"Phew...it's done." Compass Carburettor sighed in exhaustion, observing the completed Ascender Scroll that now lay unfurled in his Dreamland. There was a sense of accomplishment that he felt for having completed such a monumental task, especially since his route to becoming an Ascender was now accelerated.
Duketace had already informed him of their success through a Mental Energy stream. It wasn't Duketace, but the Main Character System fragment in his body that took control for a second to transmit all the necessary information.
Through that, Compass Carburettor understood the success they had and also relayed the items they had to buy through auction. It would become a mental cue in Duketace's mind, making him feel strongly that certain items would be best effective for him.
So, he would spend all the money they got to purchase these necessary items. Though, they were all Scrolls, for that was the best in terms of effectiveness for him. Moreover, they could be stored in the Dreamland, the safest way to transport a treasure.
As creating Scrolls was a means to train his Mental Strength, not to mention him having confidence in making them stronger, Compass Carburettor asked Duketace to purchase Scrolls after knowing the list published by the Starwing Auction House.
Currently, the father and daughter duo were already making their return journey, having grown stronger in their month of stay at Cajjan City. Having access to the best of medicine, they were able to train better.
Adding onto the Mini-Forbidden Tale in their Dreamland actively influencing their Dreamland and Invoked Spirits, their growth was startling.
It seemed that they would return within the day as Compass Carburettor planned to take heed of the next course of his plan. 'It's time to find Sturrala. The resources she has would be helpful in becoming an Ascender.'
That was how the fate of this world varied. Besides, Compass Carburettor stared at the sky, noticing Pilkan's fate become thinner, 'Just what is happening?'
He didn't understand the cause, for Pilkan's fate as the protagonist of this world was waning rapidly. It had begun the moment he completed the Ascender Scroll. It was strange, the cause hard to find, for he hadn't even thought a protagonist would lose their support.
'Is it because I completely derailed the original course of his life?' He thought, 'Maybe it's because I've grown so much without suffering enough for the same.'
Usually, a protagonist faces extreme danger right before attaining a breakthrough or a spike in strength. But when Compass Carburettor became a Common Invoker, he wasn't in danger. He had been training calmly in an environment of his choice.
So, that could have been the cause. But if it had been the case, why didn't Pilkan's fate begin to fade right away? Why did it choose to happen right after he completed the Ascender Scroll?
'But, I'm not going to change my actions just because Pilkan's fate is waning.' He was aware of that, for the moment he went back against his current plan, the setback will derail his Lore's effects.
His power of Lore wasn't a prophecy. It was akin to a backstory. So, he was already pushing its limits by using it like a prophecy. That was only possible by setting up the variables accordingly to lead them to the desired future.
And entering Pilkan was the path that led to this future.
But since his fate was waning, Compass Carburettor was unsure anymore. He hadn't expected such a variable in the first place, one that would disorganise his plans. Therefore, he had to prepare accordingly.
First on the list was to accumulate as much strength as possible. After all, those that were strong had a strong enough fate anyway. He could think about the rest following that. As long as he found a way to return to the route laid by his Lore, he would exit this world once the time of three years was up.
Otherwise, he would be trapped here and would have to manually search for a way out. In either case, he had to reach the peak of this world first. Only with that would he have a possibility of doing what he wanted.
Thinking as such, Compass Carburettor took in a deep breath before jumping into the tank with the electric eels, screaming in pain as he was electrocuted. Thankfully, they weren't too large, so the generated current wasn't enough to kill him.
'Shit, his fate is dissipating even faster!' Compass Carburettor was alarmed, hurriedly exiting the water tank, staring at the severe injuries plaguing his body now. This originally shouldn't have happened, for Pilkan was blessed by a strong fate and couldn't be injured seriously by mere fish.
'My mental state is becoming unstable.' Compass Carburettor sat in a meditative pose, staring at changes to Pilkan's fate as realisation finally kicked in, 'No, the Ascender Scroll wasn't the cause. Someone else became worthy of becoming the protagonist of this world.'
'Moreover, it seems this world has sensed my identity and actions.' He gleaned some info upon staring at the shift in the luck of the surroundings. Originally, the luck of the surroundings itself would converge upon Pilkan, as if supporting him.
But now, it was fleeing away and seemed to be congregating somewhere else. It made Compass Carburettor become aware of another fact that he hadn't realised before.
"It seems this world has been created to target any and all external entities." That was the conclusion he had arrived at, which was indeed the truth.
As Conjurer had been involved with Zaira, he was aware of what Systems were capable of and how they snatched the fates of the main characters of various worlds. The same was true for the System Slayers too.
Therefore, when creating his series of worlds, he had inlaid its laws in such a way that the moment someone in the world gets shaped by an external entity, the fate blessing them would vanish, causing their fate and luck to plummet to zero.
This way, such entities wouldn't be able to survive for long in their world.
As the mana in the Fantasy World was capable of eliminating all external entities, Conjurer could easily derive a version similar to that and applied it in his worlds. And since he drastically altered Pilkan's fate after taking control of him, the world itself acted against him now.
Creating the Ascender Scroll was just the tipping point on that scale. And, it was apparent that this world had another protagonist now, and someone definitely antagonist to him.
