[...try and weaken the Host. To have him possess no other means of power or strength, save for the Annunaki Model he has been implanted with.]
The system completed as Ryuk looked silently in shock at the notification panel for a total of 40 seconds straight, before he sighed.
'And here I was feeling grateful that he implanted a new Annuanki model in me, especially after my previous one's breakdown,' Ryuk thought, his hands moving to his blue gem hand as he stared long at it silently, before...
'So that's what it was, Emeris. You were only after your experiment, just like I guessed.'
'But it seems I underestimated how far you were truly willing to go.'
'To cripple my lifelong cultivation and turn me into a clawless and fangless tiger to be observed in a cage...' Ryuk spat out in his heart, his hands clenching into fists before he placed them back on his lap.
'Hey system, did he know you hid them all?' He asked in thought.
[No, Host. The system had implemented the safety protocol and instantly sealed away everything before the Primordial Gate was discovered.]
[None in this world will be aware that the Host cultivates Apex Energy at all.]
The system explained as Ryuk's eyes flashed.
'Thank you, system, and Very Good. If so, then don't unlock my Primordial Gate yet—keep it hidden still... for now.'
[Why is that, Host?] the system asked, puzzled.
'According to what I have learned here, this world is focused on Aetheris Cultivation.'
'I might not be able to see the cultivation level of the people, but I have sensed that power Fillain used during her little skirmish with her sister.'
'That power is Aetheris energy.'
'If my brain is still working well, then I remember that the ruin that led me here was called the Ruin of Niagara, and it was oozing with a large amount of Aetheris energy.'
'The Ruin Guardian I fought was using Aetheris and even Antares, who I fought, wasn't using Apex Energy.'
'His energy was Aetheris energy, and even Aster discovered this ruin only because it was oozing with Aetheris energy.'
'If it had anything to do with Apex Energy, then it would have been discovered by the Interdimensional Gate Association already.'
'If I'm sent into this world as a reward for my mission completion, and all of the people here cultivate Aetheris energy, then the mission—or the reason why I was sent here—must be simple.'
[To understand what Aetheris is.]
'Exactly.'
'And what better way to quickly understand it than knowing my only path to survival is through it?'
'Once you bring back my Primordial Gate, I would have access to my Apex cultivation, and then I will have a source of power I can safely rely on and won't be too worried since I have a weapon to deal with the danger.'
'But the lack of a weapon will force me to sharpen the only instrument i have, which is Aetheris...'
'Unlocking the Primordial Gate will slow down my cultivation of Aetheris, so for now, keep them hidden.'
'But most especially, hide it because of High Scholar Emeris.'
'That old man is a monster—I can feel it in my bones now.'
'If he's willing to implant me with something that took him two hundred years of traveling, effort, and sweat to obtain, without thinking twice, yet not mind crippling me right after just to make sure everything works in his Favor, then that isn't an ordinary High Scholar.'
'That's a mad scientist with no sense of right or wrong.'
'If he senses that I now possess Apex Energy cultivation, it will make him more watchful of me, as that factor will not be part of what he has written in his experimental book about me.'
'And worst-case scenario, he can just force me into the lab and forcibly remove the Primordial Gate.'
'No one will stop him since their race already wants me dead. Even the king is his son.'
'No one will question him.'
'He has everything to destroy me.'
'Enough power, enough knowledge, enough support, and enough mentality that won't give him the slightest bit of guilt over my death.'
'That's not a person I can blindly fight, so for now, I have to follow his plan. To try and get used to this new model and cultivate Aetheris just like I was sent here'
'Once I gain full control of this body, and I cultivate Aetheris energy to a sufficient point, I can unlock my Primordial Gate then—and wipe him out of existence.'
[Very brilliant plan, Host. But that would take some time—if not a lot. Why can't Host just choose to run away and avoid it all] the system said as Ryuk's eyes flashed.
'If I run, chances of getting caught are high. If I'm caught, chances of death are high.'
'Meanwhile, if I lay low and seem to follow every one of Emeris's whims, he will protect me more, like he's doing right now.'
'He will guard me on the way.'
'He will help me understand more of my Annunaki model body, as all of that will help his goal of knowing all about the Annunakis move forward.'
'Right now, his goals are in line with mine.'
'Why run away from a free sponsor when you can use his help?'
[And the spent time?]
'It's like Emeris himself said—patience is needed to understand one's full potential. And in here, I will be learning how to.'
Ryuk thought, his choice finalized, before he continued.
'Now that I know my hard-earned Ice and Void energy cultivations are safe, let's move onto the others.'
'Activate System Interface.'
[Congratulations, Host has killed a Lower World Essence Being: A Ruin Guardian.]
[Rewards: +200,000 EXP]
[+5 Level-Up Cards]
[+100,000 Purchase Points]
[Congratulations, Host has completed a secret quest.]
[Defeat a Being at the Eternity Stage]
[Rewards: +500,000 EXP!]
[+7 Level-Up Cards!]
[+250,000 Purchase Points!]
[Congratulations, Secret Quest has been completed!]
[Complete the First Mission of the Niagara Ruin!]
[Rewards: +600,000 EXP!]
[+8 Level-Up Cards!]
[+10 Ability Upgrade Cards!]
[System Interface]
[Name: Ryuk Knull]
[Race: Half Knull, Half Jade Dragon]
[Age: 17]
[Apex Energy Cultivation:]
Frost Energy Cultivation: Initial Plane of the Stage of Cataclysm
Void Energy Cultivation: Initial Plane of the Stage of Ascension
[Level: 55]
[EXP: 1,114,000 / 200,000]
[Does Host wish to level up?]