Invisible Core

They were almost at Nightfort.

Osha still did not dare meet the Crown Prince's eyes.

Those eyes were hell. Looking at those clear, beautiful eyes, who could have imagined that he could create hell without a moment's hesitation?

She had been told that a "core" had been successfully implanted in her skull.

How had it gotten in? She did not dare think too deeply about it.

The desperate agony that forced her to relive it every moment gave her the courage to ask.

But that gentle, calm voice had told her, "Anesthetic is bad for the brain, so I didn't use any. No need to thank me. Just remember it."

She had indeed remembered it—not with gratitude, but with fear.

She did not dare feel the slightest hatred or resistance.

What if that "core" could let him know her emotions?

She hurriedly cut off every disrespectful thought. No, His Highness was entirely thinking of me. Otherwise, how could I possibly have obtained such power? Thank His Highness, long live His Highness, I must always remain loyal to His Highness...

Joffrey could actually understand Osha's resistance. He had pried open the woman's skull—was she not even allowed to be unhappy about it? That kind of thinking was dangerous.

Ding~

A crisp imitation of gemstones clinking sounded from his waist.

He took out a completely transparent, colorless piece of glass. A faintly glowing notification appeared on its screen: "May 10th, 9:00 AM. Civilian Osha of Haunted Forest City, Beyond-the-Wall Province, pays her respects to the throne."

It seemed Osha had been properly trained. For the past few days, she had used the core to offer her greetings on time without missing even a minute. Not bad.

He tapped the message box, and four options appeared below it:

"Send: 'The throne is well. Civilian Osha, today is another pleasant day.'"

"Send: 'Read.'"

"Send: 'Do not disturb me too frequently.'"

"Do not reply."

Joffrey gave a wicked smile and decisively tapped the first option.

The Information Rune reflection within the glass instantly transmitted the preset message to the "core."

The Information Rune reflection within the core activated its preset operating pathway and transmitted the received message into Osha's brain.

Thus, Osha saw another "Crown Prince," visible only to her, wave at her and speak in the same bright voice as he had over the past few days: "The throne is well. Civilian Osha, today is another pleasant day."

Naturally, only she could hear those words as usual.

Unnamed Gods, if this happened a few more times, would she ever be able to forget that face or that voice again?

Osha carefully examined the pale blue interface that only she could see.

The so-called "daily quest" had already vanished. Only some unchanging words and images remained on the interface, along with that small box that moved every so often.

So today's task was complete?

Osha's taut nerves finally relaxed somewhat. The task was simple, but she still did not dare slack off in the slightest.

She did not know how this so-called core could accomplish such things, but she understood that this dreamlike interface was absolutely abnormal. She was enduring an unceasing, invisible gaze.

The pale blue interface constantly reminded her of the core's existence. Freedom had become an impossible luxury.

There was truly no escape.

As she had for the past few days, she silently savored bitterness and despair.

But for some reason, a thought suddenly emerged from her chaotic mind: Why escape? What was so bad about this?

She almost instinctively mocked the thought, yet some inexplicable magic power drove her to keep revisiting it. The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

Yes, why escape?

His Highness had neither harmed her nor lied to her. This core truly possessed extraordinary power. It was simply a gift from the Gods.

No, it was clearly the Will of the Gods!

Pain was the fertile ground of faith. Osha's expression gradually turned fervent.

That was right. The Gods had bestowed such great power because they wanted to send His Highness to fight the White Walkers, save the people, and build heaven on earth!

The Divine Emissary had chosen her. Why should she escape?

Osha found her reason and stopped resisting, allowing the invisible shackles to embed themselves in her soul.

The Contract Magic Energy within the core immediately merged into her consciousness. According to the contract, Osha willingly offered everything she had, and the Crown Prince would permit her to continue serving and pledging loyalty until death.

Joffrey sensed the contract taking effect.

He was very satisfied. Osha's will was already considered firm, so one could imagine how shocking the core would be to ordinary people. The Contract Rune would shine brilliantly.

What pleased him even more was that the core could now operate independently and even produce a slight surplus.

This version of the core contained Information and Restoration Rune reflections, as well as one-time-use Contract Magic Energy and Fire Magic Energy.

The Information Rune reflection had been set to continuously feed a pale blue interface into the host's brain and relay received information to the host, essentially serving as both a signal receiver and display.

The Restoration Rune reflection could restore unused Magic Energy within the core into Source Energy for storage, functioning like a battery.

The Contract Magic Energy could make people sign tyrannical terms that were difficult to violate.

If any real accident occurred, the Fire Magic Energy could also destroy the core and eliminate the host.

All in all, it was a budget version of a phone. The only difference was that it relied not on code and programs, but on information-response pathways he had written command by command.

His transparent glass "Little White," meanwhile, served as the server and also as a more sophisticated phone.

The core had several hundred programmed commands:

Feed the host a semi-transparent rectangular blue light screen and fixed text and images; feed in white numbers that change over time; periodically feed in "daily quest" and send preset specific information to "Little White" according to the host's response...

The programmed commands for the server "Little White" were several times more numerous.

Though it was extremely tedious, it was still far easier than being a programmer typing code in his previous life. He did not need to consider how commands would be implemented. Any command he could think of could simply be added. Such was the charm of magic.

Of course, Joffrey had mainly gone to the trouble of making these cores in order to feed back into himself.

He had already reached the limits of magic:

Redundant Rune Energy storage limit: 100 units. Recovery rate: 5 units per day;

Total Magic Energy storage limit produced by all Runes: 2,000 units. Recovery rate limit (related to total Rune Energy): 100 units per day.

Note: One unit equals the output of a single Rune over 24 hours.

Under these limitations, the upper limit of his personal magical strength had already been locked in place. Breaking through these shackles would clearly require a great deal of time. Before then, he needed to bypass these limits and obtain more power.

The core was a good result.

Over the past few days, the core had consumed less than one unit of Magic Energy in total, yet it had already produced more than ten units, all of which had been restored into Source Energy and stored away.

Its Magic Energy output clearly exceeded the normal accumulation rate of Runes.

Why?

Joffrey thought of those eight severed heads in the Wolfswood, and the mysterious connection between Source Energy and soul consciousness.

He had proven a bright path: human souls could bring more Source Energy, which could then be gathered and stored through various mediums for Runes to convert and use.

Endless magic power.