The Arcadia System

Amethyst snapped his fingers loudly after reaching a conclusion, "Alright, I know what to give you."

Reve looked at him curiously. He wondered what gift the enigmatic god had for him. He was starting to get ticked off that Amethyst kept it a secret.

Nevertheless, he let the egoistic God do as he wished. After all, it wasn't like he could force him to reveal it, right?

Reve's kept a calm face while possessing wild thoughts. His level of shamelessness protected him from being embarrassed by the possible fact that Amethyst was currently reading his thoughts.

He took another look at Amethyst's perfect face. All he saw were flashes of cordial smiles thrown at him.

'He knows….' Reve smiled internally.

Amethyst, however, didn't take offence with Reve's blasphemous thoughts. If he did, Reve would probably have been reduced to ashes.

He said, "That concludes ninety percent(90%) of the orientation. Now, moving on to the last ten percent(10%)...the most important part. This concerns a main issue you are struggling with…."

Reve happily bobbed his head when he heard Amethyst. He knew what this was about.

He confidently asked, "This is about the lack of female cats in this forest, right?"

"..."

This time, it was Amethyst's turn to be speechless.

He gave Reve a weird glance and second-guessed his decision of making the cat a candidate.

"No. No, it is not..." replied Amethyst.

Reve sadly brought down his head, "What a pity? So, this is about my language problems, I guess?"

It wasn't that Reve hadn't considered this before but that was not his main priority. 

Just as how human men prioritize women before their male companions, cats too have a strong sense of priority.

"Yes, it's about that. You have found the abodes of Zatius, one of Arcadia's strongest mages. Yet, you couldn't reap anything significant. That was truly a tragedy. You had no idea on what path to traverse. Yet, you blindly chose a path," explained Amethyst.

"Wait, Mr.Owner's real name is Zatius?"

"Yes. He was quite interesting. I watched him for a while when he was building his abodes. It's such a pity what happened to him," Amethyst lowered his voice.

His love for talents was expressed clearly for Reve to understand. This man---no, this God had an insane desire to groom the unexpected. It bordered the line of a fetish.

As for what happened to Zatius, Reve didn't ask about it. He already had an idea.

Instead, he took the chance to question, "So, should I assume you have something to remedy the situation?"

His eyes burned feverishly when he thought of finally covering the language barrier.

Amethyst replied nonchalantly, as if disappointed, "Not exactly, ultimately it still depends on you. What I will do is provide you with an Arcadish language book written in English along with several other helpful books. By reading them, you can hone your language skills. How is it? Don't you feel the pleasurable feeling of a challenge?"

Reve's face squeezed when he heard Amethyst. It squeezed more especially when he heard the last two sentences.

'Leave it to this insane God to find pleasure in torturing the weak and defenceless...' he thought.

He even wondered how he had expected Amethyst to give him something free so easily.

However, it wasn't a bad thing per se. Back on Earth, Myrna taught him the English language. Of course, he wasn't extraordinarily perfect with it, but he was able to understand more than enough.

It wouldn't be difficult to comprehend another language after having sufficient experience.

"I'll take it," confirmed Reve.

Instantly, a large load of books appeared above him and fell to the ground.

They could fill half a bookshelf.

"What are these?" Reve wavered.

Amethyst simply said, with his innocent smile, "The books."

"Then why are they this much?"

"My apologies. The language book is not exactly one book. It comprises many books covering the Arcadish-English academic course, which is extraordinarily rare in this world. They used to teach this before but the knowledge got lost with the passing of time. Now, it's ancient."

"Oh...."

Reve once again wondered if Amethyst's aim was to kill him through unconventional means.

As if sensing his thoughts, Amethyst soothed, "Fear not, once you mastered the books, you would be qualified to be titled an Arcadish Scholar."

His attempts at reassuring the cat were futile as expected.

This made him switch to a new tactic, "Enough about that. It's time for me to grant you a skill and take my leave."

"Ohhh….." this certainly caught Reve's attention.

He focused intently on what the wicked God was about to do.

Amethyst stood from his spot and walked closer to Reve, all the while explaining himself.

"Body. Soul. Energy....the three cores of existence. Although, there are other cores. It is certainly a marvellous concept. One particular distant core is the mind, which has the traits of the three cores. It is the regulator.....maintain the body, house the soul, possess energy."

Amethyst quickly got within an inch distance from Reve. 

He locked his clear eyes with Reve's as his mouth went on, "The mind possesses limitless potential. At the same time, it does not. It's up to one's "configuration"."

Amethyst had a way of enthralling one with just his words. He made Reve simulate the unspoken mysteries of the mind.

Reve tried to resist but he found his body betraying him.

He listened intently to Amethyst's voice, which had suddenly become divine, "For you aspire for more power. I shall acquiesce and grant you power...yet not power. A new path to walk, one as rocky as the slopes of a mountain....as wild as the traitorous northern winds.....as elusive as the lurkers of the cosmos. The path of the mind!"

Amethyst finally placed his right index on Reve's forehead. His brilliant energy penetrated the focal point of the cat and stopped his overflowing thoughts.

"Beware. For you have asked for power. A cost will be demanded...that is if you can bear the hellish pain that precedes this moment."

The last thought Reve had was that of confusion.

Just like Amethyst prophesied, what followed after was the literal and figurative tearing of his brain cells.

"Ahhh!!!!"

Reve screamed loudly as his eyes turned fully white.

This went on for a day….