My ArcaneEnergy is currently back up to 7.
I was definitely gettin' my normal strength and energy back now, but it seems it will still take some more precious time to fully recharge, time that I could, and should, be usin' to try and get another paying gig myself.
Goin' into another damn Gate right now, without first findin' a reliable way to significantly boost my baseline Stamina and Energy, will surely fuckin' lead to my certain death this time around.
But Daigo didn't have to needlessly waste his own valuable time waitin' around with me while I recovered.
So, I told him to go do his thing, that I'll be alright.
After he'd gone, I decided to use this quiet downtime to try and change some more things in the System, to understand it better.
So, I mentally summoned the main Interface screen and then selected the 'View' option.
*View
Highlight every entity: Off
Highlight only Arcane beings: Off
Highlight any entity that holds The Arcane or arcane energy: Off
Highlight nothing: On
Reflex Evolution Pod: On
The Voice: Off [An Aid. Grants knowledge, guidance and warnings. It will cost 2% Elixir more for each Level up]
I first turned on the 'Highlighteveryentity' option, and I immediately began to see translucent, holographic labels appearin' on absolutely everythin' around me.
The debris of that concrete wall I'd thrown earlier…
*[Item: Concrete wall (Debris)]
Grade: E
Category: Construction product (Damaged)
Mana: 0
Endurance: 20
A single, rusted nail lyin' on the floor beside me…
*[Item: Rusted nail]
Grade: -F
Category: Tool (Damaged)
Mana: 0
Endurance: 2
The two axes still resting in the holster I had placed on the ground near me…
*[Item: Viking throwing axe]
Grade: E
Category: Weapon
Mana: 130/150
Endurance: 170
Even a random Mercenary Guard that stood far away from me, currently talkin' to someone I couldn't quite see because a thick concrete pillar obstructed my view of that other person's face, had a tag.
*Profile
Name: [Unknown]
Nature: Evolve (Human)
For both of 'em.
And then, on the wall close to the guys talking…
*Profile
Name: [None]
Nature: Spider
Absolutely every damn thing around me was now tagged and labeled with these intrusive pop-ups.
Actually seein' all these holograms doesn't seem to physically obstruct my normal vision in any way, which is good, but this sheer volume of constant information was still way too much for me to comfortably handle or process effectively.
So, I immediately turned that particular option off again.
I now understood what 'Highlighteveryentity' actually meant.
It basically meant that a brief, summary profile is automatically tagged onto anythin' that the System considers to be a distinct 'object.'
And so, the second option, 'HighlightonlyArcane-beings,' should therefore mean that these profile tags would only be given to anythin' the System identifies as an Arcane being - Evolved human or Aggressor; so basically just living things.
And the last one, 'HighlightanythingthatholdsTheArcaneorarcaneenergy,' should then presumably give a similar holographic profile tag for both inanimate things and living beings, but only if they currently contain some measurable amount of arcane energy.
I then turned on that third option, and it was pretty much exactly like I'd guessed.
Things like my own arcane-infused axes, and all the other Mercenary-Guards that were hangin' around nearby, were now the only things that had these holographic profile tags attached to them.
I kinda liked this particular setting.
It gave me a much better, more immediate sense of how powerful other Arcane beings and various arcane weapons are relative to myself, so I decided I didn't want to turn this one off just yet.
Then, I scrolled down to the last option on the list, the one labeled 'The Voice'.
It didn't seem that immediately useful to me, not for its cost.
And that cost, while not too outrageously much right now, also wasn't exactly too fuckin' small or insignificant either, especially in the long run.
"An additional 2% Elixir cost for every single future Level up," I said quietly to myself, considerin' the implications.
'A mere 2% Elixir tax will probably be pretty small, almost negligible, for now, while I'm still at a low level.
But after some more time, when the Elixir cost to level up gets much higher, that 2% will eventually become a hell of a lot, a significant fuckin' chunk.
And for what, exactly? Just to give me some basic warnings… warnin's, huh?' I pondered, then something clicked.
That's when it fuckin' hit me.
I wasn't properly alerted at all by the System when my ArcaneEnergy was critically low, not even when it hit fuckin' 1 and I was about to collapse!
And I certainly couldn't just stop and check my own status screens when I was in the middle of a life-or-death fight.
Maybe this 'TheVoice' might not be quite as somewhat useless as I'd first assumed.
So, I decided to take a chance and activated it.
I then cancelled the 'View' screen.
After that, I tried to access the '?About' option in the main Interface screen again, but it still didn't respond, just like the last time I'd tried. Still locked, or unavailable.
So, I cancelled the Interface screen as well and then brought up the Codex again, mostly to check if I could actually buy any items now that I'd leveled up a bit more.
But my current level was, predictably, still far too low to unlock anythin' worthwhile there.
I mentally went through everythin' else I could think of, to see if I'd forgotten to do anythin' important, but there was nothin' else obvious.
My Elixirs count is currently at 496.
So, I shouldn't be expectin' to Level up again anytime too soon, not without a lot more killin'.
And though my Coins had increased slightly, up to 21 now, I still couldn't really buy anythin' particularly useful with that paltry amount, at least not for now.
So, I just decided to relax as much as possible and patiently waited for my ArcaneEnergy to be fully restored on its own.
I definitely did not dare to actually fall asleep again, not if I didn't want all my weapons, and my bag, to be fuckin' stolen while I was out.
After several more long, boring hours of just sittin' there, resting and observin' the dregs of the mall, I suddenly heard a new, unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, voice that said clearly in my mind:
"[Arcane Energy is now fully restored]"
…and the truly weird fuckin' thing was, the voice sounded exactly like my own mother's.
Which caught me completely off guard, makin' me instantly start to seriously question the true nature of this mysterious System I now possessed.
The voice was definitely, unmistakably, my mother's, her exact tone and inflection.
But it also sounded completely indifferent, strangely detached, and utterly lacked any of her usual warmth or emotion in its tone.
'Why the fuck does it sound just like Mama?!' I seriously, deeply pondered, a chill runnin' down my spine.
"Everythin' that comes from a Gate is always said to originate from some other, alien world.
So, it doesn't make any goddamn sense why this System would have my own mother's voice as its default.
I was so fuckin' caught up in what it can do for me, all the power it promises, that I didn't even bother to stop and ask myself the most basic fuckin' questions… Where did this System actually come from? And who, or even what, could have possibly made it?" I said aloud to myself, my voice barely a whisper in the quiet, abandoned space.
'This System, it has a lot of undeniable similarities to those old video games people used to play, which clearly meant it probably had some kind of intelligent maker, a creator, or creators,' I thought about it logically for a while longer, until I finally reached a pragmatic, if somewhat uneasy, conclusion.
'Ultimately, it doesn't really fuckin' matter who, or what, actually made it.
I have it now, whether that happened purely by some random, cosmic luck, or if it was somehow intentionally given to me.
What really, truly matters right now is what this System can actually do for me – it can grant me real power, it can bring me potential wealth, and it can earn me the kind of fuckin' respect I've never had.
That's truly all that fuckin' matters to me in the end, isn't it?' I concluded, pushing aside the unsettling questions for now.
I could not possibly just get all the complex answers I seek simply by sittin' here and thinkin' about it; what the hell do I really know about anythin' this big, anyway?
Can someone like me, an overgrown scum from the slum, really ever hope to figure out the true, underlying nature of such a powerful, mysterious System?
I shouldn't try to deceive myself into thinkin' that a low-life like me can ever truly understand the mind, or the motives, of its unknown maker.
I have this power now, that's the reality.
So, instead of askin' a bunch of pointless, unanswerable fuckin' questions, I should just fuckin' use this System to finally give me what I have always, desperately wanted… Real, undeniable Power.
I stood up decisively, my resolve hardened, and walked back outside into the throng, joinin' the restless, milling crowd of other Mercenary-Guards, all of whom were similarly, desperately, struggling to be selected for any available paying gig.
Since it was now around 3 AM, deep in the morning, actual recruiters were currently as scarce as clean, drinkable water in this part of the city.
But, after some persistent effort, I eventually managed to get myself another gig, one that was depressingly similar in nature to the last shitty one I'd barely survived.