A.K. looked at the clock in the corner of his vision. 3 minutes 43 seconds were left. A.K. then looked to the front of the hall where Murnia was standing. She looked directly at him and clocked her head to the left as if to ask “now?” A.K. gave a slight shake of his head as he could no longer embarrass Moriah now. For now he abided his time as it was time for nobles to start departing. Some of them had traveled weeks just to arrive for this day. Those with airships were truly fortunate.

After another 25 minutes, the last noble finally retired. Whatever plots and events planned out here were finally finished. Who knew what the effects of today would do to the Empire.

A.K. was going crazy, the time had long run out and a flashing red symbol was in the periphery of his vision. He wanted to pay direct attention to it now, but now he, the princess, and various servants were left in the room. All A.K. wanted to do right now was rush to his study and lock everyone and thing out. A.K. walked over to Princess Moriah with a smile on his face.

“Moriah, how did you enjoy the celebration today? I hope it was fitting for one of your statures” A.K. said with a smile on his face as he turned to look at the princess. Her eyes appeared to be a bit watery and A.K. had a sinking feeling in his gut.

“So only now you remember me! Hmph,” Moriah said as she turned her back to A.K.

A.K. sighed internally and felt a headache developing. He had mostly ignored Moriah during the scion's retirement to the side hall. Although just as many people surrounded her as they did him earlier, he never once took the opportunity to talk to her again. Actually, he was hoping she would retire to her room so he could ignore her entirely.

“That was not my intention Moriah,” A.K. said as he grabbed her arm gently and turned her to face him. Might as well take advantage of this reincarnator thing and get a princess. “We both must be aware of our stations when it comes to public events. Especially those hosting a number of the western nobility. What rumors would spread if we interacted heavily? I figured since you’d be here for a little while we could spend time together to deepen our relationship.”

><>

Damn, at this rate Moriah felt as if she’d barely have to act. The fool took the words out of her mouth and set something up himself. This was working right into her hands. She could sense the urgency in Aegeus's tone as he talked to her. She had watched as he gently guided the nobles into leaving all without showing his true intentions. Moriah felt as if she slightly underestimated him as he did it skillfully without showing those intentions. His mother must be a master in the arts of deception. Moriah concluded from her observations.

Moriah put on a pouting expression before sighing lightly. “Fine I will forgive you this once, however, you must make it up to me on the morrow.”

Moriah watch as A.K. gave her a slight bow and she smiled. All according to plan so far. She then took her leave. The moment she stepped outside of the hall two figures appeared next to her as if they’ve always been there. One was a man standing around 246cm and the other a lady standing around 252cm. The man had red hair with a massive red beard to go along with it, his skin was pale and the shirt he wore was black and tight-fitting, showing off his well-defined upper body. He wore loose-fitting pants covered in pockets and leather boots. The woman was completely opposite she wore a tight-fitting dress showing off her hourglass figure. She was packing muscles as well, not as much as her partner. She was more on the tone side with a nice bust and tan to go along with her figure.

Both were assigned to Moriah as her protectors since birth. Not a day went by even in the presence of the Empress, when the two weren’t either with her or in the general area she was at. Nobody, not even the Empress could force them away, as since her birth they took an Oath.

“James, Lala, how did you enjoy the celebration?” Moriah asked as the two appeared next to her with no surprise upon her face. No matter whether she was awake, in learning, training, or bathing one or the other would accompany her. They were her protectors, yet also her shackles, she was never in any real danger, not like the hero’s of the Empire she was told stories of.

“Princess, a Kan celebration is always a pleasure. Plots and schemes that affect all of the western region and Empire is always hashed out at the Kan balls” Lala said with a bright smile on her face.

“The guards of the Kan are some of the fiercest warriors I’ve ever laid eyes upon Princess Moriah. It seems like under the leadership of Duke Vasu and Duchess Keala the Kan will rise to an unprecedented height. It is a miracle their marriage occurred in the first place” James said with a stoic expression on his face.

“Oh hush James, do not bore the princess. Your thoughts are always on a battle. Go outside the Empire boundaries if you really wish to fight. Princess the Kan social and diplomacy skills have certainly achieved a new level with Duchess Keala in charge. Now that some of the most renowned families in the Empire have successfully produced offspring, I’m afraid to imagine what heights they will rise to.” Lala said still having that bright smile upon her face.

“Exactly, if I can pull Aegeus to my side in marriage the throne will all but be secured. I will pull the Empire until it is the strongest country and humans the strongest race this continent will ever see.” Moriah had a completely new look in her eyes and the eyes showed with a fervent glint.

><>

A.K. sighed in relief as Moriah left the hall to go to her assigned quarters. Murnia quickly appears to his left.

“Young master, is there anything wrong?” Murnia asked as she appeared close to him. Although not many could see through the mask her young master always wore after being assigned to him she had grown used to all his odd quirks and behavior.

“There is nothing Murnia, I wish to retire to my study,” A.K. said. Murnia nodded gently before leading the way for her young master to return to his quarters.

…

A.K. was finally alone in his study with no responsibilities or obligations to bother him now. Now he could finally have answers. Before he did anything he decided to check his status to see if any changes took place before and after.

‘Status’

Aegeus Kan

Level: 25

Race: Magi Human

Bloodline: ???

Health: 1250/1250 Mana: 550/550 Stamina: 400/400 Vitality: 25 Intelligence: 55 Endurance: 40 Strength: 35 Dexterity: 40 Wisdom: 32 Will: 15 Attribute Points: 168

Skills: ???, ???, Imperial Lvl 5(Max), Common Tongue Lvl 5(Max), Orcish Grunts Lvl 3, Dwarven Stone Lvl 2, Acting Lvl 12, Dancing Lvl 12, Calligraphy Lvl 16, Climbing Lvl 9, Charm Lvl 5, Drawing Lvl 6, Mathematics Lvl 14, Running Lvl 8

A.K. personally thought he came a long way for only being a three-year-old and being able to amass the few skills he had. These skills had developed ever since he started his studies with his mother and other various tutors. They had instructed him on almost everything except fighting.

He gained a start point in each category every level up, and seven stat points to distribute as well. The reason he had 168 attribute points instead of 175 is that he started off at level 1. If his mother had allowed him to have combat practice he was sure he would've picked up quite a few more skills as well. However, any type of practicing when it came to combat was forbidden. Now that A.K. had gotten that out of the way it was time to focus on the big red flashing button that had been hovering in this vision for quite a while. The System would finally answer him A.K. thought to himself as he clicked on the button.

Welcome A.K. the System has completed your analysis rating you at a 73% chance of dying and a 15% chance at being captured and studied for experiments. Leaving you with a 12% chance of completing the mission. System has judged you based on your performance and every day to day activities, which include your interactions, your mindset, and your general outlining situation. System has also judged how the gods of this world interact with it on a daily basis. Fortunately for you from the knowledge System has amassed so far there are no human gods yet. The gods that do choose to interact with humanity may even see you in a favorable light.

A.K. couldn’t even open his mouth before System started talking. It had finally answered a few of his questions, but that opened up the pathway for so many more to come. A.K. Took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak, then closing it once again as he remembered all these questions could be voiced through his thoughts. He decided to ask the most important question first.

‘System what are Harbingers?’

Harbingers are the ones chosen by [ Beyond ] to venture into the deep recesses of life throughout the universe, to slowly assimilate all paths a power into one library of catalog. In doing so, [ Beyond ] hopes to have others rise to a similar power level and go beyond the boundaries of this universe.

‘Why does [ Beyond ] need this library and others of similar power levels?’ Was A.K.s next question to System.

System is afraid System cannot answer that as System has no knowledge.

‘If you cannot answer that give me your best guess. Give me a reason why a being powerful enough to invade my home, take not only my soul but many others and toss them throughout the universe as if it was playing with dice. Why must my soul be snatch from my family and taken to some fairy tale high world when I am just a regular guy. Why me?’

By this point, A.K. was nearly screaming in his mind. Yes A.K. had finally come to terms with his death and the fact that he’d probably never see his family again unless he could somehow become powerful enough to break through space. Who knows however long that would take, yet right now he had no goal no driving force to push him forward against all adversaries. Didn’t each protagonist get one? A.K. read the stories, yet where was his what was to be his driving force against all opposition. What was A.K.s purpose in second life? While all of this was going on A.K. never felt how the magic in his body was moving. Rumbling and churning just like him. It was as if a volcano was getting ready to erupt.

After a few moments of silence System finally spoke again

‘Although System had an inclination when System was part of the main System. I no We, believe that [ Beyond ] has seen something that can threaten the continued existence of this universe. System was strictly designed to make its users stronger no matter the technique, no matter the cost. In Systems speculation, Earth was chosen because the realm its hidden in is almost like a mini-universe within the greater one. Hidden from all danger. This has allowed the souls inside the endless cycle of reincarnation to possess a qualitative change. A change that is necessary for the rest of the universe. Your soul just happens to be one of the best in terms of quality. Paths of Power have been established all throughout the galaxy, yet gods and entities as powerful rarely venture outside of their local star cluster let alone the vastness of their universe. The only constant in this universe is the All Soul River. It is from there that you can find where hidden realms and planets reside. System can no longer speak upon this as your authority level is too low.

That was a lot of information for A.K. to process. A.K. took a few minutes to contemplate to himself about what he just heard. Earth was in a mini-universe? Now A.K. wondered if the stars he could view from his studies window were even real. The All Souls River? Sounded impressive but there was nothing he could do about it now. At least he had an idea of how to find his home if he ever got the chance to. A.K. decided to definitely look into how to make his soul stronger.

If someone above the level of a god could break through the stars and find his home then why couldn’t he? At least A.K. now knew why Earth never found any signs of aliens. They existed in their own universe. A.K. couldn’t help but get a bit excited about how powerful you must be to put a world in its own universe.

So Harbingers were to be some sort of messenger to the greater universe and warn them of an impending threat that they couldn’t even prove? No wonder A.K.'s chance of death was so high.

‘What exactly is my mission as a Harbinger?’

The mission assigned to all Harbingers is to establish nodes and propagate System throughout the populace. You can do this by either establishing direct contact with a subject or once nodes are established after an investigation they can have access to System. As the Harbinger, you will have all rights to refuse or eject someone from System.

‘That doesn’t seem too hard of a mission, why would I need to be wary of the gods or others? From what I’ve seen of System, your purpose is to allow someone to categorize their skills and allowed a finer control of strength amongst other stats by the distribution of attribute or stat points.’

If you were a farmer and someone came a took a portion of your crops what would you do?

A.K. grew quiet, although he wasn’t a god, he could imagine that if a source of revenue that was originally his got somehow cut off or disrupted he’d be upset.

System is designed to enhance its users to the best of their ability, however, all gods can harness mortals for various purposes, whether it be faith-based, a sacrifice of souls, or any reason at all. No one would be happy with a source of their revenue being interrupted.

‘Is there no way to come to an agreement with [ Beyond ] and System?’

A.K. could almost hear the gears turning in his head as System processed everything.

Would you albeit short, put your soul, your power, your everything into a stranger's hand? Could you give someone with no trust, even if their intentions seemed honest, that level of power over you?

A.K. didn’t even have to respond back. If he originally had the power to say no to System he wouldn’t be here now.

‘Could [ Beyond ] not share the details of System with them?’

Would you hand a nuclear bomb to just anyone and tell them how it works? System is designed to aid and properly assist in the path of power. That would require gods and entities on their level to willingly become lower than somebody else, who they have no knowledge of. Unless they bow there is no common ground to speak upon. The basis of an equal agreement starts when both parties are equally strong. Although no one is on [ Beyond ] level. Could you single-handedly fight the entire universe? No celestial emperor could even manage that. Even if it was possible, at what cost?