Marshall blinked. The pain was gone and everything felt so weird. An odd weight in his gut was the most evident, but other things asserted themselves as he tried to stretch his arms and legs out. A tightness inside his skin was unpleasant to say the least, but it didn't hurt. No, the pain was gone and thank all the gods for that. Never before would he have held so much fear towards someone as he did now towards Pyra's brother.
"Yana... I think..." He muttered quietly to himself. The pain had done stuff to his mind too, and it felt like thoughts were coming oh so slowly to him now. He wasn't confident on standing up just yet, so he tried to pull up his screens. Nothing. The air remained blank before his eyes, and his mind started to speed up. The System had been with him his whole life. Even with Pyra's anger towards it, it had been nothing but his guide to strength and purpose. He even had secretly thought that her desire to destroy it was a pipe dream, since it was God. The final arbiter on everyone's potential and abilities.
Now it was gone. Not taking a moment to show up or he didn't have eyes or something. It was just gone. Panic was the only thing he could feel, and his body seemed to react though it was only on the edges of his awareness.
----
"Grandpa, why do we let the humans take everything?" Marshall asked, the old man working the field looking over at the youth not moving.
"Keep working and I will tell you a story." The old man said returning to his own labors on the dry field. Marshall returned to sprinkling water on the cracked earth and stabbing it with his spike.
"Long ago we Beastkin ruled the Realm and had a grand Empire that was ruled by the wise Faerun." He began, Marshall's eyes rolling, he had heard this story so many times.
"Then, the humans came through the Door, and they broke the Empire who was too used to peace." Marshall finished for him.
"But the Faerun were not Beastkin, they were something far older and greater. Both an ancient enemy and great ally for the Goddess, our mother." The old man continued, not paying attention to the flippant youth. Marshall raised an eyebrow, he never heard this part.
"Of course many songs and stories will claim they were the greatest of the Beastkin, but the truth is that they were not Beastkin. Without their guidance we would have never prospered, even when we had everything. We were still subjects to something greater." Then he paused to look over at Marshall, who had stopped his work to listen, "Keep working lad, planting isn't going to go faster with you catching flies like that."
----
Memories flickered across his eyes though they seemed unrelated. Marshall's panic settled when he realized that he had forgotten these memories. How was he remembering his grandfather and the stories he shared during planting?
----
"The King has decreed that a new Hold be built to the south. You will have the honor of working on this project." A man in bright steel armor calmly stated. An air of confidence and bearing causing the surrounding Beastkin to look at their feet. It was clear he had a higher level than most of them, and even Marshall was intimidated. The Tax Collector was just a weasel of a man with only the couple guards. This was a fully armed group of Knights.
"Well grab your possessions and line up," The man continued, his face mostly hidden by his helm, "We have at least two more hovels to visit today before work starts.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Sir," One of the villagers, a broad Foxkin farmer, spoke up, "It's planting time and-" He was cut off by an arrow in his eye and another in his throat. A gurgle was all that sounded his death at the Knight's hands.
"I do not care, the King does not care, you will do as commanded or die. This is how life is." The talking Knight waved his hand and the men hurried to the women and children. A single gesture and they were hauled to the back of carts to be roughly thrown in.
"The longer you take the more the common soldiers will get to enjoy these. Now hurry along." Marshall took a step forwards, but his father put his large hand on his shoulder.
"Without the System we would crush these monsters, with it we must bow to the Oaths taken and the cruelty of Stats." The big man said, sadly.
----
Pain returned to his body, though most of it was in his head. It felt like things were breaking inside of his mind, and all these painful memories were coming with it. Times that should have broken him, angered him beyond reason, crushed his spirit, but they had just faded. Not leaving a trace until now. Until System was gone and a long, traitorous thought returned.
"How much does the System control?"
"Quite a lot over time." An amused voice replied, Yana's voice. Marshall calmed his panic since there was enough already, and turned his head towards the sound. Yana didn't look the same as he remembered. Now he had scale flickering on his skin and the eyes of a snake or lizard. Those eyes calmed him, and after a second he realized it was because he instinctively knew that this creature was the ultimate predator. If it wanted him dead, he would be and it wouldn't even be a thing.
"Good, it only took an hour or so for your brain to stop melting." His words caught Marshall off guard though and he blinked rapidly.
"The System had been moving your memories around to stop you from being a trouble maker. I think it does it to everyone born under it. So, when I took the System away your mind was trying to handle...what twenty-five years of memories and emotions?" Yana tilted his head at the last, "That's a lot of information and you weren't handling it well. I gave even odds of your brain melting out your ears." He tossed something behind him, and a squeal of delight told Marshall it was Pyra. Wait, did they have a bet about him dying?!
"Yes, we bet if you would die. I think she just wanted the fire opal that Mother made, but it seemed like a fair wager." Yana refocused on Marshall, serious this time, "Now, tell me how you feel. Did the core and channels take properly? Can you feel the mana easier? Is the filter working?" He paused, waiting for an answer, before Marshall realized that all those words were for him. His brain still felt muddled.
"Core? Channels?" He asked quietly. Suddenly the intensity vanished and Yana rolled his eyes like a teenager. The switch was so dramatic every time and so natural too.
"When I was born," Yana began, tilting his head a few times, "I was born into the system like the rest of you. My sister-" He glanced back at her with a smile.
"Was the exception to this, at least of the higher children of Mother. So I had something similar happen to me. Though I had far less of everything to have to process." He looked back at Marshall with a frown.
"Something happened later that changed me, and when it did I had a Core. Just like Mother's just far smaller, and a series of looping paths through my body. These are the Channels." His words seemed to guide Marshall's mind through himself and he could feel a irregular sphere with various lines leading around his body.
"I take the look on your face as confirmation. I think this is how all life used to use and control mana, but the System got rid of it over many many years. The fact I was able to gain it and also give it to you shows proof of concept."
"So I am supposed to feel this weak?" Marshall asked, struggling to his feet. Yana wiggled his hand oddly.
"Unclear, you aren't like me, so we will have to see since you are the first success." His tone was light, but Marshall felt himself get cold.
"Um, wait, you did this to others?" Yana glanced at him.
"No, just a few monsters along the way. They bodies didn't react well, but Mother suggested you since you were between a monster and human. Probably would survive." All the fight and energy just puffed right out of him. Even this far away the Dungeon was playing with his life, and these two children of hers were just as bad.
"Why do the gods hate me?" He whispered.
----
A white smile in darkest black, "Hate is such a strong word."