Chapter 28: The System and Emily

Manila Bay - Area 52 - NCR - Philippines

The golden air swirled around the space as it condensed into a sphere of golden light. Then, a flash of bright light happened as an entity emerged from the light.

『 Resurrection complete! 』 

"HAH!!! Hah... Haaah... Hah..."

It was Philip who emerged from the light. After he emerged, he began to pant as if he had gone after an intense training. But in truth, he felt that his body and soul is exhausted and in mild pain.

"What happened?!"

Philip cannot processed on what happened. All he could remember was his death when he fell from the sky and into the shore.

He strained his mind and tried to remember something after he died. Then, he remembered something... He remembered the system display when he died!

[You died]

He can't help but curse the system inwardly as he thought that the system was mocking him. Why didn't the system help me that time to avoid death? He asked this question to himself.

But then, he suddenly remembered something that completely went by his head earlier. He saw a scene, a scenario, a premonition!

As the system kept the "[You died]" display on his face, even if he was dead, he could clearly see the display even though he had no consciousness or whatsoever. He didn't know the explanation on this, perhaps the system knew something.

And then, once the "[You died]" display started to fade away, a scene played in his non-existent conciousness.

There was a black silhouette of a person, the person seem to be giant. This inference was because of the fact that the giant silhouette's hand was about to grab another person. This person also can't be clearly seen by Philip as it was a black silhouette, the same as the giant silhouette. The person that was about to be grabbed had a size smaller than the giant person's hand!

Once the giant person has caught the small person, the giant person raised his hand above his head and black light and energy was escaping from the spaces between his fingers. The giant person then grabbed a cylindrical shaped container and placed the small person inside. Then, the small person shouted in pain as black light and energy swirled around his body and tried to break the container.

It was obvious that the small person was captured and contained inside the container because the black light and energy was also being sucked by the container, as if it was extracting the power of the small person contained within.

After the giant person contained the small person in the cylindrical container, he turned his head towards the direction where Philip was supposedly observing. By that time, the premonition abruptly ended.

What's even weirder is that it seemed that Philip had seen the giant silhouette in the premonition somewhere before. After thinking deeply about it, he finally remembered. It was when he was dreaming on the day before he introduced the Philippium element to the whole world, only to wake up in his bed soaked with an ocean of his pee, as he claimed.

He knew that his dream was longer, but it only filled in a small part of it when he saw the giant silhoutte. Then, he had an epiphany.

The very first part of his dream was filled in. It was a battle between him and Trail!

He can't believe that he had already foresaw this event way before it happened. Philip cursed as why he can't even remember it, even the rest of it. Now, he can't be wary as he can't remember the next part after the battle between him and Trail. He can't prepare! What if it's another fight against someone stronger?! Like in shounen plot?

Philip then snapped out from his deep thoughts and looked around.

He knew that he fell in Manila Bay before he died, but what he see in front of him is clearly different.

"Where am I? What is this place?"

He could only see a barren wasteland. There were no plants or trees, even grass, as far as the eye can see. There are even no buildings or structures in the distance. He can't even see the Mall of Asia in the distance, which is the largest mall in the world during this time.

Then, he heard a robotic voice in his head.

[Initiating space transfer...]

[3...2...1...]

"What?!"

Before Philip could act, he disappeared from where he is standing.

A few minutes later, a massive armada of soldiers, vehicles, and aircrafts, with a number totalling 20,000, came into the same area. An important looking person came out of an important looking vehicle along someone who is wearing a straw hat and a metallic collar and a man wearing a business suit with black gloves and shades. He looked liked a super secret agent in that attire, but to everyone's knowledge, they didn't know that the man had a bright red eyes like it's molten metal.

"Is this where the anomaly is detected?" The important looking man asked.

"Yes, we couldn't have been wrong." The agent answered.

"How about you? Do you feel something odd around here?"

The important looking man asked the man with a straw hat. The straw hat man pondered for a while and said,

"No, I don't feel anything."

"But that's impossible!" The agent rebutted.

"Well, this man said so, he has the [Breaker Collar] so he can't lie."

"How about I scout the area in a 5 kilometer radius to search if there is something odd?" The straw hat man suggested to the important looking man.

"Okay, that is fine, please do. Everyone! Retreat back to base!"

The important looking man commanded the whole armada to retreat to base as the straw hat man flew to the sky and began to scout the area.

Unbeknownst to the straw hat man, the agent has glaring at him. The agent's red eyes was pulsating with anger behind his shades.

"Doom! Aren't you coming?"

The important looking person called out to the agent, which had a name of Doom, as he boarded their important looking vehicle. Doom peeled his eyes away from the straw hat man as he disappeared on the horizon and he began to walk towards the vehicle.

"I'm coming, sir."

"Don't be wary of that guy, you know that the collar on his neck prevents them to escape from our grasps and prevents them to betray us."

"It's not that sir, it's just... Nevermind."

"Okay."

They drove back to their base in the once Quezon Memorial Circle before.

~~~

Northern Mountains - China

Philip appeared in the forested peak of a mountain in China.

"Wha! What happened? Where am I?"

As if he was not expecting for an answer even though he asked a question, he heard a feminine voice in his head.

「 Geez, can't you be observant in your surroundings? You could cleary tell that you're in the mountains. And as for the specific answer to your question, you're in the northern mountains of China. 」

"WHAT THE?!"

Philip was genuinely surprised as he fell down on his butt. Who wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly heard a clear voice on their heads?

"Who are you? What are you doing in my head?!"

「 What? You didn't heard my introduction when you were dead? You should have listened more attentively. 」

"W-what? I was dead!! How can I even see or hear anything while I'm dead?!"

Philip can't believe what he is hearing right now. The feminine voice sounded childish and she seemed to be an airhead and lacked common sense.

「 Oh yeah, that's right! Teehee! 」

"Don't teehee me!"

「 Fine, the let's begin our introduction once again! My name is Emily! I got my name from deep within your memory! I was awoken from my deep slumber when the 「 Omega System 」leveled up! 」

"What? So, you're like a guide of the system? Like Alexa from Google?"

「 Yeah yeah, that's right whatever. Now, may I know your name, user? 」

"Philip. Wait, if you're the guide of the system, can't you look at my status and know my name?!"

「 Oh yeah! I didn't think of that! Teehee! 」

Philip's face distorted as he heard the 'Teehee' once again and he held his fist up while clenching it. Then he thought of something...

'Why am I easily angered? If I'm my usual self, I would smile and laugh by this Emily's antics.'

「 It's because of your ability of 『 9 Gates of Wrath 』. 」

"So you can also read my thoughts huh?"

「 Of course! The system is a part of you, therefore, I am also a part of you. In conclusion, I can also read your thoughts. 」

"That's fair. So, what about the 『 9 Gates of Wrath 』??"

「 Well, upon the continuous use and repeated use of the gates, your humanity and life force decreases. The higher the gate, the higher the decrease. Shouldn't you know this based on its description when you used 「 Scan 」 on it? 」

"So that's it huh? What happens if I unlocked and constantly used the higher level of gates?"

「 You'll become ruthless and you won't care about anything anymore and you will suffer and fall in the 9th gate. 」

"What's gate 9?"

「 You need to unlock it first, Philip. I can't just tell you what gate 9 is! 」

"That's fair, but how do you know about it if I haven't unlocked it?"

「 I don't. 」

"You!!"

「 Teehee! 」

"Haaa..." Philip sighed.

"Emily, please show my status."

「 Coming right up! 」

[Loading status...]

"What? What is that robotic voice? I though you're the only one in my mind, Emily?"

「 Oh, that's the voice of the system itself. He is the one responsible for trivial aspects of the system and I am the one responsible for the complex aspects like explaining things to you. 」

"Oh! That's awesome, so I just have to ask you about something without using 「 Scan 」 to view the description of a person or object?"

「 That's correct, just say the word and I may describe the person or object to you in a simple way. 」

"What do you mean, may?"

「 There are some powerful people and unknown objects out there, the system might not be able to fully analyze those. I'm pretty sure you have encountered those in your previous life? 」

"I see, you're right."

Philip remembered the time where the system didn't display any information about Kurt excet for his name and an ability of Ysabelle that made the display of the system glitch out.

「 But! You could always use 「 Scan 」 again whenever you want and the system itself will display the information. 」

"I see, thanks for informing me."

「 You're welcome! 」

By this time, Philip's status showed up.

[Status loaded!]

====================================

「 Name: Philip Ibasco 」

「 Race: Big Family 」

「 Alias: Road Big 」

「 Power: Alpha and Omega 」

「 HP: 1,000 」

『 IS: 3 』 

[Abilities]

『 Omega System v2.0 』

『 Sword Concept 』

「 Sword Concept: Swordless Technique: Omega Sword: 0th Form: Imagine Death 」

「 Personal Sword Techniques 」

「 Slice: Falling Leaf 」

「 Personal Sword Arts 」

「 Sword Concept Manifest 」

「 Swordless Technique 」

「 Swordless Technique: Combo Breaker 」

「 Swordless Technique: Ascending Stab 」

『 Scan 』

「 Description 」

「 Property 」

『 Hotbar 』

『『 Resurrection 』』(Passive)

『『 Plunder 』』(Passive)

『 Regenerative Ivory Armor 』

「 Regenerative Ivory Control 」

「 Shapeshift 」

『 Overload 』

『 Omega Laser 』

「 Omega Laser: World 」

『 Enlarge 』

『 Contract 』

『 Omega Sword 』

『 Omega Punch』

「 Omega+ Punch 」

『 Combine 』

「 Merge 」

『 Pillar Wings 』

『 Combo Strike 』 

[Weapon Skills]

『 Shi-Kama Tamashī-Kiru 』

「 Death Scoop 」

「 Death Stab」

「 Death's Stare 」

「 Cremate 」

「 Decompose 」

『 Chrono Brachile 』

「 Rewind 」

「 Back 」

「 Predict 」

「 Next 」

「 Decay 」

[Skills]

「 Flight 」

「 Martial Arts (Advanced) 」

「 Punching (Expert) 」

「 Kicking (Expert) 」

「 Ki Control (Expert) 」

「 Ki Blast (Advanced) 」

「 Calm Mind (Master) 」

「 Magic (Starter) 」

「 Scythe Arts (Expert) 」

[Unknown]

『 Unknown 』

[Gates]

『 9 Gates of Wrath (4/9) 』

「 Gate 1: Irritation 」

「 Gate 2: Annoyance 」

「 Gate 3: Anger 」

「 Gate 4: Rage 」

『 9 Gates of Serenity (1/9) 』

「 Gate 1: Delight 」

[Variables]

「 Time 」

「 Bullet Time (Passive) 」

「 Space 」

「 Life 」

「 Death 」

「 Energy 」

「 Matter 」

「 Dimension 」

「 Reality 」

[Shards of the Five]

「 Shard of Imagination (Level 1) 」

「 Shard of Consciousness (Level 0) 」

[Items]

「 Shi-Kama Tamashī-Kiru (Death's Scythe) 」

「 Chrono Brachile (Time Bands) 」

「 Philippium Crystal 」

「 Ylium Quartz 」

「 Agium Blade 」

「 Willium Block 」

「 Kurtnium Needle 」

「 Death's Eye 」

[Truths]

『 ⟨The Threat⟩ 』

『 ⟨Origin⟩ 70% 』

『 Balls of Power unlocked: (9/9,999) 』

====================================

Philip had a lot to take in, especially since the design of the system had changed. It made him feel happy as the orientation of the information was clean and firm. Then, he began asking Emily about the things that he didn't know about.

"Emily, why is my race called Big Family and my alias is Road Big??? Am I not a human, an Earthling?"

「 I'm sorry, I can't answer that. 」

"And why not?"

「 Too little information. But that's your origin. 」• 

"I guess that ties to the truth ⟨Origin⟩? And if I complete it to 100%, I will know the truth??"

「 Yes, that seems so. 」

"I see..."

Philip then pondered for a moment as he was having an existential crisis. But a few moments later, he disregarded his thoughts and went for the next question.

"Alpha? As far as I remembered, I only have the power of Omega, didn't I?"

「 Yes, you only had the power of Omega, but you obtained the power of Alpha when you defeated Trail and plundered his power. 」

"Plunder?! How did I got plunder??"

「 You really didn't saw the summary of statistics, huh. Anyways, you received Plunder when you died, along with Resurrection. 」

"Oh!! I guess that was the two unknown abilities that I had that was displayed with three question marks. The condition for unlocking those us death?"

「 Yups! 」

"I guess I should be thankful that I really didn't die. Anyways, back to the topic, what are the difference between Alpha and Omega??"

「 Their differences is that Alpha is a gentle power that you can infuse on abilities and items, Omega on the other hand, is a destructive power that you can infuse on abilities and items. 」

"Which is superior?"

「 Of course it's Omega! No question about that! 」

"Are you biased just because you are the Omega system?"

「 Of course not! This is common knowledge! Alpha is the original and first power while Omega is the final power! Omega can defeat Alpha no sweat! 」

"I-I see..."

Philip can't follow Emily's reasoning as it seemed like deep within her voice, there was something that she is pulling from.

「 By the way, Resurrection is a passive ability that lets you reborn stronger than before on death. The amount of power you'll receive depends on the length of your survivability and manually obtained powers. Plunder is also a passive ability that lets you steal an ability from a being that you have killed. The plundered ability will be given on death. 」

"I-I see..."

Philip can't believe what he heard and he repeated what he said earlier. Those two passive abilities was overpowered in and off of itself. Does that mean he is immortal?

"Does that mean, I am immortal?"

「 Yes and no. 」

"Huh?"

「 Yes, because you can practically resurrect when you die. Even if you immediately die after you reborn, you'll resurrect without change in you power. No, because Resurrection is deeply rooted to something, and if the connection has been cut, you won't be able to resurrect. Also, there are beings out there that can interfere with the concept of resurrection, so make sure don't tell anyone about that ability. 」

「 ^3^ 」

"What is that something?"

「 I don't know, I can't tell... 」

Then, for some reason, Philip and Emily veered away from the topic of the root of resurrection.

"What is IS?"

「 Imagination strength! Instead of using MP for your abilities, you just need Imagination Strength for you abilities to manifest. The higher you IS is, the more powerful abilities you can use. 」

"Does that also tie with the 「 Shard of Imagination 」?"

「 Yes, the higher the level of the Shard of Imagination, the higher your IS will go. 」

"Why is the 「 Shard of Conciousness 」 level is 0?"

「 You need to master the shard first by manifesting it and conquer it. Just like what you did to the 「 Shard of Imagination 」. 」

"I see."

Philip then stood up and looked at the sky. He pondered for a while as to what he would do right now. He thought of his companions, the omega ones, Eduardo and Ysabelle. He wanted to find them and tell them that he's not dead.

"I wonder what they are doing right now."

But then, Philip noticed something at the corner of his eye. There was a giant structure in a distance that had a purple hue on its surface.

"The Breaker Essence!"

He flew up to the sky to take closer look at the giant structure. If anyone saw Philip's appearance right now, anyone will be at awe, others may be terrified.

Ever since Philip plundered the power of Alpha, his body significantly changed. The signature ivory spikes on his forearm and legs were more detailed and sharper. His skin of ivory had a metallic sheen and the spikes around his body has formed beautifully.

The ivory spikes of hair on his head reformed into a more diverged pattern. The ivory spiked hair on his head looked like an ivory crown. There was also a soft membrane that looked like fabric is hanging behind his ears before his nape. The pupil of his right eye had the Omega symbol on it while on his left eye had the Alpha symbol on it. The Alpha symbol looked like a "V" that had two horizontal lines on its two ends and it's rotated upside down.

The 「 Pillar Wings 」had also became slimmer and thinner. It looked like a thin longsword. His chest that displayed the Omega symbol also had the Alpha symbol that was plastered on top of it, giving the symbol its own name as the Alpha and Omega symbol.

As Philip flew up, he could see the Breaker Essence reaching way higher into the atmosphere.

"WHOA!!!"

Philip exclaimed in surprise as he saw the moon flew pass by the sky and it spun rapidly. He then saw several other Breaker Essences in the horizon that also reached higher into the atmosphere and had a purple hue on them.

"What's happening?!"

He waited on Emily if she had an answer but she never spoke. He decided to fly towards the nearest Breaker Essence, the one that he first saw.

"I must get to the bottom of this! The Breaker Essence shouldn't be here on Earth!"