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Mountain Spirit’s Possession

* You have defeated the Mountain Spirit that possessed the Primal Peak. The Spirit’s anger has passed in respect to your strength. It has decided to share a small portion of its power with you as a tribute.

* Slightly increases all of your stats’ effectiveness.

* Improves the connection between you and your weapon of choice.

* Increases your abilities when fighting in a mountainous region.

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‘This is better.’

Not only did it increase the effectiveness of all of his stats – like the Passive Skills he’d trained to acquire with Eynart – but it also improved the connection between him and his weapon. While he wasn’t sure of what it meant, he felt like he understood it a bit. Compared to his old stone spear, he wasn’t as used to Eynart’s spear, making his movements a bit awkward at times. He guessed this would improve that. Liam looked at the information of the next title.

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Kingslayer

* You have defeated and killed the Sword Mountain’s Golem King. Your achievement was recorded for the very short remainder of the Golem’s history. The System will forever remember it.

* Increases your proficiency with all weapons.

* Slightly increases your abilities when wielding a sword.

* Increases your abilities when fighting against large opponents.

* Significantly increases your abilities when fighting against Kings.

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It was a good title, though one that didn’t suit him completely as it required a sword to show its full potential. The “all weapons” effect should allow him to grow more used to his spear and increase his Skill Proficiency with the Spear Mastery Skill, though, making the Title still useful to him. Quite satisfied, Liam looked at the last Title’s information window.

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Sourcekeeper’s Tale

* You were the one to slay the Sourcekeeper of the Great Rift after an untold amount of years. The story of the aberration that lived for far too long flows into you. Its gratitude and power flood your body and mind.

* Increases the weight of your existence.

* Increases your resistance against the Corruption’s influence.

* Increases your resistance against Source Trials.

* Increases your abilities when fighting other Sourcekeepers.

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He narrowed his eyes.

‘A Title that increases the weight of one’s existence?’

Even at a glance, such an effect seemed above any of the previous Titles, especially if one didn’t know what one’s existential weight was. However, this also implied that Liam wasn’t the only one capable of using the weight of his existence as a weapon. If there were other Titles like this one, then it was obvious that some other lifeform had acquired it. Liam gritted his teeth. Then, he sighed.

Closing the information windows, he looked at the ceiling. In front of his eyes, the window of the last thing he needed to check out appeared.

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Great Sourcebearer

Type: Passive Skill

Rank: Unknown

* You have cleared the Source Trial of the Great Rift. Its power now rests within you.

* Your stats and Skill Proficiencies will be increased based on the number of Source Trials you have passed when in an environment devoured by the Corruption. As you have cleared a Great Source Trial, this ability’s effects will be increased. A fraction of its effects will be present at all times, with or without the Corruption.

* Increases all of your stats’ effectiveness by a large amount.

* Reduces the effects of the Corruption near you and your Kingdom.

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Liam’s eyes widened as he read the Skill information. Not only did it increase his stats’ effectiveness, but it also buffed them and increased his Skill Proficiencies even outside of the Corruption. It was by far one of his best skills. Secondarily, it reminded him of his ability to set a Kingdom after King’s Qualifications evolved to King’s Crown. Of course, he did not know how to do so or even what a Kingdom was.

‘What is a Kingdom?’

Silence. As usual, the System paid no mind to his questions. Liam thought for a bit.

‘I’d like to create a Kingdom.’

[Designate the area. Currently, your Kingdom can only have one hundred square kilometers of area. Your Kingdom cannot be set in the area of another Kingdom.]

So it was a physical area? What did it mean to create a Kingdom, however? Liam deliberated on it, but could not reach a clear conclusion. There were too many possibilities. It could be a way to simply designate the territories of the various species in the Convergence, but also have abilities of its own.

‘What are the effects of a Kingdom?’

There was no response. Liam sighed once more before he thought of dismissing the window, which disappeared from his sight. Suddenly, he froze.

‘…Wait.’

He hurriedly thought of creating a Kingdom again, seeing the same message.

‘It doesn’t say it’s a physical area.’

He narrowed his eyes. He felt like he was starting to touch upon something, but he wasn’t sure of what it was. It seemed far-fetched at the very least to consider the Kingdom’s territory to be anything but a physical territory, but for some reason, he felt like that wasn’t quite right. Was it his Intelligence? Or was it his Perception? Either way, the suspicion clawing away at his heart wouldn’t go away, but his train of thought was interrupted by the voice he hated the most.

[So, how was your first experience with the Drakkhan Empire?]

Liam frowned. It was too early. Why was this maniac contacting him now? The voice that spoke through the System placed pressure on existence itself. Liam saw the space around him bend, strained. Time had completely stopped. He could feel it. He couldn’t breathe, as the air molecules wouldn’t move. Thankfully, the Aura within him still flowed, likely due to the Creator allowing it. In spite of all of this, Liam’s response carried no deference.

‘Why are you here?’

It was natural. This being was the one at fault for everything that happened, at the very core of it. It had created the System and the Convergence itself.

[Aww, don’t be like that. We’re going to talk a lot more from now on. I was going to leave you alone in the Tutorial until you got your bearings, but since you’re now officially part of the Convergence, I don’t see any reason to hold back.]

‘Answer the question. Please.’

[Fine, you oaf. I’m here to add a new Title to your Status Window, mostly for formality’s sake. I could let the System do it by itself but this one speaks to me, you know? I felt the need to do it myself.]

[You have acquired a new Title!]

Liam hurriedly opened the new Title’s information.

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Fateless

* Damn, bro. Damn. Shit’s crazy. You’re crazy. For some reason, you can change fate, which wasn’t really supposed to be possible. I know I didn’t make it supposed to be possible. You’re weird, you know that? You aren’t the first dude to be able to do that, by the way, but I just get so surprised every time.

* Increases your ability to affect fate. I guess. You can change it, that’s what I mean.

* Increases your resistance against fate. Which is INSANE, to be very honest.

* Transforms an absolute future into a possible one. Mental.

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‘What the hell is this description?’

[Do you like it? I wrote it myself.]

‘…Can I have the normal one? The System-created one.’

[You’re so boring. Fine, have it your way.]

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Fateless

* You are Fateless. The strings of fate cannot tie you down, its web cannot be weaved around you. You were born to rebel against the nature of this reality. You are not the first of your kind, but you just might be the last.

* Increases your ability to affect the workings of fate.

* Increases your resistance against fate.

* Transforms an absolute future into a possible one.

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Now it was a description more like the ones he was used to. Liam felt like the creator was… Unexpectedly childish? Though that was to be expected from a being that created a death tournament for its own entertainment.

[Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, it’s time for you to answer a question of mine. As I said before, how was your first experience with the Empire? They’re not a real Empire, by the way, it’s just how they used to be called before they were introduced into the Convergence. They don’t have an Emperor, only a normal king.]

‘Bad. Why do you do this? Why have you created the Convergence? Just for shits and giggles? I don’t believe it.’

[What other reason would I have?]

Liam was about to answer before he stopped himself. The Creator’s vibe had changed. If before he was talking to a playful idiot, now he was speaking with a smart individual who hid their true intentions.

‘…I don’t know.’

[And you won’t be able to guess, either, so leave it alone.]

‘Why did you allow the Empire to interfere with the System messages and delay them?’

[Oh, I usually allow stuff like that. They need to pay a price, of course, but I let them do it because it sounds fun. They can only delay messages like that for a bit, though. Nothing too serious.]

‘…’

[Also, because it wouldn’t have changed anything. There was no way for you to prepare for the Empire’s arrival. I don’t allow it when the summoned species is comparable to the summoner, since that would give the summoner species a boring advantage. That wasn’t your species’ case.]

‘…You’re fucked up.’

[So you say, but aren’t we all, old chap? Wait until you hear about some of the things others have done!]

‘…What is the Perception stat?’

Liam was using this opportunity to ask about all the questions he had for the System, ones that would never be answered.

[I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while now, but I wouldn’t go down that route if I were you. The risk of madness is real. It would be a pity to see you go insane, as others have before.]

Liam lifted a single eyebrow. So far, the risk of going insane hadn’t reared its head. He felt no different from before, but maybe he’d just had the stat for too long? There was also no way to know if the Creator was speaking the truth.

‘So there have been others with higher Perception?’

[Of course. Scholars have dedicated their entire lives to studying its secrets. That means studying me, specifically. Naturally, they never discovered anything, but I felt like I should reward their efforts, so I gave out some Perception points here and there, to the more dedicated ones.]

‘Then why did they go insane if they couldn’t figure out anything?’

[The stat description back when you first asked about Perception, before the Tutorial started, didn’t lie. It is related to the arcane truths of existence. However, that is too much information for a mortal mind to handle, even though Intelligence was their highest stat. In the end, their minds simply cracked and they went insane.]

The tone was different once more. Ever since he started to speak about this, the Creator returned to the same state as when Liam asked about his objective, moving away from his playful, almost childish persona.

‘That isn’t all of it, is it?’

[I wonder. But, anyway! We’re gonna have a lot of fun from now on, so get ready! You should get out of this pickle you’ve found yourself in first, though.]

Liam sighed. Just as soon as he thought the entity was being serious, it went right back to its usual personality. He also didn’t miss how the Creator had changed the subject, a sharp glint in his eyes. He should find out more about Perception and there was no better source than the being who invented it in the first place, but since that had failed, he now needed to look for alternatives.

[I’m going now. Remember to find enjoyment in the little things!]