Chapter 430: 49th Floor (5) – Conversation Module

Chapter 430: 49th Floor (5) – Conversation Module

“So, I have a tumor, in me, which you want to extract, build a brain, and base structure for your body, and then transfer yourself over with my help,” I summed up the Astrologer’s request. It was annoying how he hadn’t said this right off, but I could kind of get that.

Talking about wanting to birth a baby out of me and then taking over said baby, would be incredibly creepy. It wasn’t a baby, the Astrologer had said a number of times, but it felt like it. It wasn’t a simple procedure in my mind. I would be at a huge disadvantage during the process and would require that the Astrologer heal me during and afterwards.

“Yes. It is one of the possible ways I can extract myself from this predicament. The less optimal choice would be overwriting a person, but that carries far more risks and complications.” That didn’t sound encouraging at all.

“And how exactly are you going to do this. Surgery isn’t painless?” I asked. I had surgery before coming into the tower and it definitely wasn’t painless.

“By cutting off the nerves in your spine. Your heart will function, and I will need to heal you up after I do the basic construction of my body. I will be using Astral Projection to fill in quite a bit, but I need a physical anchor of some kind to draw in energy.”The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

“Will you be able to? You talked about there being a connection? And your stats? Do they even exist anymore?” I asked.

“That is a risk. A very big one. Once I construct the body and implement Astral Projection to hold the rest in place, there will be a limited time that I can tie that skill off and keep it ongoing while you cut my connection and I move over. There is a lot of room for things to go wrong, but I have walked you through the procedure twice and you clearly understand what needs to be done.”

“I know. I know,” I said with a heavy sigh. This wasn’t simple at all. That was why I was just trying to wrap my head around all of this. I would get some sleep and we would review once more in the morning before starting, but it was just a lot to think about and to understand.

“Thank you.” I looked at the statue of the Astrologer in surprise. “Trust does not come easy to those of us in power. Getting this high up, there are piles of corpses behind both of us. I know you are hesitant, and while we could fight, it would make things a lot more difficult and the chances of failure much higher.” That was very true.

I didn’t like the Astrologer in the slightest. Well kind of. He was like a tumor, and was growing on me a bit. His insight into the mechanics of this world were impressive. Most of it was from his time conducting research into energy, but he clearly knew what he was talking about and not just making things up.

The insight into the Regeneration stat was the most impressive in my mind. That we weren’t taking energy from around us, but it was coming from a person’s mind. Regeneration another name for willpower.

There had been studies done by quizzing people coming through of the names they saw in the store without informing them ahead of time. While it was incredibly rare, the name willpower had come up a couple of times instead of Regeneration.

This man really was a scientist. And not the mad science and raw insight of the Ritualist, but an actual scientist who conducted proper studies and did blind trials to confirm various assumptions. He had been the lead scientist of the UCS before taking over. Focusing on energy interactions.

I wanted to discuss with him about the type chart, but held off. This body construction was far more important than other topics and he kept coming back to it. I could understand that. He wanted to escape but not alienate me at the same time.

“Well we will need to team up to beat the Divine Empress,” I said. I was actually feeling quite hopeful. Once I was healed up and the Astrologer freed, we would double team her and crush her. After that, well we could have a conversation about things. I didn’t want to give up my future Empire, but I would be open to compromising if he didn’t do anything to break my trust here in the tower.

“That is part of it. But the hand signs and commands are also symbolic. Representing the skills and ones understanding. The greater the understanding, the more one can color outside the lines the System sets. I have investigated and used many skills myself. Channeling, is the ability to use as much or as little energy as you wish while using a skill.”

“Want a more powerful skill, channel in more energy. While it is a stat used for enchantments, it can play a role in skill use as well. Channeling is the active draw of energy from oneself into another object. The stat just makes this process easier and smoother.”

“The System creates an imprint of energy for a skill, a framework if you will. Various frameworks have various modules attached to them. Altering and controlling the power of the skill along with a huge range of factors. I have only begun to investigate some of these modules.”

“It is not easy. They are small and quickly disappear. The System likes to hide its secrets. Or is just that efficient. But I have made great progress in the energy using ones. I don’t have much else to do all day you know. So, I look at my skill Astral Projection.”

“I am copying portions of the module to draw in energy and how some of the stats work and other skills work to create a module of my own, by imprinting my energy a certain way and adjusting the skill. Compared to the System, I am a child drawing with crayons, while it uses a CAD software for its modules, but it allows me to maintain Astral Projection. Once I am unconscious, there is a time limit as the module will decay. Once it breaks, there will be no more energy maintaining the skill.”

That was a much more in-depth explanation that I expected. I felt like a noob. Here I was patting myself on the back for training, using my skills, working out how to move with high level stats, then the Astrologer here was figuring out the intricacies of how skills worked and adjusting them.

It was honestly humbling. I knew he had research teams and years in the tower to work all this out with nothing else to do, but I also knew the Homunculus was separate from him and they didn’t communicate. The Homunculus kept its Astral Projection going all the time. That meant he had figured this all out before he was trapped here.

While he might have improved on his technique in that time, it was humbling. It wasn’t just about working hard, or trying to think about how to improve, at the top level with people like the Divine Empress, the Astrologer, and myself we all did that.

But it was a question of how we focused our efforts. Charting new ground, new discoveries. The Astrologer had made huge strides in the manipulation, use, and understanding of skills and their components or modules.

“Thanks, I was curious,” I said.

“I understand. What we will do will require trust. And I don’t mind sharing the outlines of some of the things I have discovered.” The basic things. I was trying to imagine, what he considered complex. “At least you aren’t an idiot and enjoy listening. I can’t stand people who ask stuff like this, but can’t be bothered to listen to the full explanation.”

“Well, that would be stupid. I mean, energy is a new branch of physics, or something. Any luck on working out how it relates to physics?” I asked out of curiosity.

“No. Trying to work things out on a microscopic or atomic scale hasn’t been possible, or a struggle. Even with microscopes, energy is hard to visibly observe unless it manifests physically. But then that gets into the topic of layers and types and how observing energy can have an impact.”

“It is fine, I should probably rest.”

“Yes. Then we can get started first thing when you wake up.” I nodded at this and moved to a corner. I found it easier to sleep in corners compared to just a wall. I closed my eyes. I didn’t know if the Astrologer slept and didn’t pry into how it was to be a statue. That would have been a bit rude.