Arthur remained seated as the system notifications continued to unfold before his eyes, the faint blue glow reflecting across his eyes. From the series of pop-up screens, it became immediately clear that the system had undergone massive changes, far beyond anything he had anticipated.
The first notice alone was enough to make him pause and reread it carefully.
[System Notice: The System is now capable of accurately analyzing opponents up to multiversal level. This not only includes their strength, but their identity and weakness to some extent.]
His gaze lingered on those words for a moment longer than usual, not out of excitement, but out of caution. That kind of analytical capability wasn't just a small upgrade, it was a complete shift in scale the system operated.
He read through the second notification, expanding on the system's new functionality.
[The System now has a repository of knowledge of the multiverse the host is currently residing in. To access this information, the host needs to sacrifice something of equivalent value. This could be currency, valuable resources, or even something as esoteric as lifeforce or cultivation.]
This time, Arthur's reaction was more grounded. Unlike the first feature, this one made sense. There was a cost, a clearly defined exchange. That aligned with his understanding of how power should work, though it was still on a scale he was nowhere near.
The third notice appeared last. [The System is now capable of understanding the host's soul level.] This one, however, left him contemplative.
Arthur exhaled slowly, leaning back slightly as he processed everything that happened. The upgrades were undeniably powerful, almost absurdly so, but that only made him more skeptical rather than reassured.
He didn't believe in free gains, not in a world like this, so why would anyone help a stranger if they didn't have something to gain from him. Someone or something like Ananke would not interfere without purpose. Even if someone stood in front of him and insisted that the help was unconditional, he wouldn't believe it.
There was always a reason, even if it wasn't immediately visible. His thoughts shifted toward the entity that Ananke mentioned, Ahriman and the implication behind what he said.
That was the part that didn't sit right with him.
If the system now operated at a multiversal scale, then both Ananke and Ahriman had to exist at that level or beyond. Entities like that didn't act over trivial matters. If Ahriman was targeting him, then whatever Arthur had taken must have been significant. Yet he had no memory of taking anything remotely important. That contradiction churned inside his mind for a moment before something stuck him.
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly as a distant memory surfaced. Before his transmigration, back when he was still on Earth, he had been working at a scrapyard. And just a month before he died he came in contact with an unusual orb.
He remembered examining it for only a brief moment before, when he touched it, it simply vanished. At the time, he had dismissed it as hallucination. But now that he was thinking about it…
"…That orb…" he muttered quietly.
Arthur immediately closed his eyes, his focus turning inward as he expanded his divine sense into his sea of consciousness. His awareness swept across everything within, methodically scanning for anything out of place.
The Spear of Heaven remained in one corner, but beyond that there was nothing, no trace of the orb. His brows furrowed slightly as he scanned his entire body at a cellular scale, examining every layer of his existence in case the object had somehow integrated into him in a way he hadn't noticed before, still he found nothing.
Arthur slowly opened his eyes, his expression unreadable as he processed the result. "…I thought my Soul Origin was the source of my powers, but is the orb somehow related to it?" he muttered quietly, voicing the thought that had formed naturally in his mind. If that assumption was correct, then the implications were simple.
The orb no longer existed as a separate entity. It had probably become a part of him, or something deeper than that, a part of his Soul Origin. If Ahriman truly wanted it back, then there was no other way than to extract it from his body or soul which might even result in his death.
If Ahriman came after him, then the only way to survive was to reach a level of strength where this level of threat would no longer matter to him. The thought settled firmly in his mind, not as a source of fear, but as a clear objective.
What he didn't know, however, was that the truth went even further than his assumption. The orb had not merged with him, it had been completely destroyed and its energy was absorbed by his peculiar soul itself, leaving no possibility of recovery or separation.
Arthur leaned back slightly, his gaze shifting as he revisited his interaction with Ananke. Something still didn't add up, if Ananke had been able to find him so easily, then logically, Ahriman should have been capable of doing the same. Yet instead of appearing directly, Ahriman had sent agents after him, and that discrepancy wasn't random.
"…If Ananke can find me, then why didn't Ahriman come himself?" he muttered, his tone thoughtful.
The answer, or at least the most reasonable conclusion was there had to be limitations placed on Ahriman that prevented him from directly interfering. Whether it was a rule, a barrier, or something else entirely, it didn't matter. The result was the same. Arthur wasn't facing an immediate confrontation, but that didn't mean he was safe.
It only meant he had time to grow. And time, in this case, was something he couldn't afford to waste.
Arthur's expression settled into determination. The gap between his current strength and a multiversal-level entity was beyond vast, it was incomprehensible. But that didn't change his objective, he would have to find a way to bridge that gap before Ahriman found him.
His attention shifted back to the system upgrades, analyzing them more carefully now that the initial shock had passed. The first feature was straightforward and extremely useful. Being able to analyze opponents even at multiversal level meant he would no longer be forced into blind confrontations. Information alone could shift the outcome of a battle, especially if it included weaknesses of his enemies.
The second feature, while powerful, came with clear limitations. The requirement of equivalent exchange meant that access to higher-level knowledge would depend entirely on what he was willing and able to sacrifice.
Arthur's thoughts briefly turned to his endless lifeforce.
Due to his biological immortality, his lifeforce could replenish itself infinitely, but that didn't mean his lifeforce was infinitely huge. His body could only contain an amount of lifeforce proportional to his current strength. If he exhausted it completely, it would regenerate, but at any given moment what he possessed had a limit.
That meant he couldn't sacrifice more than he currently held. If he were to give everything, the system would only grant knowledge equivalent to what the lifeforce of a Great Unity Immortal could afford, because that was effectively his current level.
Still, the system allowed alternative forms of payment. Resources, materials, other forms of value, those could all be used to push beyond that limitation. That alone made the feature extremely flexible.
His gaze shifted slightly as he focused on the final upgrade. Soul level.
That was the one he understood the least. So, without hesitation he activated his status panel. "Status."
The interface appeared instantly, displaying his current attributes in full detail.
//--------------------//
[STATUS]
Name: Arthur Sully
Power Tier: High 6-A (Multi-Continent Level)
Soul Tier: Lord Soul
Age: 30
Height: 6'3"
Aether Capacity: 3.31 M Units
Strength: 6-A
Speed: Sub-Relativistic (Mach 9743)
Durability: High 6-A
[ABILITIES]
[Reactive Evolution] [Superior Regeneration] [Toxin Immunity] [Gene Lock] [Aether Manipulation (Lv2)] [Pain Tolerance] [Lightning Manipulation (Lv7)] [Mana Manipulation (Lv6)] [Chi Manipulation (Lv7)] [Technopathy (Lv4)] [Energy Absorption (Lv8)] [Elemental Manipulation (Lv3)] [Matter Manipulation (Lv2)] [Spatial Manipulation (Lv5)] [Aether Energy Reactor (Lv2)] [Animakinesis (Lv1)]
[SPELLS]
[Telekinesis] [Telepathy]
[TECHNIQUES]
[Divine Domain: Density Manipulation]
//--------------------//
His eyes scanned through the familiar information quickly until they landed on the new addition.
Soul Tier: Lord Soul.
Arthur frowned slightly, he had no frame of reference for what that meant. It wasn't something he had encountered before, nor did it align with any system he was familiar with. After a brief moment of consideration, he decided to make use of the system's new function.
"System," he said calmly, "tell me what this Soul Tier represents, and what the highest tier is. Take my lifeforce as a sacrifice."
There was a brief pause before the system responded.
[Insufficient Lifeforce detected for this level of knowledge.]
Arthur's expression remained unchanged, though a slight crease appeared between his brows. "…Not enough?" he muttered. That only confirmed what he had already suspected, the information he was asking for existed at a level far beyond what he could currently afford.
He adjusted his request immediately. "Then show me the level of information I can access with most of my lifeforce."
This time, the system responded differently. A small vortex appeared in front of him, no larger than his palm. It hovered silently in the air, its presence was subtle yet carrying a faint sense of distortion that made the surrounding space feel slightly unstable. Arthur stared at it for a moment, his mind briefly weighing the decision. He understood exactly what would happen the moment he touched it.
After a short pause, he reached out. The instant his fingers made contact, a tremendous suction force tore through him. It wasn't physical, but he could feel it directly within himself. His lifeforce was being pulled out, violently disappearing into the vortex faster than he could react.
Arthur's body stiffened as the sensation hit him, his breathing halting as his entire existence seemed to hollow out from within. And all this happened in less than a second.
Then the vortex vanished.
Arthur staggered slightly, his body turning pale as if every drop of blood had been drained from him. Less than one percent of his lifeforce remained, his heart still beat, and his body still functioned, but barely. For a brief moment, his senses dulled under the sudden emptiness.
He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to remain steady as his regeneration kicked in, slowly restoring what had been lost. Within seconds, the worst of the weakness began to fade, though the memory of that sensation lingered.
"…That's brutal," he muttered quietly.
Then, as the vortex disappeared completely, a new panel appeared in front of him.
Arthur straightened slightly, his gaze sharpening as he looked at it. Whatever information he had just paid for, almost all his lifeforce, was finally about to be revealed.
***
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