After only about a minute, Eileen started to break out of her trance. Her condition was similar to someone waking up from a long sleep, one could even say similar to Theo, with the exception of one waking up naturally and the other having his sleep yelled out of him.

“Are you alright?” Asked Theo with slight concern.

“Uh… Huh? Ah… yea.” She still appeared to be a little out of it, but otherwise alright.

“What happened” Although it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that it had something to do with the system's announcement, he still wanted to be sure.

“I don’t know how you did it, but you somehow triggered the naming ceremony that was supposed to happen right after one bonds with a realm, then… I’m not sure, but you could say that I became a part of the system in a way. It feels weird.” She held up her hands in front of her face like it was the first time she ever saw them and slowly moved them around like a crazy person.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yea, it’s weird, but I feel great!” Theo held off on making comments about her acting like she was on drugs and moved on.

“Anyways, could you sho…”

“Theo, can you say my name?”

“Why?” Theo said in confusion, not immediately complying because of the rude interruption. Petty, yes, but he was only human, actually, he just found out that he wasn’t, so that excuse wouldn’t work anymore.

“Pleaseeee.” She was acting strangely nice all of a sudden.

“Fine. Eileen.”

As a response, his eardrums were blasted by a high-pitched squeal.

“What was that for?!”

“Again! Say it again!”

“Only if you agree to help me figure out how the system works after.”

“Sure!”

“Eileen”

The squeal made another appearance, only this time Theo was already mentally prepared.

“Again! Again!”

“No, what’s your deal anyway?”

“What do you mean? I finally got a name!” Eileene said as if her excessive amount of excitement was only obvious.

“And?”

“I. Finally. Got. A. Name.”

“So is that like a big deal in your clan.”

“Yes!”

“And will you always squeal when I call you by your name?”

“It’s a natural reaction, I can’t help it!”

“What if I just shorten it to El, do you get any urges now?” Said Theo with a slightly sarcastic undertone.

“No! You have to say my full name!” She said in a commanding tone.

“So, no squealing? Good.”

Eileen pouted, but as if remembering something, she turned to her side, hiding her face and nervously fondled the cloth of her dress.

“Theo.” She said in a weak voice.

“Yes?”

“You can’t tell my true name not anybody, okay? It’s very personal.”

“Well, I don’t have a problem with that, I can just call you El, no? To ensure I never slip up if other people are around.” Although Theo felt bad for using the situation to prevent further headaches, he justified it as a means to maintain his future mental health.

“I guess…”

“Now, can we go back to the topic of my system?”

“Oh, of course!” She got over the name conundrum quite quickly, she also appeared a lot more excited about the system then she previously did.

“Do you have any idea on how to access and use it?”

“Yes! I can help you with all of that, there is just one thing.” She said with slight concern on her face.

“What is it?”

“How do I put it? After I went through the naming ceremony, I also became a part of the system in a way. That also means that I can easily obtain information from it and also have limited control over it.” As she talked hesitancy appeared on her face.

“How is that a problem?”

“That’s not the problem! Let me finish.”

“Fine, fine.”

“So anyway, there is something besides me in the system. It’s like a processing unit for the system in a way. From what I was able to gather with the information available, it’s made on a basis of some very old and powerful being.”

“Is it dangerous?” Theo asked in concern.

“Well, no, it’s a part of the system so it can’t harm you, it’s just…” The hesitation appeared again.

“Just spit it out.”

“The guy it was made from was very dirty!” She looked very uncomfortable when she said it.

“Dirty?”

“Yes!”

“As in he didn’t like to wash himself?” Although Theo had an inkling of what Eileen was trying to say, he decided to play with her a little bit. Thankfully she seemed oblivious to it.

“No! As in, as in, as in lewd!” By the time she finished, she was so red Theo almost started worrying.

“And how does that impact us?” He decided to stop the teasing and get serious.

“I don’t think having a processing unit of that origin is a good idea.”

“Do you know any way to change or fix it?”

“No…”

“Then we should stop worrying about it for now.” Although he didn’t like the idea of having a ticking timebomb looming over him, he could only put it in the back of his mind for now.

He continued. “How do I open the system?”

“Why are you asking such a simple question? Shouldn’t it appear on command?”

“But I already tri… oh.” He was about to retort when a system window appeared inside of his mind. Deciding that the reason for that must be the whole naming conundrum, he hurriedly inspected it.

The window didn’t appear before his eyes. It was strange, as he could look at the system window and through his eyes simultaneously, yet it didn’t feel disorienting in the slightest.

The outline of the window and the numbers were white, the only exception being the big red flashing exclamation mark in the middle.

“Quick, quick, press that big red thingy.” Apparently, he wasn’t the only one able to see the system, which wasn’t that surprising really.

As the panel didn’t exist in the material plain, he wasn’t exactly sure how to ‘press that big red thingy’, so he just focused on it, which appearently worked.

[Congratulation!]

[As this is your first time entering the system you gain a complimentary gift!]

[You have obtained an Ability Card Crate!]

“So, it is just like one of those novel systems.”

“Novel systems?”

“Forget about it. Oh, you mentioned other systems before, right? What was all that about?”

“Nothing special, some members of my clan shape the power mechanics of their world into an actual system. That way mortals of just newly awakening worlds have an easier time, but if done poorly, it can severely damage the future of the realm. Systems impose many restrictions on their users, although they might be convenient and easy to use.”

“How similar are they to this one?”

“I don’t know as I haven’t personally seen one, but from what I heard, they don’t just give stuff for free, it is more like putting cultivation on autopilot. Now, stop asking stupid questions and open it!”