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Chapter 284: Birth of the System
🕑 Added 2023-10-12 17:36:00 +0000 UTC“Enas descended to meet his creations in person…and that’s when everything went wrong.”
Jack’s ears perked up. He had been paying attention and waiting for this exact sentence. “What happened?” he asked.
“Enas met with the leaders of the Ancients and talked to them. He explained everything like a father to his long-forgotten children. But the most important thing he talked about was the Dao—a magical force that even the Ancients, who’d conquered everything the world had to offer, had never discovered. Back then, the Dao was something only known to the Old Gods—nobody else could access it.
“Enas left the Ancients again but remained nearby, eager to watch them and speak more with them. By filling the universe with intelligent life, he felt that he had achieved the reason why the Dao created him, and he was satisfied.
“Enas harbored no ill intentions towards the Ancients. Unbeknownst to him, however, they did. Axelor had used his secret gift, which was still in them, to whisper fear into their minds. The Ancients were used to being kings of the world—the existence of a God, let alone twelve, frightened them. They were afraid that one day, the Gods would turn against them, and they would be destroyed. For all their technological power, Enas had demonstrated his absolute and uncontested superiority. There was only one way to protect themselves, and that was to use the same power that the Gods wielded—the Dao.
“The leaders of the Ancients came together and sought an audience with Enas. In that audience, they asked him to give them access to the Dao, claiming curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Enas, who had never before known deceit, accepted happily. After life, he gave them a second gift—that of the Dao. From that time onward, the Ancients and all their descendant species could cultivate the Dao in the same way that today’s cultivators do—minus the System, which did not yet exist.
“Millions of years passed. Slowly, more and more powerful cultivators were born, the peak amongst them even reaching the A-Grade and achieving near-immortality. The world converted from technology to the Dao.
“Secretly, however, the Ancients were working on a plan against a possible Old God attack. They were not content being in the mercy of Gods—they wanted a way to protect themselves. The few A-Grades they had—though they went by a different name then—were not enough, for the power of Old Gods was at the very peak of that level, a mountain that nobody had managed to scale yet.
“The Ancients, well-versed in technology as they were, wondered if there was a way to use technology to overcome their Dao deficiency. Working in secret labs deep within planets, where Enas would never think to look, they eventually managed to combine the peak of technology and the peak of the Dao in one, new life form—the Immortals. Undying creatures of unbreakable steel, wielding the apex Dao powers and with minds that could think of their own.
“Ninety-nine Immortals were created, called as such due to their infinite lifespan. Their core directive was to protect the Ancients and their descendants from the Old Gods, and they were expected to sleep deep inside the laboratories until their powers were needed.
“But that’s when things went wrong. You see, until then, the Ancients had never achieved true artificial intelligence. It was impossible without the Dao. Therefore, they didn’t know to handle it. They did not expect that the Immortals would take their core directive, protecting the life of the universe from the Old Gods, and use their superior minds to try and interpret it in the best way they could.
“They did not expect that Axelor’s gift, which even they were clueless about, would transfer through them to these new robots. And Axelor, rubbing his hands in glee, realized that he had the perfect tools for his purposes. He reached inside the minds of the Immortals and set a war in motion.
“The Immortals refused to sleep. Instead, they almost immediately decided that the best way to protect the Ancients was not to wait until an Old God assault and only then react, but to act proactively. They calculated that they had the means to launch a crusade against the Old Gods and banish them away, so they decided to do just that.
“The Ancients protested. They did not want to fight the Gods, but they had never expected such stubbornness from the Immortals. It made no sense. They demanded that the Immortals go back to sleep until they were needed. In response to that, the Immortals decided that the best way to protect all life in the universe from the Old Gods was to exterminate the Ancients and take charge themselves.
“What followed was called the Purge. It was a brief time period, barely a century, where the entire military might of the Ancients fell to the immortals. They were slaughtered everywhere, and any allies who chose to stand by their side suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, nobody could combat ninety-nine demigods—as A-Grades were called back then. The Ancients were destroyed. Their home galaxy was annihilated.”
“What about Enas?” Jack asked breathlessly. “You said he was nearby. He just let all that happen?”
The Sage made a grimace. “Axelor, knowing that the Immortals would soon do his bidding, distracted Enas by pulling him into a distant galaxy to show him something. Remember, the Purge lasted only a hundred years. To an Old God, that is just the blink of an eye.”
“And then what?”
“Then, all Ancients were dead. The only ones who survived were refugees spread out in other galaxies to preserve even a little bit of the Ancient bloodline, who all went deep into hiding long before the war was over. The Ancient outpost you discovered in Trial Planet was one such place.
“All remaining life in the universe now answered to the Immortals. They decided to prepare and launch their crusade before Enas could make it back. They wove their will into the Dao of the universe to create the System, a Dao construct meant to pit the cultivators of the world against each other and facilitate the rise of apex warriors—hence called A-Grades. The known universe sank into an age of strife and violence from which it has not yet escaped.”
“Wait—tell me more about the System! What is it really? How does it work?”
“The System is not part of this story,” the Sage explained calmly. “Many things aren’t. I will reveal what I can, and you may ask me questions afterward.”
“At the same time, the Immortals mastered all aspects of warfare. They tampered with history and forced everyone to believe that it was the Old Gods—now called Old Ones to reduce their grandeur—who destroyed the Ancients, and that the looming crusade was the just course of action. Their version of history took roots, fueled by their iron rule, and the world became twisted in their image. At the far-off recesses of the universe, where he was still distracting Enas, Axelor swam in joy as he felt his power and influence rise.
“Unfortunately, Enas finally sensed something wrong. It is said that when he did, his divine eyes widened. He turned and slapped Axelor, the very first time an Old God acted against another, then rushed back. By the time he arrived, it was too late. The crusade was ready. The Immortals had reared dozens of A-Grades and did not hesitate to throw them at Enas, along with themselves.
“Even Axelor did not expect them to have amassed such power. Enas was stronger than each of his enemies, but when faced by hundreds of them, even he was pushed back. Suddenly, Axelor was terrified. His cowardice overwhelmed even his lust for power. He called on the other Old Gods, summoning them from all ends of the universe to fight against this new enemy, the first enemy they ever had. It was the first time any Old God went to war.”
Jack waited with bated breath. “And then!?”
“It was a tie. The Ancient Galaxy was completely annihilated in the process. Two-thirds of the Immortals were destroyed, along with many of their warriors, but the Old Gods were grievously injured. They were forced to retreat outside System space, and the System kept expanding and still does, consuming galaxy after galaxy while the Immortals collect more forces to press the assault against the Old Gods. The Hand of God is their hand—since they call themselves Gods to rob the Old Gods’ majesty.
“Meanwhile, in the assembly of Old Gods, Axelor spoke up and accused Enas of birthing this evil. He claimed it was completely Enas’s fault, as not only did he give his creations life, he even gave them the Dao. Axelor kept his own interference secret, and since Enas did not know of it at the time, he couldn’t easily defend himself against these accusations.
“Hearing those things, the other Old Gods were furious. Axelor egged them on, eventually convincing them to seal Enas inside a black hole for eternity, both as punishment for his crimes against the Dao and as a measure to stop him from ruining the universe again. So, they did. Enas resisted, but even he, the greatest of the Old Gods, could not combat the other eleven at once. He was sealed inside a black hole, one of the few objects in the universe that could match an Old God in power, and forever left there. Meanwhile, the other eleven, now led by Axelor, who had revealed more power than expected while sealing Enas, prepared for another war. The System’s expansion would not stop. Once they cured their wounds, they had to return and fight again—they had to rid the universe of this parasite called life.
“But a new crusade will help no one. No matter who wins, all that awaits us mortals is either death or an eternity of conflict as the Old Gods retreat to the far reaches of the universe again, where the System will need tens of billions of years to arrive.
“And that, my dear friend, is why the Black Hole Church worships Enas, the creator of life who was tricked by his best brother. We want to free him from his prison, as only he can reclaim his rightful place in the universe and convince the other Old Gods to show mercy to the rest of intelligent life after the Immortals are defeated. He is our only hope, not to mention our ultimate creator and father.”
He then smiled cheerfully, and gone was the sad old man, and back was the mysterious, easy-going Sage.
“Do you have anything to say,” he added good-heartedly, “or is your mouth only good for interrupting?”
“I—” Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times. “That’s a lot to take in,” he finally admitted.
“I know. Don’t worry; you can take your time. I won’t pressure you for a decision right now. However, do you have any questions? I may be able to answer them.”
“Many. What about the Life Drop? Is it really a blood drop of Enas’s?”
The Sage smiled. “That, I cannot say.”
“Okay. How about this galaxy? I heard the System arrived a million years ago, so I suppose it was after the crusade. Why are there no A-Grade factions or Immortals here, or at least, why are they hiding?”
“I cannot tell you that either, though you may be able to figure it out yourself.”
“Fine. And the Black Hole Church? Who created it, when, how, and how do you operate in System space without being immediately apprehended by the Immortals?”
“Try to guess if I can answer that.”
Jack grimaced. “Can you at least tell me how you know all that? Especially at the very end. How can you know things that even Old Gods don’t, like Axelor’s secret interference?”
“The Black Hole Church has its ways,” the Sage said, not really revealing anything.
“Is there anything you can answer?” Jack finally asked, annoyed.
“There is… You just haven’t asked it yet.” The Sage smiled apologetically. “I warned you that I couldn’t give you the full version of the story yet. The remaining details will be revealed in time—provided you join us. Otherwise, have fun walking around with that forbidden information in your head.” He laughed. “Actually, I think I gave you around half of the story. Many world-shaping events transpired after the crusade…but that’s a story left for another time. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
“Sure…” Jack replied numbly. “You know I was a scientist, right? I don’t get bored easily.”
“Nice try.”
“Thanks.”
“That said.” The Sage clapped. “Shall we head back to the others? There’s a whole lot of training to be had, and so little time!”
Comments
Ted Burgess
TFD has diffused into a morass of technical confusion similar to Malazen Book of the Fallen; the chief parallel being that even the authors at this point concede to being confused by their own work. @Valerios, props for keeping things elegant, straightforward, and moving forward. You are a master of managing inertia, just like the Tao of the 🤜 Fist 😂
Valerios
That's interesting! Thankfully, it seems I'm safe as my interpretation is pretty far from that. And props to TFD, that's a cool background
Aaron Schwartz
What I meant was more in terms of the fact that both systems explicitly encourage conflict, instead of just passively cataloging things like attributes and skills. And to briefly summarize, in TFD the system is built by an A grade, in order to facilitate the speedy training of warriors, to increase the rate, at which his armies of conquest could recoup losses. But when they turned it on for the first time, it ate like, 90% of all energy in the verse in order to boot up which instantly killed nearly everyone above e grade in the verse. Then a couple million years later it started exactly as intended, but the empire it was supposed to be recruiting for no longer existed. And this knowledge is widely and commonly known, since it’s mostly irrelevant to the politics of the wider universe. The biggest differences would probably be that the enemy your system exist to fight is still around , and it is actively run by a faction of administrators, instead of being a semi sentient entity, that can enforce its will on its own without anyone else’s help
Valerios
I haven't read too far into Defiance, so any similarities history-wise are accidental (and hopefully very few!) Though I met TFD at DragonCon and we do think alike a bit, not to mention we're working around the same formula. That said, why else would a System exist? I can't think of any other justifications off the top of my head
Justin Buro
I think it's not so much he gets off on being cryptic but that his vast knowledge can only be given out when asked, as a tradeoff for having such knowledge. A great sage must be cryptic with their knowledge or else everyone would be a great sage and his power would drop drastically
Aaron Schwartz
Huh. This is absolutely fascinating… I’m not accusing Val of copying the first defier, really I’m not, the whole “old gods” bit is really compelling, and you even added in the apple of Eden, which was an inspired choice… but the system was still created and maintained to encourage the creation of powerful warriors. Then again, it’s not like that detracts from the story either way. Good artists create, great artists steal. All in all, great chapter, and can you please confirm if the sage gets off on being that cryptic? Because I kinda hate him rn
