I Hate Systems

The city was a sprawling market, crowded with vendors and people visiting to buy things.

Stencil gazed at the shop closest to her, surprised when she noticed Magic Tools being sold there, with some of them even fit for Masters.

And this was just the first shop that she casually glanced at. She then looked at the price tag, noticing that the currency was something she wasn't familiar with, tugging Wayna as she asked, "What's a…Minda?"

"It's a name we use to address Mental Energy." Wayna whispered, watching Stencil's eyes lit up in surprise, nodding as she said, "Yeah, I know that you too are a Slayer, sorry for not saying it beforehand."

"It's fine, I too hid it from you." Stencil nodded.

'It seems her powers are stronger than mine, given how she was aware that I was a System Slayer beforehand.' Wayna sighed mentally, aware that Stencil was a lot more than what she let on.

Even now, after seeing that the mysterious voice had already grasped her identity, Stencil only thought of using it to her advantage, casually revealing it to Wayna to join her circle and gain more information out of her.

And it worked. Wayna spoke, "One Copper Minda equals 1 Mental Energy, one Silver Minda equals 100 Mental Energy, and one Gold Minda equals 10,000 Mental Energy."

"How is Mental Energy even transacted here?" Stencil expressed her confusion.

"You'll be able to see it yourself." Wayna said, "There's nothing much to see in these shops. What's beneficial for us is available in the inner city. Since my teacher has already given you the permit, I can take you there now."

The duo walked past the shops as Stencil noticed treasures from all races and regions sold here, also noticing double doors situated throughout the walls of the city.

It was apparent that each double-door led towards a certain location of the Fantasy World and this was where everyone gathered.

"What exactly is this place?" Stencil asked.

"A market…for us." Wayna said in all seriousness, whispering after a while, "It's best to refrain from speaking about it here. Let's head to the inner city first."

Soon after, they reached the foot of a massive wall that ran throughout the centre of the city, separating the outer and inner city.

There was a small door that acted as the entrance. And the moment they arrived before it, a mysterious beam fell on Wayna, causing the door to lit up with starlight as it vanished, allowing her entry.

A formless pressure was cast around the entrance, making it possible for only her to enter.

"I'll wait for you inside." Saying so, Wayna entered through the door, vanishing from view. The formless pressure vanished soon after as the mysterious beam fell on Stencil next.

She was able to sense that it was probing through her body, reacting the moment it touched her Personal Fragment, causing the door to emit starlight and vanish once again, allowing her entry into the place.

The moment she passed through the entrance, Stencil found herself in a museum of sorts where a wall ran across the place in a spiral, starting from the ground as it continued high into the sky, with no end in sight.

Stencil gazed at the start of the spiral wall, noticing the image of a Demon youth plastered there, with a lot of information inscribed nearby. But, the moment she looked at the words, her vision blurred as a jarring feeling crept up in her mind, preventing her from making out the words.

"Don't bother reading it." Wayna's voice resounded as she arrived behind her, saying after a sigh, "You'll need to spend hours at a stretch just to barely make out the first word of this. You'll need an eternity to finish reading everything on this wall."

"What is inscribed here?" Stencil asked, absolutely curious now, for she sensed her Personal Fragment pulsing while she stared at the figure of the Demon youth.

"History," Wayna said while sporting an expression of devotion, "History of the Slayers I mean."

"Everything that has happened from the start to the end has been inscribed here." She said, pointing upwards, "Our destination is at the end of this spiral. Time is running short. So, let's hurry."

"Alright," Stencil nodded as the two of them quickly travelled through the spiral path. She continued to gaze at the blurry wall that she wasn't able to make sense of, including the pictures inscribed there.

But as she arrived at the end of the spiral wall, Stencil paused for a moment, observing that she was able to see the contents in the final stretch. After all, it consisted of her, for she was the last System Slayer to appear.

There was just an image of her original appearance inscribed there, coupled with the words, "Daughter of the recent Main Character, Stencil Carburettor vanished from Earth and hasn't been heard from ever since."

There weren't any other details about her and this was the last image inscribed on the spiral wall, causing her to wonder, 'How did they know details about me?'

She then looked at the blurred-out image prior to hers, wondering if it was about her dad, 'I'll look into it later.'

Now that she grasped the extent of information she could unearth from this place, Stencil planned to do just that as she accompanied Wayna, reaching the end of the path.

Wayna flipped the book in her hand, tearing out a page that she threw over the edge, watching it flutter for a couple of seconds before transforming into a portal that highlighted a massive round table, overlooked by a heavenly entity.

"Let's enter," Wayna said solemnly, her stature turning humble immediately as she gently touched the portal, entering it.

'Is he the owner of this place?' Stencil thought, entering the portal as she arrived in a large room whose walls were outlined by fog.

The round table's surface resembled a gentle slope, with the seating arrangement following suit, leading to the seat that was situated the highest, overlooking everyone else in the centre. And, the figure seated on it calmly observed everyone that arrived at the place one after another, his eyes gradually landing on Stencil, barely controlling his excitement.

Added the character Arts of [Grisha] and [Stencil] on my discord server. Will be adding more every week.