Chapter 223: Chapter 223 - New Challenges
"Aurea, I want to take you somewhere."
"I don’t think that it’s a good time to have a date, Lovelace."
Indeed, we just came back from a very difficult meeting with a goddess in which the fate of the whole world was at stake. And there’s so much we have to do...
"It’s not a date. Though it would be nice if it was. And it’s related to the meeting we’ve just had."
Huh?
I wonder what that place could be.
"Okay, then. Lead the way."
:::
"Why are we entering the central temple?"
The temple where once the Pontifex of the goddess’ Church resided, and which was one of the holiest places for their religion, is right in front of us. And Lovelace is walking straight to it.
We, of course, repurposed it. Now it’s the central temple of the Saint’s faith. Yet, it’s a weird place to go.
"You will see."
I hate it when she is this cryptic.
I’m sorry, I just lied.
I would never hate her. And her smile at these moments is just too kissable.
But I won’t kiss her. We are entering a sacred place. Though Mother wouldn’t think of it as disrespect, the faithful always have weird ideas about what is allowed and what is sacrilege within a temple.
I have no option but to keep following her... Oh, I think I recognize this area.
"Are we going to the dungeon below the temple?"
"Sharp as always. Yes."
The way she looks at me these moments... I know the hunger in those eyes, but she also knows that this is not the place or moment.
We pass the ornate door that once was the biggest hurdle for her. There are guards here, but they let us pass with a respectful bow.
Even though we don’t have any appointment, nor hold any official position in the Temple hierarchy. The simple fact that I am the daughter of the Saint and Lovelace is my partner is enough for them.
Though if Lovelace were to come alone, she would probably be at least questioned about her motives... I think... I hope.
:::
"Are you okay?"
"Yes..."
We just passed the place where the objects that belonged to the goddess used to be. I was worried about how she would react, but she indeed seems to be ok.
My Lovvy has grown so much.
:::
"The dungeon was a bit of a letdown this time."
"It’s just you who became too powerful, Aurea."
"No way. We were in six last time we came here. And now we’re in two, and the dungeon seems to be easier."
"As I said, you’ve become more powerful than before. By a big margin."
"If that’s so, then you too should be more powerful as well, no?"
"A bit... not like you. I’m already max level in the System, so there’s no way for me to increase the amount of power I receive from it."
That makes sense... and yet, there’s something that’s been bugging me for some time.
"Lovelace... a deity’s power weakens significantly outside their sphere of influence, no?"
"Yes, that’s what I learned as well. Why?"
"Shouldn’t that affect the Adventuring System as well?"
"Yes, it does."
"Then why does it still work here? Has the goddess managed to keep a base around here or something?"
"Oh, I see what you’re getting at. Well, the sphere of influence of the Adventuring System is different from that of the goddess, as they were created as two separate entities."
"Huh? You mean like the System being a separate deity?"
"Not a deity, as it’s a system. Here, we arrived. Do you remember this place?"
This is the room where her memories were hidden, and also where she managed to enter the place where her shadow is... Oh, I see.
"You want to enter that space again."
Her smile is always so bright. And she always makes me feel like the most intelligent person in the world when she looks at me that way.
"Yes, Aurea. And it also happens to answer your question. This is one of the physical anchors of the System. One of the places from which its influence swells."
"I see... and now that you mention it, I remember you saying that your shadow is the core of the system. That’s how it is separated from the goddess and can work even when she is not present in the world."
"Exactly. And there are some relays of that power, the stronger of which is that temple where you found me. Though the fact that I’m not physically there anymore made the system weaken considerably in the Barren Wilds ever since."
"The dragonkin were aware of that place, weren’t they? Why did they always steer away from it?"
"That place has several personal belongings of the goddess. Which means that it’s a sacred place where she can materialize when she desires. Some of the dragonkin might have found their ends in that place over the centuries."
"Heh... Personal belongings are so powerful..."
On Earth there is the principle of magic called by anthropologists ’law of contiguity,’ which is referred to as one of the ’three laws of magic’ by the French Anthropologist Marcel Mauss.
According to that general principle, which can be found in almost every magic system developed by people of all ages around the world, two things that were in contact will remain in contact even after separated.
The bigger the time of contact or the intensity of contact (for example, emotional attachment), the stronger the contact will be after separation.
That’s why personal belongings and body parts are so useful for spatial magic, which is founded on that principle.
And it seems that said principle also applies to deities.
That’s fascinating.
"Aurea?"
"Oh, I’m sorry. I spaced out again."
"I noticed it. It’s cute when you are absorbed in your own mind, but we have things to do here."
"You’re right. I’m sorry."
"Remember the spell you used to retrieve me that time? Could you perhaps use it to take both of us there?"
"I remember... but I’m not sure if that will work. I think I would be able to transport myself. But the two of us..."
"I think it might be possible if we link our souls."
"Huh? Really?"
Hm... that might be a possibility, yes. I never tried to cast magic when our souls were linked, so I’m not sure if I would be able to pull it off.
Though magic itself works as a programming language, the soul of the person is the CPU, and the mana capacity of the person is the RAM memory.
Well, not exactly... just similar analogies.
Though mana serves as the Random-Access Memory for the operations on reality made by the aria, the difference is that mana is spent, while RAM is available as soon as the operation ends.
But the soul as the Processing Unit is an analogy quite close to the truth. The operations are made on a soul level, and then the results are applied over reality.
Having the souls linked and casting magic at the same time sounds like simultaneous multithreading. In other words, having a CPU provide multiple threads of execution at the same time.
The interdimensional spell I developed acts over a soul. I can either bring one soul or send one soul... the body goes attached to it, obviously.
The idea of having the souls attached at that moment would mean one would follow the other when the spell is cast. It is risky by itself.
But having the three challenges at the same time...
Trying for the first time to have my soul execute two instructions in parallel.
Trying for the first time to cast an interdimensional spell to go to a bubble space.
Trying for the first time to send two souls to said bubble space.
"That is too much. I don’t think I can pull it off at this moment. I need time to prepare and test stuff."
Please, don’t make that face on me, Lovvy...
"It can’t be helped, then. What do you need to test? Can I help with something?"
The sigh that just escaped from her mouth hit me like a truck... I promise I will do my best.
"Yes. I will need your help a lot, in fact. The first thing to try to pull off will be to cast magic while connecting souls. Simple magic at first, then I will start working with more complex ones."
"Is that all?"
"In the beginning, yes. That is the first hurdle I want to surpass. After I am confident enough with it, I will start working on the aria for interdimensional travel."
"Got it. Then, can we begin?"
"You know that I can’t say no when you look at me like that..."
It’s not fair. She always gets the best of me with that cute face of hers.
Anyway, now that I think about it... If I manage to master simultaneous multithreading, then I will be able to cast two spells at the same time in the future.
Now THAT’s interesting.