The System

Forget about friends or companions; Soran hadn't even accurately figured out his current region. He considered himself fortunate to have been able to wander for days, relying on his instincts and surviving encounters with high-level monsters until he arrived at this mountain in search of a vampire. He had been using his knowledge and information as a former player to navigate this world, but personally, he didn't know anyone here.

"Companion? Whose companion are you referring to?" Soran asked, seeking confirmation. He no longer gazed at the sky, but his attention lingered on the moon-like loading icon in his perspective while he looked at Anubis. "H-huh, this is?!"

[Constructing Lumine's Framework...]

Like a replica of the moon itself, a small orb materialized on Soran's right shoulder, and upon hearing the distinctive voice of a woman inside his head, he immediately stood up in shock. Soran spun around in place, searching for the source of the voice, but only anxiety remained on his face.

"Why are you so overly surprised, Kev?" the woman's voice sounded again.

Soran didn't know if he was the only one hearing it or if others could hear it too, but his heart raced to its peak. His throat suddenly felt constricted, painfully choked, reflecting Soran's impression of the voice's source.

"Lumine?! Lumine!?" Soran continued to turn his head in confusion, unaware that there was a moon-colored orb blinking on his shoulder. "Lumine, are you there? Where are you?" Instead of murmuring, Soran grew frustrated and shouted in his state of confusion.

It was only when he noticed the orb on his shoulder that Soran took a deep breath and dropped to his knees, his eyes moist on something. "Lumine... thank goodness you didn't leave me alone," he said with a hoarse voice, struggling to hold back tears.

"But this is strange," Soran continued, wiping something from his eyes. "How can you reappear? I thought I was sent to this place alone?"

"It's thanks to the vampire in front of you," the woman's voice replied, and simultaneously, the moon-like orb on Soran's shoulder blinked as if in sync with her voice. "I can rebuild my connection by borrowing Authority of him."

Anubis, though seemingly silent and observant, had actually been aware of something since Soran began his narrative. It was a notification.

[!] System Alert: Framework of Lumine Detected!

Since that moment, Anubis knew something was following Soran, which seemed to have gone unnoticed by Soran himself.

"It's also thanks to your affiliation with Dravenic that was already established beforehand, which eventually allows me to directly connect with the vampire in front of you," the voice continued. "Well, but anyway, I can barely do anything."

The System. Like the golden fingers from a fantasy novel, Soran did indeed possess it, even before his death. After his demise, Soran no longer felt the presence of the system. In fact, he woke up inside the body of an NPC that he had previously used in the war against celestials.

That also proved a real and tangible correlation between Dravenic and Anubis, as well as from another perspective, between Dravenic and Soran. However, when Soran mentioned being a "partner," the precise nature of their relationship was left unexplained.

"So basically, you are able to recognize him with a unique identifier or something like that?" Soran inquired, curious. "But is there a genuine trigger that serves as an intermediary between you and this Anubis?"

The world of games or the world of magical fantasy was often a strong enough reason to fill in plot holes like that. You could simply say it was a kind of magic, a mechanism within blablabla, and no one would question it.

"Yes, there is. You may not have noticed it at the time, but Dravenic did something to us," Lumine replied, her tone confident as if revealing a taboo glimpse of past events. "It's something that you already know, and it's one of the reasons why Dravenic was able to single-handedly challenge the celestials."

"D-don't tell me!" Soran displayed a shocked expression, as if it were intentionally designed as a dialogue transition to indicate that a new plot was about to unfold.

The Vampire Lord, Dravenic, was indeed powerful, very much so. But strength alone wasn't the only reason why underworld inhabitants like him boldly challenged the gods and goddesses to war and, more than that, gained the upper hand.

It was said to be a sacred treasure of the celestials, one that had been forgotten, a treasure even the gods and goddesses couldn't fully unlock the potential meaning. A sword made of the very essence of life itself, forged by destiny to cut through the threads of fate.

[Lumine OS: Creating the Code...]

[Lumine OS: Accessing Encryption Code...]

[Lumine OS:Decrypting Code...]

Between Anubis and Soran, a particle of code materialized—a small spiral filled with ones and zeros, with three rings rotating around it. Witnessing this slightly unusual sight, they were startled by the system's sudden voice. "Just so you know, this process can happen because I'm using Authority from Anubis. Otherwise, it wouldn't be accessible at all."

This action was taken by Lumine in their final moments in the past, as they neared death and followed the Vampire Lord's instructions. The system encrypted itself and certain assets from Dravenic, only to respond or be triggered when the catalyst was present, and that catalyst was Anubis.

"So... what are you actually waiting for?" Lumine continued in a casual tone.

Soran shot a sharp look at his own shoulder. "Huh?! Yes, of course, we're waiting for something to emerge from this binary code. You must want to show us something you mentioned earlier, am I wrong?"

"In days... no, maybe even weeks," Lumine replied, "That's the time you'll spend waiting if you let this encryption process finish... you do know this isn't just an ordinary supercomputer code or a quantum computer, right?"

Comparing Lumine, the system, to an Operating System might not be entirely inaccurate, perhaps. The concept was similar to booting up the same OS on a different device, a complete reinstall with entirely new hardware components, software, firmware, BIOS, and more. Essentially, this was a completely different world for them.