"... Call me Raven. Never forget, its Raven," he said scratching his head.
"Ooh Rave ... Raven were birds that were associated with mystical powers," Mia said not ending the conversation as Raven had expected.
"Mystical powers? What powers?" He asked seeing his conversation was making progress.
"Dark powers. Like ghost. Associated with a death and afterlife," she said in a whisper her voice creepy filled with mysticsm.
"Ah... You still believe in these things? The after life. Very funny," he said dismissively.
" What do you think you were in your past life?" She asked. She seemed enjoy pastlives and afterlives.
" I don't believe. Past lives don't matter. Focus on the present," Raven dismissed the topic.
" You are no fun," she too ended the topic and fell into silence. Just then, the gym tutor came in...
***
" What do you mean upgrading a skill requires three crystals?" Marx almost shouted in his mind. Was the system trying to wring him dry? Had it not just taken his pride few minutes ago? Now it wanted the rest of them...
Marx felt like he could cough blood. Was the system for real? Didn't that mean that he could actually not upgrade three skills but two?
"Greedy," Marx snorted as he accepted the system to swallow his inventory cleaning it dry.
Laser kicks> Marx who felt like coughing blood now had no way of stopping himself. Was the system sent to him to finish him? Not that he was rich before but could it at least be considerate. This were his first collections yet it did not even spare them. Instead of saying 'skills' giving him false hope why not just say 'skill'? Did it give him a choice to begin with? "Laser Kicks," he said with a snort once again. Laser kicks- 4 Limited. Recharges after one minute rest> Marx now felt like he could discard the system. Had it not increased the number from two to five? Now it had upgraded them from five to four. He wanted to scream for his crystals back. His face contorting with mixed expressions. "Explain!" He demanded. If the system was out here, it could have suffered his wrath. Luckily it was not human thus no emotion. "I know I need a reasonable answer!" Marx was growing impatient. At least he has something he could argue with. "What are you waiting for?" He screamed once again. If the answer was not reasonable he was never going to upgrade these skills. < If you want to use these skills without them exhausting, you have to reach your stats to 5 and above> Marx was not still satisfied by the answer but the answer was true. He came to realize that the system cared more for him more than he actually cared for himself. He accepted the answer but he promised himself not to upgrade these skills wantonly. "For the reason why we are here, do you still plan to keep me in the dark?" Marx asked. This was the second time he had asked. Marx stared at the screen. There were seven separate lands. They were thousands of kilometers away from each other. He was slightly not sure what this was. But after staring at the seven separate lands, they were named as continents. He studied them and memorized them all. Africa appeared to be the only one with a shape like a pistol. After staring at them for a while, he was unsure why the system was showing him all this. < It can be said to be the backbone of present technology. But there was an even more advanced civilization that existed before that time. This civilization has been lost in time. Even its remains are now nowhere to be found on Earth. < This civilization was so advanced to the extent they knew more about the planets and galaxies. They have conquered more galaxies than the current civilization has conquered planets. < The reason why I am here is because... Error! Error! Information omitted... Information locked... Information Inaccessible...> Marx was first of all caught in a trance. He felt like he was having all the air sacked from him. He could not breath. This information was too shocking and he realized that they had rivals more powerful than they could even comprehend. What did it mean that only ten teens could wipe out the entire Milky Way? Didn't that mean that these people saw them as a joke to not even dispatch an army but kids? Not that he was any older. Didn't that mean that they were nothing but ants in their eyes. The more Marx thought about it, the more he felt the thumping in his chest increase. He was striving down here to get strong so that he could leave earth and reign on the rest of the population. Yet there were even more powerful individuals who could see his dream as nothing but a joke. A new pressure was building up in Marx's chest. What if they were more powerful? Weren't they humans too? Didn't they have the same suits as he had? His was even top 5. Didn't the system say that it was one of the prototypes? Had it not chosen him? Didn't that mean that he had the potential? This meant that he had a chance to look down on them the same way they looked down on him. What if their teens could wipe out the entire Milky Way? He felt like he could do so just like them. Even better. Since the system was telling him this, didn't that mean he was more qualified to know about it than the Empire. He resolved himself that he was going to get stronger than them. It also struck him that he was also being monitored. Whoever was monitoring him had found it better to let him know about their existence. That meant he or she also acknowledged him. Whoever they were, he was going to go after them and teach them that spying on him was nothing more than asking for death. Especially when they had given him the tools... He laughed but it was not a painful or happy or sad laugh. It was a laugh to shake away all the doubts he had about the system. It was a laugh of someone who had a reaffirmed his stand and nothing would shake him from his path or stop him. "Why are we here then," Marx asked. Marx just nodded. The system had more powerful features than the military combined. "Okay, continue with the information about the civilization," Marx needed to know more. < You must be ready for anything down there. It might not be safe after so many years have passed, it was confirmed that there has been a breach in the base. Its your next mission. Find out what is wrong with the base and get the core it's core. All system boosts will be available from today's mission. Life mission 1> Marx was caught offguard by this mission. What did it mean the first mission? Weren't all the rest part of the missions. But it made sense. Whoever was monitoring him had given this mission to him. This meant that he had two sets of missions. Training missions and Life missions. It seemed things were not going to be smooth and simple as he had expected. But who cared? As long as he was not being extorted by the system, he did not have any qualms with working for them. It was even better knowing that he had a higher existence watching over him he could look up to to get stronger than. From what Marx had deduced, he was the only user who had shown potential of the 998. For these higher existences to open up to him was enough proof...