Chapter 91: The Gift of an External Power
“System, scan the character and open the attribute panel!” Borne said silently in his mind.
“Beep! New data detected. Would you like to load the D&D data template?”
The same mechanical voice echoed in Borne’s consciousness.
Borne raised his eyebrows in surprise and thought to himself, “It seems the biochip truly excels at intelligent selection. Artificial intelligence may be a double-edged sword, but if used well, it’s a tremendous asset. I wonder if this biochip could evolve into an intelligent lifeform.”
He mused this because intelligent items were not uncommon in the world of Toril—quite the opposite, in fact. For example, the ‘maze locks,’ representing the highest magical craftsmanship of the elves, could birth a quasi-intelligent entity. Especially during the golden age of Netheril’s arcane nation, nearly every wizard tower had its own tower spirit, and later constructs such as golems and artificial lifeforms were all forms of artificial intelligence.
Even legendary magical items sometimes developed their own intelligence, possessing full autonomy and capable of normal communication!
“Load and apply the template!” Borne commanded inwardly.
Name: Borne Iolorem
Race: Netherese Human
Classes: Wizard 10 / Arcanist 9 / Monk 6
Level: 10
Base Attributes: Strength 8.2, Dexterity 9, Constitution 9.1, Intelligence 14.9, Perception 8, Charisma 9
...
Seeing the addition of Charisma, Borne felt at a loss. Unlike in games, Charisma wasn’t universally applicable here. Different people had different standards of beauty, not to mention other humanoid races. Unless one possessed a succubus-like universal Charisma, it was mostly useless...
“But this time was truly dangerous. If my Monk level hadn’t broken into mid-tier, I wouldn’t have dealt with those monsters so easily!”
Borne grimaced, “Monks actually need to confront evil entities to advance. Is this some kind of joke?”
He knew monasteries often built themselves atop sealed sites containing ancient evils or divine abominations, but had never imagined this was part of their training regimen.
No wonder monks each had such strong willpower; living in those places, it’s hard not to develop it!
(Wisdom is a hidden attribute. Ancient abominations and divine evils naturally emit fear, despair, and other negative emotions, and such domain-like fields are difficult to seal or isolate.)
These sealed sites had become valuable resources. Netheril was now under the protection of Amaunator; let alone divine abominations, even the spread of evil contamination had to be done furtively. The entities themselves didn’t dare show up, so when Count Iolorem went to dismantle the altar previously, the opposing side didn’t dare make a move.
And even if they tried, they’d likely be crushed by Amaunator before they even emerged from the altar!
As one of Faerûn’s oldest deities, Amaunator’s power was formidable.
Divine might!
Anyone foolish enough to cause trouble—Borne suspected this was part of why Netheril’s monks had disappeared.
Hunting evil entities was simply too dangerous; most had semi-divine power, and even if one found a sealed site, who knew what was imprisoned below? Moreover, these sites were always guarded.
Try letting something loose and you might find the stone beside you is a Cloud Monk, who could crush you with one hand!
Clearly, leveling up as a Monk any time soon was out of the question. Borne had already met the minimum requirements for high-tier advancement, but advancing prematurely would leave him inherently lacking, making future progress increasingly difficult.
Meanwhile, his Wizard class had reached level 10, and his magical power was at the mid-tier maximum. Next, he needed to bring Arcanist to level 10, then advance further to become a High Arcanist. That way, during his life transition, he could maximize the benefits.
This would also remove many obstacles when striving for Legendary status!
“System! Begin spell modeling, initiate spatial construction simulation!”
Borne issued the command mentally.
“Beep! Importing basic data, loading... Beginning simulation... Remaining time: 34 days, 17 hours!”
“The simulation time has indeed shortened!”
Borne was delighted; previously the remaining time had been two years, but the new biochip improved efficiency dramatically. “If all goes well, once this fifth-level arcane simulation is complete, my Arcanist level can reach 10!”
“This was always the chip’s basic function; storage and efficiency have improved dozens of times. I wonder if there are other functions.”
A thought struck Borne—the chip’s neurons had been manufactured from his own stem cells; in a sense, it was part of his body.
He focused entirely on the ‘biochip.’ After a brief rest, he could finally use a bit of mental energy. Suppressing his headache, Borne attempted to connect mentally with the chip. There was no resistance—like a drop of water falling into the sea, utterly seamless. In an instant, he felt as though he had gained a new organ.
‘An eye!’
Two wondrous perspectives: through the chip, the world was vibrant and dazzling. Borne was familiar with this scene—when activating [Arcane Sight], his vision appeared similar, though never this ‘clear.’
Yes!
‘Clear’ was the word!
If the biochip’s vision was like a 4K high-definition screen, then [Arcane Sight] was like viewing the world through a thousand-degree myopia. And with the chip’s aid, he could distinctly sense the ‘moods’ of the magical elements around him!
“To think I can perceive so clearly without entering meditation! If I combine this with meditation, wouldn’t my efficiency skyrocket?”
For a moment, Borne was stunned by his own speculation.
A plug-in talent?!
“If this is true, could installing it in someone without talent let them sense magical elements...?”
Borne’s throat felt dry.
How had he stumbled into this? He was bewildered—such matters were far too dangerous for him to meddle in!
Universal spellcasters...
Even the gods wouldn’t dare attempt such a thing...
The current goddess of magic, Mystra, possessed divine might no less formidable than Amaunator—perhaps even greater.
Spellcasters cast spells by tearing the Weave, leaving marks upon it. The goddess of magic’s daily task was to mend the Weave.
If Borne created a world of universal spellcasters, Mystra herself would be the first to come after him!
Others had tried to popularize magic—even the elves—but all ultimately failed.
Borne hadn’t tried himself, but had a hunch that this ‘plug-in installation’ method would probably work.
Yet he clearly had no intention of pursuing it; he wasn’t so noble, and universal spellcasters might not be such a blessing.
With this ‘talent plug-in,’ Borne quickly entered meditation, and only then did he realize how easily those with innate talent could perceive magical elements. The comparison made him acutely aware of his own lack of aptitude, and he was grateful he’d chosen the path of the Arcanist!
To use a simple analogy, talent was like a magnet: the greater the talent, the stronger the magnet, able to attract more free-floating magical energy from the void and assimilate it.
Conversely, lesser talent attracted less, and the quality might be inferior.
Spellcasters must also purify their own magical energy when advancing to higher tiers!
That’s magical quality!
Magical elements themselves differ in quality; the clearest proof is the elemental creatures of the elemental planes.
Large elementals, giant elementals, even elemental lords—all began as small elementals formed by gathering a sufficient amount of pure magical element, then grew over time.
Magical purification was only taught by hereditary families, each with their own secret methods to speed up the process.
Most common folk had no idea, and even those who advanced to higher tiers by sheer talent would hit a wall at the initial stage of advancement, unable to progress due to lack of purification.
Of course, there were prodigies who figured it out themselves—Borne was one of them.
This stage tested talent most of all. Those with high aptitude could complete purification in a year or two; those with less could take several years. Most couldn’t endure such a long process, so they advanced prematurely and struggled afterward, their magical progress stalling.
...
Meanwhile, fifty kilometers south of Seventon...
Zzzzz...
[Chain Lightning]
Even in daylight, a massive, dazzling bolt cut through the lizardfolk shaman, then leapt to the nearby lizardfolk warrior, incinerating the victims into charred husks and eliminating much of the threat.
After dispatching the spellcasters, the Count teleported directly back to the camp several miles away, under the reverent gaze of those around.
...
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