"Master~" The Cephalon cooed happily. "You have at last returned to me! I've been so very lonely without you- but now everything will be better with you back! Allow me to introduce myself once again- I am Lyra, a Ship Cephalon assigned just for you..." Her voice turned nasty. "But right now, I'm a shadow of my former self. I can't serve you adequately like this- Unacceptable!"
"At ease, Lyra," I told her, rotating my head around slowly- muscle memory, I always felt like I had a crick in my neck I could never get out. "If you're missing components, then we just need to get new ones until you're even better than you were before."
"Master, you are truly the only one who understands me~" Lyra cooed out happily.
"Give me the rundown- what have we lost?"
She immediately focused up, snapping off a report. "Market, Foundry, Mod Bench, Incubator, Void Relic Console, and Arcane Segment are all Offline. Arsenal could be restored- it appears the Segment was wiggled loose and fell out... Life-Support for Lower orbiter compartments is also stable... Oh, and the Master's bed with his favourite pillow is still present!"
A bed? That sounded absolutely divine... Could I sleep? Probably, right? That was likely what going offline was in the game- falling asleep.
"Report on storage," I told her, wanting her to continue.
"Mm... Annoying- all former Warframes and weapons have been salvaged... Only the Master's Acceltra- which you took with you- remains."
I just gave a nod. It was what I expected, after all this was the start of the game- if I started with everything then it would be too easy.
"Many credits were also hoarded... Oh, but the Master's Platinum Stash has remained untouched! 10,000 Credits and 1,000 Platinum are available!"
I slowly stood up and rotated my shoulders. "Right... First things first- we need to re-establish communications. Being able to link up with other Tenno is vital."
"It is good to see that your calm mind and instincts have not waned in your sleep," Lotus said in a warm, pleased voice. "In regard to a communication segment, I have found one that you might be able to salvage for your ship. When you are ready, activate your Navigation System."
Quest Unlocked!
Quest: Vor's Prize
You have escaped Vor without the shackles of the Ascaris- however, that has only fed into his fascination and desire. Prepare for a confrontation and then teach Vor a lesson he will never forget.
"Alright, just give me a bit to re-orient myself," I told them both. "Lyra, settle in orbit. Is the cloaking segment still present?"
"Yes, Master- activating ship cloaking!"
I took a deep breath and headed to the back of the Orbiter. I stopped by the Arsenal and grabbed the fallen module before I slot it back into place- causing the lights to shine back to life. I also took the opportunity to look at the Orbiter.
There was a bit of wear and tear, and the colour scheme was... A bit too bright for me at the moment, I preferred darker colours to make it easier on my eyes. A habit, given I was near sighted in my past life.
"Lyra, change the orbiter's internal colour scheme to black and green- paint the metal to be closer to a bronze colouration. And change the lights to green too... Take your time to remove the wear and tear while you're at it."
"As you wish, Master~" Lyra cooed out happily as I felt something surge through the ship, the surroundings slowly changing to match exactly what it was I'd asked for.
I made my way down the short slope, and headed to my personal quarters... It was empty, but cozy- though the glaring light from the window was something I could do without. "Bring down the shutter on the window," I told Lyra- who immediately complied and blocked it off.
I climbed into my bed nice and slowly, easing into it as I rest my head on the pillow... I could feel the soft comfort even with my Warframe, it was very pleasant and I almost fell asleep on the spot- but...
I wanted a proper tutorial now that the first quest was over. I knew Warframe Mechanics, but I needed a proper System Tutorial.
Beginning Tutorial...
First, we start with Item Rarity. Item Rarities are divided in a certain order from Lowest to Highest:
Common > Uncommon > Rare > Emerald > Diamond > Legendary > ???
As you might expect- the rarer the item, the stronger it is. Weapons can be further enhanced through the use of both Mods and Forma. Weapons can be upgraded to their 'Prime' Versions by opening Void Relics and applying the Blueprints to your existing items.
Right, fairly basic so far- nice and easy to understand. There were probably even more ways to enhance weapons, but right now the system was just telling me the 'Warframe' way to do so.
Next are your skills. Ordinarily, your skills would be limited to Level 30- the same max cap as in Warframe. However, during your soul's journey, you came into contact with the Essence of Unlimited Potential.
My eyes widened and I froze in place...
Essences. They were, bar none, the most powerful force in every world- because they carried the very foundation of the thing they represented.
If one were to obtain the Essence of Swordsmanship, they would become the very core of Sword. Any sword technique deconstructed in seconds; any technique created and mastered with ease. And insights into swordsmanship became as normal as breathing.
You watch the sunrise?
Sun Breathing.
Behold the swiftness of a sparrow?
Tsubame Gaeshi.
Experience a moment of stillness?
Five Rings.
What's more- you could push those abilities beyond their ordinary limits. Every sword technique could touch the Void. Every Sword Technique became capable of slaying gods.
Every move became equal to a Sword Saint- and beyond.
That was how powerful Essences were. A single essence was enough to rule over a Universe.
The Essence of Unbound Potential...
"Explain," I murmured softly.
The Essence of Unlimited Potential is an inferior version of the Essence of Blank. It makes your potential limitless, allowing yourself and your skills to grow without limit. However, it lacks the Essence of Blank's ability to let you learn any skill- even those you ordinarily would not be able to learn due to bloodline or body constraints. In exchange, however, your growth is faster than if you had the Essence of Blank. However, the lack of skills can be compensated for by the System's own abilities.
I nodded slowly... While the lack of being able to learn any skill sucked, the fact that any skill I did learn would grow endlessly- that alone made the Essence of Unbound Potential Worth it. Plus, enhanced growth meant that I would increase the abilities of my Warframe and my own skills far faster. Plus, with the System's own store... I wouldn't need to worry about missing out- I could buy skills I couldn't learn. So, I wasn't truly missing out.
Multiverse Travel has been locked by the System temporarily until certain conditions are met- we hope the Host is able to understand why this choice was made.
I merely sighed but accepted it. The answer why was simple to understand- only having my Warframe wasn't suitable for travelling to different worlds. If I were to travel, I would need to awaken from the Second Dream- to leave the Reservoir on Lua and reside on the ship.
Gacha System will be unlocked on the conclusion of Vor's Prize. 1 spin requires 100 Platinum.
Due to the lack of 'Real World Money,' Platinum can instead be obtained as a rare drop from enemies. You will also receive Platinum when clearing quests (depending on difficulty). All bundles (Prime included) are available for purchase using either Platinum or Credits.
2,000 Credits = 1 Platinum = £0.05
That was... Reasonable, and something to keep in mind- though I'd likely avoid the Gacha and instead use my early Platinum to buy Warframe Blueprints...
The fact I could buy every bundle available in Warframe from the Store once it was unlocked was very useful as well... Though I assumed Prime Warframe Bundles just provided Blueprints rather than giving me the Warframe outright- since the System had mentioned that I could only buy Blueprints and not Warframes themselves.
Finally, most importantly, changes have been made to the enemy drop table and the drops of quests. When you obtain a Warframe's main blueprint, any missing blueprints of that Waframe will automatically be provided and added to the inventory. The System finds the tedious process of things like constantly repeating bounties to be ludicrous and thus has removed the 'chance' factor. Instead, you may choose from the list of rewards from bounties.
In regard to enemy drops- drops have been drastically increased for sake of ease.
Rare Resources (Orokin Cells, Argon Crystals, Tellurium, etc) = 20% Drop Chance per enemy.
Uncommon Resources (Plastids, Circuits, Rubedo, etc) = 60% Drop Chance per enemy.
Common Resources (Ferrite, Nano Spores, Salvage, etc) = 100% Drop Chance per enemy.
Mods have also been appropriately changed to have similar drop rates. Other equipment blueprints have also been adjusted for ease of access.
... I almost asked the System to marry me on the spot.
Warframe Drop Rates were absolutely brutal. Before you went farming, you wanted so many things- resource drop booster, resource booster, resource blessing... All of that just to maximize the drops you would get.
Even just adjusting the rare drops to be a 20% chance... It would vastly reduce the need for farming and thus make constructing Warframes so much easier. Orokin Cells especially you often never had enough of given they were a requirement in almost every Prime Build.
It was godsent.
Other System Features are locked until conditions are met.
Thank you for enjoying the tutorial.
Well, that was easy enough to understand. The 'Conditions' for unlocking more features was almost certainly the Second Dream- awakening and regaining control over my true Tenno Body rather than just the Warframe wrapped around my soul.
Honestly, the Lotus was very lucky that Rell had bound himself with Chains in order to restrain the Man in the Wall- otherwise the Tenno would have been extremely fucked... Trapped in the Void God's domain with no true protection besides the dream barrier.
Yes, the Lotus had been very lucky...
However, this was the world I lived in now. Until I could get my body back, I would just have to get stronger and play by the rules. With the System on my side... Becoming strong enough to make Balas, Erra, and the Void God my bitches wasn't impossible.
So, for now, I would focus on the immediate future.
After Vor's Prize, I would head to Cetus- get acquainted with the locals and begin the Saya's Vigil Quest. That would get me my first Warframe Blueprint- Gara, the Glass Warrior. An incredibly powerful Warframe that- once created- would be a great asset. It was a little weird to think I'd be in a female form- but I'd suck it up and get used to it.
... Come to think of it, I recalled that Koumei's quest should also become available after finishing Saya's Vigil, right? I'd definitely want to arrange a Team first- maybe find some other Tenno to work with- before attempting it though... And lots of Gas and Fire Elemental Weaponry- I'd need it for all of those Infested.
I shook my head... If I recalled, part of the Vor's Prize quest would take me to a Corpus Outpost. There, I'd be able to scavenge materials that would also be needed to build Gara... I'd need to work hard on Cetus and make the Ostrons like me- but getting all the materials to build Gara wouldn't be too bad. Just tedious.
I sighed and held the sides of my head- already feeling the headache coming.... The amount of work I'd have to put in to get each Warframe... Once I had access to Dark Sectors and some Warframes that were good at farming- things would be so much easier. But until then...
"Enough thinking," I murmured to myself, rolling over and pulling the sheets over my head. "I'm exhausted... I'll focus on showing Vor his fucking place later..." I yawned and my eyes sealed shut as I fell into the realm of dreams.
Tomorrow- Xenos joined the Hunt.