Darkened Daylight

---beep---

| Special Note: You cleared the fiery mist. As an achievement for killing all the monsters, you'll receive extra statistics. |

__________

---beep---

| Achievements:

Your statistics have raised -

Strength(+17)

Speed(+2)

IQ(+2)

Mentality(+23)

Adaptability(+4) |

__________

Kendor questioned, "Why can't I see any character abilities?!"

I replied, "I used an existing ability. Nothing new!"

…

{Inside the trial pillar}

Saki entered into the trial she left in between previously. Her Artificiary panel announced.

---beep---

| Trial: 000.007

Title: A New Beginning - Session 7

Aim: You've lost every trait from your living days. Step up and begin a new path which could help you surpass your living self.

Objective: Destroy the golem.

Failure: Red Karmic reincarnations will be sent to hell living the life of a slave. On the other hand, Blue Karmic reincarnations get sent to the room of the High-Off Judges, to be chosen by one of them as a forever servant. |

__________

She just gazed at her system pad for a moment and then gazed upwards looking at the giant golem in front of her.

---beep---

| Commencing Spriteful Evil Calamity |

__________

She exclaimed, ""I exited suddenly without even facing you. So, pardon my cowardice. Since the present outcome is about to get polar opposite!!"", with an evil smirk.

---swoosh---

The giant golem brought forth its left palm to strike her down. Instead of jumping away, Saki remained firm.

---thud---

The giant struck the place Saki was standing. However, the outcome turned upside down. The golem noticed its hand being tightly grappled by Saki's right hand. She attempted, ""Compared to that queen wolf, you're but a mere mannequin!!""

---crack---

At once, her palm clenched inwards, thereby crushing the golem's hand into pieces.

"Phew!", she then closed her eyes. An early event popped into her head. In that, she was eating very soundly in front of me and Kendor on the dining table. I said, "Saki, what will you do after re-entering your trial?!"

She munched, "Gulp, I'll blow the golem into smithereens!"

I said, "And how would you do that?!"

She exclaimed, "With my character abilities!!"

I objected, "I don't want you to just use your character abilities. You must try something new!"

She became puzzled, "Pardon my words but I didn't get you!"

I interpreted, "Take the fiery quests you did for instance. Did you have any character abilities to defeat the monsters at the beginning?!"

She responded, "No!"

I pointed out, "Then how did you achieve all the traits you have now?!"

She blinked, "... So you're asking me… to pull some new stunts and achieve more character abilities?!"

I said, "Exactly!"

But Kendor interrupted, "@##__₹₹&&...?!", in origin language. Saki didn't understand her. I mumbled, "@#&@&+&_-...!"

And so, we kept mumbling in our dialect which is not in Saki's intellect. The scene ended and she opened her eyes back to the trial. She mumbled, "I wish to know what they were talking about at that time!"

She looked at the ground. One of the broken pieces of the giant golem's crushed hand caught her attention with a sharp edge on both ends. She remembered a weapon from her homeland that had sharp blades on both edges of the hilt, "A Double-bladed Knife, was it!"

---crack---

She picked the wooden piece. Her seeping aura entered the object, thereby reshaping itself into a double-bladed knife. The giant golem charged forth with its other arm. Instead of dodging the attack, Saki jumped forward and twisted her body in mid-air, such that she slipped through the knuckles of the golem.

---fwoosh---

The latter followed Saki's weapons fluctuating with aura. She then at once threw it onto the golem's head.

---crash---

The next instant, the knife charged inwards, thrashing the golem's head into a dozen pieces. She became speechless, ""What the heck? Like what in the actual heck? You rendered me miserable last time. But now you fall with just a single strike?!""

Her eyes stretched wide in rage. Immediately,

---crash---

she executed a punch on the headless golem's chest, creating another crashing impact. The giant collapsed while Saki stood on top of it. She yelled, ""Don't make me laugh. I know you are a puppet. There's no way you fall just because you are missing a head!!!""

---smash---

She landed another fist, breaking the fallen golem into pieces. In pure rage, she began going berserk, ""I thought of many ways to smack you. How dare you fall after one strike??!!!""

---whack---whack---whack---whack(x_)---

She continued smashing even when there was nothing left of the golem. From the other side, the crowhead who was acting as a lower judge kept typing the Artificiary system pads levitating around her. What's more, Shadow Raymen, whom I assigned to take care of Saki, stood beside her. Yet, she felt least bothered by it. Raymen mumbled, "I see my liege forced this crook to submission. Incredible!"

…

On the 10th earth, the people who were walking across the streets gazed at three individuals in utter disbelief. The eyes twitched in fear due to the three people being covered by silver blood. They were none other than Xona, Grane and Sim. Xona played the boss role whereas Grane remained on the left.

Bystanders began gossiping,

"Hey, aren't they 'The Dreadful Cowmen'? Why do they seem different?!"

"You don't know, do you?!"

"Yeah, this morning, they whacked those that called them 'cowmen'!"

"What? What should we call them?!"

"I remember my buddy saying 'Adrian Troop'!"

"Their clothes seem unique!"

"They have a weird symbol on their backs!"

"I like the design, though!!"

"It seems ominous!"

"Did they join some criminal organization?!"

Xona turned around with a cold glare. The audience walked away due to her pressure. Sim commented, "This is my first time, completing a trial without much difficulty!"

Grane said, "These uniforms contain protection traits. Thanks to that, we suffered only minor injuries!"

Xona emphasized, "Lord Adrian not only imbues traits in materials, but he can also give permanent blessings to creatures!"

"Gasp!!!", both the men shook at her revelation. She suggested, "I'm not saying to join him for benefits. But who knows, maybe his blessings can bring a change in our lives!!", and continued walking. Her companions remained stuck.

…

Back to my side, I was standing in between a rubbled land covered by a yellow night sky. A four-armed werewolf whose ears were replaced by horns lay before me.

Kendor commented, "This crook didn't seem that different from a zooviyan albiyon apart from the ears!"

I replied, "Yeah!"

She then asked, "I wonder how Saki is doing?!"

Listening to her reminded me of the conversation we had the previous day. In that, Saki blinked, "... So you're asking me… to pull some new stunts and achieve more character abilities?!"

I said, "Exactly!"

Kendor asked, "Master, why are you encouraging your underling to rely on the system?!"

I revealed, "When I hacked Xona's and Saki's system tabs, I entered a pocket dimension containing thousands of death crystals!"

Kendor flinched, "Death Crystals? You mean the Crystal of Death? That is no different from the Crystal of Dark from the absolute abyss and Crystal of Light from the realm of living beings!"

I agreed, "Yeah, the most surprising fact is that Yeshod is using those crystals as a power source of this Artificiary system!"

"Gasp!!!", she reacted speechlessly. I continued, "Using those crystals as a source for everything, the Artificiary system is generating a code and making it a reality. That's how the people in this sanctuary grow statistics and abilities!"

She realized, "Technically, they're making the people here accumulate the wishing power of those death crystals. But what would they gain from doing that?!"

I elaborated, "Unlike common dwellers, entities like us, crooks or mutant asymmetrons can not use the wishing power of such crystals. All that we can do is either absorb the amount of power it contains or break it into pieces!"

[No wonder, when I was destroying Scidra's cult, a mortal wished for my death instead of the naakulkaan who was an offspring of irregular Yeshod's blood.]

Kendor spouted, "Crooks and mutant asymmetrons have abilities. They absorb the traits and life force of lesser beings to attain mutation!", and blinked, "So they're making dead souls assimilate the crystals to devour them at the end!!"

I emphasized, "Yes, the moment a person enters this domain is the instant the power of the death crystal begins entering their bodies!"

Kendor mumbled, "And if someone fails, the wish power they accumulated would get taken out of them!"

I replied, "That removed power is then stored in some silver crystals. The irregulars use them like currency!"

She asked, "Is this info from the brains of the crooks you comprehended?!"

I nodded firmly. She attempted, "Then aren't you putting this girl under the same fate as them?!"

I said, "Nah, I placed my shadow, Raymen, under her feet. He'll give her support whenever she's in danger.

What I want is for her to accumulate as much power from the system as she can.

With my blessing and wishing power of the crystal, she might come out to be an overbearing variable!"

She commented, "Your way of choosing people is so hard to understand!"

I chuckled, "You'll get used to it soon enough!"

She raised a doubt, "That aside, I've been wanting to ask something since the morning!!"

I commanded, "Go on!"

She attempted, "... Did you give a name to this grand plan of yours?!"

I looked at her with gaped eyes. She too did the same. I changed my expression, "Of course, I did it long ago!"

She requested, "Please, enlighten me!"

I looked into the starry sky for a moment and exclaimed with sovereignty, ""CREED OF ARTIFICIARY!""