"Wow... so many systems!" I exclaimed, looking at the massive selection of system cores displayed in the Nexus market. There were cores for everything, from farming and blacksmithing to assassination and magic. There were even a few... questionable ones, like 'The Harem Building System' and 'The World Domination System'.
But my favorite ones were, of course... 'The Gender Bender System', 'The Milf System', 'The Futa System', 'The Femboy System', and many more.
"Focus, Morgana," I told myself, my eyes scanning the shelves. "I need something simple. The basic one from the Nexus is great."
The systems in the market were all made by other gods and put on sale. Some of them were cheap, and some were ridiculously expensive. I could buy the ready-made 'Futa System' for 10k faith points, but I wanted something more... personal.
Moreover, these systems come in different grades depending on the rank of the god that made them and the quality of the core.
They go from F-grade all the way to S-grade.
S-grade systems are so powerful and complex that they can even evolve on their own. SS and SSS are special systems made by the primordial gods, and usually they are sentient beings.
'So, Herma is an SSS-grade system?' I thought, but quickly shook my head. 'I didn't see those SSS-grade systems, but my Herma is far stronger.'
A system that lets you give birth to anything, even gods... that is definitely above SSS-grade.
The pre-made systems are a great way to start since you don't have to waste your faith points and divine energy. Also, it's an awesome way to collect different kinds of systems since they are made using other divine aspects, especially the ones you don't have.
But they also have... limitations.
First, they are hard to modify, almost impossible if you don't know the original code.
Second, they are always weaker than the ones that you made yourself in the same grade range.
For example, another sex god and I made two F-grade systems. The exact same system, with the same concept. If I used both of them, mine will always be one grade stronger, and if the other sex god used them, his will be stronger.
The reason for that is simple. It's because the systems you make directly draw divine energy from your godly domain, but the ones made by other gods always draw mana instead of divine energy if they are used in a domain that isn't the creator's.
"Alright! I made up my mind," I said as I picked up a simple, round, white core. The price was exactly 10,000 faith points.
These are blank F-grade cores made by the Nexus. They are the perfect thing for beginners.
I wasted no time and bought it.
"Yo, Lucy, I got the core," I said, popping back into her workspace, holding up the blank sphere. "Now what?"
Lucy didn't even look up from her workbench, where she was now furiously soldering a complex circuit board onto the metal object.
"About time. I was about to start charging you rent for breathing my air. Put it on the table over there."
The bench she pointed to was covered in a chaotic mess of wires, tools, and half-eaten bags of chips.
I cleared a small space with my hand, sneakily stealing a few chips, and gently placed the white core down. It looked so plain and unassuming. A canvas of pure potential.
"So, how does this work?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder to watch. Her proximity was making my head swim with the scent of ozone and something sweet, like cotton candy. It was a confusingly arousing combination.
'Focus, Morgana, work now, sex later.'
"It's simple, you walking hormone bomb," Lucy said, her focus absolute. "You're going to take that blank core, and you're going to inject your divine concepts into it. That's the 'soul' of the system. Then, you'll program the logic. The rules. The rewards. The punishments. Think of it as building a video game from scratch. You're the designer, the programmer, and the god of this little world."
She finally straightened up, stretching her back with a groan, and turned to me. Her pink eyes held a manic, gleeful light.
"For a beginner like you, I'd suggest starting with a single, strong concept. Your core aspect is... 'Breeding,' right? It's a powerful, fundamental concept. Make a system around that. A 'Breeding System'."
I hummed thoughtfully. A Breeding System. It was obvious, almost too on the nose. But she was right, it was the best place to start. My entire divine portfolio was built on it.
"Okay, I'm in. What do I do?"
"First, the soul," she instructed, tapping the white core. "Channel your divine energy. Don't just push it in, guide it. Pour your will, your understanding of 'Breeding' into that little sphere. Make it understand what it means to create, to nurture, to proliferate. Make it crave it."
I placed my hand on the cool surface of the core. Closing my eyes, I reached inward to the wellspring of my newly ascended divinity. I thought of my children, thousands of them. I thought of the pleasure of creation, the stretch of my womb, the feeling of life growing within me. I thought of Vicky's seed flooding me, of the power that came from it.
"Come on, you little ball... understand what a good girl I am," I murmured, pouring that feeling, that fundamental truth of my being, into the core.
It began to glow, a soft, pink light pulsing from within, like a beating heart. I could feel a connection forming, a nascent consciousness taking root.
"Good, good," Lucy encouraged. "Now for the fun part. The code. You don't need to be a master programmer. Just will the rules into existence. Think of the quests, the experience, the rewards. The system will translate your divine intent into functional logic. Start with something simple. A tutorial quest."
"Tutorial quest... right," I muttered, focusing on the glowing orb.
To be honest, I'm a bit lazy, and just thinking of all the numbers that I must deal with made my head go ouch.
So I just went and called for help.
My cheat.
'Herma, be a good girl and take care of the coding,' I sent the thought directly to my faithful AI companion. 'You know I'm not good with numbers.'
[I can, however, I recommend that we take this system code to the Nightmare Tower.] Herma's voice echoed in my mind. [With the tower's infinite mana, we can generate as many copies of this system core and code them simultaneously. This way, we can experiment with different rules and features without wasting your divine energy.]
I almost slapped myself for not thinking of that myself.
'You're the best, Herma!' I exclaimed in my mind. 'Remind me to let you fuck me for a week when you get a physical body.'
[I will hold you to that, my goddess,] Herma replied, a hint of amusement in her tone.
'Oh!... you're looking forward to that, hmm?' I teased, a wicked grin forming on my lips. 'It seems that my influence is rubbing off on you.'
[...]
Herma didn't reply, but I could feel her... digital embarrassment.
"Hehehe... someone's shy," I chuckled, then turned to Lucy, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "What? Never seen a goddess talk to herself before?"
"Talk to herself? No. Talk to what I assume is a sentient piece of flesh that is dangling between her legs? Absolutely," she deadpanned, then shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat and powers your systems. Just let me know when you're done so I can inspect your work."
"Not now, I have things to do back home," I said, and with a wave of my hand, the glowing white core disappeared from her table and reappeared in my inventory. "I'll bring it back once it's done."
"Fine... just don't forget what you promised me." Lucy just waved me off, already lost back in her work.
"I won't."
Before walking out of her gaming hub, I slipped into the bathroom. Noticing that no one was there, I bit hard on my thumb and wrote with blood on my forearm.
Runes, dark ancient runes from the Unspoken Realm. They glowed with a faint red light, forming a swirling pattern. I tapped on the center of the pattern, and with a soft whoosh, they vanished from my skin, and ten seconds later, new runes appeared on my forearm.
Reading them, I let out a soft chuckle.
"I see that the Nine have made big progress," I murmured to myself, my eyes gleaming with pride. "Good, the dead still have their uses."