Early Afternoon - Mid Summer : Betsey Lake | Leyfa Askr (Previously Northern Michigan)
-----
"So you've never heard of a monster being called a System Mercenary on the kill confirmed panel?"
Quickly nodding, Eve walked across the blood-filled water without making more than a tiny ripple on its surface. "System mercenaries don't grant kill confirmed panels."
-What?- "That's not right. Are you misunderstanding something?" My expression morphed with confusion as she tilted her head at me. "System users absolutely grant kill confirmed panels." If anyone knew, it would be me.
"They used to, but because of some lunatics killing them for upgrades and items, the system did away with it."
-Huh?- Thinking back to when I found the system enforcers in Richmond, the image of me spearing a man with his own weapon surfaced in my mind. -Wait...- There was no chance he survived. -Yet I never got a kill-confirmed panel.. same with the system enforcers...-
"Kill-confirmed panels on people haven't been a thing for quite a long time." Looking over at the eel as its squirming started to slow, she shrugged. "Considering all the stuff that's happened to your system, it wouldn't surprise me if it's just a display bug."
-I mean.. that's certainly a possibility...- Considering an administrator of the Central Server said he couldn't even access my profile, it wouldn't be surprising if there were some bugs exclusive to me that simply couldn't be fixed. "I don't know... But I guess it doesn't do me any good to think about it now."
Quickly nodding, Eve's demeanor lightened. "Exactly! Why dwell on the unknown when it doesn't benefit you?"
"Haah," -Right...- In the past, I wouldn't have given it even the slightest moment of thought. -But I can't deny I'm curious...-
"For now, didn't you say you wanted to find a fresh mana core?" Turning toward the eel as it finally stopped squirming, she used some water magic to push the body toward the surface. "Betsy here should have a suitable one."
"Ah, right." Although I hadn't spoken to her about the specifics yet, while we traveled, she had asked a bit about Bella, wondering if she was some special robot to garner my attention, and after some time, we spoke about the fact that I was looking for a smaller mana core for her that was at least the size of a fist or so. "This should be perfect, actually."
Giving me a curious look as I ran toward the eel across the lake's surface, she spoke while promptly following after me. "If it's not rude to ask, what does a robot need such a core for, anyway?"
Using my aura to try and find the core, I pulled out a long, sword-like fillet blade and started carving into the monster's side. "How familiar are you with mana mechanics?"
"Huh?" Confusion instantly clouded her curiosity.
"I'll take that as not much." Think of how to explain, I used my aura to hold the eel at the water's surface. "To keep it short, you can think of mana-mechanics as the combination of mana and robotics. It gives them a bunch of pretty cool permissions but the success rate is low." *Tink* -There it is...- Feeling my blade tap against the core, I tossed it in my inventory before using my hands to carve away the rest of the eel's flesh and pop the core out of it.
*Tap-Vwoom* The core was about the size of a small melon; a little on the big side. -But that might be better for this...-
Hopping up out of the pit I dug into the eels side, I continued my explanation. "You can think of it like turning a robot into an autonomous monster that the system recognizes as a robot, so there's far less limits on them."
But she wasn't following at all. "H-Huh? That's possible?!" Hurriedly coming over to me, she rather eagerly looked at the mana core. "I know robotics can be recognized in the system as companions, but they're never used beyond a certain level because they're weak... Are you telling me that's not actually the case?"
I was quick to nod. "I had a whole fleet of them before my system was wiped. Even up in Error rank worlds, they could clear the entire planet without my help."
A twitch quickly found its way into Eve's dumbfounded look.
"But I'm not sure how the infusion itself will go... I've never done it..." Even with all my time in the system, I had only ever found mana-infused robotics. -This'll be the first time I actually try to evolve one...-
Prior to finding my systems mana-mechanics tab, I didn't actually think it was possible to do artificially, and summed it up to being a phenomenon where a dungeon core possessed a robot of some sort. -I wonder how it'll do it.. even with the system's help...-
Quickly opening and swiping through my system, I called out Bella with some haste. *Vwoop* "Oh, that was fast-" *Splat* "Oh..." Falling down onto the wet, bloody side of the eel, she lifted her bloody paw and gave it an awkward look.
"Haha, sorry to dirty your paws, but could you lay down for me?"
"Hm? Oh, o-of course!" Without the slightest hesitation, she threw herself onto her side. "Do you want me to enter-"
"Nope. Just stay like that and don't move." As she gently laid her head down, I made my way up to her side, opened her maintenance panel, and opened the mana mechanics tab in my system, finally being presented with a familiar warning. -Now, it says I just need to bring the core into contact with her computing module...-
Using my hand to gently move aside some of the mechanical arms and circuit boards hidden in Bella's body, I exposed the dense central computing module and gently pulled it toward the opening in her side, just enough to let the mana core touch it. -Nice.. and.. gentle...- *Tink*
Stolen novel; please report.
*Beep* A panel instantly popped up in front of my face reading, 'Robotic contact with suitable mana core detected. Do you wish to proceed?'
-Of course...- *Beep* Tapping 'Yes', I looked down at Bella with a smile. "This might be a bit confusing for you, but just try to go with the flow, okay?"
"Hm?" Looking up at me, she seemed confused. "I'm not sure what you mean, m- *Crackle*" Her voice instantly descended into static as her body seized up and the lenses in her eyes lost their focus.
-She should be alright...- Watching the mana core leaning against her computing module slowly lose its rigidity and turn into an almost slime-like blob, it ever-so-slowly began sinking into her body, absorbing the central computing module with several other electrical boards before beginning to solidify once more.
*Beep* "It is now required that the hosts injects their mana."
-Alright...- Hearing the system speak to me directly, I quickly held out my hand and started guiding my mana toward the mana core.
But while to me, the amount of mana couldn't even be called droplets, to Bella, it was like a tsunami. *VWOOOM*
*Beep* "Forming temporary tether to host. You may feel a slight discomfort."
-Hm? A tether? What is...- "-Oh..." Feeling an immediate discomfort in my abdomen as a nerve-wracking anxiety washed over me, my gaze sharpened.
But before a single thought could flow, an almost manipulative feeling filled the back of my mind, and a set of unfamiliar, blurry memories seemed to start playing like a vision.
But it didn't last long. -Stop that...- Following my instincts, I instantly rejected the foreign mix of emotions and memories that tried to force themselves into my mind, and after just a moment, they began fading and dissipating...
Until eventually, they vanished entirely.
-What the hell was that?- Finally escaping my own mind, I quickly leaned back from Bella with hostility written all across my face. -Were those.. memories from the eel?- Releasing a bit of bloodlust, I found myself wanting to punch the core as it solidified, but thankfully, my nerves slowly started easing before my instincts snapped.
"Hooh..." Letting out a heavy breath, I closed my eyes and tried to meditate for a moment to make sure it was all gone, before finally opening my eyes and finding a bright panel in front of my face.
Success
Mana-Mechanics implementation was a success!
All expected margins have been surpassed, however, features may be limited.
-Hm?- Tilting my head as I read it, I quickly hit 'Expand', only to be presented with a column of errors and a message saying: 'Because of the following errors, some system features may not work correctly. If issues persist, please contact an administrator.'
-Please tell me those errors didn't ping the administrators already...- My expression quickly darkened as I glanced around a bit.
But thankfully, there was nothing to find.
"Haah..." Finally standing up, I quickly read through and closed the rest of the system panels before swiping them away and moving Bella to my inventory again. -Looks like it will take some time for her to wake up... I guess I'll go back to practice in the meantime.-
However, as I dipped my hands in the lake to clean off the blood, I noticed that Eve was completely absorbed in something.
-Hm?- She was looking at something in her system. "Is something the matter?" Finally stepping off the eel and walking across the water, I found her rather anxiously biting her nail. -Uh oh...-
But while I was a bit uneasy seeing the stress and worry on her face, it wasn't exactly what I expected. "Yeah..." Swiping her hand across her system panel, it instantly turned to face me.
Server Warning
It has been determined that this world's rank is too low.
Rank correction will begin imminently.
Old Rank: 6
New Rank: 5
-Ah, so it's finally happening.-
"Earth's rank just went up, so..." Waving away the panel, she looked up at the bright blue sky overhead with an awkward smile. "It looks like Earth's days of peace are over."
-Good.-
Although I didn't say it out loud, Eve could clearly tell what I was thinking. "Do you think peace is a bad thing?" Glancing over at me, she asked her question like it was genuine.
But even though I wasn't sure if she was joking, I spoke my mind. "Yes."
Looking back up at the sky, her tone softened. "Why..?"
Looking up at the fluffy clouds as well, my tone firmed. "Peace doesn't make you strong."
"Hah..." She immediately let out a bit of a chuckle.
But I continued without hesitation. "It's why worlds with technology never last, Eve. The moment a civilization gets rid of the threat, and peace spreads, people get used to it, take it for granted, and inevitably tear themselves apart... Civilizations are a lot like people in that sense..." As a memory of my time with Bree, Eve's Mother, played in the back of my mind, I smiled. "It took me a long time to realize it, but it's why your Mother is such a good monarch. She treated her nation like she would herself..."
Eve's expression slowly lost its vibrance as she fell into thought. "Is that.. so..."
Giving her a moment to think, I looked back up into the sky as well.
It was a hard concept for someone to wrap their heads around, but as Bree's daughter, I was sure she would come to understand.. even if it took some time... -Unlike me.. she won't need to see tens of thousands of worlds collapse before her eyes to understand...-
Thinking back on old memories as the bright blue sky filled my eyes, I almost felt my posture ease a bit. "Just don't overthink it. Earth won't fall with me here, but don't expect me to be some benevolent protector." -Even without me, Earth would find a way to survive...- Even if the path they would need to take would bring upon loss like they had never seen.
After all, sentience wasn't something that could be gotten rid of so easily...
"Haah..." Letting out a sigh to try and shake off the dark memories that suddenly surfaced, my expression darkened and my gaze fell to the ground. "You won't understand right away, but.. I promise you will with time..."
Hearing my somber tone, she was quick to turn to me with a worried look.
But I wasn't planning on letting my mind recall any other dark memories. "Just trust the process, okay? I don't plan on letting this world fall apart like the rest... Even if it's what the gods eventually desire..."
-----
----------------------------------------
Read up to 5 weeks ahead of schedule, and get early access to artwork on My Patreon!
(In case Embedded Link doesn't work: https://www.patreon.com/TDOD )
-------------
Also, please feel free to check out our discord for all updates related to TSH releases! https://discord.gg/Dv7G5bQD4v
All are welcome!