Chapter 27: The Empero Game, Part Two
The fog was so dense that visibility ended at three meters. Each tree was identical to the last. Nothing but leafless black trunks.
"And now?" I said into the void.
[🤭]
Do you have something to tell me to help, or do you just come to mock me? I asked the System.
[Have you not noticed the experience points I've given you?]
Is that all you'll tell me?
[You think they're just for decoration? That's all I'll say. 😉]
I sighed.
In The Throne of Ashes and Thorns, the original Dariel's Empero level was rather mediocre. So relying on my base Empero quantity to fight was out of the question.
I could only depend on my ingenuity. On how well I used my meager Empero in combination with my ability.
"Shine!" I said again into the void.
And just like the time I tried against Layda, it didn't work. Perhaps it was because I didn't believe something should shine in a darkness someone else created? My conviction lacked the weight to give power to the word.
Walking among the trees, each step sank into soft earth and echoed across the artificial ground.
Vauxol had said his Empero was conceptual. And the way he used it reminded me of Layda's.
But my real doubt was that he never manifested it as an aura. All the Empero I'd seen him use came from the contents of that little jar, which he then applied to one of his fingers to use as paint.
Do conceptual Emperos require more specific steps to function?
If so, then I had to find mine.
The Writer's Empero.
As a literature student, I had to write until I couldn't feel my hands, and read until my eyes burned and grew so heavy that sleep claimed me.
Looking at my Empero manifested around me, I noticed it was black. It reminded me of ink, of the color of words in a book.
Perhaps I could mold it?
I tried.
I imagined the word 'sun'. Simple, easy to visualize.
The black smoke condensed in front of me, molding itself until it formed the three letters in the air.
Something was missing.
The sun didn't just announce the day and burn. It was also the king of celestial bodies, the central axis of the universe.
The word 'sun' in front of me started to move, and I could feel a faint heat emanating from it, but it lasted barely a second.
A failure, yes, but at least this time it did something.
I was doing something wrong... but I didn't know exactly what.
Could you lend me a hand? I asked the System.
[🤭]
You're the most useless System I've ever seen, you know that?
[If I give you everything you ask for, the fun ends. You'll have to earn everything yourself.]
Then what do I even have you for?
[Your life is nothing more than a blink compared to all the time the universe has existed. Do you know how boring eternity is? From time to time we must find something to pass the time with, lest we lose our sanity.]
The Harem System's satirical and sarcastic tone had shifted with that message. Besides, what was that about 'we'? Wait, were there other entities like it? What kind of world was this? And what was my true purpose in all of this?
What are you? I asked the System.
[🤐]
At least this time it had told me a lot. The exact information I needed right now, perhaps not, but it could serve me later, when things spiraled out of control and my Lianza's life hung by a thread.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
An hour had passed trying to discover why I couldn't use my Empero's ability. The most I managed was molding my Empero to create the word 'water' and making it damp to the touch. For the rest, all attempts were in vain.
My Empero was already running low, and the forest apparently remained intact: nothing in it had changed.
Besides, Professor Vauxol hadn't spoken another word.
Touching the earth, then a tree, I fanned my hands to better feel the fog.
Everything felt too real. It was incredible what could be achieved with Empero.
Perhaps I could achieve something similar? Mold reality to this level?
My reserves were already scarce. Only one attempt remained; after that, I'd probably pass out... which would mean losing this round.
Losing was out of the question. Not when Lianza's fate hung in the balance.
Nodding to myself, I reviewed one last time.
Conceptual Emperos naturally used concepts to function. Layda's, although I didn't know its name, did something very similar to giving and taking concepts from the things she crossed out. I was sure it was much more complex than that, but broadly speaking, that was her ability.
On the other hand, Professor Vauxol's manifested what he painted.
For my part, the word 'water' I had created was damp because that was its natural property. The word 'sun' was also slightly warm when I touched it.
That was when I realized.
The sun was supposed to shine and burn, but I was giving it the order to do so. Creating the word alone fell short; I had to write its function.
Alright, first of all, I had to find a way to deal with the fog. I imagined the word 'absorb'.
Just imagining it already fell short, I knew that much. So, with everything I'd analyzed, I reached a conclusion:
'You will absorb like a vacuum all the fog that surrounds you. You will only stop when you have consumed all my Empero to function.'
The word 'absorb' started to spin, and all the fog moved in its direction.
Good! It was working.
My reserves were at critical levels, so I had to act.
With the terrain clearer, I looked around, searching for Professor Vauxol.
Seconds passed, then minutes.
And when the last thread of fog within a kilometer radius dissipated, I managed to see the horizon... empty. No trace of Vauxol. No footprints in the soft earth. Nothing.
I had expected to bump into his chair, his desk, to find him waiting for me somewhere in his office.
Cursing, I realized the truth of things.
Professor Vauxol wasn't here. He never had been. Most likely, that voice had been pre-recorded somehow along with the drawing he made.
I was alone, in the middle of nowhere, with no Empero reserves left.