'Irregularity - An Experiment'
The words were glaringly obvious to read - he knew what they meant, but he didn't understand what they implied.
And currently, he had the mentality of 'nothing matters anyway, I'm about to die.'
So, with his labored breathing, bloody stump of a right arm wrapped in worn rags, zombie-like complexion, and shutting-down brain, he laboriously crawled to the chest.
The chest unlocked, he lifted the lid of the metallic chest and opened it.
Inside, mainly a stack of paper took most of the contents, with text written in English.
But he didn't have time to read currently.
The other main thing on the side of the chest compartment is an orb - quite big compared to the mana globes, black in color.
On said orb, a paper read, 'Irregularity, touch this.'
Irregularity? What does that imply? Not sure if he was the so-called irregularity, and with no conflict, he touched the orb.
A mild headache hit him, barely noticeable in his decrepit state.
Simple and vague but potentially complex information filled his mind, and the monsters around that were writhing towards him all halted as if time stopped momentarily.
He looked at the stack of papers, leaning on the ridge of the chest, he scrutinized the first paper, reading it.
'Greetings, Irregularity. I am Clest. Your maker!' he paused at this, but continued reading.
'Perhaps that was rude of me; you are a human, after all, just modified. But don't you rage, read the next papers before making a judgement. Or choose to die unaware without reading, Earthling. If you're reading this, I'm already dead. So there's no need for you to hold grudges. And make haste, the artifact's purpose to restrain the mutant spirits was only a small modifier, it won't last that long, heh. But reading this in itself is an achievement, the estimated survival possibility of the test subject is around 0.00000- you get the gist. Maybe you're not an utter waste product.'
He tossed the page with the condescending tone away with his left hand, contemplating whether to continue reading before laying his eyes on the second page.
He decided to read swiftly, after all, even if the rest shattered his reality, he didn't think his current situation could get much worse.
4243, 23rd, 14: The Greatest Breakthrough!
Magic! Oh, how I adore it! Scientists have started to incorporate both science and magic together, including me, The Renowned and Great Scientist and Magician, Clest.
After mana started permeating our planet, mana started to influence everything, even living beings started to gain the ability to use magic. I, and my fellow scientists, have recently made a huge breakthrough in Mana Usage.
We've found a secure way to use Summoning Magic and Formation Magic, thus, we could respectively use spirits and golems to do humanity's bidding.
Those beings are the most capable of using mana, born from mana themselves, so they're perfect to do tasks. My genius knows no bounds indeed for leading such research. Now, humanity doesn't need to work. Be thankful, all! Who else could possibly achieve such results but I? We can now just stay put while our slaves serve us.
I have accomplished history just as the new year is about to start.
4244, 12th, 7: Summon War Is Entertaining.
It really is. I don't know which genius started this idea, probably some random person who got bored…
Speaking of which, after I, the simply ingenious Clest, pioneered the research and enabled humanity to be able to be free from having jobs, and the golems and spirits enslaved to us, there have been some protests from some stupid humans.
They say 'Humanity has become hedonistic, with so much free time, crimes have been going up, and the usage of Spirits and Golems is not moral, blah blah blah.' I don't really care. It's fun, right? That's all that matters.
Recently, countries have been using Pets - the exclusive name for Spirits and Golems - to wage wars; there is no risk to human life. I basically solved the issue of wars; I am the epitome of wisdom and brilliance. They say it brings more bad to humanity than good, but I beg to differ.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Look at how great this is, how fun this is! Watching battlefields of magic conflicting together from my screen while I am on the couch, sending those slaves to fight for us! How great…
As he finished reading the second entry to this weird diary, he muttered, "The ramblings of a madman," It sounded concerning, to say the least.
4250, 1st, 1: I Am Truly The Greatest.
War with only Spirits and Golems got boring a few years back, it's simply not entertaining enough! So, I, the geniu-
He skipped through the 'self-love' part. It had gotten even lengthier throughout the years, it seems.
-Clest, pioneered another breakthrough! I made a Homunculus. Human-shaped magic creatures!
Spirits are clever but weak, and Golems are simple but powerful. However, these Homunculi are nothing short of incredible! My experiments are always destined to succeed!
They are as powerful as dozens of mages, one of them can perform outstanding outputs and is clever enough to think for itself despite their low memory capacity! Hardly differentiated from humans!
But to avoid any retaliation from them, I heavily bound them and made their lifespans short. I'm so intelligent!
War has been so much more fun with the destructive Homunculi. I even used the Combustion Mana phenomenon to help create a virus that kills spirits and extracts mana from them in the shape of a Mana Globe! Enabling the swift growth of Homunculi!
The ministers and presidents of each country and at my feet to make them a special Homunculus to win wars. Hahahaha! I am so great! One of them sold me their daughter's hand in marriage too along with funding for my Ministry of Magic. I agreed, so the rest are making similar offers now. Hahaha! Maybe ruling the word can be used by me in a non-joking manner now!
4255, 8th, 5: Last Experiment, Irregularity.
He paused as he read the last entry's title. So far, he could conclude that it referred to himself. He sighed, his head throbbed, but he continued to read.
It's simply not enough! The Homunculi are simply not enough! They are restrained by Magic Spell Differentiation!
For example, a Magic Bolt has a total of six differentiation points and three fusion points as the main catalyst!
Yet at most, the homunculi could only choose two differentiation points and one fusion point of the Magic Bolt spell! And if it's the supporting catalyst for fusion, the spell is completely lost! And they are restrained by their capacity for magic spells and modifications!
If only humans could manipulate magic like them! Humans are theoretically capable of memorizing every spell form and freely switching between and manipulating the magic of different branches from the same spell, accepting any magic alteration as long as they have gone through some modifications and have a powerful Homunculus spirit in a symbiotic relationship with them.
But all my experiments failed so far! I've had the Ministry capture human criminals to experiment on them. But all those pesky people died, unable to bear the weight of the great Homunculus that I had miraculously made.
Some accepted and adapted to lower-level Homunculi, but they weren't strong enough for the Peak of Humanity that I envisioned!
But you reading this, are my perfect creation! An irregular from all beings that could utilize mana! You can use mana in ways no one could imagine!
I've come to discover that advanced forms of summoning or teleportation magic could theoretically summon people from other planets! Of course, such magic is far from reach for anyone! Only the great Homunculus that I had miraculously made and raised with utmost care could even come close to casting this spell, I'M SO GREAT!
It seemed that people from this 'Earth', which is a stupid name for a planet, can resonate well with magic to a higher extent than our world's, at least, based on my observation from 'asking' trillions of spirits about different dimensions they roamed before.
I 'asked' that rebellious fellow to help write this with your language, she doesn't listen sometimes, so I had to 'punish' her to do this.
This experiment is impossible anyway, so I made it as a contingency plan. Only when the whole world fell to chaos, mana running rampant, spirits proliferating, golems running wild, nature destroyed, and the Virus that extracts mana killing everything and making enough Mana Globes, could the summoning succeed!
Which is inevitable because of my great creations! HAHA! Too bad I'd be dead to witness it, it would have been so entertaining! But you'll die soon on this wasteland of a planet. Well, you can theoretically survive with the artifact you just absorbed, it will pave the way for you to do great things.
But no one will be there to witness it, and chances are abysmally against your odds to ever be able to escape this hell, HAHAHA! YOU'LL DIE ALONE. I HATE YOU, MY GREATEST CREATION! BECAUSE WHY ARE YOU THE PERFECT VESSEL BUT NOT ME?! BE SURE TO DO LOTS OF FUN THINGS BEFORE KILLING YOURSELF FROM BOREDOM! WE'RE BOTH HUMANS, BUT YOUR HUMANITY IS FAR INFERIOR TO OURS! EARTH IS A PLANET FAR BEHIND OUR TIMES WITH NO MAGIC YET SOMEHOW, THE PERFECT VESSEL WAS THERE YOU PIE-
---
He read the other few pages, which were just scribbles with angry writing and self-praise, just to check if there was anything worth knowing, but there was not. Then he set the stack of papers down, his expression still pained from his current half-dead state.
Unimpressed, he said with a cracked voice, "I'm the wrong target to provoke. I simply cannot understand you or empathize with you."
Then, he sat on the ground and leaned back against the chest, he was about to die anyway before he could achieve any of those 'great things'.
The black cluster monsters were still paused in their space as if they had stopped in time.
Apparently, these things are spirits, or mutant spirits as Clest guy mentioned. He thought, looking at them, when they start moving again, can I really fight back? I don't think I can even lift my left hand anymore.
What other functions did that guy mention of the large orb I absorbed? The so-called artifact? He gazed up at the white sky, his eyes darting to follow the sweeping wisps of gray.
Musing to himself, he exerted his body to turn and grab the original paper that had 'Irregularity, touch this.'
Studying it from the back, it had some extra writing,
'Functions: Restraining spirits for 10 minutes. Enabling the use of the Homunculus's dormant spirit, exchanging excess Combustion Mana for modifications to the body. Note: Combustion Mana is naturally occurring mana left behind when magic is used. When absorbed by beings, this mana causes mutations, enabling them to use magic or magical modifications to the body. It is especially present in Mana Globes, you gain an excess amount and store it with no use for it naturally when acquiring Mana Globes. Please call out 'Human' in English to open the function of exchange.'
He mused internally; the message was written much differently than the other ones, perhaps it was written by the effort of this 'Great Homunculus' themselves without Clest pushing the homunculus to do it? It was quite helpful and friendly.
With no internal conflict or wariness, he called out in a hoarse voice, "H.. Human."
A faint trembling inside his body shook him, different from all the pain experienced so far throughout his life.
If he got plagued by more pain, he would become delirious from how overstimulated he would be. The pain, hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation, exertion, all of it, it was too much for him to handle.
Thankfully, the trembling didn't last long, a black paper materialized midair, with many different index titles on it, 'Magic Class', 'Modifications', 'Magic Overseers'.
Muddled thoughts ran through him for a while - a dazed expression slipped onto his face. He wanted to pick modifications. He was unsure how, so he said with a struggle, "Modifications."
The paper changed the text, showing symbols and the accompanying descriptions.
He scanned through it, and his eyes stopped on one modification, widening in pleasant surprise.
'Regeneration: recover health at an estimated 0.05 percent of a fully healthy human every minute (Affected by Awakening).'
It was also possible to 'exchange', in the corner of the paper, he had enough excess Combustion Mana!
Without hesitation, he almost shouted, "Exchange for Regeneration."
It seemed like the paper understood him, and of the five empty slots under the Regeneration symbol, one filled out.
As for the 'Affected by Awakening' part, he didn't linger on it, he wouldn't be able to answer that anyway.
Then, saying 'Human' again, the black paper disappeared.
If his sense of time remained still somewhat coherent, the time since using that artifact and reading to papers until now had been only about 5 minutes.
He leaned back against the chest once more.
Originally, he was planning to close his eyes and 'doze off'.
But now, No way. There's hope.
