Chapter 2008: Thoughts

Crownus watched the illusory man move around the arena for a moment before answering.

"He was the most talented fighter this world has ever produced."

Ning looked at the figure again. Now that he knew what he was looking at, the man’s movements made more sense. There was no wasted motion in the way he positioned himself, and he seemed to read the large fighter’s intentions before the man had even finished deciding what to do.

"Is that an actual Soul?" Ning asked with a frown.

"Yes. It belonged to a man who died nearly 5 decades ago here," Crownus answered.

Ning’s attention immediately shifted back to Crownus. "Then how is his Soul still here?"

"This was my third attempt," Crownus said. "For the first two, I tried to create a System that could connect to Souls or interact with people from outside them. This time, I changed the approach."

Ning already had a suspicion of where the explanation was going, and he was not entirely certain he liked it.

Crownus continued. "Instead of creating a System that wrapped itself around a Soul, I decided to make the Soul itself into the System."

Ning stared at him for a second before looking toward the illusory fighter again.

"You turned him into a System."

"Yes."

There was no hesitation in the answer.

Crownus explained that after the fighter died, he had taken the man’s Soul before it could continue onward and added to it. He had added several elements that allowed the Soul to function in ways it normally could not, including the ability to remain connected to another living person and communicate with them directly.

Once those changes were complete, Crownus gave the altered Soul to the woman currently fighting in the arena.

Ning frowned slightly. "Is it permanent?" he asked.

"No. That would be wrong. That much I understand," Crownus answered.

Ning nodded slowly before looking toward the woman. "Why her?"

"The man wanted revenge against those who killed him. Her interests happen to align with his."

That answer made Ning glance at the illusion again.

The fighter did not look angry at the moment. If anything, he appeared completely focused on the fight, calmly giving instructions while watching every movement of both people inside the arena.

"So it’s a sort of vengeful spirit, huh?"

Crownus had not simply chosen a random host and forced the two of them together. The dead fighter wanted something that required someone living to accomplish, while the woman had her own reason to pursue the same target. Giving her the altered Soul allowed both of them to work toward the same goal.

It was certainly more deliberate than Ning had first assumed.

"How long has she had him?"

"Approximately three years."

Ning’s eyes narrowed.

"Three?"

"Yes."

Ning turned fully toward Crownus. "How is it only three years?"

Crownus said nothing for a moment.

Ning continued, "You started looking for me millennia ago. You showed me the first world, then the second, and now you’re telling me this experiment only started three years ago?"

"I became bored while waiting."

Ning stared at him.

"So you waited thousands of years and then decided to start another experiment because you had nothing better to do."

Crownus did not disagree.

The fight below had continued throughout their conversation.

The larger man had begun slowing down, while the woman remained relatively composed. She had taken several hits by now, including one that had opened a cut along her shoulder, but the dead fighter continued guiding her around the arena whenever she risked being cornered.

"Keep moving to his right," the illusion told her. "His left knee is failing."

The woman listened.

She circled rather than rushing in, forcing the larger fighter to repeatedly turn on the injured leg. Every time he planted his foot, his balance grew slightly worse, and the woman took advantage of that by striking the same area whenever an opening appeared.

The man eventually realized what she was doing and charged her out of frustration.

She moved aside just before he reached her.

His bad leg gave way when he tried to stop, and the woman was on him before he could recover.

Ning watched her pull a narrow metal awl from somewhere beneath her clothing and drive it through the man’s skull.

The large fighter collapsed into the sand.

For half a second, the crowd went silent before noise erupted from every direction. Some people cheered, others shouted angrily, and several immediately began exchanging whatever passed for money in this place.

Ning looked at the corpse, then at the woman standing above it while blood ran down the length of the awl.

"This is a rather brutal world."

"It is."

The dead fighter remained beside her, looking down at the body with no particular reaction.

Whatever happened next was apparently not something Crownus intended to show Ning.

The surroundings changed.

The orange sky, the sand, the arena, and the shouting crowd vanished, leaving Ning and Crownus floating once again in the darkness of outer space.

Ning took a moment to adjust his thoughts. He had now seen all three attempts. Each experiment had approached the same problem from a different direction.

Crownus turned toward him.

"These were my three attempts at making a semblance of a System. They weren’t serious attempts, but more so tests. Now that you’ve seen them all, what do you have to say?"

Ning did not answer immediately.

Crownus wanted Ning to judge the experiments after seeing them directly rather than relying on a vague description of what had happened. Ning could understand why. None of the three situations were quite as simple as they had first sounded.

That did not necessarily mean Crownus had been right.

"There’s nothing for me to say," Ning answered in the end. "You did what you did. All I can say is that you did not break the rules of our agreement."

"Of course. I wouldn’t dare," Crownus said.

Ning nodded. "Since that is the case, we can move forward with our plan to create a new System. Should we brainstorm together?"