Power of Runes Chapter 406: Crazy Ambition

Ash stepped into the chamber where Eric worked.

Honestly, chamber didn't quite fit the description. Upon entering, Ash found the area stretching out immensely past his anticipation, resembling a spaceship's command center more than a mere enclosure in the Soul Space.

Monitors of every kind dotted the surroundings, their screens alight with streaming data and ever-changing symbols. Holographic projections hovered sporadically, turning lazily in the air to reveal designs, equations, and partial simulations.

On one wall, a board bore countless notes scribbled with theories, calculations stacked in thick layers, linked by arrows and annotations that tied concepts together.

Piles of components, cables, and documents littered the floor, suggesting ages without tidying, the whole environment thick with the pressure of nonstop labor.

Dominating the core was a huge rectangular block, serving as the pulsing center of this elaborate arrangement.

It brimmed with cables, so tightly bundled and woven that it seemed composed purely of wiring instead of any metallic skeleton.

This block rivaled the size of a hefty truck.

Moreover, numerous cables linked it to several expansive square units, which Ash recognized as power suppliers. These drew from mana crystals to energize diverse elements, and even one alone could sustain an entire metropolis effortlessly. Presently, over a dozen operated, murmuring softly while energy surges flowed via the conduits into the main apparatus.

"What on earth is he up to? I merely requested the basic structure, not the complete assembly..."

Ash had the urge to yank at his hair while mentally tallying the resources already expended and those remaining at his disposal. The drop in the Soul Vault inventory now clicked into sharp clarity.

As Ash scanned the area, his eyes landed on a young man appearing about twenty years old, fingers flying across a holographic display. A monocle perched on his eye, flashing intermittently with data feeds, and his attire evoked a quirky inventor from a tale Ash recalled from his past existence, the sort who secluded himself in a workshop for decades.

Shadows ringed his eyes, and fatigue etched his features, hair disheveled and garments rumpled, yet a vivid spark of eagerness lit his gaze, a manic thrill eclipsing his weariness.

Wasting no moment, Ash materialized before him and demanded, "What in the world is all of this...?"

Eric recoiled in shock at Ash's sudden presence. He nearly yelped, but exhaustion muted even that, his voice hoarse and nerves frayed from endless toil.

Recognizing Ash, however, Eric's expression ignited with a burst of solace and fervor. As though his fatigue had vanished for the instant, he lunged ahead and latched onto Ash, clutching his shirtfront firmly.

"Where have you been? Had you stayed asleep another few years, I'd have dragged you out by force!!!!! Never mind that, you were correct, it's feasible, we can build it, it'll succeed."

His statements tumbled out in a flurry, breaths scarce amid the torrent.

"I attempted to forge a self-adapting Arcane Cognition Matrix powered by an independent Mana Core for endless energy, then integrated Spirit Devouring Crystal to bind the soul as its awareness. That gem will function as the unbreakable nucleus. Her spirit will ground the setup, as the synthetic cognition tiers spread outward like neural pathways. Gradually, this creation will develop into an entity blending human and mechanical traits. Should it function, it won't merely compute data; it'll sense, choose, and perhaps cultivate its own independence without succumbing to mana surge or spiritual breakdown..."

His breaths quickened as he continued, palms quivering faintly, stare bordering on delirious.

"Yet that fell short. Simulated reasoning crumbles against emotional factors. Thus, I built a Spiritual Convergence Chamber within the core block. The primary processing grid is meant to shelter a true soul, beyond mere information. The soul serves as the original essence, while the cognition matrix forms the intellect. The mana suppliers will steadily sustain it, fostering expansion rather than decay.

"Eric."

Ash spoke steadily, yet with resolve.

Eric pressed on, deaf to the interruption.

"This transcends mere artificial intelligence. It's a Synthetic Sovereign Consciousness Prototype. An existence arisen from balanced spiritual core merged with self-governing arcane processing. Upon successful alignment, she won't be a coded marionette. She'll reason, advance, and enhance herself past mortal boundaries. Boundless expansion. Boundless developmental scope."

He balled his hands.

"I assessed the risks of failure. Should the harmony falter, the Spirit Devouring Crystal might shatter, triggering a contained spiritual collapse. The repercussion could dismantle the framework entirely, potentially harming the nearby realm. Yet if it prevails, she'll revive. Not as a drifting specter. Not as an empty fabrication. As an elevated form."

"Eric."

This instance, Ash seized his shoulders and gave a gentle shake, sufficient to halt the wild pace and draw his focus.

"Settle down."

"Eh..!!!?? Oh... yeah..!!!"

Eric's eyes fluttered, as if just grasping the rapidity of his speech, the vice-like hold on Ash's attire.

Observing Eric's condition—the shadowed eyes, shaky digits, parched mouth that hadn't known true repose—Ash inwardly sighed and drew him into a solid hug.

"It's fine. Time to rest. We'll discuss once you've recovered properly."

Eric tensed briefly, the notion of rest alien to his mindset.

"But I need to secure the resonance tier and adjust the mana flow before the loop destabilizes and should the nucleus waver just a bit the entire—"

"Rest!!!"

Ash's tone remained measured, but authoritative, brooking no debate.

For an instant, Eric resisted collapse through willpower alone. Then, like a barrier giving way, the accumulated weariness of years overwhelmed him. His hold slackened, form sagged, and he slumped into Ash.

The space, alive with droning suppliers and shimmering projections, grew eerily still.

Ash shifted his grasp with care, eyeing the disordered command center, the enormous block thrumming with leashed force, the myriad cables and strewn sheets narrating tales of endless vigilance.

He breathed out deliberately.

Once he had settled Eric onto the bedding and confirmed his breaths had evened into deep slumber, Ash went back to the command area.

The subtle drone of suppliers permeated the void, constant and weighty, akin to a mechanical creature's pulse.

Ash ran ethereal hands through soul-bound locks in vexation as irritation built inside.

"I shouldn't have mentioned it, blast... he's exhausted himself... sigh..."

His attention shifted to the grand rectangular form in the middle, conduits glowing softly with power.

Truth be told, Ash shared the blame. He ought to have monitored Eric periodically, yet he hadn't. Immersed in rune insights, he'd ignored all else.

"Regardless, what's done is done. Fortunately, no major damage..."

Ash understood Eric's fervor well. The matter concerned his kin, his departed sibling, and hope burned fiercely, heedless of its toll.

Prior to those extended rune studies, Ash had assigned Eric a duty. He urged him to explore computing codes and systems theory via the Library, to grasp construction from basics rather than relying on preset magical formations.

Beyond tomes on cultivation and sorcery, Ash had absorbed technical manuals, code frameworks, AI designs, neural concepts, and architectural tenets here. With flawless recall, he bore insights from his former life. He retained not just narratives, but reasoning, designs, and ML model blueprints.

This realm surpassed Earth vastly in power and substances. Mana gems, spirit metals, and rune paths supplanted chips and oils. Urban centers thrived on raw mana. Armaments and devices drew from gem hearts. All proved mightier and purer.

Yet magic's sway meant tech advanced via arcane means over precise coding. Challenges resolved by amplifying formations and input, not honing architecture.

AI wasn't absent here. It existed, but rudimentary. Systems mostly comprised vast magical grids with rigid directives. They computed, forecasted, streamlined chores. They oversaw metropolises, manned barriers, aided scholars. But they wanted flexibility and genuine progression. They obeyed orders. They didn't surpass them.

Tools, not intellects.

Ash envisioned something else entirely.

He sought from Eric a structure to cradle awareness. Not faux intellect mimicking feelings via replies, but a genuine scaffold to uphold a soul at its center.

The Spirit Devouring Crystal held the secret.

That gem didn't merely contain a spirit. It safeguarded ethereal traces from dissipation. It maintained stability, enclosure, wholeness.

Within lay the essence of the Unicorn King and Queen’s offspring, Eric’s older sibling.

Ash tasked Eric to devise a scaffold, or probe it, employing the Spirit Devouring Crystal and its enclosed soul as the nucleus of a setup. Encircling that, they'd layer synthetic intellect, logical webs, mana routes, and command frames.

The notion was straightforward in theory.

The soul as the vital center.

The synthetic framework as form and mind.

From there, they'd strive to restore her as an AI bearing its own soul. Not a vacant duplicate of recollections. Not a figure reciting presets. But a reflective, advancing presence rooted in her authentic core.

An audacious scheme.

Ash recognized its folly.

Linking a soul to forged intellect sans eroding identity or harming pasts lacked any manual. No blueprint. No mentor. A single misstep might obliterate her eternally.

Success seemed uncertain.

Still, he trusted that rune-based coding and building of core principles could achieve it. Runes weren't simple glyphs for might. They formed reality's tongue. Where code directed actions, runes molded being. A rune-forged system would rest not on reason alone, but on edict.

This notion struck during his realization of the Status window's eventual loss.

If an outer imposition could overlay a system upon him, self-generated ones weren't absurd. It demanded deep grasp of runes and spirits.

Others might deem him mad outright. But Ash knew AI thrived. Didn't Ray’s system demonstrate it? That mechanism reasoned, adjusted, expanded. Beyond mere scripts.

If such operated, a soul-tethered system wasn't unattainable. Merely vastly challenging and perilous.

Thus, absent true power to resurrect Eric’s sister bodily, he could restore her alternatively, one able to reason, converse, and persist in the realm.

His private atonement to the Unicorn King and Queen, unspoken.

With a minor stretch, Ash drew up a seat and settled in. Projections danced before him as he summoned screens, sheets of equations and mana path sketches layering densely.

He lacked a starting point.

Yet he commenced nonetheless.

***

A/N: Status window in the next Chapter. Coming soon. Sorry!!! My mistake!!