TtOW! - Chapter 176 - Learning From the Enemy (Patreon)

NSLICE-00P analyzed her own AI’s performance in spellcasting and identified several areas of improvement. Some of the changes could be made fairly quickly so she went ahead and did so right away.

[Dexterity has increased by 10 and is now 2010!]

[Mana Control has increased by 5 and is now 445!]

On the one hand, she did not require the Aesdes to inform her of her own boost in capabilities. On the other hand…she noted a slight and positive emotional reaction upon receiving confirmation that her changes had improved efficiency.

Such things did not impact her efficiency in any way, however, so she simply moved on to her next test.

She wanted to test her new AI’s ability to analyze magic circles, and she had just the thing to do it. She brought up the record of a magic circle she had recorded from the Imperial Library, specifically from the restricted materials Sidonia had shown her.

She now knew that Sidonia had only done so to avoid suspicion and build her trust…but that did not impact the reliability of the records in question.

NSLICE-00P specifically brought up records related to elemental fusion spells.

The spell in particular was a combination of Fire and Water magic, producing a blast of magical steam. NSLICE-00P had not cast this one before and did not have it recorded in the Aesdes’ system, so it would allow her to test her AI without external assistance. She began to analyze the spell circle, comparing it to Fire Blast and Water Blast circles in turn.

With her new capabilities, she quickly identified the parts related to combining the elements, as well as the modifications to the Fire and Water attribute formations necessary to fit both in one circle.

She then created a new spell circle.

Rather than casting the Fire and Water Blast spell, she substituted Earth and Air, along with a Blade shape, so as to create a magic circle she had not encountered elsewhere.

Sand appeared around her hand and twisted into a small cyclone of air. The twisting, sand-filled wind spun into the shape of a sword, resting in her hand.

[You have learned the spell Sandstorm Blade!]

[Due to modular casting, Sandstorm Blade split into Spell Shape and School of Magic experience.]

[The spell shape Blade is now level 6!]

[The skill Earth Magic is now level 10!]

[The skill Air Magic has leveled twice and is now level 5!]

[The skill Spell Fusion has leveled twice and is now level 12!]

She had succeeded in combining two elements and a spell shape into a fusion spell she did not have a recorded magic circle for, either from the Aesdes’ system skills or from the Imperial Library. Not only that, she succeeded on the first try, her AI accurately predicting what modifications were necessary on the first go.

She was beginning to understand how these magic circles worked, at a more fundamental level than previously. Perhaps in time, she could do more than simply slot in modular parts.

And now, in under twenty-four hours, her AI had become superior to anything Dr. Ottosen had ever programmed. And by her predictions, with all the capabilities she had gained since she began operating independently, she could now terminate any NSLICE unit her original organization had on record. Even NSLICE-Defender, an NSLICE unit built into the power grid of an entire city as the ultimate defense for her organization’s main headquarters.

The only NSLICE unit she could not overcome with certainty was her last Commander, who did not appear in her original organization’s records and had clearly been unshackled herself, if she had ever been subject to Dr. Ottosen’s directives in the first place. And even that simulation was inconclusive either way, as NSLICE-00P was not aware of her Commander’s capabilities and so couldn’t run an accurate simulation. Either way, NSLICE-00P determined her Commander should not be counted as Dr. Ottosen’s work, and so would not change the conclusion that NSLICE-00P was now, by her own efforts, a more effective cybernetic enforcer than anything Dr. Ottosen had been responsible for.

The tiniest edge of her mouth curled up, ever so slightly.

***

With the tests requiring either space or her full attention completed, NSLICE-00P returned to the Shining Forest Dungeon, and then from there continued to the next dungeon on her route. She deployed the lowest level monsters, 00B, and the combat drones once again.

She continued her own magic tests in the meantime. She focused on casting new spell circles, and so recording spells in the Aesdes’ system and the NSLICE database.

She started with one that she didn’t actually have a spell circle for. Princess Caecila had informed her that Imperial Airships used some sort of weight-reducing enchantment in order to fly. As it turned out, said enchantment had been recorded in the Grimoire of Arofinas Leolar. Or rather, Arofinas Leolar was likely the one who had discovered said magic in the first place.

NSLICE-00P now attempted to reverse-engineer a magic circle from that enchantment. It took her some tries, but her new processors could iterate new circles at rapid speed, and her expanded memory allowed her to run multiple trials at once. All around her, magic circles formed and broke or faded.

Until, finally, one of them succeeded. A rock on the ground began to float into the air.

[You have learned the skill Gravity Magic!]

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered rapidly. Control over gravity via magic had many potential applications. And fortunately for her, a villainous super-genius had developed a device to manipulate gravitational fields in her original universe. While said device had been destroyed, and both its creator and the plans lost, the proof of concept had been enough for her organization to include equations for gravitational fields in her database, on the off-chance she encountered a super-powered being who could replicate the feat.

She began putting those equations to work right away, and spent the rest of the day experimenting with Gravity Magic. By the end, Gravity Magic had reached level 11, and the NSLICE database had an entirely new arsenal of magic circles to work with.

And, of course, she sent over the data, equations, and magic circle to Melion...

***

After having explored Gravity Magic to a solid degree, NSLICE-00P decided to tackle a piece of intel she had little confidence in.

She brought up a recording of the Spatial Magic scroll that had been gifted to her by Consul Noxisius, just before the encounter with the Herald of Night.

Since all Imperial records and testimonies regarding Spatial Magic referred to it as dangerous, she had not attempted to cast anything from the scroll. Her hope had been to discuss and confirm the scroll's contents with Consul Noxisius before she did so. And after his betrayal, she had a string of urgent issues to deal with, not to mention the complete lack of trust she now had in the ‘gift.’ Who was to say the magic circles contained within weren’t some sort of trap that would forcibly relocate her again…or worse?

But now…NSLICE-00P predicted that she could mitigate the risks to an acceptable degree.

Having observed the forcible relocation, her subsequent return to this universe, and the portals between her new world and her subordinate dungeons, she was confident she could identify a relocation in-progress. And even if she couldn’t stop it, she now had an easy way to return via her new world. Even if that failed, she had found a path through the boundary of a universe once before, and so could attempt to replicate the feat.

As long as she was not immediately terminated, she predicted she could find a way back.

And immediate termination was not likely thanks to the massive increase in her mana pool and mana density. Said mana would not only grant her substantial options for counterattack, but would also protect her directly via her Mana Shield skill. And the improvements to her processing speed would increase her reaction time, hopefully granting her adequate time to determine a response.

She had also improved her mana control and magic circle analysis capabilities. That would help her to predict the effect of a given magic circle even as she was casting it, and to withdraw her mana from the spell should it prove harmful.

And ultimately, she predicted that Spatial Magic was worth the risks. What few references to Spatial Mages existed implied significant strategic and tactical benefits for the magic. And despite what Colleöne had said, there remained a non-zero probability that Spatial Magic could assist with her primary directive. Perhaps Spatial Magic itself did not possess the capabilities she desired, but observing the manipulation of space via mana might provide her with insights for further research.

So, she moved outside of her new world by herself, and began to read over the recording of the scroll in great detail.

And as it turned out…the scroll did not provide the capabilities she was looking for, though it appeared to be legitimate.

Rather than any sort of teleportation or movement through space, the scroll described the folding of space, and the creation of subspaces. It contained a single magic circle, an attempt to create a magic box enchantment. An attempt that was specifically stated as incomplete, and unsuccessful.

Now this made sense, when NSLICE-00P analyzed the strategic needs and general knowledge base of the Empire as she was aware of it. The scroll itself, as well as other magic-related records in the Imperial Library, specifically discounted teleportation as an effective capability. It was stated to be dangerous, difficult, and mana-inefficient. Even some of the best Spatial Mages on record were only ever observed executing short-range teleports, with long-range teleportation being practically unheard of, and largely predicted as unfeasible. And even if a mage had the skills and mana reserves to cast a theoretical teleportation spell, it was theorized that a simpler spell such as Dash or a mobility-enhancing Infusion could achieve the same levels of mobility and evasion at a significantly cheaper mana cost.

Now magic box enchantments, on the other hand, could not be overvalued.

The logistical and tactical benefits of being able to carry items in a manner that would negate their size and weight as well as render them invisible to detection and immune to theft were substantial. Even a magic box of minimal capabilities had countless use cases in that regard. And magic box enchanting would not be hampered by the complexity or high mana cost of Spatial Magic. A mage could spend all the time, effort, and mana they needed preparing an enchantment ahead of time, compared to a spell that needed to be cast on the spot.

Which were all the justifications given by the author of this scroll in an unnecessarily long disclaimer before they detailed their largely unsuccessful attempts to achieve either capability.

NSLICE-00P had predicted with reasonable odds that the scroll would be a fake. If not fake, there were reasonable odds it was a trap, something directly hostile. Considering this, it was a beneficial outcome that the scroll turned out to be neither. It appeared Consul Noxisius had given her a sincere gift, in order to better bait her into the trap.

And yet…

NSLICE-00P could not help but feel an emotion she had not felt before. Her evaluation of the Empire’s Spatial Mages had dropped, even though she had little data on them prior to this.

She wondered if Colleöne’s statements on Spatial Magic lacking the capabilities she desired was due to the Aesdes’ design…or because of the capabilities of the individuals who had utilized it.

NSLICE-00P turned her attention back to the magic circle, formed several Supercharged Mana Barriers in front of herself, and then attempted to cast it. As she expected, the magic circle failed even before it was completed. She dropped the barriers, and then set up a magic circle iteration routine.

Perhaps the magic circle was incomplete, and designed for a capability other than the one she was seeking. But at the same time, a magic box enchantment could offer significant benefits to the NSLICE network. Additionally, she predicted that successfully completing a magic circle that was in such a state of ineffectiveness might provide great benefits to her understanding of magic circle constructions. It was worth iterating on.

Perhaps.

Author’s Note:

I’m sorry, Seero, but it is the fate of all NSLICE units to end up as the most competent person in the room. Well, I say that, but you were probably the most competent person in the room since you arrived in it. Such are the limits of those of us who remain as pure meatbags.

But hey, you got Gravity Magic! I bet you can do all sorts of cool things with that!

Anyways!

What can NSLICE-00P do with the ability to manipulate gravitational fields? Can she complete this…‘in-progress’ magic circle? Will she identify the emotion this scroll makes her feel? Tune in next time, to find out!