Chapter 166: The USDCA Meeting (Part-2)
I almost refuse to believe my eyes. There are seven out of the ten most powerful beings present here in this room, and all of them are submissively bowing their heads to a bunch of people in black cloaks.
…
Are they imposters!? Did they bring me to a freaking cult gathering or something!?
That possibility of someone impersonating these super-beings is far more believable than what I am seeing right now. But then again, I cannot deny the fact that I can feel that this is real. The very air in this room is vibrating from the sheer power these people are giving off. They cannot fake that.
As I try to make sense of what’s happening, the newly arrived people start to sit down on the empty chairs. And although I cannot see their face due to the hoods (much less their eyes), I can somehow tell that all of them are looking at me.
[Holy shit… no wonder…]
What?
[Later.]
After a few seconds of silence, the person sitting directly in front of me— behind whom Queen Ilsevel and Meira are standing— speaks up in a strong and authoritative but clearly feminine voice.
“As you might’ve guessed already, this is the USDCA meeting. And as for the reason why you’re here— well, you will know about that in a minute,” she tells me.
“But first, let me make one thing clear to you, boy. Anything and everything that you’re going to see and hear henceforth is strictly confidential. Except for the people present here, you are not allowed to discuss it with anyone. Not with your family. Not with your friends. Nobody. Is that clear?”
…
“Eh… yes, but do I have to be here? I have no interest in hearing or seeing any confidential stuff,” I reply nervously.
Anyone in my place would be scared shitless to even speak up. But I guess not being completely clueless about the situation helps a bit.
“…”
Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t reply to me at all.
“I-I guess that’s not an option, then,” I stammer.
“Moving on… Ilsevel, explain Primordial magic to him,” she orders.
Here we go…
Queen Ilsevel finally looks up, her previously stiff face relaxing. Then, with a faint smile, she starts speaking.
“You must know that magic is divided into three types, Jacob. Basic, Advance, and Supreme. But unknown to the general public, there exists another type— the Primordial magic. It might be shocking to hear but…”
Ilsevel basically repeats everything I already know about primordial magic through Pink— that it is much more powerful than even the mightiest Supreme magic, that only people with the aptitude for it can use it, and how extremely rare they are, etcetera. Though she does tell me one thing I didn’t know. Other than Chaos, there are four more Primordial elements: Space, Time, Darkness, and Matter.
As Queen Ilsevel starts to further explain this, the hooded woman in front of her raises her hand, making her stop speaking at once.
“I will continue from here,” she says while lowering her hand.
“In the entire world, there are no more than 20 known primordial magic users. And the ones present in the system-dependent countries are all sitting here in this room.”
…
I look at her with my eyes wide open.
Sitting here… does that mean that all these hooded people are primordial magic users!?
[Yup, that’s why I was shocked when they entered the room.]
“Breaking us down based on our affinity, we have two people who can manipulate space…” she first points at the person sitting in front of Naomi and Lillian, and then at one of the two people with no one standing behind them.
“Two people who can manipulate time…” she points at the second person behind whom no one is standing and the person sitting in front of the Dark Elf Queen.
“One who can manipulate darkness…” she points at the person sitting in front of the Vampire king. “And one who can manipulate matter,” she gestures at herself.
“Now, other than us six, all the other primordial magic users belong to the system-independent countries. And whenever the system-dependent and independent countries go to war, we, the primordial magic users clash with each other as well.
“But unfortunately, while we have the quality, they have the quantity. So, both sides are pretty evenly matched… or were, up until a few years ago,” she says, her voice suddenly turning slightly grim.
“As you can see, out of the five primordial elements, our side can use four. The same was the case for the system-independent countries as well. But five years ago, we received a certain piece of information— it was discovered that Demon King’s daughter has an aptitude for the element of Chaos.
“Though we don’t know how high her affinity is, nevertheless, the balance between the two sides has been broken since then. And obviously, this is a great opportunity for system-independent countries. We know for sure that they will wage an all-out war the moment their demon princess sufficiently develops her prowess over Chaos magic. And as our knowledge of Chaos magic is still a bit inadequate, we’re afraid that she will be enough to tip the scales.”
…
“So now, this brings us back to you,” she says, taking in a deep breath.
“There are two reasons as to why you’re here. First and foremost, the spell you used against Ilyrana— it is the very same Chaos magic. The White Fox confirmed it, but the rest of us wants to see it with our own eyes. Show it to us,” she says in a commanding voice.
Where is the ‘please’?
[Say it to her out loud.]
…
I gulp down the saliva in my mouth before raising my hand and summoning the Chaos ball. Everyone fixes their gaze on me as a sphere of dark purple energy materializes in my hand. Though just a couple of seconds later, it fizzles out as my mana gets exhausted.
Phew…
Although I cannot see the expressions of the six hooded figures, the people standing behind them continue to look at my now empty hand in awe.
“It is true then… we’ve got our hands on Chaos magic as well…” The hooded woman breathes out softly, sounding relieved. Though the next moment, she shakes her head.
“But your mana pool is almost negligible. That magic is not even powerful enough to study or experiment with, much less using it against another primordial magic user. You need to level up quickly, only then we will be able to talk about this matter further.
“For now, I will assign someone to help you with leveling up. And yes, I know that you humans are scared to level up but don’t worry, as a primordial magic user, your safety is our priority. No matter what, we’re capable enough to keep you alive at the very least,” she assured me.
That doesn’t lessen my worry at all…
“Anyway, moving on, the other reason for calling you here is because of the bizarre things happening around the World System Tower. These things started happening during the System Ceremony this year.
“And through some investigation, we’ve reason to believe that it has something to do with the system infused to you. The fact that you’re a Primordial magic user makes the possibility even higher,” she tells me.
Fuck…
“Now, we need to fix this. As soon as possible, at that. The WST is the most important pillar of our society, for reasons you know and don’t know. So, with the utmost of your abilities, you will be cooperating with us to restore it to its previous state. No matter what it takes,” she says in a stern voice.
…
This woman really doesn’t like giving me a choice, does she?