Mage Adam

The results from Trials of War were great---everyone Adam knew passed without any issues.

Eliott quickly sent Adam a short message with the good news, and then he rushed off to join the Sixth Tower of Pharmacy.

Ophelia went to the Fourth Tower of Body-refining, while Crystal stayed at the Fifth Tower. She chose to become an Explorer and soon set off on her first mission.

Before she left, Adam shared his best advice with her, which could be summed up in one word: boldness.

Once Adam received the entire Mindweaver package, he shut himself in his lab, cutting off all communication to focus completely on his research.

Mindweaver was a parallel brain network, primarily based on magi-bioengineering, with minimal reliance on spell systems. This made it much easier for Adam to analyze and break it down.

He quickly created a set of blank avatars and connected them using a special construction method. When his consciousness entered the network, the individual brain domains merged and were absorbed into the collective Mindweaver.

After activating the incantation, each brain entity started uploading its computing power to Mindweaver. A mysterious force within each Mindling was triggered, gathering at the Mindweaver before being redistributed, forming a special field around each member of the network.

Adam divided his computing power across the network and assigned a simple task. As expected, the efficiency increased dramatically.

If he fully implemented this brain union in his lab, Adam would only need to issue commands to the network's next level, and tasks would be automatically delegated and completed.

This would save him the time and effort usually spent on managing data flow and processing.

After running several tests, Adam realized that the Mindweaver system resembled the Google Brain and artificial neural networks he knew from Earth.

Essentially, it was a large-scale parallel processing network. The use of magic solved the common problem with such systems: if the scale was too small, it wasn't efficient; but if it grew too large, it became difficult to manage the computing load.

With this insight, Adam fully unlocked the secrets of Mindweaver. He could now extract its algorithms and apply them to his own projects.

Meanwhile, progress on the operating system was also coming along smoothly.

Adam had studied all major and niche operating systems from Earth, drawing special inspiration from the supercomputer "Adam". He adapted those concepts to better suit the needs of mages.

For the first version of his system, Adam kept it simple. Advanced features could be added later in future updates. His main goal was to get the personal chip working.

Typically, an operating system needed five core functions: process and processor management, job management, memory management, device management, and file management. For now, Adam could skip device management, but the other four were essential.

Luckily, there were existing templates Adam could refer to, which made these functions easier to implement. Using the M Programming Language, he quickly developed the first version of the operating system.

Adam then extracted a small portion of his Original Flames.

When he had created the Electromagnetic Robot earlier, the Flames had impressed him with their versatility.

After erasing the robot's self-awareness, the Flames had acted perfectly as a controller, convincing Adam they could replace integrated circuits as the processor for his new chip.

The key advantage of the Original Flames was that, unlike physical components, they possessed a unique property: when a mage signed a contract with them, the Flames could merge with the mage's soul.

This was a game-changer. Mages were naturally wary of foreign objects entering their bodies or souls, but a contract-bound entity they could fully control? That was different. The resistance would likely be far less, as mages trusted contracts deeply.

The portion of the Original Flames Adam separated was a blank slate. He erased all the original data and uploaded the operating system he had programmed.

The Flames didn't need a personality, but they required basic human-computer interaction capabilities.

To achieve this, Adam developed an acoustic model and a statistical language model. He encoded the Mage World's language into the system, using the Hidden Markov Model and algorithms like Baum-Welch and Viterbi for speech recognition and interaction.

Next, he added a scanning function. Using his own data---such as physical attributes, mental strength, magic power, and spell potency---as a baseline, Adam quantified and standardized a mage's strength.

He then uploaded his knowledge into the Flames in text form, creating an index. Using Boolean algebra and operations, Adam built a simple search engine.

To test the system, Adam asked the Flames to search for the Thunder Realm rune set. Within moments, the rune set appeared clearly before him.

With that, the most basic version of the personal chip was complete. It had all the functions of an ordinary communicator, but with added features: human-computer interaction, computational assistance, data scanning, and search guidance.

It was simple but effective. While it might not be groundbreaking for formal mages, its ability to connect to larger databases would make it incredibly useful for apprentices.

Adam sealed the chip in a crystal container, then left his lab. He arranged a meeting with Priscilla.

...

"The Original Flames are certainly unique," Priscilla said after listening to his introduction. "The Seventh Tower just struck a deal with the Titans to use them for powering large alchemical weapons. But no one has thought to use them in this way before." She glanced at the crystal container. "Does it really work?"

Adam's bold claims had piqued her interest but left her skeptical. "Are you sure this is truly revolutionary? You realize the Mage Network is the Mage World's most guarded asset. Anything tied to it falls under high-level jurisdiction. Connecting to the network isn't a small matter."

Adam knew convincing others wouldn't be easy, but he was prepared for it. He removed the Flames from the crystal container and said, "Once you see it in action, I think you'll understand my confidence."

Priscilla gestured for him to proceed.

Adam started, "It can assist with calculations. For instance, here." He constructed a simple fireball rune set but intentionally inserted errors and unnecessary runes.