ebookland Chapter 231 - Book 4
Chapter 231 - Book 4
Traveling through the portal was unlike any other portal Felix had traveled through before. He was certain most people, in fact nearly everyone but him, wouldn't have even noticed anything. He knew he was the weird one that examined and paid attention to the inner mechanics of portals. It didn't even really tell him anything but still, it was different and that piqued his curiosity.
System portals were the cleanest and felt the most like wormholes. Like he moved from one place to another, instantly. Just like the physical environment, the Aether on the other side of a System Portal under the TFP seemed like it had been cut. Unlike the atmosphere and air, which was slowed but still melded across the portal, the Aether remained separate and so he sensed the immediate shift stepping through them. The farther he traveled, the more apparent the shift.
His Aether tunnels weren't instant. They seemed almost instant but even if they were close in the physical world, even if he left and re-entered the universe at the same instant, he still came out the other side with experiences. His Soul was aware of his literally traveling through the Aether. Doing so, there was no sudden shift, instead he literally felt the movement as if he were simply moving really fast. It wasn't quite like the wind blowing on his face when flying, but it was very similar.
The portal into The Abyss, was something else entirely. It wasn't instantaneous like the TFP and the Aether was merging from one side to the other, like the atmosphere did. On top of that, Felix immediately noticed an experience he didn't have an associated memory for. Instead of traveling through the Aether with barely any sense of speed, it felt like he had traveled not quite through the Ambient Anima, but almost. He felt as though the Ambient Anima had rapidly shifted then there was a jolt, like he had passed through a barrier or popped a bubble, then it shifted some more and finally, he landed on solid ground.
As soon as he did, Grim prodded him, The connection to your Residents on the outside is being hindered.
So they're having trouble controlling their puppets'?
Not that they can't at all, it's like it's being slowed, the connection is noisy and… like… bad wifi? What is that? Why did that pop into your head?
I understand, don't worry about it. Let me know once one of them makes it in here..
Understood.
Looking around, it was nothing new, exciting or even interesting. It was a flat, grassy field on which a number of boars roamed around.
[D - Common] Field Boar (Lvl 102)
Hah! I knew they would be at the bottom of the D grade but… Field Boards were the first enemy I ever fought. It's almost… fitting.
"Hey! You coming or what?" Melody called out from way out ahead of him.
Looking around, Felix realized he was alone as Peace and Adaline had already gotten ahead of even Melody.
Also, there was a boar that had charged into his side but, he had barely noticed or felt it. His Mind Residents hadn't even activated his Mana Skin, it was just too weak. Looking at the boar, it was bigger and leaner than the ones he had fought in the tutorial. Its horns were sharper but otherwise, it was very similar. It definitely could have been the result of one of those boars evolving into the D grade.
He lightly pushed the boar back then launched himself towards them, catching up to Melody at least, very quickly.
The other two in their party had gotten much further ahead and had forked off, Peace to the left and Adaline to the right, to
Can. You. Communicate. With. It.
I… maybe.
Try.
Rewdan looked at him reluctantly then grumbled and fought his way through the winds towards the Spirit. He grabbed onto Felix's robes and cowered behind him to protect himself from the wind as he peered around his body and echoed out a message into the Anima.
The Storm Sphere seemed to hear and respond to him as it flashed a few more times, looking a lot like Lightning as it did so.
It wants the Core and the Concept.
Can it guarantee not to kill us?
It just keeps yelling to give it the Core and the Concept.
If I do that, how strong will this thing be?
Uh… I don't know.
Can I stop it if it decides to try and kill us?
Maybe… It will take a while for it to adjust to the body so…
Felix sighed, I guess Rhonan is on planet…
Using his Soul Tendrils, Felix snatched the Core and shoved the Concept into it, he carefully bound that in the correct locations then reached forwards for the Storm Sphere. Before he even touched it though, it swirled down like a vortex and entered the Core all on its own.
As it did, the wind completely abated then vanished as the Core lay still and dormant on the ground.
Felix looked over at Ked to apologize but he wasn't paying attention, instead he had run over and was crouched down, examining the Core from a few meters away.
It seemed prudent to maintain distance and everyone else in the lab seemed to agree but Felix, stepped forwards and grabbed the Core with his hands. Then, he surrounded it with his Soul Tendrils and readied himself to act, if need be.
Theoretically it could be stronger than him physically but he was pretty sure he could take it Soul on Soul.
"Release me at once, Wanderer."
"Wanderer?"
"Release me."
"Are you going to try and kill us? Will you form a contract with me to ensure you won't?"
"What purpose would I have in fighting you?"
"Contract or I end this."
"Fine. Contract of peace with everyone present until the sun sets."
"Deal."
Felix offered the contract himself and the Elemental accepted a moment later. It was definitely strong and Felix was certain it could kill him. At the same time, his Soul Strength was much higher but much less aligned. It didn't have convictions but the entirety of the Anima that formed it nonetheless was entirely synchronized in a way his wasn't.
"Now, provide me quintessence."
"The what? You mean this?" Felix offered it a trickle of Mana.
"Yes! Quintessence. I am not accustomed to drawing from the fundamental planes."
Aether?
He sighed and began funneling Mana into the Core, providing millions of Mana a second until he was down to just a quarter of his pool and stopped the flow, unwilling to provide any more.
The Core then pulled against Felix's Soul Tendrils and he released it, now that they were in a Soul Contract. It flew up, hovered in the air then shot itself straight at Nova, stopping just an inch short of her. She looked at it, smelled it and pawed at it, unsure what to make of it.
"Daemon. I require material to form my body. Create this for me."
Nova meowed at it in confusion as it created a tiny ball of Matter in front of it. Nova looked at Felix and he gave her permission after realizing the Matter was almost entirely water. She meowed once again then spewed out a massive stream of water at the Core which happily took control of the water and began to spin it around itself.
After hundreds of gallons had been taken and somewhat consumed somewhere, a shell of water had formed around the Core. It quickly zipped back over to where the ritual had been cast and began to spin.
The water shell accelerated until it began to shift from water to vapor and that vapor slowly compressed itself into a dark grey cloud. That cloud was compressed until it looked almost like a solid and once all the water had been transformed, the cloud shifted and a burst of steam was released.
The steam dissipated a moment later to reveal, a humanoid man, sitting on the floor. He sat in a meditative stance with long blue robes of flowing water. He had nearly perfect looking smooth skin that was so dense, it was impossible to tell visually it was made of clouds. His long beard and hair however, were more obviously made from clouds. Lastly, his eyes were just bright blue shapes made of a constant stream of coursing Lightning.
"I am Okotama Thunder, Prime Sage of the Storm."
[Ancient] Okotama Thunder, Prime Sage of the Storm
In Felix's mind, especially with his meditative posture, Okotama looked every part Sage. He looked like an old Guru that had spent his life meditating on top of a mountain in solitude.
Rewdan, what's a Prime Sage?
It's… Rewdan stared in disbelief at what they had summoned, He's… the highest form of Elemental… the living embodiment of a Concept that has grown a consciousness.
Felix nodded and stepped forwards, "Okotama, it-"
Mera ran forwards, "You're perfect."
"It was you who summoned me. You appear young and yet, you contain a deceptive quantity of experiences."
She held out her hand, "I'm Mera."
Okotama bowed his head slightly and gently lifted his hand to grasp hers, "What is it, I am perfect for, may I ask?"
"My familiar." She smiled wide.
"I am not aware of, familiar."
She pointed at Felix and Nova simultaneously, "Like them."
"You would have me be your servant?"
"I would have you be my friend."
"And what does a being a friend of Mera entail?"
"Talking and fighting and traveling and having fun and… you know, friend stuff."
"What if I did not want to be friend of Mera, now or in the future?"
"Not possible. Everyone likes me." She put both her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.
"I see. Then hypothetically?"
That's a big word for someone who just started using language. Rewdan took longer than that and he's been in the material realm before…
She pouted a little, "I'd be sad…"
"I see. In that case, I accept. From, this day forth, I Okotama Thunder, Prime Sage of the Storm shall also be known as Okotama Thunder, friend of Mera."
She absolutely beamed then leapt forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him in a hug.
That… worked out surprisingly well.
Have you thought about how you're going to have them bond?
Felix sighed, I assume she's thought this one through?
She has. She knows.
Do the other Residents in puppets know?
They do. They're mostly curious to see how it goes. No one else is ready.
Noticing Okotama looking at him, Felix met his gaze.
"This Core you provided me is curious. Am I permitted to modify it?"
Felix shrugged, "I guess. What are you going to change?"
"May I perform the modifications then permit you to examine the Core for yourself?"
"Sure."
Okotama nodded then his body vanished into the Core. It lit up brightly for a few moments then hopped into the air and into Felix's hand. He then reached out and sensed it over with his Matter Senses and gawked at the result. The Mana Computer at the very center of the Core was gone and in its place, was a storm of electrical synapses that seemed to exist completely independently of a body, using just the vapor of a dense cloud to move.
The rest of the Core had also changed but not quite as drastically. The crystal largely remained the same but the Demitium was restructured and the Asphellum had been melted away into the Cloud body.
Huh… I wonder if I could do something similar with my computers or brain.
You'd lose all the benefits you have from your Control over Mana though.
Sure, this has to be faster.
I doubt it's worth it for you. Not to say Mana Computers are the be all and end all.
Alright, fair enough. Guess I can wait until I can control and read microscopic electrical arcs to test the theory.
"Are you satisfied with your examination?"
Felix nodded and tossed the Core into the air where Okotama reformed his body, standing this time. Felix also noticed the Asphellum from the core was dissolved into the water robes to give them a bit more structure.
Mera excitedly darted around the Storm Spirit, looking up at him like he was a celebrity.
"Wand or Tome?" Felix said, trying to move things along.
She jumped up and turned to Felix in excitement, "Wand now. You don't have enough Mana for another summoning just yet."
He nodded, "You're right. Do you need anything from me for that, or can I recharge?"
She quickly shook her head, "Just need you at the end." Looking up and over her shoulder at Okotama, she grabbed his hand and dragged him over towards the table she had been using before, "Come see Oko."
He nodded and let himself be dragged, his feet floating off the ground, like he was an intricately shaped balloon being dragged along.
Heading over towards his Pocket Home, Felix grabbed Nova from the ground and carried her in, tossing her at the foot of the warehouse. She yawned then meowed at him curiously, as if asking what he needed.
Felix smirked, "Well, I happen to have a lot of junk to sort through and I thought you might be interested in some of it."
She meowed and he began ejecting all the random loot he had gotten from The Abyss. None of it was worth mentioning, only a few items were even Special and all of them were D grade. There were weapons, armor, jewelry, consumables, potions, poisons, materials, books and scrolls. He had already scanned everything he could and not even the information they contained was useful in the slightest.
He held out high hopes for the later floors but he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
As the pile grew, Nova happily dove into the sharp weapons and dangerous consumables, vacuuming up anything she was even slightly interested in, along with everything around it.
Once it became obvious there were certain items she was avoiding, Felix began collecting those as he simultaneously regrew his arm and forged a Soul. The arm grew back relatively quickly as he began to place the items into his warehouse, as per Grim's instruction and his Mind Resident's organization.
Then, before leaving, he quickly topped up his Mana pool from the Mana Engine at the top of his tower.
With his body and Mana restored, Felix left his Pocket Home to find a very happy Mera skipping around in circles waving her nearly completed wand about.
While it wasn't quite done yet, Felix was already impressed. First, there was the bone white shaft she had engraved with very specific channel patterns to better channel and normalize Mana. Within them, she had inlaid an iridescent material for Mana conductivity. That was only the handle though and at the end of it, there were 7 serpentine and draconic heads.
Each one was made of Attuned Crystal from Felix's tree that Nova had shaped and each one was a distinct color. They all split out and twisted forwards where the heads all met and pointed in the same direction, as if they breathed out the magic she was casting.
They were how the entire wand worked, based on a concept he had considered for his own Mana Core at one point. Mana flowing down the shaft was amplified as much as possible, the noise normalize to the point where the Mana contained all Attunements as equally as possible. The ultimate form of chaos. Then, instead of imbuing an enchantment, the heads would each filter out everything but a single Attunement, effectively producing the perfect Attunement for 7 different spells.
Walking up to her, he snatched the wand out of her hand before she could react and began the process of preparing the crystal heads in a similar fashion as he had the crystal core. For the heads though, they just had to have high Mana conductivity. Eventually, she had also planned them around each head having it's own Concept imbued within it but that part of the wand would wait until he was more proficient with Concepts and they knew more about them.
The final step, was to imbue a small part of his own soul into the bone shaft, along with a small part of Mera's. His Soul was there to improve the Mana Control and Mera's was to bind it to her. The tiny fragment of his own Soul he specifically tuned for that purpose but for Mera's, he simply took a piece with her permission.
As he did, he was astonished by how complex her Soul was. When he initially created her Soul and all the other Souls of his Mind Residents, except the Rakyt he had adopted, they had been simple. He had added Core Soul Experiences of his own choosing and randomized some things and then finally imbued the Spark of Life. He had known the Spark allowed them to shift and change but he hadn't expected her to feel so real.
It made the final part of Mera's whole plan a little more reasonable, at least to Felix.
Once he was finished with all 7 heads and imbuing the Souls, he identified the wand, mostly out of curiosity.
[C - Arcane] Hydra Wand of the True Wizard's Apprentice
[Wand][Spirit][Growth][Soul Bound][Currently Bound]
A wand created from the bones of The True Wizard with a core of specially treated Soul Imbued Attunement Crystal with a tip of seven heads, each specializing in a specific Attunement. This wand only responds to one master and her deity with whom she crafted it. This wand substantially improves the Mana Control, Speed and Force of the Caster. This wand substantially improves any spell cast using at least one of the 7 specific Attunements of the heads. This wand will grow along with the Bound user. This wand cannot be unbound as it was bound when crafted.
Cast Speed +5028%
Mana Discharge Rate +502956%
Spell Power Normalized to within 5% of 5.9M
Mana Attunement Precision +92.4%
Concurrent Casts: 7
Spell Stability: 914M%
Mana Turbulence: 0%
Attunement Filtering Efficiency: 58241%
Mana Power Scaling Factor: N/A
Mana Instability Sensitivity: 0.1%
Added Mana Instability: -99.8%
Energy Level Conversion Rate: 9814%
Mana Control Limit: 1.2B
External Fluctuation Sensitivity: 0%
Mana Isolation Limit: 422B
Maximum Flow Rate: 436 m/s
Cocking a brow and looking up at Mera, "Since when were you my apprentice?"
She was pulled out of her reverie, staring up at Okotama and immediately dove past his midsection, snatching the wand as she did so. She landed with a somersault and rolled into a cross legged sitting position where she stared down at the wand, her eyes filled with greed.
He sighed a little then began setting up the Spirit Summoning Ritual for the Knowledge Spirit. This summoning was much simpler and the offering Felix provided, was simply a massive repository of Spells and other knowledge. They focused primarily on Spells then secondarily on Enchantments, Rituals and Wards and then lastly and definitely least, on the entire repository of knowledge in Felix's head.
Mera provided her own Soul as well, so they could ensure at least some compatibility and finally, the body.
Instead of a tome though, Mera provided a rectangular slate of metal with a number of colorful metals embedded within it. They weren't visible at all but they were close to the surface and the idea was that the Spirit would use the colored metals to create images on the surface, like Grim did with ink. Felix was reminded immediately of a tablet and considering she had been raised in his head, he was pretty sure he knew where she had gotten the idea from.
The summoning for the Knowledge Spirit was much faster than the summoning for Okotama and went fairly quickly. The Spirit readily agreed to a temporary contract with Felix provided he feed it a small tidbit of knowledge. After that, he bound it to the slate and handed it to Mera.
She happily bounded around the room talking to the Spirit that, to Felix, seemed like a baby. The more she talked, the more he realized it didn't understand her in the slightest.
The last step of everything, was to bind Mera to Okotama and her Tome so that she could take them with her into The Abyss and so that they would be hers. The wand wasn't sentient and had no Spirit so Felix had simply crafted it using a piece of her Soul.
Her Spell Book, or rather Spell Tablet, and especially Okotama, had much stronger Souls. If he were to simply enter them into a contract with her, there was a good chance either of them could overpower her. On top of that, she was essentially isolated in his mind so there was a decent chance the contract wouldn't work at all.
To remedy these issues, Felix knew they would have to actually move Mera into a body of her own. The body she was currently using was a temporary one at best and so, Nova was already working on a new one, using a small piece of the Giant corpse in his Pocket Home.
Due to the similarities between him and Mera, they planned on simply giving her a copy of his own body, with all the modifications he had made, just in a different overall shape. She was more than happy with that and the only big change that had to be made was for her to choose a body and face.
As she did that, Felix checked in on Art, Rewdan and Eni who weren't actually working at all. Instead, they were gossiping with Melody and glancing off to the side, at Okotama.
Approaching them, Melody grabbed his robes and pulled him over, "Felix."
"Melody."
"How did you manage to summon that?"
Felix shrugged, "I don't know. Just followed Mera's instructions."
"Okay but, I've never even heard of Prime Sage Spirits." She thumbed Rewdan, "From what Rewdan here tells me, their like… some of the strongest Spirits in the Spirit Realm."
Felix looked over at him and Rewdan nodded, "At least now. This one isn't quite as strong or old as… some of the others but Okotama is still a Prime Sage."
"So?"
Eni rolled forwards, "You do not understand. Prime Sages are candidates for the Spirit Council."
Felix sighed, "I don't know what that is. I have no concept of what any of this means." Felix looked back, "He seems strong. Physically, I'm pretty sure I can handle him Spiritually though."
Rewdan scoffed, "Yeah but you're… unique."
Melody looked between them, still not entirely aware of the true extent of Felix's Soul, despite her talents.
Before she could ask though, Felix sighed, "I just don't know if I can make Mera strong enough to handle a Spirit Contract with him."
Rewdan nodded thoughtfully, "You're going to move her into her own body?"
"Wait… She's not in that body?" Melody looked around in confusion.
Felix nodded to Rewdan's question, ignoring Melody, "I'll strengthen her Soul as best I can but I can't just make her as strong as I am."
Rewdan shrugged a little, "Easy, just enter them into an Arbited contract. Assuming Okotama agrees to that."
Eni nodded along and Felix cocked his head, "Is that what it sounds like? It's a contract between them but my Soul is the one keeping both sides in check?"
They both nodded and Rewdan smiled, "Exactly."
Melody cocked her head, "I've never heard of an Arbited Soul Contract… I guess we just use The System as the Arbiter in those situations… How do you… do that?"
"Basically, Felix just gives both of them a small part of his own Soul and they exchange a larger part with each-other. They don't need to give anything to you because it's about you-" Rewdan fingered Felix's chest, "-keeping them in check."
He nodded, "Okay. That works. Any other tips?"
Rewdan shook his head and Eni shrugged.
"How much longer until Nova is done?" Melody gestured towards Nova.
"A half hour probably. My body is… complicated."
"You're replicating your own body?"
"Not an exact copy, she's choosing how it looks, but more or less."
Melody laughed, "Mera is a construct… she's about to have the single strongest wand I have ever seen along with a Spirit that rivals A grade Elites, at least as her familiar along with a body that has stats easily falling into the B grade."
Felix nodded, "Not quite. She won't have access to my Mana Core or channels and won't be able to use the Reaper's skills right away."
She shook her head, "Remember when we decided not to have Mera enter The Abyss at the same time as us to create a separation?"
"Yeah."
"That was a great idea. You're welcome."
Felix snorted, "Uh huh."
"Speaking of, why in Rhonan's name don't you have a wand like that? Or even make your own robes for that matter?"
Felix nodded, "I will. Eventually. I haven't found a wand that's… perfect yet. Same with the robes, I need the right materials and weave." He nodded once to Rewdan in recognition of his advice on the weave part.
Melody smacked Felix as hard as she could, which wasn't much considering her Strength, "Just choose something for now you dolt."
He recoiled a little, though not out of pain, "Not worth it. It needs to…" actually work for my very unique situation.
"be perfect?" Melody finished his sentence for him incorrectly then continued to smack him to no avail, "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"
"Whatever. Don't you have sponsors to shmooze or something?"
"I don't shmooze you schmuck."
Rewdan giggled and Eni just looked at them in genuine confusion, not understanding the interaction of beings from the material realm.
Felix lightly shook his head, "Are you heading back into The Abyss? How many classes do you have?"
Melody sighed, "Just a couple I took for fun so doesn't really matter if I miss them. I had more but dropped them when I learned about The Abyss. Besides, Adaline is heading to The Realms, should be back any time now and Peace is still in there, experimenting with his… weirdness. Who else am I supposed to bug?"
"Literally anyone."
She scoffed, "You love me. Don't try to deny it."
Felix sighed and looked back to check if Nova was done yet and unfortunately, it didn't look like it. Mera had stopped skipping but she was still talking to her Spell Tablet while Ked and Okotama were talking, a number of Adept crowded around as well.
With nothing else to visibly distract himself with, Felix turned to the work Rewdan, Eni and Art had been working on, Art still working despite the commotion. Melody continued to pester him and the rest of them though. Rewdan didn't seem to mind at all and was more than happy to answer her questions which did nothing towards Felix's goal of losing her.
Eventually, he just got fed up enough that he just turned around, grabbed her, and swung her over his shoulder, simultaneously yanking her Soul into his Mind City. The elatement he felt from her as soon as he did confirmed these had been her intentions all along.
Sighing, he ripped off his legs and stuck them into The Blood Ring, floating around with his Matter Control in their place.
Rewdan mostly worked on the construct factory while Felix ran some tests and began prototyping the Mana Accelerator. Where particles were accelerated by an electric field and controlled with magnets in a particle accelerator, his Mana Accelerator was going to have to use Anima to bend the beam and Spells to accelerate it. The hard part, was actively targeting the Mana within the system when it was so small and moving so fast.
He didn't make much progress in a half hour though at which point Nova spat out the body of a small girl, wrapped in cloth for modesty's sake. Felix had already prepared everything on his end so all that was left, was for him to manually strengthen Mera's Soul then bind it to the body.
He mentally nudged Mera and she looked at him from across the room, "Are you ready?"
Her usual childlike glee and seemingly endless excitement was immediately replaced by a serious look as she looked over at Felix and the body at his feet. She nodded, "I'm ready."
Okotama floated over along with Ked to watch while a number of Adept stood a little further away to observe.
The first step, was for Felix to remove her Soul from the planet she lived within in his Soul. Doing so, he held her in his Soul Space and replicated the very same thing The System had tried to do to him during his first evolution. She wasn't nearly as strong as him and so Mera was completely knocked out. Then, he had to carefully dismantle her Soul part of the way to remove the Mana Computer that was her brain.
Following that, he carefully stitched things back together, adding in a second, third and even fourth layer to her Soul. First he upgraded her Core Soul, increasing its size with Anima he had wiped clean then added in some Spark of Life. He also compressed it down as much as he could. Next, he added in a layer that was tightly integrated with her Core Soul that contained almost entirely pieces of his own Mana Control and Matter Control, as much as he could isolate them to create a Control Layer. Then, he added a protective layer, just in case, using the same lattice techniques he used on his own Soul.
On top of that, was what was traditionally the Second Layer, the one that controlled her body. That one he constructed from pieces of his own Second Layer he could easily regenerate along with pieces from various Souls he had harvested, including Hollow Claw and the Giant.
On top of that, was another protective layer that served to simply dampen attacks, mostly Soul but also Energy and Physical to a certain degree. It would never do what his did, she didn't have the will power for that, but it was something.
While he had been constructing her Soul, Mark had already begun downloading her Memories and restructuring the Mana Computer in her head to match the computer she had used previously through Felix's Mana Control. That didn't take much longer than Felix did and so, once he was done he walked over to her body and placed his hand on the body's stomach.
Reaching in with his Soul Tendrils, Felix carefully placed the Soul within the body then began manually stretching and shaping it. As he did, he bound the body, not just to the core bindings Erolan had kindly demonstrated for him, but all throughout the body. He couldn't bind every cell, but he could bind the Soul in enough locations that it would maintain its shape and over time, her Soul would bind to her cells all by themselves.
The most complicated part was her brain because it had to be bound to the Control layer he had created without being physically located next to it. She could have done that herself but him doing it minimized potential problems because she would have to do it without a brain at all.
The whole process was carefully observed by Ked, Okotama, the Spell Tablet that was hovering near her along with a small gathering of Adepts that Felix was pretty sure had no idea the significance of what was happening. So, as he removed his hand, he made sure to fold the cloth over her again to hide the hand mark he had left behind.
It looked far too similar to Rhonan's and he wanted to avoid that association as much as possible for the time being. Nova's was similar too but her fur and shape shifting made it look like a blob or a scar, not like a hand. Using his Anima and Matter Senses, Felix could tell Mera's, looked almost exactly like Rhonan's.
Before he woke her, he floated her puppet body to his hand using his Matter Control then pulled it into his Soul Space, only squishing it a little bit to do so. There, he removed the robes she had purchased with Melody's wallet and placed them over her body so she had something to wear when she woke up.
Then finally, he reached in with a Soul Tendril and prodded her Soul to wake her.
Warning: Your Race has been Downgraded
Your race, Wanderer, is no longer unique within the multiverse. It has been downgraded from [C - Unique] Wanderer to [C - Ancient] Wanderer to reflect this.
No stat, racial ability or other changes have occurred.
That's… actually great news.
Ding You have upgraded the General skill: [Epic] Mind City (Skilled XIV) => General: [Legendary] Mental Metropolis (Apprentice II)
General: [Mental Metropolis (Legendary) Using a combination of Mental and Soul Projections, you have crafted a metropolis within your mind. The buildings in the metropolis dictate the connections, automations and functions this skill provides. The consciousnesses of the various citizens allow functions to be automated and run in parallel to your mind's main functions. These residents are capable of reproducing so long as they are provided sufficient Anima and Mana Computers and in doing so, the population of your Mental Metropolis is growing exponentially. This skill can be upgraded. The functions and capacity of the settlement are determined by the buildings within it. Some functions can be lost should the building dedicated to it become damaged.]
That's… not the upgrade I was expe-
Ding You have become more proficient with the General skill: [Legendary] Mental Metropolis (Apprentice II => Skilled IXX)
Ding You have upgraded the General skill: [Legendary] Mental Metropolis (Skilled IXX) => General: [Divine] Mental World (Skilled I)
General: [Mental World (Divine) Through a combination of Mental Simulations and Constructed Anima Experiences, you have crafted a world within your mind. This world contains multiple biomes, cities, races and cultures along with diverse flora and fauna. Some building and Residents of the core city, Arkade, automate functions of your body and skills. These residents are capable of reproducing so long as they are provided sufficient Anima and Mana Computers and in doing so, the population of your Mental World is growing exponentially. Through the deep interconnection with your Soul, you have enabled a level of automation over your own will power, enabling skills most would need to dedicate their own focus to. Through the interconnection of multiple cities within your Mental World, the citizens have grown diverse and varied. This skill can be upgraded. Automated skills and abilities are determined by the buildings within the world. Some functions can be lost should the building dedicated to it become damaged.]
What is happ- Divine!? Ugh, Melody. I'll deal with her in a minute.
Felix would have dealt with her immediately but he had more pressing concerns, namely, Mera's eyes had shot open as she leapt into an upright position, the only thing keeping the cloth and robes around her was Felix's Matter Control.
He glared at her and physically prodded her with the robes so she got the hint but she was far too distracted.
He was less worried about her being naked, everyone in the lab had dealt with constructs and corpses before. It was nothing new.
He was very worried about the mark on her stomach however.
She wasn't even aware yet as far as he knew and instead, she walked around, smacked her feet on the ground and wiggled her fingers as she adjusted to her body.
[C - Ancient] Mera (Lvl 1262)
He had Grim pull up her Status Screen for him while he manually held the cloth and robes around her to keep her modest, and hidden.
Name:MeraFREE0Deity:The True WizardSTR462Class:[C - Mythic] Wizard (Lvl 1,000)DEX982Race:[C - Ancient] Wanderer (Lvl 1,785)AGI645Profession:[C - Arcane] Mana Engineer (Lvl 1,000)PER522Health:6,863,850 / 6,863,850VIT686Mana:13,044,070 / 13,044,070INT1,304END602
Stupid Deity thing again. Does that mean if she dies, she ends up in my Mental… World now? Does that mean Zero is still out there?
Having gotten the downgrade notification, Felix had been hoping for a lot and still, he was pleasantly surprised.
She got the same Race level as I have but her Class and Profession are reset. That's about the best we could have hoped for.
He stepped forwards in a flash once he was done examining things and grabbed her arm to stop her, "Get dressed so we can bind you to your familiar and Spell Tablet."
Her eyes widened in excitement and she quickly scrambled to get her robes on while Felix held the cloth Nova had created around her like a circular curtain changing room with his Matter Control.
She was finished in just a moment then rushed out to stand in front of Okotama. Felix stood beside them, "I will be acting as Arbiter over this familiar bond to ensure fairness."
Mera nodded impatiently as soon as he looked at her and Okotama hesitated a moment but nodded in the end.
"In addition to the standard familiar contract, we will be adding a clause-" Mera stared daggers into him but he ignored her, "-in your travels together, you, Okotama, might come across some secrets of Mera's or mine. In addition to being partners with her, you will agree to safe guard these secrets and not to share them without my permission, as determined by the piece of my Soul going into this bond. Do you agree?"
"Your intentions are clear and despite the deceitful nature of your request, you seem to have genuine intentions. I accept."
Mera relaxed.
"You Mera, already have knowledge of many of my-"
She nodded quickly and impatiently, "I accept. I won't say anything." She had already pulled out a, much larger than necessary in her excitement, chunk of her Soul.
Felix sighed and took out pieces of his own and waited for Okotama to do the same. The Prime Sage, noticing the unnecessarily large piece Mera had extracted, offered up a piece at least equal in size to hers. Felix swapped the two chunks and added in the pieces of his own then the two of them filled the holes in their Souls with the chunk from the other.
Once the process was complete, Mera leapt forwards onto Okotama and climbed up onto his back where she remained for the entirety of the very same process with the Knowledge Spirit in the Spell Tablet. For that, she offered a much more reasonably sized piece as per Felix's insistence and the process went just as smoothly.
Then, he finally tossed her her wand he had been holding onto.
She caught it then pointed towards the door, "Onwards Oko, we've got floors to conquer, sponsors to woo and glory to win!"
Her familiar accelerated along out the door and off into the sky, with Mera on his back.
It was only then that Ked approached, and the Adepts burst into whispers.
"As a Professor, I feel it is my duty to confirm-" He pointed at Melody's seemingly lifeless body draped over Felix's shoulders with one of his elongated fingers, "-that she is… alive?"
Felix shook his head in exasperation, "She's alive and in my head willingly. She's just annoying about everything."
Ked nodded slowly, "Seeing as the Planet didn't protect her, I will assume you are being truthful. As for what just happened, Mera came from your head?"
Felix nodded, "She did. At least, her Soul did. I added a Mana Computer to act as her brain."
He nodded, "I see. How exactly did she come to be in your head?"
Ah shit, either I lie and claim I brought someone back from the dead or I say she was born there and I claim I literally created life…
"I crafted her Soul from a combination of other Souls. She's been living up there for a while now."
"I see… I am curious what led to you doing so much for her, offering her one of the best bodies I have ever seen dedicated to a construct along with that wand and that Spirit as her familiar…"
Felix shrugged, "I want to see what she's capable of I guess, and in turn, what I can do. You know she's entered into The Abyss?"
He nodded, "I am very curious to see how far your constructs can get however, I am beginning to wonder if our ideas of what this epoch long project will accomplish, are vastly divergent."
Felix smirked, "Probably. I mean you have the plans."
The Professor nodded, "I do. Still, the capabilities of your constructs seem to vastly outpace what I expect from… myself and Sal working together, let alone any of my students. Even the Spirits you've summoned are nearly incomprehensible and you managed to summon hundreds of Elementals in just hours of even beginning to broach the subject."
Felix shrugged and dismissed his praise, "Lots of luck. Anyways, I want to spend a bit more time here before I head back into The Abyss. Before that though, let me deal with this nuisance." He gestured to Melody then walked over to the table while he entered his now Mental World.