"Teacher, we've arrived." Wayna made a respectful bow towards the man seated on the far end, one that overlooked everyone, possessing the persona of a heavenly being.
"Good, take a seat." He replied with a nod, pointing at a couple of vacant seats.
Stencil seated herself to the left of Wayna, noticing a couple of familiar faces seated nearby. Upon seeing her, they were surprised for a moment before gradually realising that she too was a System Slayer.
Faluda frowned, feeling as if Stencil knew about him, wondering the reason for that as he glared at Felladin before focusing on the others seated around.
The round table was actually rectangular in shape with rounded edges, the breadth spanning ten metres while the length was almost thirty metres.
Almost a hundred people were seated around it, all System Slayers.
"Is he your teacher?" Stencil asked Wayna, pointing at the heavenly being that stared at the incoming people calmly.
"Yes, he was the one that turned me into a System Slayer." Wayna nodded, "And he helped me obtain a Pseudo-Relic to turn into a Personal Fragment. I didn't have anything useful on me at that time."
She then stated solemnly, "Most of the System Slayers here have received help from teacher. And, he's also the most knowledgeable existence regarding System Slayers, Main Characters, etc."
Noticing Stencil's shock, Wayna smiled, stating with pride, "He's a legend precisely because he's the first System Slayer to ever come about. And, the first Main Character was his disciple."
'He's related to the first Main Character?' Stencil's eyes lit up in surprise as she stared at the heavenly being, whispering, "What's he called?"
"You can call me Slayer." The heavenly being stared at Stencil, smiling in response, "I'm just someone that remained as one for the longest."
He then observed that everyone had arrived, speaking calmly, "Now that everyone is here, let's begin this Slayer Summit."
He then pointed at Stencil, "Since we have a newcomer here, is someone volunteering to explain the basics to her? I'll gift them 10,000 Mental Energy if they provide a solid explanation."
"I already know her. So, I'll do it, teacher." Wayna raised her hand, smiling as the Slayer accepted her request.
10,000 Mental Energy was a considerable sum, especially for such an easy task.
She then looked at Stencil, saying, "The Slayer Summit is something teacher organises once every decade. It's a forum for us to exchange information, trade things, socialise, and most of all…"
She pointed at her head, "Extract the entities growing in our head and use them as fuel to strengthen ourselves."
"The entities growing in our head?" Stencil acted like she was oblivious to it, tilting her head in confusion, "What's that?"
"Those similar to the one that was in you long ago. In truth, they are mental creatures. And the moment you hear about them, they form an imprint in your mind. The more you know about them, the stronger their imprint in your mind until they begin to dwell there." She continued, "Over time, they would combine to birth a new…entity that destroys your mind to gain control of a Slayer's powers."
"We have lost a lot of Slayers to them because of this trap." Wayna said, "And it's not easy to save them all on time, considering the sheer number of universes that exist where they could venture into."
"How do you weaponize that?" Stencil asked next, observing that all the System Slayers had amicable attitudes, calmly gazing at her and listening to Wayna's explanation. This allowed her to understand that this circle of System Slayers was pretty developed.
"Ah, it makes sense since you don't know about Relics yet." Wayna nodded in understanding as she condensed a torch that emitted a water-like flame, "This is the Deep Sea Torch, a Pseudo-Relic, and my Personal Fragment."
"Relics and Pseudo-Relics are the same. The only difference is the level of willpower imbued in them." She said, tapping onto its surface as a gentle melody resounded through the place, causing some of the System Slayers to fall into a trance.
Wayna was just about to protect Stencil from the effects of the melody when she was surprised to see Stencil remaining unfazed, 'Isn't she just a Grandmaster Mage?'
Controlling her shock, Wayna spoke, "A Relic is a Magic Tool in which the Will of its user is registered, forming an imprint. This imprint would consist of his enlightenment regarding his abilities, the ways he used them, and the experience he accumulated during the same. So, a successor to the Relic would be able to tap into this experience and if they synchronise well, the user would even be able to converse with the will of their predecessor."
'It's like a memory bank of experience and even skills.' Stencil thought, nodding as she listened to the explanation.
Wayna observed each of Stencil's actions, her mind running alongside to think regarding that as she continued speaking, "The greater the talent of the user, the stronger their imprint on the Relic. And after every generation of users, the number of imprints on the Relic continues to increase. So, the longer a Relic exists, the more powerful it becomes. A Relic wielder can casually skip stages to kill stronger opponents."
'So, part of the user's mind is trapped within the Relic to be called upon by successors to the Relic. And they gradually increase the number of minds within the Relic to strengthen it further.' Stencil now understood the secrets of Relics.
Wayna then said, "In a Pseudo-Relic, the minds of everyone remain separate. Once they form a collective consciousness, the Pseudo-Relic becomes a Relic. But, this is a time-consuming process and you would need at least a hundred minds before this is possible."
"And, since what we desire are minds…" Wayna smirked, pointing at her head, "The entities plaguing our minds are the perfect fit for this, don't you think?"
She grinned, announcing, "We extract them and seal them in our Relics, turning them into our power. Thereby, we can cause our Relics to evolve further and even cause our abilities to become complex, allowing us to not face any disadvantages even in other worlds."
"This is the primary objective of the Slayer Summit, since only teacher can perform this process."
