The Idle System Box Set

by Pegaz

  He told Sarah about his theory and she agreed with him as she explained she has the same notice in her system too.

  Now that this was all over, it was time to head to the Sword Sect.

  Chapter 17

  Arriving on Sword Sect’s Public Planet

  At the twenty-mile mark away from the teleport room, John and Sarah stood there and the two puppets stood behind them.

  “The teleport room shouldn’t activate against the puppets since they have no life,” John remarked. “But get ready in case I’m wrong.”

  Sarah nodded at John’s warning, ready to run if the runes activated. John checked the area with Life Vision and Immortal Eye, checking that nobody was in front. Prepared for whatever there was to come, they crossed the line.

  Nothing happened when the puppets crossed the line after them. Sarah and John both sighed in relief.

  While they walked towards the teleport room, Sarah gave her question a voice.

  “What happens if somebody is in the twenty-mile mark before you cross the line?”

  John explained what he remembered from the text he read at the Rogue sect library. As a safety precaution, both the member of the Rogue sect and the other person would be killed on suspicion of betrayal. Sarah gawked at the extremes that the sect went to.

  When they entered the teleport room, John thought of an experiment to test. He told Sarah the next few numbers of the teleport rooms they needed to use and asked Sarah to wait a minute after he teleported to step on the rune. He wanted to know if the Shared skill would deactivate the skills if there was too much distance between him and Sarah.

  Sarah stepped through the teleport along with the puppet according to John’s instruction. When she caught up to him, Sarah mentioned she had checked and noted that the Shared skills hadn’t changed. He smiled and nodded, then grabbed Sarah’s hand. They carried on with their journey.

  Nineteen days later, the third Shrink Neurons skill completed. The pain was tolerable this time—his mind and body had gotten used to the pain from the skill. The fourth skill completed two months and two days later.

  They arrived on the Sword Sect’s public planet a month later. Luckily for John, the system had scanned this planet’s world map. John looked at the world map in the system and found the capital city; they needed to go there and find the administrative building to take the age and rank test.

  It was with purpose and confidence that the couple walked to the nearest town. They needed to use the public teleport system on this planet, or else it would take months of travel to get to the capital. Walking towards the city gate, John noticed the city walls were a lot taller than any he’d seen before. At the top were items mounted on the walls; John thought they looked like metal cannons.

  When they got to the entrance, John found a city guard on duty and asked why the walls were so tall. The answer they gave was that the monsters in this area were tall; therefore, the walls were necessary. The guard described the monsters to John and Sarah, which caused them to burst into giggling fits. The description the guard gave them sounded like a giraffe from Earth. The only difference was their size, colour, and eating habits. These monsters were predators and could swallow a human whole.

  Coming to a big building, the group looked at the sign above the door, ‘Teleportation Booking.’ As they entered, everybody inside the room turned to look at them, stunned by their silver skull masks. Even the puppets drew attention, their eerie soulless eyes piercing everyone who stared into them.

  John walked to the counter and asked about teleporting four people to the capital. The next slot open was in a few hours and cost one Grade 2 Life Stone per person. Paying for all four, John grabbed the ticket and the person behind the counter explained where to go for the teleport rune.

  Killing time, John and Sarah strolled through the town and ate a few things from small food stalls. A few hours later, they teleported to the capital.

  Walking out of the teleport room, they looked around at their new surroundings. All the buildings were built using treated wood and packed together. John compared it to the buildings he saw in the old western movies.

  John found the Sword Sect’s admin building twenty minutes later at the other end of the city. Inside was brightly lit with sunlight pouring into the room through a huge window. The floor was polished enough to see your reflection on it, and on the ceiling was a chandelier made of glass. The walls were painted gleaming white. Opposite the huge window was a row of counters with staff members working behind them. The room was decently sized and packed full of people.

  He saw a few of the people who were waiting were holding small parchments.

  Is that a ticket? Do I need to grab a ticket and wait for my number?

  Deciding to just ask, he went up to a person who was holding the parchment.

  “Excuse me, what is that you and a few others are holding?”

  The person John asked was an older woman with white hair. The woman looked at John but got scared because of the silver skull mask. With a shriek, she tossed the parchment and ran out of the building.

  John stood there, stunned. He grabbed the parchment.

  102.

  Turning around, he would have asked Sarah what they should do, but she was too busy laughing.

  John rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. Looking at the counters, the number 97 was the highest one. Sarah sat down where the old woman was sitting and John stood in front of her. They chatted while the numbers on the counter kept increasing. Before long, John was looking at the number 101 on the sign.

  “We’re next,” he said. “Do you think those are screens of some sort like those on our home planet? How else do they get the numbers to change?”

  Before Sarah could answer, the number 102 appeared above the far right counter so she signalled John to look over as she stood up. They both walked up to the counter. The person behind the counter was a young man who looked no older than fifteen, so John used Immortal Eye on him.

  ???

  Rank: 0

  Level: 0

  Sin: 9

  Mortal. He must either work for the Sword Sect... Or maybe he has family working for the Sword Sect.

  “Hello,” John started the conversation. “We want to get tested to join the Sword Sect, please.”

  “It’s one Grade 7 Life Stone per person to get tested.” The young man had his head resting on an arm. He looked bored or uninterested.

  “Are you kidding?!” Sarah exclaimed. “A Grade 7 Life Stone to get tested? Are you trying to scam us?”

  Her shout drew attention. All the people inside looked over, including the other people behind the counters. There were whispers all around. John could hear them all with his Hearing senses skill. He didn’t take notice of most of them but one piece of information surprised him.

  “They’re so unlucky to get the grandson of an Elder of the Sword Sect. He’s only here because he’s being punished.”

  John smiled under the mask.

  “You realise that if anyone could pay a Grade 7 Life Stone to get tested, you would not be in a position capable of surviving his wrath, right?” He leaned across the counter, shortening the distance between him and the boy. “Would a normal Elder of the Sword Sect be able to shield you from someone who can throw that sort of resource away?”

  “Then lucky me.” The kid waved his free hand in front of his face. “Because it doesn’t seem like you’re able to throw that resource away. I think I’ll live.”

  John slammed down a Grade 7 Life Stone on the counter.

  “Send a message to the head of the Sword Sect that I have a token from his disciple, Owen Lane, and wish to meet him to make a deal. Tell him it’s about the survival of the Sword Sect.”

  Chapter 18

  Meeting

  Everybody in the room heard John put the kid in his place. Some other workers behind the counters laughed. John assumed most of them were thinking along the lines of ‘About time!’

  The kid still
had his head on his hand, resting, but his facial expression was different. It went from boredom to terror. He was sweating, had his mouth open, eyes bulging and not breathing.

  Sarah was holding in her laughter behind him, and John was trying hard not to laugh, too. The puppets were expressionless, and the people in the room whispered. After a few seconds of trying hard not to laugh, John got impatient and shouted at the kid.

  “What are you waiting for? Go do what I said!”

  The kid jumped out of his chair and ran to the back room. The moment he was through the door, the whole room laughed. John turned around to address the other staff members who were laughing.

  “Hope this helps you guys put him in his place.”

  All the staff member thanked him but carried on working after a few minutes. They impressed John with their professional attitude.

  Ten minutes later, the kid came back with a man who looked like he was in his early forties, long black beard, black eyebrows, and a shaved head. The man walked up to counter which the kid pointed to and walked over to John.

  “Hello,” the man said in a low voice. “Are you the person who said you have information about the survival of our Sword Sect?”

  “Yes.” John nodded. “Are you an elder of the sect?”

  He turned on Immortal Eye to check the man out after asking.

  ???

  Rank: 6

  Level: 7

  Sin: 89

  “I’m his grandfather.” The man pointed to the kid. “And as an elder of the Sword Sect, I find you suspicious and think you’re attempting to harm the Sword Sect. You will come with me for interrogation.”

  The kid behind the man smiled after hearing his grandfather’s words.

  John teleported in front of the kid and grabbed him by the neck. The man couldn’t find John and looked around, only to see him holding his grandson by the neck.

  “To protect your grandson”—John held the kid up—”You want to claim I’m an enemy of the Sword Sect, right? Did your grandson tell you that Owen Lane, the direct disciple of the sect master, sent me here?”

  The man’s eyes bulged in shock.

  “If I was an enemy of the Sword Sect,” John called out darkly, “I would force you to commit suicide to keep your grandson alive.” John let go of the kid and carried on. “That was a warning. I can kill a rank 6 like you very easily.”

  The kid had ran into the man’s arms who bent down to hold his grandson. At John’s words, cold sweat ran down the elder’s back. He stood up, put his grandson down, then hit the boy on his cheek, hard. The kid was launched and hit the wall, collapsing.

  “Forgive me, please.” He turned and looked at John. “My grandson led me astray and did not tell me you had Owen’s token. I know Owen and I know he would not give his token to an enemy of the sect. Please follow me while I report this to the sect master.”

  John nodded, then looked over at Sarah, signing her to stand down. She had prepared a poison that could have killed the man. Had he made any suspicious movements, the man’s fate would have been sealed.

  “Follow me.” The man breathed heavily as he ran to the door.

  Sarah jumped over the counter and joined John. The puppets were behind Sarah, following close behind. The group trailed after the man. who brought them to a teleport room. He explained that it was to teleport to the Sword Sect. The man went first and they followed him.

  They arrived inside a building made of stone with swords as decorations all over the place. At the one end of the room were different teleport runes with signs above them. John read them aloud.

  “Sword, Sabre, Halberd, Spear, Mace, Great Sword, Dagger and many more teleports.” His voice bounced off of the walls, catching his guide’s attention.

  “You should know the Sword Sect has different techniques for different weapons, yes?” The elder explained. “These teleports take you to the headquarters of each weapon. If you specialise in more than one weapon, then you go to the headquarters of the weapon you are improving.”

  “I see.” John nodded. “I don’t specialise in anything. I use swords but also a weapon called a gun.”

  “I’ve trained in swords and daggers before but my main weapon is swords,” Sarah chimed in.

  “I’ve heard of guns.” The man nodded. “But those take too long to reload. That profession would be for support or to distract the enemy while people using the swords take the kill.”

  John just shrugged. He didn’t feel like explaining.

  They went to a teleport that had no sign above it.

  “This is to go to the main headquarters where all elders and the sect master hold meetings to discuss important things. If the information you have is about our sects survival, then you need to speak in the elder meeting. That’s one rule of the sect.”

  “I get it.” John nodded. “In case I’m an assassin trying to get close to the sect master.”

  They stepped on the rune and teleported to the main headquarters. They came out inside another stone room full of different weapons on display. In front of them were two guards standing at the exit of the teleport room. The man told the guards to let them through, and they passed through the corridor while John and Sarah followed.

  At the end of a corridor were two giant, metal doors. The man grabbed a circular knob at shoulder height and pulled the door open with a loud creak. John saw the metal door as it swung open; it was at least two feet thick. He wondered if he could cut through this door if he had to.

  The group walked into a giant stone room with white pillars in the shape of different swords, the pointed end on the floor and the handle touching the ceiling. There were no windows, but thousands of light sources like lamps, chandeliers, and glowing rocks. At the end of the room was a throne with an older man sitting on it. To the left and right of the throne were four long tables that went from one end of the room to the other. The table was full of elders sitting down.

  The man walked up and bowed to the man on the throne. He shouted loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, explaining why John and Sarah were in the room. When he finished, all the elders were abuzz with discussion. Some even shouted at John and Sarah.

  “What information could you have that could help prevent the destruction of the Sword Sect?”

  “The Sword Sect cannot be destroyed! You trying to get free stuff?”

  “We’re number one sect in the universe! You must be lying!”

  The sect leader on the throne shouted.

  “Quiet!”

  When silence fell upon the room, the leader then signalled for John and Sarah to walk forward. John checked him out with Immortal Eye as he walked forward.

  Frankie Knight

  Rank: 8

  Level: 5

  Sin: 393

  The leader did have silver hair and eyes just like Owen had said, but John noticed his Life Power was pale green when the man used it to shout.

  So he hasn’t got the Silver Grade Life Power. Was he born this way? That’s interesting... Does that mean the father, the mother, or an ancestor had the Silver Grade Life Power and he just inherited the colour?

  John and Sarah stood before the sect master. As the older man spoke, the couple both did a martial arts salute as a greeting. The puppets behind them did the same after being ordered to by John and Sarah.

  “So what information do you have to tell me?” Frank nodded while smiling down at them. “I can promise you that if the information is true, then you will be rewarded.”

  “Well.” John nodded back. “First off, I must tell you something to show I am speaking the truth. Please do not act against me once I tell you.”

  “Oh?” The master raised an eyebrow. “You fear for your life with just the presentation? Well, I promise that nobody here will act against you until you’ve finished telling us the whole story.”

  “Thank you, Sect Master. The first thing I need to show you... is this.” John turned his dark blue robes and silver skull mask into the black and silv
er colours of Rogue Sect.

  Gasps exploded all around the room.

  “I was part of the strongest assassin sect in this universe. Its true name is The Rogue Sect!”

  Chapter 19

  New Procedure

  As soon as John had shouted he was an assassin, all the hundreds of elders in the room stood up and drew their weapons, getting ready to kill John, Sarah, and the puppets.

  “STAND DOWN!” The sect master shouted. His voice caused the room to shake ever so slightly. Dust fell off the ceiling because of the vibrations. “I gave him my word that nobody would attack him until after the explanation is over! Anybody who makes me unable to keep my word will die by my hands!”

  The elders hesitated, some of them lowering their weapons immediately.

  “None of you heard past the part of him being an assassin!” The master growled. “He told us the assassin sect’s name! How many thousands of years have we tried to get even this piece of information, yet he comes along and tells us, and you want to kill him for it?”

  All the elders stood completely still, dazed. The sect master’s words sank in.

  “You told us the name of the assassin sect.” The sect master looked at John. “That means you’ll either die by the blood oath or you’ve found a way around it. What do you want in exchange for all the information you have on the sect?”

  John turned his clothes back to the dark blue Daoist robes and silver skull mask.

  “I want me and my...” He turned around and looked at Sarah. This was the first time mentioning their relationship. Turning back to the sect master, he carried on talking. “My wife and I want to join the Sword Sect; however, I bear news that the leadership of the Rogue sect has changed. They will now target anyone for money, including children. I want to give you this information to prevent Rogue sect members being able to get onto this planet. Their blood oath works brilliant in keeping information secret, but once the information is out, the blood oath is the same thing that will out them!”