Making Progress
"What was the issuance of the meeting for?" Asks Cibris.
"Some being has broken a universal law, and a new energy has been felt." replies Seotl.
"Can we just go to the source and destroy whatever it is? I have been wanting to fight for a millennium!" Exclaims Phodall
"I agree! I'm bored of just sitting here and monitoring things, this is more interesting than whatever we have been doing here!" Joins Olzotl.
"We are gods of the cosmic council! We can't overlook our responsibilities as ones!" Commands Seotl," He commands it as such so it will be. And we don't know the location of the traitor yet, if we leave our posts then we are just as guilty of treason, do not forget your place!"
All the gods currently present in the godly council came quiet at the roar of Seotl, staring behind him. The doors to the divine chamber start to open and a bright light comes in followed by a golden-haired man with red eyes and golden silk robes walking in smiling. All the gods faced him and knelt.
"It seems he has finally made a move.."
*****
[New Blueprint recorded: {Crude Bike}]
Kaz had continued exploring the surface of the planet moving point to point , marking ore deposits and harvesting old structures for their materials, as well as attempting to use his nexus gland. He noticed some changes originally from before it awakened, he could now feel these sensations external to his body,and see them, the fluctuations. It was a very weak sensation currently and was only for the energy within about a single meter radius, but it was a start.
After he finally decided to experiment with the manufacturing skill in order to get around quicker. Upon using it, he came to see that it worked basically as a sandbox workbench that let him manifest materials, shape them to the shape he willed them. Using what information he had absorbed, he came up with a bike, something simple, yet good enough to get around. It was limited in design due to material constraints and the skill level, but he had a crude bike blueprint with metal wheels, no suspension and no rubber grips on the handles.
[Construction of {Crude Bike} beginning…]
Suddenly, shimmering beams of light slowly manufactured the bike in front of him. Upon inspecting it, he grimaced a big at the rigidity.
'This is going to be a bumpy ride it seems.' Kaz sighed before throwing his leg over and beginning to peddle. After the turn of the wheel, Kaz was greeted with a symphony of clanking metal, causing a wince at the scraping sounds, but the effort for the speed was worth it, and Kaz attempted to bear with it.
Over the next few hours Kaz continued harvesting resources, and occasional nexus crystal deposits. During the process, he ended up scrapping the bike and remaking it but using springs made from a steel alloy on both wheels to help dampen some of the bounces and bumps. He also started attempting to design with his manufacturing skill some machinery that he may be able to use. His goal was the deposits of ore everywhere, if he could automate the collection of it and bring it to him in some way, it could make acquisition of materials very useful. Sure he could collect materials by touching them, but the collections weren't that big of an amount of the materials, usually ranging at about a few kilograms per collection, so having a drill mine for him would help a lot. He wrote up designs for conveyor belts, mining drills, ore processors, component constructors, etc. But he was still trying to think of a way to power them and a substitute for rubber.
During his writing of blueprints, his manufacturing skill had leveled up a few times, now at level 4, reducing manufacturing costs as well as increasing the complexity of what he could design. Kaz began to explore many materials with his prospecting skill as well, leveling it to a higher level of 5, these things allowed his level to increase a few levels as well and the new prospecting level allowed him to sense a new material that would change everything.
[New material found: {Silica}]
Kaz had decided to use his prospecting skill on the dust coating the ground to make the discovery that it was mostly composed of silica and carbon, and this could help with a few things, with the first thing being silicone polymers. Silicone polymers are very useful within manufacturing, but he didn't have the knowledge of how he could convert it into a polymer.
"Search the library archive for any books related to chemistry."
[1,346 results matching the tag chemistry.]
The search panel popped up again displaying countless books, and Kaz scrolled down to the same button that caused him a lot of issues earlier.
'Let's hope the system listened to my earlier request.'
As Kaz pressed the button and felt a sudden surge of information invade his mind, but there was something different. The speed was much faster than last time, at a speed Kaz didn't realize was possible, but there was no pain. Atomic structures, intricate bonds, and cascades of reactions danced before his eyes. He felt the pull of electrons, the resonance of molecular harmonies, and the alchemical magic of compounds forming and breaking. Periodic tables unfurled, revealing tales of elements, their quirks, and affinities. The subtleties of organic chemistry melded with the boldness of inorganic processes, while the mysteries of biochemistry wove through the fabric of his newfound understanding. From the tiniest subatomic particle to the grandest chemical orchestras, the universe's very essence was distilled into his being in a mere heartbeat.
[Absorption Completed in 0.52 seconds.]
[Skill Level Up: Knowledge Absorption lvl. MAX]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level cap reached, please unlock level cap to continue leveling.]
"Few things, why was it so easy to take that information in this time and what does the system mean by a level cap?"
[The awakening of your Nexus gland has raised your capabilities quite a bit, if one were to compare you to a person without one, you would be have 10x the mental acuity of someone in the 1st percentile of intelligence and 10x the physical prowess as someone at the peak of fitness, that and the increased level and overlap of information allowed the absorption to go a lot smoother.]
[As for the level cap, your current being has reached its physical max for the time being and you will need to find a way to surpass that limitation, I suggest looking into developing your Nexus gland more.]
Kaz decided to open his status screen to evaluate his current stats
—----------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Kaz
Race: Awakened Human
Nexus Gland: Luminal Seed
Skill Tokens: 0
Level: 10 (Max)
Unallocated Stat Points: 10
Experience: 10000/10000
Physique level: 50
Health: 900/900 ({vitality + physique} x 10)
Vitality: 40
Stamina: 50 (physique level)
Intelligence: 90
Nexus Wisps: 11/1000
Skills:
Photographic Memory lvl. MAX
Knowledge Absorption lvl. 1MAX
Prospecting lvl. 5
Manufacturing lvl. 4
???? lvl. 1
—----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaz became shocked at the gross increase in his stats, he didn't realize how much they had increased. He also took note of his new race, figuring it was something to do with the nexus gland as well as the name of his nexus gland. At the bottom he also noticed the new stat, Nexus Wisps, had a count of 11 wisps so far.
"Why do I only have 11 wisps considering what happened earlier when I absorbed so much energy?"
[You had only absorbed 10 wisps, with the other wisp being absorbed through the environment around you passively as you explored. In fact, when you awoke your nexus gland, the increase to your stats as well resulted in you losing out on level up stats, you will need to unlock your level cap to be able to continue to evolve your being into a higher existence.]
Kaz began to understand how much he misunderstood this power and how little he knew about it, this was in fact the thing that could make a god. After imagining heights his power could reach, his attention snapped back to the polymer.
"First I need to get some water, but with there being none nearby, I will have to make my own."
Kaz began the process, first he started to collect huge portions of the ground, collecting the silica dust and digging down in search of a pocket of methane gas. After digging holes dozens of meters deep for a few hours, he finally found something.
'Hmm? There is an opening here!"
Kaz came across a pocket of air that felt cold against his skin as well as starting to make him slightly dizzy before he began holding his breath and using his prospecting skill.
[New Material Found: {Methane Gas}]
Kaz immediately held out his hand to start taking in the methane gas into his inventory. At first he wasn't sure it would work, but it seemed to pull the leaked out gas as well as the gas from within the pocket to him, only for him to realize how big this pocket was. This pocket allowed him to collect thousands of liters of this gas. After absorbing the methane, he made his way back to the surface where he began heading towards the nearest ruin whether he had visited it or not.
At the structure he began to collect as much of the rust that he could.
'This should be enough.'
Kaz went to a smooth spot and began to create a makeshift chemistry table with a vent hood that had a chimney of a few meters, then he created tanks to hold gas and filled them with methane. Then he constructed a flint sparker and burner with a radius of about 1 meter and multiple holes along the coil to let out methane and burne uniformly, hooking it to the methane tank. He then with some of the silica he collected manufactured a glass box and a pressure valve, as well as connecting another methane tank and putting rust inside before sealing the box and lighting the burner.
After a few minutes a reaction occurred. Firse, he could see wisps of vapor appear and the rust separating from the iron, then trickles of water vapor form on the walls of the glass. The reaction continued until the box was about halfway full of cloudy water vapor and iron before shutting off the burner. After letting it cool for some time he was able to get a decent amount of water to pool at the bottom before he held his breath, let the valve on top of the box open, and let the vent do its work for about a minute before taking a breath again.
'This system is overpowered, I was able to learn how to manipulate methane and rust to form water, iron and carbon monoxide, though the last is not needed, the process of getting water for many things has become so much easier!'
[New material synthesized: {Water}]