The white mana was not absorbed by Casio this time, rather, it made its way into the petranium piece.
And then, changes occurred within Abel"s body as well.
"Whut….?"
This was a familiar feeling. It was much akin to times when he cast astral projection.
However, it wasn"t the same as when the entirety of his soul leaves his body. The sensation was more of having a piece of it ripped off.
"Whoa? What"s up with the petranium and my soul?"
Then, the ripped piece of soul was drawn towards the peptranium, swept along by the gentle flow of white mana.
Swoosh-
Just like that, Abel"s translucent soul fragment melded into the peptranium ore.
Albeit small, it had been a piece of his very own soul. Thus, despite the calculator being quite some distance from his body, he was made aware of the changes that occurred within.
Ziiin-
After absorbing the soul fragment, the peptranium started vibrating intensely. Then, it liquefied into a mercury-like state.
Following which, the peptranium seeped into the various gaps between the b.u.t.tons, screen and casing of Casio. It enveloped the motherboard, the RAM and the CPU module within.
Flash!
The peptranium soon completely entered Casio and emitted a bright flash. Then, it merged with the various parts and disappeared without a trace; as though it had never existed.
"…Is it over?"
It seemed that the process was over… but it was still eerily quiet.
Seeing that there were no changes, he was about to give the back casing of Casio a solid whack again when,
[Greetings, master.]
A voice resounded within his head. It wasn"t a voice that was transmitted through vibrations in the ear, but a voice that made its way directly into his head.
"Whoa, that surprised me!"
Abel was completely surprised by the sudden appearance of an inner voice, but he soon realized that this voice belonged to Casio.
"Casio?"
[Yes, master.]
"…Master?"
Casio was calling him using the word "master" for a while.
"He"s considering me his creator?"
It was as though a little duckling was following him, after taking him for it"s mother duck.
[I am calling master since you wished to be addressed as such.]
"…? What does that mean?"
[My consciousness did not come about from nothingness, but from a fragment from your soul. All of master"s knowledge, thought processes, and senses are shared with me. Right now, master wants to be called master, very strongly.]
"You can share my thoughts? Then are you able to calculate whatever I"m thinking on your own?"
He had thought that Casio would develop an independent personality at most, but something much more amazing had occurred.
Calculate just by thinking? Then he would be able to cast his spell in 0.1 seconds! Not to mention an entire second. He would be able to cast magic just by vocalising the name of the spell, just like the legendary dragons!
[It is currently impossible to do so because of a low synchro rate.]
However, Casio splashed him with a bucket of cold water to dampen his expectations.
"Synchro rate?"
[It describes the rate and depth of connection between master and I. Converting it to percentages, it"s roughly at level 1, 10%.]
"So it will be possible to do it once the synchro rate rises, huh? How should I go about doing that then?"
[I am not in possession of that information and hence cannot offer instructions to master.]
"Would it rise if I just have you near me?"
He didn"t know yet.
Abel asked a few questions as though there were many things he was curious about.
"I heard you say that we share senses as well. Does that mean you can feel what I feel?"
[Indeed.]
"Then, can you calculate the coordinates of the place I"m looking at immediately?"
If that was possible, he would be able to deal with quick targets like the mutated ogre from last time.
[It is not yet possible due to the low synchro rate.]
"……."
What the h.e.l.l? Wasn"t it currently nothing more than a conversation partner?
"Then what the h.e.l.l is it that you can do?"
Abel grumbled as he asked. This was a very broad question.
[Currently, I am able to use the 2,978 functions that are stored inside me, and am able to use 16 modes of calculation including the e-ACT mode. Also, other major functions include graphing conic sections among 12 other types of graphs, statistical estimation, logical operand calculations, complex number calculations, matrix calculations, and data a.n.a.lysis. Also…..]
"Fine, fine! I get it, you can stop!"
Abel stopped Casio from getting into more detail. It might as well recite the entire user manual that lay discarded somewhere on earth, along with its box.
"Then you can calculate anything that I say, right?"
[Yes. That is the case.]
"How about your speed?"
[Using addition and subtraction of integers as basis, I can process a calculation every 0.5 nanoseconds. That is 2 billion times per second. I am 10 billion times faster than master.]
"Oh, fine. I get that you"re quick……"
Although Abel was already considered fast amongst his human peers, it was pitiful when comparing himself to a computer. 10 billion times….
"That synchro rate thing. Can I read your mind if it gets sufficiently high?"
[I am not aware of the information regarding what"s above level 1. However, it is definitely impossible at level 1.]
So it might still be possible at higher levels?
"If that was possible, I"d be in possession of a computer-like calculation speed…."
He would become a walking "AlphGo".
Combined with his mathematical knowledge, he would probably be able to prove many undiscovered physical laws.
If he was able to take everything back to Earth, then?
He might be able to solve the Riemann hypothesis, considered as one of the hardest questions in the world and earn it"s million dollar prize!
Riemann hypothesis.
It was a conjecture by the genius German mathematician, Bernhard Riemann, which states that the Riemann zeta function has its zeros only at the negative even integers and complex numbers with real part ½.
(T/N: didn"t know how to translate so I just copied off wikipedia, lol)
Not only that, the possibility of him solving the 5 remaining millennium prize problems, (Poincare"s conjecture excluded), would go up astronomically as well.
Yes. Fame and money would be his.
"I might really get the Abel prize……"
Now that his brain was better, all sorts of thoughts came to his mind.
In any case, Abel decided that he had to raise this synchro rate as soon as possible.
Duke Hadrow was the sole swordmaster of the Hela Empire, he led the "Night Crow" knight order and headed the "Hela Intelligence Agency" simultaneously.
Right now, he had called all the staff officers of the agency, giving each and every one of them a kick on their shins.
"You dumb f*cking b*stards! Black mages have reappeared in the Kreuz Empire. What the h.e.l.l were you doing?"
Bearing with Hadrow"s shouting, the advisors couldn"t say anything in reb.u.t.tal.
"What would you have done if not for Duke Tardema"s leniency? Are you fine with your noses being cut off right in front of your eyes? If you want to earn your wages, then the very least you can do is to do your job properly! PROPERLY!"
Bam-
Seemingly frustrated, Hadrow slammed his fist on the meeting room table. As a swordmaster, if he had raised his aura, the table would"ve long since turned to dust.
A month ago, he had received a call from Duke Tardema. The contents stated that black mages had been sighted within the Kreuz Empire. For now, they seemed to center themselves around the occult religion called "Apocalypse of Dawn", and their ultimate objective was to ensure the descent of the apocalypse into the world once more.
He had also warned that they may incite conflict amidst the chaos. This intel was unknown to the special agents stationed in their Empire, and was single-handedly discovered by an agent from Duke Tardema"s family. This had been very embarra.s.sing for the intelligence agency.
"Switch all eyes monitoring Northanc into Kreuz!"
"Th, then we cannot keep Duke Tardema in check any…."
One staff officer barely spoke through this heavy atmosphere. However, he wasn"t able to finish his words due to the next sentence from the Duke.
"One wrong move and we will have a war! What the h.e.l.l is keeping Duke Tardema in check going to do? It"s barely been more than 30 years since the last war. Is war child"s play??! Do you find it funny! Huh, HUH!?"
It was natural for Hadrow to be enraged, as he had personally experienced the tragedies of the Rose War. If not for Duke Tardema"s actions back then, the Hela Empire would be no more.
"I shall carry it out immediately!"
The officer that spoke before spoke for nothing.
The Northanc Tower and Duke Tardema accounted for more than 50% of the Empire"s forces. With a national threat upon them, they needed Northanc"s battle mages more than anyone. Right now, a major threat to national security was about to befall them.
"d.a.m.n those idioctic Kreuzians… They were taken over again!"
They seemed as if they hadn"t learned from their mistakes.
If the Hela Empire was known for its magic, the Kreuz Empire was known for the sword. They had 5 sword masters, and the number of knights in their ranks was numerous as well.
However, Hadrow believed that those brawny muscle-heads were easily duped by the black mages because they had no brains.
Inside the living room of room 301, Iris Hall. Only Abel and Ian were present. Loki was currently visiting the Paraminu library.
Ian was reading a novel on the sofa, and he had made himself comfortable, with his legs placed on a chair.
However, Abel, who kept talking to himself for a while, bothered him a lot.
"Abel, what the heck are you doing by talking to yourself?"
"Oh! I"m talking with Casio."
"Casio? That thing you always bring around with you?… Have you gone crazy?"
Although Abel always seemed rather special from the get go, he had finally gone off his rockers, talking with an inanimate object.
"This is an ego artifact. Hey, you should introduce yourself to Casio as well!"
"Whoa! E, ego artifact?"
Ian was very surprised by Abel"s words. He hurriedly swung his legs down from the chair.
"My word! The legendary artifact that only appeared in fairy tales, is now owned by Abel?"
Ian threw away the book in his hand and immediately approached to take a closer look.
Honestly, he couldn"t believe it. The legendary ego artifact.
Despite that, he gave Abel the benefit of the doubt.
"H, hi?"
He awkwardly waved his hand at the LCD screen.
……
However, Casio did not have a reaction.
"What the? Ha~ I was duped again."
Thinking that Abel had duped him, Ian slapped his forehead and started shaking.
Abel"s trickery was rising by the day!
"Hey Casio! Why aren"t you talking with Ian?"
However, Abel seemed wronged. He vented his frustration to Casio.
[My soul is only connected to master. Communication with others is not possible.]
So that was it…..
"It says it can"t talk to you because its soul is only connected to mine!"
Abel explained.
"Really?"
However, Ian"s eyes were looking at Abel as though Abel had already lost himself to a mental disease.
"Hey! It"s the truth! I told you about the freakish ogre and the ancient texts, right?"
"Yeah."
"The ancient texts had a chapter about ego magic so I upgraded it. I"m for reals here."
Abel made the most serious expression he could muster before speaking.
"Okay. But, you know? You shouldn"t talk about it in front of others. They"ll take you for a freak for sure."
Ian spoke as though he believed Abel"s words.
"You don"t seem to believe me completely, huh? Look at the screen here! It will calculate everything, easy or difficult, if I simply tell it to."
Abel spoke proudly while pointing at Casio"s display.
Although Ian would not understand arabic numerals, showing him the changes in the LCD should alleviate his doubts a little, or so he had believed.
"Casio! What"s one plus one?"
[There are 3 results.]
"Huh?"
Abel was confused by the unexpected reply.
[According to master"s frequency of use, "2" came out at 67%, "Gwiyomi" at 32%, and "Window" at 1%.] (T/N: LOL at Gwiyomi… if you don"t know, search on youtube…)
"What the heck did that mean?"
Of course, the answer was 2, but Casio was a newly born artificial intelligence.
It had yet to understand Abel"s intentions. This happened because the synchro rate wasn"t high enough.