(Noah's Pov)
"That is all there is to it" Eliza shrugged.
"Help me out here, I can use soul energy and I don't think I can transfigure the soul of someone. Hell, even Enyo wasn't doing shit like this despite her high proficiency."
"She wasn't? Is that a joke? All the demons worship her, follow her words without a question, the beasts that follow her every order. Every demon is using some form of soul energy in some way which is why they have beasts under their control. It's just that they don't realize it, for that is what 'he' wanted, and asked for. He created a false narrative and made it so people wouldn't notice it. Of course, he can't do it for every world with just 1 Hard hidden dungeon and change that level of perception on the scale of the universe, so he asked for it to be done to a world that resembled his one the most."
That guy is a lunatic.
Anyways, so I can do shit like that too.
Soul energy, now that I know what it can do, it's gonna be fun~
Twerking with souls itself.
Sounds scary, not gonna lie.
"And.." She began to speak breaking me out of my thoughts "Everyone uses soul energy in different ways, for instance, you use your own soul energy to extreme levels to boost yourself, wearing out your very soul itself."
That's NOT supposed to happen either!
What the fuck?
"You are saying I am basically decreasing my lifespan?"
"That you are and you know what's the most screwed up part about you?" She scrunched her face and asked.
What is she on about all of a sudden?
"What?" I asked
"You 'instinctively' put your life on the line to save your very life. Draining your own soul. Absolutely ridiculous" She looked at me as if trying to figure out something about me as she continued "I know, there exist situations where you 'have' to put your life in danger to save your life but for you, it's instinctive, that's what makes you so weird and ...creepy"
"Don't call me creepy and I don't wear out soul energy, I mean, I have been increasing my proficiency in it, you know? Beginnings are always rough. It will be fine from now on... probably."
Well, my demonic ene- soul energy has a proficiency of F+ now.
"You have been, but as I said everyone uses their soul energy in ways suited for them, it's different for everyone, that's why I said, you use your soul every time. The more your proficiency increases the more capable you become of killing your own self. That's why you are in so much pain." She scoffed at me and continued "Since we are on the topic, let me tell you since you are going to ask it anyway, your exponential increase in rank did some damage to your soul, that is true but it's mostly because how you destroy yourself that is resulting in your current condition. The pain shouldn't have been as bad as it ended up for you. Do you even realize, how much you are sweating, your pupils are dilated, your sclera is turning red, your skin color is way too pale, and here you are, using 'all' of the components of World's Power, all to figure out if I am lying or not to you. Utterly ridiculous"
Sheesh, what do you want me to do?
Get some wrong info.
I can't for the love of me do anything else.
This is the only way to deal with this shit.
Anyway, seems like I have my answer related to my current condition.
I will need to be careful. I will have to learn to use soul energy without harming myself.
"Since we are on the topic, how does rank work? Explain that too. I mean, why does someone need to work out if rank is what determines strength and all? Besides, I am sure rank doesn't show real stats, do they?"
I thought back to the time my system told me that there was no change in my rank and it was F- rank while Elina, Enyo, and Liza all said I was temporarily exerting my rank to D.
I wanna what's the deal with it.
"...So, you are changing the topic?" She shook her head and continued to speak, I opted for silence.
"It's the soul's rank that the system shows. That is all there is to it. Of course, since the soul and body are both connected with each other, they do create a co-dependent relation, the stronger the soul gets the stronger your body does as well but it does not represent your body's strength accurately. That's why people train their bodies, you should know that when you rank up your body reconfigures itself. You experienced it, right? It makes the body a good vessel for your soul. If you simply train your body more you probably won't have to feel as much a pain when you rank up"
I feel like I needed to be told that earlier!
I listened as she continued.
"Besides, for someone like you who can use 4 different components of 'World's Power' you are far stronger than others of the same rank as you. What you showed wasn't D-rank strength, it was simply F-rank, only when you can use 'all' the components of the 'World's Power' will you truly see what a true F-rank power could do. But then comes the question, will your body be able to handle all that? No, it can't. You should know how badly your body got when you fought the minotaur while putting every 'component' you could have used, that's why you need to train. That's all, simple, right?"
So, I need to exercise.
Damn, wanted to cut some slack, guess I can't.
Guess, Noah's intelligence is giving me a real boost as well, I knew it but it still impresses me.
Welp, one more thing.
"How to recover"
Lol, that's important.
"Don't raise your rank, don't use your soul energy again for at least 3 months and you will be fine or you can clear a moderate hidden level dungeon and ask for a potion to heal you." She smirked.
Evil, evil, I say.
No, thanks.
Anyways, it's fine.
The next hidden dungeon is perfect for resting vacation. I will recover there.
Only some small stuff more left to be asked.
"So, what's the deal with Elina's eyes, can you see it too?"
Her eyes perked up a little to my question.
"Elina, huh? Her description of you was actually a pretty interesting part. We get at least some idea of which direction your past is in." She mused.
"You talk as if you can't see it?" I asked
"Of course, I can't. Tell me something, you who is stronger, intelligent, and far more capable than a roach, can you be resilient like a roach, being able to heal yourself like how fast they do? It's a specie thing. Forget about being a special Elf, I am not even an Elf" She shrugged.
I see...
So, that's how it is.
A specie specialty.
Understood.
How annoying.
There might be something troublesome down the line that other species might have.
"Hey, what are the diffe-" Before I could finish she cut me off.
"I can't tell. I can only tell you things you have encountered. If you don't have any idea about the thing I can't tell. If you are ignorant I shall not help you in becoming non ignorant."
..That's bullshit.
"By the way, you said something about you got the 'idea' of the which direction my past goes in. What's that supposed to mean, doesn't the system keep an eye on us all? It's weird how you don't know about mine" I questioned and she scrunched her face and eyed me
"...We never told you we keep an eye on everyone around the world with the help of the system."
"If asked directly you will have to answer with truth."
"Screw you." She shook her head "Yeah, we do keep an eye on everyone, more accurately the system records everything everyone does but as you could guess, we aren't interested in everyone and of course can't watch over everyone. You were the same. We didn't watch over you or anything and now that we want to we 'can't'."
Can't?
What's that supposed to mean?
I tilted my head and in response, she heaved a sigh.
"You became the absolute master of your system, thus, we cannot access the information your system has about you any longer, not only that we can't use other people's system screens whom you interact with to find you. Your system will make sure we can't. He won't let us know about your location, your meetings, or anything of the sort."
Maybe I was a bit too harsh on you system-san.
I shook my head.
That was good to hear ..and it doesn't seem like she is lying.
"You told me something really important just now, you know?"
"Rules are rules, shall we be asked we are obliged to answer" She shrugged once again flew around brought herself in front of my face, and asked, "Well, is that all?"
"Well, just one more thing, can I take stuff from this world without them being included in my clearing the hidden dungeon reward?" I opened my inventory and asked.
"Yeah, you can. That is actually smart of you to do so."
Thanks.
Great. All seems fine.
I also realized something, it's just like I had thought, taking stuff from the outside world isn't a good idea to entertain. This hidden dungeon was actually easy just like it was supposed to be unlike the first one where I came pretty close to death just because I had prepared items from the outside world and brought them there but this time I didn't take anything from the outside world inside the hidden dungeon.
Letting go of the control of the components of 'World's Power' that I had been willing in my eyes, I sprawled on the ground, letting go of the tension inside my body.
Finally, all questions were answered.
I breathed a sigh of relief, it was over.
"For the reward, restore my stuff- High Uncommon Healing Potion - back to 90, I have 65 left, so just give 25. Low Epic Healing Potion - 5 left, so add 5 there, restore my necklace teleportation to 4 uses."
"Hm? That's easy." She snapped her finger and I looked at my inventory and checked my necklace, they were back to their original numbers.
Great.
"You can still ask for more stuff, you know that right?"
I had initially wanted something else but...
Things changed.
"Give me a book, guide, or whatever to help me learn about 'Soul Energy and Myst' and how to use it without harming myself."
"You can only get one "Myst or Soul Energy'. If you want both, go clear another hidden dungeon or something"
Yeah, yeah, I will.
"Give the one about 'Soul Energy'"
The last thing I want is to kill myself, even though my proficiency has been increasing.
"There you go" She threw a book towards me and I put it into my inventory which has space something like 22/25.
"Welp, bye" I said but nothing happened unlike before I was still in here with the hovering Eliza.
"Wait, just a bit," She said and I waited.
Silence descended.
Neither did she say a word nor did I.
We both remained silent.
After about a minute or so, Lea appeared the blue-haired pipsqueak.
"Whaaaaat? Are you guys already done with the reward and all? This is absurd, it hasn't even been 10 minutes and you talked about everything? I feel left out and hurt" She said wiping off her nonexistent tears.
"Cut the crap, what do you want"
I knew what she wanted.
"Well, I will do exactly that then. Will you sign a contract with me?"
You see, every hidden dungeon has a different observer assigned to them. The protagonist cleared 3 different one's and he never met the same observer.
The pinky from before must have been assigned for this one but Lea had thrown him out instead.
Reason? Simple.
"What kind of contract"
"A contract of exclusively dealing with me. Let me be in charge of you. Every time you clear a hidden dungeon or anything that involves 'us' let me be the one who looks after you and gives you the reward or help for you to solve your queries instead of meeting someone new every time. Isn't it a good thing?"
"What's in it for me?"
I knew already, that I showed them something beyond what they expected, the fact that even after that all I got was a soul energy book but not the one on myst shows how important and special these books are.
Also, they must have been interested in me now. She is gonna enjoy herself a lot by making me exclusive to herself.
"You said you had blown my mind, remember? You can't do it if I am not around you, can you?" She smiled.
This one is sly.
"Show me the contract"
I read it for about 20 minutes to make sure it wasn't some scam I was signing and once I was sure I signed it.
"Yay! Now we are in a loooong relationship! Hahahaha!" She laughed like an idiot but I didn't miss that glint of madness in her eyes.
Another fucked up person in the head.
My life is such a mess.
I shook my head.
With this, all the objectives I set out to do with this hidden dungeon are met.
Last hidden dungeon to challenge before my academy starts.
I should focus on recovering more this time.
The scenery around me started to fade and I found myself surrounded with water.
I swam upwards and once I was on the ground I willed mana and aura into my legs and jumped into the air.
Then compressing the wind just behind my feet I used it as my foothold and then used water and fire to cause a small burst of explosion, traversing through the air I made my way towards the third hidden dungeon.
I left my smartphone before entering the hidden dungeon for obvious reasons, so of course, I can't book a cab.
"System-san, change the term 'Demonic Energy' to 'Soul Energy'" I asked the system and it did the job.