Speedrun 25

[Authority: Existence]

- Gain absolute dominion over existence itself.

Once again, I successfully merged something utterly ridiculous, but unlike with Relativity, I was prepared for it. My mind blazed with [Hypercognition], my focus was unwavering, and I didn't lose control of this "skill," not even for a fraction of a second, which, as I learned next, was for the best.

System-granted intuitive understanding slowly tickled into my mind, and from what I've gathered, losing control of it would have been a nightmarish experience, like losing myself in a sea of incomprehensible concepts and entities, in a sea of them, them, and they.

I didn't mean that I would suddenly change my pronouns; rather, without proper control and sufficient energy to support it, my consciousness and existence could have merged and become one with reality, and I could have lost myself for all eternity.

However, now that my control was firmly in place, I didn't need to worry about that and could focus on the Authority itself.

One might wonder: What exactly was "existence"?

The answer to that question was a deep theological, psychological, and philosophical rabbit hole that delved into the nature of reality, consciousness, the concept of what it meant to be real or alive, and whether existence was essentially the state of being real or participating in reality. It brought to mind famous philosophical sayings like "I think, therefore I am," or, in simpler terms, "I am thinking, therefore I exist."

However, that line of thought was fundamentally wrong, especially with the abilities I possessed to simulate parallel consciousness and realities, but I didn't want to go down that seemingly bottomless rabbit hole. Instead, I would state the obvious: Existence encompassed almost everything.

As the Authority stated, with this power, I had dominion over existence itself, in other words, everything that exists, even the immaterial. What did that entail, you might ask? To put it simply, when I project this Authority over reality, I determine what reality is. If I declare the sky to be red, it will become red— would have always been red, and always will be red. My words would become the truth, even if they were blatant lies.

In a sense, it was a form of reality warping, but at the same time, it wasn't. While reality warping controlled reality by overtaking it and molding something already present, this ability controlled the very essence of what reality fundamentally was.

With [Existence], I wasn't omniscient, but I was incredibly close to it. Everything had a cost, but knowledge cost the most. I could draw it along with inspiration from the existential planes of the reality I currently occupied, and could greatly enhance my creative abilities, but the energy requirements for such feats were astronomical.

The most overwhelmingly potent aspect of this Authority wasn't its ability to sense and comprehend nearly everything that existed, nor was it the capacity to shape reality itself or erase someone or something from it. No, its true might lay in the power to create.

With this Authority, my crafting abilities had reached new heights. I could simply think of something and bring it into existence. However, this is where the true fun began.

While possessing a complete understanding of a crafting process or the material would reduce the cost of creation, it wasn't an absolute requirement. If I lacked any knowledge of a process or the material, the Authority would bridge the gaps by drawing information from my current reality, not only enhancing the crafting process but also making any subsequent creations even more cost-effective.

Within my immediate vicinity, I could execute all of this with nearly no energy expenditure. I say "nearly" because there was still some cost involved, directly proportionate to the mass and size of what I was creating. At my current level of power, I couldn't conjure an entire universe teeming with stars, planets, and life, but fashioning a galaxy was within reach, although it might demand a fair amount of energy and would necessitate assuming one of my energy forms.

Yet [Existence] was not all-encompassing; it held tightly to the fabric of reality. It permitted me to create anything that existed within the confines of my current reality, but without projecting it outward, I couldn't generate something that was non-existent within my current reality. Additionally, projecting it wouldn't fill in the gaps in my knowledge about something that didn't exist within my current reality.

For instance, in a magic-devoid universe, creating magical items made of or reliant on mana would be impossible without projecting it. Moreover, even with projection, if I lacked a complete understanding of the process, the creation might fail or simply cease to exist. This limitation extended to not being able to craft, say, vibranium in this universe without knowing its complete properties and elemental composition.

While it might be theoretically possible to use [Relativity] to circumvent this limitation, I lacked the power to simultaneously connect and project over multiple realities with two Authorities.

Raising my palm, I focused on the two materials I had already analyzed: the ore that repelled mana and the seal stone that consumed it. I willed their alloy into existence.

The two materials were inherently incompatible, and reality itself seemed to resist their combination. With a sly smile, I projected [Existence] upon the world and forced it to yield to my will. In a fraction of a second, an obsidian-like sphere materialized above my palm, and as soon as it did, I absorbed every aspect of its existence into my mind.

"Not good enough," I muttered, a hint of displeasure on my face. The alloy didn't fully harness the properties of repulsion and consumption to their maximum potential. The sphere dissolved, only to be reshaped, and compressed, its atomic structure realigned, its energy patterns transformed. A new material took its place.

"Imperfect," I voiced my dissatisfaction once again. I shifted into my mana form, enhancing my attributes, and focused all my mental instances on the material. Reality bent to my will once more, its laws rewritten in my immediate surroundings, allowing for the coexistence of two inherently contradictory concepts within one material, and a translucent crystal emerged, simultaneously drawing and repelling mana, working on different energy spectrum's without canceling each other out, in perfect harmony.

Satisfied with the result, I chuckled, dismissing the crystal, returning to my normal form, and refocusing my attention on [Existence].

Creation was but a single facet of this Authority; another was equally, if not more, formidable. It could be described as the antithesis of creation, a power often referred to as "Destruction," although a more accurate term might be "Unmaking."

By exerting my will upon reality, I could unmake virtually anything within my range, while the power and reach of this ability could be additionally increased by projecting the Authority. What was even more astonishing was that I didn't need to understand what I was unmaking; it simply ceased to be, as if it had never existed in the first place.

However, enough of this; I needed to kill a god, the only being in this entire reality that could still offer me experience points, and then get the fuck out of here.

"Aly, I'm done," I said with a grin as I stood up from my makeshift seat on the ground.

"Well, it was about time," she replied, getting up from the bed. "That took longer than I expected."

"Sorry," I shrugged. "There was a lot of stuff to merge."

"Do you gain something from doing it?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"The best way to explain it is that the result of a merger is always greater than the sum of its components," I replied after a moment of contemplation.

"You spent quite some time on it. Are you like, super powerful now?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I was already super powerful before doing so," I said, shaking my head. "Now I can almost unmake this reality if I really wanted to." I playfully exaggerated, causing her to look stunned. "But anyway, let's take a walk."

The laws of the world twisted around us, transforming reality into an array of infinite frames, each representing a single year in this universe.

"Don't look sideways for too long," I cautioned, taking her hand as a golden pathway materialized beneath us. "It'll hurt your pretty little head before it melts your brain into oblivion," I teased with a chuckle.

She was unsteady on her feet, her head spinning as her senses struggled to make sense of what she was seeing and experiencing.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" she shouted in discomfort before emptying her stomach onto my road.

With a simple thought, I unmade her little accident and pulled her along my yellow brick road. Each of my steps laid the bricks before us, and the same steps dissolved them behind us.

"I shifted our four-dimensional axis by ninety degrees," I explained, gripping her hand tightly to prevent her from getting lost. "Moving forward and backward will take you through time, while going left or right, or just simply waiting for 'time' to pass, will move you through space."

"What happens if I look to the sides?" she asked, her eyes fixed forward, afraid to glance sideways.

"Your brain melts, obviously," I replied with a playful roll of my eyes.

"That's not what I meant!" She huffed. "Why does my brain melt if I look that way?"

"It won't happen right away, not until you look for too long," I clarified with a shrug. "You'll see about a year's worth of time from your entire universe simultaneously, all violently compressed into your mind."

Her eyes widened in realization. "How come you can look around so calmly?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I'm just wired differently," I chuckled, earning a cute pout from her. "To be more precise, my mind can handle about a hundred thousand times more input than this," I grinned, which seemed to satisfy her curiosity.

"So, is this path the result of one of your mergers?" she asked, changing the topic.

"In a way," I nodded. "This place is me utilizing a fraction of the power from two of my new abilities."

"Only a fraction?" she inquired, giving me a sidelong glance, and receiving a nod. "Damn," she mumbled, cautiously avoiding prolonged glances in any particular direction. "Where are we going?"

"I'm giving you a choice," I replied, and we were just a few steps away from our destination.

"What kind of choice?" she asked, perplexed.

"One that will shape your future," I said with a smile as we halted before a frame.

"Oh, come on, why are you so dramatic, and why did we stop?" She looked at me, puzzled.

"We've arrived," I answered, extending my hand and grasping the frame before shifting our dimensional axis once again.

We found ourselves in an opulent castle, amidst an extravagant celebration, one that was all too familiar to Aletia.

"W-why did you bring me here..." came a hushed whisper from my right. Her eyes were wide, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she brushed them away as soon as they appeared, not wanting to miss any moment of what she was witnessing.

"I said I'd give you a choice," I told her. "You can come with me, be my secretary, explore countless worlds, learn magic you've never even dreamed of, or..." I let my words trail off as I focused on the 14-year-old blonde girl in an extravagant red dress descending the grand staircase, while her parents, the king and queen, stood at the bottom with proud smiles. "…or I could give you another chance at happiness, a fresh start by the side of your family, without the threat of the idiotic god, your uncle, or the church itself," I added with a gentle tone.

She gulped, as she looked away from her younger self and choked out a question, "What would happen to me? What would happen to this Aletia?"

"She would cease to be, and your soul would replace hers," I replied, casually, as if I was talking about the weather. "I'll remove the memories of your imprisonment, but leave the magic you've just learned."

She descended into silence, the weight of the decision bearing down on her. As her other self continued her descent, she finally made her choice.

"I... I can't do that..." She forced the words out. "Even if we're the same person, I can't do that to myself. I can't trade her happiness for mine." Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Are you sure? You can't steal something that's already yours. You're both the same person, at different points in time. I won't give you another chance like this," I warned my question pressing on her conscience. She raised her hand, biting her finger hard enough to draw blood. Then she looked up at me with determination and nodded.

"Yes, without experiencing the betrayal, the confinement, and everything else, I wouldn't be who I am today," she said, her other self tripping and falling on the last step of the staircase. In this reality, however, her father, nudged by the Aletia by my side, caught her gracefully before she hit the ground. As her history has already been written, this change in her past had no effect on Aly by my side. "But I don't want her to experience everything I did. I want the other me to be happy, to live the life I should have lived."

"That's quite mature of you. One might think you're older than you look." I said with a chuckle.

"Oh, fuck you," she exclaimed, with a playful smile.

"Would you like me to give you some time with your parents?" I asked, giving her a curious glance, but her answer came swiftly.

"No," She shook her head, a calm expression on her face, "From my perspective, they've been dead for hundreds of years. I've mourned them long, but one can only mourn for so long." She said and flashed a warm smile, "But thank you for letting me see them once again. I was starting to forget their faces."

"You're welcome." I replied before asking, "So did you make your choice? Are you coming with me, Miss Secretary?"

"Sure, not like there is anything else keeping me here." She shrugged then gave me a curious glance, "So do I get like a contract? What would my job description be? Also, let's talk about the salary." She said with a chuckle, her arm wrapping around my own.

"Contract? Salary?" I asked in a shocked tone. "What are you talking about? Isn't working for one of the most powerful entities you know enough of a reward?"

"Pff, yeah right..." She said rolling her eyes.

"Hmm, I can offer you a warm and welcoming home, cover your living expenses as well as allow you to learn magic from different worlds. Also, your job description is basically: be sexy, and do the paperwork."

"There is paperwork related to your travels?!" she asked in a shocked tone.

"Nope," I said with a chuckle, then thought about it, "Well, there is some, but that's Rob's job description, not mine. I have a plan for the next big world we visit, so you're going to be working as a real secretary. However, before that, you'll need to study some management, marketing, accounting and similar stuff. Anyway, I could also give you access to the system, as well as some supernatural abilities, but the first one will need to wait."

"Sure," She shrugged, not unwilling to learn, however, she also gave me a confused glance at the second part of my statement, "Supernatural abilities?"

"Yeah, telekinesis, mind reading, matter manipulation, and stuff like that, all without the use of mana," I explained, with a shrug.

Her eyes went wide, and her grip on my hand tightened, "Deal!" She said rather loudly, yet everyone present continued to ignore our presence.

"Perfect," I said with a grin. "But first, let's get you dressed for the job!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers.

With that simple snap, her attire underwent a transformation. Her alluring dress with an open back changed into a sleek black pencil dress, just long enough to conceal her garter belt keeping her black stockings up, but short enough to showcase her magnificent legs. Her bearing shifted as her comfy shoes morphed into high heels, accentuating her curves. A white shirt, accompanied by a complementary red tie, appeared on her top, partially covered by a black button-up sleeveless corset. Her blonde hair was neatly arranged in a bun, and thick framed glasses appeared snugly on her nose, complementing her overall look. Her eyes and lips were subtly accentuated with a hint of makeup. Yet the necklace I made remained unchanged, snuggly nested between her ample mounds.

[Image of Aletia in secretary mode.]

"Yep, Olivia is going to kill me," I awkwardly chuckled to myself.

"Holy shit!" Ali exclaimed, a bit unsure on her feet. "My boobs look amazing." She added, giving herself a playful pat.

"Why, thank you," I said cheekily. "I'm pretty proud of them myself," I continued, my eyes briefly drifting to her pushed-up bra-enhanced cleavage.

She gave me a deadpan look before asking, "Andy, what's up with the underwear you just made..."

"Oh, it's called a thong," I said with a profound nod.

"I know what a thong is!" She exclaimed, making me look at her in surprise.

"Huh, seems like this reality was more advanced than I thought," I mumbled to myself, before receiving a playful hit on my shoulder that seemed to hurt her more than it did me.

"Why the hell did you give me something like that, it... it feels strange," she said shyly, averting her eyes, unwilling to admit she likes the feeling.

"Simple, your skirt is body-tight, so any other type of underwear would show," I explained with a shrug, not delving into the fact that I loved to see women in lacy underwear, especially in the color she was currently wearing.

She continued to look at me with a deadpan expression, then sighed, "Alright, I won't comment on my undergarments, but what's up with the glasses?" She said, reaching towards them.

"Don't take them off!" I exclaimed, startling her, "They are essential! They give you this sexy secretary slash librarian vibe," I replied with a confident nod, already planning to glue them to her face if I need to.

The awkward silence stretched on before she sighed and shook her head. "I might need to rethink this 'going with you to see the world' plan."

"No backsies!" I exclaimed before grabbing her hand and adding, "Let's go!" then shifting our point of reference away. In a fraction of a second, we reappeared in the air, high above the Heiligh Kingdom's capital.

I flicked my wrist, and the Divine Mountain below us ceased to exist. "Fluffy, go and play, leave nothing alive."

A deafening screech echoed from nearly every shadow in the town, followed by screams, shouts, and explosions, as Fluffy, with a single attack, leveled a quarter of the town, causing Aly to shudder and look away.

"Is... Is this really necessary?" She asked, giving me a pleading look. "What if that god sees us?"

"That's the plan," I said with a wide grin, and not a fraction of a second later, Aly was bathed in a golden glow.

"Andy!" she exclaimed in fear, trying to move away from the light but unable to do so. However, to her dismay, instead of helping, I continued to look at it with an indifferent expression.

"Fool! I finally have you within my grasp! Become mine!" Words accompanied by a villainous laugh reverberated through reality. The light intensified, and a radiant golden orb formed, then rapidly descended towards Aly.

Yet the moment it made contact with her struggling body, the necklace on her neck shone brightly, consuming the entirety of its internal mana, which numbered in the tens of millions. Then the enchantment woven from spirit magic turned on, and with a single unblockable attack, which happened so suddenly that it didn't even let Ehit react, the necklace and its magic completely dispersed the untethered soul of the god.

"Well, that was underwhelming." I muttered in surprise, as the golden glow subdued, "I expected him to struggle a bit before he died." I said in displeasure, yet internally I knew he didn't even stand a chance, especially in a world where a hundred thousand mana was considered heaven-defying.

"Was this the plan all along?!" came a shout from a displeased secretary.

"Yep," I replied, accentuating the 'P', while ignoring the rest of her outbursts and focusing on the quest notification.

[Quest: [The fall of Ehit] Completed 15,000 WP (1/8) (1,875 WP) Received]