Jeremy was staring into space. Something in the centre of the room had really captured his attention. He was a cat, and trying to plumb the depths of his feline brain was like trying to fathom an eldritch entity of the void. I should know I met one — the weirdest dude.

  Deciding I should stop wallowing and start doing stuff. I walked over to the laboratory. Arcane devices littered the desk, and it was all pretty much useless to me. But was that certain?

  "Hey Jen, I think it's time we sat down and hammered out my character build and got some solid gear." I called aloud and got an agreement from a song I didn't recognise.

  Grabbing one of the nearby stools, I placed the broken sword to the side and summoned the virtual keyboard. The familiar feel of keys under these practiced hands was a joy, and we went to work.

  "Alright, first off, we need to decide on experience points distribution. I'm thinking we should set up a logging mechanism for skill use. Create a formula to divide the XP between class level and race level. And you can take ten percent of each harvest. Deal?" I offered, and thankfully she agreed.

  Programming that was pretty easy, just needed to tether the XP channels to my two levels, set up another to Jenny and define the trigger mechanisms. Simply put, each skill usage generates a value that converts into a percentage and reflects how much the user used the skill during the event that consumed experience points.

  I left harvesting stray XP as up for review as stealing points just lying around seems like cheating, no matter how tempting it was.

  "I swear I won't burn anymore forests down and run around soaking up XP." I made a promise, and hopefully I will stick to it.

  Besides once the system AI is operational and covering the globe, it was better not to make too many splashes. Keep a low profile and look like just a normal adventurer with a completely normal system interface.

  "Now with that done, I think ill reorganise this messy character sheet."

  It was indeed a necessity, at least for my peace of mind. Cracking my knuckles and shooing away Jeremy, who tried to leap atop an ethereal keyboard, twice. I went to work, making minor modifications here and there.

  "Inspect, Max Decibel and Phantom Notification should be under class skills." I relabelled with a few keystrokes. "And a sub-skill option might be a good idea to quick slot specific effects. Perhaps a blind skill under Phantom Notification."

  Typing out a new subroutine, a sub-skill menu appeared below Phantom Notification with a new skill called Blind. It was a basic version, less effective but faster to use. Blocking a target's vision with a completely black window.

  Thinking it over, I added another sub-skill called Disrupt Vision, which interrupted an opponent with a notification that covered their entire vision but cycled through many bright colours. With the brightness turned to maximum.

  "I wonder if there are any epileptics on this planet?" I wondered aloud, curious if I could accidentally cause a seizure.

  It was possible that I would just have to see if it happens. Nodding to myself, I went on to the next topic. The skill Kinetic Strike is not class - based. It is more a function of my peculiar attributes and mental control.

  Presumably, it's not connected to any class, or any skill gained externally. I would probably label it under Skills and so do so. I wrote the new category in bold letters above a single skill.

  "What about passive skills? I know we have a few features working in the background." I asked Jenny.

  [Passive Skills]

  [Experience Harvesting Aura. Description: An aura for harvesting experience energy within a fixed radius. Range: 30m.]

  "These skill descriptions are kind of generic, so can spice them up with some flair?" Requesting the mighty Jenny for her favour.

  I could hear thinking music in my ear before an unfamiliar ding in my head. Looks like she came up with something. Returning to my character sheet, I found the updated skill description.

  [Experience Harvesting Aura (Unique). Description: Through the power of your unique system, you emit a field capable of drawing in stray unclaimed experience to empower your class and race. Radius: 30m.]

  The new skill description was a little better. More grandiose, and I liked the whole unique tag assigned to it.

  "I'm assuming you're using a new skill rank system?"

  She gave me an affirmative with another song I hadn't listened to before. With that in mind, I considered having her perform the updates to my skills, and I would check on that later. Soon my character sheet will look sweet as. Purely cosmetic, but hey, I needed the ego boost sometimes.

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  "Okay, guys, next is getting new skills or gear." I glanced at the broken blade, pondering how to use it.

  They tailored the weapon to the Grimgard system, so naturally, it would not be compatible with me. Any attribute buffs would not work since my attributes work differently. It would be like trying to plug in a phone charger from a week ago. Practically a different species right now and completely unusable.

  But a thought occurred. What about making an adapter? It was possible with some work and a little tinkering. Maybe I could even tailor the enchantment to my system as well. I checked the sword handle and frowned at the result. The enchantment broke and was now unusable.

  The gem embedded in the handle, which I missed before, was dark and lifeless. That thing contained not even a drop of mana. Probably needed a whole sword to maintain stability. Or, however magic works.

  "Still, could we maybe integrate and fix this item?"

  A bright and cinematic pop-rock anthem, driven by a brass drum, told me she had high hopes for this very endeavour. And I agreed. All we've got to do is hope the beta testing works out.

  "Should probably level up first and siphon off some exp for system points. Who knows how much ill need to do this crazy stuff?" With that in mind, I enacted the XP protocol.

  [Your Race Clerk has levelled up!]

  [Your Class Systemologist has levelled up!]

  [Your Class Systemologist has levelled up!]

  [Your Class Systemologist has levelled up!]

  The consecutive level-ups were a welcome sight. My class level was now four, and my race level had just reached eight. The attributes were certainly affected, and I even had a few free attribute points to distribute.

  It was a qualitative increase in our personal power, but not a quantitative. More diverse combat options remained. If I kept going, I would need to rely heavily on old-hat tactics that were all about surprise and confusion.

  Leaving my character sheet for later, I knew it was time to reprogram a magical weapon. What I was attempting was difficult, nothing like integrating myself. I didn't have a pre-existing system to contend with.

  And we will not patch an existing one. That will send a beacon from our very location to the head office. No, it was best to leave our interactions with the Grimgard system to be surface level and cover our tracks consistently.

  "First off, we need to get rid of this swords system. Much easier with a broken weapon as the system pretty much writes off damaged weapons."

  With the agreement of my ever-faithful companion, not the feline one. Jeremy was just being his usual self, aloof and above it all. But then again, he saved my ass from getting iced by that gargoyle dude. Got to give him props for that.

  Withdrawing some delicious wet food from my satchel of infinity. The creepy little bastard sprang to life the moment that sweet metallic sound rang out. Diving in like a man dying of thirst, he devoured that can.

  Chuckling at the sight of him messily eating some decent chow. I wondered why he didn't eat like typical cats. He was an absolute slob, while cats from movies and TV shows ate like they were at a gourmet restaurant.

  Shrugging, I dismissed it as one of his many quirks and turned back to the task at hand. It was time to get to work and fix this sword. Soon I shall have a weapon far greater than any ever forged by man!

  "Okay, the gem is intact and empty. It's attuned to hold mana but could be reworked to hold XP. The stuff was potent, but with enough of a push, it could perform miracles."

  Turning to the keyboard, I spent some system points to tether my system to the broken blade. Link established, I initiated the defuncting protocol. Not something I could do with a well-established item. Broken sword, however, definite.

  Took some extra energy, but soon it rendered the item a mundane piece of gear without a trace of the system left. The faint glow surrounding it dimmed to nothingness.

  "Now that's done, let's establish a new program. I will need your help, Jen, and some ideas, pretty please." I made the request, and soon several notifications showed up.

  [Aetherblade (Unique). A modular weapon that infuses stored energies — arcane, elemental, or kinetic — into a blade of pure force and energy. Form shifts based on the power source. Versatile, limitless and lethal.]

  "By the gaming gods, what would I do without you, babe?"

  Motown soul music with backing tambourines and harmonies slowly rose in my ears. A personal favourite of mine as the voice of the Mowtown Prince proclaimed there was no mountain high enough to keep her away from me. Tapping my foot, I let her continue playing the soulful music as we got to work.

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