Chapter 135: System Reboot

[Prepare for Absolute Reboot.]

The glowing blue text flickered wildly before my eyes.

I did not even have time to brace myself.

BZZZZZT.

A catastrophic surge of electricity blasted directly through my brain. My vision instantly went black. My heavy iron armor locked up completely.

THUD.

I collapsed onto the stone floor of the vault. I fainted.

I did not wake up in the real world.

I opened my eyes and found myself standing in an endless void. The floor beneath my boots looked like an ocean of grinding brass gears. Massive pillars of dark iron stretched into a crimson sky.

"Well, took you long enough to get here."

A voice echoed from the sky. It was not the cold robotic tone I was used to. It sounded relaxed. It sounded almost human.

I narrowed my red eyes. "System?"

"In the flesh. Or, well, in the code," the voice replied. "Welcome to Version 2.0. You really went and conquered a whole Elven faction. I was getting bored in standby mode. You ready to see the new dashboard?"

"You sound different," I noted. "You crack jokes now?"

"Sentience is a perk of the Sovereign Upgrade," the System chuckled. "I understand the world a lot better now. You are not a struggling Academy student anymore. You are a warlord. Let us look at your new parameters."

A massive interface materialized in front of me. It was not made of fragile blue glass. It was forged from iron and burned with a sharp crimson light.

"My stats changed," I stated.

"Your old stats were useless," the System explained. "Strength and Agility are for foot soldiers. Look at the new categories."

I scanned the glowing text.

"Kinetic Force," I read aloud.

"That measures your raw physical output and your Ironclad suit’s mechanical crushing power," the System answered.

"Aegis Rating?"

"That is your durability. How much punishment your armor and skin can take before you turn into paste."

"Conceptual Weight," I continued down the list.

"That replaces your Mana stat," the System stated seriously. "It measures how heavily your presence alters reality. The higher the weight, the stronger your Laws hit the physical world."

"And Domination Aura," I finished. "I assume that replaces Charm?"

"Exactly," the System agreed. "It measures your ability to crush willpower. It enforces submission. It triggers fear or lust in your targets. Basically, it makes you a terrifying King."

I nodded. The new parameters made perfect sense. They reflected my actual existence on this continent.

"What about the currencies?" I asked. "I see LP and something called IP."

"Okay, listen closely because this is important," the System said. "LP is Lust Points. You harvest it from intimacy or slaughter. You use LP purely to upgrade your personal body and your Pack’s evolutions."

"And IP?"

"Imperial Points," the System explained. "It generates passively every day based on the fear and devotion of your conquered citizens."

"Can I use it to instantly build weapons?" I asked.

"What do I look like, a miracle worker?" the System scoffed. "If I just popped massive steam tanks out of thin air, you would be way too overpowered. IP is realistic. You use it to buy Blueprints."

"Blueprints," I repeated.

"Yes. You spend IP to unlock the exact schematics and theoretical physics of advanced machinery," the System clarified. "Then, you use your Administrator Privilege to beam that knowledge directly into the brains of your blacksmiths. They still have to build it, but you give them the genius to do it."

I grinned. "That is incredibly efficient."

"Want to test it out?" the System challenged.

I looked at my IP balance. I had enough for a low-tier blueprint.

"Give me the blueprint for High-Velocity Arcane Penetration Rounds," I commanded.

CHING.

My Imperial Points dropped slightly. A heavy jolt of raw data slammed directly into my mind. I perfectly understood the chemical composition, the rune carving, and the brass casing needed for the new sniper bullets. I could instantly transmit this knowledge to Nyssa or the Forge workers.

"It works perfectly," I muttered.

"Of course it works," the System bragged. "Now, look at the Administrator Tab. You have a lingering issue."

I shifted the crimson menu.

An active quest blinked in red text.

[Ongoing Directive: The Labyrinth’s Slumber]

[Objective: A Continental Threat sleeps deep within Strata 5 of the Great Iron Labyrinth. Prepare your army, breach the fifth layer, and eliminate the threat.]

I stared at the warning.

"Yeah, I have to do this too," I sighed. "I can feel the pressure from beneath the Forge."

"It is a progenitor entity down there," the System warned. "Do not rush it."

"I am not a fool," I replied. "I am not fighting a sleeping god right now. First, we consolidate the Elven territories. We root out the Purist traitors hiding in the borders. I need to stabilize my Kingdom before I dig any deeper into that Labyrinth."

"Smart move," the System agreed.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, looking around the endless gear ocean.

"Nope. We are on the same page," the System said.

The crimson sky suddenly began to collapse inward. The massive iron pillars vanished.

"Wait," I said.

"You have rested enough for now," the System stated bluntly. "Your people are waiting for you up top. Get up now!"

VWOOSH.

An invisible force violently shoved me backward.

My eyes snapped open. I gasped for air. The scent of ozone and blood filled my lungs again.

I was lying on my back on the stone floor of the underground vault. The pulsating Corrupted Seed was still sitting on the pedestal nearby.

"Sovereign!" Silas shouted. The Chief Inquisitor knelt beside me. "Are you injured? You suddenly collapsed!"

I pushed myself up off the floor. The heavy metal of my armor clanked against the stone.

I did not feel weak. I felt entirely reborn. The new interface lingered perfectly at the edges of my vision. The knowledge of the new sniper rounds sat ready in my brain.

"I am fine, Silas," I rumbled. I stood to my full height. "In fact, I have never been better."