Chapter 190. (Patreon)

Zac’s mind was filled with a burst of information told him how the skill worked, but he still chose to try it out after some hesitation. He headed over to an empty area inside his compound that was still just forest and activated the new fractal. A huge torrent of energy surged from the area and entered his body. This wasn't the same thing as absorbing energy, but rather forcefully ripping it out of the atmosphere. 

Cracking sounds could be heard throughout his body as it felt like he was injected with a hundred adrenaline shots. Boundless power surged into his limbs as he took out his axe without thinking. The extreme amount of power gathering within him needed an outlet.

With a roar, he swung his axe with all his might as the innocent trees. It was as though a bomb had gone off in the forest, with decimated trees covering the area. 

He felt as though he could topple mountains at the moment, but after roughly thirty seconds the feeling was gone, replaced by a sense of weakness. The skill [Hatchetman’s Rage] was a boosting skill, that actually increased all his attributes by 25% for around thirty seconds.

Better yet, it seemed as though the increase also worked on the attributes he gained from titles as well, as he gained over 80 points in Strength while the skill was in use. A boost of 25% was not something to scoff at going by how attributes worked.

It would increase his combat strength by quite a large margin during the effect, which would help him push him ahead in a close battle. It might even allow him to defeat a stronger opponent in a quick turn-around if he caught the enemy unaware.

However, the skill wasn’t without its drawbacks. It seemed it messed with his head a bit. When the energy entered him he felt ready, and willing, to take on the world. It also left him weakened after usage. It didn’t consume a lot of Cosmic or Mental Energy, but it was rather as though his body was overtaxed, like he might have felt after running a marathon back in the day before the integration.

He slowly headed back to his courtyard, and it took over an hour before he was back in good condition again. Clearly, he had to be careful with the skill, just like with Nature’s Punishment. He needed to end the fight by the time the effect ran out, otherwise he'd be a sitting duck.

Familiar steps could be heard after a while as he saw a flustered Kenzie run over.

“What’s going on? What happened earlier, did you get into a fight with Ogras? The destruction could be seen from the town” she said as she looked around with a frown.

“I only tried out a new skill of mine,” Zac said with a shrug. “Sit down, we need to talk.”

“You destroyed a forest to try out a skill..?” his sister said with a shake of her head, but she still sat down next to him.

Zac suddenly had a thought and opened the Town Shop. Not long after two small arrays were erected around the courtyard. One was an [E-Grade Small Scale Silencing Array], whose job was to block any sound from escaping, and also impede any types of spying skill.

The other array was a normal illusion array that hid the interior, the very same type as he used around his camp before. It should look like the courtyard was empty from outside, from how understood it. He still had the original array somewhere, but he didn’t remember where it was anymore. Since it was quite cheap he bought an upgraded version for 250 000 Nexus Coins, making it even harder to see through.

Finally, he put up a third array, the weak defensive one he'd purchased some time ago. Wasting no more time Zac took out the amulet and handed it over to Kenzie, who accepted it with a confused glance.

“What’s this?” she asked as she held up the intricately designed amulet. 

“I found this amulet with a note from Dad when I visited Greenworth. The note said that it was a memento from mom, and that we might be able to use it if we wanted to find her,” Zac explained, hiding nothing.

Kenzie looked at the small amulet with marvel, as though it was a map leading to some grand treasure.

“How do we use it?” she excitedly asked as she grabbed Zac’s arm.

“That’s the problem. I just found out something pretty weird about that thing. It might not be from earth. Ogras said it is a Technocrat insignia, like an emblem from a Technocrat Nobleman,”

“Technocrat? What’s that?” Kenzie asked with some confusion.

Zac suddenly realized that the Technocrats might not be a subject that was broached in the Tutorial, as they opposed the System.

“It’s an extremely powerful force in the multi-verse. I don’t know a lot about them, apart from the fact that they are an enemy to most other forces, and that they don’t use Cosmic Energy. Instead, they use extremely advanced technology, like science fiction stuff. They are the most advanced force in the multi-verse in that sense,” Zac explained.

Kenzie’s eyes widened, until she looked down the amulet in her hands with a slight frown, saying nothing. Zac would have thought his sister would have a ton of follow-up questions, but she only silently stared at the amulet. But her silence told him that it might not be as big a shock as he expected, and soon he understood why.

“What’s going on?” Zac asked. “I saw that shield around you when the guy exploded back in Kingsbury. It didn’t contain even a scrap of Cosmic Energy. And the ball flew right into your head afterward. Are you ok?”

“I… I think I understand now,” she said.

“When the tutorial started, I was the same as everyone else. Luckily I survived the first trials and got stronger. However, after the fifth trial, I suddenly heard a voice in my head. It wasn’t the System, but someone else,” MacKenzie began. "It told me it had finalized integration."

“Another voice?” Zac asked with some concern.

“Yeah. At first I thought I had gone crazy, but the voice told me it was an assistant system. I soon figured out that it was real as it warned me of imminent attacks that I didn’t notice myself. Since then it’s helped me in various ways, and I probably wouldn't have survived the tutorial without it. It changed the way I channel my Cultivation Manual to become more efficient, it helps me in battle, and in all kinds of ways. It even modifies my skills to become stronger,” she explained.

Zac frowned as he looked at his sister, thinking of the ball in her head. From the way she explained it, it almost seemed that there was an artificial intelligence helping her. But that should be impossible, as that type of technology and the Cultivation System shouldn’t be impossible to merge.

It was one of the basic rules of the multiverse as he saw it, and the very reason that the Technocrats were so desperate to either destroy the System or create an Apostate of their own. The Dao of Technology was blocked, and merging cosmic energy and technology should be impossible. The thing in her head sounded like something impossible.

“It never told me what it was, so I guessed it was some special reward I got from the system for some reason. But now I think it might have been mom who left me with this thing to protect me?” she said, her face brightening. "Perhaps she knew the integration was coming and wanted to give me something to help me survive."

“Yeah, maybe,” Zac said after a while.

However, inwardly he wasn’t as sure. Zac saw a very different scenario. He thought back to what Ogras said earlier, that Earth might be a lab for experimentation by the Technocrats. Did their mother experiment on Kenzie when she was an infant, potentially putting her in danger?

Finding ways to trick the System and integrate technology to a cultivator should be a huge goal for the technocrats, and the first step in creating an Apostate of their own. If what Kenzie said was true, the thing in her head might be a highly valuable Technocrat technology.

Still, he didn’t say these things out loud. There was no point in starting to argue about such things. And there was nothing he could do about the situation, apart from trying to get stronger in case something happened. But he knew he was just kidding himself. The Technocrats could be considered an A-Grade force.

They could incinerate this whole planet in an instant if they wished, and there was nothing he or anyone else on Earth could do about it. He could only pray that he was wrong about his speculations, or that something unexpected had happened, making the Technocrats unaware of the marvel inside Kenzie’s body.

Suddenly Kenzie handed the Amulet back to Zac, who took it with some confusion on his face.

“Mom already gave me this assistant to protect me, so you should keep the amulet. It might have some method to help you as well,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Zac said, but in truth he was quite happy to take back the amulet now that he knew more what was going on.

He was afraid that it might be a beacon or tracker of sorts, so he would prefer to keep it away from Kenzie if possible.

“Hmm… How about this,” Zac said as he opened the Town Shop again.

Soon another box appeared in front of him, and he took out another amulet and gave it to Kenzie.

“Since you don’t want that amulet, take this one instead. It was very expensive, so wear it at all times,” he said with a smile.

His sister rolled her eyes, but she still put it on with a smile.

Zac wasn’t lying when he said it was expensive. It cost 20 000 000 Nexus coins and was one of the most expensive Arrays in his Town Shop at the moment. It was called [E-Grade Supreme Ward], and was a mobile array just like his Mother-Daughter array.

However, its function was much more varied. It was a defensive talisman that protected the wearer in all kinds of ways, as long as she stayed within a certain range from Port Atwood. It was an array that many forces bought for their young to protect them from sudden assassinations.

It had a few functions. First, it had a strong shield that automatically protected from sudden attacks. It might not be necessary for Kenzie, but it was better than nothing. However, Zac bought it for its other functions. For one it protected against spying or scrying skills, making it hard to locate her or spy on any secrets inside her. It also protected against mental attacks or hypnosis.

It was the only thing he could think of right now that might keep her hidden from any potential spies of the multi-verse. He truly believed that the fact she possessed an artificial assistant must be kept a secret to protect her. That thing inside her might be even more explosive than his Creator Shipyard. Kenzie might be hunted down by the various forces of the multi-verse if they knew, and who knew what the Technocrats would do.

“Does anyone else know about the assistant thing in your head?” Zac asked.

He was determined to keep this secret just between the two of them, even if he was forced to do some gruesome things.

“No, I knew it was a bit odd from the start, so I never told anyone, not even Lyla,” Kenzie said with a shake of her head.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way", Zac said with relief. "I will try to look into the Technocrats some more, but we need to be careful. We don’t know what happened to mom. If she truly is a Technocrat the situation might be pretty complicated. The Technocrats have so many enemies, and we might implicate both ourselves and mom if we rush things.”

“I know,” Kenzie said, not being able to hide some of her disappointment.

“Hey, don’t worry. We finally have a lead for the first time ever. We’ll find her. But we need to focus on getting stronger as well,” Zac said with a smile.

“I get it, I’ll be patient.”  

“By the way, you never told me what class you were,” Zac asked instead, changing the subject.

“Well, I picked Acolyte, a Normal Grade mage class,” his sister answered. “But Jeeves, oh that’s what I call the voice, upgraded it to Elementalist, an Uncommon one.”

Zac could only speechlessly stare at Kenzie for a while. That thing in her head was truly a top tier cheat.

“What about you?”

“Well, it’s called Hatchetman, a Rare class,” Zac said with a shrug.

“Hatchetman? How’d you get such a stupid-sounding class?” she asked with a smile.

Zac could only shake his head and tell the tale of what he was doing when the integration happened. Soon Kenzie was laughing as Zac explained how he fumbled along with his lumberjack’s hatchet, living in a dented and bloodied camper, looking like a hobo covered in strips of snake leather.

“So, what are you going to do about Hannah?” she suddenly asked.

Zac grimaced at the question. With only a shake of his head he got up to his feet and wistfully looked in the direction of the town.

Some things couldn’t be prolonged any longer.