NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Ancient Computers
As soon as I returned to the Sitri Estate, I immediately retrieved my laptop. This device, like my PC, was another piece of technology I had built in preparation for my trip to Japan.
Much like my desktop, the laptop's components are designed to be easily swapped and upgraded, allowing for seamless modifications as needed.
With my laptop in hand, I approached the unconscious, brown-haired teen. I then pulled out several magical readers, similar to the ones doctors use to monitor a person's heartbeat in hospitals.
Wrapping them around his left hand, I connected them to my laptop and placed my hand on him, channeling some of my magic into him.
Finding the Boosted Gear and making it physically manifest was no simple task for most, but for me, it was almost intuitive. All it took was locating the "switch."
Moments later, in a burst of red, the Twice Critical form materialized on his left hand.
"It doesn't look like Boosted Gear..." Serafall remarked from the side, watching the scene unfold.
"That's because the core of the Gear is still dormant," I explained. "Ddraig is the essence that makes Boosted Gear what it is. Without him, it's just a Twice Critical." I gestured toward the white circles that were beginning to appear around the teen's hand.
As the circles pulsed, I began to operate my laptop, launching the Gearscanner.exe program. Almost instantly, a window appeared, and the magic circles began to spin in sync with the progress bar that materialized on the screen.
I leaned back into the Victorian-era couch and settled in to await the results of the scan.
[Scan Completed]
[Sacred Gear: Boosted Gear scan complete!]
[Scan uploaded to Aurora Network]
[Do you wish to read the log?]
Without hesitation, I clicked "Yes." The screen displayed a 3D image of the Boosted Gear along with its core, Ddraig. The scan had thoroughly analyzed the dragon's signature and energy readings.
With this data, I now had the capability to either start developing dragons—beings of pure energy—or create weapons to combat them. Discovering how energy acquires consciousness was also a tantalizing prospect.
However, at this moment, the dragon's soul held little interest for me. What captivated my attention was the wealth of information that Boosted Gear had accumulated over the centuries.
When I opened the file, my laptop lagged for a brief moment. The volume of data was staggering, even by my standards. As I combed through the records, I realized that each of Boosted Gear's previous hosts had left a small fragment of themselves behind upon their deaths.
It was similar to a cache in an app, accumulating over time. According to the logs, the system's admin was supposed to clean it after every cycle. However, since the "Big G" had passed away, no one had been there to maintain the gears, resulting in the cache building up and ultimately impacting the Gear's function. Since the Gear was directly linked to its host's emotional state, the remnants also affected it on a fundamental level.
"If Boosted Gear weren't so resilient, it would've crumbled to dust by now," I said, explaining the situation to Serafall. "But instead, it's begun to mutate."
"What do you mean?" Serafall asked, her expression a mix of confusion and curiosity, her attention fully locked on our research of one of the Longinus.
"The Boosted Gear is now filled with the remnants of past hosts. It has reached a point where it's starting to mutate, unlocking something the system classifies as 'Juggernaut Drive.' This is something that shouldn't be possible—and it's incredibly dangerous. It taps directly into Ddraig's power without any restraint. No human should be able to do that without decades of training, and the logs show that it has killed countless hosts over the past 2,500 years." I presented the logs, displaying the names of past hosts and their causes of death—ERROR [JUGGERNAUT DRIVE].
"Are the gears like miniature computers or something?" Serafall asked, her disbelief evident.
"In a sense, yes. They are magical computers," I confirmed. "But Boosted Gear is extremely primitive—it's like tinkering with the first versions of Windows."
"Tell that to Azazel, who's been fiddling with them for the past thousand years," Serafall replied, a playful snort escaping her lips as she crossed her arms and pouted.
"It's not my fault he's blindly wandering through the forest without a map," I muttered, rolling my eyes before turning back to the logs, digging deeper to uncover files related to the Balance Breaker. I found an entry marked as SYSTEM ERROR/// BUG/// WELSH DRAGON SCALE MAIL.
"Heh... It's amusing how everyone praises the Scale Mail and its power, but it's really nothing more than an error in the system." I pointed at the screen, the irony not lost on me. By this point, Serafall had walked over and was now sitting comfortably on my lap.
"So it's true... Balance Breakers didn't exist when the Biblical God was around?" she asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"Correct. Balance Breakers are spiritual-level artifacts, and they are influenced by their hosts' raw emotions—usually anger, but willpower is also a factor. For example, Boosted Gear here has an 86% chance of achieving Scale Mail through pure rage alone."
"And the rest are driven by the lust for power," I added, gesturing to the statistics displayed on my screen.
"This is incredible… it's like the Boosted Gear is an open book to you. Could you recreate it?" Serafall asked, her voice thoughtful.
"I'm already utilizing what you all know as the Boost ability of the Welsh Dragon. It's in the Diamond Core Heart and Castor & Pollux," I replied, a hint of exasperation creeping into my tone. I returned my attention to the Scale Mail, only to be thoroughly disappointed.
"This is primitive beyond belief. I thought the Scale Mails were masterpieces worthy of study, but they're basic at best. The dragon energy is simply spread throughout the body and crystallized into armor. It's basic," I said, my voice tinged with disgust.
"All I need to counter this is an Anti-dragon field. The crystallization will fail, and the energy boost will vanish. The Gear user would be left naked. And that's just with an Anti-dragon energy field. If I used anti-dragon magic, the Longinus user would simply perish. Tell me, Sera—this is God-slayer material? It's nothing more than the basics. If Gods are this elementary, it's frankly sad," I said, shaking my head. There had to be more to this, but this? This was just pathetic. If they relied so heavily on such a fundamental tactic, I would exploit it until they learned their lesson.
Serafall said nothing in response. She knew she wasn't much different, as she, too, relied heavily on her demonic magic.
Still, there were some notable aspects worth examining, particularly Boosted Gear's Boost ability.
It turns out, it wasn't as mysterious as I thought...
"Heh... so to use it, you just need to convert willpower into magic," I mused aloud.
"A perfect ability for an emotional being," I added, glancing at Serafall, who nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Dragons are inherently emotional beings. The pair of Heavenly Dragons were especially like that—at least, that's what I've heard. They were killed long before my birth," Serafall contributed, adding her perspective.
I nodded, continuing to sift through the data. I was aware that Ddraig had once possessed the "Pierce" ability, but none of the recent hosts seemed to have it. I decided to check older logs.
"Hmm. The last Ddraig host to possess the Pierce ability was around 1,500 years ago. After that, there was a streak of average hosts, and the ability eventually faded, submerged beneath the remnants of lost souls..."
"Truly? I don't even remember Boosted Gear having such an ability!" Serafall exclaimed, clearly surprised. By the look on her face, she had never even known the gear possessed such a power.
"That's because the last host to have it was around 1,500 years ago," I explained, my tone matter-of-fact.
"That's a long time ago, even by our standards," Serafall remarked.
"And as the world gradually moved away from the supernatural, the chances for Boosted Gear to awaken became fewer and fewer. The logs support this. The periods between each awakening have grown wider over time. The world, it seems, simply became a less dangerous place," I said, organizing the files before focusing on the last host—who hadn't even acquired the Scale Mail.
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