sizes>
While looking at the list of his innate abilities, Li Qiu couldn't help but whistle.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Overlord_Venus
Overlord_Venus Sorry for the small chapter, the subsequent ones are relatively longer :)
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