I Hate Systems

"You...succeeded? So soon?" Stencil stared in shock at the uninjured figure of Earth Star, "How...is this possible?"

"You're unharmed."

"Well, I just...did it." Earth Star smiled wryly as he scratched his cheek, "It seems I somehow gained his acknowledgement by passing his test."

"How was the test?" Stencil asked while motioning for him to be seated on the seat before her.

"It was enlightening." Earth Star said as he extended his index finger, causing the wind before it to swirl slowly, "I can display the effects of my power without even using it."

Stencil's eyes lit up in response before she began to chuckle, "So, you mean to say even if you were to lose your power, you'll still be Earth Star, right?"

"At present, I'll be a super weak Earth Star, but Earth Star nonetheless." He replied in confidence, "As long as I train myself, I'm confident in strengthening my base control over nature. I hope to reach a state where I can output as much effect as my current self without using my powers."

"You'll need to train immensely for that." Stencil said as she patted his shoulder, "You did great. I never thought you would not only survive, but even complete his mission while gaining his acknowledgement."

"It somehow happened that way," Earth Star nodded before saying suddenly, "Also, sir told that if you wished to solve your final issue, you should meet Rhizen. You'll get the necessary clues from his world."

"Rhizen...? Ahh, yes! There's that too." Stencil's eyes lit up in response as she giggled happily. Following that, she received an ice cream prepared by a dragon plushie and relished it, motioning for Earth Star to eat too, "It's delicious!"

"Uh...thanks." Earth Star received it awkwardly from the dragon plushie and ate it, staring at the six-year-old self of the Genesis Hero before him. It was currently nighttime, and hence, Stencil was only a child.

She was visibly growing in size before him though, as the minutes passed. By the time it was morning, she had reached her late teens, now possessing enough power and maturity to take things seriously.

"Give me the wristwatch." She said, extending her hand to receive the item, shocked the moment she touched it, sensing the boundless power within it, "A-Amazing!"

"Is this for real?"

"How can something like this exist?"

"I feel strong just by its mere presence."

The collective consciousnesses in her mind clamoured in response, observing the energy signature emitted by the wristwatch that was in tune with their nature.

"So, that's how Hazen left my world..." Stencil muttered as she closed her eyes and focused on the 24 Rings protecting her world, causing them to spin opposite to one another as they absorbed sunlight to gradually experience an inherent change, "Thanks to his actions, I gained the inspiration to protect the timeline of this world better."

A few minutes later, her eyes shot open as she muttered in confidence, "I now understand what dad was getting at. By meeting Rhizen, I'll indeed be able to solve my issues."

"Now, I'll begin refining this item," Stencil said as immediately, boundless energy seeped into the wristwatch, morphing its shape into a sphere that expanded to become as big as a basketball, resembling a planet in structure.

"A collective consciousness is a result of the fusion of all the consciousness dominant in a world. So, the minds of every single living being cluster into a single entity. But, that is an intangible concept. So, something must exist to support and manifest that, right?" She spoke as she began to refine it.

She pointed at the sphere, "This is pretty much that. Hazen absorbed the essence of all the collective consciousnesses that plagued his mind and ejected this husk. But, he also imbued in it data regarding all the worlds that the collective consciousnesses were sourced from."

"And, my father worked on transforming this into a living creature by causing all that data to become something akin to the genetic material present in every single particle forming this entity." She continued, "But, it's not alive though. It's akin to a virus, a husk that is lacking an owner."

Stencil became silent for the next few hours, causing the sphere to gradually morph into the same shape as Earth Star as she eventually spoke right around noon, when she was at her strongest state, "Now, your consciousness would gain possession of it. Normally, it would only serve as a powerful weapon, but for the current you that could manipulate the matter of your body even without any powers, this weapon would allow your basic powers to be universal."

"Your power allows you to exhibit traits on the level of a planet, displaying its mass, gravity, etc." Stencil said, "I won't give you any special powers as what you currently possess is by far the rawest of powers possible. So, this weapon will simply amplify that..."

"By fusing into your body." Stencil uttered with a solemn gaze, "Your base physique would weigh as much as a massive planet, no, a star. If you fail to control it, you'll directly cause this world to collapse and slam into you due to the sheer gravitational pull you emit."

Faint swirls of gravitational waves emanated from the weapon as Stencil stared at Earth Star, "Are you willing to shoulder this? You will never have a normal life after this."

"Stencil..." Earth Star spoke in confidence, "I am Earth Star. Life exists on earth, that is an inherent fact. I won't destroy a single life due to my powers."

"Fine, if you say so." Stencil nodded in praise upon seeing that Earth Star's confidence was potently substantial. She pushed the weapon into his body, causing him to grunt as every single cell in his body fused with a particle of the weapon, causing an inherent change in him.

Boom!

Intense gravity akin to the extent of crumbling a planet erupted from him at the moment of fusion, almost causing the dimension they were at to fracture. But before that happened, Earth Star reined in the gravitational waves as he calmed himself, observing the inherent changes to his being as muttered, "Man as Heaven,"

"Earth as Star."