Beyond The System
Chapter 180: Mystery of the System

My eyes snapped open. My heart pounded with a sudden, sharp realization. Guilt spread through my chest. Whether I had known it then or not, I couldn’t help but feel it. Pity was stronger, but there was still regret.

Was he still conscious? Even now? Swirling like roots and thought through the living branches in my Inner Realm?

“Kaz…” I murmured, barely audible.

Back in the vision, the name hadn’t meant anything. Just a powerful figure, another distant silhouette crossing impossible distances. The kind of travel that existed in textbook numbers, incomprehensibly large units of measure I’d never truly seen in scale.

But now, my mind restored to itself, I remembered the boy who had fought with me. He had grown into someone so powerful I could hardly imagine it.

He still had those same golden eyes. That jet-black hair. But the arrogance that once sat on his face was gone.

In its place was kindness and humility.

“Did he know?” I whispered, resting my palm gently over my solar plexus.

“Bad dreams?” Griffith asked behind me, stretching his arms like he’d just woken up too.

I pressed my hand tighter to the spot, as if that could settle anything. “Something like that,” I said.

It was already well into the morning, actually, slightly past it. The sun stood high and firm overhead, casting short, sharp shadows that barely stretched beyond the trees.

I glanced at Thea and Elric. They were still in the same unmoving position. The armored green slime creature sat peacefully in Thea’s lap, exactly where it had been before I drifted off.

“Please tell me I wasn’t out for days again,” I muttered, standing and rubbing the back of my neck.

I bent forward, stretching my spine with a satisfying crack.

“Nope,” Griffith said, chuckling. “Just a few hours, but... you look a little off, Peter. What’s wrong?”

I didn’t want to push, but I noticed too, Luna said quietly.

I shook my head. “Just realized I made a mistake a while back. Doesn’t matter now. There’s no undoing it.”

The weight on my mind was real, but so were my words. Even if all I’d done was carry the Voidseed, just one more link in the long chain of hands, nothing could be done. Had I just had the choice, kept it in my hands rather than forced to bear it, I may have never seen the visions in the end. Clueless to the situation.

Thank you, Luna. It’s the Voidseed again. There’s someone inside it, right now, or there was at least. He didn’t die… not fully, I explained privately, not wanting her to worry more than she already did.

I could have told Griffith, but he didn’t press. Instead, he reached into his storage cube, its surface flickering with light. With a soft flash, an object shimmered into being in his hands.

A crisp and perfect sandwich, stacked with thin slices of meat I couldn’t identify and a single, wonderful orange leaf in the middle.

It looked as fresh as the day Velea had eaten one. My mouth watered instantly, the memory of the bite she gave me already playing over my tongue like a melody.

“This’ll make you feel better,” he said, holding it out.

I nodded with fervor, eager. “Yes, sir.”

I took it without hesitation.

Didn’t die? Wyrem stirred in my mind. You mean like me?

The thought stayed with me as I bit in. The crunch of the leaf, the softness of the bread, the bit of sweet, fatty meat, all combined in a way that almost made me forget everything for a moment.

Maybe, I answered. I don’t know exactly, but he was conscious. That much is true. Maybe he still is.

Hmmm…

With my mouth still half-full, I mumbled, “Okay. When we get back, even if it’s not strictly necessary, we need to prioritize getting real food.”

Griffith nodded. “Yeah. But we'll probably have to get used to fish. Unless you’re up for roasting sea-lizards or trying your luck with slime cuisine.”

I winced, remembering the acidic drool of the Goldmanes. “Yeeeah, eating one of those isn’t on my bucket list. And slimes? They digest things inside themselves. I’d rather not tempt fate.”

He smirked. “More than you already do, you mean?”

“Of course,” I said, mouth still full.

I did feel better, though. Food had always been a comfort for me, especially good food. When Elric finally woke up, I was going to remind him of our deal. If he got a meal, then I got my other half.

“Any changes?” I asked, brushing crumbs from my lap.

“None out here,” he said, then paused. “But…”

“But?”

He let out a slow sigh. “I got a mission. While you were asleep. Probably the others did too. But this one has been bothering me.”

I finished stretching and dropped back down into the sand, lazily dragging my fingers through it in idle patterns. “Why? Is it dangerous?”

His brow furrowed, worry etched into the creases. “Yes. But that’s not what bothers me.”

He looked up, serious now. “The mission is simple. Just to touch the Dragon Vein. Progress shows zero out of three. Reward is experience, five stat points, and an unknown bonus.”

I shrugged. “Okay. That is risky, but it lines up with our goals anyway. Sounds like a win to me. Free power. System growth. Plus a mystery reward? What’s the problem?”

Griffith shook his head. “No, Peter. You’re missing it. Missions, system ranks, whatever we want to call them. They always followed a kind of structure. Tied to your blessing. Tied to you. This one feels different.”

“How so?”

He took a deep breath, steadying himself. “It feels like something’s watching us. Think about it. Why weren’t we given this mission back on the first island? Why now? Why did it only activate after you fell asleep, instead of when we first confirmed there were multiple Dragon Veins? And how does it even know there are three? Or at least more than two?”

That gave me pause.

I hadn’t spent much time thinking about the system. I didn’t have one. Why would I? But that was shortsighted. My friends, my mentors—my family. All of them were part of this framework.

Seith had already told me that the Great Ancestor would no longer interfere, and she hadn’t seemed like she was lying. But of course, her goals were impossible for me to tell. I didn't know if she could cross the stars, but either way, I was no one to demand answers from her.

Elric's implications had moved in mind as well. Why was she more concerned about face than her champion.

“So…” I asked, slowly, “do you think something or someone could be controlling your system?”

Griffith exhaled, his shoulders slumping slightly. “I don’t know. It’s helped us so far, so I don’t think it’s malicious. But it’s also giving us information we shouldn’t have. That I shouldn’t have. I can’t just invent knowledge. I didn’t know there were more Dragon Veins. If the mission had been to slay the guardian beast? That would’ve been one thing. But this?…”

He trailed off.

I scrubbed away the lines I’d drawn in the sand, staring up at the sky. “Look. We should be careful. Stay aware. But I still think you should follow through. There was a transformation when you became Unbound, and yeah, we don’t even fully understand if that’s good or bad yet. But right now? Holding back on extra power would probably hurt more than help.”

Griffith nodded. “I agree.”

I stood, brushing sand from my pants. “I’ve been training with the others. Elric helped me work through a few problem areas, so once they’re awake, we should take time to sync up. Work as a team.”

He gave a thoughtful grunt. “We should. You can be the monster.”

I threw my arms up in mock triumph. “Yippe. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Griffith stroked his beard, voice low and decisive. “Then we hunt.”

I made my way down to the water after that, repeating the same training process from before.

Unfortunately, I was starting to realize something. If it didn’t involve discovery, practical training was really not my favorite activity, but still, practice was necessary, and I’d been putting it off for too long.

I started slow. Fumbled a few times before reclaiming the rhythm I’d found earlier.

I focused, increasing the amount of water, ramping up the speed, and narrowed the flow. Finishing by condensing the pipeline to build pressure.

It wasn’t clean. I failed again at first with my changed, but eventually, I succeeded.

Arcs of water spiraled around my body, flowing in smooth, controlled paths. Each stream settled into the sea from my palm like a trailing serpent.

Then for fun—I mean, after what felt like ages of steady practice, I deserved a little creative license. I tried something that may have looked strange, and functionally, useless at best. A full-body coating. A thin, carefully shaped shell of Water Force, manifested and stabilized.

First came the shirt. A shimmering film stretched across my chest, rippling gently as it clung to the fabric beneath it.

I felt eyes on me from the shore, but I ignored them. Griffith was likely just curious, or slightly concerned.

I extended the water downward, wrapping my legs in the same flowing layer. Then upward, over my neck, my ears. Finally, I took a breath and let it close over my face.

Luna shifted on my wrist. Her form trembled, a thin needle extending outward through the watery barrier.

I need air, she said, through our link.

I paused, ankle-deep in the surf. Can you hold your breath?

The needle pulled back in. I have enough air now. Just don’t take too long.

I still wasn’t sure how she breathed, exactly, but if she was fine...

More.

The barrier thickened as I focused. The shell extended outward, fully enclosing me. I stepped back onto the beach, only my bare feet exposed to the air.

MORE.

I stood tall, fully encased. Water skin flowing, shape held with force and concentration.

Griffith had one hand on his temple, shaking his head, but I didn’t care. I had done it. My goal completed, I stood proud.

A human water droplet stood before the world. The first of its kind.

Peter... Luna murmured, unsure.

Wyrem buzzed in my mind. Careful, Luna, do—

This. Is. AMAZING, she declared, cutting him off with giddy excitement.

Maybe inspired, Luna shifted. Her petals curled inward, forming a closed, elegant bud.

Nice job, I said, genuinely impressed.

Thanks!

You two...

“AHH—! Where—!? FINALLY!”

Thea’s voice cut through everything. Loud, startled, and just a little furious.

I turned just in time for the massive sphere of water around me to collapse in a torrential splash.

“Thea?!”

She was fine. More than fine, actually, she was rushing toward me, alive and well, clutching the small, armored green blob in her arms.

She skidded to a stop, holding it out with a dramatic gesture. “One: this thing scared the life out of me, but it’s adorable, so thanks.”

She held up a finger. “Two: The Nexus changed.”