章 10: Quest

The next race Aakesh learned about was called Elf. They were of different skin color, hair, and eyes, but one thing that was common in Elves was their sharp and pointy ears.

Elves originated on planet Dorothiml around several septillion years ago. They aren't a natural-born race. A primordial tree called the World tree was the creator of this race. Elves have conquered many universes to establish them as a medium-level force in the Multiverse.

Elves have a rare trait of pride. This pride of them stems from their creator. Their pride is also the reason that they don't have friendly relations with many races. They are one of the most talented races in using magic. The screen showed many more things about them.

Aakesh read the information about the Elves one more time to remember it. He didn't find anything special about them, unlike Humans. Humans are greedy, but they are smart, whereas Elves are prideful but simple-headed. The information of the races continued on the screen after that. The screen also showed major wars that race faced. The more Aakesh knew about the races, the more eager he became to open the store and have contacts with them.

Time flew. There was no way for Aakesh to find out how much time has passed, but the system knew. When he asked the system the time, he got the answer he never expected. More than ten years have passed until now, but it felt like an instant to Aakesh. He hasn't even learned about one-quarter of the races in this Multiverse.

He read about various interesting races in these past ten years. He liked one particular race, Peacock.

Peacocks are blue-skinned creatures and have a blue crest on top of their head like a crown. Their tail feathers make them distinct from any other species. Their tail feather has the design of eyes on them.

The species originated on the planet Elmar. A long time ago, peacocks were considered a race of beasts. They were well known for their stunning appearance. Due to their overly beautiful features, they were used as pets by high-ranking members of the beast clan. Their treatment as pets was not a problem, but when a peafowl was forcefully taken away from his father, a problem arose.

That man turned out to be an unrivaled genius of the beast race. Peacocks were a peaceful race before that, but that man changed everything. His name was Kartikeya. He alone made Peacock's overlord of this Multiverse. He has waged more than a million wars since he started, but he has never lost even a single battle. He is currently known as the God of war. The beast race has to ask for forgiveness, at last, to stop the war with Kartikeya.

These things didn't make Aakesh like Peacocks. What Aakesh liked about Peacocks is that they never conquered another planet. After winning the war, Kartikeya always returned the star to their rulers, or if he killed everybody, he would donate it to the weaker races. These acts of Kartikeya made Peacocks loved and respected all around the Multiverse.

After studying about different races for over a decade, he still maintained an interest in learning about them. Time flew. Several decades passed in a blink of an eye.

Aakesh was reading about a race called Deva from the screen. A Deva is an immortal race from birth. Amorphous, neither male nor female, they had no distinct appearance, size, or distinguishing characteristics. They were also the true rulers of the Multiverse. Even the greatest of beings, Kartikeya, never dared to fight any Deva.

Deva is a race that originates from the Multiverse itself. Every septillion years, the Multiverse gives birth to a Deva. They only lose to everybody when it comes to population.

The difference between the power of Deva and the power of other races is so huge that the youngest Deva can defeat the second powerful known race, Asura, on their own.

They were the most powerful yet most loved race in this Multiverse because of their kind and peace-loving nature. They have only fought once since times immemorial. It took them only eleven seconds to win the war. The only reason they involved themselves in the war was due to being responsible for the maintenance of the Multiverse.

Aakesh couldn't close his mouth even once due to shock after he started reading about Deva. Devas are so good that even a perfect race might be a wrong description for them. They didn't have any weaknesses.

After already being born the strongest, they had one more advantage. Anyone who dared fight against Deva loses two-third of their power automatically at the start of the battle. Multiverse made sure that no being could challenge the rulership of Devas.

[Ding.]

[The quest: Knowledge of countless races successfully completed.]

[Misssion reward: Status unlock successfully rewarded.]

"Eh, already done," Aakesh murmured disappointedly after hearing the notification of successfully completing the mission.

"How many races did I learn about, system?"

"Hou much time did it take me to complete the mission?" Aakesh asked the system, as he wasn't counting the number of races.

[Host, You learned about 1,666,199,719,971,997 races. You took 67 years to learn the knowledge about these races.]

The system answered his question. His mouth flew wide open after listening to the number of races present in the Multiverse.

"There are this many races present in this Multiverse?" Aakesh asked again as he couldn't believe the number.

[Negative, Host. We have 1,666,199,719,971,934 races. Sixty-three races just became extinct due to different years.]

Aakesh didn't know what to speak. He was amazed about the number of races, but he also felt wrong about the sixty-three races dying out. He could only wish for their reincarnation in a good place.

"Hey, system. Is our Multiverse crowded due to having so many races?" He asked as a doubt suddenly emerged in his mind.

[No, Host. You think too little of the Multiverse. The number of universes in this Multiverse surpasses the number of races.]

The system replied in an emotionless voice. Aakesh also suspected this since he had read about many races even bigger in size than an entire universe. He then remembered the reward the system gave him for completing the quest.

"System, how do I see this status?" He curiously asked the system.

[Host, you only have to think about the status in your mind, and it will appear in front of you.]

The system responded. Aakesh nodded and thought of the status. The next moment, a screen containing his details appeared in front of him.

***

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