'You can become a God.'
I was dumbstruck.
This was an elephantine piece of information.
It was massive, voluminous and substantially burdensome.
It took me several seconds to figure out my next words.
'You can become a God?'
'Yes, however, even if you don't win and just clear the Trial of Destiny, your greatest wish will be granted. You may have special circumstances, Ray, but no one would willingly let go of such a chance.'
'So you're saying I willingly took part in this and had my memory sealed?'
'That... I do not know. My only duty was to ensure your proper awakening.'
Things are becoming more confusing by the second.
If I wanted to understand properly what my situation was, I needed to gather more information.
'So all players are challenging this Trial?', I inquired.
'There are many Trials being conducted everywhere in the higher dimension. Since the Trial of Destiny is usually considered an unclearable Trial, there aren't many that are challenging it this time as far as I was made aware before I descended.'
'It's unclearable? Then wouldn't it be better that I exited this Trial and just joined another one? I wouldn't have my wish granted but that depends on how big my wish is and if I were closer to being a God, needless to say, wouldn't I fulfill my desires automatically?'
Just then, I bumped into someone.
"Ah, I'm sorry", I quickly apologized.
I had been so engrossed in my conversation that I forgot about the busy street.
"Tch. Look where you're going dumbass.", the man shoved me and walked away.
'Ray, that man tried to rob you', Lianne informed me.
'I know. Sadly for him, my pockets are empty.'
The man I collided with was wearing the kind of shirt and trousers that I was familiar with. He also wore a beanie cap.
I guess fashion isn't much different here.
Now that I looked around the city, it was futuristic but more or less the same as the world I came from. The people were rude and the city was lavish.
There were electric cars everywhere. The roads seemed polished. All the buildings had huge 3D display screens. There were multiple drones flying about projecting advertisements. I also saw a mini helicopter, shaped like a drone carrying people but that wasn't common and I only saw two of those.
People were looking at their ultra thin screens on their phones, their smart watches with hologram projections, digital glasses and they also wore some kind of collar that augmented real 3D models.
I looked around the street. There were mini cameras everywhere. I was assuming that meant there were also a good number of voice recorders hidden so that even the last bit of privacy people had could be seized.
It didn't matter to me though, since I was just talking in my head.
The city way designed in a layout that prevented traffic jams.
There were underground roads that were specifically for high speed vehicles.
Citizens had access to multiple freeways and highways, and there was a magnetic subway available for easy transportation.
The people here were evenly divided in the socioeconomic scale.
I made a note of their hair colours. There were blondes, redheads and other shades of blue, brown and green but black was the predominant one.
Is it natural or dyed? I had yet to figure that out, but just the lustre in their hair alone made it difficult to say.
I didn't know about the advanced cosmetic procedures of this world.
The only noticeable difference of this world would be people using their hands to carve out fire and water out of thin air.
'How are they doing that?'
'Elementalism? They are using a man-made AI based machine to channel their stored mana out.'
'They can't do it without that machine?'
'They can but the output efficiency drops drastically. Practicing it without a device, to supplement their output, is an outdated tradition.'
'Can I do it? '
'I can replicate what that machine does, however your body does not have enough mana for me to do much.'
'Was James' body not compatible with mana?'
'He was most probably deprived of normal growth. In essence, his mana stores never had a chance to grow.'
This was appalling. If he was a rich kid, shouldn't his parents have provided him with the best treatment for his growth?
'Lianne, what do you know about his background?'
'Nothing other than what I told you, but, there is one speculation of mine that I haven't told you yet.'
'What is it?'
'The car James was driving had an inbuilt system that prevented fires. Even after the crash, the car had not exploded.'
I recalled the car I saw. It looked like a yellow tinged metallic banana and was completely destroyed but it had no signs of any fire.
Lianne continued to explain her theory, ' It's also suspicious how he was driving heavily intoxicated and his body was badly burnt.'
I understood what she was trying to say.
'So you're saying that someone deliberately got him drunk, drove him there, set him on fire and had the car run down a cliff.'
'Yes, Ray. Albeit, it's just a speculation of mine.'
No, she's right. His death is shrouded in mystery. If the ones who killed him find out that he's still alive, they're going to come after me next.
I immediately looked at the cameras all around me and made a dash towards the nearest alley.
'I made a mistake. I shouldn't have come here.'
'Do not worry Ray, I am sensing that the cameras are still down from yesterday. The EM blast was probably just a cover. The ones orchestrating the attack must have had other plans.'
'If the cameras are still down but the traffic signals and other means of electronic communication are still working, then that means their real target is the security surveillance of the city.'
But why?
Something big was going on.
I felt lost after hearing all of it.
The fact that Lianne was like a parasite in my mind just made me more disoriented. If she didn't have something to gain from me, why was she sticking to me? Why did Destiny order her to be my system?
I had too many unanswered questions.