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An Otherworldly Scholar - 187
🕑 Added 2024-12-22 17:33:35 +0000 UTC“I’m old, and I’m dying,” the soft voice said.
The Fountain burned like a sun in an underground cave. Occasionally, mana flares shot from the Fountain’s corona. It didn’t seem like it was dying.
“Are you the Fountain?”
“I am who I am, but outsiders like you have called me that before.”
The soft voice drifted like it was about to fall asleep, and the presence weakened. I looked around and scanned the void. There was no one other than the Fountain and me.
“Are you still there?”
“I’m always here.”
The System Avatar had conveniently skipped the part where the Fountain was a sapient being. A shiver ran down my spine as a part of my mind refused to acknowledge the Fountain was alive. I could accept the existence of elves, orcs, and gnomes, yet this was too bizarre.
I had to focus. If the System Avatar were to keep secrets, I would conduct my own investigation behind his back. My mind raced although, without [Foresight], my thoughts felt painfully slow.
“Are you sick? Is the Corruption affecting you?” I asked.
“I’m not sick. Like the dwellers of the surface, I have a limited time. Death is only natural. That’s all I know. I won’t discuss matters I'm unfamiliar with.”
No matter how much I pressed with questions about Corruption, the presence remained in silence. Whether Corruption was the consequence of the Fountain’s age or just a natural occurrence of using System magic, I couldn’t tell.
I decided to change the subject.
“What will happen when you die?”
This time, the Fountain seemed entertained.
“Does anyone know what occurs after death?”
I shook my metaphorical head.
While the Fountain didn’t seem omniscient, at least it didn’t seem to be an angry god of the depths. If anything, it seemed happy to talk.
“Did you create this world?”
“The world was already there when I was born. I’ve seen everything and anything under the sky. Things got boring until you outsiders appeared. But then, they all died. I was happy when the portal opened. Since then, I’ve been looking at you and the other outsider very closely.”
“The other outsider?” I asked, but the voice slowly faded away. “Hey! Don’t fall asleep!” I shouted, like an ant yelling at an elephant.
No matter how much I yelled, I got no answer.
Magic was alive. Under the System's surface, a whole new world of magic with different rules and laws was hidden. My gut told me the System Avatar knew about the Fountain’s personality all along. That little yellow rat would have to start answering my questions if he wanted me to remain on his team.
Now, I only had to find him.
I still needed the Access Rune to destroy the Corrupted Proxy.
“I’ll be back!” I said, but I got no response.
The next moment, I was back at the Warden’s Tree. The Corrupted System Proxy lay on my feet, oozing with a dark aura. The Lich’s presence tried to reach my mind, but he was too weak to be a nuisance.
I thought the System should’ve assigned me the Juggler class, as I have been dealing with far too many problems simultaneously. I examined the Corrupted Proxy. So far, every time I touched a System Crystal, I encountered the System Avatar. Would this be the same?
I didn’t notice Hallas approaching until it was too late.
The elven warrior pushed me to the ground and pressed my throat with his forearm.
“Where is the seed?” he grunted, his eyes bulging with fear.
I tried to push him back, but without the System I was back to having the strength of a regular guy. Still, months of swordsmanship training had given me a sizable amount of muscle. I coiled my legs around Hallas’ body and pushed, freeing my throat. I took a deep breath.
“Calm down. I don’t have the damn seed,” I grunted, pushing Hallas to the side and rolling away.
“It is imperative to retrieve it,” Hallas replied, jumping on his feet.
“Believe me, after this shitshow, I know.”
Hallas crawled across the platform and started digging through the dragon's frozen remains. I joined him. Although time seemed to pass at a slower rate during the visions inside the Crystal, I wasn’t eager to leave my body alone with Hallas. I stirred the ice shards with my boot—Hallas told me the Warden’s Seed was the size of a basketball—but I found nothing but frozen vines and cracked scales.
Hallas turned to the Corrupted Crystal, but I stopped him before he could lay his hands on it.
“Don’t touch that. The Lich lives inside.”
“The seed must be inside,” he replied, agitated.
In the center of the Crystal, where the Corruption was denser, there was an area my eyes couldn’t see through.
“Just give me a moment to come up with something,” I said.
“I don’t have a moment,” Hallas replied. “I must bring the seed back before your kind can find it.”
I massaged my temples, trying to come up with something that didn’t require giving the Lich an opportunity to get a new body. My options were limited, but just like Hallas, I would rather have the Crystal destroyed before a scouting party from Farcrest arrived. The fewer explanations I had to give, the better.
“Let’s end this Corruption bullshit,” I said. There was only one way of putting an end to this madness. “Hallas, check the Cloister again while I work on the Crystal.”
The elven warrior reluctantly agreed and, channeling his mana, summoned vines as a staircase to the upper level.
I touched the Crystal, and the next instant, I was elsewhere.
The dim light of the sun snuck through the dilapidated shutters, and my eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. I was inside a stone room with a circular table in the center. The place seemed to be abandoned. The wood was rotten, and moths ate away at the curtains.
I recognized the place. It was the room where the Man in Yellow and his coworkers met to create the System. The place was deserted. Or so I thought. I walked to the door, but a voice stopped me.
“Hello, wizard,” a man with long black hair and blue eyes was sitting in the shadows of the corner.
I reached for my sword, but my belt was empty.
“Don’t get so worked up. It’s not like we can beat each other in this place,” he calmly said. “This isn’t the real world, but a reality ripple created by our memories. If you met the Man in Yellow, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
The Lich glanced at me. There was no malice in his eyes.
“Are you the same—?” I asked, but he stopped me before I could finish the question.
“Yes, I’m the one you froze to death a moment ago. Unlike Jeremiah, I don’t have a homologous personality coded into the System, just the original me,” the Lich said.
I sat on a rotten chair across the room. I didn’t trust he was telling the truth, so I kept my guard up. He seemed more interested in the room, although he didn’t leave his seat.
“This place brings up memories. It’s been a millennium since I was here,” the Lich said with a mischievous smile. “But alas, the first version of the System wasn’t stable enough.”
Without [Foresight], I couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth. Still, my interest was piqued. Back on Earth, we have records of events and people who lived five thousand years ago. In this world, however, there didn’t seem to be any archeological record of the System's early days or its origin. Not even folk stories or myths seemed to touch on those topics.
“This place used to be the most prosperous city on the continent. The Man in Yellow didn’t tell you why nobody remembers it?”
I shook my head.
“Jeremiah gathered a group of locals and created a haven. Soon, thousands of people lived here under our protection, but of course, we don’t live particularly long lives. Hence, Jeremiah decided to create the System to protect the future generations,” the Lich said.
That was what I saw during my last meeting with the System Avatar.
“A large part of the System consists of making the user see and feel things beyond their senses. Jeremiah’s runes weren’t really good at doing that, so we reanimated Becky from HR to use her mind-control powers,” the Lich grinned. “It worked for a while. Until it didn’t. I prefer not to go into details, but the massacre was brutal. There was no one left to tell the story of this city. We committed many mistakes along the way, but the Man in Yellow told you all of them, right?”
He hadn’t.
“I don’t have a reason to believe you,” I replied.
Still, a part of me told me the Lich wasn’t lying.
“I don’t care if you believe me,” the Lich said. “As long as you don’t have the Access Rune, you’ll not be able to kill me. So let’s wait until our chubby friend shows up, and you can ask him directly.”
The Lich closed his eyes and relaxed in the chair.
Minutes passed, but the System Avatar didn’t show up.
“What about you?” I asked. “How did you end up as an undead monster?”
The Lich opened an eye. His sclera was of a sickly yellow hue.
“It wasn’t in my plans to die, not after being transported into a world of magic, so I left the project,” he replied. “My travels made me understand the dangers of this world. Ebros and the other kingdoms are a small pocket of safety, and outside dangers are starting to seep inside. I don’t think it’s reprehensible for someone to want to survive, so I turned myself into this.”
The room suddenly trembled. The vision was coming to an end, but the System Avatar was nowhere to be found.
“It seems our chubby yellow friend would stick his head into the sand rather than come greet us. Don’t fool yourself. You might believe he’s your ally but he will do what he does best: use you and leave you high and dry.” the Lich grinned as stone dust fell over our heads.
The vision trembled, and chunks of the ceiling fell, crushing the round table.
“I don’t want to be here when they arrive, so do me a favor and kill me,” the Lich said as the vision distorted beyond recognition. “Farewell, Wizard.”
The world turned white, and when I opened my eyes, I saw I was back at the elven citadel. The System prompt appeared before I could process the Lich’s words. One thing was for sure: System Avatar avoided me.
Greetings, Robert Clarke.
You have acquired Magic.
To recover the blessing of the Fractalis reach the mana inside you.
“Show yourself, coward!” I yelled at the ceiling.
I had a thousand questions for the System Avatar, but the prompt remained unchanged.
I knew I couldn’t refuse the Avatar’s offering. To slow the spread of Corruption, I needed to destroy the Proxy, and to do that, I needed my Class and the Access Rune back. The System Avatar knew he had me by the reins. However, accepting the System meant he would have access to my memories. He could edit the contents of my mind, and I wasn’t sure I trusted him anymore.
Greetings, Robert Clarke.
You have acquired Magic.
To recover the blessing of the Fractalis reach the mana inside you.
“Goddamit…” I muttered.
I reached the small bubble of System mana inside my chest.
Fractalis System initializing…
Checking the contents of the foreign soul…
Checking past experiences…
My life flashed before my eyes—the happy early years of my life, thrashing my parent’s apartment with the mom’s dog, the death of my parents, and my first years as a school teacher. Elincia, the orphanage, our illegal potion operation, the dates behind the children's backs, the tournament, and everyone I had met in the past year, everything condensed in an instant.
Initialization complete.
Foreign Soul Robert Clarke is now subject to the Fractalis System.
Session information recovered.
I got on my knees and emptied my stomach on the floor. A prompt appeared between me and the puddle of vomit.
Our mission remains the same.
Good luck, Rob.
“I hate you so much,” I grunted.
I made a mental review of my Class.
Name: Robert Clarke, Human.
Class: Runeweaver Scholar Lv.31
Titles: Out of your League, Hot for Teacher, Consultant Detective, Researcher of the Hidden, Headmaster, Favorite Teacher (99), Golden Scholar, Iron Runeweaver, +15 others.
Passive: Lv.5 Swordsmanship, Mana Mastery, Foresight, Master of Languages.
Skills: Identify, Magical Ink, Silence Dome, Invigoration, Stun Gaze, Intimidate, Mirage, Runeweaver Encyclopedia, Rune Debugger, Rune Identification.
Everything was back in place—even the Access Rune—but my connection to the Fountain disappeared. Sighing, I channeled mana and wrote the Access Rune on the Corrupted Proxy.
The rune gleamed, and a prompt appeared before my eyes.
Checking credentials…
Admin001 access detected…
Would you like to activate the developer tools?
“Yes,” I muttered.
Dev tools unlocked…
ERROR DETECTED.
Lockdown mode activated…
Would you like to activate the diagnostic tool?
“Yes.”
Diagnostic tool subroutine activated.
Please wait.
1%
I diverted my eyes. I was thrown back when I was a lowly employee at the law firm, barely more than a gear in a huge machinery.
Diagnostic complete.
Purging corrupted code.
1%
The Corrupted Proxy slowly turned into a fine blue dust, and the Corruption dissolved into the air. In the center of the Crystal was a dry body in a fetal position, clutching to an elongated seed. There was no trace of life in the body.
Purge subroutine completed.
ERROR DETECTED
Illegal credentials detected.
Erasing illegal credentials.
“Of course…” I muttered.
I’d been played. The System Avatar didn’t trust me enough to give me a permanent Access Rune.
Lich Lv.?? Slain.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
…
The prompts rushed through my eyes, and I reached level forty-two a moment later. I ignored the Lich’s level, but after living for thousands of years, he must’ve been the greatest experience piñata in existence.
I breathed a sigh of relief. The silver lining was that the immediate vector of Corruption was dealt with. We had gained precious time fixing the System. Still, the whole deal with the System Avatar left a bitter taste in my mouth. Whether I liked it or not, the livelihood of a whole continent was on the line.
With the Monster Surge dealt with, it was time to go home.
I glanced at the seed between the Lich’s arms. Hallas was nowhere to be found.
Corrupted Warden’s Seed.
I wasn’t going to let him go away with it. I closed my eyes and focused on my mana pool. The stone walls had returned to their usual position. The cracks in the bottom were still there, and I could see the Fountain in the distance.
“I wondered if…” I muttered.
I grabbed a strand of pure Fountain mana and recalled the sensation of performing true magic. The sensation was still there, numbed by the System clutching to my mind. I focused. A flame jolted to the Lich’s body, instantly catching fire. The flames roared.
Hallas peeked over the Cloister edge.
“What are you doing, human!?”
He dropped from the upper platform as the seed turned to ash. He tried to stomp out the embers without a trace of respect for the human remains. However, the seed was beyond saving. He glanced at me, full of hatred.
“You can’t win every fight,” I said, but I didn’t know if the message was directed at Hallas or myself. “Let’s go.”
We descended from the elven citadel in silence. Hallas knew better than to pick a fight with me. Even with his empowering seeds, I was way above his power level, with or without the System.
At the gates of the elven citadel, we found our backpacks. They were covered in dust, but it didn’t seem like any rubble had fallen upon them. The elven citadel was far from habitable. Half of the platforms were either destroyed or hanging from a few vines. There was no bridge standing left.
We left the Warden’s Tree behind and headed south, retracing our steps.
As we reached the western side of the tree, Hallas stopped.
“Our deal is settled. I’m returning to my homeland,” he said.
I stopped.
“What about Pyrrah?”
“She’s not my problem, and I have news to relay. If you excuse me,” Hallas replied, turning around and walking towards the forestline.
“Hallas!” I yelled, and the elf looked over his shoulder. “You are a shitty friend!”
Hallas turned and got lost among the foliage.
Saving the world wasn’t half as glamorous as I initially expected.
I activated my Wind-Shot Boots and raced around the Warden’s Tree, past our camp at the base, and through the path we had taken closely to the mountain. I moved quickly. The endurance and stamina of forty-two levels felt great. An hour later, I caught a glimpse of the group traversing a hill. They must’ve seen me too because they stopped the march.
Pyrrah came to meet me.
“Hallas?” she asked.
“He’s on his way back to Tagabiria,” I replied apologetically. “The seed has been destroyed.”
Pyrrah sighed, her emerald eyes glued to her boots. Then, she puffed out her chest and secured the straps of her backpack to her waist.
“I have to go,” she said.
Her decision surprised me.
“Hallas doesn’t deserve your friendship, Pyrrah. There is a lot to see on this side of the Farlands,” I said, but she stopped me.
“I have to make sure he tells the story as it happened. For the future of our peoples,” Pyrrah said. There was no trace of awkwardness in her words. “Also, there seem to be no marshes on this side of the Farlands, so I wouldn’t feel at home.”
We laughed.
Pyrrah said goodbye to the children. In the meantime, I grabbed her hammer and enchanted a simple Force-Wind string using the Wind-Shot Boots as a base. With a drop of blood, the weapon would be linked to her, and nobody else could use it. Her eyes gleamed when I gave her the hammer back. It would help her reach her homeland safely.
“Well, if you ever happen to pass by Farcrest, ask for Lowell’s Orphanage. You’ll always be welcome,” I said.
Pyrrah nodded shyly and extended her hand. Instead of stretching it, I caught her in a hug.
“Thanks for protecting the kids for me. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” I said.
When I let her go, her face was red as a beet.
The kids laughed and also hugged her. A moment later, Pyrrah was waving at us from the base of the hill.
“Pyrrah! One last thing!” Firana yelled, her [Aerokinesis] carrying her voice far away. “How old are you!”
Pyrra cupped her hands around her mouth.
“Don't tell the Gardeners, but I’m only fifty-nine!”
None of the kids seemed particularly surprised.
“You are too old for Mister Clarke!” Firana shouted.
Down the hill, Pyrrah laughed and waved one last time before disappearing into the forest. Then, the kids surrounded me like they were waiting for something.
“Congratulations, class. We saved the world… for now,” I said.
“You mean Farcrest?” Captain Kiln said.
The kids exchanged complicit glances.
“No, Izabeka. This was a Quest given by the System. Each one of you might have saved thousands of lives, even if no one ever finds out,” I said, looking at the kids. “This is the result of your discipline and your bravery. Remember this feeling for the days to come.”
I felt the prompt before it appeared.
New title acquired!
Favorite Teacher (100): Going to School isn’t as bad with you at the whiteboard.
Class Reward: Slightly increases mana pool(100).
Congratulations! Favorite Teacher has reached a prestige threshold.
New title acquired!
Classroom Overlord: A title for those who had conquered the hearts of countless students.
Class Reward: Unlocks the Teacher’s Log Skill.
The System kneaded my brain, making space for the new Skill. For some reason, the process felt more painful than ever. White spots of light appeared before my eyes, and for a moment, I thought I would faint.
The kids looked at me with worried expressions.
“I’m sorry, I got a new title.”
Teacher’s Log: Your students' status is within reach of the hand. [Identify] Teacher’s Log allows teachers to follow their student's progress, educational goals, grades, and motivation levels in a single and convenient grimoire. Prestige Class requirement.
Before I could test the skill, another prompt assaulted me.
Prestige Class Requirements: 4/4
Minimum Level Requirement: 42/40
Class Cultivation Requirement: Golden Scholar achieved.
Prestige Class Unlocked: Runeweaver Sage.
Comments
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I do hope Hallas isn’t too lost in his own anger to lie and twist things when he reports back. I do wonder if Pyrrah is an older sister to El, we’ll see how that part plays out, as I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of her. Now he gets his prestige class, this is going to be interesting to see how this plays out!
andreas
Oh I am sure that some blood will flow. In both instances.
Matthew
Love it, almost as much as I'm gonna love the absolute thrashing he's gonna give Janus when he gets back. As well as the thrashing that a certain Governess is going to give Rob for all his misdeeds.
