The night sky felt cooler up here.
Been two hours since I told the System to drop the barrier.
Two hours since I sent Nom-Nom into that dungeon with one order:
Eat everything.
And she did.
Of course she did.
Which was why the dozens of Dings! were still ringing in my skull like a broken slot machine stuck in jackpot mode.
While I hovered above the treeline with an ice pebble floating in front of .
While each new burst of EXP made it wobble.
A Tier-1 Early Stage monster gives 100 EXP.
I get 25% of that, so 25 EXP per weakest mob.
And according to the System, each Tier has four stages: Early, Mid, Late, Perfected, each worth another 100 EXP
There are nine Tiers total, each Tier multiplying EXP by 1.5 per leap.
And Nom-Nom was well... nomming her way through an entire ecosystem of monsters, making EXP pour in like soone opened a fire hydrant of progress, all the while increasing her own power.
And ?
I was training.
Because before a certain black wyvern ate , I’d only barely mastered Ice Pebble and its armor-piercing variant.
And I needed to know what the hell I was capable of.
So far?
It’s been beautifully violent.
The pebble in front of wasn’t the crystalline bullet of AP Ice Pebble.
It was rounder, almost like a glittering snowball.
Took 3 MP to construct, and I added another 2 to crank up its speed... investing a grand total of 5 MP.
And the result?
-Crack!
It shot off with a clean sonic snap and smashed into a tree trunk before -
-BOOM!
- exploding in a shimring burst of white frost, revealing a tree frozen solid.
"Oh hell yes."
I conjured another. Then another. Then another.
And after a flurry of glittering white orbs later that tree was entombed beneath at least five inches of ice.
"Yeah... perfect crowd control spell. Or a non-lethal option." I whispered as a grin pulled across my face.
–Ding!
{Non-lethal... ever heard of hypothermia? Frostbite? Loss of limbs? Death by temperature shock? The list is-}
"When used in moderation," I cut in. "... Man, magic feels easy."
–Ding!
{You find it easy because you’re casting through Chronos Protocol.
Spells learned from the System are synchronized to your brain’s rhythm and your mana’s natural frequency.
Think of it as a spell that is perfectly optimized for your personal circuitry.
Chronos Protocol has also forcibly improved your mana control. The module was designed to mimic the First Hero’s mastery of mana control.
Current mimickery authenticity: 60%.
Without that, if you had learned this from so random spell to?
I’d be impressed if you produced a snowflake.}
I groaned. "Dude... you can’t let have one tiny victory, huh? Also, what do you an ’mimickery is 60%’?"
–Ding!
{The first Hero’s control over magic even surpassed most gods.
To give an analogy even you can grasp: He could manipulate mana at a molecular level... each individual mana particle.}
My pebble fizzled midair as the implication sank in.
"Damn, that’s busted..." I muttered, still imagining what it even ant to control each individual mana particle.
–Ding!
{You are the last person in the entire cosmos who has the right to say that. And host... we need to talk.}
I gasped. "Are you breaking up with ?!"
–Ding!
{Take this seriously!}
The System’s tone hit a rare register: actual urgency.
That alone sobered up.
{I know what Pantheon is. I indirectly helped create it.}
I blinked. "You what?"
-Ding!
{Pantheon was founded by the previous Hero, and my previous host, Arlen Hale.
He created it to combat the consequences of his own selfishness.
To fight entities and forces he allowed into this world.
At its core, Pantheon exists to protect the world from threats spawned by... him.}
"That’s... and you’re telling this now?"
–Ding!
{Host, Pantheon was the single most powerful organization in the world three thousand years ago.
I do not know the current state of affairs in the world, but I have no reason to assu they’ve fallen.
If anything, they are likely still near the top.}
The air suddenly felt a little heavier around .
{Host... my point is simple. Pantheon knows Cronos Protocol. They know what it is. What it ans.
And what it represents.
If they ever get their hands on you... }
A cold pause settled before the System continued.
{I am saying... perhaps we should discuss the option of surrendering Nom-N- }
"Fuck no." The words left my mouth before I even thought them up.
"I’m not giving up, Nom-Nom. And why do you keep calling him the previous hero if he was such a bad dude and dood the world?"
–Ding!
{Because that is what he was. He was indeed vengeful, selfish, and consud by a single-minded obsessiveness that has now dood the world.
But for all his flaws, he was, by far, the strongest Hero this world has ever seen.
And host... now you are the current Hero. Just like every host I have ever had.}
My mind had gone numb by the ti the System finished.
And before I knew it, I was asking, "What does that even an?"
–Ding!
{It ans your fate is bound to the Demon God.
Chronos Protocol manifests only when-}
-BOOOM!
The sky turned white the very next mont as a sun-bright flash swallowed the forest below, followed by a rolling mushroom cloud of dust and violet fire punching upward like soone just air-dropped a small nuke.
Even from miles away, I felt heat slapping my face.
Then -
-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding....
A waterfall of EXP notifications flooded my skull.
And sowhere in the noise, I heard: You have leveled up.
And then leveled up again.
I didn’t even get to process it, because:
"Master."
Her voice slid directly into my mind, completely unbothered by the miniature sun she just detonated, through the Familiar Bond.
"Those monsters tasted disgusting... and there were too many of them. So I blew the whole dungeon thingy up."
"...ooo-kay," I said, staring blankly into the atomic sunrise. "Cool. Uh. Now, please get back?"
[Man... being called master is really uncomfortable... especially by a walking-talking nuke.]
And after the sharp CRACK of a sonic boom, she was floating in front of .
Nom-Nom, in human form with four jet-black wings unfurled behind her, and her slit pupils glowing violet like miniature supernovas.
Nom-Nom flashed a toothy grin before asking, "I kept hearing those dings after each kill. Did you get the EXP you wanted?"
While I... didn’t know whether to laugh or cry."Let... let check."
The System groaned like it needed a vacation.
[Well, at least I know now Nom-Nom doesn’t like eating monsters...]
And the next mont, the status window flickered into existence.
[Protocol: Chronos]
Na: Nico
Race: Human
Circuits: 9
Affinity: Infinity, Ti, Ice
Level: 9
EXP: 1,125 / 38,437
Status: Normal
Stat Points: 6
Stats:
STR: 1
AGI: 1
END: 1
DEX: 1
MP: 25 / 25
MP Regen: ∞
LCK: ERROR
Magic:
Ice Pebble (Common) [2 MP] (Optimal at 2 Circuits)
Skills:
Precognition (Legendary) [2 MP/sec] (Optimal at 2 Circuits)
Gear:
Cloak of Flight (Epic)
Credits: 130
Tabs: [Shop] [Inventory] [Map] [Crafting] [Familiars]
"Cool..." I said with a small smile. "It worked. I leveled up a lot. Thanks, Nom."
Her grin widened, proud as a dragon who had just found sothing really shiny.
Before the System could even breathe a suggestion, I dumped all six stat points into MP.
And my mana pool instantly ballooned from 25 to 55.
I staggered slightly through the sudden surge of raw mana detonating inside .
"Damn... that’s more mana than I know what to do with," I muttered.
Nom-Nom’s wings flared.
"Master. Let’s get out of here," she said, fists tightening with trembling excitent. She was this close to her freedom after all.
And before I could even nod in agreent -
–Ding!
A new window snapped into existence.
{
Quest: Rescue Chira X-97 from Team Laps
ETA of Team Laps Vessel: 3 Hours
Objective:
Rescue Chira X-97 onboard the containnt cell of Team Laps’ Vessel.
Reward:
Temporal Step - Aevum Trace (Rare Skill)
Allows the user to traverse through the outer flow of ti and reappear anywhere within a 10-ter radius.
Creates a visible temporal ripple.
MP Cost: 60 MP
}
"A quest!?" I blurted.
Nom-Nom froze with wide eyes. She could also see the interface.
"System...?" I asked carefully.
–Ding!
{Quests are handled by a separate module I do not control. Host... I recomnd we skip this one.}
I looked at Nom-Nom.
At how her expression twisted.
She had her freedom in one direction.
And soone just like her, imprisoned, in the other.
Rescuing that Chira also ant risking her own recapture.
"Nom..." I said softly. "I’ll let you decide."
And for the first ti, Nom-Nom looked genuinely uncertain.
"...Master," she said quietly after a long mont of silence as she looked toward the horizon.
"I don’t know how they made us. I don’t know why. But I know this... No one deserves to stay trapped the way I was."
She turned to with eyes shimring with sothing more than just magic.
"Master..." she said with that fierce gentleness only she could pull off, "... if there is even one being suffering like I did, even one person trapped inside hunger and pain and experints... then we must save them. You and I."
I let out the breath I didn’t even realise I was holding, and felt a grin spreading across my face despite the seriousness of it all.
"Then that’s what we’ll do."
"Good," she said. "Because freedom and fun should be shared... and food too!"
And as she hovered there, wings spread wide and eyes blazing... I realized sothing.
She wasn’t just choosing to rescue another Chira.
She was choosing the kind of person she wanted to be.
And hell... that hit harder than any EXP notification ding.
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