8 Contention of Thoughts
Somewhere in a pocket dimension, God looked down upon the various monitors that showed what exactly Jun was doing in his every waking moment. The room itself looked like a regular old camera monitoring room that could be seen in modern movies, severely contrasting the heavenly ethereal existences around him. This world, this plane, and all of existence was created for this tedious game of stratagem. His current score was some couple million to zero, with each individual number signifying a challenge for his place as God. Over the years, he perfected the machinations necessary to intricately trap and ensnare these challengers, preventing them from ever escaping their fate as just another number, just an additional plus one, to God's score.
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This particular challenger was one of the toughest nuts to crack: the handicap--the numerous gifts or powers that they were granted for their own survival--he had was absolute isolation. God would usually be able to pry into their former memories before the challenge, but he was left with absolutely no information about Jun other than his name. The gift also severely limited his ability of observation and thus, he was only able to monitor through extensions of his will. His inability to see how and what Jun was thinking made it impossible to perfectly create a plan or track to capture Jun's free will and bind him to fate.
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And so, God gave Jun a bit of fortune as bait: a bait to let him fall into the power-hungry struggle that would slowly shave away Jun's free will and turn him into a mindless character that sought out strength. At this point, it would easy to assimilate his existence into just another prop, or lore, or part of scenery in his vast planar existence.
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In fact, God himself was also a challenge to the ownership of plane, just like Jun and the many others. Yet his record was impressive, even on a cosmic level that spread across infinite possibilities, planes, and timelines. His full omniscience, in fact, was his given ability which allowed him to quickly realize the challenge and act accordingly. A mix of boldness and fortune allowed God to become God, and now, he had to no longer rely on mere chance and increased his mental abilities to an extraordinary level. Now, he could calculate all the paths and possibilities using his omniscience as the basis of information and data.
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His ability to calculate was now severely hindered by Jun's exact counter of absolute isolation. In a few years when Jun matured into an adult and his ability was awakened fully, it would be too late for God to secure his victory with absolute certainty and he would be back to success relying upon and being determined by--even if on an infinitesimally level--probability, chance, and luck.
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The reason God had timed this outrageous scenario of the world's prophesy with George as a witness was to follow the standard stereotypical novel timeline, even if it broke common sense and aroused Jun's suspicions. He hoped that Jun would bite on the bait and interact more with the pawns he placed around the world, eventually becoming another one of his pawns.
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As God looked through the various monitors that displayed the world around Jun, he reverted to his old habit of grinding his teeth in anxiety and anticipation.
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While Jun's body was physically exhausted of all its energies, Jun sat in his mental space mulling over the newly gained ring, George, and overall this world. He could barely wrap his head around the strange concept this world had: it was brutally realistic and savage, even when it came to the system, but the concept had changed to its present "everything is falling into place" sort of vibe. It was as if the world changed from reality to fiction, all with its glorious plot armor. But was this a good change? What was the cost of all these changes, what exactly was the price?
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George was another matter altogether. Who the hell is George and why is the perfect mentor character popping into existence? The only instance of the System ever reacting was in the presence of other things or more specifically, a reaction to what Jun did to the world or a person. When he was alone, he received absolutely nothing but as he interacted more in the world, the more the System and the world gave him. When he rampaged in the forest, he got a hand axe from the System. When he willfully wore an object that he owned, he got the Equipment Menu and the Inventory Menu. When he completed his so-called first quest, he got an overpowered ring for his efforts. What was the reason for this strange pattern of behavior?
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From what Jun saw of Aura or the System, they outwardly seemed uninterested in Jun's survival but all of their actions revealed the contrary. Aura always seemed to appear when Jun really needed it, such as when he was about to go insane, or when he was stuck in an unfamiliar place, and finally, when Jun was knocked unconscious. But why at these exact moments in time? Thinking back, there was definitely some enigma about Aura and the System: why was there the need to have both? Couldn't Aura, or the System, fulfill the role by themselves?
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And finally, this ring. What exactly was this ring? He called upon the Item Description for the ring to view again:
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Name: Fifth Ring, Superbia (Dormant)
- Req Lev: 0
- Class Restriction: None
Category: Ring
- Constitution: +10%
Abilities
- Presence (Passive, Level 0): Exerts overwhelming mental pressure on all surroundings and physical pressure depending on wearer's constitution
- Bow (Active, Level 0): Forces those weaker or at the same level to bow and completely submit to user's will (Limit 1); those who are stronger will be able to resist depending on gap in level
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It was certainly overpowered, but at what cost? He read the abilities: Presence and Bow. Both of them created powerful effects in the world, but what was the cost? If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, along with every effect having a cause, what exactly were the opposite reactions and causes to these abilities. Where exactly was all the energy necessary for the operation of these two abilities coming from?
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Recalling George's description of recovery--if it could even be trusted--, the skill Recovery depended on using the user's lifeforce and required replenishment of said life force or periods of rest to slowly recover that life force. What did Presence and Bow cost?
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Jun stared at the ring and willed it to release its Presence, and he could feel the aftershocks and backlash of the immense mental pressure in the surrounding. As he was releasing presence, he did not feel any bit of mental or physical fatigue: thus, he could conclude that the ability Presence was being produced by the ring despite the physical pressure aspect being derived from his own Constitution score. If the ring could endlessly produce physical pressure, why even be limited by his own Constitution score: he had no part in the equation of the ability and thus, meant that his body had an auxiliary function other than just being a battery. What if Jun's body was the catalyst, or even worse, his soul? Or what if it was just the channel or vessel that conveyed the source of power into the ability Presence? The description stated no limitations or restrictions to said ability, so it meant that it had a supply of endless energy from somewhere, and this endless energy was using his existence, in some fashion, to produce the effect Presence.
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The System finally responded to Jun's thoughts.
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"Fifth Ring, Superbia (Dormant) relies on its connection to a separate plane of existence. When its abilities are used, the ring channels the essence of the plane, with its physical limitations being its user."
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"What exactly are the risks of using the ring?"
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"None."
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"Then why now? Why are you answering my questions, and why did I finally get this ring?"
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"World approved of your existence as apart of its narrative and subsequently approved of System's reward. System is unable to provide anything unless it is world approved or certain conditions are met. In this particular case, your prolonged inquiry and perception of the world's contradictory state met conditions for limited inquiries."
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"Why is the world so important? Why is the System underneath the world?"
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"You and the System are not apart of this world and are automatically rejected by its narrative. Subsequently, System's abilities are sealed by the world unless you meet certain conditions or they are unsealed by the world."
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Jun stopped asking questions and was wondering why the System kept on emphasizing the world. What was so important about the world? What exactly was the world: a person, a non-entity with sentience, a thing, a place, a set of rules and conditions? Why did the world unseal part of its abilities, and wait, what exactly did the world unseal?
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The System provided no subsequent answers, leaving Jun to frown and continue to contemplate the matters at hand further.
