Chapter 10: The System

Consciousness returned slowly.

Sigurd became aware of warmth first, followed by the softness beneath his back and the faint scent of medicinal herbs hanging in the air. His eyelids felt unusually heavy, but when he forced them open, he immediately recognized the carved wooden ceiling above him.

He was no longer inside the Martial Soul Hall. Somehow, he had been returned to his bedroom, with no memory of leaving the Martial Soul Hall. The last thing he remembered clearly was that colossal eye staring through him, followed by the System identifying the creature imprisoned within that impossible sphere.

Star Devouring Leviathan.

Even remembering the name caused something deep inside his chest to stir.

Sigurd remained motionless beneath the blankets and carefully examined himself. No pain. His breathing was stable, his limbs responded normally, and the pressure from the awakening was gone.

Outside the closed doors, however, he could hear hurried footsteps and several muted voices. Whatever had happened after he lost consciousness had clearly caused problems.

He pushed himself upright, and a familiar electronic chime sounded directly inside his head.

[Primary Condition Fulfilled: Martial Soul Awakened.]

Sigurd froze.

The translucent blue screen appeared before him without being summoned. Unlike the sparse interface he had been staring at for the previous two years, the panel was brighter now, its edges traced by thin silver lines while streams of unreadable symbols moved beneath the surface like machinery finally receiving power.

[Host has completed the prerequisite for full synchronization.]

[Complete System Functions Unlocked.]

Since the System had activated at three, he had tested it relentlessly through commands, training, meditation, and countless experiments.

Nothing had worked. The Status Panel appeared when called, but every meaningful section remained dormant, as though he had been handed a weapon without ammunition.

"So you were waiting for the Martial Soul," Sigurd murmured.

[Correct.]

His eyes narrowed immediately.

That was new.

Sigurd leaned back against the headboard. "Explain your primary function."

The answer appeared without delay. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

[The System exists to assist the Host’s growth.]

[Functions include Status Analysis, Attribute Development, Mission Generation, Martial Foundation Analysis, Skill Recognition, Inventory, and Reward Distribution.]

Sigurd read every line twice. There was no declaration about destiny and no explanation for why the System had chosen him. That absence bothered him. Llewellyn had learned never to trust resources whose source he couldn’t trace.

"Who created you?"

[Information Unavailable.]

"Why was I selected?"

[Information Unavailable.]

"Can you control my body?"

[No.]

"Can you alter my thoughts?"

[No.]

"Can you kill me?"

[The System possesses no function designed to directly terminate the Host.]

Not exactly no, Sigurd noted. He filed the wording away for later and continued. "Can anyone else perceive the interface?"

[No.]

"Good."

He had enough unknown variables already. He didn’t need an elder discovering abilities House Zierghardt itself might not understand.

Sigurd shifted his attention toward the row of newly illuminated symbols along the bottom of the interface. Status. Missions. Inventory. Skills. Records. Several additional sections remained greyed out, their names hidden behind question marks.

He selected Status. The interface expanded immediately.

-----

[ STATUS PANEL ]

Name: Sigurd Di Zierghardt

Age: 5

Species:[ Human (Zierghardt Lineage) ]

Title: [ None [

Bloodline: [ Zierghardt Bloodline ]

Bloodline State: [ Dormant ]

Ancestral Chains: [ 0/100 Broken ]

Martial Soul: [ Star Devouring Leviathan ]

Martial Soul Grade: [ Error — Unquantifiable |

Authorities: Devouring / Gravity / Light / Stellar ]

Martial Rank: [ Null ]

Vis Cores: [ 0 ]

[ ATTRIBUTE STATS ]

Strength: 1

Stamina: 2

Agility: 1

Vitality: 2

Perception: 5

Available Stat Points: 0

[ SKILLS ]

Active Skills:

• None

Passive Skills:

• None

[ ACTIVE MISSIONS ]

Main Mission:

• None

Side Mission:

• None

-------

Sigurd’s gaze stopped at Martial Soul Grade.

"Explain Error."

[The Star Devouring Leviathan exceeds the System’s currently available evaluation parameters.]

Currently available. That wording was interesting.

"So you may eventually be capable of evaluating it?" Sigurd asked with narrowed eyes.

[Possible.]

Sigurd looked toward the four Authorities next. He already understood the words individually, but their presence together beneath a single Martial Soul was another matter.

"Explain Authorities."

[Authorities represent fundamental aspects governed by a Martial Soul. Possession of an Authority does not grant immediate mastery. Abilities derived from each Authority must be awakened, developed, learned, or evolved by the Host.]

That answer pleased him. Potential was useful; power he hadn’t earned was difficult to understand and therefore difficult to trust.

His attention moved upward as he asked. "Zierghardt Bloodline. Why dormant?"

[The Host possesses the hereditary bloodline of House Zierghardt. Its deeper functions have not yet been activated.]

"And the chains?" Llewellyn quickly asked.

[Ancestral Chains represent Bloodline Progression.]

[Current Broken Chains: 0/100.]

[Further information requires first Bloodline Awakening.]

So the Martial Soul wasn’t his only progression path. Sigurd knew Zierghardt possessed hereditary abilities, but the private archives concealed their mechanics. Apparently, the System wouldn’t give him those answers freely either.

He selected Attribute Development and a second window appeared.

[Attributes may be increased through natural physical development, cultivation, training, special resources, achievements, or Stat Points.]

[ Stat Points may be obtained through qualifying Missions and System Rewards.]

Sigurd’s eyes sharpened. There it was. The System measured something stricter than ordinary development. Now he finally possessed another method of growth.

"Can Stat Points ignore physical limitations?"

[Warning: Excessive Attribute enhancement beyond the Host’s physical foundation may cause imbalance.]

At least the System wasn’t completely stupid about physical development.

He opened Missions next. The previously empty page flickered, then divided into three categories: Main, Side, and Hidden. Main Missions followed major progression milestones, Side Missions emerged from relevant opportunities, while Hidden Missions required undisclosed conditions and could produce uncommon rewards.

"Are missions mandatory?"

[No.]

"Penalty for refusal?"

[None unless explicitly stated before acceptance.]

"Can rewards include skills, resources, weapons, and stat points?"

[Yes.]

The System answered in its cold mechanical tone.

Sigurd leaned back slightly. The Leviathan was potential. The System was infrastructure. One gave him an abnormal destination; the other offered additional routes for reaching it.

He opened Inventory.

A dark grid of one hundred empty slots appeared.

[Inventory stores nonliving objects acquired or registered by the System.]

"Maximum weight?" Sigurd thought for a moment and then asked again.

[Determined by Inventory Level.]

Useful. Extremely useful.

Skills would recognize qualifying abilities and record their development. Records maintained information the System personally analyzed, including creatures, materials, techniques, and phenomena. It wasn’t omniscient. That limitation genuinely reassured him.

Then another chime sounded.

[Initial synchronization complete.]

[New Main Mission generated.]

Sigurd’s eyes shifted toward the notification.

[ MAIN MISSION: The First Step]

[ Mission Description: You have awakened a Martial Soul, but potential without a foundation is meaningless. ]

[ Objective: Form your First Vis Core | Enter the Awakened Martial Rank. ]

[ Reward: 5 Stat Points | Beginner System Reward Chest | Full Martial Soul Analysis | Unlock: Growth Functions. ]

[ Failure Penalty: None ]

[ Time Limit: None ]

Sigurd read the mission once, then again more slowly.

Five Stat Points alone represented more numerical growth than his entire current Strength attribute several times over, and the remaining rewards were deliberately vague.

Full Martial Soul Analysis interested him most.

The System had just admitted it couldn’t quantify the Leviathan’s grade, yet apparently there was still information it could uncover once he possessed the foundation necessary to withstand it.

Just then a quiet knock sounded from the bedroom doors which snapped him out of his deep thoughts.

"Sigurd?" Sylvia’s anxious voice came from outside. "Baby, are you awake?"

His expression changed almost imperceptibly.

The System vanished at a thought.

"Yes, Mother."

The doors flew open immediately.

Sylvia crossed the room with enough speed to make Llewellyn suspect she had been waiting directly outside. She reached the bed, grabbed his face between both hands, inspected him from every angle, then pulled him against her chest before he could protest.

"Do you have any idea how frightened I was?" she demanded, squeezing him tightly. "You collapsed inside the Hall! The elders brought you out unconscious, the sky turned black, everyone was shouting, and you have been asleep for six hours!"

Six hours.

Sigurd quietly absorbed the information while enduring the embrace. Beyond Sylvia’s shoulder, Aunt Mira stood near the doorway with visible relief on her usually composed face, while several physicians waited behind her.

"Mother," Sigurd eventually said, his voice muffled against her shoulder. "I cannot breathe."

Sylvia released him instantly. "Sorry."

She then kissed his forehead.

Sigurd sighed. Some threats remained beyond the System’s ability to solve.

But as Sylvia began calling the physicians forward, Sigurd’s attention returned to the invisible interface waiting behind his thoughts. For five years, he had survived using nothing except the experience carried from his previous life.

Now he possessed a Martial Soul the System itself couldn’t measure, a dormant bloodline containing one hundred mysterious chains, and an interface capable of rewarding his progress.

The awakening hadn’t merely given him power.

It had finally given him a path.