Spell Weaver-Chapter 104. The Price of Knowledge

It was impossible for Alex to tell how long he had traveled. It could have been minutes or years, though his sanity remaining intact made him lean toward a shorter time span.

There were no stars. He had no body or source of mana. There had been no time in the last three months since he’d had his mana sight where his eyes had not at least seen something when open. Even at night or in the darkest of caves, his Heavenly Eye could see some mixture of mana.

In this dead space, however, there was nothing to be seen. Even as he let go of and attempted to push out his own personal mana, nothing changed. His mind floated, disembodied, through the endless space of starless night.

He spent some time where he was panicked, others where he was excited at the prospect of what was happening, and more yet where he was bored.

In his state of limbo, he attempted to access the System to see his gains, but there was no response, and no new blue boxes appeared.

The first sensation that returned was pressure. Not physical pressure, but a weight that pressed against Alex’s very soul. It started as a faint brushing sensation, barely noticeable, then built to an insistent pounding that was impossible to ignore.

Colors bled into existence. They were otherworldly shades, not the familiar hues of Earth. They defied his ability to describe, and they moved in swirling patterns that morphed into shapes that hurt to look at directly.

The sensation only lasted for a moment before his awareness snapped into focus. He stood—or rather, existed—in an enormous chamber. The walls stretched upward before disappearing into white-gold clouds that matched the building’s construction. Windows floated untethered by the walls, and each showed a different scene on the other side.

It took him a moment to realize that the windows were portals, and he could see an immeasurable scene through them. Wars, celebrations, cataclysms- they all played out in tandem as he spun in a slow circle. The scale of it made Alex feel less than insignificant.

Then he saw them.

Two figures dominated the impossible space. They towered over where Alex’s consciousness hovered. It was hard to tell their size, but each was several heads taller than where he floated. Their forms were vaguely humanoid, but that’s where the similarities ended.

A woman lounged on a throne that seemed to be made of yellow crystal. Her skin shimmered with constellations and her hair was a deep black that he couldn’t quite tell if it was real. Her eyes were slightly lidded, as if bored, though where a normal eye would lay, instead solid beams of golden light spilled out.

Opposite her, a man prowled the chamber like a caged beast. His form was less stable, shifting between different figures. One moment, he was in the form of an older man looking furious, the next a young boy, and when he turned his back on the feminine figure, he assumed the form of a composed woman.

The sheer presence of the two beings threatened to crush Alex’s mind.

His mind reeled, and he attempted to scream out in pain and fear, not able to fully process what he was seeing.

A familiar sight appeared in his vision. He tried to close his eyes and gritted his teeth, but without a physical body, he could do nothing. In a panic, he tried to dismiss the System windows, but they didn’t budge, so instead, he read.

WARNING: Divine Presence DetectedInitiating Soul Protection Protocols…

Filtering divine essence to sustainable levels for mortal Constitution.

WARNING: Extended exposure is not advised.

The System’s intervention was a lifeline. It allowed Alex to maintain some semblance of coherence in the face of such overwhelming power. Even with the protection, he felt like an ant before giants.

Neither of them acknowledged his arrival, and they continued their conversation. The shape shifting figure rose his voice and spoke in a volume that felt like it should make reality itself tremble.

“You’re being selfish, sister!” The man’s words dripped with disdain. “Your integration set still has so much potential for chaos. Just let me play with one world…”

The woman didn’t even bother to look at him. Instead, her attention was fixed on the myriad viewing portals surrounding her thrown. Next to her figure, they looked to be the size of oval mirrors, though how they moved and shifted around the edges reminded Alex of the Rifts.

“You exhausted your allotment far too quickly. Your reckless ‘games’ destroyed half your breeding stock before they could even reach maturity. Poor resource management on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.”

Allotments? Breeding stock? They’re talking about worlds… like Earth?

The man’s form rippled with energy, and in the next moment, he was an immense man with a portly belly and beard. He pointed his finger down at the reclining woman with a chubby finger, spittle flying from his mouth. “They were weak! At least I tested their limits. The herds need culling sometimes. They need to be pushed-”

“And what do you have to show for it?” The woman finally turned her gaze to the man. Her eyes swept past Alex as if he weren’t even there. “Quick progression, yes, but how many of your worlds have successfully joined the Wider Worlds? My methodical approach might seem slow to you, but I have the highest integration rate among us. There’s a reason my worlds thrive while yours…”

“Bah! What do I have to show for it? I have three Kings, while you have- what? One Queen? If you want to argue about contribution, my dear sister, I have significantly more than you.”

“It’s not always about our own personal gain,” she responded.

Though, even from his own vantage, Alex could see her shoulders stiffen. She waved her hand and Alex saw an entire swath of portals vanish from existence.

His thoughts raced.

This woman is Istrael? The System had mentioned meeting the Overseer, but the scale of their discussion was mind-boggling. If she truly is a God… what did she just do? Annihilate several worlds with the wave of her hand?

The man’s form shifted again, but this time to a skinny figure without a face or clothes. “Personal gain? That’s rich coming from you. You’ve always been too cautious, too afraid to push their boundaries. Our purpose is to cultivate strength, not coddle weaklings.”

Istrael’s eyes flashed, the beams growing brighter for a fraction of a second as her eyes narrowed. “Our purpose is to prepare them for the Wider Worlds, Grimalkin. Your methods leave nothing but ash and dust. Three gemstones from the slaughter of millions of planets does not make it worth it.”

“Of course it does. You know that the gain from Queen to King is worth trillions of pawns.”

Alex’s mind reeled. Grimalkin? The casual way that they discussed entire worlds and civilizations sent a chill through Alex.

Suddenly, Grimalkin’s gaze snapped to Alex. A cruel smile spread across his face as he changed his appearance once more. “Speaking of weaklings. What have we here?”

Before Alex could react, Grimalkin’s hand shot out in the shape of a claw. Reality warped around it as he seemed to reach for Alex and the pressure from before returned in full force, despite the System’s interference.

WARNING: Direct divine interference detected.Diverting resources…

Unable to maintain stability.

The System’s messages flashed rapidly before him.

Alex felt himself unraveling, his consciousness beginning to fragment at the building pressure.

“Enough.” Istrael’s voice cut through the pain. The pressure vanished immediately.

Grimalkin’s face shifted from a smirking child to a matronly woman. “Come now, sister. One little mortal hardly matters. The System would have only brought it here if it were breaking things within one of your integrations. Let us see how strong its spirit is.”

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“You forget yourself, brother. These planets fall under my jurisdiction. By the Pact, the lives of its inhabitants are mine to end or spare as I see fit.”

She didn’t look away from her sibling, but waved her hand in Alex’s direction. After the pressure from Grimalkin and from seeing her swipe away dozens of portals with the same gesture, Alex felt the need to flinch scream. Nothing escaped his incorporeal form, however, and Alex was reminded of a night terror where he was awake but unable to speak or control his actions.

“System, handle the situation as your directives allow. Just keep the yields within expected parameters and send it back on its way.”

With that dismissal, Alex felt himself being pulled away. The divine chamber faded to be replaced once more by the endless void.

WARNING: Awakened anomaly in critical physical and mental condition.Restoring Stats to normal levels…

Analyzing Situational Parameters.

Processing Potential Solutions…

Option 1: Full Awakened Reset

Processing…

There was a pause, as if the System was thinking about the outcome of the option. Alex waited, feeling that an Awakened Reset was not a good thing for him. While he’d be starting over with more knowledge than he started with, he was at the forefront of his planet’s Awakened. If he were to restart now-

(Rejected - Excessive Data Loss, Conflicts with Primary Directive of Growth)

Option 2: Quarantine Subject

Processing…

(Rejected - Inefficient Use of Resources)

Option 3: Terminate Subject

Processing…

There was another pause.

Oh no, no no no no no-

Alex’s panic spiked, and his thoughts bucked frantically.

(Rejected - Conflicts with Primary Directive of Growth, Wastes Resources)

Relief flooded through him, though it was short-lived, as he saw the text continue to grow within the blue box.

Option 4: Memory Modification

Processing…

(Selected - Necessary to Remove Prohibited Knowledge)

Knowledge Targeted: Knowledge of Gods, Ritual Schematic Knowledge

Memory Modification?! Prohibited knowledge? Fuc-

His thoughts were cut short as the next option appeared.

Option 5: Ocular Enhancement Removal

Processing…

(Rejected - Ocular Enhancement earned through Hidden Quest and is now a Bound Item)

It was going to take out my eye?!

Redirecting focus on secondary cause for anomaly...

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Option 6: Skill Removal

Processing…

(Selected - Optimal for Prevention of Future Reoccurrence)

Skill Targeted: [Ritual Insight]

Option 7: Title Removal

Processing…

(Selected - Removing titles related to unacceptable growth parameters)

Alex felt as if he was beginning to hyperventilate despite not having lungs. The restrictions on his movement and ability to communicate were frustrating, and he felt more helpless than he had ever before in his life.

No…

Something rose within Alex. A desire to fight and retaliate. He thought back to the feeling of Eura spreading out his presence across an entire city, and how that was dwarfed by the Gods, how even the System could do nothing before their power, requiring the intervention of another being of equal power.

Alex imagined his lungs, chest, and throat and unleashed an enormous yell of raw power. He pushed out with everything he had against the thing that bound him to this place.

There was a moment when he felt his restrictions slipping and a tugging sensation that he knew would lead him back to his body. Just before he could begin to follow it, the System clamped back down on him.

Restricting Aura Output.

Recalibrating E Rank Restrictions to High D Rank Restrictions.

As the restrictions held him back in his original voice, Alex felt exhausted. He felt as if he were a toddler thrashing in the arms of an adult.

Final Anomaly Assessment:

Subject has attained B Rank magical capability through: Expert Ritual Knowledge through repeatable skill combination.

Timeframe: 4.2 months

Current Progression Assessment: 873% above projected growth curve

Projected Impact Analysis:

Power Concentration in Singular Entity: 98.7%

Planetary Dependency on Outlier’s Abilities: 94.3% probability

Overall Planetary Growth Reduction Projection: 87.9%

Integration Parameter Failure: 91.2% probability

Conclusion:

Subjects accelerated growth creates unsustainable development pattern across integrating planet. Knowledge/Skill retention conflicts with Primary Directive of Growth across integrated population.

Calculating…

Removal of bare minimum knowledge and rewards to keep within peak growth parameters….

Initiating Memory Modification.

Removing: Adept Ritual Schematic Knowledge…

Removing: Expert Ritual Schematic Knowledge…

Removing: Deity interaction…

Initiating Skill removal

Removing: [Ritual Insight]…

Initiating Title removal

Removing: Adept Ritual Knowledge…

Removing: Expert Ritual Knowledge…

Alex’s mind raced, and he felt the panic begin to rise again as he saw the messages fly by. Thinking back to the previous messages, Alex tried to push outward again, desperately looking for a way to speak to the System.

He thought back to the feeling he’d had when he yelled out and directed his focus on his desire to speak and communicate.

He pushed and felt as if the thoughts were coming through loudly, as if he had said them himself.

Wait! What about the Primary Growth Directive? If you take my class skill, and the knowledge that I worked for… then you’re stripping me of my earned growth and what I risked my life for!

His frustration built, and he pushed harder. All of the anger and subdued feelings of inadequacy that had built over the last several weeks fueled his determination.

I just used the tools that you gave me. I earned those things. What’s the point of any of this if I push myself to the brink for the sake of progression… only to have it taken away because you think I’ve grown too fast?

The blue window winked out of existence, and Alex thought for a moment that he hadn’t been heard. The System hadn’t ever responded to his remarks and questions on Earth, so he knew it was a long shot.

Compensation Options Generated.

Option Categories based on Past, Present, and Future self.

Choose one from any of the following categories.

Past Self Options:Enhanced Creativity [Passive Skill]:

Unlocks latent artistic potential and increases creative thinking.

Social Acuity [Passive Skill]:

Gain heightened awareness of social cues and improved interpersonal skills.

Focused Discipline [Passive Skill]:

Enhance your ability to concentrate and maintain productivity.

Present Self Options:Ritual Resonance [Passive Skill]:

Develop an intuitive understanding of ritual magic, allowing for faster learning.

Mana Conduit [Passive Skill]:

Your body becomes a natural channel for mana, increasing your capacity and control over magical energy.

Arcane Wand [Epic Item]:

Gain a powerful wand attuned to your magical signature.

Future Self Options:

Several Future Self options include a modification for time-gated progression to prevent recent issues from repeating. These abilities have been marked with a ‘*’

Runic Apprentice [Epic Item]:*

An ancient teaching spirit-tool designed to guide practitioners through the art of runic magic. Progression gated by Rank.

Elemental Affinity {Trait}:

Develop a natural connection to one elemental aspect.

Enchanter’s Insight [Active Skill]:*

Gain foundational knowledge needed to begin crafting magical items. Progression gated by increasing skill proficiency rank.

Fuck.