A young woman with long snowy hair appeared. Victor was certain the woman wasn’t there a moment ago. She just appeared out of nowhere. The woman was wearing a light blue dress and was looking at him with a strange smile. Victor took a good look at the strange woman and experience told him she was no ordinary human. Victor was nervous as hell, and directed his fear into a challenge.
“Who are you?”
The young woman just laughed at the question. “Did you just activate a spell formation without knowing what you were trying to summon? Wait, don’t answer that. From what I see, an idiot like you must have done just that.”
Victor wasn’t pleased with the insult but twenty years in prison had taught him to keep his temper in check. “My name is Victor Volkov. Who are you?”
“My name?” The woman looked a little surprised by the question before a smile appeared on her face. “I guess you can call me Reunion.”
“Reunion? That’s your name?”
“In a way, but that’s not what you are really interested in is it? You want to know what is going on.” Victor nodded and the strange woman named Reunion answered. “You just activated a multi-dimensional spell formation, more commonly known as a summoning circle. What is different about this summoning circle is that it was designed to summon a system?”
“A system? What a minute, this circle can summon a superpower?”
“Super…oh, is this one of those dimensions where people have superpowers? Hang on, let me scan you first.”
“Scan me? How long will…”
“Done!” Victor was shocked by the speed of the scan. Was this young woman for real? How could she be a system? “Host is called Victor Volkov. Profession is a super…no, just a villain. Some of grading system here in this world. Goes by the villainious name of ‘Sweet Fist’. No real skills to speak of but possess some weak martial arts. Wow, the martial skills of this world sucks. There are a few cultivators but not a single cultivation school anywhere.”
“Cultivation? What’s that? Is that the superpower you are giving me?” Victor focused on the important question.
“I guess in a way you can consider it a superpower…wait, you don’t look very surprise by my presence. Have other systems been in this world before?”
“I don’t know if anyone has a system currently, but there were at least two in the past. The Swift Panther had one, so did The Pink Duke, but I remember they had something call ‘blue boxes’. Why are you…?” Victor became worried as he spoke. Did he get a faulty system?
“Oh, not every system uses the blue boxes. Most don’t in fact. Also you usually get them when the system occur naturally. I was summoned, so no blue boxes for you. Hope that’s not a problem for you.”
“I don’t really care.” Victor admitted. “No one had a system since the Silver Age, so some changes are to be expected. Having a system is considered having a very rare superpower.”
“Oh, systems are considered superpowers in this world? Well, we are not but hey, if it’s more comfortable for you to think of me as such, that’s not a problem.”
“Great! Now, what superpower are you going to give me?”
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“It doesn’t work that way.” Reunion laughed. “Tell me what you know about us first?”
“According to The Swift Panther, his system gives him tasks to complete and once he was successful, it will make him stronger and faster. The Duke has something similar though his system makes him more attractive and charismatic.”
“That’s exactly kind of accurate. I’m kind of glad to skip all the introductory stuff. They are a bore. So, are you really for your first task?”
“Give it to me.”
“Okay then, here we go. First task; Meet one of your descendants. Host Victor Volkov must meet with one of his children or grandchildren within three days. Failure will result in the host’s termination.”
Silence greeted the task. The silence grew as Victor heard only one word. “Termination?”
“Yes,” Reunion happily answered. “You must complete the task or you will die.”
“You will kill me if I fail? WHY?”
“That’s the way it is. The host of the system must prove himself worthy or the system will need to go find another host. Surely the two people you mentioned before said something about this.”
Victor suddenly realized he don’t really know much about Swift Panther or the Pink Duke. They were just some historical heroes he read about in school. He should have never listened to his former boss. The old mage always had more power than sense and now Victor was caught with no way out of this mess. He was going to die!
“That’s an impossible task!” Victor cried out. “What do you mean I will die if I don’t meet with my children or grandchildren? I never had kids!”
“You did. In fact, you had several, and some of them already have children of their own. Host, you are a grandpa!”
“Nonsense! Prove it! Show me my kids and the women who had them. I was in jail for the past twenty years! No one had ever visited me in the past ten! How am I supposed to have any children?”
Reunion shook her head in disappointment. “This system is very disappointed at having such a deadbeat host. Very well then, I shall will give you a starter pack.”
“What’s a starter…”
A table appeared beside Victor and a book was on it. Victor stared at Reunion who returned his look with an innocent smile. Victor’s shoulders slumped. This stupid system will be the death of him! For now, he had no choice but to soldier on. He picked up the book. The moment Victor opened it, his eyes widened. On the first page of the book was a picture of a woman with the name of Emily Palacio. He remembered her. Emily Palacio was the real name of Miss Scepter. She was a follow supervillain Victor had an affair with over thirty years ago. There was something else on her page outside her picture and name.
‘Mother of Edison Dawson; Grandmother of Bobby Dawson’
Victor turned the page and saw a picture of Edison Dawson. Any doubt he had about being a father evaporated at the sight of Edison. The man looked just like Victor when he was younger. Victor turned to the next page, and saw a picture of Bobby Dawson. He turned the page again, and again, and again. In the book were the pictures of six women he had slept with in the past, his six children, and three grandchildren. He…he was just like his father. Victor looked up at Reunion and he finally understood something.
“You are call Reunion. That’s not really your name, is it? That’s the name of the system. My system!”
“Oh, so you’re not a total idiot. It’s both really. I am the system so it’s both my name and the name of the system you received.”
“Why? What’s your aim? To help me reunite with a family I never knew existed? Why did I get this system?”
“To gain power. To make life more interesting. Maybe it’s just because it’s what you really need. Who know? Who cares? This summoning formation got me so congratulations to host Victor Volkov for receiving the Reunion System.”
Victor was in a daze, and it was a dangerous angry daze. He was still wondering how he should feel about…well, everything! Getting out of jail, the system, the children, the grandchildren! He was confused. He was angry. He was furious. All this time, and no one told him! Victor wanted to hurt someone. Anyone! A shiny white light knocked him out of his rage. Victor blinked and found that he was back in the basement. In his head came a warning.
“Please complete the task within three days and return to this circle. If you fail to do so, you will be terminated.”