Chapter 1425 - The Hunter, the Swordsman, & the Monk (11) (Patreon)

In all honesty, Jake hadn’t even been certain the Exalted Prima was an actual creature that existed. A part of him had believed it could just be some central intelligence or something akin to that in charge of controlling the many Seats of the Exalted Prima throughout the ninety-third universe.

Now that he stood in front of the being, he still remained unsure. The aura given off by what he believed to be the Exalted Prima felt odd. Was it powerful? Kind of, but it didn’t feel threateningly powerful. In fact, the Abundant Emperor had felt far stronger than the odd being he was staring at.

Still, Jake had to confirm.

“Do I have the pleasure of conversing with the Exalted Prima?”

The creature didn’t answer, though he did continue speaking.

“For this world to exist and offer its opportunities, a certain level of leeway is required. The rules must be loosened. That comes with drawbacks, one of which is stability. The laws of the system are copied here, but weaker. I attempted to hide these flaws, make them unnoticeable, and yet, you noticed.”

Jake was happy and all for the explanation, but he’d rather have his question answered. Something he still had to wait a little for.

“Bloodlines and Transcendents... existences outside the system. By design, by the system. Why, I cannot say, but their existence and their absurdities are allowed. My attempts to safeguard the design of this world hoped to take them into account, but I realize now that was impossible from the start. Their ability to exploit and break laws is part of what makes them what they are. He had already warned me of this when I formed this world, but I didn’t listen. Now, I pay the price.”

“Who is this person you’re talking about?” Jake followed up his question, though he did have some idea who the creature could be referring to, even if he did question how the hell that would be possible.

The creature was silent for a few moments, as if his mind was elsewhere, before he finally answered.

“I am the Exalted Prima. Creator of this world and controller of the World Wonder. A Bound God,” the Exalted Prima said, his form shifting all the time, not even looking humanoid at times, though his voice did remain consistently male throughout, so it seemed like the sex of this creature was at least set. That, or he’d chosen to be male.

“And you, Jake Thayne, have died within my world, destroyed by your power. Yet here you stand.”

For some godforsaken reason, Jake only now realized something pretty important, probably because whatever was playing out felt more important in the grand scheme of things.

“Wait, does that mean I lost the Abundant Palace system event?”

“You were eliminated in third place,” the Exalted Prima confirmed, making Jake stare for a few moments.

What the fuck?

Okay, sure, Jake had maybe fucked up a little by riding the high of being able to detect how weak and malleable the world was, and thus decided to take advantage of it, kind of breaking it in the process... but still! How the hell could he have known that doing so would end up more or less erasing himself from the simulation?

He wasn’t even mad about losing out on Prima Credits, but more the sentiment that he’d lost to both the Sword Saint and the Eastbound Monk. Jake had clearly been in a winning position, and if he hadn’t fucked about but just tried to end them, he could have come out on top. At least he would have had a shot at it, while now, he’d accidentally self-eliminated due to the poor design of the World of the Exalted Prima.

Facing such an injustice, Jake did the only thing one really can do:

Complained to the manager.

“That’s kind of bullshit,” Jake blurted out, not even considering that maybe he shouldn’t offend the literal creator of the simulated world he still found himself within.

“Hence my acknowledgment of fault,” the Exalted Prima answered, surprisingly proving himself very customer-minded. “My inadequate preparations led to this. My safeguards couldn’t stop you, and by the time I realized, it was too late. Thus, you died.”

“But I didn’t really die,” Jake pointed out. “So does that mean I can be sent back?”

“No,” the Exalted Prima shot down that brilliant idea. “This world is of my creation, but it’s still subject to the laws of the system. The event within the Central Domain and Abundant Palace were similarly so. These rules cannot be bent or changed, making return impossible. You died, and must suffer the consequences of death.”

“Wait... does that also mean I’m getting kicked out of the simulation and will get excluded for a while?” Jake asked, now seriously considering leaving a bad review for the World Wonder, as while the manager was apologetic, the service was still unreasonable.

“Yes,” the Exalted Prima simply confirmed.

“But I’m not kicked out yet,” Jake pointed out, narrowing his eyes. “Instead, you led me here. Why?”

There had to be a good reason why the Exalted Prima had Jake come to this place and meet him directly. If the Bound God had wanted to inform Jake that he’d unfortunately gotten eliminated and was shit out of luck, that could have happened through a simple system message or something similar.

Jake also realized that he’d been able to trace the white lines within the nothingness because he was allowed to trace them. If not, they could have led to nowhere, or the Exalted Prima could have just outright kicked Jake from the simulation altogether without any explanation.

“I too am subject to the rules,” the Exalted Prima answered. “Which makes your elimination an issue, because it happened due to my negligence, not through intended outcomes. The laws of the system were violated, and thus, things must be set right.”

Finally, Jake realized why he was there: due to proper consumer protection by the system.

“You’re speaking of compensation?” Jake asked, a bit of hope in his voice.

“Correct,” the Exalted Prima confirmed. “Your elimination in third place stands, and you will be given the designated Prima Credits, but further compensation is required. Unfortunately, there is no procedure for how that is to happen; hence, I summoned you here to reach a solution before you get excluded from the simulation.”

“What kind of compensation or solution are we talking about here? A settlement of Prima Credits?” Jake asked, wondering whether he could ask for Miranda to be present. Was he entitled to a lawyer?

“Prima Credits are part of the ongoing system event,” the Exalted Prima said. “I’m unauthorized to directly interfere in an ongoing event. Giving you Prima Credits would count as interference.”

Jake frowned, uncertain what the Bound God was then hinting at giving. He also realized that despite it being called the World of the Exalted Prima, the god was very much limited in what he could do due to the rules of the system. In some ways, not too differently from Nevermore back in that World Wonder.

Bound gods were the ones in charge of World Wonders, but that didn’t make them supreme rulers over it. They were representatives of the system, often granting them greater power than even the strongest of gods, though that power came with severe limitations. This Exalted Prima was clearly the same.

“So you can’t give me any advantages for the event, at least not directly,” Jake muttered to himself, wondering if he could even ask for anything then. Then again, he wasn’t even sure what the Exalted Prima could give in the first place. There was one thing he wanted, though, which he hoped the Bound God could provide:

Information.

“Can I ask you something? How are you related to the Eastbound Monk?” Jake asked, primarily probing whether the Exalted Prima was willing or able to give away that kind of information.

The Bound God observed Jake for a moment before answering.

“You know already. You’ve seen it.”

“I know that you met him during the Myriad Paths event, but that doesn’t tell me the nature of your relationship,” Jake pointed out. “Nor does it tell me why you met with him in the first place. I sure haven’t heard of anyone else meeting the Bound God of the World Wonder during the event.”

“We met because such were the rules,” the Exalted Prima surprisingly answered. “He achieved the highest evaluation in the event and thus the greatest reward. I granted him what he asked for: guidance.”

“Through the Wheel of Samsara?”

“In part.”

Jake slowly nodded as he asked the obvious follow-up.

“How did you get the Wheel of Samsara... and what do you know of the First Sage?”

This was probably the most important question of all, beyond anything else that was going on in this entire simulated world. The Wheel of Samsara was very much real, and it had some kind of connection to the First Sage, who Jake knew he was still far from comprehending even a fraction of.

“The First Sage...” the Exalted Prima muttered, his aura subtly shifting at the mention of the man. A few seconds passed before the Bound God spoke again, after seemingly thinking things over.

“You know of his existence. A scrubbed memory. Records hidden. I do not need to answer you, but neither am I prohibited from doing so,” the Exalted Prima spoke, his form shifting as it turned a lot more stable, making him look very human as he continued.

“To create a simulated world, one needs a base. A beginning. During the Myriad Paths event, you experienced this. The system allowed entire universes and parallel realities to be simulated for the event. Do you recall what happened in your simulated reality?”

Jake naturally did as he needed and realized what the Bound God was getting at. “My simulated self realized it was in a simulation... are you telling me...?”

“You were not the only one. There was one other being who was aware and knew. In every iteration of reality in which he existed, he knew.”

“The First Sage.”

The Exalted Prima nodded, his form now fully that of a human man. He looked young, though his skin was unnaturally smooth and he had not a single hair on his face. His eyes were also off, looking more like those of a robot.

For several seconds, the chamber was quiet before Jake broke the silence, as it didn't seem like the Bound God was going to:

“What happened then? Was he aware of you as the creator of the simulated world? Did he communicate with you?”

Asking these questions, Jake also couldn’t help but wonder if the First Sage already knew of this simulated reality when Jake met him. He had to, right? Jake wasn’t the smartest cookie in the jar, but even he could guess that the “meet when twin worlds breathe” line was very likely referring to this simulated world, or at least some kind of simulated world.

“We conversed, yes. He sought me out.”

“Does that mean he exists within this simulated world somewhere?” Jake asked with his eyes wide open. Even if this place wasn’t real, the opportunity to encounter the First Sage in person yet again wasn’t something Jake could pass up. The last time he met the man, it had resulted in him getting several skill upgrades and paved the way for him to get his first Sacred rarity skill and discover the Gate of Enlightenment.

“A question with a more complicated answer than I’m capable of providing,” the Exalted Prima shook his head, his body starting to shift a little again, starting to lose its stable humanoid form.

“But he gave you the wheel,” Jake said with a certain level of certainty. “Did he also tell you to give it to the Eastbound Monk?”

“You are not privy to such details as they pertain too directly to another participant in the event,” the Bound God refused to answer, using what was quite frankly a bullshit reason in Jake’s eyes, seeing as he had been totally fine revealing other details earlier.

Unfortunately, Jake doubted he would get anywhere arguing, so he just nodded slowly, still concluding that the First Sage had, at least partly, been behind things. Even if Jake didn’t discover the whole truth now, he knew that he would meet the First Sage again sooner or later, at which point he hoped his Patron’s teacher would spill the beans.

“Would you be able to relay a message to the First Sage if I asked you? Hypothetically speaking,” Jake tried asking next, honestly just trying to find out as much as he could about how this simulated world worked at this point.

“Another question I shall decide not to answer. But do know that he is aware of you, of your existence, of what you might be capable of, and likely also of any questions you might have for him,” the Exalted Prima responded, containing some level of emotion in his voice despite how monotone it usually was.

It was evident that the Exalted Prima respected the First Sage. The sentiment that a Bound God, acting as an agent of the system, would have so profound respect for a person seemed ludicrous, but considering they were talking about the First Sage, Jake wasn’t surprised.

“True enough, it would be foolish to think he didn’t,” Jake sighed. “Which also means I’ll meet him if and when he intends for that to happen or circumstances allow it.”

The Exalted Prima seemed pleased with Jake’s response as he nodded before speaking again.

“I have answered some of your questions, but that is ultimately not why you are here. View it as a small level of recompense, but true compensation still remains, and a settlement should be reached sooner rather than later. Allowing your continued existence within this world despite your death is already bending the rules,” the Bound God said.

“Again, what kind of compensation are we talking about? Since it can’t affect the competition directly, I’m unsure what you are even capable of providing,” Jake asked, having honestly kind of expected that the Exalted Prima would have said that the information he’d just received was compensation enough, but it seemed like it wasn’t.

“I cannot give you something that directly assists you within the World of the Exalted Prima... but I can provide an opportunity, as the monk received. The nature of which you are to decide,” the Exalted Prima said.

Hearing this, Jake was suddenly reminded of the last time he got a reward related to simulated worlds, and what that had led to, making an idea instantly pop up, which he blurted out before even thinking:

“Can you give me something to help with understanding and improving my Eternal Shadow?”

--

A single droplet fell upon the part of the monk’s face that remained whole, making him look up at the clear sky and the many droplets falling.

The sound of rain softly pattering the barren ground soon filled the monk’s ears, as he realized that wherever the droplets fell, life followed, and the soil and rock were slowly filled with budding sprouts and small plants.

Victory had seemed imminent. The hunter was gone for reasons neither the monk nor the swordsman understood, and the swordsman was in a weakened state that seemed irrecoverable in a short time.

Yet as the light-filled mist faded and the swordsman was revealed, he radiated a more powerful aura of life than at any point prior as he slowly stepped forward. His hair billowed in the wind, untouched by the rain, and his young features contrasted massively with the old appearance the man calling himself the Sword Saint had before.

If not for his clothes and weapon, the monk would have been unsure if it was even the same person, especially seeing as he had seemingly been fully healed. At least in body. The transformation was truly extreme, and the Eastbound Monk could only see one explanation.

“Transcendence.”

He thought the swordsman had already used it, and that it had been countered by Pillars of the Palm. Clearly, the monk had misunderstood the nature of the swordsman’s transcendence, and based on his current state, this was its true nature.

Still... it didn’t change anything. Overcoming his surprise, the monk adopted a defensive stance, ready to face the swordsman in his new form.

The Sword Saint was staring towards the sky, looking at the falling rain with fondness as he smiled and looked down at the monk.

“Let us begin.”

In an instant, the swordsman appeared in front of the monk, making him quickly dodge as his body split into three, only for the swordsman to swing in a way that struck all of them at once, making the monk stumble back with a cut across his chest and a look of surprise on his face as his eyes opened in realization.

“Unkillable through Transcendent power,” the swordsman muttered as he smiled. “There truly are no absolutes in this world.”

Retreating, the monk felt the threat of the blade as he instinctively knew that even in his current state, it was capable of ending his life.