I opened Byrne’s journal to the first page, and a surge of adrenaline coursed through my body. It was that old, familiar sensation I experienced whenever I stumbled upon something long lost. Something that should’ve remained hidden but, by the whims of destiny, had found its way back to my hands. Once again, I felt like an archeologist uncovering secret arcane knowledge. I just hoped Byrne’s diary would be more enlightening than the ones I had read before.

The diary started in the middle of a paragraph. I noticed the missing pages at the beginning. It wasn’t the first diary with torn-out pages. That led me to believe there were parts Byrne didn’t want to be seen. I shook my head and focused on what was in the journal.

Lowel was feeling sick and missed the end of the expedition. It took us two extra days to finish mapping the tunnel system. Even with the help of the Sentinels, things got messy. Chieftain Alton’s geolocation skills are as scary as they are helpful. Without his help, this expedition would’ve ended in tragedy. His rough drafts are better than any of the Scholar’s maps. Luzian Abei ignores the authorship of the tunnels. He says no Marquis of Farcrest has ever worked the inner mountains. Dassyra insists the tribes don’t have the tools or the technique to cut the stone with such precision. I could not rule out the existence of a previous civilization living in these valleys, maybe when the Farlands were far to the north before they moved south.

The following pages were unremarkable details about the expedition: information on the timeframe, supplies, summaries of other squad’s exploration results, and minor skirmishes with low-level monsters. The only important conclusion I could draw from the following thirty pages was that Mr. Byrne had a sizeable mana pool and fairly advanced control over [Mana Manipulation]. It wasn’t a surprise, considering he was a Scholar with knowledge of the modern world.

The deepest chambers aren’t different from the rest of the rest of the tunnels. Smooth stone cut in perfect angles. No monster had appeared. There’s no indication of a previous underground settlement —just naked rock. I feel a voice calling me from the depths, not an audible noise but a message directly telegraphed into my mind. Felt like a System prompt without a prompt. Perhaps it’s just my own paranoia stemming from yesterday’s encounter with the spider monsters. The last chamber is circular. There is a shattered orb in the middle. The biggest half is filled with a black substance, Corruption most probably. Luzian Abei and the rest of the Scholars corroborate my assumption. The shards are also corrupted. The smaller half isn't. As soon as Luzian touches the stone, his face lights up. We have found the fragment of a System Shrine.

The Zealots from the Church allowed us to keep the Fragment in the city. I haven’t told anyone about the voice in my head, but it persisted even after a week outside the tunnels. If any other Scholars heard it, they haven’t said anything. Luzian insists the Fragment’s only use is to scan people’s Character Sheet. The Zealots are keen, but I used the Fragment in secret. People of the kingdom of Ebros believe the System is a natural force, a god even; I think it is not.

There was a time jump of several weeks until the next entry. Byrne’s neat handwriting had mutated into hasty scribbles. If I had to guess, Byrne wrote the journal not because he enjoyed the activity but because he was committed to putting his thoughts on paper.

I have been living in the Farlands for a while now, searching for clues about the Fragment to no avail. As much as I enjoy the company of these rowdy people, I need to return to Farcrest. Lowell’s health is constantly declining. No matter how many potions he chugs, he isn’t getting better. I might have to convince him to come back to Earth with me. Even if that would mean not coming back, modern science might save his life. I own him for saving mine. The Fragment keeps calling me, the words clearer by the day, but I still don’t understand.

There was another time jump. Months this time.

I have achieved [Researcher of the Hidden]. Teaching at the orphanage had given me several boosts. My mana pool had doubled in the last month. Today my [Mana Manipulation] turned into [Mana Mastery].

Byrne’s handwriting was almost a continuous line. I could practically feel the urgency with which the entry was written. The following few lines were almost unreadable.

It reacted. My theory might be true. The Fractalis System is something completely different than these people believe. A heavy burden rests on my shoulders. I have to return to Earth with or without Lowell. I might not be able to return.

The diary ended abruptly. No more notes, maps, or anything. These were the last words Byrne had put into paper before going missing fourteen years ago. I reread the previous entries to ensure I wasn’t missing anything. I closed my eyes and strained my brain for an answer. But instead of answers, even more questions piled up inside my brain. Who was the voice? What was this ‘heavy burden’ he talked about? Why did he return to Earth?

I glanced at the Shrine Fragment, and a shiver ran down my spine.

[Mana Mastery] and the Shrine Fragment had been the catalyst to Byrne’s discovery, and I had access to both. I brought my hand near the crystal but stopped midway and asked myself if I wanted to expose myself to that knowledge. Curiosity was killing me, yet unveiling the world's secrets wasn’t my priority right now.

I shot a glance at Firana.

No matter what ominous secret lay before me, I wouldn’t abandon Elincia and the kids like Byrne did with Dassyra. If the Fragment’s secret was impossible to deal with, I could always take them back to Earth. Raising twelve kids in the current economy would be challenging, not counting their exotic races. I chuckled. As long as we were together, everything would be fine. After all, Elincia and I were an unstoppable team.

I stretched out my hand and touched the fragment.

Fractalis System initializing…

Checking the contents of the foreign soul…

Foreign Soul Robert Clarke detected…

Large amounts of Corruption detected, initializing security settings…

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I tried to pull my hand back, but an invisible force drew me towards the crystal. Suddenly, thousands of thousands of runes glowed within its blue depths. I couldn’t turn around, but such a light show must’ve alerted Abei and Firana. I waited for a moment, but nothing happened. Then, I wasn’t in the Scholar Tower anymore.

The transition had been instantaneous and unintentional. One moment, I was in front of the orb, and the next, I was floating inside my mana pool. The rune-covered walls remained as damaged as I remembered, but I wasn’t alone this time.

“It’s been a while, Robert Clarke. Or should I call you ‘cowboy’?” A nasal yet soothing voice spoke behind me.

A chubby, short man was sitting cross-legged –floating?– in the middle of my mana pool, watching me from behind thick crystal glasses with tortoiseshell frames. His hair was blonde, almost white, with a bowl haircut. His mismatched clothes could be described as 80’s nerdish style. After a second glance, I noticed faint Corruption strands under his pale skin.

“What did you expect? A six-foot-tall, handsome stud?”

“Are you the creator of the System?” I cautiously asked. Having someone inside my mana pool felt like a massive breach of privacy.

“I’m just a fragment of the System.” The man explained, scratching the shade of beard on his upper lip. “Look, I know you have many questions, and I’ll try to answer them, but we have little time. With your ridiculous quest to save that orphanage distracting you from leveling up your class, I feared you’ll never learn [Mana Mastery].”

“Wait. Were you expecting me to find you? You didn’t make me a Scholar because of my teaching vocation?” I asked.

“I’m sorry for not making you a Mage. Only Scholars can learn [Mana Mastery], so I needed you to be a Scholar if I wanted to meet you eventually.” He replied. “Regarding your vocation, though… your students loved you because you are a funny, easygoing guy who hasn’t forgotten what it is like to be a kid. Other than that, you are kind of a shitty teacher with discipline issues.”

I was so set back that I couldn’t answer. During the last months, I had been telling myself that if the System assigned the Scholar class, it had to be due to my natural tendency to teach. That idea had pushed me forward even during moments of doubt. My titles didn’t lie.

If I had a solid body, I would’ve needed to take a seat.

“You gaslit little Ilya into believing she could become an Imperial Knight. Unsurprisingly, you could also gaslit yourself into believing you are a good teacher.” The chubby man added as if reading directly into my thoughts. “Did I use that word correctly? Gaslit?”

I looked at the man in shock and nodded.

“I figured I did it. Learning things is easy when you have direct access to other people’s memories.” He said with a self-satisfied tone.

Although I was before a human figure, I suspected I wasn’t actually talking with a human being. For starters, he lacked any kind of filter to his words. And there was the fact he hadn’t moved an inch since we first met. I ignored the insults and assumed I was in front of a machine with a human appearance —an avatar of the System.

“You make me a Scholar so we could eventually meet. Why?” I asked.

“I have a problem I can’t fix without external help.” The chubby man said, unbuttoning the first buttons of his yellow polo shirt and revealing a dark patch of Corruption. “The System had accumulated errors over the years, and I fear the situation is about to reach a point of no return. Corruption isn’t native to this world, not in great amounts, and yet corrupted beasts roaming the land had become a usual sign.”

I nodded. Suddenly, all my theories about the System were being confirmed. The System wasn’t perfect or natural, and a higher being didn’t create it. The System was a complex artificial program that accumulated errors much like any other. I bit my nail. The Corruption situation had to be dire if Byrne returned to Earth instead of dealing with it.

“You have System Zealots to do your dirty work. Why don’t you send them a Quest with whatever you need done?” I interrupted him. Usually, world-saving quests meant facing great dangers, and I wasn’t in the position of leaving the orphanage to travel across the world any time soon.

“Can’t do. System Zealots don’t have the skill set required for this job. Only a Scholar with [Mana Mastery] would do.” The System Avatar replied.

Suddenly, the walls of my mana pool trembled, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I felt a powerful presence prowling just outside my vision range —a slithering body of a dark creature moving just outside my mana pool.

“Don't pay attention to it. That’s a diagnostic tool searching for irregularities in the System. My presence must’ve triggered that subroutine.” The chubby man said with a pleading, distorted voice. “Look, Rob. The System is order, and the Corruption is chaos. The people of this cruel world need the System to survive. That’s the reason it was created. If you love this world as much as my original creator did, please lend me your help.”

The walls of my mana pool trembled again. The Avatar was right. I loved this world, its people, its magic, and I’d do anything to protect it. I sighed, feeling dirty about what I would do. I doubted I’d get a chance like this any time soon. Time was pressing, and I had the upper hand in the negotiations, so naturally, I had to ask for the moon and the stars.

“Can you give my kids powerful classes?” I asked.

The man looked at me in disbelief.

“No, I can’t edit the class-assignment subsystems, and I can’t edit their Classes if they don’t have one already.”

“Can you get rid of my Corruption?”

He shook his head.

“Can you at least tell me the [Knight] Class requirements then?” I was getting out of ideas for a proper reward.

“I’m sorry, that depends on the contents of people’s souls, literally. A [Knight] is a bulwark against injustice. It requires decisiveness, tenacity, and an unbreakable sense of justice.” The chubby man apologized. His voice became more and more glitched by the second.

My mana pool trembled violently, and the bright blue runes on the walls turned into a red gleam. I felt the creature trying to enter through the cracks. Time for negotiations was rapidly drawing to a close.

“I can’t do much now, but I can eliminate the Foreign Soul’s silence pact. I have seen inside your mind, and I know you are dying to tell your elven girlfriend the truth about your origin.” The chubby man grunted. His avatar was starting to fade. “I have been pushing for that relationship since the very beginning, so at least you have to give me some credit.”

Just as I nodded, a prompt appeared in front of my face.

Erasing Silence Pact…

Process complete.

You can speak to your heart’s content.

I didn’t feel a physical sensation, but the runes on the wall changed into a new layout, so I assumed the change had been done.

“Alright. I’ll help you. What should I do first?” I said as an eye peeked through a large crack through the wall. My blood froze. Was it necessary to add visual effects to whatever subsystem that was?

“I knew you would do it.” The man smiled. “Ready for a power-up?”