Chapter 17: Summoning the Sys- I mean Summoning the Scroll

Chapter 17: Summoning the Sys- I mean Summoning the Scroll

Begrudgingly, Di Tou tried the idea that he thought was the most likely but was also the one he was least willing to be true.

And as you may have guessed, this idea was to try kneeling down as if accepting a decree, just like he had when he had first received the Mandate. n-/o--v-/e.)l-.b..I).n

Di Tou kneeled down.

One second in, nothing happened.

Two seconds in, nothing happened.

Three seconds in... still nothing happened.

Di Tou couldn't help but think, "Was I wrong? Is there nothing I have to do with the Mandate? But I clearly saw the scroll-"

As he thought the word scroll, he noticed that the colors around him started to dim.

"Fly into me... Aha! I see, I have to think 'scroll' while kneeling."

Just a moment later, the scroll fully materialized before him. Unlike the last time he had seen it, this time it seemed much more low key, while looking around he could still tell the scroll was exerting a certain level of influence on the objects nearby and things seemed a bit greyer, it was nothing comparable to the first time the scroll had appeared, either in magnitude or range.

The scroll itself seemed to be much smaller than before, although it still took up the same amount of retina space. To explain this a bit simpler, if the scroll used to be a 72 inch flat screen TV on the wall across from him, it now seemed as if it was a 15 inch laptop monitor just a foot away from him. If he were to take a piece of picture and draw what he saw both times, he would find that the space the scroll took up on the page would be exactly the same both times.

Looking at the scroll, he saw three large words.

<-( )========================( )->

MANDATE

REFLECTION

GUIDANCE

<-( )========================( )->

Just as Di Tou was about to further inspect the scroll, he realized that...

His knees really f*cking hurt.

Dear reader, if you think Di Tou's overreacting here, I ask that you try kneeling on a stone or wood floor for a minute. Even if it doesn't hurt significantly, you'll likely find yourself shifting from knee to knee to try to alleviate the pressure. Then, combined with his aged body... Well, let's just say it was lucky Di Tou noticed early, otherwise it might have been a question of whether or not he would able to get up on his own without help.

Getting up, Di Tou let out a sigh of relief. The scroll, like the first time he interacted with it, maintained its space from him. It looked like he only needed to kneel to summon the scroll, not to maintain it.

Waddling over to a nearby table he frowned slightly at the thin layer of dust that was covering the table. Wiping some away with his sleeve he sat down and started inspecting the scroll again while rubbing his sore knees.

Di Tou quickly figured out that the way he interacted with the three words was by focusing on them, or saying the word in his head. Going through each section one by one, he tried to get a general understanding of just what the scroll offered, or what it could do. After all, anything with the word "Divine" in it shouldn't be too shabby... right?

First, the Mandate section. This was rather straight forward, it was just the contents of the original Mandate he had been given earlier in the day. Essentially, as far as Di Tou could tell, this was a useless page, but perhaps from the perspective of the "voice" this was the only one that was important.

Then there was the Reflection Page. This page is a little bit complicated and will be explored in greater detail later in the story, but for now let's just explain what Di Tou could see at the moment.

<-( )========================( )->

Strength – 0.54

Dexterity – 0.38 (+0.00001)

Intelligence – 0.94

Spirituality – 0.05

<-( )========================( )->

While it can't be depicted for the reader, the information seemed overlayed onto a reflection of himself, not as Mu Di Bai, but rather as the appearance he initially showed up in. This reflection seemed almost like a mirage, when he wasn't focused on it, it faded away in away that felt oddly natural and fitting and did not interrupt with his ability to read the text on the scroll, while when he focused on the image of himself, it came to the forefront and became much more clear. Looking at the image of himself, Di Tou couldn't help but have a complicated feeling rise up in his gut. This was the first time he really had a chance to get a look at himself in this world, as before this he could only see his hands and appendages, as there was no mirror in the old hut and here where there was a mirror, all he could see was Mu Di Bai's appearance.

Looking at the figure depicted before him, he found that it had a 80 to 90% resemblance to his maternal grandfather and Di Tou could easily imagine that it was what he would look like when he was older. It seemed like... It seemed like there was more to this reincarnation than simply having taken over someone's body. Rather, it seemed like he himself was brought over, and for some reason aged in the process.

"Haha. Well, at least they won't have to pay for hospitalization fees back home." Di Tou said, trying to cheer himself up. Omitting the latter part of the sentence which went, "They'll just think I ran away from them or got murdered somewhere."

Anyways, looking a the reflection of himself, Di Tou noticed that it seemed to be shrouded in a mist that wrapped around him, as if trying to obscure his appearance, and that there was a conspicuous blueish-green glowing ball that seemed to reside in his forehead.

Thinking about it, although he wasn't entirely sure of his conjecture, Di Tou figured that the mist should represent the appearance modifying spell that Mu Di Bai had cast on him, while the glowing ball should be the segment of power he had put in his head. But of course, he would have to wait and see if the reflection changed at all after the two spells had faded.

Going back to the numbers, Di Tou didn't really have anything to reference to at the moment, so he wasn't quite sure whether or not they were good or bad, but considering the fact that they all sat sub one, he figured it wasn't a great result.

Looking at the (+0.0001) Di Tou couldn't help but focus on it a bit more, as it was the one unique point of data and... Well, how stingy did it have to be to give him such a small number. The reflection page wasn't even bothering to display this little additional bit of status in the actual number. When focusing on it, Di Tou felt a corresponding piece of information come up in his head.

"Sub 1% efficiency in activity [cleaning dust], minimum feedback obtained."