The Discovery part II
Part 3
Zal spent almost the entire afternoon exploring the research that Sandro had compiled.
He tried to find something that could compensate for the magical power in casting or help in developing magical runes, but after searching almost everything, he still had not found anything useful.
“Hmm…
Really nothing, huh?”
“It’s just that these are things people usually don’t pay much attention to…
It’s not surprising there’s no research in that area…”
Though he did not find what he was looking for, the topics of dark science that Sandro had gathered were numerous and intriguing enough that Zal did not feel disappointed or like leaving to do something else.
After further scrutinizing the research, he stumbled upon one particular study.
“Hmm…
What’s this ‘Homunculus’ research about?”
“‘Homunculus’ is a research project that attempted to create entities with human-like properties using summoning circles…
Mainly, it aimed to create summoned beings with artificial souls that could grow and develop on their own…”
“Hmm?
that’s amazing!
But why was the research stopped?”
“Because when a summoned entity dies in combat, everything resets…
The development and experience accumulated by the summoned beings are lost…
But if it’s not sent to fight, its development would be slow.
Eventually, it was deemed not cost-effective for practical use…”
“Um…
that’s right.
If you’ve been raising it for a long time and it suddenly dies one day, forcing you to start over, it would be quite heartbreaking.”
Zal continued looking around for other interesting research and stumbled upon another intriguing project.
“Hmm?
What is this ‘Eternal Contract’ research about?”
“That’s a study about trapping living people into summoning circles…
to use as templates for creating minions…”
“What!?
What do you mean?”
“Do you know the basics of contract summoning?
…
We have to make a contract with that person first, before we can truly summon or create a avatar of that person…
Normally, people are reluctant to make such fruitless contracts, especially with dark arts users…
There’s no way people would agree to it willingly…”
“Um, I guess I can see why.”
“Dark arts practitioners then devised a method that allows them to imprison humans within a circle…
This circle can summon the avatar of the imprisoned person without needing to make a contract with them…”
“Just like that!?
And…
what happens to the humans trapped in the circle?”
“That’s the problem that caused this research to be abandoned…
Dimensional spaces weren’t designed for humans to inhabit in the first place…
and converting that space into a magical rune to embed in the circle…
the dimensional conditions inside become unstable and are not conducive for living beings…
Those who are imprisoned gradually deteriorate due to the dimensional strains until they decay…
That’s why the circle could only be used for a short time…”
“That’s brutal!
Wait, didn’t you say that dark arts practitioners don’t necessarily have to be evil?
But this is utterly malevolent, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily…
But if it’s necessary, that’s another matter…”
“What could possibly justify trapping living humans in a circle to rot and die!?”
Sandro rolled her eyes as if pondering something for a moment before replying to Zal’s question with a neutral expression.
“If I deem it necessary, then it is necessary…”
Zal scowled in frustration at the reply, astounded to hear such a self-centered justification, especially given Sandro’s indifferent demeanor as if unconcerned with anything only made it more annoying.
“That’s too selfish!
So, you’re saying if you decide to do it, then it’s okay!?
How is that not evil!?”
“Evil is a matter of perspective…
There are many factors to consider whether imprisoning someone in an eternal contract circle is evil or not…
For example, who is being imprisoned, and what I intend to use this circle for.
If it’s used to trap a bad person to save good people, is it still an evil act?…”
“Even if it’s used for good deeds, an evil method is still evil!”
“So, because I use an evil method for good deeds, you think I’m evil?
Then, if I do something evil in a good way, does that make me good?”
This question made Zal furrow his brows again.
It was not the first time Sandro had used such strange logic.
“What does it mean to do something evil in a good way?”
“Like a politician who embezzles from the country but throws scraps to the public, allowing them to gnaw on the bones of their own country until they accepted him.
Does that make the politician a good person?”
“Uh…
that’s…”
Zal felt inexplicably tired.
Arguing with Sandro always ended this way, with her bringing up odd logic that left him speechless and ultimately retreating.
“Sigh…
Never mind…
What about this one?
The ‘Soul Threads’ research?
It’s not something gruesome again, right?”
“That is research attempting to create incentives for people to want to make contracts…
Because normally, those under a contract don’t really benefit…
they are just summoned for use or to create avatar…
One researcher developed a method called ‘Soul Threads’…
If a avatar with soul threads connected to the real body is summoned…
when the avatar fights, the real body gains the memories and experience from the battle…”
“Hm~ that doesn’t sound bad at all.
Then why was this research halted?”
“Because what returns to the real body isn’t just combat experience…
it also includes the pain from injuries or the shock from the death of the avatar…
The researcher himself couldn’t handle the shock and his heart failed, dying along with his avatar…
This made it another piece of research that people were afraid to continue…”
“Oh…
It sounded good for a second.
Dark arts always remain dark arts, huh?”
After that, Zal continued browsing the remaining researches, but none caught his attention.
As evening approached, they went up for dinner in the dining room and practiced magic again before retiring to their rooms for the night.
Although Zal turned off the lights and lay down in bed, he could not stop thinking about the research.
“Um…
I didn’t find what I wanted in the end…
But there are a lot of interesting stuff in dark arts research…”
He closed his eyes, preparing to sleep, but as he reviewed what he had learned that day, he suddenly seemed to realize something.
“Hmm?
That thing…”
Zal jumped up, turned on the light, and began to sketch something intensely for a long time until he had a solid idea.
“Right!
If I do it this way, it might just work!”
After changing clothes and grabbing his essentials, Zal rushed out of the room excitedly and did not return for the rest of the night.
Part 4
The next morning, Sandro went to check on Zal’s room before going down to prepare breakfast as usual, but she was surprised to find the room empty.
“Hmm…?
Is he awake already…?
He usually doesn’t wake up this early…”
Curious, she checked Zal’s location and found that he was at the foot of a mountain outside the Malachite Keep.
“What is he doing there…?”
Driven by curiosity, Sandro teleported to Zal’s location to see what he was up to.
When she arrived, she saw Zal standing at the top of the hill, summoning a small dragon-like minion and sending it to fight skeletons at the bottom of the hill.
Zal’s dragon was holding its own against a skeleton and managed to defeat one before being taken down by a second skeleton.
Sandro was surprised because the minion Zal had summoned seemed to only have the strength of an early level 2 minion, which should not be able to defeat a level 3 summoned skeleton.
She called out to him to inquire.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, Sandro, are you out for a walk?
Wait a sec, what time is it?”
Zal looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he had not slept since last night.
“Have you…
not slept at all…?
What have you been up to until now…?
I’ve told you, maintaining health is important…”
“Huh?
Is it morning already?
It’s always dark here, so I couldn’t tell.
But never mind that!
Look at this!”
Zal summoned the dragon-like minion again for Sandro to see.
“Is this…
a level 3 minion…?
But how…?”
To be sure, Sandro used an ‘Analyze’ spell to check the minion’s stats in detail.
It indeed was a level 3 minion, and its power had developed to the late stages of level 3.
“It’s not just the power!
The area for skill installation has increased too!
And what’s even cooler is that the mana cost hasn’t changed much from when it was a level 2!”
“From when it was a level 2 minion…?
What do you mean…?”
“This is a minion created by combining three different types of research: ‘Homunculus,’ ‘Eternal Contract,’ and ‘Soul Threads.’ It results in a minion that can evolve by itself and doesn’t reset when it dies!”
Sandro tried to understand the connection between the three research projects, but could not quite grasp it.
Zal started to explain.
“First, I create a minion with the structure of the ‘Homunculus.’ Once it’s permanently summoned, it can develop on its own.
Then, I place that minion in the circle of the ‘Eternal Contract.’ This allows me to summon a avatar of the ‘Homunculus’ to use, and since it’s a magical entity, the original body in the circle isn’t affected by the dimensional space that was unsuitable for living beings.
The key here is that the summoning circle must include the structure of ‘Soul Threads.’ This way, when the avatar is summoned and used, the original in the circle gains combat experience and develops simultaneously.”
Hearing the explanation, Sandro finally understood everything.
“And because the summoned minion is just a avatar…
even if it dies, the original in the circle doesn’t lose the experience gained…
allowing you to continuously summon the avatar to gather experience and develop the original…”
“Spot on!”
“…This is…
truly beyond expectations…
I never thought that research could be integrated in such a way…
But as the real body develops, wouldn’t the cost of summoning a avatar increase as well?”
“I was wondering about that at first, but look at this.”
Zal unfolded the diagram of the summoning circle used for this creature and pointed to a specific rune, enlarging the image to show Sandro its structure clearly.
“This is the rune that embeds the real body of the minion.
Initially, it didn’t have this structure, but as the summon developed, the rune began to change its own structure, becoming more complex and efficient, yet the rate of magical power consumption remained the same.”
“So the rune evolved on its own?
Because it was transformed from ‘Homunculus’ into a rune, it also acquired the ‘Homunculus’ property of self-development?
This is a discovery of the century…”
“Haha, this was a total fluke.
I didn’t expect it to turn out this good.”
“No…
it’s not just about seeing how to link each piece of research together or being able to write a magical structure that seamlessly connects each piece of research together…
Not everyone can do that, Zalaras.
You’re…”
Sandro steadied her shoulders to keep him from falling and looked at his sleeping face with admiration.
At first, she thought Zal’s ambition to become a summoner was just a childlike fascination.
Once he realized the true difficulty of advancing in this field, he would probably give up.
But it turned out that not only did Zal not give up, but he also managed to create a new innovation in this field, making her truly appreciate his ability and determination.
Sandro looked at Zal’s face again and smiled slightly with warm eyes, then teleported him back to his bedroom in the tower to let him rest.
Part 5
Zal woke up in his own bed, stirred by the faint smell of food that teased his nose.
Though his eyelids felt heavy, making it hard to open his eyes, he tried to find the source of the smell.
Looking around, he saw Sandro sitting not far away reading a book, with a large covered bowl of food on a side table.
As soon as he turned to look, Sandro also turned.
“You’re awake…?”
Sandro closed her book and got up from her seat, bringing the food tray to the bedside.
“This is actually dinner…
But I thought porridge might be more appropriate for your condition…
Just eat slowly…”
She said while arranging a pillow behind him so he could sit up and eat the porridge.
Zal felt that Sandro was overdoing it since he was not actually sick, but he did not object.
As he reached for the bowl of porridge, Sandro preemptively scooped some up to feed him, which made Zal feel even more awkward.
“I can eat by myself, you know…”
“…Open your mouth…”
“I said I can eat by myself…”
“…I’m going to count to three…”
“Sandro…”
“…Two…”
“And where did one go!?”
Despite feeling awkward, Zal had to reluctantly let Sandro feed him.
After he finished the porridge, they resumed their previous conversation.
“…The new summoning circle you’ve discovered…
it’s a discovery of the century…”
“Cool, right!
Haha, if it keeps gaining experience from fighting Sandro’s skeletons like this, it could become a god-tier summon, right?”
“That might not be as easy…
Do you remember how its growth rate changed after it reached level 3?”
“Um…
it didn’t take long from level 2 to 3, but once it reached level 3, fighting four to five skeletons didn’t really enhance its power much.”
“There are two reasons…
First, skeletons are mid-level 3 monsters, so the experience gained isn’t much…
Second, since skeletons are also minions, their combat patterns are limited, which further reduces the experience gained from fighting them…”
“Ah…
so pumping up the levels won’t work then?
What if it moves up to fight higher-level creatures?
Like a Dread knight?”
“Even though they are only a few levels apart, a Dread knight is a monster at the early stages of level 5.
The power difference with level 3 monsters is so vast they wouldn’t stand a chance…
If it gets struck down in one hit and can’t even land a blow, it won’t gain any experience…
Gaining experience to develop a minion isn’t much different from a real person’s experience…
finding opponents that are slightly higher or at a similar level will help develop faster…”
In this world, monster levels were assessed based on the prowess of their species, combined with an analysis of their ‘combat spirit’ that enveloped their form.
Initially, monster leveling was primarily based on species and age, but it turned out to be ineffective as some monsters had high combat capabilities even at a young age, or some that had gone through extensive battles were stronger than the level assessed for their species.
Thus, the spell ‘Analyze’ was developed to accurately read the strength of monsters.
The spell would scan the concentration of ‘combat spirit’, a type of energy naturally emitted by monsters, along with assessing their physical strength to approximate their overall power.
This allowed an estimation of the monster’s level from 1 to 10.
Over time, as monsters exceeding level 10 were discovered, levels A and S were added, corresponding to levels eleven and twelve, respectively.
Future classifications might be refined further for accuracy.
As the levels increase, the disparity in power also grew significantly.
Minions from level 1 to 3 might fight evenly, but from level 4 onwards, the gap in power levels increasingly widened to the extent that attacks from lower-level monsters could not even scratch higher-level ones.
This was because higher-level monsters had much stronger combat spirits, making the attacks of lower-level monsters with weaker combat spirits ineffective.
This was why Zal’s level 3 minion was no match for a level 5 minion like a Dread Knight.
“What if Sandro summons a level 4 minion?”
“As I mentioned, summoned minions offer lower experience because their attacks and defenses are repetitive and lack variety.
Fighting such predictable opponents eventually leads to a plateau in development…
limiting the experience gained from each type.
Once accustomed to their combat style, you would hardly gain any significant experience from such fights.”
“So, what should we do?”
“We need to have them fight real people…
like adventurers.
That would yield full, substantial experience benefits…
Plus, you could use the time for other tasks…
It’s a more efficient way…”
“Does that mean we have to sneak up and attack people?
Wouldn’t that be more time-consuming?”
“Not at all…
Just release your minions in a dungeon and let adventurers come to fight them.”
Sandro’s suggestion made Zal even more curious as it sounded both complicated and time-consuming compared to what she had just dismissed.
“Hmm…
But finding a dungeon would also take time, right?
And if my minion dies, I’d have to deploy it again.
Besides, if the dungeon gets cleared, we’d need to find a new one, right?”
“You don’t need to find a dungeon…
nor travel to release a new minion every time…
I’ve already thought of a way…”
“Oh?”
“We’ll create our own dungeon…
and let your minion be one of the monsters in it…
Then lure adventurers to come and give your minion experience…”
Read ‘Doombringer the 5th’ before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en