[STT] Chapter 71: Questions (Patreon)

Ben just stared at the man, not sure what to make of this situation. Piercing eyes stared down at him, eyes that seemed to look through him. It made him shiver.

What the hell?

The man had pretty casual clothing but seemed to emanate an air of confidence and superiority without even trying.

It was as if his mere existence was above him, and it just screamed danger. When the man didn't say anything more, Ben finally spoke up.

"I... what?" His head was spinning for some reason, making him gulp nervously. "What's happening? Are you... the guardian? Who—no, what are you?"

This is way too strange.

[Focus] clamped down on his mind, startling him into realizing something was deeply wrong about this situation.

Just what was going on?

The man tilted his head. "Who I am is irrelevant. You could say I am your Guide."

Despite knowing deep inside him that if this man decided to attack him he'd be dead and couldn't do anything, Ben prepared a [Mana Cannon] just in case. He couldn't help himself. The situation was just too damn weird.

"You're my guide... for what?"

The man hummed as he began circling Ben, his boots clicking against the invisible floor. His face became contemplative, the air around him shifting.

"I am afraid I am not permitted to provide more information than that," he replied.

"Then why are you here?" Ben asked. "You said you were assigned to me... by the system, so you must be allowed to say something, right?"

"Technically, I should not be here."

The man didn't even break his stride as he said this. He just kept circling Ben with a thoughtful look on his face.

"But, you see, I'm very interested."

Then, looking closely at Ben, glasses appeared on his nose, those old-timey circular ones. The bespectacled man furred his brows.

"Very, very interested."

Ben frowned.

"You said you should not be here? What do you mean."

Ben knew he was being obtuse, but he just had no idea what to say or do, he'd been caught so off guard by this.

"Aha," the man said, ignoring Ben's questions as he relaxed his eyebrows. "You're one of those."

The man disappeared from Ben's side and was suddenly back in his chair. He crossed his legs as if he was right at home.

"You are a unique one, Benjamin. And a rather confusing one, too. Tell me, do you have any idea why that is?"

"...No," Ben replied.

"Hm, not surprising. And as for answering your many questions, I simply cannot."

"Why?" Ben asked, frowning.

The man propped his cheek on a hand. "Do I have to spell it out for you, little one. I am here on a whim, as I was not expecting such a young and strange Candidate. I would like to continue this conversation, but I am afraid that if I do, I may give you too much information. The others will not like that." The man smiled. "Ah, there I go saying things I shouldn't again. How troublesome."

Ben could only stare, dumbfounded. "What others? Are there more like you?"

The man's smile deepened. "Who knows? It's a big universe out there. You would know that better than anyone else, wouldn't you, Benjamin?"

Ben was startled when he heard that.

What does he mean by that?

"You—"

Interrupting Ben, The man tilted his head. "Well, it seems my cover is blown." He then stood up, stretching. "The rules of the system are quite strict regarding interference with early Tier Candidates. But since I have broken the rules to warn you," he met Ben's eyes, "I might as well do what I am here to do. It is a suggestion, really, but I think you should listen."

Ben was confused, but he'd started piecing some things together. With his [Mana Cannon] ready, he kept his mouth shut, waiting for whatever this man was about to say.

"As your Guide, my job is to ensure you keep on the right path, as well as be your—uh, what do they say again... A middleman, yes, a middleman. So, I have decided to nudge you in the right direction. You see, Benjamin, the guardian, and the rift in general, I suppose, have gone way out of expected parameters. Since it's a Tier 1 rift, one of the rudimentary systems handles it, and it has deemed this rift to be... unsalvageable."

He paused, letting Ben digest everything, and Ben needed time to digest. One of the rudimentary systems?

There's more than one system?

A middleman? Between whom or what?

What does he mean by the right path?

And why would he—or the system—care?

Ben had a lot more questions than answers, so when the bespectacled man opened his mouth to speak again, Ben listened closely.

"The system will collapse the rift soon, so you must get out. Good thing you're already on your way. Unfortunately, the guardian you are trying to reach is far too strong due to all these interferences, so my advice to you is: survive." He tilted his head, his piercing eyes looking down at him. "You can do that, right?"

Ben just stared at him blankly.

...Survive?

Ben suddenly had a very bad premonition about all of this.

"Just survive, it shall be over soon. You're one of the lucky ones, after all." The man stepped toward Ben, whipping his hand up.

Startled, Ben slammed the [Mana Cannon] into the man's face.

It impacted with a blinding flash of light that sent a wave of heat against Ben's face. And when the light faded, the man was looking straight at him with a smile, unscathed, as a small hexagonal barrier made of blue light seemed to have blocked the attack.

"Do not be so afraid, Benjamin," he said, raising his hand to show a small fly between his fingers. "I was merely getting rid of a bug. It is not nice to be attacked so suddenly, though I must applaud your bravery."

The fly was squished to a pulp. He flicked it away. But Ben was more focused on the barrier, eyes glued to take in everything that he could, as the man had telegraphed it pretty heavily, so much so that Ben had been able to see it form.

With [Mana Sonar] helping along [Focus], Ben could dissect far more than he should be able to, and that was exactly what the man wanted if the widening smile on his face was of any indication.

"Well, that is all I had to say, I suppose," he patted Ben's shoulder. "Though I must say, it's been a real treat, meeting you. I have high expectations for you." He began to fade away. "I'll be seeing you, then."

Ben gaped at the man as he disappeared, and then the chair vanished, followed by the entire world around him. The weightlessness returned, and then he felt like he was falling once again.

But there was only one thing on his mind.

That chair was made of mana?!

Why else would it disappear as it did! More importantly, Ben recognized it at the end there for what it was, a construct made of mana so condensed that it was physical. The construct was basically pure magic!

How had it not collapsed?

It had been incredibly strong, too. The barrier, too!

He had so many questions, but he didn't think they were going to be answered anytime soon. If the man was right, he would be seeing him again.

The thought scared Ben. He had no idea what the hell had just happened, but it had been far beyond his understanding, and he didn't like it one bit.

He was curious what the man meant, though. He'd implied several things throughout their conversation.

Well, if you can call that a conversation.

Ben had felt pretty ambushed. He couldn't even react or form proper questions with the guy!

But the most interesting thing had been what he'd said about him being a Candidate. And how the system had been a rudimentary one?

No, not the system. This rift's system. So this isn't the high-level system? That's... interesting.

It made sense, though. It frequently needed "higher authority" and it just seemed more... basic, given how easily it had been to temper with its supposed parameters.

Still, Ben had many questions after their conversation. Like, what did he mean when he said Ben was unique and strange? And why did he mention it was a big universe out there, and that Ben would know better? Ben knew what he'd implied... But he didn't like what he'd implied.

Not to mention, he'd mentioned others.

Who the hell are they?

The ones that the guide had mentioned who wouldn't like him interacting with Ben.

Most importantly, Ben wondered what the real reason for the man's visit was, as he doubted the man came all the way to warn him about the guardian… So he definitely had to have said something more subtle. Ben wracked his brain in hopes of figuring it out.

He was so lost in his thoughts he barely felt the ground beneath his feet when he landed, but the moment he felt it, [Focus] dumped a whole lot of adrenaline into him, so much so that it felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

A [Mana Cannon] was already flying out of his staff before he even realized something big was coming at him.

Next Chapter

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AN: Hey everyone! So, confession time. I haven't posted for a while, as you may have noticed, and the reason is not writer's block or some dramatic IRL thing. I got completely consumed by gaming. Like, "go to sleep it's 4am" consumed.

I'm deeply ashamed (I'm not.)

I really should've just posted a quick "taking a short break since RS is over" note instead of vanishing on you all, so sorry about that. That's on me. I am pretty spontaneous about my breaks so they're rarely pre-planned, but the least I could do is announce when it does happen, but since it happens pretty spontaneously, it becomes one of those "I got a text two days ago, let's procrastinate replying, and now it's been so long that replying feels weirder than just not replying" situations.

Good news is I've crawled back out of gaming's clutches, and we're getting close to the end of Book 1, so things are about to get fun. Regular updates are back starting today. Thanks for sticking around and being patient with me!