As we all finally get some of our energy back after having to deal with Lucadon I have us begin by searching the temple as a group, ignoring the cube for now. I would have us split up, but doing so would be colossally stupid, something I never understood in any show or movie I watched. Who enters a dangerous place then leaves their backup behind?

  Walking through the winding hallways, the more I look around the more confused I become. From the outside the building seems to be almost Roman in design, but on the inside I can only see it as a modern military base from earth. Metal railings along the large catwalks surrounding the cube, a concrete floor leading through hallways full of conference rooms and barracks. It just doesn’t make sense.

  My confusion continues to mount as we explore the empty rooms when Randall just makes things worse. “You know, the design of the outside of the building seems rather similar to the buildings in The Divine Theocracy now that I think about it.” I end up freezing in place as I hear this.

  The outside of the building looked Roman if I were to point at anything specific. Thinking about it I was brought here from earth, so why couldn’t someone else be?

  What if… “Hey Randall, did the Theocracy have any Heroes influence their history in any way?” I am really not sure if I am asking that right, but I assume he gets the gist of it as he promptly answers that the theocracy did in fact have a lot of history with a Hero long ago. Almost two thousand years ago to be exact. The man helped found the country, and after a bit of probing of our local paladin, I learned that the Hero had come from what was undoubtedly Rome if my basic education from highschool holds any water.

  It is a funny image to think of, a roman getting isekaied. I wonder if it was anyone important? Not letting my silly thoughts distract me from the issue at hand, I interrogate Randall more about his country's history.

  “Why is that important?” Despite being happy to give a history lesson on his country, Randall is confused as to the exact meaning behind my questions. “It is very simple. If I have my math right then that Hero’s appearance would match up with the history I know of in my world. But then comes the problem, this temple should, according to Alice, predate the Theocracy by several millennia. And yet… the inside does not match the exterior at all.”

  Picking our way through every single room in the ancient ruin I explain my thoughts to the others. That the temple matches far too closely to designs from Ancient Rome which would make sense with the two thousand year gap, but only if we are talking about the Theocracy and not this temple. And more importantly, that the insides look so anachronistic with its modern architecture and then lean into sci-fi with the magic cube thing.

  All I get is a bunch of blank looks from everyone but Agera, so I resign myself to explaining my issue with the temple. “What I am saying is that this place makes no sense. I just don’t understand the mashup of time periods. And another thing is the strange winding of the hallways, specifically the main entrance. I can’t think of a reason to make the paths so complicated.” It just feels weird, and something about it feels important but I can’t put my finger on it. Like a gnawing sensation in the back of my mind telling me I forgot something I never knew.

  Eventually after checking every inch of the building and finding nothing, we make our way back to the cube. The large humming block of black and gold rattling our insides without causing a single tremor in the rest of the building. As soon as I approach it, the metal surface splits open and rearranges the obsidian structure to form a set of stairs leading right to my feet. “Well, there is only one place I think we can get any answers.” Sighing, I lead the others inside.

  As we make our way into the pitch black room that stays steeped in darkness thicker than the third ring, I send out a pulse of light magic only to get nothing back. The atmosphere eating up my magic like it is nothing. Undeterred, I quickly step through the veil of shadow and find a room I am not familiar with. Before I was met with the empty alchemy-like lab that housed the chair to disconnect Alice and myself from The System.

  This time, I found another strangely modern room, something like a conference room or maybe closer to a command center, with the same sleek adamantite walls lit up with glowing gold runes. In the back is what looks to be screens made of shifting mist and all around the center table are conveniently just enough chairs for everyone currently in the room. No one is brave enough to sit in them though.

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  Before I can get a good look at anything, more mist rises up from the center of the table and forms the upper half of an androgynous humanoid that seems to blend the features of every race. A thin face with long flowing hair, ears half as long as an elfs and slightly pointed, chiseled stony arms that would look more natural on a dwarf, and a cloak made of mist draped over what seems to be a simple robe. “Greetings Administrator. How may I be of assistance?” In a constantly shifting voice that changes with every word, the projection looks directly at me with its empty gaze.

  Right, I kind of forgot I was made the owner or whatever the last time I was here. Dealing with all the crap Lucadon put me through kind of makes such details get lost in the noise.

  Shaking off thoughts of the annoying demon, I focus on trying to get as much information out of the projection as possible. I take a step forward before asking the first of many questions. “Hey, what can you tell me about how this temple is constru-” Only to let Lucadon’s words echo in my mind. “Actually, wait no. What is the magic that The System was created with?”

  The projection does not display any emotion, clearly being a rather bare bones construct that is not capable of independent thought. “That information is unknown. The System’s creator was known to possess two types of magic but the resulting evolution when they reached Class 5 was never recorded. Such evolutions are often unpredictable and thus no theories made can be relied upon.”

  Now I am suddenly curious what kind of data it has on mixing magics. I know I may be getting off track but Lucadon seemed to suggest figuring out what kind of magic was used after my own evolution, so having more data may help me figure out what they were talking about sooner. “Can you give me any information on the evolutions you do know of?” I know it is a long shot considering how rare having multiple magics is supposed to be, but I still need to ask.

  Surprisingly, the projection had three examples to share which was far more than I was expecting. Of the known examples the first is a combination of blade magic and fire magic, when the mage reached Class 5 they were known to be able to cut through reality itself and burn away at the soul. As for what exactly that means, the projection was unclear. The second example was of death magic mixing with divination magic. The resulting magic allowed the caster to dictate the fates of others. Something that is rather terrifying when you consider the death magic in the mix.

  Finally, the last example was of blood magic and healing magic. It seemed to evolve into a rather powerful ability that could force people to stay alive no matter what. The mage who wielded it could apparently be blown to bits and come out fine, making me wonder if they are still alive today.

  Most of these are only known because the mages who wielded them were so powerful and affected quite a bit of history making them well known across the world. Or, at least well known before whatever it is that wiped out most records of the time before The System. The mixing of magics clearly can lead to some powerful changes when a person reaches Class 5, which leads me to asking what exactly were the magics that The System’s creator had.

  “Dream and time magic.”

  As the projection speaks I feel a shiver run down my spine. Damn, well that explains why the mental charms had no effect on The System’s interference. Dream mages can still mess with a person’s mind, but in a more complex manner.

  As far as I know there are at least a few skills capable of blocking dream magic, but I doubt they will be of any use against the evolved magic. As for the time magic, I believe I am starting to get a better picture of things. The System’s creator created The System after they were stopped from performing some kind of action that forced the world to band together to block all advanced technology. One thing I can imagine scaring the whole world would be messing with time on a large scale.

  But then I still don’t understand what The System is for. If it was just a way to make people kill each other then I could maybe accept it, but this person who made The System was powerful enough to endanger the whole world, I doubt something as petty as that could be the reason they made the damned thing.

  Think! Think! What would I do if whatever I was using got blocked?

  Why block technology of all things anyway? And Alice said a major part of that was blocking things like magically created radiation, so what was the point?

  I almost lose my balance as I have a terrible thought.

  Shit.

  The human mind makes for great back up processors, and the soul makes for a great energy source… That or…

  Or maybe The System is something much worse than just a means of collecting resources, maybe it’s a ritual.

  Some rituals require sacrifices after all, and The System has been collecting them for thousands of years.

  “Fuck, I am in no way prepared to deal with either of those magics, let alone whatever the evolved mixture is… If any of my theories are right then I just kicked myself right off the deep end.” Muttering curses to myself as the others just stand stiff at the revelation I decide to start asking the rest of the questions I have for the cube’s strange interface.