Chapter 578 Daruun, Spirit Scientis
"Now, Jack," turning his attention back to Jack, Daruun stated, "There are still some minor things that you need to do and a few immediate goals to focus on."
"Like?" Jack asked, eager to hear more of Daruun's opinion.
"Obtaining new skills should be the last of your priorities. For now, you'll need to focus on leveling yourself and your guild. You've already taken advantage of your system's sentience to create your first skill, so that should be enough for now."
"My system's sentience? What--"
"For a system as complex as yours, it would be impossible for it to not gain sentience as you grow stronger," reasoned Daruun. "It's only just begun to gain its own intelligence but it's still one-hundred percent dependent on you to exist. The system and you are practically one and the same on a technical level, so think of it as your literal conscience gradually coming into existence until there's a literal voice in your head."
"Still… isn't that--"
"Necessary for what you'll be doing in the near future," Daruun finished Jack's thought with his own. "Its sentience allows your system to adapt outside of Kartonia and will allow you to do more than you currently know to be possible."
"Like what?"
Smiling and chuckling, Daruun replied, "You'll see shortly. Already, the minor sentience of your system will start opening new doors of opportunity. That's why you should focus on leveling and the leveling of your guild or party members. They can become a substantial force for you to use while trying to climb the ranks of the district, so long as you allow them to do so."
"Which reminds me, why don't the gods just come and clear out Earthen Keep for EXP? I'm sure it would give them a few levels of EXP, right?" Jack asked.
Daruun shook his head. "Gods are unable to enter Earthen Keep. That's something that I made sure was impossible."
"But--"
"The ninety-ninth floor is different. That restriction was placed over the final floor due to the spatial gate. However, should a god have attempted to directly arrive on the ninety-ninth and challenged Duorda, I would be summoned to accept the challenge in Duorda's place, something that Halmut experienced first hand."
"Then… what happened to Kori and Lorwynn?"
"They managed to level up, but once they attempted to enter the next floor, they were transported outside of the keep." Daruun explained, "I fully agree with using Earthen Keep to help the others ascend. But they'll have to do so without the direct aid of gods and won't be able to use Earthen Keep as anything more than a doorway to meet me, so long as you open the door for them."
"Then how have the gods leveled up?" questioned Jack.
"By the constant challenge of the construct heroes."
"The what?!"
"Sorry. Let me rephrase that," stated Daruun. "The gods leveled up through challengers taking them on, either being other gods or clearing out areas of life and threats. But the bulk of their EXP, apart from Skaryn and Halmut, have come from challenges of the ancient heroes."
"You said 'construct heroes'. What did you mean by that?"
"Those were the ancient heroes," corrected Daruun. "Remember how I once said that summoned heroes in Modern Kartonia use artificial spirits to inhabit the bodies of ancient heroes, the ones that hadn't perished or had given up the game before the servers were closed?"
Jack nodded, preparing his expectations to be obliterated by Daruun's incredible antics.
"That's only possible because each of the ancient heroes was technically a construct, like you and Duorda, only not as sophisticated. They were managed by artificial spirits controlled via players of the game you know as 'A Hero's Tale'. I only had to tweak those artificial spirits when the dormant constructs are summoned, created summoned heroes in Modern Kartonia and the ancient heroes of the past."
"Dormant constructs? What do--"
"A dormant construct hero is one that logged out and ultimately never killed. They could revive timelessly because they were constructs built with that function, but only while I supplied them all with enough energy to do so. Once I cut off that energy supply, the system functions of the construct became limited and the ancient heroes either logged out forever or died out."
"Umm… What kind of game was it that you mentioned?" Eliza asked, wondering the same as Maura and Daliea while Jack silently stewed in thought.
Answering, Daruun looked to the three women, "Think of it like this. You already know how basic constructs work. They can take simple orders from their master, including defend, attack, etc. The ancient heroes were highly advanced constructs that were being controlled by people from a different world, one I selected after screening a few hundred planets. There, they had a popular game where they treated Kartonia and its many happenings as challenges to complete and accomplish. It gave the gods more EXP opportunities while it allowed me to find Jack. This led to Jack's spirit being transmigrated and relocated into his current body, the most complex construct that I've ever created. Jack is still human and his own person, but his body is akin to an intergalactic treasure in its own right."
Slowly process that, Daliea was the first to respond, "Then Jack was once the best player in that game and proved he would be the best player within your plans?"
"Correct!" Daruun nodded and acknowledged the elven girl.
"So a construct… can be human?"
"Yes, Maura. A construct can most definitely be human, and a human can be a construct as well, though it's much more difficult going that route," answered Daruun. "My specialty is gathering intelligence and the application of intelligence. Consider me something of a cosmic scientist, or more specifically a spirit scientist, always trying to better understand how life works and how that life can be taken to the highest realms of strength. It's how I became who I am today."
"Gramps…" Jack sighed. He then paused again as the other turned their attention back to Jack. After a few seconds of awkward tension, Jack asked, "Wouldn't mine… be dormant?"