I Hate Systems

Ding!

The System hovered in the air, gradually dying in response without a Host body to rely upon. There was no other body in this marble world, and hence, it had no other option but to await death.

There wasn’t a connection to the Astral Network either, so it was pretty helpless, gradually dying in response as its energy was absorbed by the marble world and digested in a matter of seconds.

Only after that did Conjurer arrive at the place with another conjured body, looking around as he noticed minor changes to the place, frowning as he didn’t like the changes, “The changes brought by a mere System is too weak.”

He snapped his finger, extracting the changes brought by the System as he poured it into another world, a dump yard of sorts where he dumped all his failed experiments upon. This world wasn’t under his control and seemed to be something that had existed since ages ago.

It had served as a dump yard for Immortal, Magister, and many other such entities. In the vast cosmos, it was where anything undesirable was dumped, left to rot as even if a problem arose, this world was completely isolated from everything. And hence, no problem would ever arise from it.

‘This world gives me the creeps every time.’ He muttered, leaving the place after dumping the extracted substance, noticing that there existed humans in this world, “Humans? Here too?”

He didn’t pay them much heed beyond that and returned to the marble world, thinking of Compass Carburettor as he muttered, “He said three years, so I’ll wait.”

He wasn’t alarmed, “There’s not much you can change within three years.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

…

“Human type…” Pilkan sighed in worry, realising that his life would become one of hardship after this. The reason was simple, Invokers with a human type Invoked Spirits were hunted.

Those that obtained it despite that had to live in hiding or join an underground organisation that dealt with human trafficking and the like.

“But at least, I’m alive.” Pilkan sighed in relief after a while as his eyes glinted with a cunning light, “This is why I stole that Human Invoker Crystal in the first place.”

He originated from the Lan Clan, a Clan of Invokers whose Invoked Spirit was of the Eagle type. And, they reared a massive eagle nest, having been nurturing it for more than a century now.

This was the foundation they relied upon to produce Eagle Invoker Crystals and strengthen their Clansmen, also deriving various ways to strengthen their Invoker Spirit and exhibit powers in various forms and fields.

Invoker Crystals too had a grade, depending upon the quality of Mental Fragments used to create them. The Lan Clan was the sole entity to produce Eagle Invoker Crystals, so everything was dependent on them.

Pilkan only hailed from a branch family affiliated with the main family that controlled the Lan Clan. And hence, all he managed to get was an Inferior Eagle Invoker Crystal.

There were three forms of Invoker Crystals, categorised based on their quality: Inferior, Common, and Superior.

Similarly, the Invokers too were classified the same, a clear indication of their Mental Strength, one that displayed how strong their Invoked Spirit was.

Every Invoker, after successfully building their Invoked Spirit became an Inferior Invoker. And as their Mental Strength increases, they would break through the threshold to become a Common Invoker and eventually attain the peak as a Superior Invoker.

But, the reason conflicts arose in the first place was thanks to Invoker Crystals. After all, someone that used an Inferior Invoker Crystal would be stuck as an Inferior Invoker for the rest of their lives.

The quality of the Invoker Crystal they used determined the height they would reach. Pilkan had used an Inferior Eagle Invoker Crystal. So, his potential was limited.

But, he was indignant, especially after his family lost their status as a branch family and had been demoted to mere servants after they refused to accept his sister being made the concubine of someone from the main family line.

And in order to change their fate, Pilkan had been in search of a Superior Invoker Crystal, irrespective of its type, for only that would allow him to be on par with the main family and save his sister and regain the lost status of his branch family.

Shockingly, during his pursuit, he chanced upon a Human Invoker Crystal, a Superior grade at that, something his Clan had been creating in secret to raise a squad of assassins, hidden from the open world.

Without any hesitation, he stole the Human Invoker Crystal meant for the captain of the assassin squad and made his escape. Unfortunately, he was discovered in the end and tried to commit suicide.

But thankfully, he survived and now had the potential to become a Superior Invoker.

With that, Pilkan looked around, staring at the dark, desolate surroundings, barely able to make out anything. “Now, how am I supposed to escape from this place?”

He then looked around, staring at the cliff wall that reached the skies, “Do I have to climb this?”

“Is there no other choice?”

He stared at the rugged cliff, understanding clearly that it was impossible for him to traverse it. But right as he was thinking of a way to leave the place, hissing sounds resounded through the place, alerting him, ‘Is it a serpent?’

Alert, he placed his hand on his hip where a knife had been holstered, ready to attack as he focused on his ears instead, closing his eyes that were pretty useless in this darkness. He was barely able to make out using his eyes, but for a battle, it was insufficient.

A serpent indeed slithered towards him from the back, calmly inching towards him, pausing for a moment as it aimed at him before lunging for the attack.

As Pilkan was focused, he suddenly felt a stream slam into him from behind as he turned around in reflex and slashed, only then noticing that he had lodged the knife through the snake’s neck, surprised as he muttered, “What was that?”