Utopian System

Chapter 381 System's Exploration

A strident laugh interrupted his contemplation.

When he turned, Elio experienced the most surreal sensation of his life: he was observing his own body, on all fours, trying to chase its tail like a playful puppy.

His body, no, EmberG in his body, proceeded to scratch its head against a column like any animal would.

"EmberG!" Elio's voice resonated with a crystalline timbre, strange even to himself. "Stop right now!"

His body responded by turning quickly, only to lose balance and fall sitting down. The expression of surprise on his own face was something Elio had never seen in the mirror.

EmberG seemed fascinated with the ability to move Elio's legs and feet, contorting them in ways Elio didn't know were possible.

"By all the walls," Kriz held his stomach, doubled over with laughter. "This is the best thing I've seen in my life!"

Selene, for her part, maintained admirable composure, though her lips trembled with the effort of containing her laughter. "Well... I guess this explains what the summoning core is for."

"EmberG!" Elio tried to sound authoritative, which was difficult when your voice sounded like crystal bells. "Behave with dignity! That's my body!"

EmberG proceeded to discover that cheeks could be puffed out, making faces that would surely ruin his reputation if anyone else entered at that moment.

"This is definitely that God's work!" exclaimed Kriz between guffaws, barely maintaining his balance. "Only he would think of something so ridiculous!"

'It's not funny!' Elio's crystalline voice only provoked more laughter, even Zara doubled over holding her stomach.

EmberG, meanwhile, had begun a tactile exploration of everything around it. Elio's hands slid across the stone floor, touched the system armor, pinched the cheeks, all with the fascination of a child discovering the world for the first time.

"It's like watching an ethereal being discovering the physical plane for the first time," commented Selene, finally yielding to a small laugh.

'Stop!' pleaded Elio from his crystalline form, but EmberG had already found a new object of interest.

Brok, seeing "Elio" approach, decided to play along. He flexed his muscles in one of his characteristic poses, causing EmberG to stop dead in its tracks, fascinated.

"You... how dare you...!" Zara's voice cut off when the hands began to roam her body, exploring every curve and contour with the same carefree fascination.

The scene repeated with all kinds of reactions from the spectators.

Zara went from ticklish laughter to the same release of suggestive sounds and gesturing. However, the ending was different...

Zara's face went from fury red to scarlet when the hands reached her chest. Her eyes opened wide, all her fury momentarily replaced by pure shock.

This time "Elio" managed to lick her cheek a bit.

'ENOUGH!' Elio's mental cry resonated with such force that even those who normally couldn't hear him shuddered.

A flash of blinding light, and suddenly Elio was back in his body, his hands and tongue still in places he would never have dared to touch without permission... The moment of realization was brief, interrupted by Zara's fist connecting directly with his jaw.

"Wait!" he shouted while backing away, barely dodging another blow. "It was EmberG! I had no control!"

"COME HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!"

A soft sound drew their attention. Lila had fainted, her face still glowing with a red so intense it seemed to illuminate the room. Mei, Aria, and Valeria ran to attend to her, though their own faces showed considerable blush.

"Well," commented Kriz, wiping tears of laughter, "it seems EmberG had curiosity about human anatomy..."

Zara's roar drowned out the rest of his words as she redoubled her efforts to reach Elio.

"Perhaps," Selene managed between contained laughs, "we should focus on understanding how this new ability works... in a more controlled environment."

"And with proper supervision," Diana added, her face red but maintaining composure.

"If he survives," Kriz called out helpfully to Elio, who was still desperately evading Zara's attacks.

EmberG floated above the scene, its crystalline form vibrating with what could be interpreted as confusion. Apparently, touching humans provoked very different reactions depending on what parts you touched.

A valuable lesson for future explorations... if Elio survived to allow them.