Chapter 1018 The System After revealing how the combination of the 3 Divine Abilities could have killed the current Kahn, the future Kahn revealed the secret card that he created… namely, the System. "Despite all those risks and uncertainty of you dying due to the aftereffects of the 3 divine abilities that you were bound to have… There was only one way left to circumvent it and prolong your survival until the Conclave of Heroes." declared future Kahn. "You may not believe this but my ability to read the memories of the dead… came from the God of Darkness himself." he stated firmly. "Although it happened only after I awakened my divine key… it was something that often helped me not only to succeed in my goals but also help me redirect my actions to ensure my survival. Look at us for example… I would not be here if I hadn't read Anakin's memories and acquired the archaic spell God of Time gave him." he iterated confidently. "God of Darkness has the record of every being that lived and died, their powers, abilities, appearance, bloodlines, and physiological structure. He is the Death itself and all he had to do was gather the information through the memories of the dead souls in the Eternal Abyss." explained the Martial Emperor. "Then I, the future version of you, who had the memories from Earth and knew how this whole thing in various media worked, created the interface which you call the System. An interface that compartmentalized everything based on mana, physical stats, bloodlines, skills description, abilities, laws of the reality, elements of nature, ranks of monsters, fighting classes, weapons, armors, and everything that was to know about Vantrea." he spoke in a smug voice. "After he gave me what was needed, similar to an Artificial Intelligence, I created simulations and an adaptability interface which would respond to you like a program similar to that of those System novels and MMORPG stories where things based on your choices of these 3 divine abilities would be explained." he iterated even more shamelessly. "But the main purpose was always to balance out and not absorb anything that could be harmful to you in the long run. Not a single one of the abilities that you absorbed from anything you killed, whether it was just a fighting technique or a bloodline was taken from the outside sources, assimilated inside your body for more than necessary. The system made sure that everything was balanced without you suffering any repercussions until you at least became a Saint." revealed future Kahn. "Also, I took that risk knowing you would follow my footsteps of raiding the Bromnir Dungeon and get the Metamorphosis bloodline that would help you balance these bloodlines. Moreover, I kind of gambled on the fact that you would try to absorb the Jatvuarym monster and get the Legendary rank Metamorphosis Bloodline after entering the Vulcan Empire. So that it would keep you alive until the Conclave of Heroes at least." he spoke in a coy tone. "So you took such a big risk based on simple 'gut feeling'? If I hadn't absorbed the metamorphosis bloodline, I would be long dead before even becoming a Saint?" asked Kahn, a bit pissed off. Because the future him played such a huge game of probability which could have risked his life in the new timeline. "Hey, we may be from different timelines, but we have the same personality as far as money and greed for new powers are concerned. I did not create the system based on a hunch alone. I also used my memories to make the best use of encounters I had with several monsters and their abilities that would help me survive in the new timeline." explained the Martial Emperor. "On top of it, Kravel wasn't even present in the World Boundary when God of Darkness chose me as his Hero in the original timeline. I made him come there just so he could offer his Blessings and Gifts to you as his Apostle in the new timeline." revealed future Kahn. He did not make the current Kahn choose the 3 Divine Abilities and made the War Deity give him various Blessings without purpose and knowing how the encounters of the original timeline would end up helping him survive, he basically paved the way for Kahn. The future Kahn built the road so current Kahn could walk on it. ---------------- After some time of contemplating, the current Kahn absorbed this fact and spoke somberly… "I have noticed that you referred to Elric as if he is a different person. It's as if you are ashamed to be called by our original name. Why is that?" asked Kahn sternly. This was a fact he noticed throughout their conversation so far and future Kahn always mentioned Elric Johnson from a 3rd-person perspective. To this sudden question, the future Kahn was quite taken aback and turned his head around as if he was anxious and also disheartened. "It… it's not something I'm proud of. We may be the same person but we have lived different lives if I'm to be honest." spoke future Kahn with an incredulous countenance as if he didn't want to talk about it. "This new timeline… For me, coming back in time was also an opportunity to correct some mistakes I made, the ones I'm quite ashamed of." he spoke in a defeated tone. "In the original timeline… All I did was hide like a coward. I did not meet Albestros and neither did I go around acting as Azrael who punished criminals. Even after learning the truth, I did not avenge his children like you did. After reaching Rathna… I did not start some weapon company called Bloodborne, learn blacksmithing skills from Throk, or open a Mercenary guild called Misthios. Unlike you, the first 6 years of my life were simply… uneventful." he spoke and sighed. "I stayed in Flavot City for an entire year than just 2 months while working as Adventurer, thinking dungeon hunting was going to help me become incredibly powerful like some plot of a novel or manga. Even there, I barely took risks and delayed progressing to the final floor for an entire year unlike you who did it in the first month. Although you ended up dying once and I saved you using my Abyss Sentinel form, you received Rathnaar's Core much faster." he elaborated. "After I moved to the capital, I acted as a hired soldier for those noble clans and was hardly making ends meet because of my hesitation to stand out, thinking that it would risk exposing my identity." he spoke in a hushed tone and continued with a tone full of pain... "And that... Was my biggest mistake in life."