Gamble was dragging his feet, Isek had been walking straight through the entire night without a break. The system was able to calculate the proper pace and without the need for a break, they had both walked more than fifty kilometers. In the distance, a small hamlet clashed against the landscape.
There were small creatures being raised as livestock and most of the people wore dirty clothes. No one's faces were clean and everyone looked somewhat miserable.
"I wonder what these people have been through, I don't see battle damage so it's not a war that's come through. Maybe soldiers passed by and took their supplies." Martin thought he had it figured out, sitting in the Mindspace, he found himself watching the projection in passing.
There was a book he had read that had fallen, he was forced to read it in school and had actually enjoyed it but it had been so long since he had read it himself. He was nose deep in the pages when another noise came from the projection.
It was Isek passing through the town like it was nothing and the guards trying to stop him.
"Hey! You don't want to go out there!" The guards stood in front of them with their palms up and tried reasoning with him but Isek didn't pay them any attention. Gamble stuck close by, the villagers had been watching the two of them since their arrival.
Martin wondered why the guards would stop them from leaving at all, they were creating fear in others just by being around. "Isek. Do you have any idea where you're going?"
[Accessing Map, Generating Route]
"Do you only make these announcements to let me know? or.. is there like.. a reason?" It was slightly torturous for Martin to constantly feel like he didn't matter and it had been almost six months since he had lost his body.
[Map Updated]
The Guards watched Isek and his beast walking away and were forced to give up their attempts. If the man and his beast wanted to search for danger, it wouldn't take long for them to find it.
It was a bold plan to just keep moving forward, brilliant or completely stupid. Gamble was sent out ahead to flush out other beasts, hunting was somewhat important but Isek had yet to discuss his plans.
"OMFG! SAY SOMETHING!" Martin was spinning on his chair, bored. He lit a joint leaned back against the headrest.
"There are several large creatures nearby, they have extremely heavy breathing patterns." Isek tried to shut Martin up but Gamble looked back at Isek with confusion. Isek had occasionally been talking to himself and while Gamble couldn't speak, Isek was his leader and it was disorienting when he didn't understand the orders.
[Global Mute]
"Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence, you know. You don't h.." Martin realized that he had started talking only after being muted, he took a deep drag off the joint and looked at the threads above. 'There are so many..'
Isek skillfully found a nice place to fall down and sleep. Even as an AI, he understood that sleep and rest were necessary but forcing his body into a sleep cycle was impossible. The more he tried, the more he remained awake.
Laying on the ground, Isek could feel movement in the distance. It was almost unobservable but when he tried to cut off his senses to find a way to sleep, even the system could make sense of what was on it's way.
It felt like a thousand horses, strong legs pounding the dirt. Creatures moving in a herd but not a herd. They moved in formation.
[Multiple Lifeforms Detected]
[Alert: Uniform Movement Detected]
[Scanning]
Isek stayed on the ground. He was safe from being observed but still somewhat close to the road. If the creatures took notice of movement in his vicinity, he would have no way to escape whatever fate was in front of him.
The Army rode on Armored Beasts, there was a lot of noise and virtually all wildlife in the area had fled or gone into hiding.
Martin had been paying attention and doing his best to draw the emblem that they all had on their saddles. The system wasn't giving him access to records and he wanted to keep track of some things.
The System seemed to have noticed Martin's actions, an alert came up on the Status and Map windows.
[Symbol Identified: Caltiesea Empire Royal Army Crest]
Martin held his breath, afraid that he would cause a distraction to the AI.
Isek was doing much of the same, Gamble had burrowed underground as a precaution. They had little chance of discovery given the circumstances but additionally, the risk was still present.
[Scanning Complete]
[5000 Caltiesea Empire Royal Army Heavy Cavalry]
[100 Slave Carts]
[2000 Slaves]
[Caltiesea Empire Royal Army will be out of detection range in approximately 3 minutes.]
[Multiple Energy Sources approaching]
[Scanning, Aborted.]
[Scanning Detected]
[Unknown Detection Method Detected]
[Unauthorized Access, Internal Firewalls Penetrated]
[Emergency Shutdown. Enabled.]
"What the.." Martin watched the screens go black but the projection continued to play.
Isek grabbed the sides of his head, there was a severe pain from the invasion of his mind. It felt like his brain would explode and then a small creature would slowly crawl out. None of that happened but the pain was frighteningly realistic.
"It's a Psychic Attack! Snap out of it!" He yelled. Martin's jeering had a affect that was like turning the lights back on, the projection of the AI cleared up and headache vanished like a lie. "Look out!"
Isek was already listening intently and when his field of vision came back to reality, his arms were moving but the strike was already about to hit his chest.
"Seven Strokes" A voice came over the projection and flashes that came out in arcs rushed across Isek's vision. A second later, a figure dressed in Blue and White was slashing a sword wildly.
Martin could barely keep up with the movements but the AI was dodging the strikes with elegance, "I thought the system shut down."
Isek didn't want to explain, "Shut up, I'm working off internal memory."
Another set of sword strikes came his way and then there was a bright fireball that began to light above, it grew, expanded and began to burn at the air. Waves of heat rippled down like a broiler had been started and the swordsman in white was readying himself for another attack.
"I am not an enemy, I am merely a traveler, lost upon the horizon." Isek used a quote from an obscure poem. It was better than pretending that he had any sort of weapon skill that could be applied against someone capable of throwing an energy blade.
The energy slashes dissipated and the fire that raged above came to rest before vanishing.
"Explain yourself Saeden. Why did you stop attacking?" A woman in robes flew down from the trees to Saeden.
"Mistress. There is a problem." Saeden bowed respectfully with his sword still pointed toward Isek.
"What problem?" His Mistress was vicious with her tone but her eyes were on Isek.
Saeden chose his words carefully, his Mistress was not know for her kindness, "Mistress Wrey, he does not appear to be part of the Caltiesea Forces, nor does he carry a Weapon.
"Hmmph. I will be the Judge." She circled around Saeden's sword and seemed to move without walking.
"What the hell? She's floating." Martin yelled out in the Mindspace like a fool.
[Scanning]
"Your probing will do no good, I am not so easily penetrated." With a tempting tone, she sent out a pulse. The Mistress stopped moving and turned toward Saeden, take him with us. I don't have time to test him here but he has something.. strange."
[Scanning Complete]
[Name: Mistress Wrey, Age: 22, Weight 103lb, Title – Blimare Heritage Sect Head Mistress, Health: (Healthy, Stable)]
Race: Humanoid
Strength: (9)
Energy: (9)
Dexterity: (15)
Intelligence: (9)
Wisdom (4)
Energy Organ Capacity – (1025/2896)
Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.014%)
Martin spit his drink out when he saw the results, the Mistress's energy organ was so much larger than Isek's.
"Why must I go with you?" Isek folded his arms, it was a common action taken by the Main Characters in novels.
"If you don't, you'll just be trampled by the next wave of Soldiers." Mistress Wrey turned, threw a formation plate out and sat down to recover.
"I suggest you respect the Mistress's advice and come along willingly." Saeden wasn't sure why he wanted to trust Isek but for some reason he felt no threatening vibes from the man.
Isek unfolded his arms, "My name is Isek."
"Saeden." Saeden sat down near the Mistress and looked like he was absorbing energy from the environment.
The AI had knowledge of such practices in his memories, the original host had tried to advance himself but his method was crude, unrefined and ultimately proved fruitless.
[Scanning]
[Scanning Complete]
[Generating Crude Absorption Technique]
The System did its best to understand the energy absorption technique that the others were using but the Original host's understanding of the processes was inadequate, all it could do was recreate and re-adjust.
Isek sat down with the others and closed his eyes. There was no annotation, however, energy particles were visible to the System. Observing their external behavior, the AI had a light understanding of it's actions during cultivation attempts. When the small particles of light, the ones Isek was forced to clear from his vision when he first took over, began to stop in their tracks and flow toward him, he knew it was at least a partial a success.
The others opened their eyes, the energy they had been taking in had run away from them.
"What is he doing?" Mistress Wrey was staring at Isek and she didn't understand.
"It looks like he's taking in all the energy around him at once but that would be impossible." Saeden gave his recount but he was equally at a loss.
Isek fully recovered in a matter of moments, the energy organ in his body could only hold so much.
The particles in the area went back to their usual meandering behavior and Isek opened his eyes. "Most interesting." Flexing his hands, he felt energized, much more than when he had eaten the fruit and yet, there was no burning. His whole body felt relaxed and even to the AI, the experience was enjoyable. "How can I believe what you have said?"
"You can choose to believe it.. or walk away and face what's most likely almost upon us. However, we will be leaving first." Mistress Wrey threw out a tiny boat, it expanded in half a second and she jumped on it's decking.
"I can't jump that far." Isek ran toward the boat and grabbed onto one of the ropes that hung from it's many decorations. He held on and climbed his way to the top.
Saeden didn't have the words, he only shook his head.
Martin wondered what would happen now that the AI had boarded the Spirit Boat. He pulled on a bunch of threads and a large tarp caught things one at a time. Martin had even made the chute able to direct things like Cars away from the main stash of items that would fall, still, he was grateful that he didn't have many.
A few drinks and some picture frames came down in one go and one of them was even a bottle of Vodka. They seemed to be things from his college days, one of the pictures was of his brother when he had graduated a few years before.
"YES!!" Martin put a tag on the vodka thread and rushed down the stairwell.
"Here, take this. Go below and familiarize yourself with it. We have a long flight ahead of us." Mistress Wrey flipped over her hand, pulled out a scroll and tried to bean Isek in the face with it. She didn't seem to have much patience but she did seem to be more generous than usual to her subordinates.
"Mistress? Are we headed back to the Sect?" Saeden kept his head down and hands clasped while he asked.
"Yes, we know where the Caltiesea Royal Army is going and we cannot take them all on by ourselves. We should head back to the Sect and Prepare for their eventual arrival." Mistress Wrey's expression turned complicated and she seemed lightly embarrassed at having lost time and momentum because of a random unaffiliated junior they had chanced upon. "What are you still doing on the Deck, Go below."
The Mistress snapped at Isek and Saeden escorted him below, when they were below he turned to Isek and started to speak. "You should pay more attention to what the Head says. She has little patience."
"Oh?" Martin's eyes widened as the AI descended the stairwell and into the lower cabin.
[Recording Status Disrupted, Unknown Affect.]
[Scanning]
[Scanning Complete]
[Adjusting Circadian Rhythm]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.095%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.096%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.097%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.098%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.099%)]
Shivers ran down Isek's body, there was a ripple that had spread constantly and when it approached the .099% mark, there was a strange occurrence and the energy that he could feel on the inside began to manifest outside. There was an unknown feeling surging and everything suddenly became heavy.
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.1%)]
His blood felt like it was boiling, Energy was coursing inside and he hadn't even sat down to meditate to cultivation. Isek felt like he was breaking through a bottleneck, at least, that's how it appeared according to all the results that the System could quantify or rationalize from it's databases.
Saeden saw the manifestations of fire surround his new Junior, the Mistress had given him a cultivation technique. Things like that were never given to outsiders and so he felt a sense of worry over the new recruit. He was lost in thought for half a second but he pulled him into a room that was filled with formations.
The walls, the floor, even the pillows themselves were covered in runes and magical lines. Formations were built into everything.
"Wow, this room is really nice." Martin gawked at the elegance of the lines. Despite their being so many, they didn't clash against the aesthetics.
Isek might have looked weak because of his staggering but when Saeden went to help him, he could feel the energies rushing around him were beneficial.
"Are you breaking through?" Saeden set Isek down on the formation circle and sat down beside him to cultivate. There was nothing else he could do.
Isek nodded and closed his eyes.
'You don't say much... do you? Why are you so guarded?' Saeden smiled, kept his thoughts to himself and closed his eyes. 'Wait! Didn't the Mistress give him a cultivation technique?'
Saeden struggled while his eyes twitched the more he thought about it. 'This..' He froze.
The energy particles in the room stopped moving like they had done before and all of them started to flood toward Isek. There were none spared, every source of energy within five meters was being drawn directly into him.
There should have been conflict in his body, he should have problems but even though it didn't last for long, he should have been in danger. In a moment of panic, Saeden was forced to move a bit further away.
[Energy Organ Optimized]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.101%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.102%)]
[Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.103%)]
Just when it reached 103% it stopped and stalled.
"Oh thank goodness, I thought for sure .." Martin was about to go on a tirade but there was a problem.
The system gave another announcement.
[Scanning]
[Scanning Complete]
[Status: Updated] Name: Isek, Age:28 (0.5) Weight 133lb, Title – Administrator, Junior Health: (Healthy, Stable)
Race: Humanoid
Association(s): Blimare Heritage Sect
Strength: (9)
Energy: (7)
Dexterity: (23)
Intelligence: (Unknown)
Data Storage: (Unknown)
Wisdom* (+1)
Energy Organ Capacity – (225)
Energy Metafunction Activation Rate: (.103%)
Active Energy Absorption Range: 5 Meters
Luck (0)
The whole absorption process had taken less than two minutes and when the absorbing was completed, Martin's voice called out. "What about Gamble?"
[Pet: Gamble, Status: Unknown]
The System gave a cheap answer and Martin frowned. Isek hadn't chosen to respond, it was likely because it would appear that he was talking to himself or draw suspicions.
Either way, Martin felt like he was a distraction again.
Isek pulled out the scroll that Mistress Wrey had given him and panned his eyes over it briefly.
Saeden calmed down but in the next instant, he almost stood up in anger.
Isek had put the scroll away like it didn't matter and closed his eyes again like he was going to return to his original cultivation.
However, Saeden quickly lost things to say.
The method was no only precisely followed, it seemed more powerful than it should have been. A wave of fire encircled Isek, his eyes opened and he stood up, the flames persisted on the floor but they didn't burn anything. It looked more like a marker for his aura.
"Such an interesting reaction to concentration." Flexing his hands again, Isek caused the boat to rock with the pressure that was coming off his body.
"Hey! Settle down." Saeden put his hands up in a stop motion gesture.
"Ah. We are in the air, I cannot fly." Isek understood but his answer left Saeden with a puzzled expression.
'He's worried about falling? That's what he's concerned with?' Saeden didn't say anything but he did his best to keep a calm outlook. This newbie was far too strong for his level of experience, it was like he was a born natural and discouraging a genius was not productive for the Sect. In fact, if Isek turned out to a be a Genius, then the Sect would have a much better chance in the times ahead.
[Unknown Lifeform Detected]
[Unknown Lifeform Detected]
[Unknown Lifeform Detected]
[Unknown Lifeform Detected]
...