Chapter 25: Tiny Guardians Account ; Unknowns (1/2)

”Who are you... no, WHAT are you?”

I was curious about her identity, but then I remember what she did, making me more curious about what sort of existence she is.

”I've told you already haven't I?”, she tilts her ahead and asks,

I've met her before? No. I don't recall ever seeing her. I'm pretty darn sure I wouldn't forget it if I met and talked to someone like her before.

”I'm Irene. The soul of your System. A creation of Father's.”, she says.

The only Irene that I know of is the one that also claimed that she was the soul of my System. But, she talked in a very inhuman way, unlike this girl in front of me. Also, their voices are... different.

”I've determined that I will be of more use to Father if I had a physical body, and so, I created one.”

”Don't you need the data of the Platform to be able to do that?”

”No, I am a part of Father. I can take on my physical form within a ten-meter radius of Father wherever Father is. Upon the destruction of the body, I will enter a three-day cessation period.”

How convenient. Wait, she said she could be of more use to me in her physical form. How exactly? Once I asked her about it, she replied,

”As the soul of Father's System, I have various privileges. As I am right now, I can make use of three of them: Light Guidance, Barrier Creation, and Shutdown.”

I get the gist of the first two, but what is ”Shutdown”?

”Of the three, Barrier Creation should be of most use to you right now. I am able to create a barrier that can withstand almost anything once a day that lasts for about six seconds.”

”Then, there is Light Guidance, which is a weaker version of your Light Manipulation.”

”The last one, which also happens to be the most prominent one is Shutdown. Simply put, it grants me the ability to make Father lose his consciousness and sensations for three hours. The cooldown time for this privilege is the longest of the three, and can be used only once a week.”

What the heck? Isn't she supposed to help me out? This privilege is literally made to be used against me. This is wrong! I thought that she could be my shield when she mentioned the Barrier, but now I'm more worried about her appearing mid-battle than anything else...

”I request Father to not misinterpret the purpose of such a privilege. Everything that I am to do, is for Father's sake. I was born for Father, live for Father, and will die for Father.”

This is insane. What the hell is wrong with this... girl? Annoyed, I ask her,

”What am I to you?”

”My Father.”

”Who is your mother?”

”Such a person doesn't exist.”

”Then how did I create you?”

”It is beyond my understanding to figure out the capabilities of Father.”

This is going nowhere... Oh right, I will just ask her about other stuff. For example,

”How do I increase my parameters and the tiers listed in the System?”

She takes a thinking posture and closes her eyes for a few seconds before responding with,

”That's easy. You just have to train! You can access the Tales and train using them. If you have Knowledge of the Tales, you can freely choose among them. I've checked your memories and you seem to not know of them, and so, I will grant you a calling per the RoR Agreement.”

{Calling Received.}

I heard Irene's voice, even though she's here and her mouth isn't moving, inside my head as the text appears in a bright red right.

{Gather Knowledge of the Tales.

Time-limit: 29d:23:h:59m:59s

Upon failure: Loss of Essence - Destruction

Platform bound: No}

Are you kidding me? I have yet to know what that Essence is even capable of and now there is a chance that it would go away before I even do so? What even is ”Knowledge of the Tales”? I immediately forward the question to Irene, to which she replies,

”It's extremely complicated, so I will over-simplify it. The Platforms and Rift as a whole are referred to as the Playground by the principal quintessences. Some of the principal quintessences granted several Platforms knowledge about other Platforms. The knowledge is a timeline or many of their choice. Someone with the Knowledge of the Tales is a person who has read through the knowledge provided.”