They were soon at the gated entrance to the mansion and were stopped by two guards standing outside, one of the mounted men dismounted and talked quietly to the two.

Caspian saw them glance up at him cautiously only to pretend they hadn’t upon seeing him return their gaze. After another few seconds they let them pass through into the front-courtyard while doing their best to not be to obvious with their side-ways glances towards Caspian.

Caspian wasn’t bothered by this in the slightest, his newfound identity at least gave him some sort of status in this world which he could use to access places with more ease than had he simply blended in with the populace.

‘The best way to discover the most about the world is to learn from those at the top.’ That was his thought process, naturally those in a higher position will be privy to more knowledge than those who serve.

Caspian didn’t question them as they brought him along as he could somewhat guess who the Mansion they were directing him towards belonged to, it was the most embellished building that he had seen within the city so naturally it belonged to the person with the most authority – it was a simple yet sure way of determining where the person in charge resided.

“Sir Mage, please follow me.” The leading man said to him before dismounting, curiously yet with caution befitting the situation Caspian followed at a distance that would be considered just outside of the mans reach if he wanted to attack.

 They went through the main doors of the mansion into a grand hallway, a stairway centred the room and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. Caspian had been raised in a home with the finest items his world had to offer but even he had to admit that in terms of quality the Castle he had once loved in lost out to the luxurious decorations that adorned this room.

“Is this the Mage?” A man’s voice suddenly interrupted, he could feel the arrogance laced in the man’s words as he spoke down to someone who appeared to be his butler.

The man was staring intently in Caspians’ direction with barely masked intrigue as if trying to determine how exactly he should treat him.

‘Am I an equal or an inferior?’ Caspian mused, he knew exactly how the minds of people like this worked, if you were an inferior, they would never place you on their level and you would never be worth their time.

But if you were their equal? You would always be a threat to their authority the longer you were with them. This man was the first to not put him on a pedestal of respect as soon as he saw him, ‘So Nobles and Mages are on the same level it seems or at the very least they don’t have to show a Mage the respect that others have.’ He analysed as he returned the man’s gaze, trying to gauge his reaction to being treated in the same way.

“May I know your name Sir?” The man asked as he put on a fake smile, the butler sighed a breathless sigh of relief upon seeing his Master not act arrogantly.

“Caspian and yours?” He returned the question; his lack of respect caused the man’s smile to faulter slightly, but it didn’t shake his demeanour.

“Lord Alexander Orville, City Lord of Novatus.” He responded in full, it was clearly an attempt at displaying his own status yet to Caspian it was meaningless.

His lack of reaction caused Alexander to become slightly irritated, but he was careful to not show it, ‘A Mage wasn’t supposed to appear for another month at the soonest… who is he?’ Despite his calm exterior he was wracking his brain to try and place the name ‘Caspian’ against the well-known Mages of the Kingdom.

“Lord Orville I would appreciate it if you could provide me a room to rest in, I have journeyed far and wish to relax before I continue my travels.” Caspian said nonchalantly, while he wasn’t specifically trying to infuriate the man, he did find it amusing to see him try and hold back his anger.

The man in front of him was simply a prime example of one of the types of people that he naturally disdained; a man born into wealth and status that could do nothing but look down on those who weren’t as lucky as they were.

While it could be said that he was a hypocrite as a person that had also been born lucky in his past-life he would never consider himself and the man in front of him to be of the same kind.

Even as a Prince who could have had anything, he wanted with simply a word he had never abused his status, he had never involved himself in shady dealings or forced anyone to do something that they didn’t want to.

To put it simply: he was someone who had the power to do what they pleased and yet lacked the necessary ambition to put that power to use.

In a sense he was the perfect choice to possess the power to destroy the Universe because he would never be tempted to use it, maybe that was why the System felt that he was a good choice to be its Host because even if he didn’t want to save the Universe he wouldn’t destroy it either.

...

Half an hour later, Caspian was settling into the room that Alexander had provided for him; the man had ordered his butler to arrange it before making up an excuse that he had an important matter to attend to.

“I didn’t think I’d hurt his ego that much…” He muttered with a smile as he looked around the room that he had been given. It was by no means a bad room in fact it was probably one of the best that the mansion had to offer.

The most interesting thing about the room however was the bookshelf in the corner, he picked one of the books at random and sat down on the bed to begin reading it only to ask a question suddenly.

“If this is a different world how the hell can I understand them?” It was highly unlikely that this world possessed the same language as the one that he had come from so why was it that they were able to understand each other as if he was native to their kingdom?

[As the Host of the system the understanding of all languages is a power given for you to be more efficient in your destruction]

It was rather simple and lacked any real reasoning as to how it was possible for the system to translate every language considering how many must exist out there, but he wasn’t about to question the workings behind it.

With a sigh he placed the book down next to him and held his head, “Just what the hell am I doing?” He asked aloud.

[Saving this world]

“It was a rhetorical question… But the longer I spend thinking about it the more impossible it seems, just what is ‘saving’ a world to you? Is it saving the inhabitants or the entire planet? How am I meant to become powerful enough to face those who actually want to destroy in the future if I don’t destroy this world and increase your power? I don’t even fully understand what you want me to do and here I am trying to play Hero god knows how far from where I was born.” The frustration in his voice was clear.

The system remained silent for a few minutes, as if it was trying to figure out what its own intentions were as well.

What did it want?

It wanted to create.

But it was built to destroy.

It was a paradox between its core directives and the reason for it existing and what it wanted to do, why did it have to destroy? Because it was created to do so. Why was it created to destroy? There is no reason, it simply must.

[I-…]

It began but didn’t know how to continue, it was the first time that its thoughts had lacked certainty, it had only been attached to its Host for a mere day and yet it had already seen more than in the many, many years that it had ‘lived.’

[I want to save them]

“So as long as the people of this world are safe, we can destroy the planet?” He said slowly, making sure it understood what he was saying clearly.

[Yes]

 Caspian smiled, “Saving them is easier than saving this planet at least…” He muttered as he turned his head to look at the window. The familiar blue sky of an unfamiliar planet was reflected in his eyes as an idea began to form in his mind.

…

In the mansions study, Alexander sat behind his desk with a complex expression on his face; the strange Mage that had appeared would certainly complicate his plans.

He glanced up at the dented armour that the guard, Jackson, had been wearing that was now on his desk. He wasn’t able to tell how powerful the man was simply from meeting him but he determined from the dent in the steel of the armour that the fireball had to at least have been casted by a First-Circle Mage to have caused as much damage as it did.

“Dennison.”

“Yes M’Lord?” The voice of his butler came from besides him as the man rose from the shadows.

“Send out our Eyes, investigate the name ‘Caspian Flynn’, if he’s someone with no backing… Kill him.” He said resolutely.

“I will see it done.” The butler left as silently as he had appeared as he disappeared into the shadows on the floor.

“Soon…” Alexander said to himself before getting up and locking the documents that had been laying on his desk in a drawer to which only, he possessed the key for.

TheWorldTree

Hope you enjoyed! I hope this chapter also let you see the System in a different light and establish a clearer idea of where the story will be going in the future, although this is only chapter 5 ;)

As always if you spot any mistakes or errors don't hesitate to tell me! Leave a favourite if you enjoyed and enjoy the rest of your day!