Nolan stared at the holographic screen in front of him. He wiped his eyes a couple of times to make sure he was seeing things properly. Then he jumped and silently screamed.
'Thank you God!'
He turned back to the screen.
[First Disaster: Dog Eat Dog World]
[23:57:32 remaining until disaster]
'Sweet. My prayer last night is gonna cause Armeggedon.'
Suddenly another much larger screen popped up below the first one. This one showed a world map with 10 red glowing dots and one yellow dot. Nolan looked a little closer and realized the red dots all marked large population centers across the globe. Then he focused on the one yellow dot and the nearest red dot.
'New York, huh.'
Finally a third screen popped up
[You have been chosen as a changeling.]
[Physical limits will increase.]
[Further Disaster Instructions will be given at [01:00:00]
[Summon changeling data by reciting your-]
'Nolan!'
All 3 holograms then faded away and were replaced by a larger screen. Nolan stared at it, sweating and shaky.
[Nolan Cossack]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Changeling]
[State: Impure
[Innate Ability: Sound Magic]
[Traits: Social Chameleon, Weirdo, Apocalyptic Prayer]
[Class: None]
'Sound magic? What an unusual ability'
Nolan then noticed an option for opening descriptions of his stats. With just a thought, a description appeared for both his ability and trait.
[Sound Magic]
[Description: All sound is produced by waves. You are blessed with increased perception and control of the sense of sound.]
'I bet if some dipshit in a webnovel got this they would say it's useless right away. This explains why my ears were ringing like hell earlier. It could actually be really helpful.'
Nolan turned to the trait descriptions.
[Social Chameleon]
[Rank: C+]
[Type: Active]
[Description: You have very good social skills! In groups of 3 or more people you can become less noticeable.]
'Dope.'
He turned to the next trait
[Weirdo]
[Rank: F-]
[Type: Active]
[Description: You do or have done something that would make most uncomfortable. You can release a green aura that makes people very slightly intimidated.]
"I'm not a weirdo!" Nolan exclaimed out loud. He sighed and held his breath while looking at the last description.
[Apocalyptic Prayer]
[Rank: Ex]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: People reap what they sow. A spark of change can lead to chaos. You are more likely to be subject to the events of a disaster.]
A dark grin spread across Nolan's face. This is exactly what he wanted. To be put in circumstances where he could make a difference. The product of him telling God how much good he could do.
Nolan stopped thinking for a moment and then reopened the disaster map. He looked once again at the dot at New York City. Although Nolan's family lived in the suburbs, his mother and father worked lawyers within the city.
'Apocalyptic Prayer wasn't lying. Still, what does "Dog Eat Dog World" even mean? The most likely option is I'll have to fight someone, right?"
Nolan froze, hit by a sudden realization.
"Oh shit!"
He jumped over to his computer and opened up to Croogle News. To his surprise there were no articles talking about the disaster or the weird holograms. Nolan frowned.
'I'm definitely not the only one who received something like this?'
He reopened the timer on the holographic screen.
[23:54:01]
'I really wanna test what I can do but I'll give it an hour.'
Nolan headed downstairs to make breakfast. His father didn't work on Tuesdays, but he went out to do yard work after the fiasco this morning. It was 10:07 when Nolan came to the kitchen, so his mother had already been at work for over an hour. He recalled her complaining the other day about a client that wouldn't stop picking his nose.
Cooking always calmed Nolan down. After making some eggs with leftover rice in a pan, Nolan's phone was getting flooded with news notifications with keywords "disaster," "system," and "changeling." Nolan scrolled though articles while he ate. Roughly 3 million people reported changeling cases worldwide in the first hour, with an estimated 10 million people who experienced the phenomenon. Some changelings were already causing chaos with their newfound abilities. Fortunately though, many changelings could be suppressed due to the low levels of control they had with their powers, coupled with the physical limitations only just being raised.
During his research, Nolan found out most changlings appeared near the 10 red dots. Furthermore, he found most people were given two traits, with unlucky ones given 1 and lucky ones given 3, with some changlings reaching up to an astounding 7 traits. He was also pleased to see many rankings of traits, seeing F- to S+, but no mention of an Ex rank.
'They would probably hide it anyways.'
Nolan also discovered that innate abilities did not have ranks, meaning they may have equal growth potential.
Many speculated what the Dog Eat Dog World Disaster would be, if it was to even occur. There were three main theories. The first was changeling battles like Nolan had thought, which seemed the most plausible by the name of the disaster. The second one speculated some sort of political catastrophe, such as nuclear war, which many seemed to dismiss, yet still had some followers. And the last theory…
Before Nolan could finish eating, he heard footsteps coming up to the door. He opened it before the person could knock.
Standing there was a brown skinned young man, about the same age as Nolan. He sported a buzz cut, wearing baggy jeans and a jacket. He seemed to be sweating profusely and looked very worried.
This was Nolan's best friend, Sean. Sean had no relatives except his comatose grandma, so he would often visit Nolan's home.
"Nolan! D- did you see the news! I- I'm a changeling!"
Nolan shuddered. Of course he was good friends with Sean, so he could have believed him right away, but with the appearance of all these abilities he had seen on the news, it was best to test him, even on the off chance Sean wasn't Sean.
"Do you have the spare key. Sean"
Sean pulled out an old looking key.
"What day did you flood Ms. Kimberly's bathroom?"
"December 6th, 2012."
'Ok that's him.'
Nolan let him inside. They exchanged what abilities they received from what the news had been calling an "awakening." Of course, Nolan kept his apocalyptic prayer trait to himself. He found out that Sean recieved two traits, one being [Social Chameleon] and the other being one called [Sculptor] which seemingly increased his results from exercising.
'And I thought I was the better sculptor.'
Sean's innate ability was pyromancy.
'Talk about unfair and flashy. Sound is cool, but it'll never shine like fire.'
Oddly enough, Sean had only been able to control fire with the use of fuel so far. After explaining his abilities, Sean laughed. He seemed more relaxed than when he came all tensed into the house.
"Weirdo! What the hell did you do to get that!"
"I'd rather not talk about it man. Anyways what are you gonna do about the disaster?"
Sean sighed.
"I'm not sure yet, I'm already scared for my life, but I haven't told anyone I'm a changling yet. Plus with how unknown this all is, I'd likely die."
Sean paused, and a forced grin came over his face.
"But I think the curiosity is getting the better of me right now."
Nolan smiled back, unforced. Sean had always been adventurous like him. That's how they became friends in 3rd grade, when both decided to climb up the ladder on the side of the school and got suspended.
Nolan wanted to tell Sean that he should keep himself safe, but Nolan had wanted to experience a thrill like this his whole life, and how much better to have a friend experience it too.
"I'm going to the city, Sean. I haven't told anyone about me yet, because I know my parents would never let me go fearing my safety."
Nolan gave Sean a firm look.
"I know whatever is about to happen and whatever I'm gonna do, theres a good chance that I will die. Maybe I've been crazy my whole life. I don't give a shit about my life if I would give up an opportunity of adventure like this."
Sean thought for a moment and then silently nodded. Birds of a feather flock together.
"Ok, let's go then."
Nolan smiled.
"You're just as crazy as me."
[First Disaster: Dog Eat Dog World]
[21:59:33 remaining until disaster]