Ding!

[Assistant Advancement Module]

“For a system to function, one needs a capable assistant.”

Rudimentary Upgrades:

[System Integration] 500 System Points Available System Points: 9085

“Hmm… identify [System Integration],” Arthur commanded the system not long after, prompting the text on the screen to change as the description of the upgrade was shown to him.

Ding!

[System Integration] The first and most vital upgrade of the Assistant Advancement Module. This upgrade allows the assistant of the system to become more integrated with the system, allowing them to access the system’s features with greater ease. Unlocks more upgrades once bought.

“Well then. Now that’s interesting,” he muttered, only to buy the upgrade not long after as a prompt appeared in front of his field of vision.

Ding!

Would you like to buy [System Integration]? This will cost you 500 System Points.

“Yes,” Arthur replied without hesitation, only to become surprised soon after as everything around the bluish-white dodecahedron at the center started to glow not long after. After a while, a white vine of sorts extended out of the dodecahedron before spreading throughout the entirety of his surroundings as something tangible seemed to manifest above the dodecahedron.

Whoosh!

Puff!

A few seconds later, a wisp of energy that was of similar color to the dodecahedron appeared above it, idly floating as it seemed to give off the feeling that it could disappear at a moment’s notice. However, while looking at it, Arthur could not help but feel like the wisp of energy was someone he knew.

Slightly curious as to whether his hunch was correct, he asked with a hint of hesitation, “Sisa?”

“You were calling for me?” replied Sisa. Though, rather than get a disembodied voice in response, her voice now resounded from the wisp above the dodecahedron, prompting Arthur to say jokingly, “And here I thought you’d actually look nice. To think you’d just turn into a wisp of energy.”

“At the very least, you won’t be staring off into nothing anymore while you’re talking to me,” said Sisa in response to his words, letting out a chuckle soon after. “Well, in case you were wondering, the upgrade did make me feel like I’m more connected to the system as a whole. In fact, with the upgrade unlocked, if you still hadn’t bought the automation upgrade for [Qi Conversion], I would’ve probably been able to do it for you.”

“Is that so?” Arthur was slightly surprised to hear that. After all, he had spent over 5000 points to automate the conversion process for [Qi Conversion]. Then again, he had already made enough System Points to cover its cost… and then some more.

“Is there anything else you can do now that I’ve bought [System Integration]?” Arthur asked, quite curious as to how much control Sisa now had over the system. In response, Sisa told him, “Well, other than being able to do [Qi Conversion] for you, I can also access the modules you’ve already unlocked. However, I cannot buy any new upgrades for you. Only you have the ability to do that.”

“Though, the same can’t be said for your upgrade module,” she added. “If you ask me to upgrade your Qi Capacity, Qi Purity, or Qi Recovery Rate, I can do that without a problem.”

“Well, that’s glad to hear… I think,” Arthur said in response to those words before opening up the Assistant Advancement Module again. With the first upgrade of the module now bought, he could not help but become curious as to what other upgrades the module had in store for him. Well, the next three upgrades that greeted him were definitely a welcome surprise.

Ding!

[Assistant Advancement Module]

“For a system to function, one needs a capable assistant.”

Rudimentary Upgrades:

[System Integration — Phase 2] 2500 System Points [Sight Integration] 1000 System Points [Auditory Integration] 1000 System Points Available System Points: 8585

Looking at the amount of points needed for him to buy the upgrades, Arthur could not help but inwardly and figuratively take in a deep breath of cold air. After all, the upgrades on the screen in front of him were enough to cut down his current amount of System Points by half.

Noticing this, Arthur closed the screen for now as he focused his attention on the bluish-white dodecahedron. Or, to be more exact, the pile of Spirit Slag that had been gradually getting bigger while he did other things.

At the moment, the pile of Spirit Slag was quite similar in size to the previous pile of Spirit Slag he had exchanged. However, either because he had gotten used to calculating the amount of Spirit Slag he’d get per pile or whatever, he knew that the pile in front of him was still slightly lacking compared to the previous pile he exchanged.

Nevertheless…

Ding!

Would you like to exchange 9.6 kilograms of Spirit Slag for 9600 System Points?

“Yes.”

Ding!

You have exchanged 9.6 kilograms of Spirit Slag for 9600 System Points.

Ignoring the small pile of excess Spirit Slag that remained after the exchange, Arthur commanded the system to bring up the Assistant Advancement Module again, buying [System Integration — Phase 2] without hesitation.

Whoosh!

As a swift gust seemed to pass through the landscape in Arthur’s mind, multiple white vines extended out of the bluish-white dodecahedron under Sisa before covering her, forming a white cocoon that gradually shrunk in size. Eventually, the white cocoon shrunk to a point where it did not look like a cocoon anymore but instead resembled a white crystal.

Bang!

Not long after, this faux crystal exploded, revealing a wisp of energy that was more substantial than before yet seemed to take on a similar shape to the vessel it had just been in. Nevertheless, the feeling the wisp of energy radiated now was far greater than before, allowing Arthur to feel like the authority the wisp of energy had over the landscape in his mind was around a third of what he had. Though, this feeling quickly disappeared as Sisa asked, “Why’d you buy that first?”

“Had a feeling it would give you more access to the system,” Arthur replied. “Did it?”

“Well, I could now do bulk upgrades for your stats if you could consider that an improvement,” Sisa replied while giving off the feeling that she nodded in response. “As for the other modules, I can buy any new upgrade for you if you want. However, I can only do so one at a time.”

“Anything else?” Arthur asked, to which Sisa answered, “Surprisingly, yes.”

“Remember how I said I could do [Qi Conversion] for you if you hadn’t bought the automation upgrade for them yet?” she asked, prompting Arthur to give off the feeling that he nodded.

“Well, with [System Integration — Phase 2] bought, there is now a passive skill in effect wherein the time for [Qi Conversion] has been reduced by 5%.”

“So, if one conversion were to take an hour back then, it now only takes 57 minutes instead,” she concluded, making Arthur go silent for a bit as he pondered if it was worth it to upgrade [System Integration] to the next phase.

Ding!

[System Integration — Phase 3] - 25,000 System Points

However, after seeing the amount of points he needed for the next phase, he decided that he would just buy the upgrade some other time.

“Let’s see what [Sight Integration] and [Auditory Integration] have to offer,” said Arthur not long after placing the thought of upgrading [System Integration] at the back of his head, commanding the system to bring up the description of both upgrades.

Ding!

[Sight Integration] An upgrade of the Assistant Advancement Module. Allows the assistant of the system to share the sense of sight with the user. As the user’s main method of sight is through the use of [Spirit Sense], the assistant can see what the user sees through [Spirit Sense]. Note that the user and the assistant are not forced to look at the same thing. [Auditory Integration] An upgrade of the Assistant Advancement Module. Allows the assistant of the system to share the sense of hearing with the user. As the user’s main method of hearing is through the use of [Spirit Sense], the assistant can hear what the user hears through [Spirit Sense]. Note that the user and the assistant are not forced to listen to the same sound.

“To be honest, even if you didn’t ask the system to bring up a description of the upgrades, the name of the upgrades are already self-explanatory,” Sisa could not help but say, to which Arthur replied, “Just wanted to make sure. After all, I don’t want you to be looking at the same thing as me. Or listening to the same thing as me. Thankfully, the system clarified that.”

“…now that you say that, I agree,” Sisa said after pondering over it for a bit as Arthur bought the two upgrades not long after, finally allowing Sisa to see and hear the surface through the system’s [Spirit Sense].

“Agh… sensory overload,” murmured Sisa not long after as she felt what Arthur basically felt when he had activated [Spirit Sense] for the first time. Then again, as the skill now spanned around 5 kilometers instead of just a few hundred meters, it took a bit longer for Sisa to acclimate to the senses given to her by [Spirit Sense].

“It kind of feels weird to be sharing senses,” Arthur could not help but say once Sisa had gotten used to it. “For some reason, it kind of feels like we’re two bodies squeezing together to see through the same hole.”

“You could say that again,” Sisa said in response, agreeing with the description of the feeling Arthur gave.

“Anyways, go ahead and feel free to look at the surface. I’ll go and check if there are any other upgrades I can buy from the new module that’ll help either you or me out,” Arthur said as he commanded the system to bring up the Assistant Advancement Module one more time.

Glossing over the upgrade to [System Integration], he noticed that a new upgrade to the module had been unlocked. Though, once he read the description of the upgrade, he could not help but say, “Sisa?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we’re about to start making even more System Points than ever.”