[MAIN STORY]
(RECAP)
James Belfork was shot at work in his past and got reincarnated in another world. In this world, magic exists, but how well you can use it is determined by aptitude ranks and can't be changed after one has been given. James got an aptitude rank of F, and because of this, he was slandered and looked down upon by everyone around him. After a great many years of James being treated as useless and no one really making an effort to cheer him up or just treat him like a human, he began to hate those around him and wanted revenge, but didn't have the power to do so, so he just let it be. During this time, Clover transferred to his school and was the only person who genuinely treated him well. At first, he didn't want to interact with her since she was he 'ex-fiancée' (Their parents nullified their engagement after James came to be an F-rank).
Clover treated James well and actually tried to cheer him up and treat him better, doing the most for him. Because of this, James didn't act maliciously, part of which was caused by him being weak, and the other because he at least had Clover.
Years passed, and James finally made some friends and became an adventurer after leaving his family.
James and his friends went on many adventures, and eventually James came to trust them, but that didn't last long.
On one of James' adventures with his friends, they went to some abandoned ruins to explore and earn some money.
At the ruins, James saw Clover tied up and being held by Fae Harlow, one of the people that treated him horribly back when he was still in school, from the days when he had just joined.
When James tried to engage in battle with Fae, his so-called 'friends' drew their swords, but it wasn't to help James save Clover; they drew their swords at James to hold him back.
James was betrayed by he's 'friends' and because of this, Fae slit Clover's throat with the weapon he had been holding, then threw her into some random pit so he could die.
James, seeing this, tried to get her and maybe find a way to save her, but as he was fighting against those he thought of as friends and Fae, he ended up being defeated and thrown deeper into the ruins.
When James came to after some minutes in the ruins, he realised that he needed to get out as quickly as possible, so he started trying to clear it alone. While James was fighting against the monster in the ruins, he got to a point where he's strength alone wasn't enough to win against the monsters in the ruins, and because of this, he was left badly hurt in an old grave that he found himself in.
In the area that the grave was in, as James was slowly dying out, realising that this would be the second time he had died, he heard a voice call out and ask him if he wanted 'power'. James, thinking that he's just hallucinating, since he's about to die, doesn't say anything, but the voice gets louder and louder, till he answers.
James tells the voice that he indeed wants power before passing out in the ruins.
After some time, James wakes up and finds himself In a different area, still alive and with his injuries healed.
(END OF RECAP)
(SCENE)
James wakes up in a secluded part of the ruin and sees an old house in front of him. Before he can start to move towards it, a system screen shows up right in front of James' face.
James Inner Monologue: (Startled) "What's this? A system screen?"
Mysterious entity: "Yeah, it should be something like that."
James Belfork: "Who's the!"
(James goes to reach where his main weapon normally is.)
Mysterious Entity: "Calm yourself, kid, I'm the 'System' you're talking about. Well, I'm not actually that, it's just how I am since your levels are so low for now. My name is Ein.. Ein Felheart by the way."
James Belfork: "What?"
Ein Felheart: "Are you stupid or Something? I literally just told you a bit of what's going on."
James Belfork: "Okay, so what can you do then?"
Ein Felheart: "At the moment, since your a weak, pathetic little b*stard with no strength, there isn't much you can do."
James Belfork: "..."
Ein Felheart: "But because of that, you're the perfect host."
James Belfork: "And you help me get stronger, how?"
Ein Felheart: "You'll see with due time, but for the time being, you need to find a way to get us out of here without dying like you almost did before I saved you."
James Belfork: "You make a good point."
James Inner Monologue: "Maybe if this spirit or system thing can actually help me get stronger, then I can properly get revenge on Fae." He grins menacingly.
(SCENE)
James came to in the ruin, he had been in, and when he woke up, a spirit attached to his soul that took form as a system screen from he's old world.
The spirit promised James power, or at least the ability to get stronger faster, so long as they could get out of the ruins without dying.
Ein (The spirit) gave James a little quest before they left the ruins, though. The quest he had received from Ein wasn't as simple as one would expect.
Ein asked James to get some very rare items that had been in the ruins, where James had nearly died before.
The items in question had been a few old things from a few hundred years back, when he was still a living being.
Ein wanted James to get he's old storage ring, grimoires, and an additional special piece of soul-bound clothing Ein used to own before what happened to him a few hundred years back.
(LIGHT BACK STORY)
Ein was a prominent adventurer back in his day, and was once hailed as a hero and a demon amongst those around him. One day, Ein decided to take up a request from a Noble who asked him to go down into some ruins and defeat a monster.
In the ruins, Ein was met with a trap, one that not even he himself could avoid, and because of this, he ended up getting his soul sealed in the ruin, after being tricked by the noble into going down the.
The noble did this because he simply didn't like how popular Ein was, and at the same time, they destroyed all evidence that Ein even existed.
Ein was trapped in the ruins for hundreds of years, slowly withering away as he's soul was deteriorating without a physical body (he's body was destroyed, but he's old stuff being sold bound didn't disappear).
(FLASH FORWARD TO CURRENT MOMENT)
James is making his way towards the area he was in when Ein saved him.
(SCENE)
James exits the area he was in. (walks out of the crumbled brick door)
James enters a hallway that's filled with a bunch of monsters and other dangerous entities. In the hallway, James defeats a few weak monsters, but he realizes that he's defeating them faster than he was before.
After massacring tens of monsters, James took a small break and asked Ein why he suddenly got stronger tho, he hadn't do anything of any training yet. Ein told James that it was because of the system, and it's increased growth rate.
James didn't ask any more questions and just chalked it up to luck before continuing on he's way to the other area/room of the ruin.
James eventually gets to the room after fighting a few hundred monsters.
When James entered the room, he saw remnants of an old magic circle at the entrance that had been covered in a thick layer of dust.
Ein told James that the magic circle had been the one that was used on him back in the day, but that at the time it was covered using other magic, which could hide the magic circle, but over time the effects of that magic wore off, and the magic circle now revealed itself.
(SCENE)
James is in the ild room Ein had been trapped in for a great many years and is trying to retrieve the old items Ein had that he wanted James to get hold of.
In this room, as James was looking around, he saw an old black and gold-tinted skeleton, hidden behind a fake stone wall.
When James asked Ein about it. Ein said that it was his old corpse, and that the skeleton was made from a special alloy that was indestructible, hence why it's still here. Ein also said that the colour is customizable for some reason.
James, knowing this information, then asked Ein why it's behind a fake stone wall, and Ein told James that it was a spell he cast, so that the people who trapped him wouldn't be able to get hold of the items he had on hand.
James then proceeded to approach Ein's old skeleton, and he saw all the items that Ein wanted him to get.
(SCENE)
James gets closer to the skeleton and starts to take off all the things that Ein told James to take off. After a few moments of fiddling with the skeleton, James gets hold of Ein's old items and puts them on.
The first thing James did was check how the storage ring worked. James saw that the storage ring needed blood to be linked to someone, so he bit his fingertip and let his blood drip onto the ring. After the ring absorbed James' blood, a new window in James' system screen showed up.
The window on the system screen had been 'Inventory' and in it James saw an astronomical amount of stuff, but for some reason he could not access any of it.
When James asked Ein about it, Ein said that he isn't strong enough to access old owners' items yet, and needs to get stronger so he can do so; however, he can still store new things in the storage ring, and up to 20 things, regardless of weight or what size.
After James found this out, he tried to store Eins's old body in the storage ring to test it, and it worked. Ein didn't ask about it and just let it be.
When James finished using the storage ring, he then went on to open one of the grimourses Ein told James to get.
One of the grimourses allowed a person to use otherworldly magic and skills, almost like skills and magic that one would find in an MMORPG from James' original world.
The others had forbidden magic and techniques that would be very useful to James when he got stronger.
After looking over most of the grimures, James then took a proper look at the clothing Ein told him to acquire as well.
The clothing had been made of a special fabric that allowed it to be soul-bound to the user and change shape at will. The piece of clothing had been a bandana, but since it could change shape and had near infinite size (so long as adiwue mana was provided), and had infinite durability. James thought of possible uses for the item, since it had been a very good item.
Ein then told James that the item actually also has a growth function, so it can become even stronger over time.
Ein said it could even store your mana to be used later and also be used like the storage ring, but for weapons and accessories.
James then asked Ein how to bind the item to him. Ein told James that it's the same way as the storage ring, where James needs to pour blood on it to bind it, but Ein warned James that it needs a lot more blood than the ring since it's a mythical-tier item. (Tiers of items go from Common, Uncommon, Unique, Rare, Legendary, Supreme, Mythical, and thes more than just those)
James then asked Ein how much blood would be needed, and Ein told James that he'd need a few liters of blood, so he should hold off on equipping the item till he has better magic control.
James then put the item in the storage ring as acknowledgment of what Ein had told James.
(SCENE)
After James lotted Ein's old skeleton body, he asked Ein how they were supposed to get out of the ruin.
Ein told James that he had a way to get out, but James needed to get stronger first.
[TO BE CONTINUED]