My Fate System

The pain was real, despite this being a recreation of his memories rather than the real world. However, it was nothing compared to the pain of what comes next.

As he fell to the ground, Scarman was already in front of him. The giant man landed a kick in Nikolai's stomach, and the pain made Nikolai scream until his voice was hoarse.

"Scream all you want, kid," Scarman grinned as he grabbed Nikolai's head. "No one can hear you," he gave a grin before striking him again. "Now, tell me where you hide your money."

It seems that Scarman thought they were hoarding money judging by how much they took, but they indeed had none. Nikolai tried to tell him, but the crook didn't believe him.

As he saw like the outsider of his memories, Nikolai could see everything happening while wondering how did he forget the face of a man who tormented him this much?

Yet, it was inevitable, as Scarman looked different. Nikolai couldn't also dispute Niko's claim that some of his memories have been sealed away rather than forgotten.

'Did I forget Shon's face because of this too? How much did I choose to forget because it hurt to remember?' Nikolai couldn't tell, but he hazily saw Shon stand up, coughing and rushing toward him.

However, Scarman was ruthless and kicked the mute kid to slam into the wall as well. Then, as if his patience was wearing thin, he took out a dagger and walked toward Nikolai.

"It seems that you treasure this friend of yours," he said to Shon. "If you don't want him to die, you better take out all of your money."

Scarman seemed convinced that they were lying, which made the two kids despair about what to do. Shon gave a few gestured as the dagger rested on Nikolai's neck, but Scarman was ignorant about sign language.

"I don't care about what you have to say," Scarman pressed harder on Nikolai's neck. "Give me the money, or I'll kill this friend of yours." 

Tears streamed down Shon's face as his eyes turned to Nikolai. Then, as if something snapped within him, his eyes changed, and they began glowing white. Then, his hair began burning as well. Light came out of his body as if he was an exploding star, and what made Nikolai uneasy was the singing.

'Where is this song coming from?'

It was as if a thousand sirens tried to guide the sailors to their demise, and it made Nikolai's soul tremble. The light exploded from the mute, and it blinded everything in the alley.

When Nikolai regained his vision, he was free. Scarman was leaning against the wall, muttering in shock as a giant scar appeared on his face.

As he was confused about what happened when he couldn't see the world, Shon rushed toward Nikolai and grabbed him. The bruised face of his friend greeted him before he was pulled away to the orphanage.

The memory grew hazy, and it ended as Nikolai watched his friend's back, memories flooding back to him.

"This was the beginning of the end," Niko said as Nikolai opened his eyes. "The awakening of his powers was what led to Shon's fate, and it was because of us."

"I did nothing wrong," Nikolai shook his head. "I was a victim, and I tried to save him."

"But he did it to save us," his younger self rebuked. "It seems you have also forgotten about the night of the incident," as the words fell on Nikolai's ears, he felt a splitting headache all of a sudden.

As if the memories demanded to be remembered, Nikolai's mind was resisting against something he chose to forget. Flashbacks of that night returned to him, and so did the feelings of fear and loss.

"I know how to find the truth," Nikolai muttered as he remembered how Scarman got his scar. He also noticed that the tattoo of a crow was also there, which means that Scarman reported what happened to Hyde.

"It must be him," Niko nodded. "At least, he has something to do with it. You need to ask him directly about it."

"Would it change the fact that Shon is dead?" Nikolai shook his head. "There's too much risk. Hyde isn't someone I can handle at my current strength."

"But can you deny the possibility that Shon hasn't died?" Niko walked closer to him as the rope loosened. "If you promise that you find out the truth, then I'll help you get the skill."

"You are a manifestation of the skill itself. So, why would you care about Shon or anything that has to do with me?"

"The heavenly strings bind me," Niko replied. "Celestia prevents me from intervening with fate, but that's different for you. You are the master of fate, and I am a son of the world. So, I can't stand idle as my world gets destroyed."

***

As the giant dragon devoured Nikolai, his darkness exploded to destroy it from the inside. Despite being made of black sand, it was still a dragon of great might. As the Bringer of Chaos struck toward the being's core, it disintegrated to sand.

Nikolai went into his pocket dimension until the dragon was dead before going out. The dragon was gone, and there was only his younger version walking toward it.

"You are more powerful than you think," Niko came down from the dune to pick up the talisman. Then, after they had reached an agreement, the kid became relatively easygoing.

"How many more monsters do I need to take down?" Nikolai huffed as he felt how drained his darkness was. The cube within him was spinning faster than ever to regenerate the darkness, but his art used it excessively to bring chaos.

Like a tree with many branches, elements were connected. His darkness was how he communicated to the abyss to bring another property to his mana: chaos.

His chaos was still destroying the place he attacked, and it looked like black lightning that tore down the world's harmony. The summoning of a stronger element consumed a lot of his darkness, but it was a lot stronger than before. 

"Hm, a few hundred monsters," Niko gazed at the horizon as he said casually. Nikolai looked at him, speechless at the numbers that he threw out.

"I think I'll be dead before I get the skill," Nikolai wasn't talking sarcastically, as the monster earlier was almost of the D-rank. Even with his darkness being the Bane of Elements, a single mistake would cost him his life.

"Well, half-dead is the requirement," the kid grinned as he handed him the piece of talisman. "You need to prove your desire for this skill, as it needs to see your determination to grow."

"Symbiosis, huh?" Nikolai smiled as he fused the talisman into the one that he had.

"A spiritual symbiosis, yes."

Skills wanted to grow stronger, exactly how humans did. Some people thought of the relationship between the two as symbiosis, and each would work for the benefit of the other.

Humans would seek black crystals to evolve their skills and practice to increase their mastery, while skills would grant humans unparalleled powers. It was a cycle, in a way.

That's why most people thought of skills as spiritual beings with their desires to survive and their judgment to choose worthy companions. Hence, the phrase 'power chooses us.'

"Is there a way to quicken the process?"

"Well, there is, but I wouldn't recommend it," Niko turned to him. "There is a place with weak monsters that reward a piece each. If you clear it, then you can open the door." 

"Why wouldn't you recommend such a place then?" Nikolai knew that there was a catch.

"Because there are hundreds of monsters there," Niko gave a grin. "They might be weak individually, but their number makes the matter suicidal venture."

"It's better than slowly killing me like this," Nikolai shook his head. "If I keep running around like this, I might run into a monster that's a D-rank. At that time, it will be certain death."

"That's also another way to look at it," Niko nodded. "After all, I am a legendary skill, so it will be a bit upsetting if there wasn't at least one A-rank monster here."

"..." Nikolai looked at the manifestation of the skill silently, trying to see if he was lying. However, he couldn't see through it. An A-rank monster was the same as a volcanic eruption for normal humans, a calamity like no other. If he does indeed come across such a monster...

[Character Nikolai Yaran has been deleted from the system.]

He can imagine this notification popping up as he dies. The mere thought of it sent chills down his spine, as the words the system used whenever a registered character died were cruel; for some reason, being deleted was a lot worse than just saying that they died.

"I guess you made up your mind," Niko pointed in the distance. "Let's go to the Temple of The End."