Unlock System
"Unlock system."
A luminous screen suddenly appeared before Yuel—holographic in appearance, ethereal, and glowing faintly in shades of blue. The words on it were written in an ancient language. Though difficult to decipher, he could still manage to read it. He thought to himself that once he returned to humanity, learning more about this ancient script would definitely be useful.
The thin, lightly blue-tinted screen displayed the following:
-
As soon as Yuel finished reading the message, the screen vanished and was replaced with another.
- You can illuminate your surroundings in dark environments to avoid losing vision. The brightness depends on how much mana you use.>- When he finished reading this too, the type of interface he'd often seen in books appeared in front of him—a status screen. -< Name: Kyuvel >- -< Bloodscript: Whisper >- -< Stage 6 – Drop >- -< Bonds: -| Blessing of the soul flame -| LegacyTalk -| Half Troth >- -< Inventory: Empty >- -< Church: StarlightYou have obtained your system from the Starlight Church. As a result, you can use the key ability "Light." >- -< Monoliths: Registered Monolith: Seoul Monolith Registered Monolith: Western Monolith of the Southern Core >- All of this captured Yuel's attention deeply—some things were finally starting to make sense. For example, he could now see the details of the blessing Luo had given him. With deliberate intent, Yuel slowly focused on the line "Blessing of the soul flame," silently making it clear he wanted to view its explanation. The system's interface was no mystery to him; every child was taught about it at a young age. He had also learned about it back in the orphanage. - Explanation – –A soul worm, weak and unable to ever realize its full potential, devoted its entire strength and latent power to save the life of a human it loved. The worm died, and the human survived. The worm held no regrets. Benefits – –To ignite what you touch, simply will it. If you want to increase the heat or intensity, you'll need to spend mana.>- Yuel could easily imagine how useful this ability was—after all, he'd spent years benefiting from it while living with Luo. Now came the ones he had no clue about... - Explanation –You sacrificed your own voice and can now hear your bloodline's voice. You now have *** as a bond in addition to your bloodscript, and even if your bloodscript is lost, you can still converse with it. Benefits – –You can speak with ****.>- 'Null, this must be referring to you—but why is the name censored?' "There are things humans aren't supposed to know. This is one of them. If you're this weak and you learn my name, you'll die. That's how powerful I am." 'Wait, then why didn't you ever help me before?' "Well... I thought what I just told you would clear up your confusion, but it looks like it only raised more questions. Also—I can't answer your last question. If I do, we'll both die." 'Fine... then let's move on to the next one.' - Explanation- – You are the child of a human and a Troth, a perfect blend of two races. Benefits – -The Troth race sees you as one of their own. -You can learn and use spells derived from the Troth's granted key. -Your blood is ink. -You cannot become addicted to ink because you were born from it. -If your human body dies, you may continue to live as a Troth. However, you will lose your humanity, and with it, all abilities exclusive to being human.>- The last part caught his interest... 'Hey Null, do you understand what this is trying to say? What exactly would I lose if I survive after death? What does "being human" give you? Are we talking about mental stability or intellect—what does "humanity" mean here?' "Come on, how am I supposed to answer ten questions at once? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect it's referring to your bloodline. If I tell you this, will something bad happen... maybe not. I'm not certain, but I'll say it anyway. Bloodscripts were given to humans because they had no key left to receive. Later, they managed to obtain one, but it's generally believed that this key isn't as powerful as the others. So if you lose your humanity, you'll likely lose your bloodscript too." 'Wait—keys? What are you talking about?' "That's one of the things I can't tell you. But I think you'll find out the answer soon." Yuel was confused. Now that he had the system, he could do much more than before. For instance, the inventory—when he was younger, he carried everything in his robe. In the past six months, he'd sewn compartments into his clothes to carry his belongings. But now, there was no need for any of that. He had an inventory. He planned to transfer everything into it as soon as possible. As for the monoliths... they were gateways between the surface world and Undergarden. Yuel had been born in the human world. But after his father—a Troth disguised as a human—murdered his own family and escaped, only Yuel was left behind. Whether by luck or misfortune, he was somehow transferred to an orphanage in the Undergarden, not the surface. At some point, even the adults in the orphanage began to abuse him, and Yuel, unable to take it anymore, assumed that, as a half-Troth, he could probably survive in the Inksworn Depths and went there. But even as a baby, he had traveled via monoliths to get to the orphanage, so those monoliths had been registered to him. He wasn't sure what determined where you were sent the first time, but after that, as long as you were registered with certain monoliths, you could travel between them freely. He had no idea what the current situation on the surface was. But several decades ago, when Undergarden was first discovered, every nation had tried to claim territory there. Disputes followed, triggering war both in the Undergarden and on Earth itself—World War III. After the war, Earth was plunged into chaos. Every country was wiped out without exception. Entire cities had been bombed, and those who attempted to flee into the Undergarden quickly realized it wasn't the easy prize they imagined. Firearms had no effect on Titans above the 4th stage. But by the time they understood that, it was already too late for most of the world. About 98% of the human population had perished. Although the birth rate caused a gradual increase afterward, humanity still hadn't recovered beyond 5% of its former size. When civilization collapsed, new powers rose. Three civilizations managed to survive. All of Asia united—China and its neighboring nations merged into a single state. Without this unification, they wouldn't have survived the war. Thus, the entire continent emerged as one. Europe, by contrast, was selfish. No country helped another, and none survived. The same went for North and South America. This is a simplified explanation—there were many other factors—but in the end, their isolation and greed doomed them. Africa's fate was different. After the war, it fell under the control of gangs. These groups survived but lacked the structure to form a proper nation. Yuel had heard they were hunted by the other surviving powers, but knew little else about them. As for the other two remaining powers—New Zealand had survived the war untouched. It was the only neutral country and the only one to retain its original name. The last was Turkey. Though the name no longer remained, the country had survived. It too had been bombed and lost much, but its central location between the three continents proved vital. After the war, they recovered and claimed the lands around the Mediterranean—former Ottoman territory. Eventually, they renamed themselves the Mediterranean Federation. This new federation had grown highly skilled in warfare and was launching raids into the northern Undergarden, attempting to claim it for humanity. Asia, meanwhile, was focusing all efforts on development within Verdant Requiem. They were attempting to claim the entire biome and defeat its rumored 7th-stage Titan. New Zealand had chosen not to descend into the Undergarden at all. They remained on the surface, pushing technological advancement. Last Yuel heard, they were working on mana-powered technology. Of course, all this was knowledge he had gathered as an 8-year-old child eight years ago—things everyone knew. He was curious to learn what had changed since. Had the northern raids succeeded? Did they defeat the 7th-stage Titan in Verdant Requiem? Were mana-powered devices now in common use? He didn't know. But he would find out once he returned to humanity. "Yuel, do you think we should share the existence of this church with the rest of humanity? If not, let's destroy it right now so no one else can find it." 'Come on, Null—imagine what it'd sell for after I claim it. But I can't try that yet. The state might steal it from me. I need to get stronger first—at least reach Stage 4—then maybe I can negotiate with them. What do you think?' "Eh, maybe. You humans are so strange. Why not just keep it to yourself? Idiot." 'I'm being careful, Null. Please don't call me an idiot. It hurts.' "Idiot!" Yuel had grown quite close with Null in recent months. From the outside, no one would hear either of them. Null's voice seemed external but was actually whispered directly into Yuel's mind. And Yuel, who had entirely lost the ability to speak, responded internally—certain that Null could hear him. Thankfully, the Whisper bloodline was perfect for this. He didn't need to move his mouth at all to speak—if he chose, he could speak purely with intent. He wondered what would've happened if he'd sacrificed an arm instead that day... "You don't need to think about that. Let's get out of here." 'Yeah, you're right. This place is filthy. I doubt anyone's come here in over a thousand years, not even a hundred.' Yuel left the church behind. But he'd memorize its location. Even if he forgot, Null would guide him. Now that he thought about it... 'Hey Null, I trust you a lot—but even if you killed me, you wouldn't gain anything from it, right? I figured if I had any doubts about trusting you, you'd sense them. So I thought I should just ask directly.' "Are you serious? If I were going to kill you, you'd already be dead. Killing you would reset everything—I'd go back to how I was before. Honestly, you might be the only bloodscript inheritor who made a real pact like this. If you ever want to make another, I'll always be here." 'Then why don't the other bloodlines make pacts like this? If everyone did, we could probably defeat even 7th-stage Titans…' "No, it's not like that. You're just lucky yours was someone like me. Some bloodscripts are too lazy to even acknowledge their inheritors. Others try to deceive them with fake contracts twisted into long, hidden scams. If those contracts are accepted... well, the results vary, but they rarely end well. I'm not that type. We made real deals—and look at me now. I gained the ability to speak. I have no regrets. Let the others regret what they've lost." 'Oh… I get it now. Alright, two more questions. First—how do you know all of this? Second—do you know the power difference between Titans and Dhune? The gap between 4th and 5th-stage Titans feels way larger than the gap between Dhune stages. Can you explain?' "I can't answer your first question. Not because I don't want to—if I do, we'll both die. And I don't want to die. As for the second question—yes, I can explain. Why do we separate Dhune and Titans? A Dhune can be a Titan too. They're basically the same thing. The reason we separate them is because the gap between Stage 3 and Stage 4 is like a mountain—and every stage after that is an even larger mountain. That's why Stage 7 is practically divine. Same goes for humans, but in reverse. For humans, think of Stages 6, 5, and 4 as Dhune-level strength—then you reach a Titan-level stage. That's how it should work. But if you didn't know this... that means they're hiding the truth. Yuel, you need to get stronger."