“What is the system? This dear reader, is a question scholars have been asking no doubt since the beginning of life itself.
Has it always been here? Was there anything before it? Is it a natural part of a living being's soul; linking us to all of reality itself? Sadly, however, it is quite possible, likely even, that we will never know.
If there were to be a creature to have existed before the system, it is surely long since dead. After all, even immortals die, if not through age, then through some other unfortunate event of happenstance; thus is the way of the multiverse after all.
We also lack any records that date back that far. And while it does hurt my pride as a scholar to admit it, even in the advanced state of the multiverse right now, we still are unable to glimpse even a fragment surrounding the origins or abilities surrounding the seemingly all-powerful projections that rule over our identities.
Perhaps answers may only be found through transcendence into divinity. However, If that is the case, I can – tragically – only resign to my fate, wailing in my own regret of not being born a scholar of greater insight.”
– Passage from ‘Insights into the system’, Professor Hogarth Quinn, Yanxine Empire Capital Library.
…
All lay quiet in the stygian void that composed the outer breaches of the multiverse.
Within this ever-growing expanse of null, however, strode an asteroid of excessive heft. Thus the question could be derived, where was this mountain-sized coagulation of stone from?
And while such a question may be considered dull in nature, it was also an inquiry that doubtedly even the most ancient of living Gods would fail to answer.
The mystery of such a quandary could possibly only be trumped by the follow-up question: where was this asteroid’s place of finality?
Such a question was by far infinitely more unknowable than the prior.
Why? You may be asking yourself.
Well, it’s rather simple;
You see, even the proprietor of such a ‘vessel’ wasn’t quite sure…
*snoreeee*
Boomed a sound from the gigantic rock, cracks beginning to form on a sand-covered desert planet just over a light-year away.
…
To answer the first of the aforementioned questions, this asteroid was old, REALLY OLD. Not just like, “Yeah, my dad’s turning fifty this year, he’s got both feet in the grave :(” No, I’m talking quadrillions of years old; ten quadrillion to be precise.
Anyway, throughout this ‘fossil’s’ journey throughout the multiverse, it had gone completely unmolested, whether this was because of the calamity-inducing snores coming from the asteroid’s sole inhabitant, or the fact that said inhabitant emanated an aura that caused the Gods to retreat in fear, and so-called ‘immortals’ to straight up die without a second thought – who was to say?
However, on this day… night? However, one is supposed to tell time in space?
Upon this behemoth of stone, you see, rested a humanoid figure, but please, be assured; this figure is by no means human, nor any of the other uncountable races that call the multiverse their home.
No, this was something more… Much more.
Its skin was an abyss so dark, light dared not approach, fearing to be swallowed by the bottomless oblivion that was its being.
Aside from the being's ‘outer layer’, it was otherwise featureless.
The source of the apocalyptic snores seemed to emit from what constituted as the creature's head, rather than any visible bodily apparatus.
As this creature slumbered on, however, a blue-tinged light appeared before it, on it displayed a message:
System Message
You are entering a space dedicated by the system for planetary integration; any non-living matter will be transformed to form the new planet that will serve to host the new sapient lives that have yet to be connected to the multiverse.
Please be Warned--
And with the swipe of a black tendrilled arm, the screen disappeared; fading from reality, as if it were to have never existed in the first place.
“Mmh… five more minutes”, came a grumble from the sapient being of darkness.
These words, however, bore an unintended effect… Time froze…
Not just the localised time around the being, no. All time froze, every being in the multiverse stood stock still.
All but this creature.
“That’s better”, the creature whispered happily.
Five minutes past
And just like that, everything was back to normal, and the abyssal creature continued cruising forwards.
…
After an uncertain amount of time elapsed, another window appeared:
System Message
Welcome to the system, as you and the rest of your planet have been deemed worthy by the system, you shall be initiated into the multiverse. To aid in this transition period, the system has taken it upon itself to combine your home Planet with a large collection of other unintegrated planets.
You may also notice several key differences between this new World, and the one you formerly knew. Primarily, to note is the existence of mana, a substance that your previous world lacked.
Access to this substance, as well as many other changes to your world, and the non-sapients that live there have all been gifted by the system in hopes of a faster transition.
Many other features such as classes, levels, and the like will all be explained as you continue to grow in strength.
The system wishes you luck, and prosperity in your future endeavours.
“Ahh, Fuck off, what time is it?!” the being said, shooing the screen away before drifting back off into its restful slumber.
In that instant, however, a wave of spatial energies surrounded the asteroid.
The energies began eating away at the stone, ripping off chunks and transporting the matter somewhere else.
The humanoid that passengered this ‘ship’ failed to even stir this time, the harsh beating of spatial energy on it feeling more like a weighted blanket rather than an attack that could tear the very seams of reality apart.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Thus, the creature fell further into rest.
The spatial magic, undeterred, decided to take a different approach in order to move the creature that lay asleep before it.
Directing its energy to the zone beneath the creature, the mana, imbued with the concept of space, began to coalesce, shifting, and moving in unnatural movements.
In a few moments, a tear began to form on the surface of reality, creating a gateway that bridged to areas of space together; a portal.
After this magical construction was created, all that was required was a simple nudge for the pitch humanoid to roll directly into the large portal beneath it, gravity from the other side of the portal pulling it through.
And just like that, the creature of oblivion, who had gone unmoved for the past ten quadrillion years, had found its way onto the grass-filled plains of a newly created world.
…
The embodiment of chaos stirred, it felt an unknown sensation brushing against it, a feeling seemingly foreign to the creature, having slept for such a time.
It shuffled its limb, the one that most aptly resembled a humanoid's left hand.
Brushing it against the floor it now lay, it felt… bristles? Small needle-like protrusion that weakly prodded at the creature's back?
*sigh*
The creature weakly resounded; it was going to have to get up.
With a defeated breath, the being opened its eyes..?
Two balls of fiery light, the splendour of which put even the heavens to shame, formed on the creatures… face.
Huh, Where’s my asteroid gone? It shouldn’t have been able to sustain life with my presence there.
Going back through its memories while it was asleep, the creature suddenly remembered the two blue screens.
With an act of will, rather than any flashy display of skill, the two screens reappeared in front of the darkness incarnate.
“Hmm, it appears that after all this time, a being has finally been able to conquer the entirety of the multiverse… Interesting”, the creature pondered.
I guess that means I can freely use my abilities, and leave the cleaning up to that loser!
Its eyes somehow shining even brighter in delight.
The darkness was elated!
It had been sooo boring since the last guy up and died for some unknown reason that the creature certainly had no accidental part in…
…
Anyways… What should I do first?
Hmm…
Ermm..?
Maybe– No
Uhh…
It didn’t know what to do…
The creature was simply just too overwhelmed with decision.
It was like trying to pick a movie to watch on Netflix; there are way too many options to be able to make an informed decision… Whatever that is.
All of a sudden, a loud shout from behind the creature alerted the creature of something within the large coniferous forest located at its rear.
Freed from the burdensome conundrum of choice, the creature decided to investigate the matter.
It wondered how the multiverse had changed in its brief time away. That system thing looked pretty new at least.
Deciding to take things slow, the creature began to walk towards the source of the noise, moving the orbs that hovered just in front of its face around to admire the scenery.
It was quite bland, to be honest, it was all just a collection of green.
“Where was the variety?” It silently complained.
After walking for a few more minutes, the creature spotted a break in the foliage up ahead.
Within the clearing, the creature could make out several humanoid beings lined up in a row, each holding what seemed to be a weapon.
In front of this gathering of people, a large boar stood, easily the size of at least five of the sapiens it currently looked down upon, smashing its hoof into the ground, getting ready to charge.
The being of darkness simply looked on with excitement.
How long had it been since it had last witnessed a battle? Too long; that’s the answer.
I shouldn’t have walked so slowly, three of them are already dead!
The creature berated itself mentally, hurrying to not miss the rest of the battle.
…
Before the boar had finished preparing to charge, a man and a woman – the creature identified – split off from the group, each moving to either side of the boar in an attempt to flank it.
The boar, however, would not let itself be attacked so easily.
Pretending to be unaware of the two people trying to flank it, the boar began to act as if all it could see was the group of five directly in front of it.
Rookie mistake, the creature laughed to itself, now somehow holding a bucket of buttered popcorn in its arms, shovelling handfuls of the burst kernels into the blackhole that was its face. Watching on in a mix of anticipation and glee.
At the last second, when it looked like the boar was about to charge headlong into the group of five in front of it, it suddenly turned, facing the woman who was now holding an iron sword over her head, about to cut down into the beast's hamstring.
“Shit!” she barely managed to make out as the boar stabbed its tusk into the woman’s gut, a torrent of blood spewing out in retaliation.
Moving its head to throw the freshly skewered woman to the ground in front of it, the boar now turned to face the man who had tried to go for the beast's other side.
The boar quickly sprinted forward in an attempt to head-butt the guy to the ground, no doubt to try and stick him with its other tusk.
However, with a burst of unexpected agility, the guy managed to turn his body out of the way, just in time to avoid being knocked down.
At this point, the group of five that had been distracting the boar also began to run forward, awkwardly wielding their blades away from their bodies in an obvious attempt to avoid cutting themselves.
The creature simply watched on with amusement.
“Pinpoint strike!”
Shouted a woman in the crowd, her blade moving faster, and with more precision than when she tried to wield it earlier.
The creature looked on with interest.
a spell that could imbue the user with a short burst of rehearsed technique? How peculiar… How exciting!
Nonetheless, her blade flew true, stabbing into the boar's leg, however, the blade only managed to penetrate a few centimetres before getting stopped by the beast’s tough hide and overabundance of hair.
Whipping around in fury, the boar attempted to trample her, however, the woman, upon seeing how little damage her ability inflicted, immediately moved out of the Car-sized pig's range.
Rather than attempt to run after the quick-footed woman, the boar decided to turn its attention to a young man equipped in what looked to be some shoddily made leather armour.
The boy, no older than twenty years of age, looked up in horror as the boar's massive front legs came down on him.
He had no time to react, he was immediately crushed beneath the pure heft of the gigantic creature, the force alone enough to cave in the boy’s chest; leaving behind a nasty-looking indent.
As if spurred, another man in the crowd, roughly the same age as the man who had just been trampled screamed out.
“Jason! No!”
Upon seeing the other guy get compressed, however, something seemed to break in the young man.
“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING PIG!” The man screamed, tears flowing from his eyes.
The creature of darkness briefly wondered if the two were related.
I mean, they kind of looked alike, it reasoned.
But in the end, it didn’t care so it went back to watching the display, taking a hearty chug from a bottle of soda in the meantime.
Unfortunately for the creature, however, the ‘team’ didn’t seem too motivated to continue the fight after losing five of their ten members so easily. Barely even leaving a scratch in return.
Don’t get me wrong, that one guy who just lost his brother seemed to still be in the mood to fight, but the rest…
“Retreat!” Shouted the guy who had taken the boar's flank with the now-deceased woman.
Looks like the leader type, The creature thought.
And with no hesitation, the party of ten, now reduced to five, began to scatter.
All except for one…
“DON’T RUN YOU, COWARDS! THIS MONSTER KILLED JASON! WE HAVE TO KILL IT TO AVENGE HIM!”
Maybe if you want to join him, idiot.
The others simply ignored the grief-blinded man. After all, he appeared to be more than willing to serve as bait for the rest of them to get away.
As the creature watched closer, it noticed that no one in the group appeared to be particularly close to one another; aside from that one guy and his brother, that is.
It only saw the group wince when the girl was impaled, a fairly natural reaction among newer combatants.
Something these people clearly showed in their abhorrent lack of technique.
…
Seeing the man squaring off against the titanic lump of pork, the creature decided it might as well head out. After all, the fight was pretty much over, the boar having easily won with no problem.
The creature had expected as much, but it could still hope for something interesting to occur.
As the creature went to turn away, however, a sudden idea popped into the creature's head.
The lights that were the creature's eyes shone in pre-emptive elation.
Things were going to get quite entertaining…