Now we had to decide where to go next. As we meandered back to the truck, I decided to collect more information.
"System, run an existence scan of this world. Save it in the Temp folder under my user name. Limit the map making details to general terrain, monsters, monster types, and locations of people, starting with the area around me and moving out in a spiral. We can fill in the rest of the details with the smaller autoscans. Make this a feature that can be accessed with the command, "Create World Map." Users will assign their needed details when using this command."
"Acknowledged. Saving feature and upgrading to System 1.20," System said. "Commencing scan, please stay in the area until the world map has been rendered. Moving from the area will cause this process to stop."
I sent feelings of appreciation and pride to System. "Perfect warning. Just add in an estimated time to completion, and that will become the standard message to users who use the World Map function. How much of your memory does the scan take up?"
"0.00001%. Wait. It should fill 0.0001%!? We weren't scheduled for that memory size for another month!"
I grinned. As I thought, the Heroic Gift of Enhancement applied to System's mental landscape as well since we were linked. The worrying thing was that even with the massive energy drains on my core with leveling up myself, System, and Robin, as well as supplying the energy for the guns and truck, my core had even more energy in it.
Robin looked at me. She had dropped back to ponder if she wanted to chop our demon's head off, but had decided not to waste my mental alteration efforts just yet. "Where to next? I want this piece of garbage out of our truck and working to earn her continued life."
I smiled as we climbed in. "Give me ten minutes to finish the world map, and we'll be on our way. In the meantime, let's relax on the couch together with some beers and shawarma. I still owe you the rest of my theories."
I created two shawarma templates (trays and forks to catch the drippings included) in the VMD, one spicy and one not, and created two of each. I knew Robin was not fond of spicy food in the way I was, so I kept them for myself.
We sat down in the corner with our shawarmas and beers so that Robin could see me as I talked this time. Hypocrisy kneeled on the floor before us, as she didn't need or want to eat.
"So I think what you're saying is that existence is only existence because of definition," Robin said, taking a bite of her shawarma. "This is amazing! But doesn't everyone have different definitions in their heads?"
"Correct! However, the Creator of something Defines, with a capital D, it first. That Will shapes everything, including the ones who think different definitions. Changing a Definition isn't as simple as changing what everyone thinks. You have to either work with the Definition to change it by partial destruction, such as what we do with cooking, or change the Creator's Will. But to do so one needs to develop his own Will."
I took an enormous bite of shawarma, moaning in pleasure at the delicious cocktail of juicy flavors, and washed it down with a beer. Realizing we don't have trash can, I created a quick translocation basket that transported anything in it to the blender below with the command "Take out the trash." I tossed the beer in after overwriting the Death Machine again.
"Anyways, I think the reason why mana is generated is due to that conflict between lesser Wills and the greater Will. That generates potential for change, and enough of it with a directing Will can actually make a change happen."
Robin finished her first shawarma and drank her beer down. "Is that why there are different alignments? They're mental concepts? Why does mana generally do what it's told then? Shouldn't there be subconcepts?"
I created another two spicy shawarmas for myself, then pulled another two beers from the ice chest. "Some worlds probably do work that way, making magic extremely hard to control. Worlds like yours make converting an aligned potentiality to what your Will desires easy. It's all in the World Laws set up by your world's Creator. A Creator can make up whatever magic system he wants, though if it's very vague, things will probably get very weird."
"What about this Ascension to Godhood that you were talking about earlier? Can I become a God?" Robin actually put down her shawarma to look at me.
I sighed. "First of all, it's god with a lower case. For me, God with a capital means the be all and end all of existence. I was thinking about how magic worked. Why would we be able to affect the world around us with no physical interaction? We must be beings of Possibility/Chaos, which is why free choice and freedom is so often emphasized in so many cultures. We are defined into Order/Existence, and each of us, our souls if you will, can affect the world in the manner prescribed by its Laws."
I drained my beer. "We can and do Define ourselves more easily than the world around us. We start off with a Definition that we can change with enough effort, power, and most importantly, Will. Effort and Will merely require time and training, but the power you would require has varying levels of difficulty depending on the type of power and the method of absorption."
"The first method to discuss is my way. It is nearly impossible and incredibly risky. I was able to perceive the realm of Possibility that dances with the Void, and used it to make myself strong of body and mind, as well as able to manipulate mind and space. I even created my own personal Heaven as a starting base! This came with very little change to my personality, and with limitless power. However, the risk is immense. I needed to start to become one with the Void, to cease to exist, in order to reach that state of Chaos. In exchange, I can Define myself and other things as I see fit. A Creation Domain if you will."
"The second way is mana Ascension, where the Ascender becomes an Aspect of mana, the force of possibility. This is probably the second most limiting form of godhood, for while you would retain your Will, you would also be changed to reflect a personification of whatever ideal you become an Aspect of. Your powers would be restricted to the Domain of your Aspect, and your personality would be heavily influenced by the ideal you would personify. The method for this is simple. Replace all your mana with the desired type and increase its potency until presto! You're an Aspect."
Robin frowned at me. "What if the demon does this? Won't she Ascend and possibly escape your hold?"
I gave her a wicked smile, ignoring the twitchy Hypocrisy who wanted to proclaim her loyalty to the end of time. "Hypocrisy here can't become an Aspect anymore. I diluted its mana and permanently melded it with my own qi when I made it mine, so that it'll be able to overpower its fellows. I guess a Dual Aspect is possible, but even if that happens it'll be an extension of me that personifies the end of the world. It'll be under my control, and my definition of the end of the world."
Hypocrisy suddenly looked thoughtful. I felt it start to feel at its mana and grinned. I guess we'd find out how fast the demon could Ascend.
I dumped Robin's emptied tray and trash into the wastebasket. "Let's strap in and get on our way. My world map is done, and it's time to take out the trash."