23 Systems (1/2)
Similar to what happened when he entered the previous shop, his vision turned black. This time Ensen was calmer since he had already experienced the sensation before. That did not make him more comfortable about it, however.
After a few seconds, his vision returned. This time Ensen recovered himself almost instantly and began to analyze the room.
Looking around, he noticed he was sitting on a seemingly brand-new leather couch. To his left was a large window that overlooked an odd rounded stage with seats surrounding it. Looking at the outside with a closer look, he noticed that there were numerous other rooms that had windows looking down on the stage.
Oddly enough, there seemed to be people in each room. Well, various black silhouettes to be precise.
Hearing a wave of footsteps and chatter from below, he turned his attention towards the lower seating to notice that many human-shaped beings had begun arriving at the area and sitting down while chatting with others. While they were all relatively similar-looking, some had tails, pointy ears, and other peculiarities.
By now Ensen was incredibly confused. He wasn't sure why there were so many people here.
Deciding to check out the remainder of the room before focusing on the issue, he turned around and looked at the right side of the room. There seemed to be an odd-looking see-through fridge that held many beverages as well as a doorway which he assumed would take him downstairs.
Walking towards the door, Ensen tried opening it by turning the handle. But instead of the door opening a blue box met his action.
[Insufficient Academy Rank]
”Why can't I leave this room?” Ensen asked as he wanted to explore more of the peculiar building.
[You do not meet the requirements to leave your room.] The system wrote bluntly.
”So the people down there meet the requirements then?” Ensen followed up with another question, although he did not believe they met the requirements. Because while it would be fun to explore the building, this room overlooking the stage would be way more comfortable than being down there.
A new blue box appeared and declared a very important piece of information.
[They do not meet the requirements either. Their system is not a high enough rank to warrant a private room.]
”There are ranks to systems then?” Ensen asked in both confusion and amazement.
[That is correct. There are three main ranks for the system. They are signified by the prefixes to their name. The first rank is the Inception rank and has no prefix, for example, 'The Writing System'. They occupy the lowest ranks of the systems and do not have many privileges when compared to the higher ranks. The next major rank is the Heavenly rank. They have heavenly as the prefix to their system and are fewer in number but hold much more authority and power. The final major rank is the Supreme rank. We hold almost complete authority over the lesser systems and are very few in number. There are only eight Supreme systems in total. The people currently in the private rooms either have a supreme system or are very powerful entities with a heavenly rank system. I, the Supreme Academy System is, of course, part of this rank.]
Taken aback by all the information, a question quickly formed in Ensen's head.
”Wait, all of these people have systems? There's so many of them.” Ensen said in shock, unable to believe what the system said.
[That is correct, all of these people have been graced by a system. For example, if you look in the private room opposite to you, the young lady with purple hair and eyes has the Supreme Empress System. She comes from the planet Remia and has just recently been given the system similar to you, just in the past few days in fact.]
Unwilling to believe the answer, Ensen took a closer look at the girl the system had mentioned previously. She seemed to be in her early twenties, probably around 23. She had radiating smooth skin and wore rather unkempt clothes. Some parts were ripped slightly, and it was faded from the amount of dirt that covered it.
Deciding to return to his seat, for now, he sat there for a few minutes before asking the system one final thing.
”So this is a sort of dimension like the previous shops you mentioned earlier right?” Ensen asked in confirmation.
[That is correct. All hosts of the systems have permission to travel here whenever they please, although auctions are not always ongoing. Users people may also trade materials or points. The other shops are owned by the individual system itself, however.]
Satisfied with his answer, Ensen rested his eyes for another minute or so before a loud wave of claps disturbed him. Standing up, he walked towards the window to see a young girl about 19 years old with very reserved clothes on. She wore a white and Grey turtleneck sweater as well as light blue jeans that were quite baggy, hiding her body. Her eyes were shimmer green and her hair was a natural light brown color.
Shaking his head in approval by her clothing choice, Ensen turned his head towards the audience below who were utterly taken by her beauty. Although she had dressed conservatively it only elevated her adorable factor to an even greater level. While there were a few people who were simply nodding their head in a similar fashion to Ensen, most were simply staring at her beauty and applauding.
”Hello everyone. I'm Riza I'll be your auctioneer today, it's my first time on-stage so please be nice.” She said with apprehension and hesitation in her voice.