One Last System

"What the…!" A small shout escaped from my lips… Only for my body to react before my mind could catch up.

My footing became unsteady. There was something wrong with the planks of the stage. I noticed it before… but I didn't expect them to deteriorate so quickly!

Yet, this wasn't the right time to ponder over the situation. Not when I still had Mia raised up and above me!

"Watch out!" I shouted, bringing my elbows to the back before pushing the girl out into the air.

Maybe the planks finally reached their limit. Or maybe the violent move I executed caused me to step even harder on them, putting too much pressure on their weakened structure.

Whatever it is, didn't change the outcome.

The planks that made up the stage broke. Deprived of my footing, my leg sank down.

'Dang,' I thought when my feet touched solid ground only about half a meter down.

The stage was built on top of the building's ground floor, as an elevation for presentation purposes for when a huge auction would be taking place. As such, the drop wasn't dangerous at all. The only reason why I freaked out, was over how sudden it was.

"Are you okay?!" Mia came running as soon as she landed and recovered her stability.

"I'm okay, don't worry," I quickly replied, looking down at the hole in the stage and the thousands of splinters that desperately tried to penetrate my skin.

If I was a normal mortal, both of my legs would be in an extremely sorry state. In fact, I could see them getting injured so bad there would be no other option but to amputate them both…

But I wasn't just a mere mortal. I was a cultivator slash mage slash overpowered reincarnator. And I wouldn't be worthy of any of those names if something so silly could endanger me in any way or form!

"I was just surprised…" I muttered, ashamed of my own outburst.

I shook my head before forcibly making my way forward, breaking all the wood that stood in my path. Thanks to how near the edge I placed the formation, I only needed to take three steps before I broke through the edge of the stage, leaving behind a trail of broken wood behind me.

"I guess we won't avoid the need to rebuild it," I muttered while looking back at the place.

"It shouldn't take that long to complete it," Mia quickly chimed in, ready to encourage me even if in a matter as small as this one.

"Still, it's baffling how quickly it would deteriorate," I pointed out, puzzled by that fact.

The world started to come apart only about a week ago. And even if this city was struck with the very first wave of the mana monsters, that would still mean there was only a week worth of lack of maintenance for the place.

And a wooden stage… shouldn't become so fragile so quickly, even if it were to be exposed to elements throughout all that time!

"Well, whatever the case, we need to tear it all down before we even think about rebuilding it anew," I pointed out.

"What about the formation?" Levi asked, reminding me of his presence in the area.

Throughout the sudden crash, he remained in his place, not bothered by the situation at all.

'Is his processing power that much better than mine, or is it just his experience?' I pondered for a moment.

"Don't worry," I said out loud, glossing over the topic that went through my mind. I then swung my wrist, sucking at all the residual mana left in the formation stones of my creation.

And just like the wardens or other formation stones, I would use to deploy my mage's tower, the stones I crafted just a short while ago all flew up from the wooden rubble and ended up obediently cuddling up on the palm of my hand.

"We can set it up somewhere else," I then said with a small grin on my lips. "Worst case scenario, we could lay it down right on the floor," I thought out loud while giving the area a glance.

Yet, my lips soon twisted in an ugly grimace.

"But I still would prefer to build a stage dedicated to this formation," I admitted.

"So you are just going to add more work for everyone," Levi sighed, shaking his head before tapping his hands against his hips and looking up. "As if there wasn't enough work on our hands already…"

I wanted a stage for the formation to put an emphasis on its importance. It wasn't just a quirky decision of mine but a ploy to keep on building the morale of the rag-tag group of cultivators we ended up with.

For a moment, I felt the desire to say all of it out loud… Only to end up quelling this drive and just shaking my head while letting Levi's remarks pass.

"I'm not adding more work, I'm just updating what needs to be done," I ultimately said, picking the words that would allow me to avoid the silly conflict with my former master.

And I did so because I could tell where his saltiness was coming from.

Sure, he praised my formations and retracted the words of scorn that he produced when he first saw it. Yet, in a sense of pride, I still slapped him in the face by proving him wrong!

As such, it was only natural for him to be a bit unhappy.

"We need a place where we can address everyone from," I stated. Then, I bit my lips as I realized that simply ignoring the topic would encourage Levi to use this kind of approach in the future. "And putting the formation on a stage would put a greater emphasis on its importance," I added, ready to start a small clash of words with pathfinder.

"Do you think it is really that important?" Levi asked, raising his eyebrows a bit.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the conflict that was about to erupt.

"Yeah. This will help us prove to all those cultivators that it's indeed a good idea to stick with us," I argued.

"Well then," Levi patted his hips again. "Since you are so sure about it, then shall we start taking this stage apart?" he suggested, betraying my expectations and actually going along with my flow.

"I could do it all on my own with a single swipe of my hand…" he muttered only to end up shaking his head with what appeared to be a disappointment. "But I don't want to risk collapsing the entire building while I'm at it. So, I guess we should go about it the simpler way."

'So rather than arguing over my points, he will boast about his strength,' I noticed. Then, a small smile quivered in the corner of my lips.

"Right, I think so too," I agreed, taking the olive branch and burying the hatchet before it could properly get unburied in the first place. "Mia," I turned my head and looked at my beloved. "Are you ready?"

"To take this stage apart?" the girl laughed out, showing yet another one of her lovely and slightly excited smiles. "I prefer to build stuff up," she claimed, only for a mischievous tone to sneak up into her smile. "But I can't deny the charm of fucking stuff up every once in a while!"

"That's my girl," I praised, reaching out with my hand and messing up Mia's hair a bit.

I then turned around to face the stage and allowed a wide smile to appear on my lips.

"Well then, everyone," I muttered before spreading my arms open, ready to rip the wood from the floor apart. "Let there be carnage!"