Chapter 10: Versys

A large holographic screen appeared before Rein's eyes. In large title letters, it read "Inverse Systemー tap anywhere to continue".

"Argh, guess it doesn't work after all. Sorry kid, you can pack up and head to bed. We can try something else in the morning." Said Voron in disappointment, making Rein question if he was the only one seeing it.

"Huh? You don't see it? A screen just appeared right here!" Rein said as he gestures around the menu.

"Yeah you really need to bed, you're hallucinating now… unless… you're the only one who can see it! What does the screen say!" Said Voron, realizing that the stone tablet worked.

"It says..." He looked at the title, seeing that it said the words Inverse System.

"It says 'tap anywhere to continue'" Rein said, deliberately leaving out the first part.

"Facsinating... Go ahead and tap it, see if it tells you anything about your Spring," Voron instructed.

Rein lifted his finger and tapped the screen, transitioning it to a screen with 4 different tabs. "Stats", "Springs", "Skills", and "Inventory". He tapped on the stats tab, revealing his speed, strength, defense, and intellect. Scanning the screen, he almost fell out of his chair when he saw his level.

"Level 34?!" Rein thought in his mind, surprised by the amount of power his newly acquired power had amassed.

"What is it? Did you figure something out?!" Voron shouted, clearly used to the soundproof room that his daughter had set up.

"What's this? Wasn't I supposed to be level 1?" He thought. A warped smile grew on his face when he realized that those Orthlys soldiers he killed fueled his power. He hysterically laughed, his anger making the ground rumble, just as it did before.

"Hahahaha..! Does killing those worthless scumbag pieces of shit give me this much strength? Well then, so be it… I'll slaughter every one of those shitty nobles." He declared in his mind as the ground began to shake, bringing him into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Calm down kid. Don't let your anger get to you. Saphrillas room is soundproof, not tremor-proof. Now, tell me what you see," Consoled Voron, putting down his pen and notebook to pat Rein's shoulder. Rein took deep breaths, calming his anger.

"Sorry… I lost control for a bit," Rein put his hands on his head, calming himself down.

"It's alright. It's better than bottling it all in. Anyways, I'm dying of anticipation here, what'd you see?" Asked Voron, which Rein raised an eyebrow at.

He didn't know what information would be okay to divulge, so he carefully mentioned that he saw his vitals and physical stats.

"Physical stats?! That's amazing, it's just like some sort of game! Ah, I used to play it so much when I was a boy... What was it called, 'Domains and Dragonbornes'?" Voron reminisced, Rein recognizing what game he was talking about.

He looked back at his stats and found them to be similar to the game, which he played with some of the other village kids occasionally.

"If I remember correctly, doing various activities boosts your powers in that game. Maybe it's the same for you. Tell me your stats so that I can write them down here, and we'll try different activities tomorrow to see if you get stronger," Voron proposed, Rein thinking that it was a reasonable course of action.

"Health: 340/340

Energy: 170/170

Speed: 68.2

Strength: 70.7

Defense: 65.0

Intellect: 117.8"

Voron jotted them all down, and when he finished, he ripped the paper out of the notebook and gave it to Rein.

"Keep that on you and refer back to it when you feel any changes. Let's go to sleep now. I need you to carefully pay attention to every action you make, and keep a list to this paper with what action you did and what stat it changed," explained Voron.

"Got it… By the way, where am I sleeping?"

"Where else? I have an extra mattress in my room. I hope you don't mind my snoring though."

They arrived in Voron's room, which was surprisingly tidy, considering the mess in the work area. The room consisted of a mattress on the ground, a chair with a tidy pile of books under it, and a closet, which Voron got an extra mattress and a change of clothes for Rein. As soon as the old man hit the mattress, he went to sleep, but surprisingly, there was no snoring. Rein sighed from relief and lay down on the mattress. He slowly drifted into a deep sleep…

"Hey!! Wake up!!" Rein heard a voice, and when he opened his eyes, all he saw was white.

He was back in the dream world. However, something was different this time. Someone else was there. As he looked around, he saw a boy with black hair and red eyes staring at him. The boy wasn't wearing any clothes, but he didn't have any private parts. His whole body was pure beige, and his face looked nearly identical to Reins.

"You finally summoned me! Ugh, it was getting really tiring being that robotic voice explaining stuff to you. Finally, I'm free!" Yelled the boy, stretching his limbs.

"Who the hell are you? What happened to the voice I was talking to last time?" Asked Rein.

"I am the voice, silly! The name's Versys. Get it? It's 'Inverse System' but combined. Pretty clever right?" Said the boy cheerfully.

"So… You're my System?"

"Yessir!"

"Why are you here?"

"I wanna be your friend! See, I wasn't myself last time because you hadn't summoned your menu yet. Now, we can freely talk! Anything you wanna ask me?" Rein was too dumbfounded to think of an actual question, so he just went back to sleep.

"Hey!! Come back! You're wasting precious sleeping time! I can only appear this vividly when you're sleeping and when you're using me you know! Of course, you can still talk to me when you're awake, but where's the fun if we can't see each other?!" Panicked Versys frantically.

"Fine, we'll start there. How exactly do I summon you?" Asked Rein, sitting back up from his sleeping act.

"That one's easy! There are two conditions that I'll come out with. One, if I, or you, is really really angry. The second way is to summon me by saying my name 'Versys'. Once I'm summoned, all you need to do is touch someone, and I'll turn their power upside down!" Remarked Versys enthusiastically.

"I see… That's why you came out back in Lifah. My second question is, what are you." Rein asked, staring Versys dead in his red eyes.

"Ahh, now that one I don't know. Most of my general knowledge is based on what you know. I lost all of my previous memories. Yet, that Core guy you linked with, when he told you about your power, I felt like a part of my memory was unlocked. If you obtain knowledge that directly relates to my memory, I think I'll be able to connect the dots," affirmed Versys in a confident, yet somehow unsure tone.

"So the reason I instantly believed him was that you unlocked some of your prior knowledge… Wait, you said I linked with him? What does that mean?" He questioned.

"Did I say that? Oh yeah, I did. Huh, I don't know why..." Said Versys, scratching his head trying to remember.

*krrrrrrrr*

"Uhh, Versys, do you need to use the restroom?"

"Whaaa!? You think Systems go potty? That was probably you!" Retaliated Versys while blushing.

*krrrrrrrr*

"It was even louder that time," said Rein as he blinked, replacing the white void with a grey ceiling. He turned over, looking at Voron, who was sleeping.

*KRRrrrrr*

"Oh, he's snoring..." He thought, slightly annoyed.

He checked the clock and noticed that it was 3:30 am. 3 hours had passed. He whispered "menu" and checked his stats. No changes from the previous night. He tried going back to sleep but to no avail. Voron's snores were far too loud. Fed up, he decided to leave the room and sleep on the couch, closing the door behind him to get silence, but the sound was still seeping through.

As he lay down on the couch, he felt cold as he did not bring the blanket he had when he was in the room. He contemplated going back into the room to get it but decided that he'd rather freeze to death than enter that room again.

Hearing the faint sounds of Voron's snoring, he drifted to sleep despite his cold. This time, he didn't meet Versys in his sleep.

"Hey!! Wake up, Rein! Breakfast is ready!" It was Emria this time. He sat up, still shivering from sleeping on the couch. He didn't get his hopes up, but he still checked his menu, expecting to see a "Cold" status effect. His stats read:

Health: 340/340

Energy: 170/170

Speed: 68.2

Strength: 70.7

Defense: 65.1

Intellect: 117.8

He looked back at the paper Voron wrote:

Health: 340/340

Energy: 170/170

Speed: 68.2

Strength: 70.7

Defense: 65.0

Intellect: 117.8

"My defense went up!"