Several hours before the end of the second dominion
The surrounding area of the Inner Sanctuary swarmed with ascenders. Their overwhelming presence brought the dominion monsters to near extinction. Although the dominion monsters weren’t the reason why a million of ascenders had come here.
The competition in the Inner Sanctuary was ending today and everyone wanted a piece of the dominion boss’ spoil. Little did they know about the ‘spoils’ they were going to find there.
Still, among the gathered ascenders were a few who weren’t here for wealth, they were for a particular young ascender with a Talent which changed the universe. Of course, none of the people on the planet understood the scope and consequences of Keynes Kid’s actions, and no one could blame them for that.
But the time of ignorance was slowly fading away, revealing the truer face of the System and ramifications of events on Earth.
Eventually, the competition ended, exceeding Lem Solaris’s expectation. She had asked him only to reach the dominion’s boss. Circumstances surrounding his triumph weren’t simple though. A system-born entity seeking survival of the race it created wasn’t unheard of but it was a rather rare occurrence. What made it unique was the fact that the System was awakened. When it came to awakened systems, things got tricky and so these systems had limitations and severe restrictions placed on them. This one was different for some reason.
Shortly after the competition ended, the boss died and two things happened almost simultaneously.
The barrier that kept the Inner Sanctuary in a pocket reality vanished, then the Inner Sanctuary was soul-bound and placed in Keynes Kid’s soul, disappearing from this reality, leaving the forest as it had been before.
As ascenders rushed inside, Lem Solaris focused her attention on Keynes Kid and Kora Kowalska. They were not out of danger and while a direct intervention was the last resort, Lem Solaris would not let these two die needlessly. Lem had plans regarding them.
Lem followed the clash between Keynes Kid and Vivena Sael closely. He was outmatched by the girl’s enhanced attributes. Countering attribute-focused builds was easy as the synergy between them was easily disrupted. But her increased attributes were coming from her Talent which changed the way they functioned on a fundamental level.
This left Keynes Kid without a counter against Vivena Sael. His skillset was excellent at fighting ascenders and monsters with similar or slightly higher attributes but not someone with attributes 3 times higher. If Vivena’s enhanced attributes came from items, Keynes would have a shot at defeating her with well-timed [Chaos Aura].
Unsurprisingly, the fight went in the direction Lem had predicted but with an abnormal margin of error that shouldn’t be there. She identified the source of the error as the Chaos buff. It was nearly imperceivable, but its existence was a significant fact. Because of the unimaginable difference in power level between her and Keynes Kid, her foresight should be perfect. It would decay the further she looked into the future or the higher Level of the ascender she tried to see. There were also Talents and items that affected foresight. But none of that applied to Keynes Kid’s circumstances.
Keynes Kid escaped thanks to Kora Kowalska’s [Light Bomb]. The only spell that worked on Vivena Sael but not in any game-changing way. But the time it bought helped. At least to a certain degree.
While physical damage Keynes Kid could cope with, Vivena Sael’s poisons made havoc in his body even with his Pure Body buff. If not for that buff, the poisons alone would have killed him already.
His body gave up several minutes after Kora Kowalska had used [Light Bomb]. Keynes Kid naturally didn’t take into consideration the strain [Flight] had on him and lost consciousness falling out of the sky. The fall would kill him. Lem knew this with complete certainty.
Vivena Sael noticed him and without hesitation shot toward his falling form.
Time slowed down suddenly and Lem turned around.
“Lemmy,” Traveller said with a broad smile. His form retained red hair and but lost his facial hair, while his attire remained a classical Attorian jacket which ended with ethereal hem and elegant silvery finish in form of pins and buttons. “We must go.”
“Yes, master.”She sighed, understanding that her time here was over. If her master said they must go then there was very little she could do to change his mind.
“You don’t want to,” Traveller noticed, then his eyes found Keynes Kid.
Because Lem was his soul companion, their bond was far deeper than a spiritual one. It could be, and often was, argued that Lem Solaris and Traveller were one person in two different bodies.
“I have unfinished business here.”
Traveller’s eyes lit up and she sensed his foresight go beyond her capabilities. Then, after a couple seconds, his attention returned to her.
“There is not much you can do to help him,” Traveller said. “His enemies are multiplying in power and number at the rate he cannot match if he wishes to continue the path of Perfect State. To save him, you would be forced to intervene more times than the System would allow you. It is unfortunate, but he is a lost cause.”
For some reason, this only strengthened her resolve to save the boy. It was an irrational thought as she had seen and caused tragedies on an unbelievable scale. So what was a single life in comparison to that? Nothing.
And yet, she felt deep at her heart that saving him was something she should do.
“There must be a way,” she said, then not waiting for her master’s reply, her sight took in the entire planet, and then the entire solar system. Her mind roared in defiance as she overclocked it by taking in all the details she saw. For a split second, she was omniscient.
It ended the next instant but knowledge remained perfectly preserved. Traveller watched her intently, giving her time to consolidate what she had seen. It took her less than a second. For someone of their levels, it was comparable to an eternity.
“I found a solution.”
***
Keynes awoke to darkness. It was absolute and endless.
He wasn’t alone here.
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A woman, with long magenta hair that coiled around her waist, accompanied him. She wore a white futuristic space suit. Even without knowing what perfection was, Keynes knew her face represented perfection. A blue, glowing tattoo decorated the right side of her face, like psychedelic vines, circling her right eye.
She stood tall, taller than any man ever could. If he wished to risk a guess, he would give her at least three metres in height.
Both of them stood on an oddly smooth surface resembling a sheet of glass.
He didn’t know why but he felt at peace here in the stranger's presence. His hands were steady, his breathing calm and composed as he took measure of his body and clothes. He wore the same white space suit.
“Keynes Kid,” she said and something in her voice felt familiar but he couldn’t place it. His memory… it did not work as it should. “This is farewell.”
He blinked, not understanding what was going on. Oh, shit.
“Did I die?”
“You would have without my intervention.”
Keynes connected dots.
“Lem Solaris?” He asked, his brows climbing almost to his hairline. “You look different.”
“You will learn that physical appearance at my Level means very little, if you’ll ever reach it of course.”
“You can change how you look?”
She gave him a sidelong glance then turned away from him.
“Walk with him.”
He fell in steps beside her a few moments later. There seemed to be nothing around so Keynes didn’t see a point in moving but he kept his thoughts to himself. Then he noticed dots of light.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Hundreds…
They were stars!
“Here.”
Keynes glanced to where Lem Solaris was pointing at.
It was the Earth seen from orbit. It hadn’t been there a second ago!
“How?”he asked, finally sensing a dam cracking under pressure of burning curiosity.
“It is so easy to forget how little you earthlings know,” she sighed. “You have no comprehension of power scaling. A Level 50 from this universe could erase your planet with as much as a thought. Its unrestrained spiritual presence would snuff a star, break black holes. And that, in the scale of the greater universe is, what you are to a Level 50.”
Keynes’s mind cooked. He had so many questions! Lem Solaris raised her hand, halting the avalanche that was about to befall on her.
“Out of all your questions only one would benefit you in the near future. There is a reason why materials have Levels. A Level 50 ascender can do as much to a Level 50 planet as a Level 1 ascender to a Level 1 planet. And to answer your subsequent question; to see a planet’s Level and Tier you must access its system interface. I won’t tell you how to do it. It’s not difficult to figure out.”
At this point, Keynes was certain, his brain was fried.
“But I didn’t bring you here to discuss elemental knowledge,” she said, glancing away. “I brought you here to say goodbye and leave you with a farewell gift.”
Keynes remained quiet, finding no joy in the perspective of Lem Solaris leaving. He had thought he would be happy when this moment arrived but that was not the case.
“You have no reason to feel sad.”
“I am not sad,” he countered immediately. “Just thoughtful.”
She sniffed, amused. She knew he was lying.
“Do you remember what happened before you awoke here?”
“I was…” He found his memories elusive. His face scrunched as he pushed harder to remember. “I was in the Inner Sanctuary.”
“You and Kora have won the competition. Yes. Then…”
As she narrated the events following Kora’s and his triumph, his memories trickled back.
“I can’t believe I lost to Vivena so badly.”He shook his head.
“Your current skill set has no answer to her Talent. There is no shame in losing.” Lem Solaris turned to him and added. “Once.”
Keynes understood the warning. There would be no second chances for him. I won’t fail again. I will not fail ever again.
“I made a deal with the System.” Lem pulled Keynes out of his thoughts. “It was the only way to leave you this.”Lem extended her arm to where a slick, black spaceship orbited the Earth.
Keynes’s mouth fell open, sour memories of losing to Vivena forgotten.
“It is yours but it came at cost, though the mess your assistant made down there helped a lot,” she explained. “You and every member of your crew are thereby stripped of all items and unabsorbed skills with two exemptions.”
Keynes sharply turned to her.
“What? Everything we have earned—”
“Hush,” she silenced him. “Don’t whine about useless trinkets. Focus, because I won’t repeat myself and your memory buff does not work here.
“You must know that there are two major reasons why the System agreed to this deal. One, I helped it revert a great danger it was oblivious to. Two, we showed it how we had entered this universe so the System can seal it after we left. We will never return here.”
The scenery changed. They were in a dim chamber suffused with soft blue and green lights running alongside walls and ceiling. The chamber was massive, its walls made out of some black alloy Keynes didn’t recognise.
In the middle of the chamber was a column that connected the floor with the ceiling. Like all other surfaces, it was made out of the same materials but there was a red tree engraved on it.
“This is the heart of your spaceship. I took a liberty and combined the Mycelium AI, your department stumbled upon, with your dream tree. There is one extra treat inside but that’s the surprise. It controls all functions of the ship so you don’t need a crew to operate it. After you wake up, I recommend you familiarise yourself with it.”
She smiled, more to herself than to Keynes. The scenery changed once more. But only slightly. The chamber wasn’t as high but more spacious sidewise.
Hundreds of people were laying on the floor. Keynes’s heart spiked at the sight but Lem’s hand calmed him down.
“They’re sleeping and they are perfectly fine. I selected five hundred people that agreed to join you. They will be a great help to you.”
“Five hundred… What about my family?”
“Your parents are here. Your brother.” Lem gave a sorry expression. “Refused.”
“Why?”
“He needs to find his own way, Keynes. He doesn’t want to live in your shadow.”
Keynes didn’t want to accept the fact that she had left Harter on Earth.
“He will be fine. Let’s move on or I'll make you forget what I said.”
It took Keynes several minutes to calm down.
“How did they know about the spaceship?”He asked to distract himself from dark thoughts about Harter.
“I simply asked them. Those who refused will have no memory of this fact. These here will only remember agreeing to come out of their own volition but they won’t remember details, or me.”
Keynes frowned, wondering if she would do the same to him. He wished she wouldn’t.
Lem must have heard his thoughts, naturally, because she said, “You won’t remember this conversation, not in the beginning at least. You’ll have to earn knowledge. As I said earlier, the System doesn’t like giving knowledge for free.”
As the gravity of his situation started dawning on him, his blood turned cold. If he left the Earth he would doom it.
“What about the vision?”
“What about it?”
“The Earth will be invaded,” Keynes said.
“Yes. Even though the vision isn’t very accurate, the invasion is inevitable.”
“We have to stop it. I can’t just leave.”
“Keynes, you have to understand one thing about the System. It doesn’t care about any particular ascender race. Humans aren’t special in any way. And so I cannot do anything about this. I’m sorry.”
“But Harter…”
Lem’s hand touched Keynes’s forehead, and everything vanished.