Nero sat cross-legged in the dojo, eyes fixed on the shimring barrier before him.
The runes pulsed steadily, holding firm even after hours of maintaining the Shikigami within.
The leyline-powered storage barrier was stable. Now, it was ti to push its limits.
After the previous success, he had reworked the energy filtration to accommodate longer durations.
If his technique was going to be viable for real use, it couldn't just function for an hour or two, it needed to last through an entire day at the very least.
He had set a clear goal for this experint: twelve hours.
This ti, the assigned task was more complex.
Instead of simple mory retention like copying texts, the Shikigami was given a layered set of instructions:
Perform independent magical analysis on a selection of written spells.
Recreate basic elental formations using Onmyōdō principles.
Identify weak points in barrier inscriptions Nero had intentionally introduced into a test scroll.
And finally, remain inside the barrier for twelve hours without external interference.
Nero decided to remain outside of the barrier.
He would observe everything directly with his Raven Eyes.
He activated his bloodline ability, his vision shifting as he focused on the magical signatures inside the barrier.
Every movent of the Shikigami, every fluctuation of energy, every interaction with the instructions, nothing would escape his sight.
He was determined to witness every mont of the experint unfold, taking ntal notes of any abnormalities in real ti.
For the first two hours, everything proceeded smoothly.
The Shikigami absorbed the assigned materials with flawless precision.
It transcribed spell patterns onto the floor of the barrier, cross-referencing theories as instructed.
The elental formations were executed cleanly, and the weak points in the barrier scrolls were identified at a satisfying rate.
Nero, watching all of this, was pleased.
Then, at hour six, sothing changed.
At first, it was subtle. A slight shift in aura, sothing that wouldn't be visible to the naked eye.
But with the Raven Eyes, Nero saw it.
A minor yet distinct fluctuation in the Shikigami's magical imprint.
The Shikigami's actions beca more focused, not in a chanical way, but in a way that felt eerily human.
Its posture shifted, its movents beca deliberate, almost like soone completely absorbed in their studies.
It wasn't simply executing commands anymore.
It was pursuing understanding.
Nero frowned, adjusting his vision further. What is it doing?
Then, sothing unexpected happened.
The Shikigami stopped following its original instructions.
Instead of continuing its assigned spell analysis, it reached for another scroll, one that Nero hadn't programd it to read.
It began studying it on its own initiative, flipping through pages and comparing concepts.
As if it were...
Thinking.
Nero's breath hitched. It's... choosing to learn?
As he observed, the realization struck him.
His Shikigami was exhibiting curiosity.
It wasn't malfunctioning. It wasn't losing coherence.
Instead, it was acting exactly as he would when faced with a new mystery.
That's when he understood.
It's mirroring .
The mont he created the Shikigami, it had absorbed more than just knowledge, it had absorbed his intent.
When he ford it, he wasn't just imprinting commands onto it.
His emotions, his drive, his hunger to understand magic had subtly transferred as well.
The clone wasn't simply executing instructions, it was thinking the way he would think.
This was completely different from previous experints.
Instead of mindless constructs, he had created an avatar that carried his own ambition.
If each one of those operated with his desire to learn, to refine, to push boundaries...
And the best part? They would always return to him, bringing back not just information, but insights that aligned with his own vision.
Nero's pulse quickened with excitent.
This wasn't just a refinent of his thod, this was sothing entirely new.
A revolution in his magical learning and application.
He needed to figure out exactly how the Shikigami had absorbed his intent.
Was it a natural consequence of his connection to them?
Was it sothing subconscious?
If he could control how much emotion, focus, and drive he transferred into his clones, he could ensure that every clone he created would be driven by the sa obsession for magic that fueled him.
That was the key.
If he could embed his ambition intentionally, rather than relying on random imprints, he could refine entire teams of himself, dedicated to unraveling magic's deepest mysteries.
He needed to test this deliberately.
With a fresh parchnt in hand, Nero carefully prepared the next Shikigami, but this ti, he didn't just infuse it with raw magical knowledge.
He focused on sothing deeper.
As he released the construct, he willed a fragnt of his own emotions into it.
His determination, his insatiable thirst for knowledge, his desire to push past the limitations of conventional magic.
When the Shikigami ford, sothing was different.
Its aura imdiately resonated with his own, like a harmonic chord struck in perfect synchronization.
As soon as it opened its eyes, it moved to the study materials, without instruction.
It didn't wait for orders.
It simply began to learn.
Nero took a step back, breath hitching.
He had just created sothing entirely new.
And the possibilities were endless.
With this breakthrough, Nero was closer than ever to creating a learning system unlike anything in magical history.
But there were still critical questions left unanswered:
Could he refine exactly how much of his mindset was transferred?
Would longer durations cause unexpected ntal shifts?
Could the technique work on multiple Shikigami at once?
He had the foundation, but he was far from finished.
Nero let out a breath, staring at the now-dormant Shikigami that had just chosen to study on its own.
He smirked.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 Chapters ahead on Patreon (Suiijin): Chapter 181: The One Who Was Taken
Reviews
All reviews (0)