I slowly sat up, I didn't have any aches and pains like I had before, yet those old habits die hard. I looked at my hands. My fingers, once gnarled into odd angles thanks to arthritis, now were slim and strong. Gone was the shaking, the pain, the dark spots that were on the back of my hands, instead I was greeted with skin clear of such marks. I ran my hands through my hair and was surprised by how much of it there was. It felt strong, thick, and long. Long enough I could see that it was the color of a raven's feathers. Felt just as soft too. I looked at the field around me and noticed a hat next to my side. Ironically, it looked like an oversized witch hat, like you would see strong witches wear in anime. I smiled simply and moved to stand, my legs were strong underneath me, and my hips no longer ached. I could probably do so many things now, but best not to test that just yet.
"System, what are you?" it felt silly asking out loud but why not? I was alone after all. Simple, I am your guide to this world. I took knowledge from your past life and implemented them in order to create this. I will help you slay the gods, as they have ruled this land for too long. And no, I am not a demon. I am just another aspect of this world. Think like Rimaru's Voice of the World. That is what I am. I laughed, I couldn't help it. It even sounded like the same system he had in I Got Reincarnated As a Slime. That was a good anime, I felt a twinge of guilt over not reading the manga.
"Well then," I dusted myself off. "Lets head to the nearest town. Need to find some work for gold. Nothing is going to work without gold." I stood and saw that I wasn't too far from a town. I might run into some trouble on the way there, but hopefully not anything that I can't handle. I was probably a magic user, so I would need to take that into consideration as well.
"What should I call you? I don't like just calling you System."
I never had a name before. Perhaps you can call me something from your past life.
"No, I'd like to make you unique. Can you do a physical form for yourself?"
Not a humanoid one, but perhaps that of a creature. Like a familiar.
"That is exactly what I want."
Very well. What form would you like?
"How about that of a raven?"
Very well. And before I knew it I had a large Raven on my shoulder cawing in my ear as my system spoke. Form achieved. Searching for suitable name.
"How about Munin?" I offered. "It's norse for thought, and was the name of one of the ravens that belonged to Odin."
Very well, renaming self to Munin. Rename successful.
I could have sworn I had seen Munin smile. I know ravens can't smile, but Munin wasn't a real raven. She was my familiar. We spoke more on matters of my past life and never even noticed that as I did so, Munin was slowly applying attributes from my past making me stronger and more powerful. Little did I know, Munin was going to do everything she could to make sure I survived. Especially after I forced her to remove the immortality. I conceded when I let her give me the false life ability. It basically just allowed me to pretend to be dead at any point should I get myself into too much of a fight.
As we walked though, I found that the road was strangely clear of any monsters or anything like that. I was actually kinda bummed about it. I would have liked to at least know what kind of monsters were in the area. However, it was once we reached town that I found out how much Munin decided to do. Changling skill activated. I heard Munin say as we approached the gates. I don't know what the guards saw, but it wasn't worth the trouble of stopping apparently.
Shame they are too dumb to counter it. I would have liked to see you use your magic.
I was shocked by Munin's musings but she just ruffled her feathers and acted like she hadn't said a thing. I was starting to like her more and more. As we walked through the town I could see people living in squalor, and I felt rage again. I could feel fire in my veins as I continued on. Once I got to the market, my blood was practically boiling. The people lived in horrid conditions, I couldn't see an ounce of clean drinking water, and I wasn't going to stand for it.
"Munin, I know it's not fighting but I need to help these people. It's disgusting that they live like this."
I was hoping you would say that.
"Right." I stormed to the middle of the marketplace. Held out my hand and grasped a staff that wasn't there before. "Hear me now! I will cleanse this place of the filth that plagues it, and of the rot that rules it!" I tapped my staff to the water fountain. "Water! Hear me now, and obey my command! You are meant for purity and to be used as sustenance. You that makes crops grow, and is enjoyed by human, animal, and monster alike. Purge your impurities and be the salvation you are meant to be!" Clouds formed above me, my voice echoed throughout the town, and soon rain fell to the ground nourishing it. People stepped out into the rain and a few were healed of their wounds, and they began to dance. The fountain sputtered and shook as it spewed out toxins and blood that the people were cleansed of.
Munin cawed as lightning lit up the sky as if she was agreeing with me. It was time to do the other half of what I declared and the storm urged me onward. The gods cried as I defied them, and I was enjoying it all too well. I marched straight forward, noticing once I swung my staff in front of me to open a gate, that Munin had become my staff. She felt real it was so strange. Guards seemed to hesitate before approaching me. They didn't know what was happening and by the time they had made up their minds, it was already too late as I continued to make my way up to the mansion that most likely held the ruler of this place.
The mansion itself was a stark contrast to the town as it was ornate. The plants around it were vibrant and alive. People were dressed better, except for the maids and other people that she guessed they referred to as simply the 'help.' This thought enraged her even more as she continued her way further in. "I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO THE HEAD OF THIS PLACE. WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE!" My voice boomed almost as loud as the thunder from outside.
Servants of all kinds lined up and pointed me in the direction of the master of the house. The mansion itself was dressed in marble, bronze and golden accents. Clear signs that this master cared not for his citizens. Cared not for their strife, their suffering, their torment, or even their deaths. These people could do their very best and their master wouldn't blink an eye at them. I was reminded of the decrepit houses, mere shacks with caving roofs and crumbling walls that I had passed on the way here. Shops with nothing to protect their products, nothing to help them grow, nothing at all to say they helped the society at all. Their master was greedy and once I reached the room he hid in, I instantly noted he was nothing more than a pathetic, greedy, overfed, overgrown, rat. Nothing more to me than the dirt on my boots. I looked at him with pure disdain. His wife and children huddled together in a corner closer to me. They were gaunt, thin, yet not sickly. I softened my look at them.
"I have no quarrel with you. Leave now, or suffer the same fate as the rat." I tilted my head to their husband and father. He squeaked in protest but I ignored him. His wife didn't offer him a second glance and raced out the door dragging their two young kids with her. One of them fell, and I knelt down and helped them up. "Don't worry little one. I'm here to make the world a better place. To rid the world of evil, and to make peace. So that you can grow to be big and strong." They had flinched at my outstretched hand before I spoke. Once I was done, they looked up at me with their deep doe like eyes. Orbs of chocolate and tousled brown hair, I felt the need to bury the image of this child into my mind, for they could very well come to avenge their father. "Hurry along now, you don't need to see what is going to happen." I pushed them towards their crying mother. She looked up at me her eyes saying everything before she ushered them away. The servants helped her escape, so I felt convinced that I had made the right choice.
"Now for you." I turned back to the sniveling rat and a brilliant idea came to mind as Munin updated me. Skill learned: For the Future. Skill obtained: Storm Caller. Skill obtained: Purifier. Skill obtained: For the People. Skill learned: Witch. That last one caught my attention. Witch huh? I wonder what kind of spells I could cast now. The first one was more druidic in my opinion. Would I need to rhyme for a witch's spell? Heck, why not I did love poetry in my past life and was fairly good at writing it if I did say so myself.
"By whisker, tail, and beady eye,Let human form now say goodbye.From skin to fur, from hands to paws,Obey the rodent realm's old laws.
Nimble feet and twitching nose,Scurry fast where no one knows.With this chant, the change be flat:By moonlit will, become a rat!"
I watched as magic flowed around me and from the staff I held, watched as it flowed to the man before me, watched the gruesome transformation as it happened exactly as I had said. And before me squeaking in terror was a rat. I grinned as the staff I wielded transformed back into Munin's form of a raven. "You're not a normal system are you? You're an entity. You shouldn't form physically. Even if you were with me as I reincarnated what are you really?" Munin's raven form smiled again.
"You catch on quick," in a burst of feathers I was greeted by a humanoid creature bowing before me with raven colored wings. "Some call me a demon. Others call me an angel. Others still call me justice. But you, you call me Munin. A true name. A powerful name. And one that I will honor for certain. However, I am none of those other things. I am simply the will of the world, brought to life. I was born the same time you were incarnated. Your distaste for the deity today had been all that I had needed to be born. But you must rest. You expended far too much of our magic." I had barely heard him as I fainted. "Come let's rest here. I will guard you and protect you at all costs. Afterall, the world is crying for aid. You're the only one that can. I have seen your future. And while you didn't want to be royalty, you may not have a choice now." he said as he laid me down into the bed the rat had previously been whimpering on.