Aster held his hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter.
’That’s it, my beloved luck! I’m sorry for all the curses. One day, if we ever meet, I’ll ask you to marry me... I love youuuuu!’
He was euphoric over that wonderful reward. If he knew that luck would literally meet him in the future, he would be shocked.
After calming down a little, he sighed.
"Phew... That’s right. Now I can access the system."
"System."
He gave the command, and an amethyst-colored window appeared before him.
Lord System: Divine Summoning Sanctuary?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Lord: Aster
Age: 20
Race: Human
Titles: [The Promised One] - [Progeny of the First Law]
? ━━◆ ━━ ?
Physique: Avatar of Space
Affinity: Space? ━━◆ ━━ ?
Skills: Nirodha’s Expulsion? ━━◆ ━━ ?
Level: 0
Rank: Awakened
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 45
Speed: 10
Intelligence: 26
Mana: 35
Charm: 30? ━━◆ ━━ ?
Summoning System
Causality: 0
Silver Tickets: 25
Gold Tickets: 1
Platinum Ticket: 1 [’Guaranteed Divine Summoning’]
Search Key: 1?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Opening the system, I began reading my information.
"It’s pretty intuitive."
That was the first thing I thought as I gave it a quick look. The information was organized into layers, which would make it much easier to search for specific information.
The first thing that caught my attention after I began analyzing everything more carefully was the section labeled Titles.
"The Promised One and Progeny of the First Law... I have no idea what that means. Guide, is there a way to get a detailed description of them?"
I asked hopefully.
[Just give the mental command to expand the description tab, just like you did when you ordered the system to open... But don’t get your hopes up.]
"What do you mean?"
I asked, tilting my head.
[Open it and you’ll understand.]
The Guide said nothing else.
I gave the command to open the titles on the screen. The tab changed to their descriptions, and I immediately understood what the Guide had meant.
Titles?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
The Promised One: ???
Rank: ???
Effects: ???
──────────────
Progeny of the First Law: Born from the First Law that opened the way and gave a home to the others.
Rank: ???
Effects: ???
?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
"Guide... these titles are fraudulent."
I said while making a disappointed expression. I wasn’t going to lie.
"I expected more from these pompous-sounding titles... I think I got scammed."
[.....]
The Guide simply remained silent.
"Ah... whatever. Let’s move on to the next ones."
Waving his hand as if shooing away a mosquito, I ordered the tab to close and return to the beginning.
Moving on to the next topic, I went to my physique.
"It must have something to do with my body reconstruction."
I murmured.
Physique?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Avatar of Space: Your flesh was sculpted by the walls that make up existence. Your bones were tempered by the inevitable gravity of the cosmos. And your blood was bathed in the purity and presence of stars and celestial bodies.
Rank: Mythical [Evolution Possible!]
Effects: Astral Body - Perpetual Youth - Effect Nullification - Comprehension - Calculations - Perception - Graviton Fortress - Aether Core - Spatial Affinity
Astral Body: Your body, made from the stars, possesses resistance and defenses worthy of its title. Exponentially increases your Dexterity.
Perpetual Youth: Your flesh is free from the restraints of time and degradation. Your youth will remain perpetual, even on the day of your end. Your body is free from natural diseases and abnormalities.
Effect Nullification: Negative effects are nullified. Any and all types of spatial energy will be nullified.
Comprehension: Analyze, study, and comprehend skills, spells, structures, and components that make up spatial energy. Your analysis and comprehension are increased by 500%.
Calculations: Calculations involving spatial coordinates or layers will be performed 500 times faster, while also preventing your mind from being overwhelmed by extreme calculations.
Perception: Gain complete perception of everything contained within space in a radius of 100 meters, without mental overload or strain.
’Passive’ — ’Can evolve by increasing your understanding of space.’
Graviton Fortress: A thin barrier made of gravitons that is maintained as long as the bearer possesses ’Hybrid’ energy.
Aether Core: Aether, the rawest form of cosmic energy. Its energy is untamable, inflexible, and untouchable. With the Aether Core, all of the bearer’s energy will be filtered, increasing the efficiency and power of their abilities.
Spatial Affinity: Automatically grants affinity with Space.
?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Aster stared at the list of effects of his physique with his mouth hanging open.
"Damn... That’s a lot. This really was quite the gift."
He continued analyzing each effect.
"’Astral Body’ explains why I’ve been feeling so light, as if I could run for miles without feeling exhausted."
"’Perpetual Youth’ is something I gladly received. My body feels extremely healthy and full of vitality."
Looking at his own skin, he continued:
"My skin is smooth and incredibly healthy."
"’Effect Nullification’ explains why I felt so comfortable when I was teleported here. I didn’t feel anything at all."
"’Comprehension’ will be a great help when I learn or improve my skills."
"’Calculations’ will be very useful for performing calculations without having to focus too much."
I began paying closer attention, calmly focusing on my surroundings.
"Within a radius of 100 meters around me, I can see everything in extreme detail, and I don’t feel overwhelmed."
"’Graviton Fortress’... Well, I don’t see anything different."
I looked at my body, but I could feel that something thin and constant existed over my skin, like a second layer. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it.
"The energy consumption so far..."
I closed my eyes, trying to analyze my interior. I wasn’t used to doing this, but I should have some basic sense of it... Like an instinct.
After a few seconds, Aster opened his eyes again.
"It’s manageable for now. If the energy consumption starts to affect me, I’ll turn it off. But until then... I’ll leave it as it is."
"’Aether Core’... This seems to be something important. I won’t pretend I know anything about it, but if it improves my efficiency and increases my power, I have nothing to complain about."
"And finally, ’Spatial Affinity’. This one is self-explanatory."
Aster stretched his body, making his bones crack.
"This physique gave me quite an arsenal... I’m happy about that. Unlike those fraudulent titles."
He muttered disdainfully.
Turning his attention back to the system screen, I ordered it to return to the beginning.
"Let’s continue."
Aster moved on to the next topic: his skills, of which he had only one.
Skills?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Nirodha’s Expulsion: This skill is a cage whose purpose, while active, is to banish all emotions to the deepest and most unreachable prison within your being. While active, all you will feel are cold and calculating logic, always seeking to reach your objective in the most perfect way possible, without caring about the methods.
Important Warning: The risk of using this skill is extremely high. Due to its addictive nature, every time it is used, the bearer becomes more dependent on it until it completely integrates with the user and remains active forever.
IF THIS POINT IS REACHED, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.
?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Aster felt a sinister chill as he read the information.
"What the fuck?!"
His body trembled as something clicked inside his mind.
"Guide... was this the skill you gave me that helped me calm down?"
I asked, my heart pounding against my ribs. I remembered that detached, cold, and objective feeling. That wrong sensation that had crawled across my skin.
[Yes... it was this very skill, Host.]
"Fuck, are you crazy?"
I asked, alarmed and breathing heavily.
"How could you give me a deadly skill like this?!... Are you asking me to become a machine that tramples over everything without caring about anything?"
[I had no choice. It was the only way for you to escape that situation.]
[And you’re right to be worried about it, Aster...]
[Do not use this skill carelessly, Host.]
[This skill will make your body addicted to the euphoria of feeling whole and having a clear mind, but that is a trap!]
[It will make you depend on it more and more until you become empty and detached. And that includes, of course... the things that are important to you. It isn’t only emotions — important memories, meaningful moments, and most importantly, important people. You will cast them all aside as trivial and meaningless things. They will become burdens that you will expel without any hesitation or doubt.]
"What a mess..."
Aster murmured, genuinely worried. He didn’t want to lose the attachments he had in his life.
Especially the important moments he had shared with Jasmine. The meaningful and happy moments he had experienced with her.
Breathing heavily, Aster’s expression was terrified.
"What do I do?"
He kept hammering that question into his mind.
[Calm down, Aster. Like I told you... just don’t use it carelessly. Only use it if you have no other choice.]
[As long as you listen to me... you’ll be fine.]
"All right."
Aster nodded, trying to regulate his breathing.
"Just avoid using it... Preferably, don’t use it even once, but... I can’t promise that. My future is unpredictable, and I don’t know when I might have to depend on it."
’Ahhffff... I hope everything turns out all right...’