(AN: Unedited Chapter.)
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"So, what do you guys think about my proposal?" asked Edward.
"Do we have a choice?" said Tobias with a wry smile.
"You do," he replied calmly. "You can resist; choose death over submission."
"How can that be a choice?"
"But it is. Well, I guess if you were that kind of person, you would have died long ago by refusing to submit to the God Space."
No one commented on this issue.
"Alright, let's get back to work," he said. "I will use a few spells to help me analyze your power system. I might ask a few questions, and you can answer as long as the seal allows it.
"Let's begin with the elf. What's your name?"
"Set."
Edward waved his hand to cast a spell on the latter. "You didn't answer my question. How did you break my shield?"
"I…I have a weapon created by the Titans."
"Really?" His eyes lit up. "Go get it and show it to me."
"I already included it in my tower. You would need to go inside," replied Set with pain in his voice; he already knew he could not keep that weapon.
"Is that so? Well, wait until I'm finished with the others."
Then, he set his eyes on Sasha.
"You should also be a caster. But why do you give me a strange feeling?"
Sasha did not know what to say, so Edward continued to observe her.
"Your Mana Quantity is very small. It's not stored in a core but fused with an energy vein similar to my world's Mana Vein."
For arcanists, Mana or Magic Vein seemed to be important after Tier 4 since they are no longer limited by their veins to cast spells. Furthermore, the other primary function of veins was to use mana to passively strengthen the bodies of Arcanists. However, with the invention of Aura, this method has become tasteless.
"Your Mana Vein is fused with your soul, which is different from ours," commented Edward. "It seems the more complex it is, the more mana you can contain in your body. Finally, it does not have the effect of increasing the physical body's stats, but it seems excellent in helping with mana control.
"What system are you using?"
"It's the Magic Circuit from the Fate Universe," replied Sasha with caution; she feared this Arcanist would try to dissect her. And her fear was reasonable since Edward would definitely do it if he did not have a better way to analyze her power.
"Fate? This would explain the vague things I saw sealed inside your Soul Dimension." He felt the Empire might benefit after he studied the Magic Circuit. He wanted to create an artificial one for the citizens to increase their Mana Control. And with the Gate of Truth, all citizens of the Empire will have a higher average talent for energy manipulation.
Are you a summoner or Master?"
"Yes."
"Let me see your heroic spirit."
Two people suddenly appeared before Sasha.
"Only two?" asked Edward.
"I have others, but I don't keep them in my soul."
"I see," he nodded as he looked at the two people present: King Arthur and Madara Uchiha.
"Master, I am afraid we have met a powerful opponent," said Saber as she stood before Sasha, guarding her and looking at Edward as if she had seen her greatest enemy.
"King Arthur, I didn't expect our first meeting would be like this," said Edward with a strange look.
"What does that mean?"
"We are technically fellow Apprentice under the same teacher."
Saber frowned for a moment before she seemed to have figured out something, "Merlin and I exist in your universe?"
"Correct."
"Am I a man or woman?"
Edward paused briefly, "I did not expect this would be your first question."
"Answer the question."
Edward could immediately tell this question had become the psychological problem of this version of Arthur.
"You should be a man."
"Should?"
"You die hundreds of years ago in my world. So, I can only use historical records to know your gender."
"Meaning, there is a chance I was a woman, but history changed the record?" she asked back, making Edward speechless.
"Yes. There are many historians who believe you were a woman." Edward did not technically lie since many people in the Empire once argued about King Arthur's gender and even existence during the early stages. However, all doubts were removed once he allowed these historians to use [Time Record] to experience and record the true history of the world.
"That's good."
"Well, please do not resist as I gather data on the composition of your body and existence. I already came to an agreement with your master."
He used a spell to gather data on Saber and Madara's Heroic Spirit existence; he always wanted to create his version of the Throne of Heroes to summon famous legends, myths, and heroes from history to fight for the Empire.
However, unlike the Fate Universe, many of these heroes did not exist, and the ones who did were powerful wizards. However, their power level is based on the standard of the old time. In the current era of the Empire, these people's powers were, at best, Tier 5.
So, he wanted to create these Heroic Spirits by gathering the power of [Myth], which is essentially the same as the Power of Faith. Based on what they were described in stories, myths, and legends, they use the power of fantasy and turn it into reality.
With this method, he could create many fictional characters that have the same powers in their stories or legends. For example, he could recreate Yahweh from the bible as a Heroic Spirit or the Cthulhu from Lovecraft's Mythology.
'She will be the first step in this grand plan. However, I might have to go to the Fate Universe before completing it,' thought Edward before recoding the data; his gain was tremendous after analyzing Madara's body. So, he asked Sasha to turn another person into a Heroic Spirit in front of him.
He chose a powerful clone from his collection as the test subject.
"Excellent. You're next." He looked at Michelle.
"What a weird energy you have. It is full of negative emotions; I've never seen something like that."
"It's curse energy."
"From Jujutsu Kaisen? Interesting," uttered Edward with brilliant eyes. "Do you have a Domain?"
"I have an incomplete one."
"Show it to me."
Michelle deployed her domain, and Edward looked at the surroundings to analyze it.
"I have always wanted to create ways for Arcanists to have a Magical Domain that can compete with the Divine Kingdom of Gods," he said. "So far, my attempts have not been satisfactory. My plan was to study the Jujutsu Sorcerer's Domain Expansion and the Fate World Reality Marble.
"Now, I can take the first step."
He gazed at Michelle. "In the next few days, I will support and train you until you have a complete Domain. Tell me what you need to achieve it, and I will try my best to grant it to you."
"Thank you," said Michelle, trying to contain her excitement. Since the arcanist saw her value, she might have a chance to escape the Samsara Hall's control.
Meanwhile, Sasha secretly cursed how unfortunate she was that one of her Heroic Spirits did not have a Reality Marble.
"It's your turn. What's your name and occupation?"
"Kingsley. I am a Technomancer."
"Very interesting. Most of the technology involved in your body is not new to me. However, it's very unique how they are perfectly integrated into one person."
Edward could tell Kingsley's body was a walking Science and Technology Civilization. As long as he has enough energy or matter, he can create anything.
"What is the most powerful weapon you can create?"
"Tier 5."
"This should not be," said Edward with a frown.
"The Lord God only granted me technology designs for weapons of Tier 5 destructing capabilities."
"But you should be able to calculate and deduce higher weapons."
"I should," said Kingsley with a forced smile. "However, there is a powerful virus in my system that prevents me from doing so. And the only way to acquire and use higher technology…." Kingsley stopped as his face began to contort out of pain.
"No need to say anymore." Edward could guess he wanted to say he needed more points. However, he suddenly became interested; he wanted to know whether this was the result of the Lord God's seal or another form of protection specially created for Kingsley.