Skill Emperor Book 1: An Isekai LitRPG Adventure, page 1
Prologue
Well, fuck! I’m dead!
Yes, actually. I’m not exactly sure what brought me to this situation. Because as shitty as my life was, I didn’t think I would die so soon. No job, no family, hell, I lived on the streets!
But I didn’t think that one day I would go to sleep on the dirty rag I called a bed and wake up here.
I look around but find nothing. It seems I am now on an endless grass plain that stretches into the horizon. It reminds me of the rice fields back at home, before they were seized.
“Hello?! Is anyone there?!” I call, hoping for anyone to answer. I begin to walk forward and drudge along the grass, which is almost as tall as me. And at six feet tall, I am not short, I hope.
Nope. I am alone.
Sighing, I sit on the grass. Could this be heaven?
I certainly deserve heaven. Once I dreamed of becoming a doctor, because I thought doctors helped people. But no. My family died helpless, because the doctors would not save them. Because we were poor, and we could not pay. And after our house burned down, who helped me? Nobody.
Dreaming is a privilege, I realized! And from then on, I understood that the world I lived in was rotten to the core, as was everyone in it.
I get up. The sun seems to be setting in the sky, and the chirping of bugs is beginning to pick up like a chorus in the background.
At least there are other living things here.
For a while, I stare at the night sky, finding that there are no stars. Then, I finally decide to get a move on.
I might be a bum, but who knows? Things can always change. This place is already more impossible than everything I’ve seen in my entire life. So I start walking, striding through the grass, hoping to find anything.
***
Alas, I have found something!
In the middle of the endless grass plains, there is a statue. It is human-sized, and it also sort of looks like a human. I can’t make out the details on its face, but it is currently in a kneeling position.
Brushing away the dust and moss coating, I try to take a closer look. What is this thing, exactly?
I tap it once. Two times, and even thrice. But it doesn’t budge.
Scratching my chin, I frown. “Excuse me?” I ask, as politely as possible. “Who are you?”
Of course, nothing happens—
Vrrmm….
A low humming sound emanates from the statue as it begins to glow. Gasping, I step back quickly, but it does not stop. Clicking and whirring noises fill my mind as a halo of golden light traces itself over the statue.
Click.
The noises stop, as the statue crumbles. The light floods into me, filling me with…
What is this? What is this feeling?
[You have been granted a Heroic Class!]
[You have become an
* * *
Chapter 1
Heroic Class?
I find that it has completely crumbled, leaving nothing. Even all the light within it has all flooded into me.
But that doesn’t matter now. My heart beats quickly against my chest as my pulse rises. In my previous world, there was nothing like this! This is ‘magic’, right? Back in my world, only a select few could use supernatural powers.
I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.
Glowing golden runes appear in the air before me, shifting around and stabilizing with my movements. I blink, trying to get a better look at them. In my vision, they swim around before changing into a language I can understand.
Name: Jace Kessler (Rank 1)
Titles: None
Bloodline: None
Bloodline Skills:
● [N/A]
Class: Emperor (Heroic)
Class Skills:
● [
● [
Skills:
● [N/A]
It looks like I don’t have any skills except for my Class skills, but that is alright for now! I am beginning to understand the
When I get skills, I should be able to name them! And when I name them, I will be able to summon them.
In this way, I can build an empire of sorts. The thought makes me shiver, because I do not want to become like one of those emperors in my previous world, who treat people as slaves and livestock. Just the thought makes me nauseous.
Instead, with the
It might sound like a stupid dream.
But I am determined to keep to it.
“First, I need to find a way out of here,” I mutter while looking around. The statue dust has almost completely dissolved, and it seems to be midday since the sun is high in the sky.
The only problem is, how the hell do I do that?!
Should I go looking for something else? Maybe I’ll find something like the statue, to get me out of this place. I think that maybe because of how unlucky I was in my previous life, my luck has somehow skyrocketed wherever I am now.
So, I begin walking.
***
“FINALLY!” I shout at the horizon. “FINALLY, I FOUND SOMETHING!”
In my entire life, I’ve never felt this sort of happiness before. And it is all because the color of the grass has begun to change. Instead of staring at endless green fields, the fields have now become sort of amber, like the green is fading away.
Of course, that isn’t much. But it looks like I am doing something right, at least.
***
I hear the sound of running water.
Again, not exactly a profound discovery, but still amazing nonetheless. There is a slight trickling in my mind coming from far away, so I know the water is there. Of course it could be a mirage, but I want to think optimistically.
***
I’m not sure how many days have actually passed at this point, even though I can clearly see the days passing! It might be a side effect of not having food or water, who knows.
All in all, it is surprising that I can survive without any of the basic necessities. It isn’t like my body has changed or anything. I feel pretty much the same, I think. At least my build isn’t all that different, and my hair color hasn’t changed—still a strange white color.
From now, it is clear that I won’t be able to find what I want soon. So, I should start getting working out.
Ermm… there’s only a single problem with that.
How the hell does one work out?
***
I think I’ve gotten the hang of it! Well, think is the key word here. I can’t find any weights or anything, so I just do pushups and situps and the sort. I think I tried doing it with one arm as well, but that didn’t go very well.
The grass is entirely amber now, and the trickling of water is louder.
I finish my set of pushups—I can only muster about thirty in a single sitting now, and look up to see runes encircling my body!
Adrenaline rushes through me as my eyes widen.
[You are able to unlock a new skill:
[Would you like to unlock the new skill?]
What I mean is,
Still, there is no harm in accepting it!
“Yes,” I say to nobody in particular.
[You have unlocked the skill
Suddenly, an otherworldly feeling rushes through my body. It is similar to when I received the
So I do. I immediately fall back to the ground, drilling my workout routine into my bones instead of moving forward. My hands scrape and dig against the ground with every movement, and suddenly there is no restriction within me.
I see now, what ‘skills’ are.
They are like executables. Or functions, something like that. I’m not too used to tech and programming, okay?
As I keep exercising, some mysterious energy begins to build up around me. It is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before—wispy like flames, but also white as paper.
[
It leveled up! Another surge of energy washes over me.
Looks like I know what I’ll be doing from now on.
***
Movement has been slow lately, because I have been juggling two things at the same time. But seriously, I think I’ve fallen in love with working out! I know it sounds stupid to say because I’m just a novice at all this, but there’s a lot of enjoyment to be found with it! Seriously!
Happily, I trek across the grass plains with sweat dripping down my skin.
… Wait.
There, far in the distance, what is that?
I lift my right hand and use it to block the glaring rays of sunlight com
Water!
That’s the water source!
It is like a tiny slit in the land, but I can clearly see the bubbling stream within it. Excitedly, I begin to run toward the water, ready to take a bath and freshen up. It has been terrible, and if I kept on going like this I think I would get an
I finally reach the small stream, and the runes pop up again.
[
Maybe this level up is because I’ve finally reached a goal I’ve been striving for?
I have no way to test the purity of the water or anything like that, but it looks crystal clear, meaning it’s probably fine, right? I dunk my head into the water and then rip it out, gasping from the cool sensation on my face.
My skin sizzles, and I realize just how hot the sun can be.
I jump into the river, which isn’t particularly large. I could probably swim across if I tried a bit.
As I do, more runes pop up.
[
[
I freeze.
Now, how did something like that happen? It leveled up so quickly. Does it have something to do with the water? I sense no abnormalities, though!
I’m still not sure exactly how this works, but I feel much stronger now.
And the skill is ‘eligible’ now, as well. That means I can name it, right?
“How am I supposed to use
That is some kind of magical energy, right? Could I use it to power
Closing my eyes, I give it a go.
Within a minute, I feel something tugging at my body! I use
I wait a few minutes until—
Crack!
Something snaps, and I open my eyes to see light.
[Which skill would you like to name?]
[Eligible skills:
“I will name
* * *
Chapter 2
[
[What would you like to name this skill? Choose wisely.]
I frown at the message. Choose wisely? Scratching my chin, I sit on the riverbank and stare at the ebbing flow of water for a while.
The runes are right! I’ve come to a realization. And that is, I have no idea what to name the skill.
It’s not that I was never good with names, but more so because I have no idea whether the name I choose will have an effect on how the skill turns out. If I name this skill, it will become my child. And I don’t want to give my child the wrong name, right?
I think for a while and finally come to an answer.
“Boro,” I say with confidence. “Boro will be the name of the skill.”
[
[You have unlocked the title
The golden runes swirl around my body, and sent threads of energy at me. The threads plunge into my body as I gasp from the overflow of power and also just the sense of naming something for the first time. The feeling… I cannot describe it.
A smile grows on my face. “Boro”, is actually the name of a character that I drew when I was a child! Back when I wanted to become a doctor, I had drawn Boro up—he was to be my assistant when I finally got the job, helping me there every step of the way.
It was strange, actually. I’d drawn Boro, all the way back then, as a cat. A cat with a lab coat.
Hmm…
What am I to do now? I have named the skill. Should I summon it now?
Maybe not. I’ll wait for
Name: Jacob Kessler (Rank 1)
Titles:
● [
Well, that is simple enough. But how is naming a skill being kind? And what is ‘aura’? Do the runes just mean the my aura, as in metaphysically? I scratch my head, sighing. This kind of thing isn’t what I’m good at.
I’d much rather work out. And the river gives me a good view, so I’ll go ahead and do just that.
***
“Fff…. f-ive hundred!” I force the words out of my mouth and collapse to the ground. My body is bruised and in pain everywhre, but I don’t mind. I can feel
When I tell this to myself, something happens.
[
I smile happily. It is working! My body grows stronger once more, and so does my mind.
Then I realize, that now, it is time.
Time to use
I close my eyes like I did before to use
I try to tug at this energy and move it. However, I’m not sure how exactly to do that in the way that I want.
I can guide the flow if I put my mind to it… but doing much else is difficult!
Groaning, I try and try again, multiple times. Each time takes a toll on me, but I keep pushing onward. Because from now, I suppose that is who I am!
As I do, I don’t even notice the sun setting in the sky.
***
Crack!
I’ve done it!
The familiar cracking noise rings through my ears once more, just as joy rings in my mind. It took a couple hours learning how to move the energy around my body in the way I wanted it to, but after that, it became simple. It was like a sixth sense, just forming.
When I open my eyes, they are pristine and glowing white, full of my energy. I focus that energy, and use
How exactly does it work? Again, I’m not sure.
The sixth sense analogy is the only way I can really explain it, okay?!
[Which skill would you like to summon?]
[Eligible skills:
Well, isn’t this familiar!
“I would like to summon Boro!” I shout, my heart slamming against my ribs. All my training and stressing comes down to this moment, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
[
[
I rub my hands together as nervous sweat drips to the ground. My energy shoots from my body, molding itself into something like play-doh back in the world I came from. I wait for the energy to turn into something humanoid, but it does not.
Instead, it stays… small?
BOOM!
The energy explodes outward along with a shockwave, which drives me back. I raise my arms and dig my feet into the ground, gritting my teeth to withstand the waves.
Once the dust clears, I see something.
“B-Boro?!” I shout, flabbergasted. I run over to the little creature on the ground…
It’s a cat.
“There’s no fucking way…” I whisper, looking around. “How did you know? Who are you? What do you know about me?” The stream of questions just kept coming and coming, because I did not understnad. How could anyone know…
So something really was done to me. I haven’t questioned this ‘reincarnation’ thing ever since I came here, but it’s turning really scary now.
But enough negativity!
I lower my hands, picking the small cat off the ground. It’s just as I envisioned it in my childish drawings before, with a tiny, white, button-down labcoat on. Apart from the labcoat, its fur is a very deep black, deeper than anything I’ve ever imagined before.
On its forehead, is a small mark in the shape of a star.
I gently cradle the cat—Boro. It blinks once, and then twice.
On the third blink, it looks at me with eyes that seem to reflect the galaxy within them. It—no, he slowly purrs, and wraps his tail around my arm, filling me with warmth. Suddenly, my bruises and other injuries begin to heal. And I feel less fatigued.
Is this the power of
My heart is going to jump out of my chest.
