John sat down meditating in his lab.
He could control Invulnis's body through his A.I Chip. His entire nervous system could be controlled by John.
Invulnis walked on his own for now.
As John was fed his senses information through their chips.
Once Invulnis left the starter zone.
He was met with a water elemental on the first floor.
Aura covered his body as John watched him fight this elemental.
He was surprisingly good at fighting. The elemental shot ice shards at him. Thanks to his boosted perception. It was as if it was moving in slow motion.
Unfortunately, he had no good means of attack.
"Not bad... but allow me to show you how it's done."
John took over.
His entire demeanor changed.
He casually walked up to the elemental. It tried to punch him. But aura had connected him to the ground. He took no knockback.
Invulnis wasn't a level 3 cultivator like John. At most he could be considered level 1. So the amount of energy he could control at once was much less.
There was actually aura in this tower.
But John's fine control over the years still translated when he took over this body.
He then used aura to inscribe runes across his hands and a ball of plasma began to charge up.
He shot it into the water elemental. A huge hole was left in its body. But it quickly regenerated.
So John controlled Invulnis's body and punched out.
The elemental didn't realize its body was becoming saturated with nanites. Soon the nanites began to heat up destroying them along with the confused elemental.
A white orb dropped to the ground.
"What is this? A rank 3 orb?"
John couldn't help but think this was too easy. So he crushed it was like one piece of the puzzle was added to Invulnis's soul.
A staircase descended to the ground.
[System]: Rank 3 progress (1/100)
John gave control back to Invulnis.
Invulnis spoke:
"Could you not do that? It is too weird a feeling."
John spoke:
"It seems that they have broken the rank 3 orb into multiple parts. You will need to collect all parts to get the full brand."
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"Move on to the next floor."
The next floor was obsidian themed. There was an obsidian golem.
John didn't take control. He instead let Invulnis handle this enemy. He was doing well, but he eventually ran out of stamina from manipulating aura.
John spoke in his mind.
"Die... It'll refill your aura. You can also progress it a bit. You are too weak."
"Are you insane?"
Invulnis didn't dare to test whether or not he had actually acquired the ability to respawn.
The nanites weren't able to do anything to this enemy.
Invulnis dodged its attacks.
"How did you do that attack earlier?"
"Too complicated for you. You need a small amount of aura to retain communication. I have put safeguards in place to prevent you from completely running out."
"Just die... you can respawn in place with stamina and your energy refilled."
"Fine..."
Invulnis stopped moving and was impaled by obsidian shards.
He coughed up blood...
He saw something interesting.
It was like he was a ghost. He could see his corpse.
"Are you there?"
He tried to question Destinatus.
But he received no response.
He then chose to respawn.
He was still impaled by obsidian shards.
"You have got to be kidding me..."
He set a waypoint in front of him to escape this area of death.
He died once again.
He then respawned at the new waypoint.
He started to breathe heavily.
[System]: Nanites composition has reached 0%
Invulnis noticed that his corpse had disappeared. But a sort of illusory fog was located where his corpse had been.
"Has the connection been lost? Destinatus? You there?"
"I am here."
"Why didn't you respond earlier?"
"We aren't connected to the concept right now. I am communicating with you through your A.I Chip."
"What is nanite composition?"
"Think of it like a videogame. You drop your stuff on death. Nanites are left behind when you respawn. Think of it like a penalty for dying."
"Ohhh... I see."
The obsidian golem tried stabbing Invulnis. But his entire being felt different after tasting death. He didn't care about an insignificant enemy that could do no real damage. He casually dodged as he walked to the fog.
It was sucked into him.
[System]: Nanite composition has reached 97%
"So what do nanites do?"
"They can do a variety of things. It is useful for healing you as well invading the system of your enemy. That's how I beat the water elemental you fought earlier."
Invulnis was slowly grasping his new abilities.
"How do I use them?"
"Just make a mental suggestion. Your A.I Chip is loaded with a artificial intelligence that can control them based on your suggestions."
Invulnis then went to war against the golem.
"Why don't I respawn with nanites?"
"If I'm able to respawn with the A.I Chip... shouldn't it be the same with nanites?"
"Your body state has been encoded into your will. In that schematic. Your current body with the A.I Chip and a single nanite has been saved. So even if you don't go back to pick up your nanites. Your body will eventually become saturated with nanites again. It'll just take some time."
"Truthfully, you are the first person besides myself that I have tested such a method on. For example, when I respawn. I'm using an entirely different system."
"How so?"
"I've had my will since before my birth. So my system isn't as good as yours in some aspects. To put it simply. Your power is more user friendly then mine. I have the structure of my A.I Chip memorized. When I die and respawn at a waypoint. I reconstruct it from memory in about three seconds. While when you respawn. You instantly reconstruct it. But this means you can't customize it. I spent years practicing. It would be ridiculous for you to follow the same path as me."
"Basically... I've had my will for a long time. You are an experiment giving a will to a normal already developed mortal. I had to make things easy for you. Otherwise it would be pointless asking for your help."
The entire time they were talking. Invulnis was walking on the edge of death.
"I have a question... aren't you some sort of god? Why would you need my help?"
"That's a secret..."
"I see..."
Invulnis stood above the corpse of the obsidian golem. He had killed it without even realizing it.
He used aura to cut through it and pulled out a black orb and crushed it.
[System]: Rank 3 progress (2/100)
John had watched the fight and reminded Invulnis.
"Have you forgotten? You now are rank 2. You have unlocked flight and a shield. Be sure to use that in future battles."
"Will do."