'I should have taken my underwear off,' Nero thought, sitting in a pool of his own sweat, his underwear causing him extreme irritation.
Draven took nearly four hours to complete inscribing inscriptions on all three items, and he took that much time only because he was limited by how much mana he could absorb, as pushing his limits would result in major harm to his body.
Nero felt his throat dry like desert sand, each breath harsher than the last. His muscles felt on fire from exhaustion, and his vision blurred at the edges as every fiber of his being screamed for rest.
Nero stood up and dragged his body to the attached bath, a small box with barely enough room for him to stand. A shower head was attached to the wooden wall, connected to a copper pipe on whose end were two small crystals, a red and a blue one.
He placed one hand on the red crystal and the other on the blue one, releasing a thin stream of mana that he could muster, allowing the gem to activate and begin to siphon mana from the surroundings, creating hot and cold water that rained down on him in the next moment.
As the warm water fell on his body, he felt the grime and exhaustion wash away, and after a few minutes of thoroughly cleaning himself, he went to his bed and crashed, not caring that he was completely naked.
The exhaustion of traveling for two days with little rest and then the extreme toll of continuously absorbing and channeling mana made Nero sleep for nearly ten hours, and even then, he did not fully recover.
'So what next?' Nero asked, and a moment later, he felt a pull on his consciousness, and without resisting, he gave away the control over his body.
Nero opened his eyes and was welcomed to the sight of Draven seated on his throne, whose cold misty gray eyes met his own, as he raised his hand gesturing him to take a seat.
"I know of many primordial grade systems, all of the strongest among the systems, but each will come with its own pros and cons," Draven began, seeing Nero take his seat on a throne similar to his own.
"I will first tell you the truth behind the Systems," Draven said, making Nero unconsciously push to the edge of his seat.
"The Systems are not gifts of the universe, but in truth, they are an extremely powerful Race of Ethereal, known as the 'The Architects: Seekers of Knowledge,' and they are also the Rulers of our Galaxy,"
"The Architects cannot learn the mysteries of Cosmic Law on their own, but because of their hunger for knowledge, they have found a way to bypass this restriction, and they do so by bonding with a host and using them to learn the cosmic laws."
"The Architects are an ancient Race, whose sole drive for living is to understand the cosmic laws of the universe."
"So when of age, a member of their species chooses single or multiple aspects of reality to master, which could be an elemental force like fire, ice or a more abstract concept such as rulership, conquest, or time."
"They find a host that best fits them, as their host is a means for them to grow, and this is why lower rank systems offer little and higher Rank systems could offer immense value to their host," Draven said, taking a short pause to let Nero get comfortable with the new mind-bending details.
"While on the surface this is a mutually beneficial relation between two races, but in reality it is far from it."
"All systems have consciousness, and they influence their host to only advance in their chosen aspect of the law, essentially limiting their path, which in most cases is a good thing."
"However, the more talented you are and the stronger and older your system is, the worse it is for you in the long run because the system can only offer what it already knows, and after some point, it would be just a leech feeding off you,"
"It could help with understanding the mysteries of the law because of their immense intelligence, but the help it could offer is not worth being influenced by an old monster, who could care less about your well-being if it meant getting a small glimpse of some hidden truth,"
"However, I like to believe that I can deal with the influence of an old Architect," Draven said, and Nero could feel his emotion of overwhelming confidence.
"But I am not on the same level as I wish to believe, so things could also go differently, and since this is your life, I feel that it is only right that you make the final decision," Draven said before going silent for nearly ten minutes.
Nero did not even avert his gaze from the ground as his mind was plunged into the chaotic truth he had just heard.
He understood that for most of the world, the truth meant nothing since it posed no threat to the host, even when some space parasite was using him because everyone knew the benefits of having a system, especially a high-ranking one.
However, Nero was no idiot to believe that a system had more value than his older self, who had lived for centuries and reached the peak of the galaxy. While his older self had his own agenda, he would not push him into the maws of death.
Nero also knew that his older self had no other choice but to work with him to achieve his goals, so everything considered, he believed in him more than anyone.
"So why would you want to get a system if it poses such a risk," Nero asked, even though he could already guess the answer.
"In my last life, I was the master of the Runic Codex, capable of wielding immense strength and all the imaginable aspects of reality," Draven said, his voice darkening.
"But I never knew that I was a mere puppet in the grand scheme of an Ancient Horror known as The True King." His words were laced with anger, each syllable a barely restrained growl.
"I no longer have the Runic Codex and acquiring it back would mean walking the path of doom once more," Draven said with a wary smile, "I also only have a tenth of my memories related to the Codex, barely any of my understanding of the true runic structure, and while it is possible that I could use it to rise in power again, my end would not change,"
"So I need a powerful system to quickly raise my strength and have enough time to grow into someone who could stand against The True King," Draven said, the weight of his words hanging heavily.
"My only reasonable options are the first Primordial Systems, The Architect of Knowledge, The Architect of Space, and The Architect of Time," Draven said, his voice laced with the weight of experience.
"Three of the Four members of the Council of Primordials," He added, his eyes narrowing as if already calculating the immense help each one could offer.
"I do have another option, maybe the best, but it could also be the worst, and the chances of the latter are much higher since I have dealt with it firsthand," Draven said, his words carrying the emotions of anxiety if not outright fear.
Nero was left agape because fear was not something he had felt his older self display, even when he talked about the True King, the entity responsible for his downfall.
"But knowing what we are up against, something like that crazy and terrifying might be the only way for us to achieve victory," Draven continued, his expression dark, something that could only be called crazed.
"Is he the fourth seat of this Council of Primordials," Nero asked, unable to suppress his desire to know about something that made his older self reveal such emotions.
"The King of Primordial went silent long ago. No one even knows if he is even alive or what domain he controlled, but there are records that tell that his powers were related to the galaxy," Draven said, shaking his head, confident that they were two separate entities.
"The one I am referring to is an anomaly," Draven said, his voice dropping lower, almost as if reluctant to reveal the truth. "A system with the ability to Devour," He paused briefly, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"A system that could devour anything, even other systems, even those at the Primordial Rank," Draven said, his tone calm yet carrying an unsettling weight.
"Not only could its host Devour all their knowledge and abilities, limited only by what the system itself knew, but he could devour more than just systems, as memories, bloodlines, adaptabilities, and anything a being had to offer was not out of his reach." He paused, watching as the enormity of his words settled in.
The sheer possibility made Nero's skin crawl, a shiver running down his spine as he realized the terrifying potential of such a system.