Chapter 268: Citizen's POV (II)

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After the first trial, Chris did not stop practicing Transmutation. With the Empire's education, he understood the science behind them. Unfortunately, his talent for energy detection and control was abysmal. So, he wanted to make up for that with hard work.

For the next few hours, he drew countless Transmutation Circles on the floor while also reading books on the subject. By the time he finished, it was already 4 AM.

So, Chris went to take another shower before sleeping in his Virtual Network Cabin, which could put people into a deep sleep. Two hours of sleep inside was equal to more than 8 hours of normal sleep.

At 6 AM, Chris woke up and ate a healthy dinner. This time he chose Hawaiian breakfast, then dressed up in the typical black suit before heading to work.

As he walked into the always of his apartment complex, Chris encountered one of his neighbors and nodded his head to the young woman, who in turn saluted back.

The young woman looked at Chris' departing back and secretly shook her head. She knew that this strange neighbor of hers was infamous in the complex: he was known for being extremely cheap.

He essentially lived off the government. The apartment he lived in was the standard three-bedroom, one bathroom granted to all single citizens of the Empire.

Despite having a decent job as a Computer Programmer, this Chris never goes out to eat, never goes to any entertainment events, he never buys jewelry, and he has no girlfriend or children: Essentially, he never used his money on anything else.

Many people have commented that if we did not leave in a society of free housing, free food, free healthcare, and low-cost public transportation, they would wonder how someone like him would survive.

Chris-who was not aware of his neighbor's thought-walked steadily to his destination: the bus station. On his way, he would look in the sky with slight jealousy in his eyes, along with a deep longing.

In the air, cars, jets, and people could be seen flying. Each of these groups had a designated altitude at which they could fly in. People could only fly 30 meters to 60 meters in the sky, vars between 120 meters to 350 meters, and so on.

While Chris was observing the people flying, he discovered that one of them had flame boosters coming from their feet and hands.

'Is this the recently developed class, Bionic Arcanist?

He remembered reading the official debriefs regarding this new class. Essentially some people can replace their body parts with mechanical ones, turning themselves into cyborgs.

There are different levels of modifications. Some just replaced one or more parts of their bodies with metal ones. For example, some amputees preferred to have robotic arms: even many soldiers and Aura Master will willingly change some of their body parts with mechanical parts-especially ones made with magical ores.

Meanwhile, other Bionic Arcanist modified their entire body and have an Energy Core installed inside of them.

Some energy cores functioned with miniaturized nuclear fission and other forms, but the most expensive ones are made of mana. Additionally, there are different modules created for this subclass that grant Bionic Arcanists different abilities.

Some modules are designed specifically for modern weapons. This type of module used nanotechnology to allow different weapons to come out of the user's body.

Other modules focused on Magical Weapons, some modules focused on spells, some focused on increasing intelligence or computer processing, etc.

With this new subclass, countless companies with the sole purpose of designing modules were invented. one could say that an entire new industry was created.

And Chris once read that a new movement or idea is circulating with the concept that flesh and blood have limits, and only mechanical life can live and evolve forever.

Of course, he sneered at this idea. We live in a world where some powerful Aura Arcanists can use their flesh and blood to tank Nuclear Explosions. Just one search on Skynet and there are many such videos.

So, where does the superiority of mechanical life have over flesh and blood? The only advantage that Bionic Arcanists have over other classes is the fact that with enough money, any of them can reach Tier 3 in just a month or less.

However, to reach Tier 4 and higher, they have to either strengthen their souls to have certain control over the Energy Core inside their bodies, or they have to do an extensive transformation of their brains to increase their computing power.

However, the latest research is that doing this has severe consequences on the soul, and requires a lot of time, energy, and resources to ensure that nothing goes awry.

While deep in thought, Chris continued his walk towards his destination. As a generally quiet and reserved person, he liked to observe everything around him. And one of his favorite past times is to see the changes in the Empire over time.

As a person who was more than 40 years old when the Empire was first established, he knew how much things have changed in the past 4 decades.

Chris looked at an empty spot on the side of the road: this was one thing that has recently changed in the past five years. In that empty spot was a white, translucent rectangular barrier.

People could be seen suddenly appearing inside that barrier before leaving. And he knew that there were many of them across the city.

This was the designated [Apparition Area] that was recently established by the Empire. Arcanists with the right license can apparate anywhere they wished, but it has to be in the designated area.

Anyone who Apparates in any other place will be arrested or fined a certain amount, and that is only if it was possible. The Spatial Control Department monitor and control the space of each planet to not only prevent foreign intruders but also to prevent any spatial disturbance or disasters.

After a long looked at the area, Chris promised himself that after becoming an Arcanist, he will place Apparition as one of the must-mastered spells. He then removed his eyes to observe other things.

He saw many people with cat ears and tails, fox ears and tails, and so on.

'I wonder if they are the real race or genetic modifications?'

In recent years, the population of the Empire has greatly increased after the Space Fleet conquered a small star system. And the main race of that system was a hybrid of humans and animals like the cat race, the fox race, and so on.

This race has magical capabilities that allow them to enhance its physical abilities and cast a few basic spells. However, this was not important. The main point is that their inclusion into the Empire has created a new trend where people genetically modify their bodies to resemble the cat race and fox race: it seems that people's unnatural obsession with catgirls has not vanished.

When this new technology was introduced, only the rich and powerful could afford it. However, not even 6 months later, a breakthrough was made that even ordinary people can afford it after saving for a few months.

So, now, it has become a fashion trend popular amongst both magical and non-magical people. Of course, there was still some backlash with many people calling this practice unnatural and unorthodox.

Chris knew that there were many people from the Old Era that could not keep up with the rapid change of the Empire. Their conservative ideas and mentality make it very difficult to accept how rapid life, technology, and many other things are changing.

Luckily, he was not one of them. The moment he witnessed the Dementor Invasion, Chris was prepared for the changes of the new world. Although he still had some conservative tendencies or preferences, he knew how to properly manage them.

While deep in thought, he soon arrived at his destination. Without hesitation, he paid the fee for the train and headed to his designated area.

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