I Hate Systems

The Relic was acting smug. It was what Aronaut sensed from it. Whether it was the emotion or the fact that he was able to sense the same, both were strange.

"Eh?" He was stunned for a moment, noticing the Relic following him calmly as he walked, hovering before him as the distance was maintained consistently.

He waved his hand, watching it move accordingly before crawling back to its position. Aronaut thought for a moment before he wished to become a Lizardmen Harpooner once again, noticing the Relic hum in response as it swerved into his body, causing him to become a Lizardmen Master Harpooner.

'How am I able to do it now?' Aronaut felt puzzle as he sat down first and closed his eyes, focusing on his body as he was able to sense the mana from his surroundings, observing how they interacted with him.

There wasn't any danger as he had expected. The mana treated him the same as how it would any Lizardmen.

'Hmm, maybe it might work.' He thought, sensing the Relic in him pulsating with a gentle mana fluctuation. And through his experience, he observed the mana, understanding that there was the effect of a Core Skill involved.

'Turn me into a Demon.' He thought after making some considerations, watching his body heat up a little as his appearance changed, now becoming a Demon.

He switched over to be a human after that, using the Cartographer profession to glean further into the details, understanding that the Relic was actually under his control, having been bonded to his…soul?

It was pretty unique in that he hadn't ever heard about Relics being able to do this. But here it was, a reality.

Moreover, as he focused on the Relic, information gradually streamed into his mind, allowing him to gain knowledge regarding a certain Core Skill he possessed before.

Though, the moment he lost focus, all the information flowed back into the Relic itself, causing his memory slate regarding it to become blank.

Aronaut experimented with it, gradually understanding why this was happening. Usually, the moment someone came across any knowledge regarding a System, a fragment of that System would form in their mind and would grow gradually over time.

Over time, as they come to know more, they would have nurtured a big enough fragment in their mind which would take over their body. Following that, it would connect to the Astral Network and would be swallowed by the respective System.

The System would grow rapidly as a result.

The best way to avoid this situation was to ensure the information regarding Systems never appeared in a person's mind. That was why, once he lost focus, information regarding the Core Skill was retracted by the Relic.

After the initial confusion, Aronaut understood the specifics regarding usage of this Relic.

Unlike the other Relics that amplified one's power, this Relic had its own power. And, after use, it would reclaim everything that it had give out.

But, the best way to use it would be to improve one's accessibility in using it. Such as…after a moment of thought, Aronaut focused on the Relic, drawing out information regarding a variety of his Core Skills, retaining them all for a minute before they were retracted by the Relic.

For that minute, he remembered and was actually able to use them all. But once the information was retracted by the Relic, he forgot their existence. But, what he was training was to access the knowledge base of the Relic in real-time.

In the fraction of a second, how much of the Relic's knowledge and power can he draw out. That was the most important factor he had to consider when using it.

With a thought, the Relic exited his body and transformed into a flying sword that he rode, making a circle around the island.

He then stopped before the lizard that had been observing his actions all along, "You try to draw out power from the Relic."

He was wondering if the lizard too was able to do this. After all, all the System Slayers had transformed into Lizardmen Master Harpooners during the crisis. This meant that they too could harness the Relic's power.

"I'll try." The lizard followed his instructions before soon, it transformed into a human, exclaiming in surprise, "I'm able to feel my original power…"

It hadn't even finished speaking when it reverted back to its lizard form.

"So, the moment you lose focus, the power is reclaimed." Aronaut said, noticing that all the System Slayers were able to harness the Relic's strength.

Though, there was an obvious difference as the rate at which they could harness its power varied. Weak System Slayers were barely able to harness the power of a Core Skill after a minute of focus.

But Aronaut was able to harness the entirety of his original power in a matter of seconds. And as he trained, it only continued to become faster.

Moreover, he understood that he would be able to harness the power of other System Slayers too that were now in the Relic. He only had to train and increase his rate and volume of access.

"How…will our growth be from now on?" Faluda frowned, "I'm able to sense the powers of all of us in the Relic. And it seems that only we whose Personal Fragments have been used up by the Relic can harness its power. But, there's a limit to it, right?"

"It's especially since I can sense that my power is the same as before. It hasn't been strengthened or anything. It's just stored in the Relic now." He spoke.

In response to his question, the Relic flew before Faluda's face, dancing in the wind as it transformed into a set of scale armour that superimposed on his body, making him don the armour. And simultaneously, the same armour appeared on the bodies of everyone.

"I see," Aronaut nodded in excitement, "It seems everyone can harness the same power simultaneously."

"This means that…" He grinned while making eye contact with the various creatures before him, "If you all improve your accessing capability, you'll be able to use my Level 99 Core Skills. Imagine a scene where more than ninety of us activate the same Core Skill? Even Slayer would be destroyed by that."