Speedrun 13

Upon returning to the Library and enjoying some precious moments with Olivia, I decided to invest the 'hard-earned' WP I had accumulated. I acquired both the Advanced Title System and the Reincarnation System, depleting our current WP reserves to 3,057. The only item left on my immediate acquisition list was the Limiter System, priced at a steep 15,000 WP.

[Title System | Upgrade Name: Advanced Title System | Description: The Advanced Title System upgrade enhances your title management capabilities by introducing advanced features and benefits.

Requirements: [Collector] x5

Simultaneous Equipping:

One of the key benefits of this upgrade is the ability to simultaneously equip all of your titles without any limitations. This means you can harness the full power of your titles at once. However, it's important to note that opposing titles will cancel each other out, so choose your combinations wisely.

Title Advancements:

With this upgrade, titles can evolve and become more potent by repeating the process that originally granted them. This evolution process not only increases their effectiveness but may also bestow additional advantages.

Title Removal:

With the Advanced Title System, you gain the power to remove titles from the system. This can be a strategic choice if you want to make room for new titles or if you no longer wish to utilize a particular title. It's crucial to keep in mind that once a title is removed, it cannot be regained.

[Price: 25,000 WP]

[Background System| Upgrade Name: Reincarnation System | Description: The Reincarnation System upgrade grants users a unique ability to experience life from a new perspective. With this advanced system, you can select two individuals of your choice or let the system randomly choose them. You'll then temporarily reincarnate as their child, with the option to determine your gender.

Requirements: Reality Warping, Time Manipulation, and Location Manipulation Systems.

Reincarnation Process:

During the reincarnation process, your original body will be safely placed in stasis within the Library, ensuring its protection. Your soul will be bound to the newly created body, allowing you to skip the formative years and enter the world at an age of your choosing. Until your 'awakening' in the new body, the system will have complete control over it.

Memory and Information:

It's crucial to understand that you won't inherit the complete memories from the new body. Instead, you'll receive a small packet of information about interpersonal relationships and key snippets of the body's past, providing you with essential context about your new life.

Retaining Abilities:

One remarkable feature of this system is the ability to retain any skills or abilities gained during your reincarnation experience. These acquired talents become a permanent part of your skill set.

Exiting the World:

Upon completing your experience, your soul will be returned to your original body. You can exit the world at any time, taking with you the newfound abilities you've acquired.

Additional Cost:

Please note that each usage of the Reincarnation System incurs an additional fee. This fee depends on the probability of the chosen individuals having a child and their initial strength, making it a variable cost based on the circumstances of each reincarnation experience.

[Price: 3,500 WP]

Both of us were thoroughly pleased with the new Title system, promptly equipping titles that offered advantageous effects while carefully ignoring those that could potentially lead to unintended complications.

For instance, neither of us chose to activate our [God Slayer] titles, despite its tempting offer of doubling our base stats when confronting a god. The drawback of this title, which included negative favorability with all gods within that realm and constant detection by them, outweighed its benefits. However, in perilous situations, enabling said title could be done with a simple thought.

Similarly, I refrained from utilizing my [Corruptor] title, which had the unsettling ability to corrupt the souls of those in proximity. The long-term consequences of this title remained uncertain, and I planned to revisit the Harry Potter world at a later time to ensure the well-being of Emily, the only individual with whom I had used this title.

During my extensive travels, I had managed to accumulate quite a collection of titles, though only eighteen of them proved truly advantageous in my daily life:

[Titles: [Terrorist] [Blessed by Death] [Master Blacksmith] [Training Addict] [Breaker of Chains] [Arcane Sage] [Dungeon Conqueror] [Merciless] [Rune Master: DanMachi] [Arcane Book-Thief] [Master] [Agent of Change] [Life Weaver] [World Buster] [Titan Slayer] [The Harbinger of Mana's Demise] [Creator] [Masochist]]

On the other hand, Olivia possessed a more modest selection of titles, with only eight of them providing practical benefits:

[Titles: [Terrorist] [Training Addict] [Sword Saint] [Dungeon Conqueror] [Fated Lover] [Agent of Change] [Drill Sergeant] [Masochist]]

After a day of relaxation and mental rejuvenation, we decided to delve into the trove of books and scrolls Olivia had extracted from the world. However, despite my understanding of the Wuxia and Xianxia themes and my [Intuitive Aptitude] skill, deciphering the cryptic scripts proved to be an insurmountable challenge.

Both of us possessed the [Ki Manipulation] skill, enabling us to manipulate our internal Ki, yet it became apparent that this skill alone was insufficient to progress with these techniques. Comprehensive understanding was essential, and both of us found ourselves struggling in that regard. However, despite our setbacks, Olivia remained hopeful that her pursuit of mastery would yield greater success in a new realm.

Instead of venturing into the "Library of Heaven's Path" world, as I had previously suggested, Olivia opted to dive into the world of "The Gamer". Her goal was to seek guidance from the main character, Han Jihan, with the hope that the modern setting of this world would provide insights into the essential principles of cultivation.

To further her understanding, she even chose the Blue Mage class, which granted her the ability of [Observational Learning]. This ability enabled her to acquire skills simply by observing them, a skill that could potentially unlock the secrets of cultivation that had eluded her in her previous world.

After bidding farewell and granting her access to the chosen world, Olivia, along with Sky and Serena, departed in a burst of magical energy, leaving me once again in the company of Index within the Library. I didn't dwell on my solitude for too long. After a sigh, I refocused my attention on the magical book floating to my left.

"Alright, Index, let's continue with our previous arrangement," I said with a faint smile.

{Any preferences this time?} he asked, tilting himself to the side.

"Give me one related to magic," I replied after a moment of consideration, and a nondescript world book materialized on the pedestal right beside me.

{This one should be a breeze for you. I'll set up the entry parameters so you can complete one of the quests right away,"} he said, determination evident in his tone.

"Do I want to know?" I asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

{It's best if you find out for yourself,} he replied cryptically. {But you won't be in any immediate danger.}

"Fine, I'll leave it up to you," I sighed and placed my palm on the world book, then uttered, "Enter."

The surroundings around me transformed, washed away by an overwhelming surge of mana, and with a brilliant burst of light, I materialized in the center of a Japanese classroom, just as a class was about to begin.

My sudden appearance silenced the bustling class, capturing everyone's undivided attention. Ignoring the curious gazes, I took a closer look at my surroundings. Everything seemed ordinary, strangely devoid of any hint of mana, and I couldn't help but think Index once again played a prank on me.

The people around me were somewhat familiar faces, and I recognized the typical school life theme common in Japanese literature. However, I couldn't pinpoint the specific source of this world.

My gaze settled on the figure of a petite, green-eyed, short-haired teacher. I knew her from somewhere, or at least her appearance seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. So, I asked, "This might sound strange, but where am I?"

The teacher continued to stare at me with a bewildered expression, her mouth opening and closing as if trying to respond. However, the room suddenly erupted in shouts and screams.

"Hmm, maybe arriving fully equipped wasn't the best idea," I mumbled to myself, before shrugging and expanding my [Mental Domain], forcefully calming the minds of those present while simultaneously scanning their thoughts for any useful information.

Unfortunately, aside from some peculiar interests and future childhood traumas, the information I gathered was mostly useless. Well, almost, as their names did spark a memory, which allowed me to identify the world I had entered just in time to intercept the summoning circle forming beneath us.

A mischievous grin crept across my face as I recalled the quests related to this world. "Well, it seems like you guys won't be embarking on an adventure," I chuckled, and the summoning circle flashed brightly as I wrested control of it from its owner.

The spell-form reconfigured itself, condensing into a small plate-sized circle, ideal for transporting a single entity. With a casual wave of my hand, I bid farewell to the stunned students and their teacher, vanishing from their midst.

[Quest: [Return the kids] Completed 1,000 WP Received]

This method of dimensional travel was far from gentle, and I had to cocoon myself in a solid mana blanket to protect my soul from slight damage. However, this spell had its own set of merits.

Summoning magic was something I wasn't particularly familiar with, as it required the manipulation of dimensional affinity mana—a form of magic I had previously only seen used by the Library itself. While the cost was still steep, this specific spell consumed only a fraction of what my personal one did, relying on the life-force of approximately one hundred individuals as its fuel.

My separate mental instances were already diligently dissecting the spell-form, sifting through its intricate details, and using [Optimize] to enhance it. It was merely a matter of time before I could reshape it into something more practical, such as an enchantment or even a personal dimensional travel spell that would cost me next to nothing.

As I delved deeper into the intricacies of the spell, I began to discern some of its shortcomings.

Unlike my own method, which involved piercing through two dimensional barriers and constructing a stable dimensional tunnel, this spell simply formed a string of mana to connect a dimensional anchor at the caster's location to a temporary anchor created at the target destination. It then encased the traveler in a cocoon of mana and propelled them along the mana string.

This spell lacked any defensive measures, save for a temporal stasis that didn't affect me, so anything residing within the void between dimensions had the potential to pose a threat, either by preying on the travelers or by severing the mana string, leaving the traveler lost in the void forever.

I had already devised a few potential fixes for the spell's shortcomings. One relied on temporal magic to make the travel time instantaneous, while the other leaned on spatial magic to warp space between the starting and exit points into the same location, eliminating the need for venturing into the void. However, both ideas required further experimentation, especially the second one, as it involved merging two entirely distinct spaces.

"Hmm," I mumbled aloud, ignoring the crowd that had gathered around me, as I found myself inside a sparsely lit room. "Maybe creating a temporary dimension as a buffer would work."

"O Chosen Heroes, welcome to Tortus!" shouted an old man in ceremonial robes, raising his hands in the air. "I have been waiting for all of your arrival-" His voice cracked, and confusion creased his face as he scanned the surroundings, searching for the other heroes he had mentioned, but he only found me.

"Where are the rest?" he asked, turning to the bishop next to him. "And why is he so old?"

"Hey," I interjected, feeling slightly offended, "Your mother is old, you old fart. I'll have you know that I'm only twenty-eight, closing in on twenty-nine."

The old fart in question, Ishtar Langbard, was being controlled by the demon—or should I say the apostle called Noint, while also holding the position of the pope in the world's most prominent religion, which deified Ehit.

As far as I knew, Ehit was a relatively weaker god who enjoyed playing games with his followers. I was fairly certain that his presence alone had elevated this world to tier 4. However, this same god had long lost his physical form and existed solely as a soul, and I couldn't wait to experiment with it using my [Soul Manipulation] skill.

"So, Old Fart, why did you summon the majestic Quacker to your world?" I said, striking my trademark pose as my outfit shifted to my villain costume. "Is there a war brewing? Is there a demon lord on the loose, or do you need a god slain? I've done it all and more."

I saturated the environment with my mana, making it hard for them to breathe, and squinted my eyes at them.

"Although, do speak the truth—I can tell if you're lying," I added while relishing the worried expressions that appeared on their faces as they realized they might not be able to manipulate me in the same way they wanted to do with the children.

"Did we summon The Devil?" muttered the bishop, his eye fixated on my majestic visage.

"Oh, you summoned something much worse, you old perv," I said with a wicked grin before waving my hand, causing him to dematerialize for having unwelcome thoughts about my booty.

(A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'm currently battling a brutal hangover, which has left me too drained to muster the creativity to write more. I'll make it up to you on Monday.)