Tech Tree Explorations

Tech Tree Explorations

Year 160 part 2

So many different things to focus on, and perhaps, that is how an empire loses focus. An emperor cannot do everything at once, and though I have significantly more advantages than any regular emperor, I too, feel this limitation. Its increasingly obvious that I am often the bottleneck of any decision making process.

I have so many different concurrent research projects, all operated by my artificial minds. Time to check in on each of them.

Anti-divine research. The lack of testability hampered progress. The artificial minds are trying the best to reverse engineer the component parts of the blackstar gems, but its really educated guesses at this point. Without ways to test effectiveness, its hard to know what exactly works, and what doesnt.

Demon invasion research. Research into extreme terrains was not doing too bad. My main body actually has all-terrain adaptability, and that essentially meant its possible for me to survive in their world. The problem was my subsidiary trees, and also the forces that I have to bring to mount a successful retaliation.

Patreeck and my artificial minds are modelling various scenarios, and presented with a wide range of areas where we needed.

Firstly, we needed a way to create mana on their homeworld, and from that mana, create water and other materials we needed. Only with this we can hope to maintain a permanent staging point on their homeworld. I wondered whether such resources are available on their world, but I thought the chances are very slim. So, its likely that wed have to make water. Its not entirely impossible, there are spells and gems that can do so, but this is a key starting point.

Secondly, we were also working on the alien-world beetles. This meant further enhancing their ability to operate in ultra-arid environments. The brief moments when I spawned trees on the other side gave me some data, and one of which, all the beetles were incredibly brittle without the necessary moisture. Even my trees didnt hold itself together that well. We needed to design a replacement fluid, something that would not just immediately evaporate in the demon world. Developing this evaporation-resistant fluid would strengthen both tree and beetle, and would reduce the impact of the water-scarcity.

Thirdly, was a matter that needed Stellas input as my first [void mage]. The issue of maintaining the demon rifts, and the possibility of creating our own rifts. If we could create rifts, we could even find a way to send her home. When I told her that this was a way of testing the portals, she was quickly on board. The idea of helping to defeat the demons through research seemed to appeal to her. But firstly, I need to recreate the rifts, and thats... a lot harder. Stella experimented with teleportation spells instead, and actually, teleportation within the same area, or even the same continent did not require any void mana. This meant void mana may actually be only needed for inter-world issues. Is void mana perhaps some kind of transdimensional-fluid? Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

If so, the void mana merely something to act as a shell, to send a packet through the stars? I... didnt know how to test my theory.

Lets send somebody to the two moons. Stella said. We dont know how to send someone to the other world, but I think we can first attempt the moons.

That... is a good idea. Are the demons on the same realm as us? Or are they actually creatures on some other planes of existence? Maybe this test would go nowhere, but in any case, teleporting to the moon sounds like a good first step.

One small step for the tree, one giant step for the forest!

-

After that, theres also the sea related research, and the idea of somehow developing a network of deep-ocean roots. My roots would essentially be subsea internet cables, wouldnt it? If I could make deep ocean roots, where, at certain regular intervals, I have floating plants to sustain the network?

So, on this front, we also have research on making my roots go further, last longer, and can survive the pressures and dangers of the deep sea. There are monsters down there. I hoped Reefy would be able to assist, or could Reefy be a bridge?

But its has a strong turtle instinct. That meant Reefys first instinct is to just hide and build huge defenses.

Are all reefs like this?

Why are trees different?

Anyway, I didnt have any progress on ocean-level grass, but I did make progress on large floating vines and floating roots. Perhaps I could float a root or a vine all the way to the other continents? Convert the entire ocean into a massive hydroponic farm?

Ideas ideas, but whether the system cooperates by rewarding me with a skill is another matter.

-

Then theres the matter of bombs. Alka, my chief scientist, is doing his best. I mean, hes a little bit mad, as with all those who dabble in research, but I suppose dealing with bombs do tend to make one a lot more edgy than usual.

I decided to award him one of my [Court of the Deitree], so that I can teleport him away should one of the bombs go nuts.

No progress is ever made without a few accidental explosions. On this front, Stellas also contributing, because one of our earth-inspired ideas was a star-mana and void-mana fusion bomb.

We had to quickly allocate a space, an uninhabited segment of the continent for Alkas bomb research. Kei quickly dubbed it our Area 51. I thought that wasnt quite correct, I thought itll be more of our Bikini Atoll or some shit.

Its honestly quite entertaining, to watch shit blow up. I would love to see all these new bombs blow up in front of the demon king. His research also led to some attempts at mixing crystal matrixes with hexbombs. Its pretty much a dirty bomb.

Didnt work very well, it seemed that hex itself did not enjoy being trapped in crystal matrixes and would also corrode the runic formations present inside any crystal matrixes. Perhaps were doing it wrong, but Alka and his small army of crystalworkers were hard at work.

-

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Arlisa and Lausanne attended these prayers occasionally, and they both used a ring that seemed to distort everyones perception of them, usually giving them some semblance of privacy. Afterwards, theyd have lunch in one of the citys many restaurants.

Lausanne was pregnant again, but she coped well, her high levels and strong physique meant she suffered few of pregnancies many challenges. Arlisa was pretty much her bodyguard, though there were a few Valthorns in the vicinity ready to assist her should it be needed.

Lausanne had the talk with Arlisa, about children, and sex and the not-so-young Arlisa blushed. She was after all 19, almost 20, and for half-elves, this was at the very edge of adulthood. Lausanne then shared some differences about how babies were cared for on the other continents, and Arlisa decided it was too much for her, so she changed the subject. She had decided to work a little bit harder this year, and that hard work quickly translated to levels.

Maybe it was the pressure of having a younger sibling? At her age, having a sibling thats just a baby?

Ive never wondered about the issue of the age gap between siblings in a world where elves can have children for centuries.

Do they even have laws on minors? How does one even shape laws on minors when what is considered a minor differed across species, and the intermixed species which matured at different speeds?

-

Year 161

Stellas attempt to teleport to the moon failed again. Of course, during this time, she and Kei brainstormed many issues.

Surely that moon has no oxygen.

We dont know for sure.

It makes better sense for me to go. Kei said. Im a golem. I can live there.

But what if I cant send you back?

And sending you there is a better idea?

Im the [void mage]? I can cast the same spell in reverse.

There are two moons, and both moons have a somewhat elliptical orbit around this world. Or at least, thats how it seemed to me.

Youll die first. Kei responded. If there are monsters, or if the moon is inhabitable, then youre dead the moment the rift opens.

Air doesnt pass through rifts. Thats what I said, really. The demons rifts are more like a pathway filled with filters. One has to use the exact mana sequence and resonance to actually interact with them.

How do we know that? Kei argued. That sample size is based on the demons rifts. Why should our magic be the same?

Stella agreed, but then, this entire argument was one of the few distractions from the real fundamental problem they had. Portal spells... have been lost to time. Heroes have a teleportation spell, unlocked as part of the heroes grimoire when they hit somewhere around level 101 to 105, but those are teleportation spells that only works on a small number of people around them, and isnt a portal.

They continued experimenting. This, being an area of magic, and most of my magical knowledge were more of the crafting or enchantment sort, meant my ability to contribute was extremely limited, despite my mana mastery.

-

I also relooked at my inventory. I had stored so many different things over the decades, and then looked at the single unused [Forest rod].

Then I wondered for a moment.

Could I use this on the demons world? Its mostly useless on this world, but could the rod be my single superterraforming stick, to allow me to make that single base on their homeworld?

It could work. I quickly analysed the rod for its characteristics again. I had done so in the past and found certain parts of it confusing, its material some kind of strange metal. It was strange, that it absorbed mana from whoever, and whoever flooded it with mana gained control of it. Yet, how it performs its terraforming or terrain shaping is still something I didnt quite understand, simply because it worked very differently from my own powers.

I still didnt understand what it is. There were a set of crystals inside that seemed to hold the entirety of the Rods functionalities, and those crystals refused to reveal its secrets. I didnt want to poke too hard either, and risk losing my one and only Forest Rod.

But it was worth trying. Once we can establish a reliable riftportal to the demon world, the Forest Rod will be going to the other side.