System Project

After filling his stomach, Borne briefly meditated to restore his mental strength, then threw himself back into the experiment.

Although the gem engraving had succeeded, it was not yet the final product. After injecting a small amount of magic power for testing, he still found several problems.

Borne spread sheet after sheet of blueprints across the laboratory. More than a hundred covered the entire room; when the walls were no longer enough, he simply laid them across the floor. Failed experiments had not affected him negatively.

Theory was theory. Once put into practice, countless situations could arise. Like the protagonists in novels who imagined something and immediately succeeded at refining pills or brewing potions—that existed only in novels.

Experiments themselves were the results of constantly making mistakes and drawing conclusions from them. Besides, Borne was not even following a conventional path.

A year ago, after deciphering part of the technology behind mobile Mind-Brains and Psicrystals, Borne had seen a different possibility.

Just as Borne bent over his desk, immersed in his work, the quill in his hand suddenly paused before continuing its revisions as though nothing had happened.

"The barrier is still far too crude. It has too many loopholes. Against high-level spellcasters, it is practically undefended."

A voice came from behind Borne. The visitor was none other than Borne's grandfather.

Count Ioulaum!

Hearing the voice behind him, Borne showed no intention of stopping, but he replied, "The one who left it undefended was you, Grandfather. Besides, if they have already made it this far, what use is stopping high-level spellcasters..."

Borne sighed softly, set down his pen, then turned and continued, "My dear Grandfather, since there are so many loopholes, could you please refrain from violently forcing your way in next time? My magic storage device overloaded and nearly burned out!"

Borne glanced at the glass crystal apparatus placed in the center. A distinct crack had already appeared across its surface.

The Count did not care about Borne's "accusation." Instead, he burst into hearty laughter.

"You have already begun engraving the inside of the gem..."

With merely a glance, the Count understood Borne's current progress.

"Yes. There are still problems with the internal structure. The magic power conflicts at several nodes need to be resolved."

"Oh? Let me see..."

The Count's expression turned serious, though inwardly he was astonished. He had thought Borne was only about to begin studying gem engraving, yet he had already reached the third stage.

This stage was the core focus of Ioun Stones. It was at this point that the direction of an Ioun Stone's enhancement began to take shape.

Though he had not yet examined the construction in detail, the blueprints scattered everywhere revealed just how complex it was.

That brat. He never learns the good things, but he is quite adept at picking up everything else.

The Count grumbled inwardly, yet his heart was filled with delight. This was more like him.

The Count's Ioun Stone also did not follow the conventional path. Ordinary Ioun Stones enhanced one's physical attributes or strengthened spells and similar abilities, while his increased vitality. His lifespan was nearly comparable to that of long-lived races.

"Mm..."

"This sort of rune... Psionics... Oh, no, it is Mind Flayer technology!"

A high-level Arcanist's life had already undergone an immense transition, completely surpassing the life level of ordinary people. With a sweep of his mental power, the Count rapidly deduced most of it. "And this unusual structure—it somewhat resembles the methods of Far East Artificers..."

Borne was slightly startled by this, then nodded.

Imaskar's artificers?!

Fine. That would save him a lot of explaining.

"The idea is not bad. It is somewhat pieced together from different sources, but reaching this level is still worthy of praise!"

"However, remember one thing. Arcanists understand the world through knowledge and obtain extraordinary power. Anything can be borrowed or referenced, but you must not become dependent on it. All power must return to oneself!"

"Those people have already gone down the wrong path..."

The Count spoke earnestly.

Borne nodded to show that he understood, then frankly said that he was merely borrowing and referencing those ideas.

The Count smiled approvingly. After pointing out several minor problems, he made to leave. As he departed, he casually tossed a scroll to Borne.

"This is the final portion of the Ioun Stone. Same as before—return it in one month."

As soon as he finished speaking, a crack appeared ahead of him. The Count stepped through it, and his entire body vanished from Borne's sight.

Borne's expression remained blank as the sound of cracking echoed through the underground laboratory.

Bang!!!

Glass fragments scattered across the floor. Without a supply of magic power, the magical light spheres quickly dimmed, and the entire laboratory soon sank into darkness.

One month later, Borne finally completed the final product. The orange diamond-shaped gem glimmered brilliantly beneath the light.

Thirty days were enough for Borne to thoroughly master the final production process. Just as he had initially guessed, Ioun Stones had indeed "borrowed" the ideas behind Psicrystals. However, whereas Psicrystals extracted part of a personality to form a magical construct similar to a "spirit artifact," Ioun Stones enhanced their user's abilities.

After all, extracting a personality and losing part of one's emotions was essentially equivalent to splitting one's soul.

Moreover, once a soul had been split, no matter how small the split, the soul would be incomplete. Reaching Legendary rank would then be virtually impossible.

That was why Dean Concinnio had removed that step and turned it into an enhancement buff instead.

The enhancement was long-term. As long as one did not remove the Ioun Stone, it was practically permanent!

Even Borne had to admire the Dean's ingenuity. Yet the original Psicrystal concept had given Borne inspiration.

Borne would definitely not extract a personality, but he could use something else in its place!

For example: AI, artificial intelligence.

Before transmigrating, Borne had worked in this field. As a researcher, he had been responsible for developing AI chips.

Although AI still could not freely communicate with people, possess a sense of self, or think as it did in films and television dramas, it could already assist people in completing complex tasks. It could handle large-scale data calculations, simulations, and similar work very well.

Replacing a personality with an AI chip was Borne's plan.

However, AI chips were an enormous system. Even given a hundred years, Borne could not create one. They were the crystallization of an entire civilization; every program was the result of countless researchers' wisdom, not something one person could produce through sheer effort.

Since conventional methods would not work, he could only take an unconventional path!

Do not forget that this was another world!

As an alternative kind of "miracle," magic could even take down "gods." What could possibly be impossible?

Conjuring an Intelligence Chip out of thin air was certainly impossible. Not to mention that Wish had not yet appeared at this time, even if it had, whether Borne would dare use it was another matter.

That was a massive trap!

This was where the benefits of his excellent memory came into play.

In a book of miscellaneous anecdotes, there had once been an interesting case.

An antique theft case!

The case itself was simple. A group of thieves had accidentally learned that a noble possessed a statue of the Gold Elf Empress of Aryvandaar, said to have been sculpted by an Elf master from the Maeril era.

One of the thieves happened to be a spellcaster. Not only had he seen the statue, he had handled and appraised it multiple times. The group discussed it and decided to use [Fabricate] to "copy" the statue, then swap the original out.

To make the "forgery" more realistic and durable, the spellcaster chose the same material as the original.

Although [Fabricate] could create matter from nothing, adding the same material would extend the spell's duration. The reverse was also true.

To make the magical effect as strong as possible, they used materials in nearly identical proportions and successfully "copied" the statue. Then, just as planned, they quickly switched out the original.

The noble never realized that the statue was fake. It was only discovered by an Elf two years later, but by then it was too late. The original had changed hands many times and had long since vanished without a trace.

Only after one of the thieves was later captured did people understand the full sequence of events, and the incident was recorded by later generations.

Although the statue theft case had been treated as a strange anecdote, Borne had drawn inspiration from it.

He then conducted an in-depth study of the principles behind [Fabricate].

[Fabricate] did not create living beings from nothing. That was something the Creator God did.

Through the spell, it drew Shadow Matter from the Shadowfell and created a nonliving object within the spell's range. It could create objects made of plant matter, such as textiles, rope, and wood. It could also create objects made of mineral matter, such as stone, crystal, and metal. The created object had to fit within a five-foot cube, and its form and material had to be something the caster had seen before.

The created object was not permanent and had a limited duration.

Though it was called [Fabricate], it was fundamentally a summoning spell. However, compared to summoning creatures from other worlds, "summoning" Shadow Matter from the Shadowfell was clearly much safer. After all, quite a few spellcasters died every year at the hands of summoned creatures.

Borne did not know which eccentric spellcaster had improved and created this magic, but he needed to thank them properly. It had helped him immensely.

What was the core of AI, artificial intelligence? Naturally, it was the chip.

Chips were primarily composed of silicon.

Silicon was an atomic crystal. It was insoluble in water or nitric acid and had a metallic luster on its surface.

Crystal, opal, agate, quartz, and similar materials all contained silicon, while the silicon used to make chips mainly came from quartz sand.

In fact, Borne had another option.

Biochips!

Biochips were microarray hybridization chips of biological information molecules—such as gene fragments, DNA fragments, polypeptides, proteins, sugar molecules, and tissues—densely fixed onto mutually supportive media.

In essence, they were biochips combining electronic technology with biotechnology.

Naturally, biochips were Borne's preferred choice. However, even in his previous life, biochips had still been in the theoretical stage, and their practical feasibility was far too low.

But that was fine. This had never been something that could be accomplished overnight.

It was a long-term plan.

Borne called it: the System Project!

Now, the time had finally come to take the first step. He would first create an Ioun Stone version of a System Chip, and this step was crucial to him!

Borne had spent a full three years planning for it and another three years preparing!

Especially since Borne had awakened most of his memories from his previous life, he knew that Netheril would soon soar to greatness, enjoy several thousand years of glory, and be accompanied by all kinds of disasters.

Goblins, Orcs, Phaerimm, the shattering of the Weave, and perhaps even the coming Time of Troubles.

Demigods were as common as dogs, and Liches walked everywhere was not a joke, but a fact.

Only by becoming a High Arcanist could one possess some ability to protect oneself. Otherwise, it was all too easy to become cannon fodder.

Cannon fodder did not necessarily die while charging forward. It could also be someone caught in the crossfire while others fought.

According to the information in his memories.

Levels one through ten were merely low and middle rank. Only from level eleven onward did one enter the high ranks.

As for Legendary rank, it began above level twenty. There was too little information about Legendary rank, and it was not something Borne needed to consider yet.

Because after reaching the high ranks, every advancement was a threshold!

After the high ranks, the gap between every level was like the gap between Borne and the other students. Do not be fooled by how he could currently beat members of the Arcane Society as easily as children. After reaching the high ranks, the difference between every level might be just as enormous.

A representative example: the Count!

His most famous battle was when he fought more than a dozen high-level spellcasters and martial professionals alone, then even killed several in return.

One had to know that after reaching the high ranks, deaths became rare. Winning or losing a fight was normal, but unless one was besieged, killing a high-level individual in a one-on-one battle was extremely difficult.

Borne knew his own situation best.

Although the outside world currently showered Borne with praise—Nether's youngest Arcanist, Giles Academy's strongest "chief"...

All of that was hollow. With the powerful mental strength granted after transmigration and the memories of his previous life, anyone could have reached this level.

But as his strength continued to increase, and especially once he entered the high ranks, this "transmigration benefit" would soon expire.

After advancing to the high ranks, one's physical potential would be fully developed and strengthened in different directions according to one's profession.

To ensure that the experiment proceeded smoothly, Borne deliberately rested for twelve hours and adjusted himself to his best condition.

That night, Borne activated every protective measure, walked to the Alchemy Table in the center, and pressed a protrusion.

A series of mechanical clicks sounded. The Alchemy Table split apart from the middle, revealing an opening, and Borne lightly jumped down.

The mechanical sounds rang out again as the Alchemy Table sealed the opening once more.

When Borne landed, everything around him was pitch-black.

With a snap of his fingers, several light spheres instantly dispelled the darkness.

This was Borne's most secret place, four to five hundred meters underground and below sea level.

The space was not large, only around thirty square meters. The surrounding walls had also been isolated by various engraved runes and magic arrays.

The reason he had been so "careful" was to prepare for the unexpected.

After all, Intelligence Chips had never appeared in Faerûn. If one really caused some "treasure light shooting into the heavens" and drew the attention of powerful figures from every side, he would be finished.

"Let's begin!"

Borne took a deep breath.

Still Mind activated!

All negative emotions vanished. Borne's face became calm as he took out a prepared box and poured out the quartz sand inside.

This quartz sand had been carefully selected. It was sedimented quartz sand from the Wizard Tower's Elemental Pool, having been in contact with dense magic power for a long time. Borne had paid no small price to obtain it from the Dean.

The raw material for a chip was a wafer. Wafers were composed of silicon, which was refined from quartz sand. A wafer was purified silicon.

He then took out two scrolls: the fifth-circle spells [Fabricate] and [Animate Objects].

As [Fabricate] activated.

A sensation of spatial weightlessness washed over him. His consciousness seemed to stretch out, entering a dim and freezing world. Guided by the spell, it quickly connected to a mass of black matter.

Shadow Matter!

Borne immediately knew what it was and how to use it.

"This feeling... it really is summoning!"

"What miraculous matter. Not only can it transform into all kinds of substances, it can even alter the forms of matter!"

Borne could sense that if not for the limitations of the world's laws, there should have been even more forms of matter it could transform into.

As Borne shifted his consciousness, the Shadow Matter quickly enveloped the quartz sand.

In an instant, the structure of a chip emerged in his mind. An Intelligence Chip was different from an ordinary chip.

An Intelligence Chip had a humanoid brain structure.

It imitated the structural model of the human brain's nervous system. The neurons in the human brain were both a control system and a storage system.

The CPU, memory modules, buses, northbridge, southbridge, and more were all integrated together, forming a massive chip set resembling a human brain.

As Borne's thoughts unfolded, the various internal structures of the chip were mapped out one by one.

The quartz sand changed along with his thoughts like melted liquid. A golden chip the size of a little fingernail gradually emerged.

Borne immediately took out the orange diamond-shaped gem that he had already engraved.

He activated the "animation" scroll once more.

The orange gem "came alive" and swallowed the newly formed chip in a single gulp.

The chip swallowed by the gem seemed to take root and sprout, producing countless tiny tendrils that slowly "grew" within the gem.

Some crawled along the engraved lines, while others formed all kinds of strange symbols.

Borne's pupils glowed blue, a sign that his mental power was boiling at its peak. Yet under the effects of Still Mind, all negative emotions were suppressed.

Borne's expression remained blank as bright red blood ran from his nostril. When the "tendrils" had covered the entire gem, he swiftly took out a magical engraving knife and carved his personal wizard rune onto the gem's surface.

The [Fabricate] and [Animate Objects] spells were dispelled!

The state of [Still Mind] ended. Intense pain instantly surged through him, and then his vision went black as he completely lost consciousness...