Universe's End

"Alright, where am I?" Rory questioned the strange galaxy being. "And who are you, like, really?"

"You are deep within your mind, a mental construct one may refer to as the Ascension Realm."

"Generic name, but okay. And you are?"

"I am the personification of the System in a form your mind can comprehend."

"Why'd you call me father?"

"The System determined that humans can better cope with potentially mentally stressful situations when 'humor' is injected. As you are the one responsible for the existence of the System, it was determined that an attempt at humor by referring to Precursor Rowan as 'father' would be potentially viewed as humorous."

"Right, well, can't say I saw that one coming." Rory sighed, grabbing the chair on his side of the table and pulling it out before dropping onto it. "So, what, are you some sort of 'world spirit' like Aelia?"

"No." The strange galaxy being shook its head. "The world spirit you know as Aelia is a proper living existence of the macro-verse What you see before you is neither alive nor an individual. This is simply a form given to communicate in a way determined to be both easiest to understand and least taxing on the mind."

"Fair enough." Rory nodded, taking it in stride. "So, why exactly is the System invading my inner mind?"

"The System is intimately interwoven with all living beings; therefore, it cannot invade what it already occupies within."

"Being told that some vast, unfeeling System is residing within my mind could be rather off-putting."

"Hence, why communication is being utilized in a method which is determined to be least potentially dangerous or harmful for long-term development."

"Well, at the very least, you sure do talk like some cosmic AI."

"AI: Artificial Intelligence. The System is neither Artificial nor considered a proper intelligence, therefore-"

"Never mind." Rory shook his head, interrupting the System from elaborating further. "Let's go back to the initial question. Why exactly are you here?"

"With the first proper Ascension, System possibilities become available. As Precursors, there is a need for explanation that cannot be found elsewhere due to the nature of your circumstances."

"Precursor. You mean like the Vocation title I have?"

"In essence. It is a grade of Vocation only obtainable through special methods."

"Such as, let me guess, being some of the first intelligent life around?"

"That is one potential avenue."

"Alright, seems logical. So, you're here to explain things that otherwise we'd have no way to know?"

"Correct."

"Then go on." Rory waved at the strange System avatar to continue.

"As the Architect has noticed already, ascension provides a direct route for improvement and evolution of nearly all things, and the possibility of improvement that mundane methods or understandings could never replicate or match."

"Wait, so if I were to dump enough ascension energy into my walls, I could get walls stronger than steel just like that?"

"Correct, though clarification is required. Steel, as you understand it, is not a concept within this macro-verse but rather an archaic Pre-Collapse terminology. Similar materials exist, but as the material makeup of atomic-scale structures differs-"

"Got it, got it. Technically, steel doesn't exist anymore, but I'm still going to call whatever is closest to steel, steel, though."

"Terminology adaptation acceptable."

"That aside, what do you mean by 'Collapse'?"

"Collapse: Reference to the event in which the pre-System universe web structure was forcibly fused, leading to the current macro-verse being born."

"Did the System name that, or did someone else decide to give it that name?"

"Your secondary assumption is correct. The Spear of the Precursors assigned the name, which the System has since adopted as official terminology as it fits all acceptable metrics."

Spear of the Precursors? Damn, someone got a cooler-sounding Vocation than I did.

"So, back to what you were saying?"

"Ascension provides a method of evolution and improvement; in non-living aspects, this generally results in function or quality improvement. As a living being, proper Ascension evolutions take a different form."

"What, do I get stats?" Rory questioned, half joking.

"Stats: Generalized term for Pre-Collapse 'game' data which-"

"You don't need to define every single thing." Rory sighed. "As I said, I'm confident I already know what it is."

"Based on the Architect's definition of 'stats,' then no, the System does not contain such things."

Oh, bummer.

"Due to the inconsistent and unreliable nature of formulating and defining personal capabilities through numerical display, 'stats' do not exist, but attribute evolutions and growth as a non-numeric display are components of Ascension growth."

"So… Stats, just without the numbers?"

"Assessment fits within acceptable bounds."

The System avatar waved a hand, and hovering over the table, several words appeared, as if the display interface he'd grown accustomed to was unnecessary for the System itself, which could project information directly.

"Ascension resource basics: Durability, Growth, Cognition, Flexibility, Strength, Pneuma."

"Wait, let me take a jab at these. Durability seems straightforward; it's how tough you are. With enough durability, could one become bulletproof? And before you say it, I'm aware bullets no longer exist as we remember them."

"Correct."

Relief flooded Rory. With how strong simple rabbit monsters were, the thought of proper monsters and how strong they could potentially be had left him wondering how one could ever hope to survive an encounter.

"Alright, so durability is straightforward, and I'm guessing strength is also. It's how much force a muscle can generate."

"Correct."

"Are there limitations?"

"No, aside from the limitations of bodily mechanics themselves."

Rory frowned at the phrasing before it came to him a second later.

Oh, duh.

"If you put too much stock into strength, your body will tear itself apart if it doesn't have some measure of durability as well?"

"Assessment is deemed accurate."

"Same thing with flexibility, I assume. Suppose you can run and punch through steel and all that jazz. In that case, you probably want your tendons capable of withstanding it, so that's where flexibility comes in?"

"Correct, in a general sense."

Rory was beginning to understand how the stats worked. It was a surprisingly logical and non-magical foundation that one had to understand, lest one's body be torn apart every time they tried to move if they over-invested in strength, for example.

"So, I got those… I'll be honest, though, I'm not sure I have even an idea about the rest. Is cognition how smart you are?"

"No."

Rory frowned. He hadn't been expecting to be wrong. Closing his eyes, he thought for several moments before he snapped two fingers, realization dawning upon him.

"It's signal speed. If you could run fast as a speeding bullet or punch through not-steel, the signals of the mind and body need to be capable of moving fast enough to keep up."

"Functionally correct."

"So, while it may not make you smarter, it will allow you to think faster. Whether your thoughts are correct or not is inconsequential."

"Explanation is considered accurate. Intelligence gains are still personal achievements obtained through study or personal experiences."

"You can still be wrong, but wrong faster." Rory snorted before shaking his head. "Alright, well, the last two are stumping me completely. Growth and Pneuma? I'm assuming Growth isn't merely how tall you can grow."

"Correct."

Rory leaned back, feeling like he was being subjected to a pop quiz.

"Well, I can't come up with anything," Rory said after another minute of silence. "So, fill me in."

"Pneuma is the essence of energy manipulation-"

"Oh. Magic." Rory interrupted.

"Understanding is basic, and details are lacking, but the core concept is accurate. Is further explanation required?"

"Uhm, maybe? How do you even do magic?"

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"Such answers are not System-dependent in determining."

Meaning it's something that I can reasonably expect to figure out myself.

"Alright, then, answer me this at least. Does Pneuma refer to the strength of the magic or how much magic you can use?"

"Both."

Well, that doesn't answer anything.

Rory considered quizzing the System-Avatar further, but instinct said he was unlikely to learn any specifics of how magic worked.

"So… growth?"

"Growth: Singular merit-demerit attribute."

"Merit-demerit? What the hell does that mean?"

"Growth functions as an attribute modifier. Increased Growth improves attribute density, reduces immediate ascension speed, and limits immediate attribute potential."

"So… that… come again?"

Realizing words weren't cutting it, the galaxy-filled avatar waved a hand as a chart of all things appeared.

"Numerical values are for explanation purposes only, as there are-

"No actual numerical values involved; yeah, I got it," Rory said dismissively, looking over the chart. The first row was labelled 'ascension requirements' and seemed to detail… something. It took Rory a moment to realize that it was following the same pattern that he had noticed himself, the first Ascension requiring ten 'points, the next requiring one hundred, and each increasing by a factor of ten. What the unit of measurement meant was irrelevant, as it made it clear that each Ascension required ten times as much energy as the last. Beneath the first row was a second row labeled 'Attribute density,' starting from zero and increasing by one hundred, all the way to a maximum of twenty-five hundred.