Empire Of Souls - Chapter 159

Once Aleks dealt with all of the nuisances of being a sovereign, he finally had time to pursue what he felt were important matters. Although developing his nation and building his power was important, there were things only he could do that were more of a priority. Analyzing the cursed dagger he obtained from his sister was one of those priorities, but he also was constantly studying the laws of life of the Origin that had merged with his soul. Constant analysis of his abilities, how he could manifest his abilities, and also meticulous study of the system at his disposal were paramount to increasing his strength. Only by growing stronger and eventually ascending beyond mortality could he achieve his revenge.

Even though that was already a huge plate, there were many more matters he needed to consider and plan for. The complicated web of connections, plots, and the convoluted circ.u.mstances of the gods was also something ever on his mind. Originally, he hadn’t fully understood the circ.u.mstances he had found himself in at the very beginning.

What was the Origin? Why was it so valuable that foreign beings would seek to destroy his world? Who were the gods and what was their involvement in all of this? There were too many things he hadn’t understood until recently. Not to mention the reality that his world hadn’t been truly destroyed, but instead merged within this strange existence known as the God Nexus.

“And the tower, what is it? How does it still exist, even if only spiritually? Can it be rebuilt, and what are the implications of doing so?”

Aleks was so inundated with all these questions and variables that he could hardly spend the time to think of anything else. It was one of the reasons for his hands off approach to governance, but not the only reason. He had absolute trust in Lenia and Lariel, not because he was an especially trusting person. It was because he had absolute control over them. He would only ever give such power to those he could control. He would never trust anyone that he couldn’t. As long as he increased his strength and developed his own power, he was satisfied.

“Perhaps it is time I considered creating an avatar. It is expensive, but definitely worth it. Since I was never able to develop a proper foundation, an avatar will solve this glaring problem for me. An avatar with a magic class would be ideal. In this world, magic is far greater than technology, but in some ways the two can be combined. The laws of this world are very different from my original world and my knowledge of science will not be of much use here. However, that doesn’t mean all of my knowledge and experience are not of use. With my abilities, I can create a new life from existing life and this will be a huge advantage for the development of my empire. Some dwarves and gnomes would especially be of use, they are the foremost races in regards to magical technology, engineering, and crafting. I should start there!”

Aleks had the habit of spending the majority of his time in a small room, while his mind constantly churned out ideas and theories. This was a habit from his old life, when he was An-Namrud. Things had changed, he was no longer that man and this was no longer his abode within the tower. His room was no longer small, but instead a large royal chamber with enough room to fit several families. This was all for him, and it was too much space. He didn’t know what to do with it all, but he ended up spending the majority of his time in one small area of his room.

This was the first room which had been constructed when this future palace had begun construction. It was also the only room that was decorated and furnished. Most likely the decorations and furnishings had been taken from previous owners. The tribes were not exactly the most civilized, but they did possess enormous wealth. They had raided, pillaged and traded with many other countries so it wasn’t strange that there were luxuries among these goods. It had all become Aleks’s possessions now.

The room definitely had a luxurious feel to it and seemed out of place among the Steppes because there was no other room like it anywhere. Only the palaces or castles of kings and other royalty might have such a fanciful and luxuriously decorated dwelling. For Aleks, it was much more than he actually needed and he had turned the room into both his workspace and his new home.

After finally coming to a decision, Aleks called for a maid who was outside his residence. A young woman who was not particularly attractive entered the room and bowed low to Aleks. She didn’t dare meet his eyes and waited patiently for his command.

Aleks scrunched his face a bit and asked, “What happened to the previous maid?”

He didn’t recognize this young maid, but she especially stood out because of her lack of attractiveness. It wasn’t as if he specifically cared whether his maids were attractive or not, but it was such a glaring difference that he couldn’t help but notice.

The young lady was afraid and nervous so she stuttered as she spoke, “Um.. she.. She is gone.. I am her replacement…”

“Gone, what do you mean gone? And who replaced her, was it Lariel? That seems strange, she was the one who assigned all of the maids to me personally.”

The young lady shook her head, “Lenia took her away somewhere, I don’t know what happened to her after that. All of the maids were replaced.”

Aleks frowned, “Lenia?”

He pondered for a moment and then chuckled, “I see. I must have a talk with her. I need you to bring me a few prisoners. I don’t have any specific requirements, any will do. Bring me about twelve.”

The young maid quickly scurried away once she received her orders while Aleks couldn’t help but shake his head. He wasn’t angry, just amused.

“Oh Lenia…”

While aleks waited for the maid to return with the prisoners he asked for, he placed his mask on his face. Using the mask, he could more easily peruse the information of the system of life. This was a powerful system beyond imagining. Who else could create life as he could? Although it wasn’t fully the creation of new life, since he had to use an existing life to do so, it was still creation. He could only imagine that this power would grow as he grew.

“Gnomes, their race is a race of genius inventors and engineers. Although their magical aptitude isn’t particularly high, it isn’t low either. Where they really shine is in combining magic and technology. Magic cannons, magic guns, and other mechanical devices and tools. They work on very different principles than the science I know, but are truly magnificent. They can create things that even my world would find straight out of science fiction. Mechanoids for example are truly an amazing invention. Similar to robots, but they have a simple artificial intelligence created through magical enchantments. I have only read about them and unfortunately never seen them, but they sound intriguing. Some might consider these to be mere toys, but with some development, I see possible potential.”

Aleks mumbled to himself while he perused the information in front of him and recalled his own knowledge. His knowledge of this world wasn’t as extensive as some scholars perhaps, but he had spent considerable time in study and could be considered to be quite knowledgeable. His mask was glowing as he looked through the information and symbols, words, and numbers flashed across the surface of the mask.

He paced back and forth across the room and was fully engrossed in his thoughts and the information before his eyes. It was in these moments that he could feel some joy and also a bit of reminiscence. It wasn’t quite the same as in his past life where he researched and developed new inventions, but it was equally exhilarating. Instead of the cold and lifeless inventions of his past, he could create a living and breathing being.

As Aleks’s mask continued to glow, he moved on to looking through the information he had about Dwarves. In his mind, the voice of the Tower of Babel continued to provide him with additional information and references. It acted similar to the limited artificial intelligence of his old world. His people had never fully developed a real artificial intelligence that was sentient, but they had developed a limited artificial intelligence that could mimic sentience.

For all intents and purposes it could truly fool one into thinking it was a real sentient being, but as good as the illusion was, it was still just an illusion. The Tower of Babel had been developed with the latest in artificial intelligence technology and it seemed as if it had followed him into this lifetime. Or at least the voice in his mind, which was part of the system of life, sounded exactly like the voice he remembered from the tower. It even referred to itself as ‘Babel’. He could speak with Babel and give it commands just like the a.i. from the tower. It didn’t have the same functions as the a.i. from the tower though.

In some ways, Aleks wondered whether ‘Babel’ was ever an artificial intelligence at all. He had come to have a new understanding of this being known as ‘Babel’. What was she? She was certainly more than he ever imagined when he first began his work on the tower. Even after he had constructed it, he still truly had no idea what exactly it was.