Chapter 87: Lingering Mystery

10 minutes ago...

"Is this... the other side... of my story?"

[No Marcus...]

Another familiar voice echoed behind him.

[This is your hidden memory... this is what in reality, happened]

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"Eh? Who are you?"

Marcus inquired, swirling his body around and stabilizing his gaze at a strong man... a man around his size.

The robust man before him wore clothes that were synonymous with his. He also had a mask donned which appeared to drape a pretty familiar face.

"Huh?"

Marcus was soon taken aback when he recognized the details flowing on the red mask. It was none other than his mask... his Oni mask.

As if answering back to his concern, the man before Marcus shifted his hand towards his mask, without moving from his place.

Marcus watched him -- he watched him remove his mask slowly -- he watched his handsome face smile back at him -- a smile which was weirdly a charitable smile.

"Hello, Marcus..."

The man before him bowed.

"I... I am sorry. This never should've happened... THIS NEVER SHOULD'VE HAPPENED!!!... After all the trouble I took to hide this"

"I am sorry Marcus -- forgive me... please forgive me for the suffering I'll have to put you through."

His phrases were lances that perforated Marcus -- they astounded him. Not because of the gravity the man's utterance held, relatively there was nothing in his proclamation that found Marcus's comprehension capacity.

What stunned Marcus was the entire existence of the man before him itself. The man's face, his features, the before him was none other than...

"Why... Why do you look like me??"

"WHY ARE YOU...ME??"

What appalled him was the man in front of him. The man, looked precisely like him as if he was his mirror reflection, the outlines matched faultlessly as if proving it.

The man defended his sympathetic smile.

"I am your system"

".........."

"I am the Cheat system Marcus"

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"System? What am I doing here?"

Marcus asked once he got hold of himself. He didn't know why his system was outside his body but the system as well didn't know itself.

The system didn't know the cause but it sure knew the reason.

"It was triggered by him, that blue haired man, Raka"

"What do you mean system??. What did he do?. Tell me WHERE THE FUCK I AM?"

Marcus whirled towards the weeping boy before him.

"AND WHO IS THIS BOY?"

"Listen to me Marcus... please calm down. Right now the only thing I want you to do is to remain calm."

The system's voice which was the same as his begged Marcus. Marcus somehow felt that something big was about to happen. Staying calm like his system asserted would only do him good and he admitted it.

Marcus breathed in a huge whiff. The smell the oxygen carried somehow felt vaguely familiar to him.

"Okay, I'm calm... Now tell me what's going on"

"Hm. Marcus, I want you to listen to me"

"Right now we are inside your memory"

"That's it?. I thought something else was about to..."

"SHUT UP FOR A SECOND AND LISTEN TO ME!"

The system roared.

Marcus went still, he was taken aback by how serious the system sounded.

"I am sorry Marcus, even though I was the one to ask you to be calm."

"No problem, go on"

He replied, his voice wavering with tension.

"It is true we are inside your memory... but this memory was not supposed to be recalled"

Marcus nodded, thinking back to how enraged his system had got when he interrupted it before. This time he made sure he listened to the system wholly.

"Every warrior that performs in the Guardian Trials are provided with a system, a system which is -- competent and convenient with the 'Seed' the warrior has -- "

"And It is our duty that we look after our user's physical state as well as 'mental state'."

"I don't know my origin, I was suddenly born inside your mind space and was injected with millions of data and knowledge. Particularly a set of rules which I, even if it was fatal, had to follow."

"And those same rules gave me a set of powers which I could use against my user"

"One of them being the electrical zaps... the ability to zap my user bestowed me with the power to regulate and govern my user from steering towards an erroneous path"

Marcus remembered it, of course, he remembered the multiple times he was zapped for silly matters like craving for elves? When was that an erroneous path?

'No' Marcus shook his head, now was not the time to act like a kid, he thought. He was sure the system was about to shatter one out of the millions of mysteries this world hauled, and he knew he had to be prepared to contend with whatever was coming.

"...but your genius was way above my comprehension proficiency that you found a way to negate it"

"What am I even saying?... negate???. you friggin created the way to manipulate it"

The System chuckled, but its face was still donned with worry.

Marcus yet again recollected the knowledge which the system implied. Before the battle with his 'current' guild members, he had thought of using his skill for his good. It was then when he learned the skill named 'ELEMENTAL ABSORPTION' which was able to counter the electric zap.

"But that would only make me joyous because, if I tap into my wisdom, I was the very first to have my user able to come with a solution to counter my system powers."

"And that's also the reason why I am expecting you to counter what's about to happen"

The system's eyes were as alive as they could be when it teared up. Marcus caught a glimpse of them trembling but the system, clenching his teeth, wiped them off.

"Just like the power to zap my user, I have the power to refrain experiences... mental experiences or it's better to say memories"

"The memories I can suppress has to be over a limit which could, in the long run, pose a threat to the user and his or her health."

"As a system, The memories I can suppress are those which could inflict huge episodes of trauma and shock to the user"

"And... it pains me to say this but right now, you are inside one of them... No! you are inside the only memory I had to restrain!!"

"From the vast knowledge, I have about the previous users and my ancestral systems, it's the second time... the second time the system was forced to sever the refrain"

"Stop right there!. Do you mean there was another guardian? who went through whatever I'm inside of right now?"

Marcus halted his system. His inquisitiveness had blasted through the ceiling once the system started talking about the previous user.

"Yes Marcus, I can confirm it's accurate"

"Ah... If my guess is right, then from what you've said, I must be inside my memory right?... The memory which was restrained??"

"Sadly, Yes"

"Then what happened to him??... or her?"

"If you were asking about the previous user, then with a heavy heart I would have to inform you that..."

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"Her system self destructed along with her...."

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