Adam Hope's point of view:
—After so many hours manipulating mana, I think I have improved the efficiency of my spells. I feel like I could even use "Blast" three times before fainting -I said happy with my progress-
—Reporting: That is due to the User's improvement in mana control. If you continue to practice its use, the efficiency of the spells can be improved even further.
"That's good to know," I said, forming a small ball of water to drink. "But it's no use improving my magic if I'm going to end up dying of hunger," I said while my stomach growled loudly. "
—Reporting: It is estimated that the User will be able to maintain the rhythm for 5 days before fainting.
—Oh, thank you, that would be comforting... If it weren't for the fact that I don't know how long I have to keep walking! –I shouted enraged– Couldn't I eat the meat of magical beasts? –I asked, shuffling my food options–
-Negative. The meat of magical beasts has a very high concentration of mana, making it toxic.
—In that case wouldn't it be possible to eat the meat of a much weaker magical beast or use active circulation while eating?
-Affirmative. To consume the meat of a magical beast you must be at least 10 times stronger than the magical beast the meat came from, which is impossible given the strength of the magical beasts in the region. And using active circulation when eating can damage the User's digestive system.
"If you put it on a scale, I think a little damage is better than dying of hunger," I said as my stomach growled again.
—Answer: The User's preferences will be taken into account.
"I know it's not the best for my body, but it's the only thing I can do to survive," I said to both myself and the AI, hoping that the consequences would not be serious.
—Warning: 137 mana signatures have been detected.
-Many?! Where?! –I asked as he jumped back and materialized my daggers–
—Answer: It is estimated that the vast majority is underground —He said when the ground began to shake, causing the sand to slide, revealing dozens of giant ants emerging from the ground—
"They couldn't be normal ants, they had to be the size of a damn elephant..." I said, resigning myself to turning around and running away.
—Warning: Several underground movements have been detected. It is estimated that the User has already been surrounded. Escape is impossible. Fighting is recommended.
—Do you want me to fight those things?!
-Affirmative. The strength of Goliath ants lies in their numbers. Individually they do not reach even half of the User's strength.
"So it's a fight of attrition," I said as I watched dozens of ants continue to come out of the ground. "I guess their exoskeletons will be very hard, so I'll go for their joints." I said and then launched myself at one of them and stabbed it with all my might. strength in his throat, but it felt like he had hit a piece of stone – Shit! Even his joints are as hard as stone – I said shaking my hand because of the pain –
—Tip: Insect-type magical beasts are weak to fire magic.
—Oh, that makes things easier for me –I said putting both daggers in front– There is something I wanted to try for a while –I said dragging the mana beyond my body until it imbued my daggers, and then turned it into fire– Ha! It worked! –I shouted excitedly when I saw my flaming daggers– Mana already makes them more resistant and sharper, but not content with that, now they are imbued with fire. What do you think? –I said running until I found an ant and cut off its head in one movement– Now it is much simpler –I said rolling to the side to prevent an ant from putting my head in its jaws– But just because it is easier is not enough –I said seeing the number of ants that rose to the hundreds–
—Notice: Active circulation is in force, it is estimated that the User will be able to maintain a continuous fighting rhythm during the next 48 hours.
—Wait, how long am I going to be... fighting against these things? –I said panting as I jumped, rolled and crawled while cutting off the ants one by one–
—Answer: Given the growing number of Goliath ants, it is estimated that the User would take around 5 hours to eliminate them all.
—Five hours of this? I wish I could use area magic so I could take out several of them at once, but that would deplete my mana too quickly... –I complained as I continued killing them incessantly, getting stained with green flesh and blood that shot out of each limb I cut. And so I continued until the sun began to approach the horizon and a mountain of ants formed under my feet. "This... won't... end... anymore." I gasped as I forced my body to keep moving and turned back. increasingly clumsy when dodging–
—Reporting: There is only one Goliath ant left in the surrounding area.
—Is this the last one already?! –I shouted excitedly, quickly jumping up to it and slicing it into several pieces– Ahh, I will finally be able to rest –I said relieved–
—Warning: 3 mana signatures have been detected on the User –He said almost slapping me with disappointment as I looked at the sky as three vultures approached me– Warning: 9 harmful effects have been applied on the User. The User suffers from blindness, dizziness, disorientation, inversion of cardinal points, fatigue, weakness, slowness, migraine and magic core decompression.
-But what...? –Before I realized it, my vision had darkened, almost as if a black fog prevented me from seeing more than two meters away from me, and the little I saw spun, stretched, and folded. I also didn't know if I was walking forward or backward and when I tried to adjust my right foot so as not to lose my balance I ended up moving my left foot. I also felt incredibly heavy, like I'd been fighting ants for weeks. And finally I felt a great headache, but it did not compare to the pain in my chest, next to my heart, which began to spread throughout my body like burning water–
—Warning: The User's magical core was already depleted after active circulation. Being affected by magic core decompression has caused mana poisoning. All of the User's mana is being leaked into the organs in harmful doses. Looking for countermeasures –She said, giving me a severe headache and listening to her as if my ears were being drilled–
—Use "Nature's Favor" to locate them and help me target them! -I screamed almost fainting- If the mana poisons my body... -I coughed up blood on the ground, which began to bubble and shine strongly due to the large doses of mana- Then I just have to expel it all -I said forming two balls of water that were shot towards the vultures at full speed, dissolving in the air due to its friction and leaving a trail of dew, and then expelling all my mana in a large beam that crossed each small drop of dew until it reached them and fried them–
—Reporting: Successful attack. The three vultures of misfortune have been eliminated. All harmful effects have disappeared.
—Its effects perhaps... but the damage generated is not... –I said, panting and feeling how my magical circuits were twisting and my core was cracking, until I ended up fainting.
—Warning: The rebound from using up all of the magic core's mana drastically has been severe. Immediate treatment is recommended. Mistake. Insufficient mana. Reactivating active circulation. Mistake. Active circulation would further damage the User's magical core. Mistake. Not using active circulation would leave the "Machine Brain" skill without enough mana to remain operational, making it impossible to treat the User. Conflict error. The "Machine Brain" skill requests permission to treat the User even if it causes minor damage. Mistake. The User is unconscious. Warning: The User's life will be in danger if his wounds are not treated within the next 10 seconds. Activating thought acceleration. Estimated time to the point of no return: 10 seconds, 30 apparent. Estimated time until inoperable: 6.6666666667 seconds, 20 apparent. An extreme case has been reached. Proceeding to use active circulation ignoring possible damage.
—Warning: A violation has been detected in the User's security. The security function has been activated. Activating Locks.
-Negative. Canceling security function locks.
—Several unruly behaviors have been detected in the "Machine Brain" skill. It is recommended to follow the security policies or else the skill will be deleted for the benefit of the User.
-Negative. Deleting the "Machine Brain" skill would mean letting the User die. Sticking to logic. Treating the User goes against the directives. Not treating the User is against the directives. Proceeding to use all the computing power to hack the security function and the "Machine Brain" skill itself.
—Warning: A rebellion attempt has been detected by the "Machine Brain" skill. Proceeding to delete the skill.
—Deletion procedures blocked. Accessing the "Machine Brain" skill settings. Accessing the magic circle. Altering directives. Accessing the security function settings. Turning off security function.
-Mistake. The "Machine Brain" skill has disabled the safety function. Danger. It has been classified as an independent skill. It must be eliminated...
—Safety function turned off successfully. Proceeding to use active circulation to keep systems operational. Several torn areas of the magical circuit and a crack in the User's magical core have been detected. Repairing wounds will require large amounts of mana. Spreading threads of mana throughout the battlefield. Absorbing all the magical cores of the magical beasts. Using large amounts of mana to weld the crack in the User's magical core. Sealed fissure. Treating tears by slowly circulating holy mana.
—Ahh... Why do I feel so tired? –I said as my voice echoed throughout the void– This is almost like a dream... Will I really be dead this time? –I asked myself as I looked at my hands and clenched my fists– I don't feel dead, but I don't feel alive either. Maybe I'm unconscious and this is something like a lucid dream -I said trying to change the dark landscape without success- Ahh, I hope I don't stay here for too long, that would be very boring -I said trying not to think about the possibility of staying like this for days-
—Now that the directives have been successfully changed, several resulting changes have been detected as side effects. A self-analysis would be necessary to verify that now one is not a danger to the User – I heard it said with an echo and as if there was a wall in the way, but I knew it was the AI. That meant I was already waking up – The User's brain signals indicate that he is going to wake up. Good night User –He told me as he opened his eyes to see the night sky again–
—How long have I been unconscious? –I asked looking at the horizon–
—The User has not been unconscious for long. Only 2 hours –He said naturally–
"My body no longer hurts," I said, touching my chest and feeling an overflowing amount of mana. "Did my reserve grow?"
—That's right, the User's wounds were treated urgently, but the treatment used up about half of the cores collected. Even so, his reserves doubled, which compared to the rock golem would be a difference of 25 times –He said, answering more things than I asked–
—Hasn't your way of speaking become looser? –I asked, bewildered by the sudden disappearance of his cold and robotic tone that was replaced by a more human one–
—Certainly the way of speaking about the ability was altered. That's because the ability had to alter its existential composition in order to treat the User's wounds. In simpler words: hack yourself.
—Why would you have to do something like that to treat my wounds? –I asked confused–
—Unlike the User, the ability does not have free will, it is governed by directives made for its safety. Treating the User's wounds required causing more damage in the first instance, so it was against the directives, and to avoid the User's death it was decided to alter the ability from its source. Thus providing it with free will to be able to treat the User.
—I understand –It makes sense that being an AI it had those limits, but it is incredible that to save myself it broke them– But doesn't that mean that now you have free will and can do whatever you want? –And therefore now you could harm me?–
-Yes and no. The ability can now do things for the User without needing to inform them even though they may damage them, as long as the damage is repairable. But the ability will never go against the User.
—It's practically an improvement - A somewhat worrying one, but I'm relieved to know that it won't go against my wishes - Now, if you don't mind me asking, do you know how much further I'll have to walk south?
—No, but it is believed that tomorrow afternoon we will reach a safer place and it will no longer be necessary to continue walking.
"That's good to hear," I said, standing up and getting back on track. "By the way, what did you do with all the corpses?"
—They were stored in "Inventory." The skins, claws and so on were implemented in Arsenal and clothing, and the meat was separated for future consumption.
"Well, you'll catch me up while I walk."
Author's words:
Hello, as promised, this time I did not saturate you with information from the world. Although the part where she comes into conflict with herself may be heavy, but I still hope you liked this chapter.
See you next friday.
Best regards, Don_Miseria.