Chapter 97 – Aegis

After about a day, Dream and Sophia had finally finished establishing the first few million cells in the suit.

"*sigh* That was difficult."

Dream couldn't help but pull up a chair and slouch. In front of him was that same view of the constellation, and it had expanded greatly. He had been active for all 20 hours of this process, and the fatigue had built up. He was tired.

[We aren't done yet. We still gotta drive this virus. I'll be booting the infection soon.]

"Alright."

Moments after, Dream could see all the connections turn golden. Sophia began to activate her programs and build the infection. And about 20 minutes later, the first infected cell was connected to the cluster.

[Success! Launching infection...]

Soon after, the cluster began to expand rapidly. The edges of the constellation began to reach out, bringing in the cells next to them. Not only that, but patches of cells were sent out over to different areas of the cloud to begin an infection elsewhere. Their efficiency was unrivaled, and all Dream had to do was be the driving force behind this infection, pushing along its intent with his own.

"Finally, a bit of rest."

Dream felt much more relaxed. The pressure on him was lessened by a majority, and he could finally recover a bit.

And so, for another 30 hours, a little more than a day, Dream watched as the infection grew. It was rather uneventful, though he got increasingly excited as it got closer to completion. And finally, it finished.

[Infection complete.]

The now massive cluster flashed when she spoke. Dream looked up, checking everything out.

"I like it. So when did we plan to use the orb?"

[After we impart the intelligence. It'll be our last step.]

"I see. How long will it take to build this AI?"

[Shouldn't be more than 10 hours actually.]

"Then let's do this."

After giving the ok, Sophia began to condense the cluster of cells. The over 100 billion cells came to condense into almost a liquid. Then, they all began communicating with each other. 

Signals were passed between all the cells, both electrical and mana. And because so much energy was being passed between them, the cluster began heating the area. Though it was nothing Dream's skill couldn't fix, it showed just how insane this suit already was. 

So for another 10 hours Sophia developed this A.I. Though it wasn't an AI in a conventional sense. It was both an intelligence and an enchantment as it would be responsible for the suit and its functions alongside Dream and Sophia. 

Dream watched this AI slowly grew within the cluster. It was like watching a brain develop. At first, this cluster could only take on the program and be guided by Sophia, but soon, they were trading information. Sophia communicated with this developing AI and used the Cognition skill alongside every other skill Dream had to enchant and program it with everything they wanted.

As it came together, Dream could feel a connection being made between him and this other intelligence. Suddenly, he began to understand this intelligence much deeper and knew its every thought process. This intelligence also seemed to understand him, though he knew that this was still only a general AI and it had so sense of wisdom, just like Savant. So although it could seem human, it was merely programmed.

Soon, the AI was finished developing, and a rough, manly voice sounded in front of him.

"My Lord."

<You have earned the Passive Skill: [Acoustic Generation]>

<Congragulations! You have earned the second of 11 Energy control skills as a Class 2! This Achievement will be reflected in a Title.>

<You have earned the Title: [------].>

"A title? What title? I don't see anything."

When dream got the notifications he went into his status to check out this title, but nothing new was there except for his new skill.

[I didn't sense anything.]

"Huh. Maybe there's a glitch in the system."

[I couldn't imagine the consequences of something like that. This actually did happen before back when you got your Thermal Fluctuation skill. You got a title but it also never showed.]

"Oh, well, at least I got the skill. Acoustic generation. But why now?"

[The suit communicated verbally, but it doesn't have speakers so it needed to use mana to vibrate the air and produce sound. Thus giving you the skills.]

"So I can produce and control acoustic energy, or sound. I'm pretty sure I could've gotten this skill a while ago if I tried. Anyway, Mr. suit spoke to me?"

Dream cast his consciousness back into his body. In front of him, the silver cloud of cells was flowing with light and energy. 

"Lord."

"Hello, suit. How are you?"

"I am doing well, my lord. Though I am aware that I am not yet finished."

"You are not. We still need to integrate that orb. Sophia?"

[Alongside Mr. suit over here, I will be integrating it. Go ahead and toss it inside the cloud.]

Dream nodded and tossed over the orb. It flew through the cloud of silver and stopped midway as if floating.

After that, Dream could sense a microscopic hole being drilled into the diamond capsule containing the liquid mana. Sophia was trying to be cautious for fear of ruining the masterpiece they had just completed. 

Soon, the hole was drilled and a tendril went inside the orb, making contact with the mana.

[...I think we'll be able to do this. I'm inserting mana and I'm able to gain control over it. So here's my plan. I want to enchant the mana inside and then integrate it with all of the cells. It'll greatly boost this suit's capabilities and act as yet another decentralized core.]

"Alright. If you're confident, go ahead."

After giving the ok, Sophia began to pull out the mana. Though as she did so, Dream could feel even more pressure on his soul than before.

[Sorry, It's difficult to contain this. Oh! We can use magic circles!]

When she said that, runes and circles began appearing all around Dream. They even appeared within the cloud around the orb. Suddenly, much of the pressure was alleviated.

"Ugh... Thanks. That started to hurt for a second."

[Sure. This'll only take a bit to integrate.]

When she said that, all the liquid mana had enchantments laid into it. The number of enchantments amounted up to dozens, but compared to the amount the suit was enchanted with, this was nothing. It was mainly just to use the mana as a more powerful fuel source.

After that, the mana in the orb was quickly taken out and spread among the cloud. Microdroplets were placed inside each cell beside their core and bonded with it. And since they had Mr. Suit helping, the integration really did go quickly. 

Only 20 minutes later, it was complete.

[Congragulations! Mr. Suit is finally complete. And we even have time to spare.]

"..."

Dream stood up, looking at the cloud of silver that was as tall as him. He opened the hatch to the container they were in and stepped out. The cloud followed.

Without speaking, Dream reached out his hand. The cloud understood his intent and began to slowly envelop his hand. Then, it moved up his arm and covered the surface of his body, encasing his whole body with itself.

Then, it solidified. 

*Shing*

The cloud formed a metal layer over him. It looked like he put on a metal bodysuit, with nothing to give it detail. It was just a metallic covering that reflected lots of light, making him look like a human mirror. Though Dream wasn't that concerned with aesthetics right now. He had on a huge smile under his blank mask.

"Hehe....Hahaha...HAHAHAHA!"

He started laughing like a maniac. Anybody watching this would think that he had gone crazy, that he had officially become a mad scientist.

"This is amazing! It truly is a masterpiece! Something so revolutionary... Something so complex and versatile! And it was created by us! It enhances my strength, improves my speed, and has such a huge supply of mana! Sophia, I dare say that this is the most conceptually advanced piece of technology in this world. Even among the armors that those class 4's use, I highly doubt that they even approach this suit in terms of capabilities. And once I get materials as strong as theirs, I'll be able to build one that outstrips theirs in every way!"

"I appreciate the kind words, my lord."

[Okay, calm down first before you turn into a villain. Because when you start using the suit, you'll get even more intoxicated.]

"Oh, let's do that."

[Name your suit first.]

"Oh...Mr. Suit?"

[I guess you never really did have the best naming sense.]

"Tux!"

[How about something like Aegis. He's going to be your protector after all.]

"Oh, that works too. Then sure. From now on, Mr. Tux will now be known as Aegis."

"I'm honored by the name, my lord."

"Sure. Now let's take you for a test run."

The next moment, Dream flew out of the factory and into the sky. 

"Where to go, where to go."

Dream was overly eager to test this thing out that he suddenly had a wild idea. Just keep going up. He turned his head up towards the blue sky.

[You'll be able to.]

"How high?"

[All the way if you wanted. Even without the suit you are capable of surviving the vacuum of space.]

That's right, Dream was thinking about going to space. And since he knew he could, he didn't hesitate and shot into the sky.

*Boom!*

Waves of mana were ejected as Dream accelerated, though even that much was minuscule for him. He quickly accelerated higher and higher, climbing hundreds of meters every second. Sophia tracked and calculated his top speed.

[Your new top speed is 2,043 miles per hour while moderately consuming mana.]

"Hmm, not quite as fast as the SR-71."

[You'll need to follow my guide if you want to position yourself correctly while in orbit. We'll also need to do some tests since we're still not sure how mana interacts with us while in a vacuum.]

"Alright. Just don't let me float away in space."

[That won't happen. Alright. We're entering the thermosphere. Things are gonna start heating up.]

After she said that, Dream could feel an almost searing heat come from above. This was a result of having little to no atmosphere above him, so he was left totally exposed to the star's radiation. Though with this suit and his skills, it had no effect. 

The surroundings also got darker as he left the blue sky and began entering space. He could see the vast darkness above him as well as the stars that weren't being blocked by the light of day.

"...This is amazing."

Dream couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the glorious sight. Not only were the stars beautiful, but when he looked down, he could see the planet. Everything really was different seeing it in person versus on a map. 

[Reaching the edge of the thermosphere. Adjust your angle so we can get into orbit.]

Dream followed her instructions and followed the path she plotted. After they rose higher, the effects of the planet's gravity decreased by a lot and it let him push his speeds to even higher levels. So as he adjusted, he was able to get up to orbital velocity like a satellite. And once he was securely in orbit, he stopped accelerating and let himself fly.

"Hahaha! This is wild! I still can't believe I'm able to do this..."

Dream had a hard time wrapping his head around how he was actually in space. It's such a surreal thing. It's something that should have never been possible all his life. But here he was, orbiting the planet. 

Dream looked down at the continents and oceans in full view. Though as he floated, he suddenly had a sense of fear wash over him. He felt as if he shouldn't be up here, like doing something like this wasn't okay. But he didn't know why. Why couldn't he do something like this? Was flying beyond the planet only reserved for higher beings?

Over time though, Dream had his fears gradually reduced. He forced himself to stay up there and accept the fact that what he was doing was well within his right to do so. He had that power, and it was his alone. The only reason he couldn't was if someone stronger than him could forcibly stop him. 

Without him knowing, Dream's mind was undergoing changes. A sense of superiority rose in his heart. Though it didn't stem from arrogance, but confidence. He was confident because he could do these things. He accomplished this by his own power. And he was beginning to understand how power worked in this new world.

Floating there, Dream suddenly looked down at a continent. His vision magnified and he was able to sense a large column of mana rising from a tiny city on the land. 

"Is that..."

[The United Empire, where Luna and Iris are currently at. The amount of humanoids there are astounding, and in turn the mana concentration there is huge, which is producing that column of mana. ]

He nodded. Riddick said that the animals had superior numbers compared to humans, which meant more class 4's as well. There was also that legend he told Dream about when they first met.

"Supposedly, there's some kind of mana source coming from the ground that the Empire has built a fortress around. It grants is incomprehensible power. Again, supposedly. I have no idea if that's true, but seeing that mana, I'm almost convinced."

[Would you like to go down there?]

When Sophia asked, a pathway popped up in his vision. All he had to do was follow the path and he would drop down from orbit using his insane speeds. Though he hesitated for a bit, he eventually nodded his head.

"Alright. Though I only want to make contact. I don't think I'll be able to try anything more than that."

After he said that, Dream adjusted his body and shot off along the pathway Sophia plotted.

It didn't take long to begin reentering the atmosphere. Soon, he was burning a hot trail through the sky due to the friction with the air. Sophia was using this as a way to slow him down instead of using mana. Basically, he became a meteorite.

Eventually he got back under the big blue sky. And right under him was the capital city of the United Empire. Dream hovered to about 20,000 feet above the city. 

"I can sense her."

Since he had gotten so close, Dream began to sense his connection with Luna. Though it was rather faint, he was able to somewhat pinpoint where she was by tracing the mana.

"There you are."