Everyone Else Has a System

I looked at her for a few moments as she was cowering as well as glaring before I spoke,"well… First you answer my question and then I will answer yours. What the heck happened there?"

She looked at me with a deep gaze before she spoke,"first sign a mana contract with me that you will spare my life in exchange for the information that I provide you."

I pondered a little before speaking,"well, that is fine and all, but I don't have a mana contract on me right now."

"Here," she then pulled out a mana contract in front of me and I looked at that contract and pondered a little before nodding. While I would really like to take her back to our organisation, my real work here is to collect information.

Then, I began writing the terms and conditions, once all was said and done with the contract; she nodded before explaining to me,

"My system allows me to control the creatures of darkness. According to what I have come to learn, those creatures have always been present around us but due to the presence of sunlight and other things like, lack of ability to see them through normal eyes, they aren't known to normal people.

They are powerful and everything, but they can't harm anyone under normal conditions even if they are beyond SSS-Grade, because they lack physical attributes. However, they do have some effect on normal people.

They feed on people's emotions, and how much they can is proportional to their power and grade. If done in excess, they can even turn a proper, healthy person into a lifeless body.

According to my system, they are the manifestations of emotions from other dimensions that have escaped to our own but couldn't take proper form. In other words, they are failed monsters that have nowhere to go. Their only source of power is darkness and without them, they would always be in limbo, that is, they would be neither dead nor living."

I looked at her before I asked again,"and…?"

She gulped a little before speaking,"so… My system allows me to control them, enhance them and even get them to turn into powerful monsters which I can control at will… and that is what I was trying to do… Before you arrived… your mana… I don't know if you know this but your mana… is too pure. Not even going to the point where you have two opposites at once surviving together because I have no idea how that is possible, your mana is far purer than anything I have ever seen. Do you really don't know what you are?"

I looked at her for a few moments before asking,"I.. don't know. I believe that I am human… isn't that fine?" as I smiled at her. She looked at me with a deep gaze before sighing and speaking.

"I guess I told you everything I knew… Can I go now?"

I looked at her for a few moments before asking,"what are you trying to do? What is your goal?"

She stood up as she spoke,"untie me."

I looked at her for a few moments before speaking,"tell me and I will."

She stared at me for a few moments and spoke,"isn't that obvious? World Domination." I looked at her and it didn't seem like she was joking… in fact, her eyes were burning far brighter than before….

I, as promised, untied her. Partly because of the mana contract and partly because my work was done here. I have collected all the information I can… From what I got from this girl, I think I can understand everything that happened.

"By the way… what is your name?" she asks and I look at her before casually speaking,"It is Zero. What is yours… though.. Mind if I ask what you are, anyway?"

She started moving away from me as she spoke,"I am Ascarate Rosalyn… the first Damphir. Nice to meet you, Zero. Let's meet each other at the top of the world," before vanishing from my sight.

I just kept gazing in the direction in which she vanished and I kind of pondered over what should I do next? After thinking about it, I then raised my hand in front of me as I pointed my finger at a distance before beginning to concentrate magic at my tips… this time much less than before…

-Screech!!

I heard a voice from a distance as I saw a creature of darkness coming towards me rapidly. Then I saw a few more coming towards me. They weren't as wild as before, and the numbers were less too… so I took out my sword and filled it with minute light energy, enough to kill them only when the contact was made.

I still had time till morning so I…

Began fighting with those monsters as training partners. They weren't harmful as Ascarate spoke and I kinda liked that part. Training with them would help me manage my dark mana control while also enhancing my sword style…

It was a really nice method of training and I really liked it for the most part… not including the fact that I could only use this method during the night… I guess there is only so much that I can exploit.

…

This was one of the reasons for my swords style, or perhaps all of my weapon skills were way stronger and refined than they could have been. I had practised almost all the time I could, fighting more than thousands of monsters at the same time… it even helped me prepare to fight against monsters supposedly stronger, faster and sharper than me.

About Ascarate Rosalyn, I never heard from her again and I think she probably died an unknown death. I wonder if I could save her in this timeline because she, too, is one of the reasons I was able to get stronger… Wonder if I should visit Drake town sometime in the future…?

Let's leave that to the future, I suppose.