God of Systems: Maker of Heroes and Villains

Keith spent the rest of his time teaching Caleb a few things he knew, while also learning some things in return, especially about Baroma Kingdom where Caleb was from since there wasn't much written about the kingdom in the novel.

That is, when compared to it's neighboring kingdoms and empires.

On the way, he set up the Battle God System and Body Cultivation System in such a way that he would be able to chill without having to keep an eye on the two of them constantly. He set up prerequisites for upgrades until the A rank and for the later upgrades, there would be no other option for the two of them but to wait for Keith to give them a special quest where they can get free skill upgrades.

'Gotta keep the supply low and the demand high. Only then will I be able to give them high level quests for something as small as one skill upgrade.' he thought as a he stared at the system screen, emotionless.

He then looked at Caleb and sighed inwardly, knowing very well that he wouldn't be able to reach his full potential as his mental energy usage efficiency was abysmally low.

'Two percent efficiency... and that's in ideal conditions. With his mentality, it's lower than one percent at the moment.' he thought as he recalled the system's words on how efficiency varied every second, based on physical, mental and spiritual condition.

Physical and mental condition was easy to understand, but spiritual condition had a slightly hazy meaning. It was connected to mental condition, but relied heavily on faith, trust and certain other positive emotions.

As he was deep in thought, he heard the carriage stop and shook his head slightly to push away his thoughts, clearing his mind.

"Lunch time huh... I guess now's the right time to talk about your progress Caleb." he said as he got out of the carriage.

Caleb, who was about to open the door beside him, froze when he heard Keith's words. He knew that there was no progress since he couldn't really feel any difference. But he still had a slight hope, a hope that maybe some day in the future, he could use his abilities to a greater extent.

It was Keith who had planted this seed of hope within him, but now, he felt like his entire being was getting surrounded by a dark smoke. His body felt unnecessarily stiff and he could feel his heart beat on his head.

Sweat beads began to form as he stared at the door in front of him silently, not wanting to open it. Not wanting to walk towards his impending doom, only to find his only bright path getting shrouded in darkness.

"Oi Caleb, come out." Keith called out as he kept an eye on Caleb's system screen in front of him, a frown forming on his face.

Keith's voice, the one which felt soothing for so long in his ears, felt like a sharp knife digging into his brain at this moment.

He took a deep breath and with sweaty hands, pushed open the door. He got out and turned to see Keith filling up his pipe with some dry leaves. He walked over and once he got close, he saw Keith extend his arm towards him, offering his pipe.

"Here, take a few drags."

Caleb didn't know anything about the effects of the pipe, but he knew that Keith smoked it once in a while.

He stared at the pipe for a few full seconds before taking a long drag. For a second, he didn't feel a thing, but then he felt a sense of peace settle in his body that he didn't expect he could ever feel.

'.... I feel weird.' he thought as he looked at Keith who was smiling, 'But it feels nice.'

"Give me that pendant, Caleb. I can tell that it's of no use to you." Keith said as grabbed a small stone from the ground and began to play with it, tossing in the air and catching it.

Caleb, who expected something dreadful, knew that this was exactly what he had expected. But for some reason, he calmly took off the pendant and gave it to Keith.

"I know that this isn't doing much for me... but is this pipe controlling my mind? The one thing I feared was to let go of this pendant." he said as he looked at Keith, waiting for answers.

"Nah, it doesn't control anyone's mind. It gives you immense mental clarity, that's all. You probably already knew that the pendant wasn't working and it makes sense to just let go of it when it's not working for you right? Though, you shouldn't worry too much since I have another way but I would be lying if I said that it will have a guaranteed effect." Keith said as he patted a medium sized boulder beside him, signalling Caleb to sit down.

Caleb silently did as he was told to and looked at Keith, awaiting more answers.

Seeing this, Keith sighed and snapped his fingers, creating a small fire ball.

"I'm still surprised that you didn't ask me about how I got this." he said as he smiled.

Caleb nodded, "Well... I didn't want to intrude too much. After all, if it's something you wanted to tell me, then you would have told me without me having to ask for you."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Tch tch tch." Keith clicked his tongue and shook his head, "Sure, you're right. But sometimes, it's better to ask. If people don't wanna talk about something, they'll tell you directly, or show some signs like discomfort. That's when you know that you're intruding too much or not. Anyways, back to the topic."

With a slight wave of his hand, the small fireball flew into the sky, forming a large spear as it's speed increased.

"This... is what I received from something called the second awakening. Just stay with me for now and if I get a chance, I'll ask one of the higher ups to consider you as their next investment. I feel like the time will come soon, especially within the next three years. If your luck is good, then just eighteen more months."