“Have you steeled yourself? You’ve labored long and hard for your plan to come to fruition. I’m very proud of you, my Archon.” The silken voice caressed my mind as I stepped out of the tent, the coppery scent of blood still clinging to my clothes.

  I looked around to see everyone frozen in time, Maeve with tears streaming down her face, Joshua’s contorted expression of rage, even the dust motes suspended in the air. The world had become a perfect tableau, awaiting the next brushstroke of fate.

  “I’d like to offer you a prize of my own for making it this far,” the voice continued, a note of genuine warmth coloring the usual measured tone.

  “First, I’d like to offer my name. Know that this is not a common occurrence, and you must never speak it without my express permission. The power of names crosses boundaries even The System cannot fully control. Do you understand?”

  My heart hammered against my ribs. Names held power in every mythology and magic system I’d ever studied. To be gifted such a thing was no small matter.

  “I do, my lady, and I thank you for your trust,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “I could not have made it this far without your help, power and advice.”

  I touched Maeve’s frozen face, her skin cool beneath my fingertips as I absorbed her memory with my Memory Pocket skill. My beautiful daughter had performed beyond all expectations in the battle against the Golden Claw Tribe. Pride swelled within me, tempered by the sorrow of what she’d had to become to survive.

  “She did well, that one,” the voice said, echoing my thoughts.

  Around us, the frozen battlefield began to fade like a movie dissolving to black. The stars winked out one by one, the darkness coalescing into a pool of liquid constellations swimming within an infinite void.

  “My name is...” she began, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to emanate from everywhere at once.

  A familiar form took shape before me, obsidian skin that absorbed light rather than reflected it, midnight-black hair with tips that shimmered like stardust, and eyes that contained galaxies. Her dress, woven from the fabric of space itself, shifted and swirled with nebulae and distant stars.

  “Lilith.”

  The single spoken word rippled through reality like a stone cast into still water. The mana in the frozen world erupted in response, a pressure wave that drove me to my knees. The name itself carried power beyond mere sound, it was a concept, a fundamental truth of existence that mortal minds weren’t meant to comprehend fully.

  I felt a hand placed upon my shoulder, cool and firm, relieving the crushing pressure. Lilith looked into my eyes, silently affirming the seriousness of the absolute rule about her name.

  “I understand,” I spoke aloud, the weight of this gift settling upon me.

  “Your second reward is knowledge.”

  She moved with inhuman grace, circling me like a predator, though her expression held something akin to fondness.

  “You’ve navigated through treacherous waters, Alexander, and I know you were tempted to ask for help. However, you remained true to the contract and upheld your end of the deal. Ask your questions, and I’ll answer as many as I am permitted.” She emphasized the last word, revealing constraints even she must obey.

  “Thank you, my lady,” I said, gathering my thoughts carefully. Questions had burned in my mind since our first meeting, but now that the opportunity presented itself, I had to choose wisely.

  “Who or what are the Contractors?”

  Lilith’s lips curved into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We are a multitude of races and people who have ascended, just as humanity has attempted before when it was flush with mana.”

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  That led to my next question. “What did The System mean by ‘Earth’s probation’?”

  “Many Earthlings have ascended in the past, but humanity became too full of themselves. Your own greed sank one of your mightiest continents, the core Nexus of mana on your planet.” Her voice carried neither judgment nor forgiveness, merely stating ancient history as fact. “You cannot cheat The System for power; mana cannot be contained. At least not for long.”

  “Many of your historical figures, and some you consider fictional, have transcended their limitations and became Contractors of their own. Their names and stories are not mine to give, however.”

  This revelation staggered me. Were the myths and legends of our past, the gods and heroes of antiquity, merely ascended humans who had reached a higher plane of existence?

  “Are you the Lilith from our Judaeo-Christian religion? Adam’s original wife?” I asked, the question escaping before I could consider its wisdom.

  Her expression shifted subtly, something ancient and unknowable flickering behind her eyes.

  “Is that where the humans have placed me within your history?” The question held no answer, and her tone signaled the end of that line of inquiry.

  “Contractors are powerful beings that Lord over domains large and small. As they gain influence, they gain power, and the power makes you addicted to more.”

  She moved closer, her face mere inches from mine. “You’ve already put yourself on track to make an enemy of one in Joshua’s Contractor. Let us pause this line of questioning for now.”

  “Understood,” I said, bowing slightly.

  “That should give you enough to extrapolate from here. I was only able to give you this information because you, alone, will be upgraded to System 2. The information and abilities that they provide will vary differently than what you’ve become used to.”

  “What difference does System 2 bring from System 1?” I asked, sensing we approached the core of what I needed to know.

  “That leads me to my third and final reward, Alexander.” Her voice lowered, taking on an almost reverent quality. “You will retain your class as Advisor and any contracts made will be strictly enforced as your planet moves forward, in whatever way that might be.”

  She gestured, and the void around us shifted, revealing glimpses of possibilities, sprawling cities with spires that pierced the clouds, armies marching under banners I didn’t recognize, people wielding magic in ways I hadn’t thought possible.

  “As my chosen Advisor, at least for the time being, you will have access to City management, auction privileges, and others that you will need to discover on your own. These will only become available during the scheduled Mana release on your planet. This is all the information I can give you currently.”

  Her expression grew grave, the stars in her eyes dimming slightly. “You’ve made an indescribable bet with The System, and you’ve drawn the attention of countless powerful beings that will be betting for and against humanity. By this action that you’ve used to save your people, you’ve brought exponentially more danger upon them.”

  She moved closer still, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to bypass my ears and resonate directly within my mind. “Listen closely, as these will be my last words until The System is reintroduced to Earth.”

  I held my breath, sensing the importance of what would come next.

  “Before your species harnessed the power of electricity, did it still exist?” she asked rhetorically.

  The implications hit me like a thunderbolt. “Mana was never taken from you or your planet, child. You just had no access to the tools to measure it. The System provided an easy understanding of an already available resource.”

  Her eyes, containing galaxies and nebulae, fixed on mine. “Do you understand my meaning in relation to your plan, Alexander?”

  A new understanding dawned within me, we didn’t need The System to access mana; it had always been there, waiting to be harnessed. The System merely provided the framework, the language, the interface through which we could comprehend and control it.

  “I understand and thank you, Lilith.” I said, the name sending ripples of power through the void once more.

  The announcement screen appeared, floating before me in the darkness:

  Attention Alexander Evans.

  As Humanity’s largest contributor, please state your desired wish.

  I took a deep breath, the culmination of all my planning, all my suffering, distilled into this single moment. “I’d like to return in time to three years before the system introduced itself. As we’ve already completed the tutorial, is it possible to skip it?”

  Checking... Wish accepted.

  Tutorial: cleared and results will carry over.

  Reversing Earth’s Temporal time to July 15th, 2020.

  Lilith’s form began to fade, her voice growing distant. “Good luck, my Archon.”

  The void around me collapsed, reality bending and folding in on itself. As I was pulled backward through time, the threads of fate unraveling and rewinding around me, her final words echoed in my mind:

  “The Spider spins her web across many worlds. Remember your Contract, remember your purpose, and remember that even gods can be bound by the right words.”

  Then darkness claimed me, and the world was reborn.