Chapter 118 – Recovery

[While we're at it...]

Sophia spoke after she completed the last repair. And like reading her mind, Dream was immediately aware of her intentions.

'You want to connect the other signatures to my soul?'

[Yes. Only I have a direct connection to your soul, and I'm honestly not sure why your other skills don't. They communicate through wireless forces, but like computers, wired is always better. What do you think?]

'Well, the only problem I can see is evolution. I'm going to be having that class advancement soon, and if the signatures are attached to my soul, I'm not sure if they would be able to evolve as well as we want.'

[I'm still able to level up despite being attached. This means that, while I may hate it, I'm still able to evolve under the system. So I don't see any problems. Besides, if the system is really as powerful as it's supposed to be, something like this won't stop it.]

'I guess. Then go ahead.'

[Alright. Though this may hurt since I need to open up some connections in your nucleus.]

'The amount of pain that I have experienced recently cannot possibly be topped by what you will cause. Go right ahead.'

[Then I'll start. But it'll require your help, so get ready.]

When she said that, Sophia extended her influence over to another portion in Dream's nucleus. After sifting through the tons of data that different strings carried, she finally picked some and gave Dream directions.

[Cut in these places.]

'Alright.'

Not asking questions, Dream did what she said and took hold of the strings she pointed out. He then cut them.

'Ughh... Ouch'

Grunts came out as he cut each one. Afterwards he had a few hundred new open connections. But as a result of cutting lines in his hucleus, he suddenly had lapses in his memory.

[Hang on to those.]

Sophia quickly moved over and cut connections in the Magic and Material Magic skills. After that, she came back with the strings and began connecting them with pre-designated pairs.

When she was done, Dream suddenly felt waves of information flood his mind.

'...Whoah.'

[Haha, it worked!]

<[Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Magic] has...>

<[Magic] is Max level!>

<[Material Magic] has leveled up!>

<[Material Magic] has...>

Although he was getting notifications, Dream disregarded them and focused on the influx of data.

Dream knew what Sophia wanted to do when she cut certain parts of his nucleus. Since his nucleus made up him, connecting these skills to it made their activation simpler than thinking about it. It was like these skills were another arm or leg. They were no longer a tool, but a part of him. Like Sophia was.

Along with their connections came an even deeper knowledge about how the skills worked. It was as if someone was able to understand every neural synapse in their body and could control each one. It allowed greater and more efficient functionality, far more than before.

Dream spent some time processing each skill, taking in their information and understanding them. Sophia also assisted with his processing and made things move along faster.

'Amazing. It's almost like I've been using these skills wrong.'

[I'm also learning a bit. I never had a direct connection like this, so after seeing it through you, I'm devising more ways to use these skills. Well, more precise ways to use the skills would be more accurate. This wouldn't have been possible if not for you figuring out how to sense your soul.]

'Maybe. But I would never choose to go through that again. That was a horrible experience...'

Dream shuddered as he thought about all that time just suffering alone under unavoidable pain. He was wondering if that was worse than being burned alive. Not that he wanted to test the theory.

'Anyway. We need to get back. How long has it been?'

[Not sure. I have yet to check up on the outside. But it looks like you're at least safe, otherwise we wouldn't be here. And since we're safe, you should check up on your status.]

'Oh, sure. Status.'

|Profile|

Name: Dream

Species: Human Male

Class: [Master Artificer]

Titles: [Origin Seeker]

Level: 199

Stats: Strength- B+      Agility- A-

Stamina- A-       Magic- A

Passive Skills: [Sophia] Lvl. MAX, [Magic] Lvl. MAX

Active Skills: [Summons From Another World], [Material Magic] Lvl. 85

'Oo. Look at that.'

Dream checked out the increased levels and stats. 

Literally everything had increased besides strength. The levels for his skills had gone up by at least 20 with Sophia being maxed out. Even his own level had reached the max for class 2.

'Looks like we're going to have to move up the expected date for my class advancement.'

[Are you able to now?]

'Not sure. Wait...'

Dream paused for a second as he wished to advance.

<You cannot level up before choosing a class>

<Your selection of classes will be based on your Profile and Experience thus far>

<The choice you make cannot be taken back. Excess experience will be accumulated and gained after the class selection has been made.>

<Select a class.>

'...I already know which one I want.'

Drema looked through the short list quickly. 

[The others sound interesting but not as powerful.]

'Is there a need to ponder on this more?'

[No, but there might be a need to wait. We might be able to max out your Material skill before the advancement.]

'It wouldn't change the classes.'

[But it might evolve it into something better. It's better than not.]

'True. Then we can do that. And you know what else we can do? We can try and construct that globe system that we failed at last time. Maybe this time we won't set off a nuclear explosion.'

[Good idea. Then are you ready to return to your body?]

'I think I am.'

[Moving your consciousness now.]

When she said that, Dream felt his mind move. It was finally time to go back.

..........

......

"...I have risen."

[Whoah. That's a lot of data.]

"My lord!"

As Dream woke up, he found himself in an unknown room. This room only held one bookshelf and the table he was currently laying on. He sat up as he received a joyful greeting from Aegis.

"How's it going Aegis? I see you've taken care of me well. Thanks."

Dream checked out his body and saw that it was in perfect condition, despite having been obliterated by that hit.

"Of course, my lord. I am just glad that you have recovered. Her lady as well."

"So am I. And so, how long has it been?"

Dreams stretched out as he regained feeling in his body. It was nice to be back.

[You have been out for 2 months.]

"...Come again?"

[To be exact, 1 month, 3 weeks, and 2 days.]

"That long?! I suffered under that torment for 2 months?! If that class 4 hasn't already been killed, I'm gonna gut him alive!"

[Chances are that he has, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Idona and Ciroc wouldn't be so lax as to not have noticed his entrance.]

"*sigh* Whatever. So what'd I miss?"

[According to the data that Aegis has gathered, the human Empires are beginning to take action against the demons. Apparently there was a kingdom outside the Mercenary Empire that was obliterated and taken over by two class 4's. And when they went to go take it back, the battle ended in a resounding defeat.]

Dream received the specific data on it. When he knew the full situation, he was surprised.

"They're already sending class 4's huh...We're running out of time."

[Luckily everybody is now taking formal action against it. Though they did exactly what you warned against and waited until class 4's showed up, sooner is better than later. We'll have to take it as it goes.]

"I guess so. That also means I need to level up that skill quickly. I don't have the leisure to wait on my advancement. But before that, can you tell me where I am?"

Dream looked around the sealed room. He had noticed that the mana was extremely dense, more so than he had ever felt before. It felt refreshing.

[We're currently in Idona's chambers. She placed you here after Aegis told her that a high-density mana environment was suitable for your recovery. You've been on this table for the past two months. And I must say, from Aegis' interactions with Idona, she's turning out to be a great partner to have. She waited very patiently and anxiously for your recovery.]

"Is that right... Is she here now?"

[No. I guess her days have been taken up with meetings about the demons. She should be at one right now.]

"I see. Then we should focus on recovery and making that globe system. I want to take advantage of this environment while I have it. There's no better place for my magic."

As he had only recently repaired his skills and soul, he was still recovering. Right now he could only be considered to be at 40% of his peak power. And this wasn't taking into account the fact that his stats went up. His peak should be much higher, but he would have to recover fully to know what that peak was.

[Although you need to recover, we can try making the globe system now. Utilizing your skills may actually help with your recovery.]

"That works. Let's get started."

Not wanting to waste time, Dream immediately got to work. 

His mana exploded out from his body and began rapidly forming the central globe around him. It's creation felt smooth and effortless, like breathing. And it was finished in less than a minute. 

Dream smiled feeling the flawless usage of his skills. It was quite literally as easy as breathing, maybe easier. It felt like another part of his body and there was no resistance nor processing to be done to utilize it. Everything just...worked.

Not stopping at the central globe, strings of mana branched off and began creating their own nodes. These nodes were more condensed than before and he wouldn't need a large space for this system. He could also create more nodes overall as a result. So he did, and hundreds of nodes were made and integrated with each other and the central globe. 

Dream closed his eyes and concentrated. Though he had enhanced skill usage, the amount of data being processed was still massive. It was the physical manifestation of his skills after all, and it wasn't easy to recreate them. Dream also felt some strain on his soul, but compared to the suffering he went through for almost two months, this was nothing. 

Soon, Dream had a huge network of several thousand globes floating around him. All of them were interconnected and constantly passed data between them. Their bonds were also strong, making any connection breaks difficult. Sophia didn't want the same mistake to happen again. 

And after only 45 minutes, The network was complete. Sophia didn't need to announce it since he had processed this alongside her. 

Dream looked at the thousands of tiny globes surrounding him. After they had completed, they maintained themselves similar to magic circles did. They also gathered their own mana which was currently in abundance around them. 

"...Nice. This incredibly complex system that we failed at before was now able to be completed in under an hour. Though if we want to craft something on the fly, we wouldn't be able to use this. Still takes too long to make this. Not to mention how the material manipulation portion of the system is only to the degree of my level, which isn't maxed out. There's still room for improvement."

[True but now that we have the system down, we at least have a template to follow. When we had made it before and even just now, we made it from scratch and had to go one step at a time. But since we've built it once, we would be able to construct this again in around 20 minutes.]

"Oh, neat. Now since we've completed this, I have two things we can do with it. One, perform some upgrades on Aegis. This will hopefully allow me to level up the material skill. And after that, we can create some more liquid mana using this environment. It's already done a lot of the work for me. Hell, I'm pretty sure there's some mana fog forming in here. So it wouldn't be very difficult."

[I agree. You've also recovered some after constructing the globe. Looks like activating your skills is doing some good, so we should continue.]

"Aegis."

"Understood, my lord."

With a command, Aegis flowed off of his body and formed into a dense cloud in front of him. 

Nodding, Dream began to move the globe system and encompass Aegis with it. All the tiny spheres created a network that connected to all of his particles. These particles also responded and integrated with the network. 

"Now. Let's make these particles smaller. Although the smaller we go, the more difficult it becomes to continue shrinking the particles."

[Indeed. Steel is an Iron-Carbon alloy. The smaller we make the particles, the more we have to modify its molecular structure to allocate the carbon and iron properly. Otherwise it will lose its strength since the ratios will be distorted.]

"But I'm assuming there's a solution?"

[There is. And with this globe network, it won't be hard to enact. I'll show you.]

After saying that, mana began to move through Aegis and the network around him. A chunk of steel particles began to split in two. After that, they split in two again, but this time in a very controlled way. 

Each particle was around one micrometer in diameter. One micrometer is equivalent to 1000 nanometers. So for them to be cut in half twice meant that each particle was now around 250 nanometers in size. This was obviously an absurdly small size. Though it couldn't compare to computer transistors which had reached atomic sizes of only 2-5 nanometers, this was a size in which Dream could directly manipulate. 

So as he split each particle, they were checked for their carbon to iron ratio and split to maintain it. This would allow them to retain their strength while getting smaller.

Alhough it took a while, almost 3 hours, Aegis' several trillion particles were multiplied by 4, turning it into around 20 trillion particles. Although it sounded like a lot, one had to note that there were around 70-100 trillion atoms in a human cell. And there were 100 trillion cells in the body. So Aegis wasn't some gargantuan object. 

When he finished, Dream checked out his material magic that had leveled from 85 to 91. He then looked towards Aegis within the globe network.

"Huh. I never thought of that possibility."

When Dream looked at Aegis, he saw that he had actually become invisible. Dream, even with his supervision, wasn't able to make him out.

"I guess Aegis' particles have become smaller than the wavelengths of visible light. Something like that would indeed render him invisible to anything optical."

[Violet light has a wavelength of 400 nanometers, so yes, nobody will be able to see Aegis now.]

"That means I can equip him at all times. Something like that attack from the demon could have been mitigated if I had Aegis fully equipped. Now I don't need to worry about needing to equip him. He'll just always be there."