The System's True Form

A medium? Hearing Euphy's words, Freya immediately thought of the “system.” Could this thing be the medium for that authority?

So she asked, “Can you find where this so-called medium is?”

Euphy said, “Of course I can!”

As she spoke, Euphy pulled out a mirror from her person. “This is an extraordinary item I commissioned my grandfather to make. Combined with some special occult arrays, it can detect demigod-level authority to a certain extent. Of course, whether it will succeed is still unknown. Want to give it a try?”

Clearly, Euphy had come prepared.

Freya didn't refuse and said, “Let's try it.”

Thus, Euphy quickly drew an intricate occult array on the ground. The shape of this array resembled an infinity symbol, a horizontal figure eight. It had two array nodes. Freya sat quietly on one of the array nodes, while Euphy placed the mirror on the other.

Once everything was ready, the occult array was activated, and the mirror began to emit a soft blue glow.

Looking into the mirror, Freya noticed her reflection gradually fading. In its place, a brass pocket watch emitting a soft golden light floated in midair.

Freya was taken aback. “This is...?”

Euphemia said, “This should be the medium of your authority. It exists 【somewhere】 inside your body, though not in a physical sense, but rather an occult one. As for how exactly it exists, I don't know. I can only tell that it is very deeply bound to you.”

“It could be 【mutual binding in time】, 【overlapping in spatial concepts】, or something else entirely.”

“This form of authority existing in a medium has its pros and cons. The benefit is that you can take potions normally and pursue any pathway without affecting your use of this authority, because this thing is essentially equivalent to an incredibly powerful extraordinary item.”

“As for the downside, although this thing is very, very deeply bound to you, there is no denying the possibility of it being stolen by someone else. You need to be extra careful.”

Euphemia watched for a moment longer and said, “Wait, this pocket watch... seems to have twelve layers of seals? Three of them are unlocked, and nine are still sealed, restricting most of its power. Wait, Fufu, your ability to enter the future, bring things out at will, and summon clones is actually just a small fraction of this authority?!”

“Three unlocked, nine sealed?” Freya immediately glanced at her “system.” She clearly remembered that her “system” had upgraded twice. If getting the system initially counted as one layer of unsealing, and each upgrade unsealed another layer, then it matched up perfectly.

So, her so-called system really wasn't a system at all, but this brass pocket watch?!

Euphemia continued, “I don't know what these seals are for yet, but I think... maybe I can unlock some of them?”

A question mark practically appeared over Freya's head. “Wait, Euphy, what did you say?”

Euphemia said, “At least the first few layers of seals aren't that complex. Give me some time, and I should be able to manage it.”

In other words, Euphy could help her 【upgrade the system】?! Wasn't this a bit too exaggerated?

Freya looked at Euphy with a shocked expression. Scholars... were truly terrifying.

After taking a few more looks and committing all the details to memory, Euphemia quickly packed up the occult array and the mirror on the ground, saying, “Continuing about entering the future, this ability essentially creates a false timeline.”

“So, what would happen if multiple Prophets of Rank Five or above used the ability to enter the future? The answer is that they would enter this false timeline together. When no Prophet is using the ability, this false timeline doesn't actually disappear completely; instead, it remains in a pending state, waiting for the next person to use their ability to enter the future.”

In other words, if multiple Prophets manipulated this timeline, the future information obtained by subsequent Prophets might not be entirely accurate.

Euphemia said, “So, that past from ten years in the future was very likely modified and distorted into that state by a high-ranking extraordinary of the Prophet Pathway. However, it is a false timeline after all. No matter what it looks like, it has nothing to do with the real world.”

“As for the memories you just mentioned, Fufu, they should be the memories from this distorted, false timeline. Logically, the Mind Pathway shouldn't be able to see memories from a false timeline, even if they belong to another version of yourself. The only reason you can see them is most likely due to this brass pocket watch on you.”

“I have reason to suspect that the person who distorted this false timeline was very likely the previous owner of this pocket watch. As for why they gave this to you... that remains unknown.”

To be honest, it was a bit ridiculous. Freya and Euphemia had set off for the Empire to find the Mind Research Association with the initial goal of investigating Countless Blessings and Countless Resentments. Along the way, they had discovered constant luck. Now, after making a whole circle, they hadn't fully cleared up either of those two mysteries, but had instead uncovered the true form of the system.

Freya clicked her tongue. Hearing this massive pile of information Euphy had pieced together, she didn't know what to say for a moment. She turned to look at Life Freya, who used her Heart Perception on Euphy. She could clearly see that Euphy's Rank Four Scholar potion was already nearly half digested.

Good grief, what kind of ridiculous advancement speed was this? It felt like Euphy would be able to advance to Rank Five before long. Wasn't she advancing even faster than Freya herself?

Oh, wait. Going from Rank Four to Rank Five required an advancement ritual. It wasn't as simple as just drinking a potion. Just preparing for the ritual itself would probably take quite some time.

While Freya was marveling at this, Euphy seemed to remember something and added, “Oh right, I've already researched the occult array for inheriting memories. In the future, if you enter the future again, Fufu, let me know right before you leave. I can record my memories, and then you can bring them out and give them to the real me. That way, I can synchronize my memories of reality and the false future.”