24 hours have passed and Argen's new host has finally showed signs of awakening. He blinked his eyes to clarify the blurry scenery. When he discovered he was soaked inside a wooden tub located in a formation fortified cave, naturally, he was shocked.
How in the world did he get his a*s in here? Didn't he dangerously fell down from a massive cliff?
He knew he wasn't imagining things since he was still in his ragged blood-stained clothes, which had dyed the medicinal water red. He lifted his hands and placed it on the wooden tub's mouth to push himself up. A clang was heard on the ground.
He glanced at the area where the sound appeared.
A token?
Meanwhile. Argen was still busy admiring dream land when he was suddenly startled out from his sleep by a voice.
[System no. 901. Introduce yourself to your host as to complete the first task and be rewarded with 3 System Points and receive exp enough to advance from level 0 to 1]
"Urghhh! Five minutes!" He grumbled and went back to sleep.
[...]
Not long after, an hour has passed and every 5 minutes, the SA Informant would always remind Argen to do the task but was repeatedly turned down by saying the same phrase of "Five minutes more". During this time, the host had already received the words spoken from the consciousness imbued in the token and was elated.
Back in the System Association, inside a dim gigantic room, there is a massive circular platform located in the middle. It had a thousand mini planets with different sizes floating and rotating in their own ways. These were the holographic presentations of the planets which their system members were dispatched.
Hovering above those planets was a glowing crystal Rubik's cube.
It was the SA's Informant that was in-charge of managing the members, giving missions, tasks, and punishments.
The walls were showcasing the members doing their jobs through screens, where at the top left corner was the picture of the planet they were in. Currently, the Rubik's cube was fixated upon a particular screen on the wall.
It was without saying, the irregular system, Argen.
He was the only one idling around among the members.
The SA's Informant can feel a massive headache coming its way. It understands that Argen is irregular, but this is just too...too much!
It pondered how to get this system's butt to work. He couldn't get overboard or the upper echelons will punish it harshly.
'Should I implement a time limit? There was never a time limit since when the first task was informed, the systems usually complete it immediately without a second thought. Even the most shy ones do it too since they knew they need to get out of their shell.' It thought.
[System no. 901. Introduce yourse---]
"Huh? So persistent! Would you do me a favor and shut up? FIVE MORE MINUTES!" Argen yawned and irritably went back to his usual position.
Snap!
'WOULD YOU F*KING SLOTH DO YOUR JOB WELL?!' The SA's Informant mentally bellowed. If it wasn't allowed to disrespect systems and curse at them, it would be able to enhance the epitome of swears just to describe this person.
Why wouldn't it snap after repeating and receiving the same words for an hour?
The SA's Informant, although a Rubik's cube, was a half-human and a half-robot. It was created to be half human because the SA wanted it to understand and communicate with the members well and judge situations rationally with both a human and a robotic mind. It can also multi-task and have and think different to each system. So it was understandable for it to feel the basic emotions of humans and get angry.
[If you don't introduce yourself within FIVE MINUTES, oho~ you will be deducted of 3 System Points. Meaning, your 1 point stats each would be a measly 0-0-0-1! Even the bite of an ant would heavily injure you if you materialize yourself]
It's true. When the system is newly transmigrated to his host, he would have the powers of a normal mortal similar with the strength of his age when he died. For Argen, he would be 18 years old. However, the ants in the cultivation world were not your typical ones since one bite to a non-cultivator would sting like a stab from the heart and you would die from the pain. But if you're a cultivator, it would just sting like a normal one would since cultivators have a more durable physical structures than mortals.
Well, all of the cultivation worlds always gives birth to cultivators. Never was a mortal human like in earth, was born. If we're talking about the meaning of 'mortals' in their own words, it would mean about those who haven't achieve the weakest stage of immortal ascension.
A system, when he materializes, cannot die even though his body gets obliterated. He only dies if his host die. That's why the SA's Informant mentioned 'heavily injured' and not death.
"Do it then. I won't materialize myself outside anyway. It's too troublesome" Argen scoffed like a spoiled child.
[Brat.] The SA's informant's invisible mouth slipped
*ding*
[SA's Informant. 1st warning.] The voice from headquarters resounded inside the gigantic room where the Rubik's cube was.
If the Rubik's cube had teeth, it would be grinding them.
[If it reaches ten minutes, you will be subjected to punishment 3 for minor insubordination.] It said to Argen with a muffled voice.
Punishment 3? The infamous mental torture and hypnotism?
Argen's ears perked up and he hastily fixed himself.
"Fine! I'll obey your blackmail!" He said with a frown.
With a snap of his finger, the once plain white mental world was changed to a scenery of inside the cave where his host was located.
Argen had a faint blue outline from his body, indicating he was still in the mental world and not the outside one.
"[Hello host. Congratulations for having been chosen by a System Association member. I am System no.901. You can call me system and I will call you host. My job is to help you and your world reach the pinnacle. These are the commands you can use to me]" Argen dryly introduced himself and imbued the 'command knowledge' to the host's mind before raising his eyebrow to the SA's Informant's panel notification.
"You happy?" Argen said to the panel.
[...] It was silent for a moment before it recovered.
[Congratulations. You have leveled up and the 3 System Points have been delivered. Your next task is to let the host achieve the 5th rank of Earthly Mortal Condensation and receive 3 System points and advance to level 2] It said and the words for the next task remained as a reminder.
Argen gave an indifferent glance at the panel and resumed his gaze at his host.
"WHAT?! WHOA! I can't believe I've received a legendary system!" The host said in disbelief and shed tears of joy while opening his status panel.
Systems, because of their limited numbers, haven't fully quenched the thirst of the millions of magic words in the universe. It was always common knowledge that once a system appears in a planet, that world would immediately leap in tremendous power whether they were once weak or not.
Systems were almost mystical beings and only one system is dispatched and assigned to a planet.
All of the worlds who prioritizes cultivation know of this and have passed down this knowledge for generations to generations until even the current mortal masses have heard of it. So it was expected that Argen's host, despite of his low-birth, knows of it.
"As expected. I'm still an Earthly Martial 2. Too weak compared to my peers which are mostly in Earthly Martial 5. People who are disabled or didn't cultivate since birth would be at least Earthly Martial 4." The host sighed.
'So I have a host with trash potential then? Wonderful! I have a great sh*tty luck!' Argen thought in sarcasm while jeering at himself.
Suddenly, Argen was hit with a question.
"Hey! SA's Informant! If my first cultivation task was to get him to Earthly Martial 5, then, what about the others who got lucky and chosen a host within or above that rank?" He asked.
[Technically, they receive the points passively. They are already in level one when they had arrived before the first task. Luck is also power you know? Those who receive hosts, for example, in Earthly Martial 5, their System Points are already a 6 if you combined those to the introduction task's reward.] It explained and an aura of ridicule emanated from the SA's Informant panel. However, Argen didn't notice this.
"Tch! So unfair. Gotta do more work." Argen clicked his tongue in displeasure.
The Rubik's cube let out a wild laugh inside its room.
It finally had its (somewhat) revenge from Argen's past infuriating actions.
[Go ahead and do your job. Remember, you can give assignments with rewards to your host. Punishment is also included.]
System no. 901 smirked "Can I give him a mission to sleep for 24 hours straight and when he doesn't, I punish him?"
[Shut your trap. You do know every assignment you give needs to be inspected by the SA's Assignment Inspector. You think your idea is eligible?] The Rubik's cube rolled its non-existent eyes.
"Hahaha! I was just teasing with you!"
'Heck, I thought that idea was plausible to give' Argen thought.
[Just give him an assignment within the day or be subjected to Punishment 3] Without blackmailing Argen, he's impossible to move. The Rubik's sighed in its room and refused to utter another word to this irregular System no. 901.
"Let's just get this over with" Argen sighed and though of an assignment. He opened the panel for making assignments.
This panel had a function that gives rewards depending on the difficulty of the assignment and the host's strength.
For example, a person with no hands was given a task to write a paragraph. Naturally, it's difficult to accomplish compared to a person with hands and can write. Therefore, the rewards naturally differ and the lower the level of the host but the higher the difficultly, the bigger the rewards are. There is also the time limit to consider and if the host fail, its either he fails to reap the rewards or get punished.
"Hmm...Let's try making a potion to improve his potential." He said when he remembered a basic formula in SA but overpowered in the cultivation world.
Since Argen already knows his host's level, he typed an assignment that is achievable with his host's strength. It was approved and the SA's Assignment Inspector approved of it since materials was present in Hiarga and the host's strength was sufficient.
[Host. Your first assignment would be to collect the following within 2 months.] Argen said and let a panel appear with the assingnment in front of his host.
[Collect the following within 2 months:
• A drop of blood-essence from the Blazing Bear of Earthly Martial 5
• 3 strands of Misty Moon Grass
• 10 drops of Spirit Water
• 2 petals from a C-rank Earthly flower.
Rewards:
•Whistle Palm Potion 'Firmament Low-ranked Grade'. (See descriptions?)
•Abyssal Punch Technique 'Firmament Low-ranked Grade' (See descriptions?)
Difficulty: Hard
Penalty for failure:
(If you try till the end)- None
(If you give up or don't even try)-Demoted to Earthly Martial 1]
"WHAT? The first mission is this hard?!"
[It is still within your strength, host. It's manageable.] Argen said without his spoken words appearing in a panel like the SA's Informant. If every time he speaks and a panel appeared, wouldn't his host be distracted if ever he was fighting? Therefore, only important information were shown on such and it was only when the host was in a safe spot.
Because Argen was inside his host's mental world, he couldn't see him without piercing through that world or perhaps without Argen materializing himself. To pierce to one's own mental world would need to reach a specific high-cultivation base or some rare cases, people with this kind of natural gift, can only do that. Argen's host was neither, so he could only hear.
"Okay. I shall do it. But system, do you think I should visit the Mystic Water Sect first?"
[That will be your decision. I cannot intervene things such as that or else I'll be no different as a puppeteer] Argen said dismissively.
'If you continue asking me such as these, how in the world would I peacefully sleep and relax?' Argen rolled his eyes.
[System no.901. Remember, you need to guide him in his cultivation. Every time he cultivates, teach him what is the correct and efficient way to do so] The SA's Informant couldn't help but remind
[You are both a teacher and a literal life companion so do your job well as to not disappoint]
"Hmph! He can handle himself! I'm sure he has his own ways!"
[Shut up and say that when you see your host's memories] The Rubik's cube scoffed and another warning for it resounded
[SA's Informant. 2nd warning. 1 more and you will be subjected to SAI punishment 1]
'FFFFFFFUUUUUU....KKKKKKK!'
It really wants to curse Argen so badly right now. It was the first time he had hated a system ever since he took over this spot as Informant and the first time he had ever received a warning. Furthermore, it was 2 in a day, plus, it was because of a newcomer.