Chapter 122: The Restoration Protocol

Alvian’s expression changed.

Serah noticed.

"Recognize it?"

"Yeah."

His fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table.

"More than you think."

The System suddenly chimed.

[Ding!]

[External research pattern detected]

[Source: Pre-Cataclysm dimensional civilization]

[Research category: Talent Interface Theory]

[Host Talent resonance comparison initiated]

[Clearwater dimensional connectivity: 7 layers detected]

[Classification discrepancy confirmed]

[Original Talent Rank: E-Rank]

[Effective Talent Potential: Beyond standard classification parameters]

[Warning: Conventional ranking methods cannot accurately evaluate dimensional connectivity]

Alvian stared at the notification.

Seven layers.

Confirmed.

He had been told Clearwater was worthless because it produced almost no water.

But the Academy had never measured what it could actually connect to.

Serah was still talking.

"Do you understand what this means? An A-Rank Talent with powerful output might have very limited dimensional connectivity. Meanwhile, an E-Rank Talent might possess connections that allow far greater evolution."

Tobias looked at Alvian.

"So the Academy called him trash because they couldn’t read the equipment properly."

"Pretty much," Serah answered.

Tobias snorted.

"Wonderful. Four thousand students watched an expensive machine announce that its operators were idiots."

Alvian almost smiled.

Almost.

Then Serah opened the final recovered diagram.

It showed a Talent connection before modification.

And the same connection afterward.

The first was thin, damaged, and barely functioning.

The second was complete.

Alvian leaned closer.

"Serah."

"What?"

"Show me the original connection again."

She enlarged it.

The damaged pathway flickered across the screen.

Something about the broken structure bothered him.

He had seen that pattern before.

Not in the Academy’s records.

Not in Serah’s laboratory.

In his own System interface.

┌──────[ Profile]──────┐\

│ [Host]: Alvian Vance\

│ [Level]: 70\

│ [Talent]: Clearwater/Dissolution/Reformation [Unique]\

│ [Skills]: Genesis Forge [S-RANK]\

│ Abyssal Dissolution Domain [S-RANK]\

│ Void Step: Annihilation [S-RANK]\

│ Severing Void Edge [S-RANK]\

│ Dissolution of Form [CONCEPTUAL]\

│ Clearwater Palm [D-Rank, Enhanced]\

│ [Weapon Mastery]: Short-Sword [MAXIMUM, evolved]\

│ [STR]: 530 | [AGI]: 290 | [VIT]: 855\

│ [INT]: 215 | [Essence]: 287\

│ [Karma Points]: 53\

│ [EXP Bank]: \~4,737,100\

│ [World Will]: Monitoring (creation-tolerant)\

│ [System Version]: 3.0 → 4.0 (1/2 conditions met)\

│ [HP]: 1,710/1,710\

│ [Genesis Forge]: Apprentice\

│ [Patients Healed]: 231\

│ [Creation EXP]: \~849,100\

│ [Array Status]: SELF-SUSTAINING\

│ [Alliance Status]: 3 GUILDS ALIGNED, REFORMING\

│ [Bounty Status]: FORMALLY VOIDED\

│ [Criminal Charges]: DISMISSED\

│ [Crown Posture]: WATCHING, WAITING\

│ [Dimensional Connectivity]: 7 LAYERS CONFIRMED\

│ [Research Discovery]: PRE-CATACLYSM TALENT INTERFACE THEORY\

│ [Version 4.0 Condition 2]: IN PROGRESS\

│ [Next Priority]: DIMENSIONAL RESEARCH ANALYSIS\

└─────────────────┘

—-

Alvian stared at the damaged connection on Serah’s screen.

"Can you compare that with the original Clearwater assessment?"

Serah looked at him.

"Again?"

"Not the energy output. The actual pathway structure."

She opened the file.

Two diagrams appeared side by side.

On the left was the recovered pre-Cataclysm research.

On the right was Alvian’s original Awakening assessment.

Serah adjusted the scale until both diagrams matched.

Then she stopped.

The damage patterns were almost identical.

One connection had been severed near its base. Another was twisted. Several others were barely connected to the dimensional structure.

Tobias leaned across the table.

"That looks bad."

"It is," Serah answered.

She enlarged the ancient diagram.

"According to this research, a healthy Talent connection should look like this."

She activated the reconstruction model.

The broken pathways straightened.

Seven channels connected to seven dimensional layers.

The energy output immediately increased.

Alvian watched the readings climb.

"How much?"

Serah checked the simulation.

"Thirty-seven times the original output, and that’s without increasing the subject’s Essence."

Tobias whistled.

"That’s quite an improvement."

Serah shook her head.

"That’s not the interesting part."

She highlighted another section.

"The model isn’t adding Essence. It’s repairing damaged connections."

Alvian’s eyes narrowed.

’Repairing.’

That word bothered him.

Because he remembered something.

Every time the Infinite Roulette System increased his power, he felt his Talent pathways change.

His first 800x jackpot.

His Severing Sword Aura evolution.

The 8,500x roll that transformed Clearwater Palm into Abyssal Dissolution Domain.

The God Roll.

Each breakthrough had strengthened something inside him.

Or perhaps something beyond him.

"Serah, what caused the damage?"

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she opened another recovered fragment.

A date appeared at the top.

Three hundred and twelve years before the present.

Then another record.

Three hundred and nine years.

The third was different.

Its timestamp placed it shortly before the Cataclysm.

All three displayed healthy dimensional connections.

Serah opened a fourth record.

This one was dated twenty years after the Cataclysm.

The connections were damaged.

She placed them beside each other.

Nobody spoke.

Then Tobias broke the silence.

"Shit."

Serah stood and began pacing.

"The Cataclysm."

Alvian nodded.

"That’s what I was thinking."

"No, you don’t understand. We’ve been treating the Cataclysm as an event that destroyed cities, opened Rifts, and killed most of the population."

"That’s what happened," Tobias said.

"Yes, but look at this."

She brought up the fourth record.

"After the Cataclysm, the same type of Talent connection had lost most of its dimensional contact. The subject’s biological pathways were still intact, but the connection itself was damaged."

Alvian pointed toward the broken channels.

"So the Talent wasn’t weaker."

"Exactly!"

Serah slapped the table.

"The Talent was trying to operate through damaged dimensional infrastructure!"

She displayed another comparison.

A pre-Cataclysm subject with a moderate Talent output.

A post-Cataclysm subject with a supposedly superior Talent.

The first had stronger dimensional connectivity.

The second produced less power despite having better biological channels.

Tobias stared at the readings.

"You’re telling me everybody’s been fighting with broken Talents for three hundred years?"

"Possibly. At least the records support widespread damage."

"Wonderful."

He sat back.

"Three centuries of people killing each other over Talent rankings, and half their equipment wasn’t even working properly."

Serah was already opening another screen.

"This also explains something that’s been bothering me since Alvian’s first circuitry session."

She displayed his old research records.

Clearwater Palm.

Clearwater Coating.

The first pathway restructuring.

The second.

The third.

The Essence throughput improvements.

Every modification showed increased dimensional connectivity.

"Look."

She overlaid the records.

The original Clearwater interface had seven badly damaged connections.

After the first sessions, two became stable.

After the deep restructuring, five showed improved contact.

And the most recent records displayed an entirely different structure.

Seven active connections.

Serah slowly turned toward Alvian.

"Your Talent has been repairing itself."

A notification appeared before Alvian could answer.

[Ding!]

[Pre-Cataclysm dimensional records successfully analyzed]

[Historical Talent damage pattern identified]

[Event correlation: The Cataclysm]

[Host Talent development history being reviewed]

[Initial connectivity integrity: Severely damaged]

[Current connectivity integrity: Restored and expanded]

[Restoration pattern detected across multiple Skill evolutions]

[Additional system information available]

Alvian stared at the final line.

’Restoration?’

He opened the notification.

A new panel appeared.

┌──────[ SYSTEM ANALYSIS ]──────┐\

│ [Original Talent]: Clearwater\

│ [Initial Classification]: E-Rank\

│ [Dimensional Interfaces]: 7\

│ [Initial Connection State]: Damaged\

│ [Current Connection State]: Restored\

│ [Evolution History]: Verified\

│ [Primary Function Detected]:\

│ DIMENSIONAL INTERFACE RESTORATION\

└────────────────────────┘

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because the answer had been sitting in front of him the entire time.

’The EXP. The Skills. The evolutions.’

’What if none of those were simply adding power?’

His first System activation had pushed his body beyond its limits.

His Talent improvements had followed a different pattern, reconnecting pathways and unlocking abilities that shouldn’t have been possible.

Even Genesis Forge had emerged from the same process.

’I’ve been treating this thing like a gambling machine.’

’But what if the roulette is only how it distributes the restoration?’

Serah noticed his expression.

"Alvian?"

He looked up.

"There’s something I haven’t told you."

Tobias raised an eyebrow.

"That’s a long list, boy."

"This one’s different."

Alvian told them about the System.

Not everything.

He didn’t describe every Shop item or reveal every numerical advantage he’d accumulated.

But he explained the invisible interface, the EXP rewards, the multiplier rolls, and the notifications that appeared whenever his abilities evolved.

Serah listened without interrupting.

For almost five minutes.

Then she put her pad down.

"You have an interface that tracks your Talent development?"

"Yes."

"And it can multiply your growth?"

"Yes."

"And you’ve had this since shortly after your Awakening?"

"Yes."

She stared at him.

"Alvian."

"What?"

"You let me spend weeks trying to understand your impossible Talent while you had a fucking interface giving you information?"

"It wasn’t exactly giving me explanations."

"That’s not the point!"

Tobias started laughing.

Serah turned toward him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just enjoying the part where somebody finally tells him he’s an idiot."

Alvian rubbed his forehead.

’This is going well.’

"Listen. I didn’t know what the System was. I still don’t know who created it."

Serah folded her arms.

"But you think it’s connected to this research."

"I think it’s been repairing my dimensional connections."

She went quiet.

Then she reached for her pad.

"Can you ask it something?"

"I can try."

"Ask what its original purpose is."

Alvian focused on the interface.

’System. Are you a restoration protocol?’

For one second, nothing happened.

Then the familiar chime sounded.

[Ding!]

[Host inquiry received]

[External research provides sufficient context]

[Core functional classification unlocked]

[Primary Directive: Restore damaged dimensional interfaces]

[Secondary Directive: Accelerate Host development through probability-based resource distribution]

[Progressive evolution functions: Active]

[Full origin data: Restricted]

[Restoration Protocol: Confirmed]