Chapter 166

Chapter 166

During the time she spent in her mental library while asleep, Alice got to thinking.

The problems of Illvaria were indeed numerous, and Alice didnt have a way to interact with many of those problems. After all, she was a researcher, not a [General] or an industrial expert. The bottleneck on production of enchantments, for example, wasnt one that Alice knew how to fix yet.

At least, that was what she thought at first. But while Alice was asleep, she realized that wasnt entirely true.

The biggest bottleneck on enchantment production was the number of [Enchanters]. Alice used {Broken Seed} to allow [Enchanters] to get the magic seeds they needed to make system-related enchantments. Alice could only use {Broken Seed} once every four days.

But what if there was a way to use {Broken Seed} far more frequently? Naturally, Alice was thinking about a particular type of enchantment that could help.The source of this content no/v(el)bi((n))

System enchantments.

Alice had largely assumed that System enchantments were out of her reach, except for with the aid of System Perks. After all, that was common sense for the people of this dimension. To make a System enchantment, one needed to be above level 50 in a production class and then take an appropriate Perk. But Alice realized that she might have a way to sidestep this common sense a bit. After all, the System was just a very complicated enchantment that helped control mana. If that was the case perhaps Alice could make System enchantments without the relevant Perks? Alice had already fused {Sciences Mana} and lost access to it, but that didnt mean that it was hopeless to make System enchantments. Alice had even gone through the process of making System enchantments before, albeit aided by a Perk at the time.

And System enchantments were uniquely suited to fixing the limited uses of {Broken Seed} each week. Stat boosts were the most common type of System enchantment, but System enchantments could also grant people access to Perks they didnt normally have.

What if Alice could create a System enchantment that let the wearer use {Broken Seed}?

In that case the number of [Enchanters] with relevant magic seeds would skyrocket. And the biggest bottleneck in enchantment production would be fixed. After the visit to Cyra, they had more enchanting materials than they could currently make use of. If Alice could raise the number of [Enchanters] to meet that need, they might actually make class-fixing enchantments fast enough to cope with the onset of class-mana poisoning. A few people might fall into temporary madness as a result of their unfiltered mana but the damage could be mitigated by a huge amount. And it wasnt like the people who fell into mana-madness were dead. They lost their mind and their free will, which made Alice incredibly uncomfortable but they could still be restored to their original personality and after the fact. Previously, the amount of class-fixing enchantments was so hopelessly low that it still barely functioned as a solution. But if Alice got a {Broken Seed} system enchantment working, the entire problem would become basically manageable. And from there, Alice would only need to replace the Systems function of creating class seeds, and all of the urgent fires from the collapse of the System would finally be put out. Or, at least, all of the fires Alice was capable of fixing.

With that thought in mind, Alice got to work while still in the midst of her dream library.

She was much less familiar with System enchantments than she was with normal enchantments. So Alice spent several minutes first reviewing the few times she had created a System enchantment. She hadnt made extensive use of {Sciences Man} before she had combined it with {Seeds of Ambition} to create {Systems Ambition}. But she had still used it a few times, and she had even gotten some lessons from a [Tailor] to figure out how to use her new Perk. She remembered that System enchantments relied a lot on doing something related to a certain idea while using the Perk. So she started thinking about what it meant to destroy a magic seed without harming the wearer.

As she worked, Alice felt a bit regretful at the fact that her only method of naturally making a System enchantment was gone. After all, it might have made things a little bit easier if Alice could try making a few more enchantments. However, at the end of the day, it wasnt a big deal.

{Sciences Mana} wouldnt have been able to support what Alice was trying to do. The Perk just didnt have enough output to let Alice create a System Enchantment that let people access a level 35 Perk. If Alice had reached level 80 in [Scientist], and then combined {Sciences Mana} with a [Careful Enchanter] Perk, it might have been able to do what Alice needed. But Alice a long way away from reaching level 80 in [Scientist], and her Perk had already been combined with another one.

Still, even though Alice was glad that she could understand more about how the System tendrils worked now, she was struggling to figure out how she would create an artificial magic seed and thus expand the use of {Broken Seed}. There was just too much going on that Alice didnt understand here.

Alice sighed, before turning to the artificial magic seeds. In any case, Alice was very interested in artificial magic seeds for other reasons. The System clearly had some way of creating a magic seed so that people could have Classes. Perhaps Alice could finally get the class-creation of the System working again if she stared at the artifact for long enough?

After ten more minutes of trying and failing to learn anything new, Alice finally gave up. She turned to her side.

Ethan, who created this artifact? asked Alice.

If she couldnt recreate an artifact on her own, the easiest way to fix things was just to ask the creator of the artifact. In any case, Alice was perfectly happy to work with someone else while fixing the collapse of the System. Shed been shown, time and time again, that she couldnt fix everything on her own.

It was created by Demor, an [Enchanter] from one of the other Shil Confederacy member-nations. Hes not from Illvaria none of the Immortals of Illvaria are capable of creating an artifact, said Ethan. While there are five larger nations in the Shil Confederacy that kind of run the confederacy, that doesnt mean that none of the smaller nations have any noteworthy strength or Immortals. And most of those nations are eager to forge alliances with the larger member-nations and keep themselves safe. After all, the Shil Confederacy might work together against outside threats, but most nations in the confederacy are also perfectly happy to invade their neighbors if given the opportunity. This creates a rather byzantine web of smaller alliances that the member states take part it but anyway. I digress. The point is, at the time, Illvaria and a smaller member nation by the name of Morendia were allied, and the Illvarian [King] of the time was rather invested in the creation of long-term magic artifacts. Since the Illvarian south was perfectly intact at the time, and also one of the wealthier parts of the country, the Illvarian [King] felt it was a good idea to cement its food supply, since it needed a lot of imports from the north to survive on its own. So he hired some outside help. Ethan shrugged. Well, I think Doll worked on some parts of it too, but most of the work wasnt done by her.

Alice sighed. Of course it wasnt that easy.

Is it possible to contact Demor and ask him a bit about the theory behind artifacts? asked Alice. Im trying to see if theres a way to give other people access to the {Broken Seed} Perk I have access to. Making an artifact might be a solution to the problem.

Ethan paused, before he nodded. Its probably possible. The alliance between Illvaria and Morendia isnt as strong as it used to be, but the general reasons for the alliance are still valid. Morendia has Immortals who are capable and willing to help Illvaria in some things that Illvarias Immortals just dont specialize in. Their military is also pretty strong for a small nation. Illvaria and Morendia also somewhat distant from each other, so they dont have any territory that both nations dispute the ownership of. But theyre still close enough to help fight other Shil Confederacy nations.

Alice nodded. So we can invite him over here?

Ethan frowned.

Well that might be a bit more difficult. You see, the collapse of the System is almost certainly being felt by every nation on the planet right now. Nations that are weaker are more likely to turtle up and hide in their territory which makes it more likely that [Enchanters] and other non-combat oriented Immortals just wont leave their safe spots. Youre a bit of an exception, but Ethan shrugged.

Alice grimaced.

Ill send a few letters by the fastest [Messengers] we have available, but how do you feel about travelling to another country? asked Ethan.