Chapter 318: Possibilities Unbounded (1/2)

I split the primordial sphere into two parts, each of them writhing out. My anger turned into skepticism, and my eyes turned to slits. I raised an eyebrow at the orbs, ”Huh...The timing for this is convenient for you, isn't it?”

Plazia gestured to the edge of our Schema-less domain, ”Try and call for the primordial mana outside of this place. That will verify everything you've seen for yourself.”

I paced over towards the edge of the wall, finding a spot without cipher sigils. I melted out a cylinder of rock and put my hand into the gap. Once on the other side, Schema's presence siphoned back in with my HUD coming back up. It only extended to me, however. Channeling the primordial mindset, I called forth the mana in the exact same way, and it retaliated with an abysmal withering.

Nothing spawned. Nada. Zilch.

I tested my theory a few times, creating the mana inside and outside of this area. Primordial mana spawned and unspawned each time I did so, and it left me with a wave of growing anger. By the time the proof was undeniable, I had stepped away from the wall. I pulled my hands up, squeezing them while snapping,

”He's holding me back. I fight back a galactic threat for him time and time again, reconquer a planet, and let him know what's going on with the rebellion...And he stifles my progress in return? What?”

I threw a hand to my side, ”Why would he even do that? It doesn't make sense.”

Plazia tilted his head at me, ”You're quite surprised by this, but perhaps that's a matter of perspective. You're peering at a wolf. You know what it smells and sees. You know the softness of its fur and the ferocity in its eyes. You believe you know its nature, but you simply know of its form. Predicting it requires more than its mere body. You must know its mind.”

Plazia tapped the side of his helmet, ”To predict a being's actions, you must first dissect what it desires. Everything else falls into place thereafter. Schema, that all-knowing AI, doesn't want his populace to be strong. He wishes for them to be controlled, surely, but most of all, he wants sentients to be busy. There is a key difference in those intentions, and Schema's balanced everything to enable this control via distraction and rewards.”

I closed my eyes, calming myself down. I let my hands flop on my sides,

”So we're like rabbits chasing after carrots?”

Plazia peered down, deep in thought. He raised his hand a second later, ”Ah, yes...That analogy is fitting. You are on a track of false promises, a domain that appeals to surface-level senses but not the depths of your soul.”

I raised a brow, ”Huh...I agree with the first part. That second part is a bit of a stretch.”

Plazia waved a hand, ”It's a straightforward premise. Schema abuses your simple, primitive brain and its chemical responses to create an array of false positives. Numbers rise. Your brain signals a reward, and it manifests physically because of the system. This feeds the ego, ambition, and even engagement. It offers no true purpose, however.”

Plazia pressed his fingertips together, ”He masks these false positives within his system, nesting the reality behind false layers of information that he controls utterly. This prevents full awareness, and many within the track help create the diversions Schema wants. It sustains itself, a recursive cycle of mental enchainment.”

I furrowed my brow, ”That's...That's a lot to throw out there. I think this might apply to higher-level creatures, but for most people at a lower level, Schema's benevolent.”

Plazia sighed, ”We shall agree to disagree. The point stands for you regardless.”

I mulled over the conversation and the primordial roadblock. A part of me felt like an idiot for not realizing Schema's obstruction sooner, but another part felt betrayed. Schema crossed a line here, using my proximity with the system to his own ends. The system once acted as rope I could climb to the top. At this point, it mirrored chains that held me down. When Schema had flipped the script on me, I couldn't tell.

I simmered, ”You know, I thought Schema kept me in the system to feign allyship. It turns out he was keeping me connected to hold me down.” I furrowed my brow, ”But why let me have a class? And the level cap increases? It's so confusing.”

Plazia leaned his head onto a hand, ”He wants your power to stem from him, not yourself.”

I rubbed my temples before turning to Plazia. My eyes widened, ”Then...Then primordial mana is stronger than whatever the system can offer me now?”

Plazia stood up, raising an arm. A field passed over us, a gentle temporal dilation. It left no effect on me, but Plazia insect insides shivered and trembled inside of his carapace, ”This is time manipulation. It is primordial magic.”

Plazia flicked his fingers at different spots in our room. He spawned portals on a whim, ”This is warping. It is primordial magic.”

Plazia took a moment, the furnaces under his armor flaring to life. Primordial energy pooled into his entire body, his own skin glowing as mine did. Plazia growled out while snapping the power into a tiny space. Another warp appeared, this one leading into a starry portal. Plazia caught his breath before turning a hand to it,

”This...Is a pocket dimension I spawned...It...It is primordial magic as well.”

Plazia stumbled over towards his basalt throne. I watched as his body trembled after casting the magic, the hivemind needing time to recuperate. A few minutes passed, and he composed himself. Plazia stammered,

”Y-you are immune to these limitations...You are a dimension. None of this will phase you as it does we mortals...S-schema fears you for this, as you break the limits of the living. You are beyond us. You may one day be beyond him.”

I peered at the ground, ideas popping up for how to use the primordial magic. If I had temporal dilation, I could just create an intensely powerful aura over myself at all times. My lifespan rose without limit, assuming I could even die from something like old age at this point. Doubling the rate I experienced time doubled my mana regeneration, healing, speed, power, even my perception. That was just time magic alone.

If I hastened myself by a multiple of ten, I'd be unfathomable.

Warping carried lots of promise as well. It stopped someone from just throwing me into a vast void I could never escape from. It made me mobile, able to jump between worlds without needing any chauffeur. That let me extend my reach from the planetary to the galactic. I also wouldn't need Schema or Helios for warping anymore.

Creating a dimension may serve some future purposes, though focusing on ground-level abilities stuck out more to me. Time manipulation, in particular, seemed absurd. I looked up at Plazia, ”You know, I've needed primordial mana to make entropy, I think. It's a mana type I haven't been given access to yet, and this is probably why.”