Although Sani is a cheat on its own in every conceivable way plausible, be it mortal, divine, or otherwise, one could argue that it also has its demerits—the 'one' protesting against the almighty source of power obviously being Zack.
"Lost my humanity. Might be tortured in every fight that's to come. Will definitely question my reason for existing after every fight that I face. Power that scales by losing interest in everything..." Zack kept listing out plausible warnings a recruit should know about before joining this... Souls, Clowns, or whatever they wanted to call themselves.
While the group shrugged collectively, with only Lux noting the points, Solgrave remembered that humans—or, in this case, those who could become Broken Souls—always ignored caution when becoming a god was a simple step away.
What's there to argue about? There is a certain, broken mentality one requires to breach the borders of mortality.
"Would you have chosen otherwise?" Solgrave asked Zack, already knowing his reply. "Excuses—excuses." He waved him off.
"Atleast let me reply first!"
"Time magic, and all..." Solgrave frowned, as if Zack's supposed reply left a bad taste in his mouth.
Zack wanted to create a Slot that could help him force Solgrave to reveal some secrets, mainly about these time shenanigans, for that knowledge was blocked by Soul King himself, and in no way did Solgrave seem strong enough to bypass Soul King's barriers—as ridiculous as that sentence might seem.
Of course, Zack held this internal monologue inside his core, protected by his mother's shield—the only place he had a shred of privacy nowadays.
'Back to the topic at hand,' Zack convinces himself to get back onto the topic, his Will pushing away stray thoughts and allowing him to concentrate much better.
He wondered how ridiculous it was to make a simple decision. Still, he didn't complain for long, as his current rate of accumulation, storage, and solving is akin to having a photographic memory, with a permanent pass to the zone, where artists reached greatness.
Now, actually backing to the topic: Slots and Artifacts were the only two tools that helped a mere Flicker punch way above their weight class. The 'Battle Soul' or 'War God' of the soul realm—ironically, also the smartest soul of the soul realm—invented this new path.
Also, unlike the crazy war gods of mortal folklore, it was purely calculative. And yes, the best way to designate a Broken Soul is 'it,' for they are nothing but energy gathered together through willpower and a little bit of consciousness—otherwise also known as Rhythm.
Both Slots and Artifacts work in a similar fashion, with an Artifact having the additional advantage of being present outside one's Sub-Space, making it possible for any Broken-Soul to wield, tamper with, and improve upon. Either way, both are fundamentally the same thing: a condensed ball of 'Wills' empowered by one's Sub-Space.
Zack drew out the explanation in his journal for clarity; Say a Soul had a Sub-Space—the amount of soul space under their control—of four meters. And their core—their memories, physical manifestation, emotion and sensory controls, knowledge, and everything else that keeps them sane and from becoming one with Sani—takes up one meter; the rest can be turned into Slots.
Slots can be as basic as creating a bubble of varying size with a singular purpose. Think of it as a battery collecting everyone's Will/desire for power. For example; if anyone in contact with Sani can lift ten times their normal weight, even as a new initiate, by having a Slot solely focused on 'power,' they can go beyond, simply by drawing out this concept from everyone striving for power in the Soul Space (in which everything exists, be it animate, inanimate, energy fields, or otherwise).
Then again, a Broken Soul is limited by the space under their control (Sub-Space), the number of Slots, the space given to said Slots within their Sub-Space, and who came up with the concept first.
Yes, an absolutely ridiculous rule enforced by none other than Soul King himself. Before his rule, the power of any similar Concept Slot was reduced based on the number present in the Soul Space—a perfect distribution of power overseen by Sani and only bypassed by one's Sub-Space.
By the way, Soul King has the largest recorded Sub-Space and a singular Slot, which he revealed long ago to be 'Power.' And yes, he made the 'First-come, first-served' rule out of spite—one day realizing his power had diminished. Zack wasn't sure how an entity like the Soul King measured his power, since creating and erasing the entire universe could be done by a mere thought. Alas, Zack had stopped caring about many unimaginable things by now.
Bypassing Sani itself to create a new rule that affected the entire universe might seem impossible and something not even the smartest soul could've figured out—if it wasn't for Soul King, who made it public knowledge. Well, public knowledge for souls who can tap into the 'Stream of Knowledge,' atleast.
"I might have something more to add." Zack considered leaving his journal in the shield for safekeeping. After all, this discovery might piss off the strongest psychopath in existence—the Soul King.
Sani is considered power itself. The energy behind every energy field, if you will. A thing that makes everything vibrate, and hence, exist. Anyone able to tap into this source had to be someone who had reached beyond godhood. However, Zack deduced that other forces were stronger, and, as bizarre as this idea may seem, it can be substantiated by the concept of the Soul King known as 'Restrictions.'
True to its name—unlike the stupid names biologists come up with—restriction meant just that: Restrictions. A sword able to kill an immortal with one strike is only possible because said Artifact can only be wielded by Zack, an amateur in every sense of the word. This ridiculous restriction empowered the one-strike clause, making it a possibility. Similarly, Soul King's revealed ability (Slot) not only opened up many opportunities to dethrone him, but it also empowered him.
"How much power does this maniac want?" Zack took out his frustration on his poor journal, only calming down as another question crossed his mind: "Why does he need so much power?"
From the knowledge freely available and not restricted in the 'Stream Of Knowledge,' Zack considered Soul King to be a kind of god who made rules to keep this crazy world somewhat intact. If that is indeed the case, then what kind of monsters is the Soul King fighting for him to require more and more power?
But again, this could all be Soul King's power, manipulating everyone to think in such a way.
"I f'ing hate Sani, whoever stumbled onto it, and he who made it available to everyone." Zack sacrificed half his Sub-Space to send out a curse to whoever that was.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: 'Restrictions' are weird, and the more Restrictions one uses on themselves, the higher the multiplication factor they can use to empower their Slot and power behind their attack. In a way, Mr. Meyer made the sword for his son, all the while using it in life-or-death battles; this became the aspect that powered the undo effect of the Artifact—a higher sacrifice, because of the incompatibility.
"Dad!" Zack pulled the sword into a bear hug, living in a loop until the moment went dull.
One well-known restriction every Broken-Soul used was 'time,' specifically, the duration of maintaining a Slot. This made every Soul Hunter specialized, like how Lux used springs, Barbie used her bazooka, Pinky used her pink bag, and whatever psychotic fun Psycho was into. One could accomplish anything with Sani, so sacrificing the probabilities and bunkering down with a singular skill gave a massive boost that only grew in power with passing time.
"Just because others have a smaller Sub-Space doesn't make you superior." Zack noted down in a separate section titled 'Never Forget.' "And you grow in power ten times for every passing second, so like it or not—sani is broken!"
If Zack and Psycho had a Slot dedicated to 'Strength,' Psycho would still be an elephant in the metaphorical ant fight, all because of the time Psycho had the Slot. Anyone else would be ripping their hair out because of this discrimination, but Zack looked at the situation through a natural lens—thanks to his emotions being turned off.
"Being sane for so long is enough of a reason for anyone to deserve this power multiplier." Zack nodded to himself. "Not to mention sticking to a singular path and having to face all the hurdles that come along." A newfound respect grew within Zack for every Broken-Soul with a Slot.
———<>||<>——— End of Chapter twenty. ———<>||<>———