Chapter 839 - System War

“There are six races native to this universe, though there might be more drifting on the undiscovered edges. Our universe is incredibly vast, yet we know it is finite. Among these six races, the most powerful were the gods. Only a handful of dragons were able to match their Godkings, though most dragons stood on the level of average gods. Then, there were the elves, the mora, fae, and humans, just like you and me. Usually, they were much weaker than the others, left to their wit, effort, and willpower to find their place.”

“That must have sucked for them.”

“Certainly. Yet, it was all those other mighty races that failed to notice an invader and fell, while humans remain.”

“And the winner is the one standing at the end.”

“Yes. As for the gods, they were of many shapes and forms, born from concepts, energies, or collective thoughts. We simply no longer know how exactly they came to be. Like much of our history, even this was erased from the collective memories of the people by the system. Most remain ignorant, and the few who know do not dare to speak of it, lest they bring unwanted attention upon themselves.”

I glance at the wyvern that rests its head on the ground near Lissandra. He is also listening to the words he must have originally spoken to her. Lissandra continues to talk, but while she repeats the information given to her, her own thoughts bleed into her retelling.

“Every god possessed their own Elysian Framework, though many also called it a Divine Framework. It was something tied to their very being and the universe itself, making them near immortal.”

She reaches to her belt and draws the cracked black mana dagger. “But there was one god who was not fully a god. They came to be without an Elysian Framework, born with a Divine Heart instead. A heart pumping blood, just like the lesser races had. Unlike other gods, they were not even that powerful, possessing authority over an energy that was nearly non-existent in our universe.”

Lissandra taps the black dagger, making it let out a clear ring. The wyvern in the background lets out a deep, rumbly noise that lifts the dust from the ground.

“That god found their place among humans. From them came descendants later called Empyreans. Even with some of them possessing weaker Divine Hearts just like their god, they remained a weak clan. But that was about to change.”

It seems like she is offering me a chance to speak, but I stay quiet and listen.

She ignores the loud rumble behind her as she says, “I was told that god made an honest mistake. That they were kind and beloved and tricked just like everyone else. But in my opinion, they were a failure, just like the other gods and races of this universe.”

Lissandra’s voice for a moment rumbles louder than the wyvern trying to interrupt her, as she declares, “They have deservedly lost everything.”

At that, the wyvern stops, its huge eye looking at her with powerful intent, a deep sound shaking the air.

Lissandra turns to face it. “I do not care for the source of my power or that it comes from something unnatural to this universe. But call me a slave to the system one more time, and I will end you.”

An area outside of her protective field explodes. Hundreds of mountains shake and burst outward. Pieces as big as entire cities and islands lift high into the air as far as I can see. A mile, ten, even more as I strengthen my sight.

A shockwave continues to explode outwards, and more and more of them shatter, lifting and floating high up under an immense force I cannot comprehend.

“I am slave to no one, and my life belongs to me only,” she declares toward the gigantic wyvern facing her.

She is just a tiny, silver-haired human, many times smaller than the wyvern, many times smaller than its smallest fang. Yet, inside that tiny body, in that tiny brain, is contained all that incredible talent and control.

The wyvern lets out a short rumble, and only then do the debris begin to float down, sending out clouds of dust that cover the entire area as it hits the ground.

Lissandra turns back to me as if nothing happened. “That god, on one of their travels, came to the very centre of our universe, where they found that invader. At first, they did not know what it was. Even later, as it began to spread and others noticed it, they also did not think much of it. After all, in something as big as a universe, new powers appear daily, and no one was aware of its true nature.”

Her words halt for a few moments, as if a word brought back another memory, until she shakes her head. “The system at its core strengthens what already exists and evolves. One of its main functions is to spread. It made a contract with that god, and parts of that contract still lie in the core of the system, even if it tries to remove them. That might be one of the reasons why it cannot easily take away what it has given. What I speak of is everything the god shared with the dragons and wyverns before dying, after they realized the true nature of what they had found.”

Moving even closer, the wyvern carefully touches the tip of its lip to the dagger Lissandra holds, and lets out a quiet noise.

She nods. "In the beginning, the black mana god served as the protector and Champion of the system alongside their descendants, the Empyreans. By simplifying and adapting, the system copied the nature of black mana to create a version of its own. It modeled Mana Hearts after the god’s own Divine Heart to awaken system mana. Together, the god and the Empyreans protected the system while it was at its weakest and as it began to spread."

“What did the black mana god get from that deal?” I ask.

“Try using that brain of yours, little pup,” she challenges me, and stops talking to wait for my answer.

I give it a few seconds, looking at the black dagger and sensing the heart beating in my chest before saying, “Were the gods more powerful the more their concept and power was spread throughout the universe?”

Lissandra agrees in satisfaction. “They were, indeed. And though system mana was not exactly the same as black mana, the god grew far more powerful because of it. Perhaps it was part of their precautions, a small seed of distrust toward the power they found. Maybe they wrote it into the contract so the system could not copy black mana, ensuring they would always retain control over it. Maybe the system never had enough data to fully monitor or restrict it, whereas the more powerful gods provided plenty of data for the system to work with.”

“And maybe it allows people to control black mana now to gather data in a controlled manner,” I note, “rather than sending eradication quests after them.”

“It could be, but at this point, black mana poses no threat to it, nor do the powers of gods, dragons, or primordial energies. The system has observed it all and adapted. Eons after the system first appeared, it became too threatening, and the universe finally noticed. The then Godking of black mana and the Empyreans ceased to be its protectors and became its enemies, but the system simply found new ones. One hundred Rulers came to be, and many humans joined their side. Entire galaxies fought to keep the power that the gods, dragons, and elves of old tried to take away, while the mora joined the war and fought on both sides, and fae disappeared.”

In surprise, I feel my eyes widen. I glance at the wyvern and then back to Lissandra.

“Of course, it was not easy,” she continues. “The black mana Godking, the Empyreans, the Emperor of Dragons, the Queen of Elves, and the Primordial Orders led the attack, damaging the very structure of the system. They forced it to change and slowed the system's spread, but it was already too late. The System War was lost. The name of the black mana Godking was erased from living memory. As for the black mana you control? It is merely the remains of that god present within the system, a shadow you can touch if you reach deep enough. It is something I have tried as well, though I seem incapable of reaching. It seems to recognize me as a creation of the system.”

A small smile appears on her lips, as if she finds the fact amusing. “But that is all it is. Black mana is what remains of that pitiful god. The Empyreans are nearly erased, and without a Divine Hearts, their power is greatly diminished. Like all the others, they were and are just a part of the system. Powerful, yes, but not special. The system is gradually making Empyrean Skills common, just as it did with Primordial Energies and the fragments of gods. You playing with black mana is like a child poking a corpse found on a battlefield.”

She gestures for me to come closer, and I listen. She pushes me down onto a small stone and walks behind me. Her hand moves over my head, and my hair falls away, cut clean to reveal bare skin. She begins to draw inscriptions, drawing a bit of my blood to create a dense web that spreads into a fine, drawn crown and a series of lines across my scalp.

“Thought acceleration is usually the purview of mind mages, though if you are capable enough, you can partially mimic what they do,” Lissandra says.

Before I can ask a question, she taps the top of my head.

I feel myself forcefully pulled into my mind, finding myself in that never-ending white space. Suddenly, the pain, the strain of trait strengthening, and the pressure of my constructs are all gone.

My hand moves across my hairless skull. “Was shaving me truly necessary?”

“Little pup, do not tell me you care so much for your appearance,” she says, changing before my eyes. Her body grows taller, her silver hair dims slightly, and wrinkles crease her face as her clothes transform into a black suit more suited for a man. “But perhaps I am being too harsh. Many of the young care for such things, it is only later that they cease to matter.”

Lissandra now looks exactly like the version of her I met on the second floor.

After walking for a bit, she stops in front of me. “There are, and always will be, disadvantages to thought acceleration. Your status will not update, your muscle memory and mind will not adapt fully to your training, and you will not ingrain these gained instincts into your physical form. Lastly, you will never be able to sleep here properly. A few days is not a problem, but gradually your mind will become tired, weak, and muddled, or outright break. That is why I warn you, after we are finished here, avoid such high thought acceleration for at least several months. I have seen even the most talented people die from abusing this, and I have seen many gain nothing from their training, no matter how hard they tried.”

“That is my problem to manage, is it not?” I answer her. “You simply do what you think is best, and I will deal with the rest.”

“Very well. We will start by testing you against my released presence, the version of me you encountered on Eladore,” she says. “We will start with ten percent.”

The moment she finishes speaking, a monstrous amount of mana radiates from her. Perhaps 'monstrous' is not the right word, it is not about the volume, but the sheer, crushing power of it. I try to resist, but it presses against me until I feel my body explode.

In the next blink, I am standing exactly where I was before. I’m healed, but the memory of the death is fresh in my mind.

“I will continue until you can handle at least fifty percent of it,” she speaks coolly. “Even if it takes months, we will not move on to anything else.”

Once again, I don’t have time to respond. In the presence of her uncontrolled power, my body explodes, and I find myself reappearing in the same spot.

All other thoughts vanish from my mind as I focus on this alone.

Let’s make this a matter of days, not weeks or months.

POV Vice Guild Master of Primordial Knights

The door to my office in the Megacity bangs open, but before I even have time to shout at the demon barging in, I notice who it is.

Taking a few calm steps on her bare feet, Nyssa Volare reaches my table. Wearing white shorts that barely reach her knees and a light blue tanktop, she stands there. There are wounds on her body, but her clothes remain perfect, and her eyes are sharp.

"Vice Guild Master, tell me where MorMor, Nathaniel, and Weslin are."

Every time I speak with her, it is impossible not to understand why everyone keeps saying she is one of the most talented attendees Beyond has had in millennia. If it weren't for Christoph, she would be even more praised.

But even then, even though there's a hint of fear I feel despite knowing her personality, I can't help but complain. "The new Guild Master took them on an expedition," I say through my teeth.

"Where?"

The words come out of me as if I'd left them suppressed for too long. "They took another S rank and future S rank as well, and the five of them have been making a mess ever since! When I asked for the name of the expedition for our files, do you know what the Guild Master told me? 'Nathaniel and the Boys.' Would you believe that?!"

"I see, but-"

"Since then, I keep getting messages from all the guilds asking if they did something wrong! The kings are getting worried about that many S ranks, and a few guilds have made defense pacts with each other and keep paying extra to their A ranks to stay in Beyond and hire mercenary guilds for defense! There is a new zone void of mana on the 3rd floor, and people say it is where Diligence himself manifested. On the second floor in the third city, Morwag destroyed the headquarters of a mid sized guild and got banned for 100 years from the city, and we had to pay an enormous fine! In the first city, there are rumors that Primordial Knights erased a branch of the Healing Guild, but the Champion King of it got so scared of our S ranks that he just let them go. All the fish from Lake City are gone! Such overfishing is against the rules, and it will take decades for the lake to repopulate. Apparently, some guide named Duncan is now holding them and saying that if anyone touches any, our Guild Master will declare guild war on them. Oh, and yes, for a few minutes, all the lurkers from the 1st floor disappeared. ALL OF THEM. People were picking up arcane weapons from the ground. There was later a floor-wide message from Diligence, so there are rumors that he lost control of his emotions again, the same as with the Ancient Armory. And since then, we lost sight of them, and they apparently headed to the surface."

I take a few long breaths, feeling relieved, but that relief decreases as I look at Nyssa, who stands there patiently.

"I apologize," I stand up and bow, keeping my head in that position.

"It is okay, Vice Guild Master. I’m not a Guild Master anymore, and I didn't return to take back the position." Her eyes narrow. "But I have seen the rankings, and I guess I’m a demon after all."

She doesn't smile, but a cold, predatory focus settles over her face. "I will be testing myself against... the boys."