Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 77: What is the System?

Zac was wiping off some sweat as he sat down on a small stool. He had been mining and running back and forth between the tunnels and the plot of forest for over six hours, and needed a break. This was the ninth day in the mines, and his speed of accruing crystals had progressed greatly as his mastery with his axes improved. He brought out a canteen of water and some food as he looked over to his companion in the tunnel.

Alyn was sitting in a comfortable chair reading a book at the moment, seemingly unaware of the clangor in the tunnels. She had been extremely uncomfortable being left alone with him in the beginning but was starting to warm up to him a bit it seemed. Zac unceasingly peppered her with questions about various aspects of the System during every break he took, and instead of being annoyed like Ogras she seemed to be very much in favor of his thirst for knowledge.

“So, you’ve explained so many things about the System to me. But you haven’t explained what the System itself is. Does anyone know?” Zac probed.

The demoness put down her book and looked over to Zac.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask. In fact, almost everyone knows what the System, as you call it, is and how it came to be. It is no secret. But to explain that you first need to know about The Ancient Empire,” she said, quickly going into lecturing mode.

“Millions upon millions of years ago the System did not exist. Instead, cultivators strove for immortality by cultivating the Dao without any guidance, windows, attributes, or prompts. They used their cultivation techniques to gather the Spiritual Energy in the cosmos, and improved by reaching higher and higher cultivation stages.”

“In this ancient era there existed an endlessly powerful empire, which stood on top of the cultivation world for millions of years. It spread over myriad worlds in the universe and unceasingly kept expanding. Leading this great nation was a man called Emperor Limitless. He was said to have reached the peak of cultivation, and many still consider him the strongest being to have ever existed. Of course, many also belive that the System has allowed the powerhouses of the multi-verse to reach further heights compared to the ancient cultivators.”

“Emperor Limitless had already reached the peak of cultivation long ago, and instead set his boundless ambition upon his empire. His goal was to turn all creation into his empire, to control all life in existence.”

“Therefore he waged wars, fighting for thousands and thousands of years, the empire ever expanding. The battlefields grew more numerous, and the empire actually started to run out of soldiers. Trillions of lives were lost in the battle over millions of worlds, and the empire had problems producing new powerful warriors. Almost all cultivators were forced into the battle, leaving few competent teachers behind to train the next generation.”

“Emperor limitless, and a few of his closest generals and magistrates, came up with a daring solution. They wished to create a synthetic being that would connect with every single cultivator in the Empire, and train them into strong warriors. A cosmic teacher that would lead the empire to further heights, as no potential genius would go unnoticed, and no cultivator would train inefficiently due to bad teachings.”

“The creation of this entity took an astounding time, and everyone that worked on the project died generation after generation from old age, except Emperor Limitless with his almost infinite longevity. The resources that were poured into the project can’t even be calculated, and just a small fraction of it would cause a bloody storm to erupt even on an A-ranked continent.”

“But finally they were done. The last step was to activate it and attach it to the Heavenly Dao itself, allowing it to spread to all space. Billions and billions of the strongest of the Ancient Empire gathered at their main continent, and together infused this construct larger than a sun with energy.”

“The activation was a success, and the cosmic being spoke its first words to the world.”

“What words did it say?” Zac interjected, entranced by the story.

“’Insufficient energy’. Those were the first two words of the System, and every cultivator in existence heard it. What followed were the dark ages.”

“Something had gone horribly wrong with the being, and it forcefully started absorbing energy. First the cultivators part of the activation were absorbed until they died, even the emperor was almost killed. He escaped after paying a terrible price, but the System wasn’t done and started absorbing the ambient energy from the universe.”

“The absorption continued, and soon once glorious cultivation havens were turned into wastelands due to lack of Spiritual Energy. Even worse, the Dao of the Heavens had somehow become clouded, and progression on the path of cultivation became impossibly hard. All the powerhouses in the multi-verse were furious, as Emperor Limitless’ experiment essentially cut off their path of progression.”

“With the empire being weakened and all forces banding together, the Ancient Empire crumbled. Emperor Limitless was slain as well, as the System had stolen most of his power already. The chaotic times continued for a million years, and the sparse energy and obscured Dao became the new norm. Emperor Limitless was remembered as the sinner of the world of cultivation.”

“But one day it all changed. Energy came flooding back into the universe, and all cultivators once more heard the voice. This time it said ‘Initiation complete.’ After a million years the System had completed all the preparations, and then it started to actually diligently fulfill its purpose. It opened the path of progression again, and started to train warriors and powerhouses. All cultivators that resided on planets that once were part of the Ancient Empire got integrated with the System, just like you and me.“

“It soon became clear that many things had changed, as the System had constrained and categorized the Myriad Dao itself. Gone were the cultivation levels and cultivation through meridians, and instead empowering through levels was introduced.”

“The fact that the Dao was usurped is why a few factions in the multi-verse, such as the Technocrats, call the System ‘The Cosmic Warden’. They believe that by constraining the Dao it has cut of the avenue for new Dao’s, such as Dao of Technology or Dao of Guns, to emerge. Their goal is to destroy the System, and in their words ‘free the Dao’. Other factions consider the System the liberator of the multi-verse though, and are stuck in a perpetual war with the Technocrats,” Alyn animatedly explained.

The fact that the System was an ancient training system gone haywire seemed like a huge cosmic joke to Zac. An almost endless amount of beings had been affected because this Ancient Empire wanted to streamline their war efforts. But at least it explained why it wanted people to struggle and take risks. Its very purpose was to create strong warriors and even powerhouses, and those could only be born through battle and hardship.

“So why did the System integrate Earth? If the System is only supposed to be a training system for this Ancient Empire, why bring us into the mix? Was Earth part of the Ancient Empire?” Zac asked.

“No. Earth isn’t even in the same universe as the Ancient Empire was located. The System not only fulfilled its purpose by training warriors, it also somehow inherited the goal of Emperor Limitless. Since the System’s birth all that time ago it has kept expanding. After a while it spread to the whole universe it resided in, and soon after it started finding new ones to spread its influence into. Since then it has kept ceaselessly expanding.”

“Of course, this is just the most generally accepted theory of the System’s origin. The reason that it’s taken as the truth is that it is the history that is taught by The System’s pixies in the tutorial of all newly integrated worlds. There are some that believe that the System hides its true origins for some sinister purpose, but such things are far beyond us small F-rank individuals.

“The exact details can’t be confirmed for certain, as it happened in another universe an impossibly long time ago. We do however know that the Ancient Empire was real, and that it was ruled by an Emperor Limitless. There are multiple historic remains from the empire, and there are many collectors of relics from that long lost time.”

Zac was truly in awe of the power of this synthetic being, spreading through whole universes with nothing being able to stop it. At least if what Alyn said was true, Zac didn’t feel that the System was either good or evil. It was just an impossibly powerful AI let loose, eternally fulfilling its purpose. Unfortunately for Earth that meant that it would throw the planet into Struggle, heedless of the cost in lives. As long as strong warriors were created out of the turmoil, the System was happy.

He briefly thought about the Technocrats. They had to be truly brave or true lunatics to want to fight against the System. It was like going to war against the basic rules of the universe by this point, like trying to fight Death or Time.

It seemed that there was some parts missing from Alyn’s explanation though. From her description it seemed that the System was designed to train and strengthen cultivators for the Ancient Empire. But the system did much more than that. It also helped mortals become stronger, and it also seemed to work with Beasts somehow.

It even had side-features such as the Town Shop and the Mercantile System, which enabled trade over the vast distances of the Multi-Verse. And that was just what Zac had discovered so far in the scant two months since being introduced to it. Perhaps there were even more functions that waited to be discovered.

“How come the System affects all beings then, like mortals and even beasts? Didn’t you say it was designed to train cultivators?” Zac probed.

“Good question. It as you said, the system initially only trained cultivators, and only those able to cultivate were connected to the System. But the system has changed a few times throughout history, each change disrupting the way of life in the multi-verse. To understand these changes we must talk about the Apostates. Those scant few who managed to throw the laws of the universe out the window, and bend reality to their wills.”

“The number of Apostates that has emerged since the system was created can be counted on two hands. Each was a being of unlimited power who actually managed to change the way the system operates. Very little is known about the first Apostate, not even his name. He is simply known as ‘The First Defier’.”