I Hate Systems

"Sheeet…" Aronaut woke up once again, feeling like shit as he shuddered from cold, the first time in ages since he felt this.

He noticed that he resembled a monster now, his original form, a weak species from his home world, weaker than a human child.

He had never wished to revert to this form ever again, for there were no good memories associated with it.

But unfortunately, it still ended up happening as he felt saddened. "Shit!"

The rest of the System Slayers too had reverted to their original forms, appearing damn weak as they had lost all the reinforcement from the System Fragments that they used to reinforce their bodies.

"Haah!" Aronaut didn't have the energy to complain anymore, aware that he had escaped death, which was the only option left when facing Slayer.

"But, if I had known I would end up like this, then maybe death was better…" He muttered, noticing that he was slowly reverting to his original character, a selfish, short-sighted fool that knew nothing better.

But aware of it, he controlled himself, logically bashing the stupid thoughts that formed in his mind. Of course, he had been operating as a System Slayer for thousands of years now. The plethora of experience he had was more than enough to keep his original shit of a character in check.

"But, what's up with you?" Aronaut stared at the Relic humming before him as usual.

He tried controlling it but failed to even move it, confused as he stared at the sky, "Leave it. I'll figure it out later."

He then approached a giant lizard, kicking it awake, "Get up!"

"A-Aronaut?" The lizard muttered, surprised as it spoke, "I thought you hated this form?"

"Look at yourself. You'll understand." Aronaut said, noticing the Lizard losing its cool as it was in a state of fluster, sensing that not only had it lost all its Skills and System Fragments but even its Personal Fragment.

It was no longer a System Slayer.

"But wait…" It suddenly expressed its shock, "How are we alive in this world then?"

"What?" Only then did Aronaut too realise this issue.

Even though he wasn't able to sense Mana now, having been in this world long enough, he understood that there was ambient Mana everywhere in this world, including the air they breathed.

And something others didn't know of was the fact that, unlike other worlds, this Fantasy World had developed to a terrifying extent that the various professions ruled the world. And, they had already assimilated the powers of Systems and System Slayers into themselves.

Due to this, they were capable of preventing Systems from controlling the world. Even Grade 3 Systems weren't able to affect the status quo.

Thankfully, the Astral Network had been laid down long before this world reached such a startling level. And that was why the Systems were able to enter and leave this world.

Moreover, the professions too were aware of the fact that they could grow further by using the Systems. And for the Systems, the quality of Mental Energy they could harness from the Fantasy World was the best.

Hence, both powers didn't interfere with one another.

But, beings from other worlds couldn't ever set foot in the Fantasy World. If they did, the mana itself would destroy them, for it had that nature to it.

Only System Slayers can go against this. But even they were considered as parts of the Main Character System, and hence not taken care of by the Fantasy World.

"But, now that we lost all our powers…" The lizard muttered, not finishing its sentence as Aronaut understood.

'How are we alive then?' Aronaut wondered before gazing at the Relic in his hand, wondering if that was the cause.

Boom!

Suddenly, a harpoon flew out of the ocean water and rushed at him, hitting a shield that had appeared to protect him, resulting in a loud clang.

"What the…?" Aronaut turned around in surprise, noticing that the Relic had transformed into a shield to defend against the attack.

As for the harpoon, it dissipated soon after as a group of Lizardmen walked out of the water, glaring at the prey they chanced upon.

"Exotic prey! Catch them all!" The Lizardmen at the front said, exuding an aura on the level of a Master. The remaining Lizardmen were only Experts as they rushed at the System Slayers, brandishing spears.

Lizardmen had two main professions of Harpooner and Spearmen and the sub professions of Pugilist and Transformation Specialist.

Among them, Pugilists were the most dangerous while Harpooners formed the brunt of their force.

There wasn't much of a difference between a Harpooner and a Spearmen other than to chuck out harpoons at the foes.

The Expert Spearmen rushed at the group of System Slayers that had just begun to wake up, startling them. They weren't even able to digest the fact of losing all their powers when the Lizardmen rushed at them.

B-Boom!

Suddenly, a shield appeared before them all, defending against the attack. The shield was shaped like a leaf as it gently danced in the wind, moving autonomously to defend against all attacks launched at them.

"What…is happening?" Faluda had just woken up, witnessing such a strange event. As he was originally from this world, he still maintained his strength as a Pseudo-Saint. But, he too was being defended by this mysterious leafy shield that seemed like it wasn't even putting in much effort to block the attacks.

Gong!

Aronaut saw the Relic hum in response before him as it seeped into his body, transforming him into a Lizardmen suddenly, shocking him.

Moreover, his power strangely climbed up to the level of a Master Harpooner as Aronaut wasn't able to keep track of the changes.

He clenched his hand, noticing a harpoon manifesting there naturally, as if he had been a Harpooner of the Lizardmen race for all his life. He then aimed at his enemy and threw the harpoon, watching it impale the opponent.

"This doesn't…make any sense…" He muttered, watching the rest of the System Slayers, including Faluda, transform into Lizardmen Master Harpooners, impaling their enemies within a matter of seconds, killing them.

Once the deal was done, Aronaut noticed that he reverted to his original appearance, watching the Relic exit his body and let out a sonorous hum. For some reason, Aronaut was able to sense that the Relic was…

Feeling smug!