Speedrun 14

"So, Ishtar, my man," I said with a smile, strolling up to the pope and continuing to dismiss and dematerialize any guards who attempted to stand in my way. "Care to explain why you attempted to summon children to your world?"

"We didn't," he replied with a gulp, "Our lord and savior, Ehit, graced us with an oracle, saying that he would be sending heroes to save our world." After a brief pause, he added, "Although, he didn't say what kind of heroes," while eyeing me suspiciously.

"He didn't send me. If that's what you're thinking," I retorted, cocking my head. "I'm pretty sure I came here on my own volition."

"You might think that, but the Lord works in mysterious ways," he said, shaking his head in a show of devout faith.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm right this time. If I hadn't been here, the summoning circle in the other world would have brought over a classroom of children and their teacher," I explained, only to swiftly realize he didn't believe me, so I changed the topic. "Speaking of the circle," I said with a sly grin, "Care to explain why there was so much life force infused into that spell?"

"Ehit-sama demanded a sacrifice," he said with an ecstatic expression. "We live only to serve him, and we were happy to oblige. People sacrificed their lives willingly to save the world so that their loved ones could have a safe future."

"Why would an all-powerful god need the sacrifice of his believers to accomplish something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who are we to question the Lord's words or acts? We simply need to believe in him and prove to him that we are worth saving," he explained with a hint of religious fanaticism.

"That's nonsense," I retorted, shaking my head.

"It is not," he countered. "The one hundred people who sacrificed themselves for your arrival will be remembered in the annals of time for their benevolent sacrifice."

"Do you even remember a single one of them?" I asked with a deadpan expression.

"Why would I?" he asked, clearly confused. "They were nobodies. This sacrifice gave meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives," he said with a fanatical smile. "I am extremely jealous of them, as they are currently in the embrace of our Lord."

I snorted, shaking my head in disbelief. The most worrying thing was that he genuinely believed the nonsense he was spewing. "If that truly is the case, why didn't you, the king, or someone of importance sacrifice yourselves? Wouldn't that be the ultimate proof, not only to your god but to your people?"

"That was not an option. I am a messenger of Ehit, chosen by him to spiritually lead his people. I cannot simply vacate my position. It would be disrespectful toward the Lord," he said proudly, seemingly oblivious to how ludicrous he sounded. "Also, people need to be led. Losing the king in such a grave time would lead to panic that could be capitalized upon by our enemies!"

I couldn't help but snort at his fervent explanation. "Alright, then let's go see this king of yours," I said, shaking my head.

"We are currently in the Cathedral of the Holy Church," he said a bit apprehensively. "An audience with the king might not be possible right away." He straightened up and waved at one of the remaining guards, who was shakily holding his spear with a fearful expression.

Clearing his throat, he ordered, "Mikael, take our esteemed guest to our best room and make sure he is comfortable while I make arrangements and request an audience with the king."

Mikael, the guard who looked like he had just witnessed his worst nightmare come true, regarded the pope as if he had grown a second head. After an audible gulp and moment of contemplation, he slowly nodded and turned to me with a deep bow.

"V-venerated Hero, it would be my honor to guide you to your accommodation," he stuttered, still bowing.

"Sure, Mikey, lead the way," I replied with a chuckle and followed him out of what the pope apparently considered the ceremonial summoning room.

I had already delved into Ishtar's mind the moment I arrived in this world, and our conversation had been more than unnecessary. He cared little for the lives I had casually ended in front of him, focusing solely on my power. He was a schemer and xenophobic, and upon witnessing my powers, he had been planning to manipulate me into eliminating both the Demons and the Beastmen.

Little did he know the truth about his 'Lord and Savior.' Ehit was the mastermind behind the rising tensions between Humans and Demons. He had instigated it simply to alleviate his own boredom.

Ehit was neither magnificent nor benevolent, nor was he all-powerful, a fact that became evident when the series' white-haired, gun-wielding harem protagonist clashed with him and ultimately ended his reign in an 'epic' battle.

"Your accommodation, sir," Mikael, the guard-turned-errand boy, announced, pulling me out of my thoughts.

He opened the door to reveal an opulent room that could easily have been worthy of a king.

Drawing inspiration from the Renaissance era, the room was adorned with lavish furnishings, intricate details, and a profusion of gold accents. The walls were covered in rich tapestries depicting grand historical scenes, their colors muted with age but still retaining their regal charm. The floor featured an exquisite mosaic of marble tiles inlaid with intricate patterns, forming a grand tableau that led to a massive four-poster bed.

The bed itself was a masterpiece, with intricately carved wooden posts reaching high into the ceiling, and a canopy of sumptuous silk curtains cascading down in rich shades of crimson and gold. The bedding was opulent, adorned with luxurious fabrics and intricate embroidery.

Golden candelabras adorned the room, casting a warm and inviting glow, while intricate chandeliers hung from the ceiling, sparkling with countless crystals. A grand fireplace dominated one wall, its mantle adorned with golden trim and intricate carvings.

"It's adequate," I muttered with a nod, satisfied with what I was seeing. "You can go do whatever," I said, waving off Mikael and using telekinesis to shut the door right before him as I made my way to and jumped into the bed.

"Huh, it's quite comfy," I mused rolling to my back, not at all surprised by the capabilities of a system-enhanced fabricator.

"Oh right, I should check the system prompt I received," I muttered to myself.

[Detection, Integration, Reproduction system detected another system...]

[Compatibility detected...]

[No new systems elements detected...]

[Creating an additional system overview for the Arifureta system...]

[10 Arifureta system attribute points equals 1 Library attribute point...]

"Yeah, I don't care," I said, rolling my eyes, uninterested in the 1/10 attribute values that this system had to offer.

With this world level limit, the most I could get out of this system was about fifty to a hundred points in Vitality, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and both of my Resistance Attributes. This system wasn't as user-friendly as the Library system, nor did it provide the ability to distribute attribute points the way I wanted. However, I didn't completely dismiss this system, as it did have one intriguing thing to offer—a class, or as it was called here a Job.

[Force unlocking all world Jobs...]

[Please select a Job before continuing...]

I paused briefly, scanning through my options. There were thousands of available jobs, ranging from the mundane, like Baker and Banker, to those that shouldn't yet exist in this world, such as Programmer and Rocket Scientist, and even to the extraordinary, like Hero and Demon Lord. However, instead of choosing something outrageous, I decided to go with the same class the main protagonist had: Synergist. My primary reason was to unlock the imagination-based transmutation skill associated with it.

[Skill: [Transmute] unlocked.]

Lying on my back, I raised my hand into the air and conjured a block of steel with [Master of Natural Creation], then used [Transmute] to effortlessly alter its shape. If not for [Arcana] boosting the potency of the mana-based skill, the skill would have been quite limited in both range and power, making it useless for anything but crafting.

The skill was similar to my stamina-based matter manipulation skill, [Overhaul], but it had a few key differences. Using it, I could easily shape the floating ingot before me with a single thought, without the need for any calculations or knowledge of its composition. The skill simply forced the shape of matter to be altered the way I wanted it to. It was quite a powerful crafting skill as it was, but it did have a slight shortcoming—it couldn't affect biological matter.

Even as useful as it was in its current form, I wasn't planning on letting it sit idle in my repertoire. Instead, I fired up the Merging System and selected [Transmute] and [Overhaul], seamlessly merging the two skills. I wasn't worried that this would accidentally raise my tier, as my intuition told me it wouldn't be nearly enough, and it was correct.

[Matter Manipulation LVL:1/100]

- Grants the user a complete understanding of the matter they make contact with.

- Grants the user the ability to disassemble, reassemble, and shape objects or living beings on a molecular level.

- Allows the user to break down objects or living beings into their individual components, rearranging or modifying them as desired.

"Nice," I mumbled, a satisfied smile gracing my face.

The merged skill didn't change too much compared to [Overhaul], but there was one distinct enhancement that made the new skill infinitely more potent—the complete understanding of matter.

Prior to the merger, [Overhaul] did grant me snippets of information regarding the matter I was manipulating, but not to this extent. I no longer needed to rely on the scanner nested in my watch; I could simply gain a complete understanding of material composition and the atomic or molecular structure of anything I made contact with.

The only other addition to the skill's description was the ability to directly shape objects and living beings without the need to disassemble and reassemble their atomic structures. This eliminated the two cumbersome steps I had to take whenever I wanted to manipulate matter with [Overhaul].

"So how do I do this?" I muttered aloud, then quickly switched to an internal monologue. I had no intention of divulging my plans to anyone who might be listening, especially not on one of Ehit's 'Holy' grounds.

The quests in this world were straightforward: return the kids to their own world (which I had already completed by preventing their abduction in the first place), conquer the seven Great Labyrinths, save a petite vampire, and ultimately kill Ehit.

I hoped that acquiring the seven Ancient Magic, along with Concept Magic, wouldn't push me over the tier threshold. I was a bit hesitant about that part, but I didn't think Index would have sent me here if it forced me to advance tiers.

I also considered that the magic from these labyrinths might not show up as skills within the Library system, just like any other magic and spells I had created or learned. It would likely end up in my system grimoire, which I rarely use these days. However, there was a simple way to determine this.

As far as I remembered, the nearest of the seven labyrinths, the so-called Divine Mountain, was just beneath me. It had some steep entry requirements: a challenger had to have cleared at least two other labyrinths, renounced Ehit, and fought and defeated someone under his influence.

I wasn't sure how the labyrinth checked for the last two conditions, probably through some form of mental scan. But I was confident it wouldn't work against me. So instead of navigating the labyrinth's corridors, which would have tested me through a series of mental trials, I decided to use my [Spatial Sense] in combination with [Echo Location] and [Ore Sense] to map and locate the last room of the labyrinth. Then, I teleported myself directly into it, effortlessly bypassing all the teleportation prevention wards placed around the place.

I could have used [Celestial Eyes] to scan the planet, but the amount of mana required for such a magnitude of spell would only raise further suspicions from Ehit. The fact that he had lost control of his summoning spell, coupled with the missing students and my sudden appearance, was already suspicious enough. I just hoped he wouldn't hide himself in a separate dimension, which would actually take some time to locate.

Regardless, I refocused my attention on the task at hand—the massive, cavernous chamber filled with awe-inspiring features.

The chamber's ceiling soared high above, studded with luminous crystals that bathed the room in a soft, ethereal glow. Intricate, glowing runes adorned the walls, pulsing with ancient power, and depicting scenes of great battles, legendary heroes, and mystical creatures.

I deliberately ignored the treasures scattered throughout the room and made my way to the center, where a massive, faintly glowing magical circle was engraved into the ground.

My analytical mind, supported by my myriad magical and mental skills as well as my divinity, sprang into action. I finely dissected and comprehended its true purpose and the way it was created.

The enchantment was not a simple memory container that allowed anyone who stepped into it to gain knowledge of how to cast a specific type of magic. No, it also granted the host a specific magical affinity toward the said magic to prevent them from gaining something they wouldn't be able to use.

"Huh, that's quite ingenious," I muttered aloud, already planning to use this in some of my future dungeons.

Instead of simply stepping into it and allowing the Liberator full access to my mind, I unleashed a torrent of mana, altering the enchantment before me. With my fundamental understanding and divinity related to magic, comprehending and altering something magical was almost instinctual. So, it was relatively easy to bypass the requirements as well as the need to have a conversation with the bald Liberator named Laus Barn.

After I had cut away a portion of the enchantment, stripping away anything I deemed unnecessary, I stepped into it while lowering my mental shields and fed it with my own mana.

My mind was assaulted with a torrent of information: magical circles, runes, chants, and everything else needed to perform Spirit Magic. Instantly, powered with my other mental and comprehension skills, I gained a good understanding of this aspect and affinity of magic.

[Quest Update: [Labyrinths] 1/7 Completed]

"Hmm... Mai might end up getting an upgrade pretty soon." I muttered aloud, as I went through the information I'd received.

Spirit Magic allowed the user to manipulate the soul of a living being directly. With it, one could revive a living being from the dead, transfer the soul of a living being from one body to another, or even into a non-physical body, effectively granting immortality. The true power of this magic lay in the ability to "interfere with the negative material possessed by living things", or as the Library system called it, Spiritons.

It wasn't as dissimilar as some of the spells I've already created, however, this type of magic didn't simply stop at Souls and their building blocks. To be more specific, this magic could also interfere with things like energy inside the body, such as mana, heat, electricity, thoughts, consciousness, and memory. Those with mastery over this magic could even create an artificial consciousness and allow it to inhabit any type body they wished.

The spellform for this type of magic was quite different from what I already knew, composed of a runic script language I wasn't initially familiar with. However, the acquisition of this magic resulted in two additional benefits. My [Runic Language] skill jumped by a whole 12 levels, and I also gained a new skill called [Spirit Affinity].

[Spirit Affinity LVL: Max]

- Increases the effects of spirit-related skills, abilities, and spells by 25%.

- Allows partial control of Spiritons in the local area.

Similarly to my Space and Time Affinity skills, Spirit Affinity granted an increased effect towards abilities related to spirits while also granting partial control in its respective element, this time Spiritons, in a localized area.

Although I had assumed it wouldn't, I was quite saddened by the fact that I didn't simply gain Spirit Magic as a skill within the Library system, as it would have the potential to be merged with [Soul Manipulation] or maybe even [Energy Absorption].

"Well, it is what it is," I said with a shrug, then waved my hand and erased the memory container enchantment from the ground, preventing anyone else from ever learning about it. Finally, I gave the room a good glance.

The intricate runes adorning the surface of the walls were just a tiny part of a much larger array. It didn't prevent mana from entering this room, but it did disrupt any spell or control someone had. That was quite an efficient way to prevent someone from simply teleporting into this room, but only by the standards of this world.

A single thought conjured a spellform, and I watched as the runes on the wall, in an effort to disrupt it, lit up and pulsed in an attempt to cause a resonance between the mana inside of the spell and the runes themselves. However, my control over mana, not just in precision and power but also in scale, was way above anything this world had ever seen. I dominated the mana to such an extent that I held the spell effortlessly above my palm, even as the pulses of the runes released more and more power into the environment.

The runes on the walls gradually started to shine brighter, and as the temperature in the room started to skyrocket, I dismissed my spell, unwilling to cause a scene right away.

"These runes might be useful for something in the future," I mumbled aloud, and I proceeded to engrave each and every one of them into my memory. The rest of the room was filled with rows and rows of artifacts, some of which held souls within them. As I had no need for any of them, I warped myself back to my room just as Mikey boy knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I shouted and swung the door open with telekinesis. "Mickey! My man! What's up?"

"Venerated Hero, the King will see you right away," Mikael announced with a deep bow, his eyes twitching at his nickname, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Perfect," I said happily, then stored the comfy bed into my inventory and walked up to him, "Lead the way, Mickey!" I exclaimed patting him on the back and making him stumble forward.

"Y-yes, sir..."