[Yes]
This was the button Magnus had chosen. The moment he did, another pop up appeared in his retina.
[Congratulations on joining Sophia's party.]
[A new system had been unlocked!]
Magnus read the text and so far there wasn't anything too mind destroying. A third system was a surprise, though.
He clicked on it, and a new interface appeared.
[Human System welcomes you!]
Below this text were a bunch of options. They were pretty standard for a system, [Quests] [Shop] and [Status].
Intrigued, Magnus clicked on the quests, waiting to see what it had to offer.
[Hack and steal a piece of a system]
[Rewards: Potential Upgrade to the Human System, Higher Authority within the mainframe.]
Magnus' heart had begun to beat more with each word he read. If he understood it correctly, then the ride he signed up for was totally waging war against the highest of existences.
There was this one quest, however, if it was possible to complete it, a new realm of possibilities would open up.
Humans had one distinct advantage, and that was their diversity in terms of powers they wield. Whilst not the most powerful in each field, the total power in each field would make them invincible in due time.
He exploited this advantage humans had and focused on it with his system, which was basically an empty key to all the possibilities humans could unlock.
Due to that, there was no real distinction of power which would prove someone's might. Even the F-SSS rank system was very flawed and kept getting updated each time someone became stronger.
It was solely adjusted to the growth of humankind as a whole, but what if the range between SSS and F rank became so huge that SSS ranks could control the Universe and F ranks weren't even able to fight a slime?
Not to mention, Magnus found out that it became increasingly complicated to keep a check on everyone's power.
Each was so distinct and weird in their own way that even he was not confident in mastering every path.
Which would mean that a gap would open up and he could be countered. Like an Achilles heel, something he never wished to have.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and began formulating his plan. The first course of action was to find Sophia and ask her what the hell did she do.
Even if he pressed [No], the chances of foreign powers finding out about Sophia's very ambitious plan and destroying everything was pretty much 100%.
Although fueled by a great deal of ego, getting slapped to dust just because he looked at someone the wrong way was always a possibility.
He took his eyes off the system interface and looked around. In the dimension he was currently in, his power was unrestricted, which made him weird.
Everything ended in an endless expanse of flowers and grass. The hill was the one true exception to everything around him.
He used some wisps of his power to test the stability of this place. It was weak, very weak.
If he wanted to, the entire space would crumble from 20% of his power. Even the space on Earth was becoming more powerful than this dimension.
"Weird..." Magnus said to himself as he snapped his fingers. Once he began probing the stability of the space.
He found a door which he presumed was the way out of this place. It was a mundane door standing in black space, totally out of place.
The door opened to reveal a place he very well knew. The Academy.
As he stepped inside to enter bunch of invisible restraints drilled into his body.
[Detected a potential foul play... Restricting... Signs of foul play near 0... Any similar signs will result in the forfeit of the trial.]
As if he was choked and on the leash, like some kind of small puppy too weak to move his master. A sickening feeling, something he would rather exchange for 100 days of pure torture.
Ignoring the apprehension, his mind and body felt once he was shackled again. He checked the time.
[22:26:13]
Mere 10 or so minutes passed since he entered the dimension, which meant that no time dilation should have not been in play.
He sent a message to Sophia and exited the Academy.
[Come to the headquarters.]
A response was pretty much instantaneous, as if she expected him to play along to whatever she had in mind.
He shook off the uncomfortable feeling and sped to the Beacon's headquarters.
20 minutes passed as he arrived, people greeted him. Some bowed and looked at him with admiration, whilst some contained hints of jealousy.
When he was bored, he used to pick out these cancers in his faction, but a more pressing situation was on his mind.
After asking around for some time, Sophia appeared to be waiting in his office. It was a simple place with a look similar to the one he had in the Academy.
Large window behind his desk with some bookshelves and statues on his left and right, respectively.
In front of the statue, was a simple sofa with a table dedicated to his guests. There he found Sophia enjoying a cup of green tea.
She paid him no mind and finished her tea before looking at him.
"Magnus, we have a lot to talk about."
He gazed at her for a second before he sat on the opposite side.
"Shoot." He said, waiting for whatever was coming his way.
"Well, first you ought to know that you are not the only one who transmigrated through time..." Sophia began with quite possibly the second biggest bombshell she could throw.
She told him about her obsession with him and the memories everyone managed to awaken. He didn't know when, but his body began to tremble a bit.
"Now that you are up to the news about us, I think you'd like to know about the system you got."
Sophia said as she looked at him with a mischievous smirk. Now, he had to choose if he wished to elaborate about the situation with his disciples or hear the thing he was here for.
After he gave it some thought, the system was still more important.
"Indeed, I would like to know what and especially how did you gain access to a system." Magnus said, as he waited for her response.
"I didn't gain access to no system except the one everyone has. I just made one."
"Huh?"
"Don't huh me. It is as simple as I said. I just stole a small piece of the system and became the highest authority. Systems are, after all, part of magic as well." Sophia said, and let Magnus take a moment to think.
"Is it safe? Or are you- or rather we under the threat of total extinction because of you ballsy move?" Magnus asked her.
"We should be safe. After all, the part I took was just borrowed before I understood how it worked." Sophia said as Magnus' eyes shone in understanding.
"So that's why you didn't improve like others to SS rank..." He said.
"The system you made. Is it really possible to steal from other systems and make your own more powerful?" He continued after pausing for a bit.
"Should be. Right now it is being powered by me alone, as there are no big costs. This would change though if more people are given this system, and it is utilised." She said and soon explained a bunch of things she understood about the system.
It was an amalgamation of spells which were not omnipotent. The reason why status was so accurate was because of one bone chilling reason.
Systems latched onto his soul. This was why people were able to gain EXP and power for no reason.
Why people could see their status and how it knew everything around them. It even had the power to end him if it ever wished to.
After all, damaging the soul was so easy once you bypassed all the defenses granted to living beings and the defences created by one's mana.
No doubt even a single shock representing 1 MP was able to force him into the comatose state.
Another of his questions had been indirectly answered by this revelation as well. The price of the system which was so 'advanced' and powerful. Was abysmal compared to what it should have been.
Reading the status of other beings? It just meant that the system had latched onto their souls without their knowledge and directly stole information.
Another reason why he wasn't able to read the information of gods and other beings through the inferior system.
He did not possess enough power to 'grant' the system the opportunity to latch onto another soul.
Once latched onto the soul, in order for the system to not be detected by the laws of nature without spending energy, it had to act like a signal when interacting with the outside.
Once boiled down, the system was no more than a bunch of formations filled with intricate spells and a sinister plan behind them.
Even now, they weren't sure if everything they knew about the system was true. Perhaps it was capable of using excess mana to block the laws of the nature before sending signal and information to factions beyond.
Just this information would be enough for the higher beings. In the vast multi verses, they had the ability to trap any individual with the potential to threaten them.
A person with the potential to shake the Multiverse and more could be tamed with just the system.
What was supposed to be the unrivalled war God was reduced to a pervert hunting mortal women whilst his potential was slowly being wasted away.
Most probably, the way systems boost one's power would be through sacrificing pieces of soul and the potential of the wielder.
If luck existed, then certainly it could become fuel too.
This is where Sophia's genius came into play. Somehow she found a loophole which perhaps the stronger system didn't have.
Because the weaker system seemingly had to 'turn off' whenever the user didn't use it in order to reduce the risks of being found out.
It was possible to nib a small piece, observe it before returning it to its place. The system, possessing no sentience, would find nothing wrong and would continue with its basic functions.
Through this, she took the system Magnus introduced and replicated her own. It took years to accomplish this and its practical use was pretty much zero for now.
The future, though... It was not so certain what could happen if those players above suddenly found out that there was a player on the same playing field as them.
And unless they knew who was on their side, letting any kind of powerful being near the incomplete system would be disastrous.
At this moment, Magnus felt like an indie gamer about to challenge the whole landscape of triple A games dominating the market.
He found out his goal, or at least one of the stops in his life he wished to complete. It was to see the faces of those almighty as he shows up and breaks everything into pieces.
Perhaps he and Sophia were just pawns in player's hands who were bored. Or even Sophia could be one of the players trying to play with Magnus.
It did not matter too much. He didn't see any reason for anyone to do such a thing, not to mention that this was the only bright light in this seemingly dark cave.
Cave, he wished to explore, to see the surface. Surface of the truth.
Magnus and Sophia talked for hours as they exchanged ideas. After a while, they shook hands and agreed to create an alliance.
A pact of trust between the two beings whose wish was to break the 'reality', which was no more than an illusion.
The pact which would perhaps result in the greatest change in existence or perhaps would be buried in the annals of history as an insignificant event.