"Are you able to answer questions, or only perform trades and sales?" I ask the stone-like worker.

"Here at the System Shop," he says. "We are capable of providing basic answers regarding the System and Earth's current situation, handle Quests for residents, purchase items from residents, sell items to residents, and perform trades with residents."

"You can do all of that?"

"Each window provides a different category of assistance," the worker responds. "At this front window, we System Golems are able to provide information, handle Quests, and purchase items. You currently have one Quest awaiting completion."

I guess it makes sense they would want to separate out the duties of the golems so that it's easier to manage. This way, they aren't all crowded up with people wanting to buy things and blocking the way for people who want to complete Quests or get information and vice versa. Sort of like different vendors at a fair. Guests wouldn't go to the funnel cake vendor to buy a stuffed bear or to a stuffed animal vendor to buy a funnel cake.

"What about the others?" I ask.

"The window on the side to your left," he says. "Allows for the purchasing of food-based items. Seeds, saplings, and basic foods with some food products such as meal pouches or boxes. The window on the side to your right allows for the purchasing of production basics. Base materials such as ores, fibers, and fabrics may be purchased there. On the back side of this building, you can find golems which will sell basic supplies. Starting weapons, first-aid kits, simple potions, dishes, containers, and the like."

This place offers quite a lot, then. That actually now makes me suspicious of the being or beings behind the System. Are they trying to get people to rely on them?

"Is syscre a currency?" It's at least a reward for the Quest I have.

"It is the only currency which may be used here at the System Shop," he answers. "However, you may also perform trades here as well. Trades and item exchanges may be performed at this front window."

"How do I earn syscre?"

"Selling items here to the System Shop or to other people who pay in syscre," he answers. "You may also receive it as a reward for some Quests received through the System.

This thing's blank expression is a little bit disconcerting, as is its relatively monotonous tone. However, I want this information now rather than delaying it because of that or figuring it out on my own. There may be something important here.

"What caused the Mana Flood?" I ask.

"Am I correct in assuming that 'Mana Flood' is the term you are using to refer to when Earth's own magical energy awakened with a violent start and began to flood the world?" The golem asks.

While his question answers his own question, I can see why he might still want to confirm it. He even partially answered my own question with his.

"Yes," I answer.

"All worlds have veins of Mana, or magical energy, flowing through them," the golem informs me. "As do people. However, this magical energy is normally dormant in worlds without magic, not flowing through its veins but remaining stagnant. As a world begins to mature and age, those veins begin to awaken and Mana begins to flow. Some of it leaks out and begins to enter the world. When that happens, the magic within people and animals can begin to awaken as well, allowing them to wield magic.

"In creatures with weaker wills and lesser minds," he continues. "This can result in mutations as the magical energy bombards their body, transforming them. In those with stronger wills and greater minds, such as humans, this effect cannot occur and it begins to harm them."

Whoa. This isn't just an answer to my question but also an answer to others that I had. I guess the golem is more than just a fancy-looking artificial intelligence but something which can figure out it needs to give a bigger explanation as well.

"However," the golem continues. "As the process is typically slow and gradual, beings such as humans ordinarily adapt over time, as they are wont to do with many things. Hair, eyes, skin color, metabolism, build, immune system, and more all adapt over generations. One's resistance to ambient magical energy does as well. As such, the Mana of a world waking up does not ordinarily cause problems."

Based on that, I'm assuming that means that if things had gone the normal way, the ambient magical energy in the air wouldn't be hurting me just by being in it. It would either be so low as to not be noticeable or we'd already have adapted over many generations to it.

"In Earth's case," the golem continues. "The membranes of the veins of Mana were weakened due to the planet's state. Pollution and other problems can affect this. It still contained Mana and didn't leak any while it remained within its stagnant state.

"When the magical energy within those veins began to flow," he says. "The membranes were weakened enough that an extreme amount of Mana began to flow out. This resulted in an intense flood of Mana that nearly destroyed everything."

"Okay," I say. "Why did the System initiate?"

Let's see what it says. So far, it's been helpful and is now sounding less suspicious, but I still want to know the answer to this.

"The System is a fail-safe system," he answers. "It was created by the higher gods of this universe in order to allow for mortal people to survive in worlds they ordinarily could not. Magic feeds into magic, so in a world of it, the amounts continue to grow. There comes a point where adaptation cannot assist in resisting for higher-minded species like humans and you would die off."

Either because there's a limit to how much we can adapt or because we can only adapt so fast and it starts to slow down after a certain point.

"But the System allows for this?"

"Yes," the golem answers. "By raising certain stats – your Aura, Mana, Constitution, Vitality, and Soul – you increase your resistance to ambient magical energy. The adaptations your people would develop over time would be into these five stats, but there is a natural slowdown over time that prevents you from being able to keep pace after several thousand years. It is not enough to allow your people to survive as people until Earth would reach its stabilization point – the point at which the ambient magical energy cannot increase further and is balanced with the energy in its veins."

Just as I suspected. Unless this thing can read my mind? It did add on information I didn't expect such as a stabilization point, but that could just be within the answer to make things seem more authentic.

"Can you read my mind?"

"I am incapable of doing so," he answers. "However, the System itself is thought-based so a small scan of your current intentions is active at all times. It does not read your actual thoughts, however, and only detects things relating to the System."

That both makes sense and now creeps me out a little. I really hope the golem is correct in that it's just my intentions relating to the System that are detected. Whether or not I can trust this answer is not something I know and the golem very well may have lied to me.

"Okay," I say. "Back to my previous question. The System exists to allow us to adapt faster?"

"Correct," the golem answers. "By acquiring Classes, raising their Levels, and utilizing Attribute Points, you are able to raise your stats at a rate faster than ordinary. This allows your people to adapt to and even past the point needed for stabilization without needing to spend generations doing so, and then continue to live beyond that point."

"And the System is only for worlds that have a problem like Earth's?"

"Incorrect," he responds. "It is set to activate on any world where the ambient magical energy levels exceed a certain point. This is done to ensure the continued survival of its people. In a situation like Earth's, an additional safety measure is taken and a secondary membrane is placed over the natural one for the world's mana veins. This slows the leakage down to an acceptable level, then excess Mana is drawn from the world to bring it back down to the threshold to activate the System. That excess Mana is used to implement facilities such as this one."

I've done a lot of reading, both in stories and comics, and watching cartoons, anime, and other shows. Normally, someone has to spend forever before getting any answers but the gods who created this System seem to want to give the answers up-front. If the golem is right about the System existing to help people, then it would make plenty of sense why I'd be able to just ask it about the System and our situation and receive answers.

This is a lot of information to take in all at once and I hate it, but it really is important to learn as much as I can think of to ask about right now. The jury's still out on whether or not I can trust what I'm being told, but the more questions I ask, the better-able I am to determine that.

"Are we able to talk to the gods?"

"That information is classified above your clearance level."

For the next few seconds, I am not able to figure out how to respond and end up just staring at the golem in shock. That answer…

"Please inform the gods that I thank them for implementing this and allowing us to live," I say. "But I do not want to be a part of any games or politics they have and unless they're a hot guy, I'm not interested in sex."

"Do you have any further inquiries or business?" The golem asks.

I think I broke its AI just a little. That, or I annoyed the golem.

"The deterioration that was mentioned in the Quest," I say. "That's because of the ambient Mana, right?"

"Correct," the golem answers. "In order to resist ambient magical energy, an object must have its own resistance to it. An object made without using magic or materials that have magic in them possesses zero resistance to magic and so will disintegrate over time.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Do not worry," he says. "When the System arrived, it adapted all non-animal living matter to the ambient magical energy, as well as to the soil and natural materials within it. All gems, metals, and other minerals still within the land, yet to be harvested, are now as much a part of this world as the ambient magical energy is. Though most did not acquire magical properties, they are still 'magical' for the purposes of resisting ambient magical energy. For the sake of simplicity, you can consider newly-harvested and -mined objects to be normal rather than magical."

"But this doesn't apply to stuff that was already harvested or processed," I say.

"That is correct," he says. "However, you may trade items of the old form in to here for equivalent items for a small fee in syscre. This only works for as long as the product is still viable."

"Which means no cell phones?"

"That is correct," he answers. "Ambient magical energy interferes with much of the old technology and so those products do not exist anymore. Equivalent items for a world of magic are too different."

Does that mean we can develop magical versions of what was current technology before the Mana Flood?

"Alright," I pull off my backpack. "So I can trade in clothes, too?"

"For a small fee in syscre, yes," he answers as I open up the bag. "All products purchased at a System Shop are basic items, but they are suitable for the level of ambient magical energy in the area the shop is located in."

That makes me pause.

"The levels are different?" I look up at him.

"Depending on your location, yes," he answers. "There are natural fluctuations in the levels of ambient magical energy. As magic settles in, this can grow further as well."

Magic feeds into magic, he said. An area where magic is often used for stuff like bolstering crops probably increases in it faster than somewhere such things don't happen.

"What kind of stuff increases the magical energy of an area?" I pull out what I was looking for and set it on the counter.

"Simply using magic," he answers. "There is some degree of magical leakage when casting spells. Magic items that are not made by a true master also tend to leak out some of their own magic, resulting in a faster decay than they otherwise would. Adding magic to the soil or water or other such things to benefit them also does so. Decomposing living matter with magic in it also does so. Please note that this does not count things like leaves of a 'new ordinary' tree, it would need to be a material that has actual magical properties."

"So oak leaves won't but glowing oak leaves would?"

"That is correct," he answers.

"Is there a way to check the ambient magical levels for an area?" I ask. "It doesn't seem like it's degrading items here but it's still hard to breathe a little and is sending a burning feeling through my veins."

"If you are wondering about the decay level," he says. "The ambient magical energy for everything within approximately two miles of a location approximately half of a mile in the northwestern direction of here is high enough that anything within it will decay in around eight to twelve days, depending on how close they are to that point."

Depending on the more specific direction, that's near to my house. Or at my house… I'm not sure I want to think about that.

"This area currently possesses the highest level of ambient magical energy on Earth," the golem drops a wonderful piece of news. "It is advised to move at least fifty miles away from this location for the greatest odds of survival, including factoring in expected spread and increases of said ambient magical energy. Within the two-mile radius stated, the ambient magical energy is high enough to deplete your Aura faster than you are able to regenerate it."

Aura. Right. I forgot about that so I'm glad he brought it up.

"What is Aura?" I ask.

"A form of energy which permeates your body," he answers. "It mitigates damage taken based on a variety of factors, including how much Aura you have at the moment of harm – as the energy is spread evenly through your body – and your Constitution. The amount of Aura consumed is based on these factors and how strong the harming factor was."

"How much Aura do I lose per second?" I ask. "In this area, I mean."

"Due to the Mana Flood," he says. "All living beings were depleted of their Aura and many perished. In an area like this one, those with stronger wills were able to stave off death until the fail-safe initiated, but their bodies are damaged and continue to suffer damage. At present, the level of ambient magical energy in this area is removing approximately 7.4 Aura per second from you. Unless you go somewhere where the amount lost is lower than your regeneration rate, you will continue to take damage. Failure to manage this effectively will result in death."

Yet I would need to travel fifty miles to get somewhere that safe? And by foot, too, when considering that even if I stole a bike, it probably wouldn't last the journey. Not with monster attacks and apparent degradation of materials.

"I don't think it's safe for me to travel that far," I say. "Are there other things I could do?"

"Regularly consume healing potions," he answers. "And heal injuries from other sources as soon as possible. Wounds create more surface area to be touched by ambient mana. Raise the related stats via the possible ways, such as raising the Levels of your Classes."

All of that makes sense and I was afraid of this. Unless I bust my ass, I'm in a little bit of a bad situation. It also really speaks to the wills of the people in my neighborhood – even the kids – that they were able to survive the Mana Flood.

That was only for the "higher-minded" beings like humans, though. For the animals, the golem did mention that their wills didn't allow them to resist, and that somehow caused them to mutate. I'm not really sure how that works, but there are other things to focus on now.

"Are healing potion counted as 'simple potions'?" I ask. "And if so, which golem sells them?"

"The golems at the back of the building sell basic potions," the golem answers. "You will also receive five basic healing potions in your [Starter Kit] once you complete your Quest. It is also possible to brew them."

The golem becomes still for a moment and that's when I realize that this entire time, it's had a very slight movement going on. Just enough to make it fully seem like I'm talking not to a statue but to a person, but not enough movement to really be consciously noticed. Glancing at the other golems, I can see that it's a movement resembling breathing.

Considerate gods. This conversation would probably have been a lot more disconcerting for me if the golems were completely still.

When the golem I'm speaking with resumes its breathing-like movement, the dark blue of its eyes flickers for a very brief moment three times in a row. Did it just… blink? It's breathing is different from the others as well. More noticeable.

"When plants were adapted to a world with ambient magical energy," his voice is more masculine than before. "Some of them mutated into plants with magical properties. It is possible to buy low-quality seeds and saplings from the System Shop, though it will take time and effort to raise their quality. Ones you find naturally will have better effects than those from the shop, though ones at the shop can be raised to superior versions."

The golem is blinking regularly now, like a person would, and its breathing is more noticeable now. This isn't a golem who's speaking to me anymore, is it?

"Some of the plants in your garden have healing effects," the probably-a-god says. "It takes more than that to make a potion but even a basic attempt without the other items can produce a superior healing effect. It will still be minor and not the same as a potion's, but it will do if you do not have other components that can turn it from juice or tea into a proper potion."

The golem turns still once more and the dark blue of its eyes disappears completely. After a few moments, the dark blue returns and the slight-breathing motion the others are making returns to it.

"This personalized information has come to you at no cost," his voice is back to what it was before. "A free benefit to assist you in your survival in this new and dangerous state Earth is in."

The sad thing is that there are people who will honestly believe that it was just the golem doing some sort of check and switching modes for the 'personalization' was so that it's not as robotic-seeming. That was definitely some sort of other being possessing it, though, and I'm willing to bet a week of blue balls it was a god.

"Okay," I say. "Is something like this first-aid kit able to be traded for a new version?"

"Yes," the golem answers. "The fee for exchanging this first-aid kit for one which will not degrade due to the ambient magical energy in this area is 500 syscre. If you would like one for an area with tolerable levels, it will be 50 syscre."

That price difference is not reassuring at all.

"Can I sell monster corpses?" I ask.

"You may not," the golem answers. "You may, however, trade in processed parts. Treated hides, their meat, and their magic crystals. There is not much else of value from the stoneshot squirrels, though the magihawks can also have their feathers, talons, and beaks traded."

"Do all monsters have maginiite in their hearts?"

"In their heart or heart equivalent," he answers. "The larger the heart or heart equivalent, the larger the crystal will be. However, this does not equate to purity or strength of magic within it. The more powerful the creature, the more magic will be contained within the maginiite crystal within its heart or heart equivalent."

"Okay," I put the first-aid kit back into my backpack, which I then sling over a shoulder before pulling out the three crystals I do have and set them onto the counter. "Can I sell these?"

"Each of these is valued at 5 syscre," the golem informs me. "Would you like to sell all three for 15 syscre?"

Without looking at the products in the shops, I can't tell if that's a decent amount or not. We receive 100 syscre for the Quest but that's definitely also to help us with getting started and possibly buying stuff that will last here.

"What happens when I sell them?" I ask.

"They will be put up for sale at this location," he answers. "For other residents to purchase if they so choose. If they have not been purchased within three months, they will enter into an expanded area of sale, able to be purchased at other nearby System Shops. If they are still for sale after one year, then they will be made available at all System Shops globally."

Does that mean that the System Shops will be around forever, then? They'll be around for more than a year based on that statement.

"Okay," I say. "I'd like to sell the crystals and complete my Quest."

The golem puts a hand on the crystals and his hand turns blue for a second. He lifts his hand up and the crystals are gone, then he sets his hand back down and the hand turns blue for a second again. When he lifts his hand up this time, there are two coins on the counter.

Both coins look copper and around the size of a nickle. They have the same basic design, which has one face with a crystal-like pattern with a laurel around it and the other with a tree and flowers at the bottom.

In English, they have the words "Syscre" on each side, with one coin having a "5" and the other having a "10". The tree side also has "By the grace of the gods" curving along the top while the crystal side has "Through the will of the wielder" curving along the bottom.

"Payment has been given," the golem says. "Please accept payment if you wish to confirm the trade."

I grab the coins and slip them into my pocket.

"Thank you for the sale," the golem says. "Do you wish to complete your Quest now?"

"I do."

The golem places his hand back down and it turns dark blue for a second, then he pulls his hand away. There's a silver syscre coin there, this one numbered "1", so I'm going to assume that a silver syscre is worth a hundred copper. At the same time he pulls his hand away, a menu appears in my vision.

"Please make your choices for your [Starter Pack]," the golem tells me. "You must select one item from each category to confirm."

[Starter Pack] choices: please select one item from each category. Weapons/Tools Clothes Food Skill Scrolls You will also receive 5 [Basic Healing Potion]s, 5 [Basic Mana Recovery Potion]s, and 5 [Basic Aura Recovery Potion]s.

It's not just a pack but a build-your-own pack that comes with some guarantees. I begin reviewing the selections and find that it's… rather extensive. Making my choices might take some time.

"A question real quick," I say. "I noticed no monsters attacking here. Is the shop area a safe zone?"

"That is correct," the golem answers. "However, it is not a permanent one. At your current Level, you are not able to stay in here for more than one hour of time per day when you are not utilizing the functions of the System Shop. Loiterers will be teleported out, as will those who believe abusing this feature will let them cheat their way into extended protection time."

That sounds very much like a "letting people go in front of you to extend how long you're in the safe zone is a trick we know and we'll count your time in line when doing that toward your time limit" sort of deal. They probably also count attempting to increase time by being slower in making choices as abusing the situation and count that time toward the time limit.

"Okay," I say. "Didn't even think about there being a time limit. Will me taking my time to look through the choices and make what I feel are the best ones count toward the time limit?"

"As long as you are actually utilizing the time to consider and make choices, it will not count toward the one-hour limit you have," he answers.

"Thanks," I say. "There are a lot of things here so I want to make sure I don't miss anything."