I Hate Systems

Heppeturn Town!

Early morning, right as the people of the town began to get by with their usual lives, there was clamour in one of the market streets, one where fruits, vegetables, and other necessities were sold.

The farmers would harvest the farm produce at the break of dawn and bring it to the market street to sell off. And hence, in the early parts of the morning, this place was busiest as the people rushed to buy the freshest farm produce.

"Kyaa!"

"What the?"

"An Invoker?"

"Someone summon the Heppeturn Clan!"

The people in the crowded market clamoured in response as a middle-aged man rushed out of a house, carrying a large tile, breaking the door as he fell to the ground.

But right before his face kissed the ground, his forehead shone before a metallic eagle appeared between the two, cushioning his impact.

The middle-aged man rolled on the floor, gasping in exhaustion as the tile in his hand spilled out from the action. As a result, the jet-black cloth covering it came off, revealing the tile.

Gasp!

The crowd stared at the tile, unable to control themselves, alarmed upon gazing at the vivid sculpture inscribed on it.

The tile spanned a length of a metre and a breadth of half a metre. It was a five-centimetre-thick slab, its material mysterious in nature. It bore resemblance to the tools used by Human Invoked Spirits but was superior in quality.

On the slab was the image of a human man, slightly androgynous in appearance, sporting sharp facial features that could transcend most racial limits. His eyes were suffused with convincing might, his grace overflowing with authority.

His left hand seemed to be holding a transparent film of sorts, one from which a ghostly human face seemed to be peeking out, in an effort to escape. But, it didn't seem possible as cracks formed on this film under the pressure applied by the fingers holding it.

The right hand of the man was raised up, his index finger placed over his lips, as if telling the entity within the film to remain quiet, looking as if a word from him would spell the doom of the other party.

He seemed aggressive in character, the inscription of which seemed pretty unique at first glance. But upon staring at it, the crowd felt strangely drawn to it, hoping to see more of it.

The middle-aged man hurriedly grabbed hold of it, shouting in alarm, "Don't look at it! It's forbidden to do so!"

"This is the Forbidden Tale!"

"Forbidden Tale? What's that?" Someone from the crowd muttered.

Seeing the opportunity, despite being unaware of the details himself, a youth among the crowd suddenly shouted like he had obtained an epiphany, grinning internally upon sensing the attention of the crowd fall on him.

Without beating about the bush, he made up a lie on the spot, "I've heard that the Forbidden Tale can make one a Peerless Invoker. But, the power is too alluring that they might become lost in it."

"That's true." The middle-aged man said as he got up, wrapped the tile with the jet-black cloth, and climbed on his eagle, intending to leave.

'I was…correct?' The youth was surprised. He then observed the middle-aged man's intentions.

But right as the middle-aged man was about to leave, a rabbit leaped onto his eagle, kicking him to the ground. It opened its mouth and bit onto the tile, leaping forth to head towards the top of a building.

"No!" The middle-aged man roared in response as his metallic eagle chased after the rabbit, retaking the tile easily using its superior power.

The eagle was a Common Invoked Spirit while the rabbit was only an Inferior Invoked Spirt.

"Tch!" The Invoker who brought out the rabbit clicked his tongue. He was someone that had ventured into the market to buy some necessities when he observed the commotion. And upon hearing that the tile in the hands of the middle-aged man was a peerless treasure, even though he wasn't sure of the details, he took action immediately.

He was Loit, an Inferior Invoker hailing from the Heppeturn Clan that controlled the Heppeturn Town. He hurriedly took out a whistle and blew into it, alerting the Clan as his rabbit targeted the middle-aged man, preventing him from escaping.

Bang!

The walls to the house with a broken door shattered as a four-metre-tall Human Invoked Spirit exited it, carrying a hooded individual on its shoulder.

The hooded individual stared at the eagle carrying the tile, muttering with a raspy voice, "That's not something you can lay your filthy hands on!"

A spear appeared in the hands of the Human Invoked Spirit that chucked it with force, piercing right through the eagle's body, causing the tile to drop from its mouth and fall to the floor.

The middle-aged man, Duketace shouted in alarm upon seeing the hooded individual, "Dammit!"

"It's a murderer!" The crowd screamed in shock upon seeing the Human Invoked Spirit, beginning to run away in a hurry.

The tile didn't even fall to the ground when a rabbit caught hold of it and leaped on the walls of the houses to vanish from the scene. But, before the rabbit could run towards the Heppeturn Clan, a spear slammed into it, shattering one of its legs, causing it to crash into the walls of a house and drop to the ground.

The Human Invoked Spirit began to chase after it while Duketace quickly rushed through the fleeing crowd, arriving at the terrace of a nearby house where he obtained a better view of the surroundings, causing his eagle to rush towards the rabbit.

"Dammit!" Loit grunted as the rabbit slapped the tile, sending it flying his way. He leaped into the air, catching hold of it as he rolled on the floor, intending to escape when a net fell on him, trapping him.

"Shit!" Loit was startled to see the Human Invoked Spirit approaching him when his eyes fell on the tile, on its back, seeing a row of words. The words quickly registered in his mind as he read them as quickly as possible, his eyes widening all of a sudden as he smirked.

Suddenly, his rabbit vanished before reappearing next to him, but this time, its injured leg was fine, shocking the crowd that lay witness to the scene.

"No, a mortal like you shouldn't use its power!" The hooded figure shouted in alarm as the net binding Loit was bitten through by the rabbit that leaped up with greater power than before.