Alexia

“I came to warn you off of trying any of the other trials until you’re Tier 5,” Grandfather states, his lips still quirked upwards ever so slightly in a look of smug satisfaction as he glances at his son. No doubt at my calling him grandfather. Then he turns to me and finishes, “You’re lucky you started the trials with the former Quantum Architect instead of one of the others. Because any of the other quantum beings would have torn you apart as you are now.”

I refrain from saying anything about how I was technically torn apart nine times before I killed him. Because he doesn’t need to know that.

And judging by his lack of any sort of response physical or verbal, he doesn’t seem to be reading my mind anymore. So he is actually keeping up his side of the agreement.

“Of course he is,” Zal grumbles. “He has always wanted a grandchild for some bizarre reason.”

I quickly glance at Zal in surprise before looking at Grandfather, finding him to be awkwardly looking away.

Wait, so how much of what this guy actually does is an act and how much isn’t?!

“Everything about him is a fucking act,” Zal swears, seemingly uncaring of the fact that his father is there to hear him.

Grandfather doesn’t say anything in response to that, so I just move on, asking, “So why exactly is the Architect any different from the other quantum beings?”

Now that question gets a reaction out of both Grandfather and Zal. Because Grandfather snaps his fingers, freezing everyone around us again while Zal closes us off in some cube.

Then Grandfather looks me directly in the eyes and states, “Do not tell this to anyone who isn’t a quantum being. Is that understood?”

I raise a brow but don’t say anything. Not committing to keeping this quiet.

He doesn’t seem to care though as he begins answering my question anyways, “All of the original, first quantum beings were created by the universe as slightly altered clones of the very first quantum being.” His eyes narrow. “As altered clones of myself.”

I blink at that before opening my mouth and closing it again.

Huh.

Well… that certainly explains a few things.

“Haven’t you ever wondered about why all of the quantum beings look so similar? And why all of the role holders are male except for yourself?” Grandfather asks with his arms crossed. “It’s because the only quantum being to ever have their role usurped was the previous Quantum Architect, who was replaced by my son.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Which explains why even Zal looks like Grandfather. Since he’s Grandfather’s son.

But yeah. This explains a lot.

I had briefly wondered why all of the quantum being role holders were male without a single female aside from myself. And why all of the ones I’ve seen looked so similar.

If they’re all just altered clones of the Quantum Ruler, that makes a lot of sense.

“But then why was the original Quantum Architect weaker?” I ask with a frown, not understanding that.

Zal answers this one instead of Grandfather, “Because I killed him hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

I glance at him, then at Grandfather.

“He’s right,” Grandfather says with a nod. “The previous Quantum Architect that you fought was as powerful as he was when he was killed. But the other quantum beings you will fight will have their current strength, which includes hundreds of thousands of years of training and growth that the previous Architect didn’t have.”

Oh.

“You wouldn’t stand a chance against them, even with those extra tries,” Grandfather states with a shrug. “And especially not against me.”

It’s sad how true that probably is, even if it sounds a little like he’s bragging considering his smug tone.

But I never know with him, considering how he is always acting out some role.

Makes me wonder what Grandfather is really like.

The only thing I know about his true self so far is that he apparently wanted a granddaughter.

“The universe needed enforcers to enforce its laws, so it created copies of myself to do that,” Grandfather says while frowning as if he’s not very happy about it. “But it also didn’t like the idea of having so many exact copies of me, so it changed every one in different ways and made them weaker. Giving them just the powers they need for their assigned roles.”

That’s kind of sad.

“Wait, so what about the Successors to the quantum beings with roles?” I ask out of curiosity.

Grandfather glances at Zal with his eyes narrowed as he states, “The universe strongly drives all the role holders to find Successors that can replace them and pushes that drive mostly onto myself. So I’ve been pushing all of the role holders to find Successors.” He turns back to me again with a sigh. “But only half of them have Successors.”

Oh.

He waves his hand to make multiple screens appear, clearly stealing from Zal’s System to do so. And on the screen are five different people. Each with the same glitchy purple eyes and purple tinted hair as us, but with differences too.

Of the five people, three are female and two are male, and only one of them has black hair that’s tinted purple. The others have different colored hair that’s tinted purple.

I’ve never seen a single one of them in my life though, so they likely aren’t known in the universe. Or weren’t known before the Reset.

“Of the current role holders, only five of them have Successors,” Grandfather continues. “The Quantum Vanguard, the Quantum Archon, the Quantum Builder, the Quantum Creator, and the Quantum Cleaner each have Successors.”

Zal grimaces as he is left out despite his attempts to make me his Successor. Meaning he still needs to go out and find one.

So good luck to him for that.

Not my problem.

He glares at me, clearly reading my mind. But I ignore him, as always.

You should be more like your father. At least he isn’t reading my mind anymore. Even if I had to bribe him to get him to stop.

A look of horror spreads across his face at that suggestion.