The Divine System

*Keiren Kendrall's Soulspace*

Keiren found himself in a strange place, after repeating the threat his System gave to Galatris.

He stood before a huge Golden Palace. The Palace seemed to shine from the inside in a strange orange purple hue. The Gates of the Palace opened and Ken saw a Spirit sitting there cross-legged right behind the entrance. The ethereal being was formed from the strange orange, purple light and its appearance mirrored his own.

"Where am I? Who are you? And what is that?" Keiren asked the spirit pointing at the Golden Palace. His voice seemed to originate from his surroundings instead of his body, which confused him even more.

"We are where we are. I am who I am. And this is what it is." The Spirit 'answered' in the form of a riddle.

"Well, in that case, I guess you must be the System Spirit and the Golden Palace should be the System itself." Keiren shared his assumptions.

"Correct. Your mind is sharper than one would expect. However, it wouldn't matter even if you were the smartest person to ever live, when your actions make you no better than a random lunatic." The Spirit chided its host.

"That's rich coming from you. I don't deny that I might act reckless sometimes, but ever since I came here, 99% of the time YOU were the one responsible for putting me into situations forcing me to act the way I did! I might have fared far better if you actually gave me the information I needed! In case it hasn't been clear enough, I barely know enough about the world of cultivation, and even that is only if you count the few novels I read back on Earth. I have to depend on the information that I get from you, but when you hand me a nuke in the shape and form of a grenade or vice versa without any explanation, you shouldn't be surprised that I'll use it as the the thing I recognise!!!" Keiren defended himself.

"Hmmm, you're not entirely wrong. Let me reintroduce myself. I'm the Divine System, a Divine Rank Treasure. My purpose is to protect and provide guidance, in this case, to you." The Spirit said.

"If your job is to guide me and give me information, why are you so upset that I am reckless when you fail at doing your own job?" Keiren asked, anger was building up in his chest.

"I don't have emotions, Summoner. I'm also not withholding information from you because I wish to do so. Most of the knowledge I should have access to remains locked until you fulfill the necessary conditions, but let me assure you that I am on your side. I have been with you since the day you were born." The Spirit informed him.

"..." Ken was speechless, true anger boiling in his chest. Was this Spirit even listening to what it just said?

"Summoner, I can sense your emotional turmoil, but you should know that I'm the reason you're in this realm. Without me, you would be dead already." The Spirit added.

"What do you mean?" Keiren's anger was replaced with confusion. This conversation was making less and less sense to him with every word the Spirit said.

"I've helped you summon Galatris, then I used his coordinates to bring you here to Chaosia. The Goddess of Time and Space wanted to send you to the 10000 Disaster Realm for going against her. The name of that realm isn't a joke, and the likelihood of you surviving even the first day was so low that it was next to zero. Even with all the resources in your current possession, it's unlikely for you to last for more than a week. Even one month would be pushing it."

… Was this System for real? Keiren felt exhausted by this conversation.

"Hang on, if you could use Galatris to temper with our destination, does that mean you have the means to do it again? Can you help us return to Earth? Or can we summon Vera to us perhaps?" Keiren's brain was a mess due to the influx of new and horrifying information, but he jumped at the first clear thought that revealed itself.

"Your request is a difficult one, Summoner. There might come a day when I can help you return to Earth if you wish to do so, but it will take a very long time. Bringing your friend over, on the other hand, is a comparatively simpler task. Nevertheless, it's anything but simple, especially right now when the Goddess of Time and Space is wary of interference. I'll inform you once you've reached the necessary strength, when it should be doable." The Spirit answered.

"Alright, I'll depend on you with that." Ken took a deep breath to calm down his raging emotions, and rapid thought streams.

"Are all Systems as sentient as you? Did the others converse with their Systems in the same manner as we're doing right now?" Ken asked, not sure if he was still on track with this conversation.

"I might be powerful, Summoner, but I'm not omniscient. However, I can tell you that the Systems your friends possess aren't ordinary." The System said, but before Keiren could ask anything else he was back outside, confused to hell and back.

'It would be better if I keep this to myself. This is one giant mess. I will update the others after I understand what this conversation was about.'

*The Real World*

15 seconds of silence had passed since Keiren had passed on his System's message to Galatris. All this time no one made a sound, they just looked at each other exchanging meaningful glances. The giant eagle was staring at Ken with wide eyes unable to believe what he had just heard.

"What did you just say?" Galatris asked in a terrified voice as if someone had just informed him that his family had been slaughtered, after they had raped his wife, daughter, and mother while laughing straight in his face with a board grin and a 'funny, isn't it?'.

Ken raised an eyebrow: "Are you sure that you want me to repeat myself?"

"You will under no circumstances EVER leave here before you reach the Mortal King Stage and awaken your Battle Spirit. You can't leave here without any knowledge at all."

# True, Accept the Deal. #

"Galatris, don't worry about us, the Systems will guide us, and they're much more than you could ever imagine. I don't expect you to know what a System is, but you need to understand that you can't compare yourself with them at all. Nevertheless, I agree with you and I promise that we will not leave this place until we are all Mortal King Stage Cultivators."

"I will take my leave for now. I need to think a little bit."

Galatris left the room. Only Keiren, Shyla, David, Richard, Kerum, Suran, and Fermont remained.

"Suran, go and take Fermont to the others in the courtyard. I need to have a word with my friends, and I'll join you in the courtyard once I'm done."

Suran took Fermont and together they left the room.

"This is crazy. I never saw or heard that someone dared to speak to the Great Ancestor in such a way." Fermont commented to Suran. He was completely shocked by the situation that he had just witnessed.

Suran looked at him and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you criticizing the Emperor?" Her tone was cold and void of emotions.

"What? NO! Of course not." Fermont defended himself. "I'm just confused. I haven't had the time to get used to the fact that the Great Ancestor gifted me to the Emperor and THIS happened. You may understand what I am talking about."

"As the Emperor's Knight Commander I dedicated my life to him. I will support him no matter what! If he decides to burn this place down, I will happily ignite the torch for him. I understand that your Great Ancestor is a high-level cultivator at the 9th layer Eternal Immortal Stage, but he is also a servant of the Emperor, same as us, else he would be an enemy.

"…"

Fermont had nothing else to say. He also realized one thing that he had yet to come to terms with, he was now Keiren's property. He and Suran were on the same side, and she was a devout follower of the Emperor, one he should take as his role model.

—

Some time later, Ken showed up at the courtyard where the Knights had been stationed. He walked deep in thoughts, until he remembered something.

'System shouldn't there be a new milestone achievement?'

# There is indeed a new milestone achievement, Summoner. Do you wish to collect your rewards? #

# Milestone archived: Summon, an honorable and heroic soul and convince them to become your Einherjar. Appoint a total of 100 Eternal Einherjar. 100/100 #

# Next step. Appoint a total of 500 Eternal Einherjar. 200/500 #

# Rewards: 1 Supreme Weaponmaster, Inheritance of Elemental Thunderfire, Elemental Tunderfire Essence. #

# Supreme Weaponmaster: Peak Imperial Emperor Combat Genius that failed their Tribulation into the Emperor Realm. #

# Warning: Limited time offer expires in 12 hours, with the death of the potential subordinate. #

# Note: Heaven seems cruel, yet it judges everyone fairly. Cultivation reduced to Mortal King Stage. Intents and other special abilities sealed until successful advancement into the Emperor Realm. #

# Sealed Strength:

Elemental Intents (Fire, Ice)

Weapon Intents (Spear, Helbard, Glaive, Great-Ax)

Supreme Abilities (Body of Harmony, Strength of Harmony) #

# Inheritance of Elemental Thunderfire: You will gain the knowledge of $$@%&^÷^, regarding the elemental Thunderfire after his breakthrough into the Emperor Realm. #

# Attention: Don't consume it rashly #

# Elemental Thunderfire Essence: Emperor Grade material for cultivation and body tempering. #

# Attention: Don't consume it rashly #

'The Inheritance of Elemental Thunderfire. Can it be used multiple times?'

# No, it can not. However, you can exchange it for a jadeslip with the same information. Please pay attention that only cultivators at the Immortal Realm can access it with their Divine Sense. #

'Alright, please exchange it for the jadeslip. I wouldn't be able to profit from it right now anyway. This way I can lend it to Rajansam. He will be able to comprehend what is inside and teach me. Furthermore, the Knights with their Divine Lightning Talent should be able to benefit from his teaching as well, not to mention Galatris.'