Alex was currently relaxed in a lotus position with his hands folded, digesting Khos's advice. Despite this, he was also busy falling. His long hair streamed upward, a clear sign he was still accelerating downward.
"I once read a joke that everyone can fly once in their life. Never thought it would apply to me," Alex said, breaking the long silence.
"You won't die, I'm sure of it. But I can't say how long it will take before you reach the universe that's pulling you towards itself," Khos replied.
"If you want, I can put you to sleep. The Golden Cicada Robe that Reprise gave you will shield you from the negative mana in this space—even if the bubble I created breaks. And even if the robe fails you, your SSS-rank skill, Immortal Body, will keep you alive—although it will be a very painful experience," he added.
"Let's do that after I test a few of my skills. I really don't want to wait literal years in silence; no one could do that without going mad. But before that, let me check my status again. Also, can I appraise this robe? I didn't see any appraisal skill in my status," Alex asked, saying 'status' for the first time since losing his humanity.
Instead of his status window, he was greeted by an error message:
Error: No valid node found to read and display user details.
User: Alexander Shadowborn
Details unavailable.
Please re-establish connection with a recognized system node to access full status.
(Skills, class powers, and class progression are inaccessible during node isolation.)
[All status functionality disabled until node detected.]
"What the—what happened?" Alex asked, confused.
"Status won't work out here. Even the message you see is only possible because you've gained some of my abilities after the fusion. And I'm no longer a system node," Khos replied.
"That's a bummer. Now that we have time, can you explain exactly what you are—or were? And what does a system node do? How is it different from having a normal system?" Alex asked. Having time to think, he wanted the details.
"Well, I will answer some of them. Normally, what people call a system isn't unique. They're all managed under the same larger system. A system node is like a global admin, overseeing the status of every being in its range. The node manages every class, skill, and grants them based on proficiency.
Casting class skills without a system node is impossible unless you've mastered them inside out and made them innate. Innate and bloodline skills can be used without the system's help. The same goes for cultivation. Cultivation follows a method or path; it can increase both body and soul power, and allow you to increase mana and spirit capacity—letting you use more, or stronger, skills," Khos said, nodding sagely in Alex's imagination.
"That's all awesome. But stick to the system topic. I can learn about cultivation and magic once I can actually use them. Right now, I want to know: how many system nodes are there, why didn't Earth have any, who created system nodes, and why?" Alex pressed.
"Patience. These are basic facts known by anyone with some power. Initially, your universe didn't have any natural node-beings like me. Where I'm from, nodes were developed as a survival strategy by the universe itself—after repeated failures to keep intelligent species alive. Without them, people either destroyed themselves with wars fueled by cultivation and magic, or were too weak to defend against disasters," Khos explained.
"Wait, you're not from this universe?" Alex's eyes widened.
"No. I came here through a space fracture, seeking asylum for my people, and no, my people do not include all system nodes—just those that are awakened. Your world had no one like me. I won't go into details, but if I hadn't come, your universe would have no system at all. Merlin, my dear friend, a powerful demi-god, studied me and came up with the idea of artificial system nodes. They're like the nodes from my world, but cannot evolve. I am an evolved world node with sentience," Khos finished smugly.
"So, buddy, you got scammed into being an experiment subject, didn't you?" Alex said, barely suppressing laughter.
"Not at all! I volunteered, hoping this world could recognize me as a life form for performing such a great merit—maybe even bring my people here. Anyway, system nodes link up with each other to cover a universe. A big enough node can sometimes cover half. Some universes even become system nodes themselves after merging powerful nodes into themselves, letting the universe's rules evolve. But that's high-level stuff, outside your syllabus."
"As to why Earth lacked a system, that's because its node broke. When multiple demi-gods fight using a node that can't handle their power, it overloads and detonates. It might sound simple, but it's another one of the universe's ways to safeguard life. Afterwards, the rules in that node's domain descend into chaos: not just system skills, but even bloodline and innate skills begin to fail, as mana turns poisonous. The powerful flee. These places become 'deadzones' with no mana or spirit left. True gods with divinity can survive, but most living things have short lifespans there as I learned recently," Khos paused to recollect.
"No wonder nobody found any gods on Earth," Alex mused after a while.
"Not quite—with all that divine energy, gods definitely lived there. Maybe you didnt searched enough!, Earth is practically a beacon for those seeking divinity, and it's close to the edge, right next to Reprise's territory."
"What? How come none of us ever felt it?" Alex asked.
"Because you were HUMAN," Khos answered flatly.
Noting the sour undertone, Alex decided not to ask more about Earth or humans.
He started to focus on practicing the cultivation technique he found in his storage, which didn't rely on the system. Turns out skills that do not affect the surroundings can still be used in limited quantity. But Khos immediately shot down the idea of cultivation as well.
"Are you even listening to me? This space is filled with negative mana. Cultivating here is asking for death. Just go through the text and try to understand it," Khos said, dashing Alex's hopes of leveling up before reaching the nearest starter village.
Alex tried to keep up the reading of books on magic and cultivation, finally getting bored.
"Just put me in sleep mode, now," Alex suddenly asked after 30 years of relentless knowledge acquisition.
"If I can't use my skills and knowledge after learning them, there's nothing left I want to do," he added.
"Good choice," Alex heard, and then he was no longer conscious.