Chapter 219: Any Other Way

November 17th, 625

My dreams felt like a recollection of my entire life. I saw my earliest moments as a baby and the complexities of the knowledge that I had learned later in my life. Every piece of information within my brain was flashed into my mind as if my memories needed to be re-burned into my neurons. 

Perhaps that’s exactly what I needed. A new mind demanded a new way of seeing things. I may have the same memories and knowledge of John Cooper but after this advancement, I would never be the same man again. 

It wasn’t necessarily a change of personality. With Anarchy there, my principles and values wouldn’t undergo any seismic shifts. My philosophies remained the same but that didn’t mean I would approach things the same way. 

I no longer had a human mind. That much I quickly accepted. As if I hadn’t before, I had officially surpassed the bounds of humanity. A perfect and infallible memory, two Sparks that gave me a second miniature mind, speed of thought so fast that reality seemed to slow instead, and an Aura so powerful that perhaps only Maxwell in his prime could see through the complexity of my illusions. 

To impose myself on other minds was simplicity itself. Right now, the only reason I didn’t know the limits of my power was because I had yet to use them on anyone. I was eager to get outside and observe like I had when I received my Crown and first opened my golden eyes. 

I knew Authority 7 was a major stepping stone. It was the time to create the second Spark, and those major milestones were also opportunities for major temperings. I knew my power would advance, I knew I would restructure and improve my Mind Palace. 

I hadn’t anticipated that I’d take it this far. 

I opened my eyes, taking in the images around me so fast that I couldn’t keep up with my own mind. I verified what I was seeing dozens of times over in the span of two seconds, and only then could I finally accept that not only had I seen correctly, but I had done so in the smallest fraction of a second. 

It seemed the density of my neural matter skyrocketed. The changes to my mind brought changes to my brain which brought changes to my neural connections which brought changes to my senses, strength, acuity, reflexes, and every other voluntary system in my body. 

It was slow. I turned my head slowly, at normal speed, watching Maxwell slowly enter my vision. Then his mouth moved, and I knew what he was going to say before he even spit it out. 

“Co-”

“Thanks.”

“…So you-”

“Yes.”

I nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. 

It seemed that my predictive ability skyrocketed along with everything else. Maxwell assuredly knew what kind of power I had attained. 

He sighed, putting up his hand. I took that as the signal to let him speak full sentences, even though with every syllable that came out of his mouth his full sentence was replayed in my mind like I had heard it a hundred times over before. 

“You will need to learn to slow yourself down and let normal people speak complete sentences. You’ll piss people off if you interrupt them or assume their words, even though you’ll almost always be on the mark.”

“I know.”

“I know you know, just make sure to actually do it. After I got to Authority 10 I had a hard time listening to every imbecile mumble out their words dozens of times before actually getting their sentence out. I could play the entire conversation out after someone’s first three words to me and knew the end result after the 4th word left their mouth. Few summoners understand this problem and now you’re one of those few.”

I sat there, tuned out after Maxwell’s first sentence. 

It felt like I was thinking faster than I could keep up with, but I knew that was just because I had no memory of my mind ever moving so fast. I wasn’t used to it, so to speak. I would have to train myself with time. 

That was difficult because every second felt like a minute. And when a minute went by I realized that I had thought about the things I needed to do all throughout my life, pondering ongoing enchantment projects, how I would kill that summoner from the 3rd Claw, how I’d have to contact Gurns and get myself into Special Operations, but not before I settled things at the Treehouse. 

I needed to get back to the Treehouse. Things would only get worse.

The time for Intelligence was past. Brutality was now the only option. There were no more weapons to develop, no more opsec changes to implement, no more improvements to tactics to be made, no more adaptations to my weapons necessary. 

The Scourge was throwing everything at the Treehouse and there was nothing more I could create to increase their odds of fending them off. Adding my personal firepower to the equation was the only option left.

My newfound power meant that I would have a far heavier presence. My 7th Star meant that I’d have greater weapons to take advantage of this power. 

In my mind Space, I suddenly looked up, realizing I never broke down the barrier to the 7th Star. 

With a quick thought I did so, the barrier disintegrating under my power. Then I sent a powerful drone of Projection into the dimension, cataloging several new weapons into my armory instantly, measuring their pros and cons, creating new loadouts for different situations. 

“John.”

“Yes?”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“No.”

“…Oh Lord God, give me the patience to deal with this disrespectful brat.”

I pondered as he sighed. 

The new weapons had finally put me into the modern era. Even further, the dimension was looking like an online weapon store of expansive armament. That meant modular weapons, things I could put together, attachments, optics, bells and whistles. I also saw ammunition variants. 

I was glad to finally take the hurdle into the modern era. I wouldn’t be limited by technology anymore. I’d have the best that money could buy in the 21st century. It was just a matter of taking the time to find it.

“Alright, hurry up and take your next advancement formation.”

I got an Orb thrown at me, catching it absentmindedly and infusing my Psyka. The entire thing appeared in my mind. 

I frowned when I felt pain in my brain, the sheer amount of information overwhelming me for just a moment. Given some seconds I was able to process what I was seeing, understanding that another dimension had just been added to my advancements. 

“This formation will get you to Authority 8 and pave the path for Authority 9. Since you have a perfect memory and that monstrous fortress in your head now, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“You saw the fortress.”

My eyes snapped over to him, Maxwell nodding. 

“I did.”

“You must’ve seen some things you don’t understand.”

“Yes, but I’ve decided not to ask. I don’t know if it’s right for you to tell me.”

“If it was through my Aura then you learned some things. The weapons, the tech. It’s from Earth, not here. I was distinctive about that. You know I’m not from this world.”

My words echoed in his mind as well as his ears, causing him to nod. 

“Yes.”

“…Well, it’s good to know there’s at least one person from this rock that knows my secret.”

I leaned back, not particularly worried about Maxwell knowing. 

“Have any questions for me?”

“…Yes. Those weapons. Those… microelectronics? What are they?”

“Tech from my world. The Weapons are ballistic cannons. They work like my guns, just bigger. As for the microelectronics, they are miniature assemblies of transistors, made from laser and chemical etching in silicon wafers. I’d have to describe two centuries of technology for you to begin to understand what they are but at their core, they’re rocks that we crafted to do math.”

“Math?”

“Yes. With enough math you can do anything. They run computers, which are like Aerials except they can do thousands of times more. The ones within my fortress are supercomputers but in the end they’re only visualizations and don’t carry the same capabilities.”

“I see…”

He looked at me weird, making me shrug. 

“Don’t be surprised that you can’t understand computers. Just know that my world is close to thousand years ahead of this one in technological development. The only reason it’s not 2 or 3 thousand years ahead is due to magic, which my world doesn’t have.”

“No magic? At all?”

“None. That means no enchanting, no Crowns, no spells, no superhuman knights, no uber smart summoners. Just normal humans using their intelligence to build amazing things. Though most importantly, there wasn’t any Scourge either.”

“Hm, it sounds like a peaceful place.”

“Hah! I wish. Depending on where you lived it was, but instead of fighting the Scourge we humans fought each other. Instead of just killing monsters you were killing other people. It was a different kind of battle and those weapons you saw were rudimentary compared to the advanced stuff used later in our history, all of them developed for the sole purpose of killing the most amount of people with the most amount of precision. You wouldn’t truly understand war until you learn of the kind of wrath humanity can exert through its creations. In a way, all you people here are lucky. Fighting monsters is easier.”

He sat silently as I brought out a SIG P320 chambered in 10mm, racking the smooth slide a couple times before taking out a 21 round magazine and slotting it in. I tapped the mag and racked the slide, chambering a round and flicking the safety off and on. 

Polymer was often a characteristic of modern weapons, metal only used where needed to make it lighter and cheaper. 

I sent the pistol back, Maxwell sighing.

“So, how did you come to our world?”

“No idea. I was murdered by a sentient tractor trailer and then I woke up in a grassy field outside a village. I was in the Captial soon after where I got grabbed by Plex.”

“I see… There’s no reason you can think of as to why something so impossible happened?”

“Not that I know of.”

He went silent for some seconds before waving and standing. 

“Alright, you can tell me more later. Settle your advancement and focus on your business. I’m tired.”

“Will do. I’ll be going back to the Treehouse soon. The Scourge is going full force and I’m needed.”

“…You need to be careful, John.”

Maxwell turned to me after I stood up and let him take the tempering chair back. 

“You’re still vulnerable. I know your illusions are powerful but it takes one wrong step to be targeted by something your Aura won’t work on. It would be better if you simply stayed back and continued to invent things that can help the war. Your planes have already done wonders. Don’t put yourself in danger when you don’t have to.”

“I will be going because the time for invention has passed. I got the planes and bombs out. Now, the Scourge is trying to bring down the Treehouse and there’s nothing I can invent that will reach there in time to affect the situation. That means I need my boots on the ground. When there’s no more thinking to be done, action must be unhesitant.”

“You’re being reckless.”

“I’m being a soldier,” I snapped back, “You want to know why I’m here? Well, I would reckon that I’m here to bring the might of my world’s war machine to this planet and defeat the Scourge. I have access to weapons that can unleash volumes of devastation you can’t imagine, and I’ve received the ability to further imbue those weapons with magic power. Those planes I’ve invented are children’s toys compared to the aircraft on my world, nothing but mimicries of historical antiques.”

I leveled my eyes at him, noticing his neutral face, “It took me some time to come to terms with why I was brought here. I’ve never received an answer from anyone else but chances are, I’m here for war. And as it turns out, I’m fucking good at it. I will bring a new level of warfare to this world as I’ve already begun to, but I have people at the Treehouse who need my weapons to support them. I won’t hide in the Spire drawing on tables when I have allies fighting for their lives.”

“…You know I wasn’t telling you otherwise.”

Maxwell’s voice dropped. I noticed how pitiful he looked. He was old, worn, and had seen things throughout his life that I was only starting to live out. I knew he was a veteran. 

I nodded. 

“I know what you meant. I’ve always known what you meant when you told me I was being reckless or stupid, or when you gave me advice. Sure, I could sit in the Spire, build amazing weapons, and probably orchestrate the Scourge’s downfall. I could at least dedicate myself to an intelligence position and stay away from combat, using the sheer intellectual capabilities your Call has given me to do the most good without risking anything at all. I’ll ask you though.”

I looked him in the eyes, “Would you have done things any other way?”

He looked back at me before eventually turning his gaze down. He knew I wasn’t talking about things from my perspective. 

His life. His triumphs, his mistakes, his experiences. The wars he fought compared to the life he didn’t live. I wanted to know if he regretted what he did, or if he would do it all again to arrive at this very moment. I wanted to know if he thought it was worth it. If he thought that, despite what logically seemed the most efficient and beneficial route, he would have walked down the same road.

He seemed to age a bit more as he muttered, almost inaudibly. 

“No.”

I nodded, stepping to the door to leave, adjusting my clothes to be more comfortable after sitting for many hours. 

Once I opened the door, I paused and looked back. 

“I know you must’ve made mistakes. Everyone looks back and thinks about what they could’ve done better, thinking that they should’ve just made the harder or better decision for the longer term gain. I know this isn’t the best path for me. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to squander my talent. I know that I have to grow in order to make real change. I just hope that you can trust in my judgment when I decide to get my hands dirty. Maybe even trust that I’m better than you.”

I gave a small grin when he looked up with a slight glare.

“Just saying.”

“Your ego knows no bounds. Get out of here.”

“This is my house.”

“I could buy this shit shack 1000 times over. That’s hardly an impressive statement. Leave before I charge you for the advancement crystal too.”

“Heh.”

I turned and finally left, shutting the door behind me and walking to the helipad. 

I’d be making a stop at Wonderland for a bit, throw out some new ideas and streamline some designs with my new brain. I also needed to put in an order for Umara’s Witch hat. 

After all that though, I’d be on my way back to the Treehouse, at least before the end of November. 

I couldn’t let the Snow Doves have all the fun. How could I not be present for the climax of this war?

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