Discovery

[ Do you wish to proceed? ]

Cayce hesitated. That question implied there may be a reason he wouldn't want to proceed...

But if he left now, the curiosity would eventually drive him back here anyways. Cayce lowered his stance and drew both combat knives. Having prepared himself, he took a deep breath and gave his answer.

"Yes"

Almost immediately, the wall split apart to reveal the opening to a small, dark room. Simultaneously, Cayce's AI unexpectedly took control of his armor. In his panic, Cayce tried to resist the machine's movements with his own strength, but he was quickly overpowered. The Fallen King's Gladius stepped into the dark room and approached the lone pillar standing in the center.

As he came closer, a white circle appeared in the center of the column and illuminated the nearby darkness. His machine came to a stop a short distance from the light and remained motionless.

[ Beginning retrieval ]

The machine stood still as the AI on his shoulder whirred and occasionally shifted in one direction or another. It reminded him of the way people's eyes would move when they read.

The minutes passed on, and Cayce began to relax. He couldn't move, but there seemed to be no immediate threat. Perhaps the AI taking control of his armor was just a way to protect this room? ... There's no telling.

The minutes stretched on. Just as Cayce began to grow restless, the "retrieval" came to an end. The circular light on the column faded out and the Fallen King's Gladius turned around and left the room. The wall once again sealed itself shut and the armor's control was returned to Cayce. He had just begun to stretch when two more notifications presented themselves.

ding!

[ High value documents retrieved ]

ding!

[ Evolution possible ]

[ Requirements: 6 hr, 4000 mana ]

Cayce's eyes widened. Evolution was an exciting mystery and there were also documents! He quickly skimmed through them to see what they contained. Perhaps these were the answers he came for!

<< The nature of mana >>

<< Applications of mana >>

<< Effects of mana on the weilder >>

<< Mana based injuries: a medical guide >>

<< Mana in space travel >>

...

A long list of files presented themselves. Nearly every file had something to do with mana research and most were the length of a novel... There was much to read. After a decent amount of scrolling, Cayce finally found what he came for.

<< The Greppen AI system >>

As Cayce was about to open the file, an alarm went off in his helmet.

[ CAUTION: Nearby outgoing signal detected ]

[ Exit advised ]

An exit path was drawn in Cayce's HUD almost instantly. Someone or something was now aware of his presence. The faster he could get away, the better.

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"Why isn't the question!!"

A heavy fist pounded down on an oakwood table. The table was sturdy and held firm, but the impact sent a noticable tremor through the floor.

"I want to know WHO did it! They dare think they can destroy our facility and get away with it!? I'll have their head!!"

Several sheepish attendants tried to calm the fuming man. He stood awfully tall and had an incredibly muscular build. Short white hair and a full beard of the same length and color added to his intimidating aura. He was like a drill sargent on steroids. Currently, he was inside a conference room shouting at leaders from all the surrounding territories.

"Out with it! Which one of you did this!?"

Not one of the seated leaders spoke a word. In fact, some of them even wore expressions of boredom. Finally, one of the leaders spoke his mind. It was a man with a slender build who was also quite tall.

"Leader Bellon, have you considered the possibility of your research being the cause for the explosion? After all, it went off from inside, did it not?"

The fuming leader, Bellon, shook with fury and couldn't help spitting out a bitter accusation, "How dare you! It was you, wasn't it? If I-"

"Bellon! Watch your tongue. I had no hand in this matter, but if someone here truly did, then you would be multiplying your enemies with your accusations."

Tension seized the room immediately. Unable to properly contain his anger, Bellon stormed from the conference room with his assistants following close behind. The remaining leaders spoke among themselves, discussing who or what could have destroyed the research base of the Jelena Alliance.

In the end, no one claimed responsibility. But whoever or whatever caused this event didn't matter any more. Bellon's rage made too many powerful men nervous.

Within a day, all of the surrounding factions had begun wartime preparations.

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"...There's so much information!"

Cayce threw his head back, closed his eyes and gripped both sides of his head in frustration. He had returned home and spent the last several days reading the file on the Greppen AI system. But it was so theory heavy it was giving him another headache! However, there were still valuable bits he was able to understand.

Essentially, the AI's main purpose is to assist the armor's pilot. This was a simple enough concept, he was highly familiar with the system's uses after all. Beyond that, the Greppen AI system was special since it was able to "grow" to better assist the pilot. That would explain the system expansion messages. It was learning.

However, the records suddenly took a detour into mana theory. There was a new discovery made while the AI system prototype was still in testing.

The system spent large amounts of mana in order to operate, thus making it impractical for most armor pilots to use. Only pilots who had built up a massive mana reserve could use it regularly. It was thanks to this high mana consumption that the new discovery was made, and it was no small discovery.

Mana could remember how it was used. If you always used it to fuel a certain weapon, it could eventually manifest it's own version of the weapon even if you weren't wearing the armor or holding that weapon. The more your mana ran through a particular weapon, the quicker it would be able to shape itself in that way.

The record went on and on for several pages, rambling about different topics in mana theory until it finally returned to the Greppen AI system.

Mana could take the shape and functions of familiar equipment, such as guns and swords, but that wasn't the limit. Mana could also take the shape of AI systems. However, the Greppen AI system was a growing AI. It would be able to become just like a human mind if only it weren't limited to it's hardware...

Cayce's eyes widened.

Once his mana became familiarized with the Greppen AI system, it wouldn't be contained within his armor...

The very mana within Cayce would effectively be able to form it's own conciousness.