It had been three days since Manusya made the announcement to the people of the Ohm village. With another three days remaining until the Hydarians return once more to the village to steal more Aetherus, Manusya carefully considered his options and what he could do for the village. He was currently back on his ship inside the cave. In front of him were various floating holograms which displayed various things such as a map of the village, analysis on the Hydarians he saw and also information about the villagers.
Manusya had brought Numa with him. As the first recipient of the universal chip and his first guide in this new world, Manusya had grown fond of the boy and wished to educate him on various things such as how to utilize the AR interface and cognitive aid that the chip provided. While Manusya were sitting down and analyzing the screens in front of him, Numa were busy learning basic knowledge regarding science.
"Master Manusya." Numa spoke in Osmanian. "Is true that there are these small critters invisible to the naked eye everywhere around us? Bacteria?" he asked with a bewildered look on his face.
"Yes. Just pay attention to the lectures, you should be able to understand things quickly with the chip." Manusya replied with an accented Osmanian.
The boy nodded and looked back at his own screen, eyes full of wonderment.
Three days were also enough time to immerse himself in the Osma language, and he absorbed every conversation and words, whether it were spoken to him or if he overheard. He also requested everyone to use as many words and vocabularies as possible when they spoke, which allowed him to reach near perfect language acquisition with his universal chip inside his brain.
Manusya turned his attention back to the holograms.
The population of Ohm is around five hundred. Two hundred are hunters that could fight, but that number could easily be more than three hundred if we let able-bodied women assist in combat as well. Manusya said in his mind while rubbing his chin, deep in thought.
He leaned back on his chair and assessed the situation.
Once I help develop the village, and perhaps even other villages nearby, we can have people stop worrying about basic necessities such as food and water so they could focus on enriching themselves with education and other skills that will develop their territory. Once we have driven out the Hydarians from their fortress, it will probably take a few months or more for them to logistically try to take their revenge and deliver their counter attack.
Manusya pulled out a bird eye's view image of a fortress. It was a drone capture of the Hydarian fortress in the east. The fortress was not made out of wood, but rather some sort of clay-like material, the walls in the outer perimeter were also made with a similar material.
The construction is rudimentary, but that is also probably because it is only a temporary fort that was hastily made, especially since they have only been here for five years.
Manusya pulled up images of past architecture and buildings made on Earth.
It somewhat resembles perhaps renaissance-era architecture of 15th century Europe. But I cannot always make these types of comparisons because there is no telling if things really do resemble how history unfolded back on Earth, these people are different, after all.
In truth, Manusya had gathered an immense amount of information surrounding the Hydarians of the fortress. The drone could also see through walls like an X-Ray and he was able to determine the layout, their patterns, how many individuals were there and where the children were. Space age technology was something that could deliver these types of results in a heartbeat. If he were to take things into his own hands, he was sure with the remaining robots that the ship stored and weaponries at his disposal that he could simply solve everything right away. However, there were two things that held him back.
The villagers need this accomplishment for themselves. No, the Osma people need to accomplish this with their own hands, even with my help. He thought.
Manusya had decided on a lot of things, despite his inner dilemma. It was his choice that led to humans not receiving the knowledge that they required to pick up where the previous humans left off, but rather he made the decision to restart civilization and let the new humans grew as their own people not defined by their looming doom ahead of them. And if he were to act as steward for the new civilizations, he needed to be careful on his impact on the world as a far more advanced human. Manusya would only give the new humans the right tools for the necessary situations, the proper knowledge to help them advance steadily.
But there was also another variable which still left Manusya second-guessing his future plans. Aether.
Out of the two hundred hunters that I can call on my side for our main fighting force, only around twenty individuals were capable of manipulating Aether as Weavers. And out of those twenty, only a handful are as skillful as Ahmi.
Manusya had seen what manipulating aether could do for a skilled fighter during his spar with Ahmi. Without the training and tools that Manusya had at his disposal, he would not have survived an encounter with a weaver empty-handed.
The Hydarians in the fortress numbered two thousand. If we take into account the entire population of the people in the entire Osma Reaches and alliance, the Hydarians are clearly at a disadvantage by sheer size. And yet, they were able to subjugate an entire people and region. Manusya thought.
From what the villagers had told him, there were powerful weavers inside the Hydarian troops who were also now more powerful since they consumed the aetherus they stole from the Osma people. Their metal armors and weapons were also beyond what the Osma people could handle, especially when a weaver's skin was already tough to scratch normally, let alone when they wear heavy protection. But more than that, why the Osma people truly feared the Hydarians were their usage of aetherial tools and weapons.
Their strength as soldiers and the functions of their aetherial items are still unknown variables to me. I cannot act on my own and I will still need to smuggle spying devices into the fortress when they collect the aetherus from the village. He said in his mind.
The villagers were already finished with collecting the quota of aetherus crystalline plants that were assigned to them by the Hydarians. Manusya had helped them by using drones to search the forest and it took only a day to gather the necessary amount.
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Aether, aetherus, weavers, aetherial tools. I need better knowledge on everything. Manusya thought.
Manusya stood up from his chair and glanced at Numa, who was sitting on his own chair and staring at a holographic screen depicting educational content.
"Numa," Manusya said, this time in the universal language."I am returning to the village with some of my delivery bots...summons to train the hunters. Are you coming with me?" he asked.
Numa's eyes dropped down, almost like a puppy. "But I am getting to the good stuff! I didn't know the air we breathe is actually something! Oxygen! I want to learn more!" the boy said with curiosity oozing.
Manusya chuckled. This boy truly has potential.
"Fine" Manusya began walking away to the entrance of the ship. "Erectus, can you take care of Numa while I'm gone?" he said.
"AFFIRMATIVE" Erectus replied in his uncanny voice.
I need Erectus's assistance outside, but an AI is too big in size to upload to my chip. I will need to make a small satellite instead with the nano printer. But that's for later.
Several delivery bots were already on stand by in front of the cave as he walked out, the young man marched forward back to the village of Ohm.
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"What is this, Aksha?" Ahmi examined the small helmet that was given to him by Manusya.
"Is it protection for our heads? Like the ones those Hydarians wore?" A young hunter asked in turn as he probed his own helmet.
"I can't see this protecting our faces from arrows!" A hunter said.
All the two hundred or so hunters in the village were given some sort of helmet by Manusya. The helmet was sleek and light in designed, it only covered the top part of the head.
"Do not fret, hunters of Ohm." Manusya replied. "This is not for your protection in combat. I will offer you something else later for your equipment. This is an aetherial tool that will allow you to train in another plane where time flows differently than here. You will not only be able to push yourselves to the limits without fear of dying, one hour in that realm equals merely a minute here!" Manusya proudly explained.
"That is impossible!" A hunter remarked with shock.
"It is the Aksha's greatness! We must try this." Another hunter began to examined the helmet more seriously.
Manusya also looked at his own helmet. This is a virtual reality helmet. More specifically, a Chrono-Dilation Virtual Reality Helmet, or people usually refer to them simply as Chrono VR. This will simulate realistic combat situations for them and make up for the short three days we have remaining. He said in his mind.
These were for the military. They are not your typical helmets. All the sensations you can feel in real life are simulated inside the virtual reality. However, the time dilation will only allow for only nearly 3 hours of usage per day, or 1 week in virtual reality per day before risks of neural damage may occur. We can train for at least 2 weeks or so and push these hunters to their limits.
Desparate times called for desperate measures. With the number disadvantage that the Ohm hunters were facing against the Hydarian troops inside a well-guarded fortress, Manusya needed to increase their advantage and abilities first and give them more equipment to make up for the unbalanced match up.
"Everyone," Manusya put on his Chrono VR helmet. "Please put them on."
"As you command, Aksha!" Everyone replied in unison and wore the helmet one by one. Many confused faces could still be seen in the crowd. Even with Manusya's explanations on the magical capabilities of this helmet, they could not comprehend how such a thing was possible. More than that, some of the weavers among the crowds also did not detect any trace of aether inside the helmet, which let them to question their Aksha's claim even more.
"Okay, sit down on the ground." Manusya said and everyone followed his instruction. "Let's begin." he said again.
Manusya pushed a button on the side of the helmet and his consciousness felt as if it was transported into space. His entire physical being was being pulled somewhere, a floating brain without a body. In the black void where nothing could be felt nor seen, a hologram appeared in front of Manusya.
"Welcome. Please select stage." A pleasant voice said.
The holographic screen showed various places that were available for him to choose. From the bridge of a ship to a base built on an asteroid, one could simulate various environments that battle with the Despair could foreseeably occur. Manusya chose a blank training stage, consisting of a field with various equipment, a running track, and an obstacle course.
"Confirmed. Please pick a duration." The voice said again.
Manusya pressed on the button which stated one week in virtual reality, the maximum amount per day in real life.
"Confirmed. Have a pleasant training."
His entire reality shifted around him. The black void was quickly replaced by the training stage. Blue skies, clouds, birds flying by. It was a simulated Earth.
"W-where are we?" A hunter said.
"This is heaven! This must be! By the Seven I have made it!" Another hunter jumped up and down in happiness.
Ahmi, the fierce hunter with no hair smacked the misunderstood hunter. "You fool, the Aksha is here. His words were true, we have been transported into another realm with his aetherial tool." he said.
"This is marvelous! A feat of the gods!"
"The Aksha is truly Suwepi'en's envoy!"
"But where are we? There seems to be all those weird structures over there!"
Manusya looked around at the hunters. Everyone were busy looking around without a care in the world. The young man from the distant past frowned at this sight.
They are fierce warriors, but they lack the organization and discipline of a modern soldier. Even when I cannot train them in full, I must mold them into better warriors. Manusya thought.
"Everyone." Manusya said as he approached a random hunter who happened to be standing nearby. The hunter was busy looking at the obstacle course to notice Manusya approaching.
Manusya stretched out his right arm. From out of thin air, a large dagger appeared on his hand. He stepped forward and slashed the man's throat. The hunter let out a gurgle of pain before falling down.
"T-the Aksha killed him!"
Ahmi's eyes bulged out at this sight. "Aksha! Why!?" he shouted.
Manusya turned to Ahmi, he lunged forward and stabbed him on the chest. Ahmi did not have time to react and fell down to the ground, seemingly dead.
"Oh we have been tricked! He is no envoy of the goddess, he is a demon trickster!" Someone barked.
"Run! Everyone!"
"SILENCE!" Manusya shouted. Manusya's face was murderous and cold. Suddenly, his beast-like face disappeared and melted into a wry smile. He chuckled mischievously.
"Look at them again." Manusya pointed at the two 'dead' bodies.
Suddenly, all of their wounds disappeared as if time itself had rewinded. The two hunters realised they were alive and began frantically checking on their body for the injuries.
"I-I'm alive!" the hunter said.
"No, It cannot be." Ahmi said as he touched his chest to look for a missing wound. "I felt my body about to join the great stream. That was a true senstation. H-how?" he muttered and stared at Manusya in disbelief.
"I told you," Manusya conjured multiple small throwing knives in his hand. He began throwing them into hunters nearby, as they fell to the ground 'dead' one-by-one. Everyone began screaming but kept to their positions.
"You will not die here. You can push your bodies to the limits or practically kill each other and it would be as if it had never happened." Manusya explained.
That was cruel, but the military drill sergeants did the same thing to us when they trained us. Manusya thought and chuckled, recaling his own nightmarish experience of being conscripted into service for the UPF in the ark.
"Now, your deaths here would be lies, but the sensations are all true," Manusya said as he conjured a crossbow out of thin air. He aimed and shot a hunter nearby, right at one of his eyes. The man screamed in agony and fell.
"You will get used to all of these sensations and push yourselves to the limits. Also, you will learn to follow orders in combat situations and to execute plans perfectly." Manusya said with an evil smile. He summoned more throwing knives in his hand.
"Any questions? No? Then let's get started." he said.
A demon! Everyone thought. They knew this was their Aksha, but they began to question if they had walked into a grand illusion that would torture them for all eternity.