NOVEL WEB Chapter 339 – That Would Be A Problem
Jason gestures at himself, “A large part of my current path is separating as much of the System’s influence from me as possible so I’ve seen a few things. But the short answer is, who defends NeoRealm if the System ever fails?”
Peter shrugs, “Well, like mentioned we have a good number of high-level people around, anyway.”
Jason shakes his head, “No, you won’t. If you build your house on a rock and that rock vanishes, what happens to your house? The System is supporting all those people it has pushed forward. They don’t have as much combat or crafting experience as they should and without the System propping them up I wouldn’t be surprised if their levels didn’t drop drastically. Nevermind the whole tribulation thing and that without the System, levels wouldn’t be a thing.”
Peter frowns and everyone goes silent. Gregor and Peter as they consider what Jason just said, while the others wait.
“Well”, Gregor begins to say, but stops.
Peter sighs, “That would be a problem.”
Gregor nods, “I understand that the System isn’t inherent to the world, but it is built into all of society. Hell, a major part of how we decide if a being is sapient enough to be a citizen is completely based on the System.”
Jason frowns, “Yeah, that might not be the best decision as it is. But I can understand falling into it. Not having to judge each new being individually would make things a lot easier. Though I guess the System might be suppressing anything, it doesn’t want to be sapient. It does that already with swarms.”
Peter rubs his neck, “I’ve definitely seen some non-sapient beings building up their own civilizations deep in the various wilds.”
Jason nods, “If we’re going off of that, I’ve seen two myself on the edge of the nearby wasteland. Bunch of psychic emu beings and some really messed up mix between animal and goblin.”
Peter grimaces, “Yeah, goblinoids are like a weed. They just pop up everywhere.”
Jason shakes his head, “These weren’t gobliniods per se. Rather, they were more like animal folk with goblin bodies. From how I understand it, the word goblinoid more covers a bunch of goblin style spawn that happens despite not being. Like how there are a bunch of crabs that aren’t technically true crabs.
“Anyway, from my observations they would be more in line with mutated animals if not for the fact they were one species. Of course, when dealing with that magical disaster I guess just about anything is possible.”
Gregor shrugs, “While you aren’t wrong, you also brought up the perfect example for why you aren’t right, either. Just like crabs, if a creature appears similar to a goblin, people are going to call it a goblinoid. But that is besides the point.
“There is a large difference between a sapient and a being capable of building a society. Though when they are making literal houses and stuff, it makes things a little harder to tell apart. But you just have to look at ants. They have a society that if anything, is more organized than most sapients. The real difference is a bit more ephemeral and so we just accept what the System says. Otherwise, we would go crazy trying to figure it all out.
“Of all the changes that travellers brought, the change to sapient goblins was, in my opinion, one of the best. Being able to tell a goblin was sapient from the presence of a third eye just made everything so much easier. Though I’m sure any sapient goblin from the time would have enough complaints about the change itself. Brains aren’t exactly designed to go from bifocal to trifocal.”
Jason stretches and yawns, “Yeah, any kind of extra senses will mess you up, but that is especially true of trying to extend a limited sense like vision taken from some eyes. Would have been much easier to add more to the sense of touch. After all, people growing up rarely gain more eyes but the body does increase in size drastically.”
Gregor yawns in response, “True enough. Though from my understanding, it had more to do with people on your side. How you travellers had people already set up for three eyes is beyond me as you all seem to come from the same species.”
Peter nods, “Just the fact most travellers end up as a core humanoid species would point towards that. Though the most obvious thing that points towards that is whenever one of you guys does end up in a non-humanoid form. I saw a new centaur traveller once and they wobbled around like a newborn foal for days. But while this has been exciting, I think it might be time to wrap this up. I’m going to be heading out within the next couple days and you three will be gone soon enough as well.”
Courtney stands up, “I can agree with that. Me and Rosha will be heading out early.”
Rosha stands up with her, “I have no clue exactly what just happened? It just went from a topic I wasn’t supposed to know to this odd mess where Jason went a bit ranty. But yeah, I’m good to be done for now.”
Peter gathers up the dishes, “It has been fun, but I’m used to being alone for the most part and any longer would start to drive me crazy.”
Jason nods, “I don’t ever see myself being around a lot of people for too long. Though even now I can see a future where I might end up in a guild. It would just have to be my own.”
Rosha rolls her eyes, “You’re just willing to put up with others to continue hanging out with us. While I don’t want to, we both know that at some point I’ll probably have to start my own group, if only to stay out of my family’s group.”
Jason shrugs, “We will just have to see how things happen. While in our world it isn’t quite as true, NeoRealm is definitely a place where enough might can make right to a certain degree.”
