American Isekai - Chapter 344:

AN: Hey all! New chappy, and thanks again to you all for the patience! More art is also in the works. Hope you enjoy!

November 14th, 629

“You know…”

I heard Umara call out from across the workshop, her voice echoing with the high metal ceilings. It was almost the size of a large warehouse, more than enough space for both of our projects. 

“I didn’t think figuring out how to make something atomically flat would be such a pain in the ass. I mean, what the fuck does ‘growing metal’ even mean?”

“Didn’t the project team hand you their notes?”

“I didn’t read them because they were two orbs large, and one of those orbs was entirely math.”

“Well, engineering usually requires it.”

“Still a pain in the ass.”

She sighed, wind and space carrying her across the workshop and over to my bench. She bent over my shoulder, staring at the item I was working on. 

It was my latest prototype. In order to test out the ability an Invocation had, I needed the Invocation itself to be built into an interface. Then I needed the proper cradle that the interface could link to. The cradle would be universal, while every interface needed to be custom made for every invocation. 

There were rules and patterns one could follow for their interfaces, but it was still a tedious process. It doubled the complexity of any Invocation I made, which was saying a lot since I had already abandoned the level that the Pillars and church had achieved. 

My efforts at simplifying things had hit a wall as well. I wasn’t even making efforts to try and encrypt Invocations as I did with enchantments either. I had come to the conclusion that doing so would remain impossible for now if I wanted to achieve what I did in the time frame I set for myself. 

There was nothing pushing me to be faster, but I also wasn’t one to wait. 

Finishing up some magical code and pushing it to the repository for my project team, I set down the device and turned to my wife. 

“I’m certainly not asking you to be an engineer, dear. I figured you’d let the team handle the tedious stuff.”

“I wanted a break from my personal project, and they needed help with some of the enchanting. It’s good practice for me anyway, though I was under the impression that we had already developed this technology back on the mainland.”

“We did. This is just taking it to the next level. I wanted them to achieve micrometer-level precision for machining tools and material shaping. If they can do that, anything else will be a cakewalk. They’ll need that kind of skill if they want to send faster ships into space.”

“Right, you were talking about satellites. Which means more math.”

“Orbital mechanics, yes. We already made some, but after sending probes to the edge of the atmosphere, we keep hitting that magical barrier. It usually fries the enchantments so one team is trying to find workarounds while another is working out the code and math to put something into orbit. Rudimentary knowledge on my planet, not so much here, and unfortunately I never read up on the exact principles before I died. They’re on their own.”

“Hm.”

She hummed, leaning forward until her chin rested on my chest, the two of us looking at each other. 

I smiled. 

“Hi.”

“Hi. How’s your project going? Think you’ll make your deadline?”

“Might take a little longer, but it’ll be done when it matters.”

“What about Graves’ limbs?”

“Basically done already. I’ve learned enough about Invocations to integrate their biological component, and as I thought, the material of the Death Shrine is perfect for prosthetics. He’ll be able to control his limbs like he would his body, especially when I have you enchant it with my Psykic formations. He’ll also be able to use his Vigor with them. With the right tech, his Vigor may even be enhanced going through it.”

“So they’ll be better than flesh.”

“By most metrics. He’ll be this world’s first cyborg. The only potential downside is advancement, but as far as he’s told me, he can break the barrier and advance at any time, even after his experience with the Death Shrine. Apparently he’s been handling the trauma relatively well, though I’ve heard he goes into a psychotic frenzy whenever he gets hurt, like during a spar.”

Umara frowned at me. 

“A psychotic frenzy doesn’t seem like he’s handling it well.”

“Well, considering what he went through, I was expecting him to be a vegetable for the rest of his life, perhaps urging me to mercy kill him. It seems all he has though is an extreme hypersensitivity and reaction to pain in general. The more he experiences, the more psychotic he gets. Hallowlight had to knock him out after getting him to spar with one of the Order’s knights. All he received were some bruises before he devolved into psychosis. As far as I'm concerned though, if that’s all it is, then it’s a pretty good outcome.”

“I suppose. Seems like limbs that can get damaged and not transmit pain would improve his situation as well.”

I nodded at her conjecture, suddenly lifting my hand. One metal arm appeared in it from my spatial storage, Umara taking it and inspecting. 

“Prototype?”

“Until it can get attached. Hard to test things like this, but I believe in my designs. You just need to enchant it, then I can attach the Invocation. I’ve already sent the schematics.”

“Mm. I’ll work on it next chance I get.”

“Thank you. Now, to go greet our guests.”

I stood, Umara sending away the arm and walking out with me, her voice confused. 

“What guests?”

“Hallowlight, Terrace, and Graves are landing right now.”

Umara was silent, the two of us walking to our backyard where Erhan waited with the car. 

We stepped in, Umara formulating her words. 

“I’m surprised you’d invite a Sovereign here.”

“If I couldn’t hide an island in the middle of the ocean, I’d be a failure. I’m not too concerned that she’ll figure out where this place is located. Even if she does, I’d wish luck to anyone who actually had to fly out here and spot us. The perimeter of this island chain is dotted with illusory pylons facing the mainland. From a distance and with any long range sensors the Church has, it’s impossible to spot, and certainly so without us seeing them first.”

“Hm. I suppose. And the Anomaly?”

“Although its an important magical phenomenon, it’s no more detectable than any other magic and hidden underground by thousands of layers of protections and veils. Not even Sovereigns are omnipresent. It’ll be fine.”

“Hm.”

Hearing that, Umara seemed to let go of her concerns, the two of us arriving at the airfield. 

We only had to wait a few minutes before a plane lowered, coming to a stop nearby and letting out its occupants. 

The three aforementioned individuals, along with a few Sector 4 agents, stepped out and walked toward us. We met them halfway. 

“Hallowlight, it’s a pleasure to host you.”

“And it’s certainly a pleasure to see you again. The entire world is wondering about you. Your popularity is perhaps the only reason I’m able to take the time to be here, in fact.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

I turned to Graves, reaching out and shaking his hand. He smiled at me, the first expression on his face I’ve seen since his trauma. 

“Graves, my good man. I hope you’ve been doing well.”

“I have been, Commander. Those at the Church have taken good care of me. I’ve seen a lot of your technology in use over there as well. For a time I thought they had stolen it.”

“Well I’m a Traitor to the Kingdom now, so I guess there's no use in hiding the secret that I provided the Church with most of my tech as I made it.”

“Only most.”

Hallowlight chimed, making me smirk a bit as we made our way back into the car. 

I turned to Terrace. 

“Sir Gold. How goes the research?”

“It is complete, for the most part.”

“And? How useful can a Broodfather be? I’ll admit that I haven’t had much time to delve into its secrets myself. I’ve been focused on Invocations.”

“Which I’ll want to see. Turns out, the Broodfather is the very definition of useful. It’s the first entity we’ve ever seen that can apparently wield all three of the magical energies, including raw Magika as well. From our studies, we concluded that although the ability to use all magic would mean that it has no limits to its power, it can only achieve this by operating as two organisms in one. We’ve been able to separate the two, even though the second can’t be considered a living being. It acts like a module that the Broodfather can swap out. This biological adaptivity is what enables it and is the same reason that my superiors fought so hard to keep the corpse in their control, so much so that the Pope himself had to step in for you. Its materials can be used, quite frankly, in every Crown application imaginable. It makes the integration process nearly seamless and enhances the recipient, their magic, and the Crown itself. It’s almost too good to be true, but I suppose that’s a natural consequence of coming from the Brood Bloodline.”

I nodded slowly, silently. I hadn’t been able to touch the small piece of the corpse I kept for myself to study, but at this point, it seemed I didn’t have to. 

The King of the Brood, the Fourth of the Scourge Kings and the one that is least known about. The only thing speculated about it was that the Brood was responsible for the vast majority of the Scourge’s ability to procreate and biologically morph itself. It was the birthing mother of the Scourge. 

Most of the information I had regarding it came from whatever of the Church’s archives I stole off their Nodenet years ago. Some of their scholars said that the Brood didn’t even have a bloodline because it was what created the Bloodlines, like Anarchy, Unholy Light, and Despair. The Brood was not confined to that definition, and rarely had they come across an entity that was said to be a descendant of the King of the Brood. The only documented encounters came from accounts from survivors of the Pillars. Most of them died to whatever they encountered, and those that survived knew too little to be any more than rumors or stories. 

The Broodfather was, in fact, the first ever entity, captured and studied intact, that fit this vague definition. Despite lacking its powers, the Broodfather seeded Psykic Death Shrines. How, we didn’t know, but it was safe to say that it was capable of much more than just planting trees. 

Now the Church knew what it was capable of. I was curious about it as well. I didn’t know the exact mechanism, but Terrace carried the documentation so I’d be going over it. 

Sure enough, he handed me a spatial storage with well over a dozen Orbs inside, all of them packed with information. I took one out, perusing it, absorbing its data in seconds. 

“Your Broodfather corpse is another reason I’ve come here, John.”

Hallowlight suddenly spoke, her words not surprising. 

She was a Sovereign, an important one who should be with the Order right now, running operations as the Scourge readied their attacks. Instead, she’d be spending almost a week here on this island to work on Graves’ limbs and my Crown. 

The only thing that’d spur her to do that would be something valuable enough to buy her time and expertise. The jeopardy of my health from this Crown operation was not one of those things, as important as I was to the Church. 

No, it was the corpse. There was something about it more important than I initially realized, something they discovered. I suddenly had my speculations, so I started going through the Orbs one by one, rapidly scanning their data, my Mind Palace whirring into motion. 

They watched me silently as we drove, and by the time we got to the estate, the last Orb went in and out of my hand. 

I had to exercise great control to keep myself from smiling. The feeling of caution helped toward that end. 

“I see. This seems like something we’ll have to discuss, Terrace. Although I prioritize my Crown, I understand how important this discovery is. We’ll have to figure out just how valuable the corpse's components are.”

“Yes. At your earliest convenience, a discussion would be preferred.”

“That happens to be now.”

We stepped out of the vehicle, and I led them to a meeting room. Outside the door, I turned to Umara. 

“My love, if you could attend to Hallowlight. I wouldn’t want to bore you ladies with our talk. If you wish, show her the prototype limbs for Graves. I’m sure he’s eager to see it as well.”

I peeked at Graves, seeing hidden excitement, obvious from my view. 

It seemed to work as well. Hallowlight agreed easily enough, so the two women plus Graves left, Terrace and I moving into the meeting room. 

Just the two of us was preferable right now. I didn’t mind having Hallowlight here, but if she was here then Umara would want to sit in on this discussion, and I didn’t want my wife to give anything away when she learned about what the Church found with the corpse. 

Once the door was shut, the two of us moved to sit down, an Orb appearing in my hand. 

“So, Transmutation, you say?”

I eyed him, Terrace nodding with the eager excitement of a scholar. 

“Indeed. The Broodfather was capable of transforming one magic into another, with heavy limits.”

I nodded. That was about the gist of the information in the Orbs, Terrace continuing to explain. 

It seemed that the Brood was capable of doing the same thing as the Anomaly on this island. The same Anomaly that could freely transmute Mana into Vigor and Vigor into Mana, the Anomaly that instantly became my most valuable asset along with the island it sat on. I hadn’t been able to understate how extraordinary an ability that was when I first discovered it. It was capable of upheaving the nature of magic as we knew it. 

Seems the Church thought so as well, and the corpse for my Crown was one of the keys to that ability. 

I’m sure they wanted to retain the entire thing, but knowing what I did, I wasn’t as inclined to let them. The Broodfather itself had an extremely limited ability to carry out transmutation. It basically had a heart for each magic and by engaging two at a time, it could carry out extremely inefficient transmutation in order to birth hybrid entities. I was sure it did this to seed the Death Shrine. 

My Anomaly wasn’t inefficient. It was perfect. Its ability to transmute Mana and Vigor was flawless and even now I had a team currently studying that ability. I was even working out the issues I needed in order to utilize transmutation in my Crown and Invocation. 

But therein lay the issue. The Broodfather’s corpse would probably be the perfect addition to my Crown. It was exactly what I needed, and now the Church didn’t want me to fully exploit it. 

They were concerned I’d take this lead away from them. I wasn’t concerned because I had the Anomaly. The only reason I hesitated was because I had yet to encounter any examples of the ability to transmute Psyka. My Anomaly only handled Mana and Vigor. 

I had to approach this situation carefully. The Broodfather was mine by right, but the Church now had a vested interest. On one hand, I may have made a mistake letting them study the corpse. On the other, I wouldn’t have been able to study it nearly as well, and therefore my ability to exploit it, even if I discovered its secrets, would’ve been subpar. I wasn’t an expert in Crowns, nor did I have any in Wonderland. 

There was no use wondering though. Hallowlight was already here and her presence indicated the Pope’s stance. I was being forced to pay for a loan that had been taken out for me. Hallowlight wouldn’t leave without research material, but I’d have a Sovereign to use for my Crown, among whatever resources they were allocating to it. 

I just had to figure out how much of the corpse I could use. I’m sure Terrace had already determined my limits in advance, but there was always a gray area. I just had to find it. 

I turned to him, our gazes meeting for several silent seconds. Then, I spoke. 

“I imagine the Pope didn’t skimp on the resources for my Crown.”

“The only reason I wasn’t terrified to be holding onto the kind of value I was is because Hallowlight was there with me.”

He slowly, carefully, brought out another spatial storage, one he wore around his neck. It was a solid black box, and he placed it on the table. 

I grabbed it and sifted through. 

Despite my growing agitation at the unexpected situation, I couldn’t help but smile a bit at what I found inside. This wasn’t the Pope providing the resources. It was the Church as a nation, and it seemed their coffers ran deeper than I realized. 

It was safe to say that my Crown would contain copious amounts of Sovereign materials. It almost surprised me to see what I did. 

I set the box back down, nodding. 

“Consider me sated.”

“I thank you. A lot of people were worried. The Pope forced those with an interest to let him make this transaction a gentleman’s deal. I was quite irked that I had to be in the middle of these politics.”

“Well, make no mistake, I’m being strong-armed here. It’s just that the Pope is being equally as generous. Still, those other parties were right to be afraid. I’m going to get my value out of that corpse, and you’re going to help me figure out how much.”

“Oh goodie.”

Terrace groaned, and before long, we got down to business.