Chapter 117: Chapter 114: The Second Core Witchcraft
The next morning, Allen opened his eyes, sensing the new Will Rune freshly engraved in his Sea of Consciousness.
The deep blue potion he took last night worked far better than expected, boosting his training speed by nearly a fifth.
The growth in his Spiritual Power was directly reflected in the speed at which he could engrave Runes and the finesse of his Magic Power control. This was a fundantal improvent that no amount of skill could replace.
’Taking potions really is a shortcut in training.’
After his morning public lecture, Allen went to Master rcer’s office.
He had just stepped inside when Victor followed right behind him.
The heir to the Tieyan Clan stood to one side with a complex expression, likely still bitter about his defeat in yesterday’s competition.
rcer’s teaching Golem was standing before a workbench, its brass chanical arms adjusting sothing on a screen of light.
It turned around, its face showing no emotion.
"I saw both of your performances in the ’Nova Cup’."
"Victor, the design philosophy for your ’Molten Champion’ is quite mature. It’s in the typical legacy style of your family, emphasizing frontal firepower and armor."
"On a tactical level, however, your preset logic was too rigid. It was easily baited and dismantled. This is a classic case of designing in a vacuum, lacking consideration for the complexities of a real combat environnt."
Victor’s cheek twitched, but he still lowered his head and replied, "Yes, Master."
rcer’s gaze shifted to Allen. "’Spider Slayer’—a very interesting design. You sacrificed defense, funneling all your costs and resources into mobility, stealth, and offensive capabilities. More importantly, the tactical module you designed for it displayed a level of performance beyond that of a normal apprentice. It was sowhat unexpected."
"I just added more contingency plans and allowed it to make autonomous decisions based on real-ti battlefield information," Allen explained in relatively simple terms.
"A good approach, but it’s still not enough compared to true intelligence."
rcer didn’t press the matter. "You have passed my test. You’ve proven that you’ve moved beyond the stage of simply imitating and applying blueprints and now possess the ability to think and design independently. Starting today, you will begin to learn how to create a true ’Golem’."
He paused, then said, "Over the past few months, you’ve studied materials, Golem design, and Rune engineering. But you must be curious why the chanical Bodies that perford so well in the competition had Control Cores with such high intelligence, even capable of autonomous tactical coordination. anwhile, the ones you can buy on the market, even high-level generic cores, are rather rigid to use."
Allen’s heart skipped a beat.
This was precisely what he had been unable to figure out. During his post-competition review, he felt that the "intelligence" displayed by the senior Advanced Apprentices’ chanical Bodies had surpassed what could be explained by preset commands.
Victor clearly knew more. "It’s because the contestants made those cores themselves, so they can be deeply customized according to the chanical Body’s characteristics!"
"That’s only half right," rcer said.
"Generic cores on the market are designed for versatility. Their intelligence level is actually deliberately lowered to make it easier for the operator to ’write’ logical commands for various scenarios."
"This thod lowers their potential, making their logic rigid and uninspired, which makes it difficult for them to handle unexpected situations outside their programming. But for a truly powerful Golem, its core is never a ’blank slate’ to begin with."
"Next, I will teach you the technique to overco this shortcoming."
rcer’s emotionless eyes stared at the two of them.
"The first Core Witchcraft, [Cluster Link Art], was the ability of ’Control.’ Now, I will teach you the second Core Witchcraft, another cornerstone of the Alchemy School’s Golem creation techniques."
"[Soul Processing Art]."
Hearing this na, Allen’s pupils contracted slightly.
"The Witchcraft Schools have their ’Enlightennt Magic,’ trying to create intelligence from nothing and grant it to inanimate objects. That is arrogant and inefficient. The path of the Alchemy School is different. We are more efficient. We need only to modify and utilize."
rcer continued to explain, his words like a scalpel, peeling back the magical facade of this world to reveal the truth beneath.
"This art is a complete set of techniques for stripping a living creature’s soul, cleansing it, reshaping it, and finally sealing it into a standardized Control Core. It transforms a ’life’ into a ’part’ that can be controlled. *This* is the true source of a Golem’s intelligence."
Allen’s breath caught for a mont.
He finally understood everything that had puzzled him before.
Why Control Cores on the market were divided into different types, such as Humanoid-type, Spider-type, and Beast-type.
Why they possessed a faint, almost instinctual autonomous learning ability.
Why Ah Fu’s behavioral logic naturally leaned toward being "human."
’So it wasn’t code, not logic, but the remnants of mory, the brand of instinct.’
’The core of that Spider Golem was once a living spider.’
’The core of that humanoid servant was once... a living person.’
An image surfaced uncontrollably in his mind:
Countless Wizards in high towers, like workers in a slaughterhouse, extracting the souls of various intelligent beings from their bodies. The souls pass through one cold process after another, becoming shimring tal spheres produced on an assembly line.
How many lives had to be sacrificed to create a single Golem Legion?
Allen fell silent. Although he had prepared himself to face things that went against the values of his previous life, he still felt a psychological discomfort now that the day had truly co.
It wasn’t a fear of killing, but a sense of profound absurdity at seeing life "processed" in such an industrialized and standardized way.
In his past life, even the strictest laws protected a person’s right to life. But here, souls had beco an industrial raw material that could be priced, sold, and mass-produced!
"It seems you have so thoughts on the matter."
rcer caught the complex look in Allen’s eyes.
He gave Allen a aningful look, his voice still steady.
"There’s no need to judge the world of Wizards with the concepts of your past. A soul is an efficient information processor and behavioral pattern generator—that is its essential property. After thousands of years of developnt and political maneuvering, the White Wizard Council has long since established strict laws."
"Any soul from an intelligent being used to create a Humanoid Golem’s Control Core must be given ’voluntarily’ by the person while they are of sound mind."
"The vast majority of humanoid cores circulating on the market co from people who signed contracts before their death, voluntarily selling their souls to provide a great fortune for their families. In many planes, this is a legal, officially regulated business."
Allen heard the subtext in rcer’s words.
*Only White Wizards.*
*And only for humanoid intelligent life.*
This ant that in the corners where the sun doesn’t shine, in the domains ruled by Black Wizards, this rule was aningless.
And for non-humanoid intelligent beings, such as certain highly intelligent Magical Beasts, their souls probably didn’t even have the right to "volunteer."
When this cruel fact was presented to him in such a calm, rational, and even institutionalized manner, it sent a colder chill down his spine than simple slaughter and plunder ever could.
Victor, standing beside him, had a completely different expression.
His eyes shone with excitent.
For the heir of a Wizard Clan, born and raised in this world, this was rely a necessary path to the halls of greater power—a matter of course.
He was concerned with how to master this technology, not the ethical issues behind it.
"Very good. It seems you both understand."
rcer took in their different reactions but made no comnt.
"This art will be the foundation for your future design and creation of High-Level Golems. Now, begin your studies with ."
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