Healing System

A/N: Changed inner speech from 'this' to italics, this.

***

Michael picked Sect Leader Ji up by the collar and threw him outside, sending him practically flying off into the distance.

But before he could get too far, Michael stopped him with a single burst of mana.

"You haven't changed much, mythical beast," Sect Leader Ji muttered, causing Michael to let out a laugh.

"Hahaha, now why would I change? Life has been treating me pretty well lately."

"Is that so? I assume you're enjoying life after destroying my sect?" Sect Leader Ji grumbled, still suspended in the air.

While there was a bit of trouble, it wasn't anything Michael couldn't handle.

After all, with only a single word, he could burst Sect Leader Ji's head into bits.

"Remember that you brought this onto yourselves," Michael remarked. "If you hadn't tried masking yourself as someone else and rigging the games, I would have let you live—probably."

"Your uncertainty does not give me assurance." Sect Leader Ji let out a chuckle before falling silent. "...I suppose this is it, then?"

"It is." Michael nodded and brought Sect Leader Ji closer. "Ever since the bullshit stunts you've pulled, your only purpose was to act as a key, and now, I will use that key."

"Are you referring to the inheritance chamber? No one can enter it," Sect Leader Ji stated. "If it were so easy to enter, I would have long sacrificed my entire sect to get inside, but alas, it's impossible."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Michael tapped Sect Leader Ji on the forehead, making him black out in an instant.

It was nighttime now, so all he had to do was head over to where the Azure Dragon Sect once stood and offer up both the core and the body to the inheritance chamber to open it up.

The system had mentioned that more than one Tier 5 would be necessary, but over time, Michael managed to offer up a few Tier 4s, which should have bridged the gap—even if just a tiny bit.

Nonetheless, he was ready to open the inheritance chamber.

Taking a deep breath, Michael blasted off into the sky, holding Sect Leader Ji's unconscious body and the mana core in the Time Stop storage.

It did not take long to arrive, and as Michael approached the doors to the inheritance chamber, he brought forth Sect Leader Ji's body and threw it at the door.

Immediately, his body disintegrated, followed by a dull aching in the surroundings that Michael could not quite grasp.

Still, there was one thing left to do, and that was to throw the mana core.

Backing up a few meters, Michael threw it straight at the door, and the moment it made contact, the world seemingly froze, with him getting an ominous feeling every passing moment.

It felt like someone was watching him from inside the inheritance chamber—from beyond the door.

And soon, Michael found out what, as a single green eye emerged, its size much larger than should be possible.

This doesn't look fucking great. Michael mused with a frown.

The eye floated toward him before halting and letting out a single word. "Contract?"

"...What?" Michael was confused. "What are you?"

"Me? Eye." The eye replied childishly, making his brows furrow further.

However, before he could ask anything else, the eye suddenly approached, stopping just before his face.

Interestingly enough, the childish demeanor it had just moments ago had disappeared, replaced by an air of seriousness as it once again spoke.

"How did you make contact with us? I believe this world has been sealed off," the eye asked, bearing down an intense pressure upon Michael.

But he did not back down, saying a single word, "Release."

As he did, the pressure immediately vanished—albeit temporarily.

Nonetheless, using such a word with his Speech mana core chipped off 40% of its mana, signaling just how powerful the eye before him was.

"Hmm..." The eye hummed with curiosity. "You are quite an interesting being—neither angel nor demon. You aren't human either. What a peculiar existence."

"And you are a what? Talking demonic eye?" Michael asked with a tilt of his head.

"Something like that." The eye chuckled eerily. "Though I suppose there are some rules I have to fulfill as per the agreement with this world."

As soon as those words fell, the eye glanced back at the door, and soon, it swung open fully, revealing some kind of vibrant green land stretching out as far as the eye could see.

Several medieval-looking castles, a dark green sky, even a small town where he could actually see people roaming around.

"As per the agreement, you are allowed to visit our realm. Do you agree?" The eye said, annoyed.

Michael, although puzzled, was quite eager. "I suppose so. Can we go now?"

"Yes, just go through it. I'll be behind you, acting as a guide," the eye replied.

With that, Michael went toward the inheritance chamber's doors, which apparently led to another world altogether.

It seemed like any ordinary passage, and he did not even feel any kind of resistance going through it.

However, the wind that hit his face the moment he went through was anything but pleasant.

It was not even wind, but just pure chaotic wind mana—as though someone had cast an attack spell at him.

A small graze appeared on his cheek, but it managed to heal in just a moment.

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The eye came through as well before heading straight ahead, leading the way.

"As I said, I'll be your guide. Whether you survive with me leading you is not my concern."

"I see," Michael nodded.

The strange part was how lively it was despite the mana in the air.

But as those thoughts fell, he locked onto a random civilian, and his eyes immediately widened.

A random civilian is stronger than me?

Some girl selling what he could only assume to be lemonade was at the very least on the level of the giants he had seen.

The others around her were even stronger, which made him quite puzzled.

At the same time, it gave him clarity.

The system never specified how many worlds there were, so he should not be surprised there was a world where the strongest gathered.

"You seem surprised, weird being. Is this not common on your homeworld?" the eye asked.

"My homeworld didn't even have magic," Michael replied with a chuckle.

"Oh? You are from one of those new worlds? Interesting. I heard most of them were destroyed recently," the eye remarked, making him raise a brow.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, a great purge happened a decade or two ago. The Watchers destroyed all those worlds since they served no purpose."

At the eye's words, Michael's heart sank.

"All the worlds?"

"I believe the Watchers were thorough, yes," the eye said.

"Is there any way to check? I mean, to check whether that world is still there or not?" Michael persisted, stepping in front of the eye and stopping it.

"Hmm... I can check it for you if you want. Give me a blood sample," it said, and Michael did just that.

However, he wasn't expecting much considering he had been reborn in a completely different world, so it might not show the previous one.

But as the eye drew blood and seemingly absorbed it into itself, it suddenly froze, looking back at Michael.

"I can't see anything. Literally. It's a blank slate..." The eye trailed off. "Usually, it shows something—where you were born, where you first achieved your mana core... But there's nothing?"

Sounds like there wasn't any precedent to this. Michael thought.

"It seems I can't help you," the eye stated and walked ahead of him. "But I can show you around. You might find a being who is generous enough to look deeper."

"And you are not?" Michael asked, and the eye let out an eerie chuckle.@@novelbin@@

"I am but a mere remnant of a contract made eons ago. I don't have the sufficient authority or strength to look any deeper than I already have."

As its words fell, it suddenly stopped.

Immediately, Michael felt a fierce pressure coming from the side, and once he turned toward it, he saw something akin to a large minotaur heading straight for them.

Its strength was far above anything Michael could handle, but nonetheless, if he wanted to live, then he had to try.

But before he could even make a move or summon a sword of light, the eye suddenly shot toward the minotaur.

Before the minotaur could even react, a green beam shot out from the eye, completely disintegrating its entire body in a mere instant.

Soon, it lifelessly fell to the ground, its body turning to ash as the eye glanced back at Michael.

"Shall we continue with the tour?"

"...You don't happen to be an eldritch monster, right?" Michael questioned.

He wasn't stupid, he had seen such beings in comics and other things back in his old world.

Also, the world seemed eerie enough to be considered the realm of these eldritch monsters.

Coupled with the fact that he had talked with the system about them nearly two years ago, he was fairly certain his assumption was correct.

And soon, he received his vague answer.

"And if I am?"