Chapter 310 - 303: Struggle for Another 100 Years
Chapter 310: Chapter 303: Struggle for Another 100 Years
The Odyssey cruised smoothly beneath the clouds.
Outside the porthole, the crimson sky and the rapidly receding, scorched earth wove a monotonous tapestry.
Allen sat alone in the spacious cabin.
He issued a command, severing the connection to his seven sub-threads.
For the first time in a long while, his mind was a blank slate.
No piercing alarms, no scrolling damage reports, no complex resource calculations.
He leaned back in his chair and regulated his breathing. His gaze drifted to the dim sky outside the porthole. He forced himself to close his eyes and enjoy this rare moment of leisure.
Five minutes later.
Allen sat up straight, his fingers tapping a crisp rhythm on the armrest.
Ten minutes later, he stood up and began pacing back and forth in the confined cabin.
"Something’s wrong with me," Allen muttered.
After being accustomed to eight minds processing high-concurrency data simultaneously, suddenly switching to single-core operation left him feeling strangely flustered.
In the eight years and nine months since he’d arrived in this plane, the intense pressure, the constant brushes with death, and the multi-threaded operational model had completely reshaped his physiological and psychological habits.
Suddenly being idle was like a high-speed train losing power, leaving only the emptiness and anxiety of its own momentum.
He was cursed to be a workaholic.
Since he couldn’t stay idle, he might as well get to work.
"DSeek, create a training framework model for a Second-level Wizard."
[Command received. Building model...]
A silent, ethereal blue screen unfolded on his retina, data cascading down like a waterfall.
First: Core Matrix Inscription.
The training of a Second-level Wizard was, in essence, still about expanding the capacity of one’s Sea of Consciousness and increasing the density of one’s Spiritual Power.
He needed to inscribe eight brand-new Core Matrices on his existing foundation.
Each matrix would still consist of thirty-six Will Runes.
"Assuming ten hours of training per day, without the aid of any external potions, how long would it take to inscribe one complete matrix?"
[Calculation complete. Estimated time: six years. For eight matrices, a total of forty-eight years.]
Forty-eight years.
Allen’s expression was blank.
During his time as a First-level Wizard, he had relied on high-tier resources like the Spring of the Astral World to drastically shorten the process to just a few years. But the further one progressed, the resources effective for a Second-level Wizard decreased exponentially, and their prices were outrageously exorbitant.
He currently didn’t even have enough money to buy a demi-plane fragment, let alone afford a steady supply of Level 2 training resources.
It was obvious that he would never finish in forty-eight years.
Second: Sub-thread Differentiation.
This was the core ability of his Advanced Meditation Method, "Myriad Engines Resonance." He currently possessed seven sub-threads.
The eighth sub-thread was supposed to have been inscribed at the peak of the First Level, but in order to deal with the Son of the Abyss’s surprise attack, he had forced his breakthrough and hadn’t had time to do it.
Now at the Second Level, he could differentiate another eight new sub-threads.
Including the one he had to catch up on, that made nine in total.
"Inscription period for each sub-thread?"
[Based on current processing power, each sub-thread will require approximately two years to go from differentiation to stabilization. Total: 18 years.]
Third: Core Witchcraft.
This was the most critical part. At the Second Level, there were still three Core Witchcraft slots.
Aside from "Fortress Workshop Deployment," which he had just purchased from his mentor for five million Low-Level Magic Stones and which occupied one slot, he still had two empty slots left.
’Research it yourself, develop it yourself, inscribe it yourself.’ Mercer’s cold voice echoed in his mind.
There were no ready-made models, no shortcuts from predecessors. Every Second-level Core Witchcraft had to be built from the ground up, starting with its fundamental logic, to ensure it perfectly aligned with one’s own soul and Meditation Method.
In addition, there were three Permanent Sorcery Slots, and he would likely have to research those Witchcrafts himself as well.
"How long would it take to develop a completely new Core Witchcraft?"
[Based on your current knowledge reserves and processing power, the research period for a single Witchcraft, from conception to successful inscription, will fluctuate between three and ten years.]
"Summarize the timeline."
The data on the light screen flickered rapidly before settling.
[Total Timeline Projection for the Second-level Wizard Stage:]
[Most optimistic estimate: 72 years.]
[Most pessimistic estimate: 150+ years.]
Allen stared at the numbers, speechless for a long time.
In his previous life, he had lived for thirty years, which had felt like a long life.
And now, he would need at least two or three of his "previous lifetimes" just to complete the basic journey of a Second-level Wizard.
And that was with the help of DSeek and assuming he had ample time to train every day.
It was common for an ordinary Second-level Wizard to get stuck on developing a single Core Witchcraft for decades, only to die in the end from mental exhaustion.
’Lifespan is also an issue...’
A Wizard’s body was passively modified by Magic Power, but their lifespan wasn’t infinite. Fortunately, Wizards had countless methods to extend their lives.
The long training journey ahead would still require immense financial backing. Magic Stones, high-tier magical metals, knowledge—not a single one could be missing.
This meant that within the remaining eleven years, he had to purchase a demi-plane as soon as possible and build up a substantial fortune.
’When it comes down to it, I’m still poor.’
Allen couldn’t help but complain to himself. It seemed becoming a Second-level Wizard wasn’t much different after all. Making money, mass-producing units, and mining were still the main themes.
But before all that, there was a deeper problem to solve.
"Your views are different from mine, so why do you continue to walk my path?"
His mentor’s question back in the fortress had struck him to the very soul.
Allen recalled the battles he had fought.
From his initial fights against Low-Tier Magical Beasts, to the encirclement of the Crystal Shell Giant Scorpions, and even the recent battle against the Son of the Abyss alongside his mentor.
Mercer’s path was to specialize in Giant Golems—ten thousand meters tall, hundreds of millions of tons in weight. Brute force conquers all.
Absolute individual power, using resources and technology to build a wonder.
’Bigger is certainly impressive, but bigger also means a logistical nightmare.’
Allen analyzed calmly. ’A single instance of damage to the Giant Divine Soldier requires a century’s worth of a zone’s output to repair. From an economic standpoint, that’s extremely inefficient.’
So what was his path?
It was hundreds of spider-like killers, micromanaged by his sub-threads, weaving and cutting through the enemy as a single, unified entity.
It was the Demon Eyes high in the sky, building an all-weather battlefield surveillance network and sharing real-time coordinates with every combat unit.
It was the Purgatory, executing over-the-horizon saturation strikes under precise fire guidance.
Allen fell into deep thought.
’My greatest advantage was never creating a single, invincible monster.’
’Was it overwhelming everything with numbers, with a swarm?’
’Not entirely correct, either.’
’My advantages are "information," "processing power," and "coordination."’
’My mentor crushes everything with quality. I, on the other hand, rely on a system.’
The concepts of information warfare from modern wars in his past life, combined with the Alchemy Technology of the Wizarding World.
An integrated air-space-ground system, swarm coordination, holographic battlefield awareness, precision fire coverage, and seamless logistical support.
To integrate tens of thousands of Golems into an indivisible whole through sub-threads and a network.
’I can have a ten-thousand-meter Giant Divine Soldier in the future, too, but it won’t fight alone. It must be integrated into my tactical system.’
He would build an all-encompassing, inescapable "net" that covered the entire plane.
Any enemy who stepped into this net wouldn’t be facing a single Golem, but the entirety of Allen’s industrial system.
"This is the direction I should explore in the future," Allen murmured to himself.
With his general direction established, the confusion that had arisen from losing his mentor’s guidance instantly vanished.
His next two Core Witchcrafts wouldn’t need to pursue world-ending, single-target destructive power. Instead, they should be built around "enhancing the swarm network," "expanding crisis-management dimensions," or "ensuring my own safety."
[Commander, you have entered the airspace of Zone 18.]
DSeek’s notification interrupted Allen’s thoughts.
He walked to the porthole.
In the distance, massive, ring-shaped craters dotted the landscape. Dark red lava flowed at their bottoms, emitting a pungent, toxic smoke.
It was the masterpiece he had left behind by personally detonating the earth veins.
The Odyssey slowly descended onto a temporarily cleared landing pad.
The cabin door opened.
A wave of heat mixed with the smell of sulfur washed over him.
A few workshop servants were clearing the rubble, their treads grinding over metal wreckage with a harsh screech.
Allen walked off the ship, his boots making a soft crunching sound on the scorched earth.
He took a deep breath of the scorching air and rebooted all his sub-threads.
A familiar stream of data instantly flooded his mind. The seven sub-threads came online simultaneously, seamlessly taking over the zone’s affairs.
"Report the current situation."
[The Earth Vein Magic Furnace is operating stably. Power output is being maintained within safe thresholds.]
[Internal cleanup of the main workshop is complete.]
[Tally of available resources is complete.]
Listening to Jarvis’s report, Allen walked toward the workshop entrance.
Everything was in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt.
In eleven years, he not only had to restore his pre-war production capacity, but also expand it several times over. He also needed to build super Golems befitting the combat power of a Second-level Wizard, laying a solid foundation for his eventual departure.
But before any of these grand plans could unfold, Allen forced himself to focus on the most pressing matter at hand—the full restoration of production and operations in Zone 18.