The Spirit Altar

'Ha?'

Adam said to himself in shock as he watched the description of the new lore ability he had just received for suddenly stepping into the Minerva route.

The power in itself is something he has never seen in any media or game he has played. So this was an original power without a doubt, and based off the description, it was extremely overpowered.

'Box of Worth ha?'

Adam said to himself, as the detail of the new lore ability was something truly bizarre in every sense of the word.

'Hmm, interesting... Hey, System, quick question, does the strength of the girls I pick up depend on how powerful the random Lore Ability I get when entering a route is?'

He asked; after all, this was a very powerful ability, given the context behind it.

『Yep! Lore abilities range from the lowest rank, Initiate, all the way up to the highest, Numinous. A Lord Rank ability is the third highest tier you can get. Basically, any ability at this level has an absolute effect on anything that isn't Divine Rank and Beyond. However, all lore abilities come with a flaw, drawback, or a condition to use or activate them. Things like those only stop mattering after you receive a Divine Rank Lore ability, as those are powers of pure Divine attributes』

Said the system; of course, at this moment Adam just inwardly nodded, and he replied.

'I see make sense, so the stronger the girl I try to seduce to get on their route, the more powerful of an ability I will get as a reward for stepping into their route. Not going to lie, this is quite the ability.'

『Yes! That's part of my ability as the Omni Harem System. The bigger your harem, the stronger I can make you. Also, keep in mind that's just your starting reward. If you complete a route, you'll receive a random ability that's one rank higher than the one you started with. For example, if you complete Minerva's route, you'll get a Divine Rank Lore Ability, and the ability you originally received will also evolve to Divine Rank』

Upon hearing this, Adam's eyes open in shock, as he said.

'Wait...wait.. WAIIIIIT... are you telling me you had a power like this the entire time?'

『Yes!』

'So even prior's get upgraded, that's quite the power you have there System, hehehe... well then, I guess I will just have to keep increasing the number of the harem to become stronger.'

『That is basically the basic concept of how I work, so yes, the more girls you pull, the stronger I can make you』

The System replied.

And Adam began to respond.

'Well, the more, the merrier, I guess, that just means I got my work cut out for me.'

『The path to becoming a true harem protagonist won't be easy, so you've got your work cut out for you, Host. Let's just hope luck is on your side. My advice? Take things one step at a time. For now, let's start simple: once Priscilla sets everything up, we'll summon your first spirit. Fingers crossed you get a good affinity』

'Well, we will just have to see now, don't we... and beside Priscilla seems to be just about done with her teleportation spell."

Said Adam, as he looked onward.

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"Hmmm... this should do it."

Priscilla stepped back, her work complete. The magic circles she had drawn in the vast white space glowed softly, with unique but weird patterns and strange symbols etched into reality itself. She had used Astrum as her ink, weaving magic directly into the fabric of the world.

At this moment, to use magic of any nature requires immense study for a reason; after all, the most important thing after gaining a spirit with an attribute is to master the spirit language. Because without knowledge of spirit language, one can't even form the commands needed to use the spell they desire.

In this world, using magic isn't just about waving a wand; it's a bit more involved. You need to understand form contracts with spirits, get a grip on Astrum, and, most importantly, learn the language of the spirits. Without these, casting spells is pretty much out of reach.

And after she was finished with the magic circles.

The intricate symbols pulsed with an ethereal glow, spreading outward like ripples in still water. The circles then spiraled and intersected high above her, forming a luminous constellation that illuminated the void with an otherworldly light. Then, from the largest of these celestial diagrams, something began to descend, as this was a wide-scale teleportion spell.

And from the circles, what came was the altar.

The thing was large; it was easily about 40 meters wide, spherical, and 20 meters high. It came with carved-out stone stairs to reach the top. Meanwhile, on the spherical surface were carved out words and patterns of ancient Spirit language.

Meanwhile, at the center of this large altar was giant transparent crystal.

And as Adam gazed at the massive thing descending downwards, he could help but say to himself, as it was something he only saw in books and not up close.

'So that's a spirit altar?'

Adam had read of this before and knew how important these altars were.

For one, these altars were not made from mortal hands and were made by the Universe System, or as the world calls the entity, according to the books he had read, another name for the Universe System. 

Holy Spirit, Losdeus.

And Losdeus, from what Adam had learned through reading, was a being that was not a god, not a force, not something that can be placed within the framework of existence as people understand it. It is the quiet voice before creation, the space between moments, the presence that lingers where nothing should be. To speak of it in terms of power or dominion is to misunderstand it entirely. Losdeus does not rule because rule itself is a concept too small to contain it. It does not create, because creation implies a beginning, and Losdeus has never begun.

It does not fit within logic, nor does it defy it; logic, causality, and meaning itself are no more than passing dreams before its presence. It is not here, not elsewhere, not something to be sought or grasped. And yet, from it, all things in creation arise. If existence is a story, then Losdeus is neither the writer nor the ink, but the silence in which the words take form. The page that was always blank yet somehow holds every tale ever told.

But that aside, Losdeus created these altars and scattered them all over the universe.

Every world that exists has a countless amount of them scattered somewhere. It is just a matter of finding these altars.

But if one finds them, they can summon spirits from the spirit world.

And spirits were needed to use magic, for spirits give meaning to Astrum.

Magic in this universe was not something one could wield by mere talent or willpower. The key lay in Astrum itself, which was the fundamental energy that permeated the atmosphere.

Astrum is pure potential, raw, and has no attribute; as such, it is pure energy without a prime distinction; it tolerates all aspects that flow into it. And therein lay the problem; without an attribute to define it, Astrum was nothing more than inert energy.

As a result of this, and to bridge this gap, one had to form a contract with a spirit.

Spirits were the embodiments of attributes, the missing key that allowed Astrum to be shaped into magic. Without a spirit, one could not wield magic at all. The books he had studied spoke of four classifications of spirits.

The first of which are called Elemental Spirits; these are the most common type, governing the fundamental forces of nature. Heat, Water, Air, Earth, Wind, Space, Time, Darkness, Energy, Light, and Nature. These spirits provided versatile abilities, transforming raw Astrum into elemental magic.

The second type is called Unique Spirits, these spirits defy natural classification. Their attributes are highly specific and often unnatural; some could manipulate speed, others could govern souls. Unlike Elemental Spirits, their powers were subjective and specific, and as such, magic from these spirits often bends reality in unpredictable ways.

Moving on to the third type of spirit, which are Great Spirits, these are spirits that are more than mere elements and subjective specifics; they embodied the very laws of existence. Science and the supernatural converged in their power, making them forces of absolute truth. They governed concepts that structured reality itself, capable of bending the universe's order to their whims in a variety of ways.

And last but not least are the strongest of the four types, Divine Spirits. To sum it up, they are the apex of all spirits, existing beyond even the gods. These were not just beings; they were the immutable foundations of existence itself. They were the archetypes of reality, and their authority was absolute. If a Divine Spirit were to perish, the very concept they embodied would disappear from the universe, erased from all creation.

But that aside, Adam needed to summon a spirit, and it didn't matter what type; he just needed one to start using magic and start training to acquire strength.

And after the altar descended unto the white surface of the world, Priscilla then called out to Adam, as she said.

"Oiii brat, get your ass up here; I am about to start the calling."