Chương 492: Chapter 490 – What Are You?

'System,' Damion began to ask a question that had been burning inside him for a long while, 'what are you?' Damion waited for a long moment. It seemed as if the Magic System was contemplating whether to answer him or not. {The Magic System is a mental construct of the Mother World.}'You are the Mother World?' {Incorrect.}'I don't understand.' {The Magic System is similar to something you would think of as artificial intelligence.}'So, I have a robot in my brain?' {Negative. The Magic System interface was encoded into your soul when you were brought to the Mother World to be reborn.}'Wait, so you are part of me? Then all this time I have been talking to myself?' {Negative. The interface was intertwined with you to provide you with a medium to interact with the Mother World from any distance.}'Okay, so the Magic System is like a computer program that allows me to communicate with the Mother World.' {Affirmative.}'Why? I mean, why was I selected and reborn on Nerotath?

Couldn't some kid from Nerotath or another human from a magic world have done the trick?' {Host was selected because the world your soul was native to was too far away to allow return and because it was a nonmagical world.}'Wouldn't it have been easier to pull me from a magical world? Think of all the things I would not have had to learn, or how much stronger I would have gotten if I had been able to start training earlier.' {For those reasons it was imperative that the host came from a nonmagical world.}'Explain,' Damion demanded. {If host had been a soul reborn from Nerotath then host would have already had previous allegiances that could have interfered with the primary objective. Likewise, if host soul was from another magic world it is possible that host would have been forced to unlearn poor habits from incompetent magic users. Also, it is likely the host would have chosen to grow too fast, being aware of the next steps in the growth process and not created a solid foundation.}'I get not wanting a host that was already loyal to one faction or another,' Damion conceded.

'But couldn't you have chosen a magicless person from Nerotath?' {Host was selected because he was unambitious in previous life.}'That hurts,' Damion replied mentally, not that he could exactly say the Magic System was wrong. {Host was an ordinary soul and did not have an ego that desired power above all else.}'Okay, so you didn't want someone that would abuse the abilities you could grant. But why not choose a fresh soul, why move my soul from Earth to Nerotath?'

{Previous versions of the Magic System attempted such, but those hosts were unable to complete the required tasks.} The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

'Previous versions of the Magic System? There were other attempts that failed?' {Affirmative.}'Why did they fail?' {Previous attempts were made with fresh souls. Even though the fresh souls were born into an array of different circumstances they each eventually became egotistical and power hungry, resulting in those hosts being unwilling to complete the tasks required.}'And you thought I would be different because I lived a pretty ordinary life on Earth.' {Affirmative.} {Host's personality was already shaped through your life on Earth. You were also selected because you had no attachments to anyone on your home world and would be unlikely to have a strong desire to return there.}'Well, I guess that is good.' Damion was not sure how else to respond to the Magic System. He was not sure how to react to the Magic System having picked his soul out of the millions that would have surely satisfied its requirements.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was another question he needed to ask.

'System, are there more people like me out there? People working to undo the seal with Magic Systems?' {Negative.}'Oh,' Damion suddenly felt a bit better about himself.

'Why not? Wouldn't having more than one increase your chances?' {The decision was made long ago to only ever have one host at a time. This was to prevent hosts from coming into conflict with one another and to allow the Magic System to direct maximum resources into one entity.}'I guess that makes sense. How many hosts were there before me?' {Forty-seven.}'Wow. Did any of them come close?' {Three prior hosts managed to arrive on the Mother World but were unable to reach the seal.}'Just three? How did they fail?'

{All three were slain by the Alfar.}'Well, that makes me feel more confident.' Damion thought dryly.

'What level of power did they reach?' {All three were peak S Rank mage when they ventured to the Mother World.}'I guess I have an advantage then,' Damion thought as he peeked at his status in the Magic System.

[Magic System] [System Level: 4] [User: Damion Wells] [Age: 21] [Magic Talent: EX] [Magic Affinity: Mind SS, Ice EX, Water E, Poison D, Spatial EX, Fire EX, Earth EX, Shadow EX, Holy C, Light E, Wood A, Wind A, Time A] [Mana: 128, 485/102, 788] (25%) - 128, 485 [Magic Power: 9, 228, 316] (25%) - 11, 535, 395 [Mana Recovery: 1, 072 P/S] (25%) - 1, 340 [Strength: 497] [Dexterity: 480] (25%) - 600 [Vitality: 3, 845] [Intelligence: 153] [Experience: 23, 400/50, 000] [Store Credits: 13, 445, 360] He had already boosted the gear from the Magic System to SS Rank as soon as he reached that level.

The bonuses were actually pushing him well above what an SSS Rank would have and once he received the final upgrade from the Magic System, his magic power would take another substantial leap forward.

'Once I reach SSS Rank, I can upgrade my Magic System artifacts again. Perhaps I should go ahead and boost my other artifacts up to SS Rank as well." Damion considered boosting his normal artifacts, but in the end he decided to hold off until he hit SSS Rank. Then he could just ask the Magic System to boost everything at once. It would cost him a million or so credits most likely, but he had plenty and he suspected that once he accomplished the System's prime mission, he would get a big reward.

When the thought of completing what the Magic System wanted crossed his mind, Damion realized there was one more question he needed to ask.

'System, what happens when I undo the seal? Will you still be here as a part of me? Or will you leave me to rejoin the Mother World?' {The Magic System is intwined with the host. Even after the primary objective is fulfilled, the Magic System will remain with the host.}'That's a relief,' Damion thought.

'Will you still be able to do upgrades and sell me new spells and such?' {Affirmative.}'Great. I was worried you would abandon me once you no longer needed me to do something.' {Once primary objective is complete, host will have the option of continuing on with secondary objectives.}'Secondary objectives? What are those?' {Secondary objectives will be determined by the Mother World as the need arises.}'Any idea what the secondary objectives might be?'

{The Mother World has been ravaged by war for thousands of years. There is much that has been lost and must be rebuilt. Many peoples that must learn to live together peacefully. It is also likely that the Mother World will want humans to return permanently.}'I guess as an SSS Rank or EX Rank, if I ever get there, I will be a pretty persuasive force for peace. But don't hold your breath on the last one, at least not for my family. Maybe Mage Thresbane and his people will want to, or maybe others will.

With the labyrinth opened and between me and Mage Fletcher, travel back and forth won't be nearly as difficult.'