I Hate Systems

“Are Invoked Spirits capable of that?”

“Of course not!” Another shopkeeper said, peeking out from a basket of potatoes, “We’ve seen dozens of Invokers. None of them are capable of a feat like this.”

“Then it’s definitely…” The shopkeepers simultaneously stared at the tile, one addressed as the Forbidden Tale, “That!”

If even two shopkeepers in hiding could glean the truth, then it was apparent that the majority of people at the scene understood what was at play.

The Forbidden Tale had not only healed the injury on the leg of Loit’s Invoked Spirit but also strengthened it, all in a few seconds from when he glanced at the Forbidden Tale.

Roar!

A tiger jumped out all of a sudden and slammed into the back of the Human Invoked Spirit, sending it flying before its claws scratched up the rabbit, using the opportunity to grab hold of the Forbidden Tale as it leaped back.

“Give that back! It’s mine!” Loit shouted in alarm, retracting his Invoked Spirit before bringing it out again, fully healed once again. The rabbit jumped at the tiger, attacking it relentlessly in order to snatch back the Forbidden Tale.

But before this happened, a few more Invoked Spirits arrived at the scene, contesting for it too. The Invokers that had been among the crowd no longer stayed back, contesting for the Forbidden Tale upon seeing its magical properties.

Soon after, the Invokers from the Heppeturn Clan arrived at the scene, joining the fray after being informed of the details by Loit. The place turned chaotic as the Invokers in the town began to learn about the details of the Forbidden Tale, quickly rushing to the scene in order to obtain it.

But in such a bloodbath that began to go out of control, none noticed that the two instigators had long since vanished.

“My lord, is this what you want?” Duketace asked, sighing as he massaged his aching body.

“You’ve seen the Forbidden Tale…” In response, Compass Carburettor smiled, “So, what are your thoughts regarding it?”

“It’s amazing!” Duketace said, retracting his injured eagle into his Dreamland, watching the Mental Fragments in his Dreamland magically flow into the eagle and heal its injuries.

Moreover, its construction was more stable than before. That wasn’t all, Duketace also noticed that the Mental Fragments used in its recovery were those that caused the foundation of his Dreamland to be unstable before.

With those parts removed, his Dreamland, though weakened, became stabler. As long as he works hard, he would automatically grow strong, especially since he could sense the Mental Fragments in his Dreamland gradually rearranging themselves, automatically.

It was only a matter of time before his Dreamland became perfect. All this happened just because he had observed the Forbidden Tale for a day.

‘If I could only stare at it for a longer duration, I might have become a Superior Invoker by now.’ He sighed, feeling mild regret, failing to understand why Pilkan was giving away such a valuable treasure, leaving it up for grabs in this town.

Though, he was also awed by the other party, understanding that Pilkan was probably a peerless expert of the past, his deep intentions were something beyond the likes of Duketace to be comprehended.

The reason why Duketace or Loit experienced this magical phenomenon after reading the Forbidden Tale and seeing the figure inscribed on it was pretty simple.

The picture was of course him—Compass Carburettor. The content inscribed on the back of the Forbidden Tale was pretty much a short story regarding the Main Character.

The story was written in the form of a poem, the verse seemingly complex. This meant that to comprehend it, people would need to observe it for long durations and deconstruct it through many forms.

And, there indeed was a plethora of information decoded into that one poem.

Basically, the Forbidden Tale was his own story. This was where Compass Carburettor’s plan came into effect.

What happens when one comes to learn the story of a System?

A fragment of the respective System would begin to grow in their mind. And the deeper the impact of the story on the individual, the greater the growth of the System.

And hence, what would happen if they were to read his story? Of course, a fragment of the Main Character System would begin to grow in their minds.

Once this fragment becomes strong enough, it would take root within the Invoked Spirit, thereby doing what was happening in the Dreamland of Duketace and Loit.

And, the greater their comprehension of the Forbidden Tale, the stronger the fragment of the Main Character System in their minds, which implied the faster pace at which they could rearrange their Mental Fragments.

So, this meant that the value one gave to the Forbidden Tale was that high, which implied that the impression its poem made on their minds when they read it was that alarmingly potent.

This was akin to developing the Main Character System.

Usually in other worlds, there would at least be tiny fragments of multiple Systems in the minds of the people, competing with one another.

This implied that unless one became enamoured with the story of a particular System, the growth of any System in their mind wasn’t consequential enough.

Moreover, they were all stories. And irrespective of how good they were, they were just stories, treated with the mild value they garnered. This meant that for a System to actually grow in their mind and become strong enough to take over them was too rare.

But with the value of importance attached to the Forbidden Tale, not to mention it having the words ‘Forbidden’ as a prefix to it, the growth of the Main Character System in the minds of anyone that reads it would be terrifyingly strong.

After all, there wasn’t any information about a System in this world. This meant that the minds of every one were pure, allowing the Main Character System to grow unhindered by the other System fragments.

“Right, it’s amazing.” Compass Carburettor smiled, staring at the chaos afar from the rooftop of the house they were on. He then covered his forehead and smiled at Duketace, “Let’s get going now. We’ve already rested enough for two days.”

“It’s time to find your daughter.”