Another Way

"WHAT!?" John couldn't believe his ears.

Jamie burst into laughter. "Sorry, wanted to see your reaction to that!" The Head clutched his ribs, as he choked his words out in between his laughs. "It was the best way to confirm whether you're a Sider or not, kiddo. If you didn't have that much of a reaction, you would have been lying. I'm not a Sider, but my name and age are real though."

John became a bit sceptical at this point. He watched Jamie calm down and continue with his explanation.

"Let me start from the beginning." The Head took a deep breath before settling into his throne. "The first Sider in the immortals' sect became the Sect Head more than 300,000 years ago and relocated the sect to this planet. This was long before the Sider who gave technology to the mortals. He renamed the sect 'Rogue' because of some kind of 'sport' he was a fan of back in his home world. To this day, we don't really know what he was talking about, but his decision has been held in place."

"Sport… Wait, a game? A video game?" John blurted out, knowing in the back of his head that he was mostly talking to himself at this point. "It must be Ass***in's Cr**d Rogue... "

"Ah, it must be a popular sport known throughout the ages in your world." Jamie nodded sagely, not so much surprised as he was pleased.

John bit back a chuckle.

"If it's named Rogue, does that mean you guys are assassins then?" It was mostly a joke, but John couldn't help but ask. In all seriousness, he wondered if killing an immortal would add to the Life Pool. Killing a mortal creature didn't seem to work, so maybe this was the alternative.

Jamie smiled. "We are."

John would have fallen out of his chair if he'd been sitting.

"Really?!"

"Underground, there is a mission hub and special portals that transfer you to different planets. Most of these planets have immortals too and can communicate with other worlds as we can. Some planets have immortals but don't have access to different worlds for one reason or another. There are even some planets with no immortals, yet they can communicate with us.

"There are trillions of planets out there, and one way or another, we have access to most of them. Most will take months or possibly even years of travelling, but the connection still does exist. When we receive a mission, we send in people to investigate, and we determine the rank of the mission depending on numerous things. We rank them one to ten, with ten being the highest. We don't let anyone go on a mission without being at least beginning Life stage, and even then only Rank One missions. Oh, and we only kill those who deserve it. That's another reason why we investigate first. The first Rogue's Sect Head made sure that he set that rule up.

"Payment is usually in Life Stones or objects that can generate Life Power. The Rogue Sect is the top-rated assassin sect in the known universe, but we don't have a lot of people. Our team is made up of only elites, and most of the time they're out doing missions. We teach assassin techniques mainly, but not only that. Escape, movement, self-defence and torture techniques are available in the library too.

"Everyone has free access to these in the library, but in return, you have to make an oath of blood never to reveal anything you've learnt in the library to anyone else, including other people in the Rogue Sect. Never tell anyone the location of the Rogue Sect and never betray the Rogue Sect.

"If you feel like this sect doesn't suit you, you're welcome to leave as long as that oath stays in place. It is completely impossible to remove and stop the oath from killing you if you break it.

"In this universe, there are countless people who prey on the weak, who profit off wars and think they're above any laws… To be optimistic, at least that means we'll never run out of jobs. Even if our team were to expand by the hundreds, it still won't be enough to complete all missions."

John took in all the information with patience. If he could get Life Pool units from killing immortals, then joining this sect could be his best course of action. For a while, anyway. He waited as Jamie took a long drink from his glass and placed it back onto the table.

"I've got the best beginner's technique here to help get you started with absorbing Life Power." Jamie reached into a bag that hung from his chair and pulled out a book. "Buckle down and give it a read. For now, I'll get a Grand Elder to sort out a living quarter for you."

With a nod, John received the book from Jamie. Without further ado, he sat down on the grass and started reading.

The book detailed a breathing exercise that was special for absorbing Life Power. When properly used, it could draw power from any source that had Life Power. As John flipped through the last few pages, he heard a familiar sound.

''Ding!'

Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system's skills. We have increased the level.'

'So after the update, I can help increase the level rather than steal time?'

John opened the system.

'Welcome to the Idle System 2.0

Name: John

Age: 21

Idlers: 0/135

Life Pool: 1

Options:

Continue - On

Filter - On

Dismantler - On

Life Vision - Off

Taste - On

Immortality List:

Absorption Speed - Idlers 0/135, Beginner - 1/3, Advanced - 0/3, Peak - 0/3

Purifier - Idlers 135/135, Impurities - 0/3, Compact - 0/3, Speed - 0/3, Time - 22d 20h 18m 41s

Misc List:

Maximum Idlers - Idlers 0/135, +1 Max Idlers - 134/2159

Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/135, +1 Idler Workers - 36/2061'

'Wow, so it did increase my level. If that's the case, I need to go to the library and test my luck.'

John looked up at Jamie, who was sitting back in his throne. "Master, while I wait for my living quarters to be assigned, I wish to go to the library and gain some knowledge. Could you tell me which way it is?"

"Eager, aren't you?" The Head smiled. "Fine, but first you need to complete the blood oath. Once you go to the bottom of the corridor, turn right. It's the building next door. A Grand Elder is in charge of protecting it. Tell him I sent you."

"Thank you," John said. He then approached the throne and Jamie helped him complete the blood oath.

Once the oath was sorted out, he stood up and did a martial arts salute. Soon, he was on his way. After another journey down the decorated halls, John reached the library. He told the Grand Elder about Sect Head sending him here and was allowed in.

First, he wanted to look at purifying techniques. It was his priority to reach the pure white stage since, apparently, that was the greatest Life Power there was. He walked around and found six books of purifying techniques. He sat down to read the first one and found the system didn't react at all. The second book, nothing. Third, fourth, and fifth, nothing. Then, he read the sixth book.

''Ding!'

Congratulations on discovering a skill to help the system's skills. We have increased the level.'

'Purifier - Idlers 135/135, Impurities - 1/3, Compact - 0/3, Speed - 0/3, Time - 22d 18h 54m 35s'

'Wait, it didn't increase the time for the next level? Damn, this is brilliant! But, wait, why did it not level up on the first five books?'

John re-read them again. He could tell that the first five books were third-rate, but the sixth book was top class. That's when it hit John.

"Master gave me the best beginner's absorbing technique, and it worked. This is the best beginner's purifying technique that they have too, and that's the only connection I can see. If that's the case, I need to find the best advanced and then the best of the best techniques to level them up again."

For the next few hours, John scoured the whole library, hunting for different techniques no matter what grade, hoping to get lucky.

"Hello."

John jumped at the voice. Turning to see where it came from, he saw the speaker was a middle-aged man with red hair and a black beard.

"Hello." Holding back a yell, John greeted the man in return. "Ah, who are you?" He wanted to scold him for startling him, but his Emotional Resistance skill kicked in.

"I am Grand Elder Robert," the redhead spoke with an even, calm tone. "Sect Head has asked me to acquire a living quarter for you. I'll get my disciple to show you the way. Of course, I haven't told him who you are because it's Sect Head's orders."

"Ah, forgive my rudeness, then. Thank you for helping me, Grand Elder." John got to his feet and did a martial arts salute.

Robert just pointed at the exit. John nodded and went outside, where he saw a man who looked around the same age as him. He was wearing the same black and silver robes that the sect had given John, and he was also a redhead with a black beard, like Grand Elder Robert. He had blue eyes, a fleshy nose, and his hair and beard covered quite a bit of his face. John noted the similarity between this man and the Grand Elder.

John smiled. "Hello, are you Grand Elder Robert's disciple? My name is John, and thank you for showing me the way."

The man just nodded, turned around, and walked away. John followed.