Chapter 2014: The Artifact Choice

On a planet filled with Mana, a Mana-absorbing artifact might work perfectly. Take it somewhere without Mana, however, and the System would eventually become useless. The same problem applied to almost every other form of Energy they could design around.

Considering the battles that mostly took place in space, the artifact would have no proper way of recovering any Energy. Ning considered some options, but Crownus seemed to have thought of an idea already.

He looked toward Ning. "Then I would need to supply the Energy myself."

Ning looked up. "Directly? You’re going to follow the user around?"

"Not really," Crownus said. "If, after all this, I had to babysit the System user, then there’s no point in making a System, is there? I could just give him something directly if that was the case."

Ning nodded. "The System has to be independent, and for the sake of it being independent, so does whatever it gains its Energy through."

Ning thought through the problem and quickly arrived at a simpler answer.

"Then don’t make one artifact."

Crownus’s goat head turned slightly toward him.

"Make two."

Ning raised one hand as he explained. "The first artifact belongs to you. Bond it directly to yourself and give it access to whatever Energy you’re willing to provide. The second artifact belongs to the actual System user."

Crownus did not speak yet, but Ning could tell he was already following the idea.

"The user’s artifact does all the normal work," Ning continued. "It handles the interface, whatever abilities we give it, storage, information, or anything else we decide later. But it doesn’t need to produce its own Energy. Instead, the other artifact supplies it."

The artifact connected to Crownus would essentially become the source, while every System artifact created afterward could draw Energy through that connection. Crownus would not need to personally visit each user, and the users would not need to constantly search for compatible Energy sources.

As long as Crownus maintained his artifact, the individual Systems could remain functional.

Crownus became noticeably more interested.

Crownus could move Ning across intergalactic distances with ease. Creating some means for two bonded artifacts to remain connected was well within the sort of thing he should be capable of doing.

The real challenge would be controlling how much Energy could pass through and ensuring that one user could not simply drain an absurd amount from Crownus, but he had learned enough from Ning to make that happen as well.

"The user’s artifact asks for Energy when it needs it," Ning said. "The one bonded to you decides whether to provide it. That way, the individual System doesn’t need an infinite supply of anything, and you don’t need to constantly refill it yourself."

Crownus nodded. "In a way, I’m creating a device and a battery to go along with it."

Ning nodded excitedly. "Yes. Exactly that."

"I believe I can create something like that," Crownus said. "Some sort of artifacts."

"Yeah, swords or shields. Wait, the humans have grown past traditional weapons, haven’t they?" Ning asked. "In that case, it has to be something else."

Ning considered the two-artifact design for a while before turning his attention to the part the user would actually carry.

"If we’re going to bond the System artifact to a person, it should probably be something they can wear," he said. "A ring would be simple. A necklace could work too, or maybe a watch if we want something people are already used to carrying around."

Crownus remained quiet for a few moments before offering his own suggestion.

"A helmet."

Ning looked at him. "A helmet?"

"Yes. It would be more appropriate for the humans of Avelis."

Ning had expected Crownus to suggest something small and unobtrusive, so a helmet seemed unnecessarily large at first. Then again, Crownus had watched the civilizations of his galaxy develop for far longer than Ning had.

"Why is a helmet so important to them?"

"It has become one of the most essential possessions a human can own," Crownus said. "Their helmets function as communication devices, personal identification, navigation tools, and access keys for much of their technology. Most humans who travel beyond their home settlements already wear one regularly."

"Ooh!" Ning became more interested in hearing more.

If the object was already deeply integrated into everyday life, turning it into the physical basis of a System would be far easier than convincing everyone to carry some unfamiliar artifact.

Crownus continued, "There is another reason as well. Their helmets are required to operate their larger mechanical bodies."

Ning paused. "Mechanical bodies? What do you mean?"

"The giant machines they pilot."

Ning stared at Crownus for a moment.

"What giant machines?"

Crownus’s floating goat head tilted slightly. "The humans of Avelis learned to construct large humanoid machines that can be controlled from within. Giant humanoid machines with legs and limbs that they can move as their own."

Ning’s eyebrows rose.

"A Mecha?"

Apparently, one hundred and thirty thousand years had done more to the galaxy than simply start a war.

"How large are we talking?"

"Many are comparable in size to adult Mekharans. Military models are often larger."

Ning immediately understood why the design had developed.

When he had first seen the people of Mekharis, some of their bodies had stood dozens of meters tall. A human fighting one directly would have been at a ridiculous disadvantage regardless of how advanced their weapons were. Building an equally large mechanical frame around the human solved at least part of that problem.

"So the helmet links the pilot to the machine?"

"Yes. It interprets neural signals, provides sensory information from the mechanical body, and handles most of the communication between pilot and machine."

Ning nodded slowly. That made a helmet a much more appealing choice as the basis of their System.

If Crownus wanted a System artifact that could interact closely with its user, then a device already designed to interpret thought and return information directly was almost perfect. They would still need to change nearly everything inside it, but the form itself would not seem unusual.