I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World-Chapter 89: Processor Design

Zephyr burned the image into his mind as a surge of chaotic emotions surged through him. His father was alive. His mother was alive. They both were. There was something more at play here. There was so much to discover. So much he now had to look forward to. But he needed the strength to be able to reach there. That location. That coordinate. Zephyr was sure it was anything but simple... So there was no way in hell he was going to allow himself to be held back here!

His consciousness that was previously being erased by the moderator suddenly surged with a violent vengeance. Who the fuck got to decide what he could or couldn’t do?! He had the knowledge, so what the fuck was this moderator?! Why did it get to filter what he wanted?! Who gave it that authority?! This was his mana node! His and his only!

All of Zephyr’s being thrummed in accordance to his will. A resonance of his conviction. It spread out through the entirety of his mana core, pulsed through his mana node, reaching the threads that connected to the ’above’. Everything in here was Zephyr, and Zephyr was everything in here. Everything bore his will, everything bore his conviction. There was no room for any other entity. Even Aegis got booted out instantly, retreating into silence on the outside at the suddenness of being expelled.

Zephyr’s intense, unwavering conviction invaded the threads, hacking mercilessly at the moderator that stood between him and what he wanted. If Zephyr could roar, he would have roared till his throat bled. He fought for control, weakening the hold—the filter that the moderator had set in place to meter his comprehension.

The battle went on for what felt like an eternity, with Zephyr nibbing at the moderator’s filter. It was coming undone slowly. And the more it did, the less wrongness Zephyr began to feel. In fact, if he wasn’t imagining it, it almost felt like the more he tore at the filter, the faster and easier it became to move further. Like his efforts were being aided by another.

Origin.

Zephyr realized that was what it was. Because of his direct contact with his mana node, he could feel that stream of every concept conceivable. That stream of information that almost wiped his mind clean the first time he tried touching his mana node... except this time it was aiding him.

"The filter wasn’t designed by origin!" Zephyr realized. Origin was supposed to be free for all. Comprehension was supposed to be free for all. He could feel that very clearly now. Origin in its natural state was impartial. Absolute. So what was this moderator and where did it come from to act as a gatekeeper to origin?

That didn’t matter to Zephyr. The hold was weakening on him, and he was sure to break free. He didn’t care about any repercussions that might happen as a result of this action, only thinking about the here and the now.

Eventually, after a drawn out battle, the filter weakened to the point where Zephyr could destroy it with a last, simple thought.

In that last moment when Zephyr reached the final step, he suddenly felt an intense surge of hatred directed at him from the moderator. If before the gaze was unfeeling, now it was intentional. The moderator in all it’s enirety was fully here, searching the surroundings to spot what had fully drawn its attention. It immediately locked its gaze onto Zephyr, causing him to nearly lose his mind from fear even though he was absolutely certain nothing could be done to harm him anymore. He had won the struggle already. What was left of the filter was so meagre that it only served as a medium for the moderator to get a final look at Zephyr. The moderator registered the entirety of Zephyr’s being into its mind, the signature of his consciousness, any and everything that could be used to identify him at a later point just as it lost its hold on Zephyr’s mana core.

Immediately the moderator retreated, Zephyr breathed out the mental equivalent of a deep sigh of relief, just as he felt his control over his mana core space solidify. He could now feel everything inside here all of a sudden— His mana node that thrummed right at the center, the glyph lines all over the ground that served as mana channels— He was aware of everything, all at once.

"Ahh!" Zephyr reeled from the suddenness of it. It was like he’d just been given an extra sense out of nowhere. The feeling was weird. He could ’see’ out of his normal view, and yet still also ’see’ everything from above. He had to take a moment to stabilize himself before he could even begin to try anything.

After a while, he adapted to the new sense, figuring out how to separate both his visions. He just needed to focus solely on what vision he wanted to experience. That was just enough to put the other vision in the back of his mind. It was still there, always accessible at a thought, but his focus decided which got priority.

He took in the whole white expanse of his mana core, heaving a sigh of relief at the battle he had just won. It was all due to the brief transmission from his father. It affected him in a way he never expected, releasing emotions that had been buried deep within him for years.

Just as he thought about his parents, his father’s message, and the spatial coordinates he’d been given, he also thought back to the moderator. Zephyr could tell that he had just done something very monumental and significant, and he had to be ready to pay the price for this new found access. The moderator had recorded the signature of his consciousness. It knew exactly who he was.

That thought terrified Zephyr. He didn’t know exactly what the moderator was, only that it was filtering his comprehension. But he could logically tell that whatever was powerful enough to restrict origin to that extent had to be a terrifying existence. Something he was nowhere near ready to face...

He gritted his teeth, pushing the thought away. There was no use worrying about something so inevitable. He was going to meet with this moderator again, that much he was sure of. So he focused instead on what he could do now to ensure he could face it at that point in the future.

He cleared his mind, refocusing back on the concept of the Transistor and the FinFET design he’d tried to embed into his mana node.

This was where his newfound control and direct access to origin became plain to see. The usual resistance was no longer there. Now it was all up to the limits of his understanding solely. He thought of spending more time to learn even more complex designs from Aegis. It had told him there were even better designs... something along the lines of ’26th century designs’... whatever that meant. But he discarded the idea immediately, it was long overdue for him to begin to cast spells as he saw fit, no longer limited by his mana node. So he went ahead with the already prepared design.

The process was relatively straightforward and anticlimactic. Since there was nothing holding him back any longer, the only difficulty lay in being as precise as he possibly could.

Despite the sinister nature of the moderator, it had still helped in one aspect— Micro movements. Zephyr no longer had that clutch to correct his slight inconsistencies that occured as a result of human error. But since he had Aegis anyway, he had no issues. They both tackled the etching precision problem with Aegis looking through Zephyr’s ’eyes’, it only took a longer time to finish, with Zephyr beginning to feel very sluggish towards the end. He had never spent this much time within his mana core space. Three days had passed on the outside— Aegis had told Zephyr.

That was a very long time for his consciousness to be separated from his body. And also for his body to be left in a comatose state without any sustenance. If not for the fact that he was nano-enhanced, he would never have taken such a risk.

Immediately he finished, he felt that familiar feedback from origin, like it was congratulating him for completing such a superior design. For comprehending the word Transistor to this extent.

This time though, there was no feeling of ecstasy whatsoever. Only a sharp state of clarity.

As he went through this state, where his mind was sharper than it had ever been, he understood the purpose of the clarity and why there had previously been a feeling of ecstasy that came along with it.

The only natural phenomenon was the feedback from origin that sharpened one’s mind into extreme clarity.

Origin was simply providing anyone who had embedded a concept successfully the chance to ’review’ their design. In this sharp state of clarity aided by natural origin feedback, they had the opportunity to rectify any mistake they might have made in the process. For others, who were not like Zephyr who had access to his mana core, this manifested on the outside as an opportunity to refine their comprehension, to add or detract from their idea, aided by their extra sharpened state.

The ecstasy that came with it was purely as a result of the moderator. For some reason, it seemed to be trying to muddy this state of clarity, possibly to prevent people from noticing that their comprehension could’ve been even greater than what they comprehended. Another sinister plot by this moderator.

Zephyr reassessed his design, but found no particular flaw whatsoever. His and Aegis’ efforts had been near-perfect. As perfect as he could achieve at this moment.

He thankfully relaxed his mind, which was fatigued from the long etching process, and after making sure there was nothing left of note, willed himself out of the mana core space.