Chapter 380: The Blocker (I)
'On the top of my head, I can think of two worlds where I can rapidly gather knowledge about the soul. The Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Soul Stone and Bleach's Spiritual Pressure System.'
Either of these two worlds would be helpful, so Edward decided that one of them would be his next voyage. However, this was not the time to deal with this problem since he had an important task to accomplish.
He waved his hand to display a holographic blueprint of the Floating City. He opened the designs of the 3.0 Versions that he had already designed.
'With the new knowledge I have, I should probably add more things to this version.'
Edward needed the power of the Floating City to build the Universe Web Blocker. However, the current level of the Floating City might not be enough and needs an upgrade.
"This will take a little time, so let's try the previous method," Edward muttered before closing his eyes, entering the river of time again to connect to a future version of himself.
Unfortunately, the resistance he encountered this time around was even more. Edward did not easily give up, so he persisted, pushing his spell to the limit. However, his Cosmic Awareness activated, and he felt great danger.
Acting on instinct, he immediately stopped and exited the river.
'Where did the danger comes from? Are there some time-creatures hunting for people messing with the flow of time?'
He shook his head as he decided to give up on taking a shortcut. Instead, he began to design the Floating City on his own. He asked Morgana to show him a list of research that might be helpful for his upgrade.
"Narcissa and Soleil have perfected the Psychic Energy path?" Edward muttered before checking the result of their research. After studying the Novad race he brought back, these two Tower Masters made significant academic advancements. They created a sub-class called Psykers Arcanists with people who use Psychic Energy as their primary energy source.
They have invented ways for people to condense Psychic Cores in their brains and increase the quantity of this energy. Unfortunately, this subclass can only reach Tier 6 so far, but it is still a path for many people.
"It's a shame this sub-class is also not universal like Aura," commented Edward. People need to have a specific mutation of their brains or a specific innate spiritual power to become Psykers.
And unfortunately, that brain mutation cannot yet be copied through genetic modifications.
"Nevertheless, their research is useful."
Narcissa and Soleil followed his advice and developed an entire technology tree based solely on Psychic Energy. They even successfully created Tier 8 Psychic Weapons.
And one of their creation is a way to convert mana into Psychic Energy. According to their recent study request, they believe they could create a Tier 9 Psychic Weapon if they had access to one of the Floating City.
"Master, you always worry that the Floating City only functioned with one power system. Now, you can deal with this problem," said Morgana.
"Indeed."
Edward always feared and prepared for the worse. So, he often worried that he would end up in a situation or universe where mana does not work, rendering the Floating City unfunctional and causing his death.
But now, for this update, he decided to incorporate other power systems or other forms of energy.
"Boss, this research might help you."
Edward looked at the data, showing George and Fred Weasley's latest research. Their task was to create an Energy Converter, allowing different energies to convert to mana. They have to work with many other Arcanists for their research, including Narcissa for Psychic Energy, Arti for Divine Energy, and Towe Master Aiworo for Elemental Energy used by the Lumarian Civilization.
"These guys did a great job," commented Edward, despite knowing the Royal Guard had to force them to return to work whenever they decided they wanted to waste time.
The majority of their research was completed. So, things like electricity, nuclear, anti-matter, solar, tectonic plate energy, psychic energy, and many others could be converted into mana and back.
Their only issue was dealing with high-level powers like Cosmic Energy, Divine Energy, and Soul Strength. These two had some results with Divine and Cosmic Energy but had little success with soul strength.
So far, the best correlation detected between mana, and the soul is that the latter is required to control the former. Mana can also directly affect the soul.
"I can include all these systems in the city, ensuring I never have a problem with energy failure," commented Edward with a smile.
"There is another one," said Morgana. "Arthur Weasley also made some technological development. He created a way to use pure technology to travel through the Astral Realm."
Edward also reviewed the research, smiling even deeper. He was always happy when his close friends and allies prospered since it also meant his and the Empire's prosperity.
"Excellent," he commented. When it comes to science and technology, he knew he was not the most gifted-not even close. So, he always delegates its development to others, not really focusing on it too much.
And his decision was proven to be correct after seeing results such as this. With Arthur's discovery, he will not have to worry if he crashes into a world where the laws of physics only allowed technology and no extraordinary powers. His floating city will only have to change to Arthur's invention.
"Alright, let' s begin," said Edward before starting the update. He first decided to use a Time Acceleration Roon since he wanted the upgrade would probably take a few years.
He first entered the core of the Floating City, and after analyzing all the enchantments, Edward decided to start all over instead of just upgrading the existing one; it was easier and faster that way.
"Anti-Gravity, Energy Distribution, Energy Converter, Environment Control, System Linkage..."
Edward kept saying a bunch of words, and every time he did, a white light would flash on the Floating. For the optimization, he used the [Word Blessing Enchantments] that he learned watching the gods-mainly Hephaestus-create diviner artifacts in the Mummy World.
At the same time, he began engraving the same enchantments using the Mana Method Enchantment he learned from the dwarves in the Black Clover Universe.
He linked the Word Bless Enchantments with the Engravement Enchantment, elevating the Floating City's magical technology to an even higher level.
"I'm really an unparallel genius," said Edward. To cast these two enchantments, he had to perfectly control them, ensuring the mana used at their cores was on the exact frequency.
For such a high-level technique, he believed no more than a dozen people could do such a thing in the entire universe.
"I can do even better," commented Edward before beginning with the Core Enchantments. In a pocket dimension linked to the floating city, Edward engraved another set of enchantments needed for the floating city and linked them to the previous two sets.
"3 Fold Enchantment," he muttered with a smile. "Not only can they boost each other, nothing will happen if one set fails. Safety and Power."
Edward was satisfied with his masterpiece. "We can do better."
He then began the fourth set of enchantments, using the Micro Engravement Method. He spent months engraving microscope enchantments all over the floating city before linking them to the other three.
The process was more challenging than the previous two, and he failed many times. Nevertheless, he learned many things and his Artificier skill drastically increased in the process.
"4 Fold Enchantment. Yes, I deserve the title of a Divine Artificer. Could I go for a fifth fold?"
Edward frowned as he did not have another enchantment system he could use. The Empire has many enchantment techniques, but they were only subcategories of these four.
They acquired the Elf's enchantment method in the wreckage of the Intergalactic Federation and through some shady means. However, the technique was a combination of Word Bless and Engraving Enchantment, only using the elf's language.
As for the dwarves of this universe, they did not have an enchantment technique and relied purely on materials to craft magical items. Edward has already changed Morgana to use some of their knowledge to optimize the entire city.
As such, there were many golems doing renovation all over the city.
"Alright, up the next step."