1 The Pioneer Civilisation System
"HAHAHAHA!"
An alley behind a convenience store echoed the hysterical laughter of a man which was filled with endless grief and pain.
Wasting away with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, the man leaned up against the large dumpster for warmth, while crying in between the laughter that escaped his body and soul.
The man couldn't care one bit about the rats running around in front of him or the holes throughout his damaged clothes which were the only thing he had left.
For a few days now, the man contemplated death, either by jumping off a bridge or to charge out in front of traffic yet the one thing that stopped him was his broken legs.
His current predicament only came to be due to the people he trusted and adored in the past, completely unaware they were using him as a scapegoat.
By the time he learnt of their deceit, everything was taken from him, leaving him with nothing but his health, yet that still wasn't enough…
Those he trusted before sent people to deal with him and the thugs ended up breaking several of his bones, including both legs, leaving the man only capable of crawling.
After the attack, the thugs threw him into a random alley to die, where the man had been for days, foraging through the garbage to survive day by day.
The only enjoyable thing that fell into his hands was the bottle of alcohol that the clerk from the convenience store provided him to help with the pain of the broken bones.
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"🎜You don't wanna be lonely… Unlike me…
You don't wanna be scared… Unlike me…
You don't wanna be broken… Unlike me…
You don't wanna suffer the pain, the anguish, unlike me…
A selfish man who saw himself, above all else…
Yet it was this that led to his downfall…
The story of me, a man destroyed by those he thought were his own…🎝"
Alone and with no one else around but the rats, the man sung his heart out as tears poured down his face.
Those who walked by the alley heard the man's voice and thought to themselves that it was the voice of an angel, yet the grief and pain it carried was too much for anyone to hear.
Staring down at his one last possession that he held dear to his heart was the photo of his family.
"Greed… took away everything from me…
Everything that mattered…" he said while staring at the photo of his wife smiling and their two children, a young boy and girl in her arms.
His precious family were part of the collateral damaged that was aimed to break him, especially when their deaths were anything but simple.
All the news surrounding their death was locked and sealed by the police and any following investigations he tried to start ended up with nothing.
Looking over at the image in his hand, the man finished what was left of the bottle of alcohol before smashing it on the ground.
Picking up a shard of glass, he placed it by his throat and focused on the picture within his hand as he slashed at the neck, easily cutting through the skin.
The blood squirted out of his neck like a fire hydrant and reached the other side of the alley wall, even soaking part of the picture in the man's hand.
Ignoring the pain which slowly vanished and was replaced with coldness, the man felt his strength leave the body until his eyes even struggled to remain open.
Dying alone in the alley without anyone beside him, the man felt a sense of relief that the pain and suffering was leaving his exhausted body.
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"*Sigh* Another has died… even before he could make anything of the gift, I gave him…"
A being that was beyond mortal and crossed over into the world of the divine, looked down at another failed plan to save his creation.
The divine being had tried again and again to find someone that could save the different worlds in Its control from perishing into the void, yet every time he chose a Champion to serve him, they would fall into the same trap of trusting the unknown for a modicum of power and strength.
It would start the cascading effect that slowly destroyed the spirit and strength of the Champion till they died miserably.
In the whole time the divine being had been searching for someone to successfully heal the failed worlds in Its control, no Champion survived as the worlds they were from worsened.
At this point in time, the divine being felt like letting his creations be swallowed by the void since it was so difficult to fix them, yet the sound voice of reason entered his ear.
"Don't give up just yet, old friend…
You will eventually find the Hero that will change your fortune for the better." A friend of the divine being appeared beside him in the endless space.
"I wish it was as simple as finding a Hero…" the divine being moaned, yet he realised something that was said before.
Before It could thank Its old friend, they had long left, leaving behind a small gift as well for the diving being to use.
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"Finally… *Sigh* your dead, asshole… argh…" the luscious white hair of the man was dyed in the black blood of his victim that had just died by his sword.
Peering down at the burnt corpse of the creature with his cyan eyes that killed his friends and all living beings in the world till the two remained.
Looking at his own tanned skin which was heavily scarred after the decades of fighting and surviving in a foreign world, he was more than ready to head home, back to Earth.
Dante, a son born into a multicultural family with middle class wealth, was dragged over into a foreign world one day after work.
On the way home, Dante fell into a portal that brought him over to Agearen, a magical world with nobles, swords, various races, and species that made Earth seem insignificant.
Yet being sent over into a foreign world put him in the precarious position of 'Hero', a being sent by God to save the world from destruction.
While he felt this was absurd, his power levels made it quite obvious that he was far from normal, even with the boosted abilities as a Hero.
Dante didn't know how long he had been stranded in Agearen, however it was definitely beyond a decade in his mind.
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Looking around at the carnage left behind by the duos fight that lasted for who knows how long, Dante realised besides himself there was no one left on the planet as all living beings were dead.
The burnt corpse Dante would stare at every so often happened to be the Demon King of the world.
The Demon Kings plan was to take back the lands that humanity stole in the first war with the original Demon King of the world, yet Dantes arrival changed the Demon Kings plan to eradicate all life.
Unknowingly his creation, a virus designed to destroy humanity, also plagued the Demons of the world and other races, with only the Hero being the sole person who could survive the effect of the virus.
Now that everyone had died and he was the sole remaining survivor on the planet, Dante wished to leave the world he never felt apart of.
He tried to create relationships across Agearen during his time travelling yet his role as Hero made it hard to find any real connections.
Even the party that worked with him throughout his time fighting against the Demons and training, knew very little about him or where he came from.
They only cared about making the Hero stronger and capable of fighting the Demon King and the demon race.
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Closing his eyes and falling onto his back due to exhaustion, Dante felt his body lighten as his mind began to soothe itself till his mind blanked out.
Only after an unaccounted amount of time had passed, did Dante finally sense something different in the space around him which awoke his mind.
All around Dante was endless darkness with not even a single light or star in the distance, which worried Dante as his mind started to believe he was in hell or some version of it.
"Hehehehe… this isn't the place you mortals wish to describe as 'hell' yet its close enough for some…" said a mysterious voice in Dantes mind.
Trying to move around to see where the voice was coming from, Dante noticed he didn't have a physical body and only his mind had appeared in the darkness, which allowed the mysterious voice to speak with him.
Before Dante could ask the mysterious voice, what was going on, the voice spoke up again, however It provided many answers for the curious and worried Dante.
"Calm yourself child, I am the darkness that surrounds you so don't be alarmed.
I have brought you here from Agearen, after your body was destroyed from the damaged it had sustained from battle.
Before your soul perished into the unknown void, I brought it here into my sanctum and let you rebuild yourself by taking in the surrounding energy in the darkness."
"… A normal person would wonder if your God or something greater, however all I want to know is if I can go home to my family…"
The divine being looked over at the small ball of pure white light with a golden tint that sparkled in the endless darkness that surrounded it.
For some unknown reason, It felt as if the small ball of light that presented Dante was stronger than certain divine beings who living throughout the endless divine realm.
It was as if Dante had been blessed by a lesser divine being who changed the foundation of his soul to include a spark of divinity.
Unable to further scan or investigate Dantes soul because of certain laws and restrictions placed on divine beings by greater entities, it left him alone and decided to answer his questions.
"You may return to your world; however, it won't be the same world you left…"
"Explain…"
"*Sigh* Time has continued on in the world, advancing it decades ahead since you were randomly taken from the planet.
If you were to head back now, none of the people you call family or friends would be remaining in that world…"
The news was quite a shock for Dante whose entire mindset was based around the fact he could return home after defeating the Demon King in the other world, yet even if he retuned now, there would be no one there to greet him.
For a while, Dante refused to speak out of shock, with his mind close to broken by the news.
The divine being could understand a small part of Dantes pain since It typically felt heartbroken with every Champion that would die.
Seeing that the light of the small ball was beginning to dim, the divine being injected Its own energy into the ball, hoping to save Dante from dying out and withering away into nothing.
"Listen to me!
There is still hope for you to return home, even more so to the exact point in time you were taken from your original world."
"… How…?" Dantes faint voice could just be heard by the divine being, even after distributing a large amount of energy into the small ball of pure light.
"Become my Champion…"
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..
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"Hmm… he wasn't lying… for now at least…"
Dante found himself back on Earth, on the same route he would take after finishing work for the night.
On his way home the day he disappeared, Dante remembered somewhat that there was construction happening on the sidewalk, which had the small hole leading to Agearen.
Having appeared on Earth, just after the construction site, Dante continued to head home after finishing his shift at a supermarket chain which had stores across the country.
However, he wasn't concerned about his job, rather Dante was ready to quit his job after agreeing with the divine being to help him solve some problems.
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֍ Moments earlier ֍
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"Wait… you're refusing to become my Champion?
Even after I just saved you from extinction…"
"Well, you just said to become your Champion without saying any terms or conditions.
I've already been conned once by that damn haughty Goddess of Agearen when she made me into the damn Hero to save her fucking world!
Either give me a reason to help you, otherwise… eat my dick, scarface…"
The divine being didn't know what to say but one thing was for certain…
"… You aren't like any Champion I've ever had before, hahaha…" laughed the divine being, while remembering all of the people that swore to serve it diligently previously.
Understanding the Hero wouldn't easily become its Champion, It started explaining the problems and issues it was facing.
"The 'haughty' Goddess you speak of, had taken you to save the world from destruction, yet the truth is those worlds are difficult to save, especially after it has seen several Heroes try and die saving the world.
Unfortunately, Agearen wasn't possible to be saved by the time you arrived, with the Goddess only employing you to save the planet from imploding."
As the divine being continued with its explanation, it noticed the small ball of light was teetering between life and death.
Realising it was wasting precious time, it quickened up the explanation, hoping it would be enough to lock in the Hero.
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"The difference between the Goddess and I, is the sheer number of planets in my control.
Most likely the Goddess served another divine being, which probably meant it didn't care so much about the outcome of the planet or its inhabitants.
However, what I will say is each world is extremely important to a divine being.
They generate faith and strength for divine beings, but it can also be a vital space for them to find servants, prophets, apostles and so on, with each serving their purpose to the divine being they serve."
"Why… am… I… here…?" Dante struggled to get the words across to the endless darkness, not knowing where to face or which direction he should be speaking towards.
"I want you to serve me as my Champion and fix the worlds that have been practically lost to destruction and corruption."
"I refuse…" Dante decided to die and accepted his end, which rapidly shrunk the light of the small ball, frightening the divine being to the point it had to send a large portion of energy into the ball to save Dante.
"Just wait!
Can't you fucking listen!"
"Nope, already done enough of that shit with the other Goddess bitch.
Goodbye."
Dante light rapidly extinguished itself, with it slowing down once it reached the size of a hair's width.
Again, the divine being had to send a large portion of its own power to sustain Dante from dying out.
Annoyed that the divine being wouldn't let him rest in peace, Dante decided to ask him why he was so hell bent on saving him.
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"… Before you end up dying from a lack of energy from feeding me to stay alive… why don't you explain to me the reason I should be your Champion?
I've been a Hero already, and to be fair… that shit is fucking horrendous…"
"Argh… fine…
I thought you mortals were typically the same, however you particularly seem to be vastly different than the others."
"My mother raised me to not be a little bitch." The divine being didn't know how to respond and could only imagine what kind frightening women had raised the defiant Dante.
"Touché…
Currently I have many worlds in my control…" the divine being tried to make itself sound powerful and imposing yet Dante couldn't care for any of that and interrupted the nonsensical speech before it started.
"Don't go on a ramble, just be straight forward…"
"*Cough*Cough* right… so I have around 10 worlds currently within my possession.
However only a few of them have any surviving mortals on them." the divine being explained each of the worlds had gone through many Champions whose job was to advance the worlds, technologically, culturally, and more.
The problem it faced though was the Champions preferred to abuse their power and gifts after they made some simple improvements to the worlds they were sent to.
In some cases, the Champions would overthrow the reigning Empires and Kingdoms, making themselves overlords of the world, only cowering when the real trouble came to their doorstep.
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"So… from what I've gathered, these worlds are absolutely destroyed and any chance of me going over to fix them won't work with the distrust built now around Champions."
"Then what do you propose…"
"Let them fester as they are… while it might not be what you wish to hear, I very much doubt I can help in any to change the publics opinion." Dantes words put a damper on the divine being's mood, as it tried to figure out what to do next.
"Before you fall into despair, where I won't be able to help you in any manner… what crap were you going to give me to help with your problems…" not wanting the God to disappear and leave him in the unknown without any power to do anything.
"Very well…"
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..
…
*Ding*
[(?¿?) has been activated within individual recognised as Dante Thragen and bound to the soul]
[(?¿?) Sparks have been found by the System Operation…]
[Host appears to be unbounded to any Divine Entities…]
[Would Host like to ignite the (?¿?) Sparks?]
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Dante accepted the Systems advice and decided to activate the unknown Sparks, because he believed it would either lead to him escaping the space or probably kill him.
His over eagerness was a step ahead of the divine being who was startled by the options the System gave Dante, as well as the troubles that were about to come its way.
Before It could interrupt the System operations, the Sparks connected to Dante soul ignited sending the endless darkness into disarray for an unknown amount of time.
During the time the endless darkness broke apart and transformed into something unknown and incomprehensible to Dantes mind, somewhere far away in the Divine Realm, a particular being was looking over in Dantes direction, overjoyed its friend had taken its advice.
"Mmm… maybe you might find peace and knowledge that far supersedes what we have within the realm.
Hopefully the Hero doesn't waste the opportunity his been given…"
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…
After a large portion of time passed by, Dante felt the space that was once endless darkness was filled out with various sorts of planets and worlds, all deeply connected with his soul.
His form had even changed, as a humanoid figure was floating through the darkness instead of his previous appearance as a small ball of light.
Dante was about to call out for the diving being, yet Its voice came screaming into his mind rather than from the surrounding darkness.
'WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!!!'
"Huh…?
What are you on about?" Dante found it weird that he was able to move around through the darkness which now appeared full of various planets.
Curious about the changes both to himself and the surrounding space, Dante tried to search for his own answers, yet he was going nowhere, plus the constant screaming in his head was turning into a distraction.
'WHY DID I EVER LISTEN TO HER AND FIND MYSELF A FUCKING HERO!'
"Calm your horses… and explain to me what happened…" Dante made sure to listen to the voice while he played around with the System Interface.
To his surprise, when Dante accepted igniting the unknown Sparks connected to his soul, it gave him authoritative control over the endless darkness which was the divine beings personal sanctum of space that included the worlds in its control.
As the divine being complained about the loss of control and power over the endless darkness which had transferred over to Dante, the person in question was running his eyes over the series of System Notifications.
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*Ding*
[(?¿?) Sparks have ignited and activated!]
[Civilisation Pioneer System has activated and adapted the (?¿?) Sparks into the System Operations]
[Due to (?¿?) Sparks being adapted by the Civilisation Pioneer System; a power imbalance has been created!]
[(?¿?) has updated into the Basic Arithmetic Function and been adapted into the System Operations]
[Excess Power Imbalance has been absorbed by the Basic Arithmetic Function!]
[(@$%&#) Sanctum has bound itself to Hosts soul]
[(@$%&#) Divine Entity has been absorbed and connected with the System Operations]
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..
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Dante wondered about the various options that were available for him in the System Interface, yet he wasn't sure on what to do first.
Not before long the usual voice came screaming into his head asking for answers.
'Where are your eyes looking out towards?' asked the divine entity whose connection with Dante and the System gave it a weird outlook on the surrounding space that it struggled to understand.
"Hmm… you can't see what is in front of my eyes?"
'No…'
"Well, you're not missing out on much…" taking the time to explain what appeared before his eyes, Dante and the divine being talked about the System Interface.
The divine being had no real idea what the Pioneer Civilisation System was, but after spending some time discussing with Dante, the two realised its options weren't functional just yet.
Though they had some idea about what it could offer the Host, neither could access the functions as of yet.
Instead, the Basic Arithmetic Function had one button flashing incessantly.
What appeared to be the Division sign from mathematics, Dante pressed the button, not knowing what might happen, yet in the next moment he watched all of the worlds in the endless darkness start to merge together.
They smashed into one another continuously until one planet was left remaining before Dante which appeared to be greater in size than he expected.
It seemed to him all of the planets merged together and created a massive single planet, which wasn't exactly enticing for Dante, especially when 9 worlds disappeared, with whatever life remained on those planets.
Aware of what just happened, the divine being was about to curse at Sahkel for destroying Its creations, yet when the information of the new planet reached it through the System Operations, the divine being was gobsmacked by the power emanating from the planet.
Terrified by Dantes actions, the divine being started to replay the series of events taken by Dante which led to the creation of such a behemoth planet.
Before it found any answers to its own investigations, Dante interrupted Its train of thought with his own questions.
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"What the hell is this world…?" Dante decided to move closer over to the planet, yet he seemed to be pushed back by an invisible force.
'How the hell am I supposed to know?
You're the one that pressed the button!
Why not ask the Arcanic Record for answers…' the grumpy divine being wanted to be free from the Records control more than anything, as he felt deeply embarrassed to be bound to such a network.
"Huh? The Arcanic Record?" Dante wondered what that was, but the divine being's explanation told him it was another name for 'Systems' that divine entities knew it by.
'Arcanic Records contain an assortment of operational Systems which offer different abilities and functions to the User.
The Pioneer Civilisation System that is bound to you can be considered part of the Arcanic Records, however I've never heard anyone mention your Systems existence.' Listening to the divine being, Dante got a better sense of the greater powers at play in the universe.
Exhausted at this point, he was about to ask how to return him back to Earth, but Dante instead asked for a name.
"Hey… what's your name?"
'Ahh… didn't I say it earlier?'
"Nope…"
'Ahh… well…' Dante felt the divine being was dodging the question, but he couldn't care less as he set a name for the divine being instead.
"Screw it, I'm going to call you Astakron…" Dante didn't think much of it by naming the divine being, yet the System Operation saw it in a different light and started churning its wheels.
That was also when Dante noticed the new notifications from the System, including the information regarding the gigantic planet that was created.
But before he knew it, the newly named Astakron somehow forcibly moved Dante out of the darkness and returned him to the specific time he was taken from his world.
