59 Chapter 59- Responsibilities

[New urgent quest has been added to the quest list. Host is advised to view it immediately.]

Huh? That's the first time the system has done that. Usually it just tells me what the quest is the second it appears. Lucious furrowed his brows as he contemplated how bad things could be if the system was acting strange.

Opening up the quest tab on his system, Lucious looked at the list of open quests. There, he saw all his daily quests and active quests. However, in a dark red, a new tab had appeared marked urgent.

[URGENT: Host has altered the fate of many people by having the twilight general turned into a vampire. The system has finally calculated the long term effects.

Host must decide on their new fates as their fate remains uncertain.]

I need to decide their new fates? What does that even mean? Isn't allowing them to live enough? Lucious asked in confusion as he looked at the long list of names that appeared alongside the quest.

However in that moment, Lucious was transported to a white space. In every direction the white space continued seemingly forever.

This is the same scene I saw when I used the fate token to give Liara magic. Lucious mused with wide eyes.

However, this time it seemed as though he was forcefully brought here and the strings that appeared last time never did.

After several seconds passed, the scenery slowly transformed to a what looked like a forest.

Tall trees filled Lucious's vision as a strong earthy scent washed over him. Despite the newly formed forested area, he knew that he was still inside the mysterious white space.

"You finally arrived." A soft, gentle voice reached his ears, alerting him to the woman behind him.

As he turned around, he saw another kitsune behind him. She had beautiful golden locks of hair that extended a little past her ears. Two charms adorned her hair, as she sat in a meditative pose. Her eyes remained closed, making it impossible to gauge her eye colour.

Her traditional clothing painted her as a sort of shrine maiden though the outfit was a little more revealing in places compared to the ones of Earth.

She sat on a small wooden platform that overlooked a large lake, the very picture of serenity.

However, what drew in Lucious's attention the most, was the nine tails that were gently swaying behind her. With their golden colour, they looked like a halo forming behind her, providing her with an angelic beauty.

Momentarily stunned by this beautiful kitsune, Lucious couldn't find the words to ask her identity before she spoke again.

"You've caused quite the stir since your arrival, Lucious." She spoke while remaining in her position.

Who is she? Is she the one who brought me here? How did...? Lucious had a million questions he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure where to start.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tanya Thorne. I am the creator of the system you've been using." She revealed with a smile, though her eyes remained closed.

She created the system? Is she a god or something? Lucious shook his head to recollect his wondering thoughts before taking a deep breath.

"Why did you bring me here... miss Thorne?" Lucious tentatively asked, cautious not to offend her.

He wasn't sure how she would react, though she seemed kind enough. Though looks can be deceiving and often claimed the loves of many who fell for a woman's act.

To overcome death once and survive multiple chance encounters, only to die because he fell for a honey trap, would be nothing more than a huge embarrassment.

"Just Tanya is fine. And you're here because I brought you here. You did receive the urgent quest did you not?" Though she phrased it as a question, it was clear she knew the answer.

As the one who had created the system, Tanya had been keeping a close eye on Lucious, especially since he had a penchant for getting into trouble.

Once Lucious nodded in confirmation, Tanya continued with her soft spoken voice.

"The fate system is more than a power-up tool as you've been using it for. Its primary purpose is to give its user the power to control and shape fate itself.

I won't ask how you seem to know the future, but by changing the future the fate of many people has become shrouded in mystery." She paused to let that sink in.

Lucious carefully absorbed her every word, not wanting to miss a single detail before nodding for her to continue.

"When a person's fate is left to be uncertain like this, it causes an imbalance in the very fabric of reality itself.

I've been handling the changes you've made thus far, but now you're changing things on a global scale so I've no choice but to intervene."

Lucious bashfully looked at her like a scolded child. Though he could have used the excuse that he didn't know as the system never told him, he had seen enough movies and read enough novels to know that changing the future never ends well.

"The damage has already been done, so what do I do?" Lucious asked with uncertainty. He still wasn't sure what exactly he was being confronted by but he knew he would likely die if he angered it.

Just by surviving in his current body, he had changed the fate of his sister, Cassandra. She was originally fated to be arrested for attacking her father upon learning of Lucious's exile and later his death.

Now, however, she is continuing her duties and saving the citizens of the Hozia Empire in the process.

Each life she saves becomes another person who's fate becomes enshrouded in mystery.

Not only that, but the village he saved will continue to exist, leaving everyone within with their fate also enshrouded.

Not to mention the fact that he saved Bellatrix and gave her the location of three of the Queen of Monster's generals.

Then theres the three prison artifacts he reclaimed from the fortress and submitted to the guildmaster. Each artifact contained hundreds of thousands of souls, all of which were supposed to die in there and are now being woken up and freed one small group at a time.

With all these changes, it was no wonder as to why Tanya had become irritated with him. Like an employee creating a mountain of problems for their employer, Lucious was wary of whatever punishment awaited him.

Given that he was tearing the fabric of reality itself, death seemed like the likely outcome, but fear that a fate worse than death caused Lucious to shudder.

"Relax, I won't punish you. At least not in the way you're thinking." She reassured, putting his mind to ease.

"From now on, whenever you change someone's fate, I will mark them in the system and you will decide what their new fate should be.

They may not necessarily achieve it, nor will it absolutely come to pass. It is simply a predefined path that you're laying, weather they reach the end of said path is on them."

Lucious scrunched his face slightly as he thought about her words and how they contradicted her earlier words.

"But if they don't then wouldn't that mark them with an shrouded fate of uncertainty?" He was sure there was much more to it than she was letting on but the information revealed to him somehow felt contradictive.

Tanya reassured him and explained that should they not achieve it then nothing will happen. Their fated path had been laid but they simply failed to reach the end.

And even if they should fulfil their fate early, the very universe itself would generate an extension to their fulfilled fate. Leaving Lucious to simply set a new fate for those that he is preventing from dying.

So long as he is setting a new fate for those he is protecting, he can go wild and use his imagination to its fullest.

"So it can be anything? Even something silly?" Lucious asked as all kinds of fun scenarios played out.

Tanya knew what he was thinking and let out a small giggle.

"Do as you like, there are no rules to setting a person's fate. The only rule is don't leave a person's fate enshrouded in mystery." She gleefully said, eager to see how Lucious would wield this newfound power.

Tanya had been seeing and recreating the same scenes time and again, and as such this power had long lost its allure. But, she now had the chance to see what Lucious would do when given early access to a fragment of the same power.

For the first time in a long time, a flicker of excitement took root inside her as she watched the various expressions on his face while planning what to do.

Lucious had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but his consciousness was suddenly forced out of that room and back into his own world.

It took him a few moments to realise that he had been making his way back to the tavern the entire time and was now stood just outside. He could already feel Liara's presence as she diligently worked on her magic.

I can use this opportunity to shape this very world in my image. Time to get to work.

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A/N: Two chapters as promised, though I'm thoroughly burnt out.

How did you like the bonus chapter? Might not make total sense right now, but it will do in the upcoming chapters.