My Fate System

"Whatever you find is yours," Lex said as the four sat around the table. "Thus, when the four dwarves returned with the mysterious parts, no one tried to take them."

"That's why no one knew that they were possessed. We guess that the dead dwarf wanted to warn the fort about the items, but he was killed, and the item managed to take hold of his body." Nikolai nodded.

"Yes," Lex affirmed. "The dwarves who returned said that they might have found the inheritance and that we should get prepared to go there."

"When is this happening?" Sergio asked, and Lex took out her watch.

"Today at noon," Lex said with a frown. "However, based on what you told me, there's no exit for the dungeon."

"I think that there are two exits, the statue and being possessed," Nikolai answered. "These dwarves are trying to take the people into the dungeon for a reason."

"It depends on the goal of the Souls Mechanic," Lex said with a frown. "We need to stop the dwarves from going there."

"No need, we only need to take the possessed parts," Nikolai said with a smile. "After that, we need to stop the Souls Mechanic from succeeding."

"What does it have to do with us?" Sergio frowned. "Bossman, I don't understand a lot about these things, but we are only after our ship. Give them the blueprint, and we'll have it."

Sergio was right. He didn't need to get involved. They can just take his ship and be done with it. The bloodline talent will be lost, but he can always find another quest.

He was a Fate Stealer. That's why his system gave him quests that would allow him to steal fate. The system didn't try to make him a villain, nor did it try to make him a hero. Instead, it was a cold, calculating machine that guided him to stealing fate.

The system, however, wasn't omnipotent, nor did Nikolai need to listen to it. He could abandon the quest, and nothing will change. However, would that be the best choice?

The Souls Mechanic was possessing people to invite others into his dungeon. Whatever his goal was, it was nothing peaceful. The dungeon was growing stronger by the day, and it was growing more dangerous.

"You're right." Nikolai nodded. "But I want to know what the Souls Mechanic is aiming for. The existence of the dungeon is dangerous for the world."

Dungeons weren't separate spaces only, but a time bomb that waited to explode. Nikolai knew that more dungeons would appear after the first Dungeon Break, and humans won't be able to cope with it.

'Wait, why am I wondering about the truth while I know what's going to happen in the future?'

It occurred to him that he wasn't thinking about this enough. Everything changed after he left Rohan. So, he didn't try connecting the dots with his past life. 

'Was there anyone known as Souls Mechanic?'

There was no such thing. The most dazzling mechanic was the person who built a flying fort next to him. There was another rumor about Lex's fort: it had a mind of its own.

'Souls Mechanic...' Nikolai repeated in his mind until it all clicked together. The existence of dwarves here was known in the Rosia Kingdom, but Nikolai doesn't remember hearing about them in his past life. 'They were exterminated by none other than the Souls Mechanic.'

Nikolai got himself into a bloody mess, for sure. The Souls Mechanic existed in his past life, but as who? He wondered as he looked at Lex. Did the Souls Mechanic live in his past life as Lex, or did Lex defeat the Souls Mechanic?

"Is something on my face?" Lex asked with puzzlement. Nikolai, however, didn't say anything and shook his head.

The weight of the parts in his pocket dimension was suddenly too burdening. He wasn't only stealing the fate of the Souls Mechanic by foiling his plans, but stealing Lex's fate of becoming an exceptional Gunmaster.

'The number of lives I would have indirectly killed...'

Lex was the person who saved thousands of lives. If Nikolai prevented her from growing into that person, all of those lives might be lost because of him.

"Lex," Nikolai turned toward the Gunmaster. "Don't you covet the technique of the Souls Mechanic?"

"Not really, no." Lex shook her head. "I might have considered it if you weren't around, but I don't care a lot about it now."

"Why?" Nikolai's stomach turned.

"My only interest in creating a machine that has a soul would be to use the Abyssal Blades." She glanced at the case on the table. "A machine might handle the backlash of the energy. I don't care about that anymore."

"Why do you want someone to use the Abyssal Blades?" Nikolai felt uneasy.

"Because that's the only way to find the people who killed my family," Lex said with unexpected coldness. "They wanted these blades, so they must come for them if the weapons appear to the world."

"Then what?" Sergio barked. "Boss will be the one using them. So you plan on leaving him in your mess?"

"My guns are enough to kill those bastards," Lex said with a frown. However, Nikolai shook his head.

"I fear that won't be the case." Nikolai looked at the blades with a sudden epiphany. Lex and Nikolai might not be that different, after all. The person who irreversibly wounded them might turn out to be the same: Lilith.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, but I think you need to grow stronger. And I know how that can be achieved." Nikolai stood up and walked toward her. Then, waving his hand at the table, the sixty-three parts appeared.

"Are these the possessed items?" Lex asked with shock, and Nikolai nodded.

"Lex, I think the Souls Mechanic Inheritance is fated to be yours," Nikolai said, his face bespeaking how serious he was. "If we don't handle this, all of the dwarves will die."