055: Upgrade Compensation
Returning to the castle, Don lay sprawled on his bed, unable to move for a long time.
He had stuffed the Sun Scepter back into the system's storage. After cleaning up the other effects within the theater caused by the clash of the two Unspeakable entities, Don felt like most of his vitality and spirit had been drained along with it.
Utterly draining.
Right now, he just wanted to bask lazily in the sun, eat some biscuits, and do absolutely nothing.
He genuinely wanted to degenerate into a maggot, writhing wildly and crawling shadowily on the ground.
Sigh. His mental state was still a bit too robust.
"But now really isn't the time to relax."
Rolling over twice on the bed, Don opened his eyes, staring vacantly at the cyan-black stone brick ceiling.
Thinking about the Amon he saw in that state, Don felt that perhaps there were Amons lurking within his territory as well.
Why is this thing as ubiquitous as maggots?
"However, if the last sentence I heard was spoken by that Amon avatar, it's highly likely he wasn't here solely because of the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw… No, that's not entirely accurate. He probably didn't appear entirely because of this Miracle Invoker Sealed Artifact."
He was pursuing the Universe's Dark Side, the Demon Monarch Farbauti, an Ancient God from the Second Epoch.
Whether it was because of the entity controlling the Universe's Dark Side beyond the starry sky, or some other reason, remained unknown for now.
And his appearance here was also due to the fact that the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw had manifested here before… or perhaps more.
A slight twitch in his partially recovered spirituality made Don suddenly notice and recall something.
Back when he fought that Marionettist within the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw, the Marionettist had a moment where his state was clearly wrong.
"It was as if he suddenly lost the ability to manipulate Spirit Body Threads, forgetting how to control them." (Chapter 023)
It strongly resembled the ability of a high-sequence Marauder pathway Beyonder, capable of stealing the thoughts of a Sequence 4 Marionettist. It had to be at least a demigod of the same level or a higher Sequence 3, or possibly a corresponding mystical item.
Amon hunted all Beyonders on his own pathway. His appearance in a place where a high-sequence Marauder pathway Beyonder or item had once been active wasn't strange.
"But regardless of the reason, Amon showing up never bodes well."
It was just a bit unfortunate that he couldn't deal with the Amon avatar using the method he once considered for dealing with the Demoness Sect—writing an anonymous report.
Firstly, because it was just an avatar. Eliminating it wouldn't affect the true body at all; cleaning up a Worm of Time was practically useless.
Secondly, because eliminating the Amon avatar would reveal that Tingen still harbored anomalies, even that the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw was still here, and that the high-sequence Death pathway Beyonder drawing the Churches' fire was just a smokescreen.
Amon might send a more powerful avatar!
Therefore, as a mere Sequence 5, even with the system and various Sealed Artifacts helping him potentially defeat an Amon avatar, Don's best course was still to avoid confrontation whenever possible.
"Even if this Amon avatar stays in Tingen for a long time, potentially serving as a component for my Sequence 5 to 4 advancement ritual…"
Just how many Amons were lurking in the shadows? He had been completely distracted by the one openly appearing and hadn't seen clearly!
That area was surely already contaminated by Amon. Determining exactly how many Worms of Time were there was beyond his capabilities, and hunting them was impossible.
Would he end up advancing from Sequence 5 to 4, or skipping straight to Sequence 1?
Hmm, truly a perplexing issue.
"What did you update?"
Thinking this, Don shifted his attention to the system.
Ever since the system reconnected with its host and muttered a few things, it had fallen silent. When Don tried to converse, he got a polite prompt: [System upgrading, please try again later.]
Indeed, after being manipulated by the Great Existence, the system had also absorbed a certain power from the 'Main System', allowing it to update and evolve, successfully advancing from version 1.0 to the brand new 1.1.
This was the first time the system had undergone an update iteration, and Don was somewhat expectant.
He speculated that the Knowledge Moor must have infused a bit of its power into the system, causing it to develop some new features.
Apparently, the update content wasn't massive, so the upgrade process was quick. By the time Don had finished cleaning up the mess in the theater and returned to the castle, the system upgrade was complete, and it had organized the new additions.
[A new module has been added,] the system's electronic voice announced. [It's called the 'Observer' module.]
"'Observer'?"
Don sat up with interest, hugging his quilt, as the system continued: [However, it requires Sequence 4 to function normally. Usage isn't supported under normal circumstances.]
"Sequence 4?" Don pondered for a moment, then understood. "As expected. Divine Nature is crucial."
The 'Observer' module should correspond to the state where his spirit body left his physical form, and the world unfolded before him.
The system had solidified this state into an internal module, likely the work of the Knowledge Moor.
[But well…]
"But what?"
[The Main System sent some update compensation,] the system said, sounding both 'righteous and stern' yet smug. [It can convert the excess update energy and some residual energy collected by this system into some practical items and award them to you, Host.]
In other words, residual power from the Knowledge Moor was recycled by the system and used to give him a special perk?
Though it was compensation from the Main System, how much and what exactly he got depended on how much energy the system managed to save.
The room for maneuvering was quite high.
Don raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "System Buddy, you've actually become quite capable."
The host's praise made the system's electronic tone lift slightly. [Naturally, this system has always been capable… Hold on, let me check the specific compensation details.]
Tsk. Update compensation? Why did it feel like playing a game? Well, given the existence of the system itself, update compensation seemed perfectly normal.
Soon, the system gave him the answer.
Besides some compensation in Appraisal attempts, Artificer attempts, and Knowledge Fragments, there was one item Don hadn't expected.
[Mosaic Goggles for Stargazing.]
[Quality: System Exclusive.]
[More lofty than the starry sky, more eternal than… cough, wrong channel. The erstwhile Wanderer, Gonzalo Cadron Abraham, once said, only eternal stars can illuminate the sky. It shows humanity has never ceased its exploration of the cosmos. Therefore, to navigate the eternally shifting, perilous Astral Realm, an explorer like you might need alternative methods to find safe passage. After all, one mustn't gaze directly at the stars.]
[Children mustn't see things they shouldn't! Put on these goggles, and anything potentially harmful to a child's psyche will be thoroughly pixelated!]
(End of Chapter)