Chapter 29: Lesser Mechanized Mind

“Teacher, I have no problem. After several months of contemplation on the estate, I have gained new insights into Logic, which is perfect for writing in these two weeks,” Ace replied readily.

“Very good. Then we will set it for the Thursday two weeks from now. This will be your first speech in front of a large audience. While you prepare your content, I will train you in public speaking techniques.”

Ace and Peter chatted casually for a bit. Peter did indeed ask about the New Medicine. Ace was momentarily embarrassed. “I’ve been busy with the estate construction recently. The New Medicine is only just beginning.”

Peter did not mind and continued to discuss the estate construction, greatly praising Ace’s innovative farming methods.

“I once saw a similar description of your new methods in a library in a northern city-state. Legend says that before the last collapse of civilization, people farmed with oxen and had a series of methods to increase yield, but the specific methods were unknown. I never expected you to restore them.”

Ace blushed. It turned out that intensive farming methods had existed in this world before. Seeing only slash-and-burn practices, he had subconsciously assumed the farming methods were backward.

But upon reflection, it made sense. With a history spanning nearly 100,000 years, during which civilization rose and fell dozens of times due to various reasons, it was not surprising that the techniques of intensive farming were hidden within.

Ace took the opportunity to talk with his teacher for a long time about the history of the rise and fall of civilizations. He learned that the current time was about 2,000 years since the last collapse of civilization. Legend says the previous civilization eventually developed into a great empire that unified the continent.

The emperor of the empire was the son of God-King Kronos and a mortal woman. The emperor was favored by Kronos and granted infinite glory.

However, he was tempted by an ancient, greedy Devil. Dissatisfied with being the king on earth, he wanted to become the king in heaven, which ultimately led to the destruction of the last civilization.

After some more casual conversation, Ace finally got to the point: he wanted to borrow Peter’s treasured mirror for his new Logic writing.

“The Copper Mirror of Clear Thought is indeed beneficial for helping you write new content. I can lend it to you. But you can only use it here with me. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s not safe to take it out.”

Peter took the wrapped copper mirror out of his large white robe and handed it to Ace. “Remember to only look at it once and never look for too long.”

Ace took the copper mirror and stayed in Peter’s guest room. The room was spacious and sunny, fully furnished with a desk, chair, bed, and parchment. Ace lit the oil lamp on the table and took out the Copper Mirror of Clear Thought.

During the last banquet at the Royal Palace, Ace had not dared to release his mental power to sense it, as there were too many Heroes, and he risked being discovered.

He rubbed the copper mirror. It had a cold texture. When he gazed at the mirror’s surface, Ace felt his mental power being slightly pulled and absorbed. If he wished, he could also control his mental power and prevent it from being pulled.

Ace released control of his mental power, and a tiny amount of mental power entered the copper mirror.

In his mental perception, the world turned black and white. The copper mirror gradually disappeared, and a planar Soul Rune structure appeared where the mirror surface had been.

After absorbing Ace’s mental power, it triggered a magical rhythm, which fed back to Ace. He felt his emotions suppressed, and his mind became calm and active. This state made him think of a term: Mechanized Mind.

Ace controlled his mental power and perceived carefully. The copper mirror had no Lesser Runes. The Soul Rune could not be replicated yet. Should he give up now?

Ace did not want to give up. He desperately wanted this state of Mechanized Mind. Whether it was for academic contemplation or intense combat, suppressing emotionality and activating the mind was an ideal state.

Furthermore, both the Copper Mirror of Clear Thought and the Eye of Illusion should be Wonders. The Eye of Illusion was clearly of a higher grade.

The copper mirror only had a planar Soul Rune, with a single function, and no Lesser Runes on the physical object. The Eye of Illusion had Lesser Runes, and the Lesser Runes he discovered all had an advanced version that could be found within the three-dimensional rune structure.

Perhaps he could approach it from this angle and attempt to degrade the Soul Rune of the copper mirror.

After some thought, Ace took out the Eye of Illusion and began to study the difference between the similar Soul Rune and Lesser Rune types on the Eye of Illusion.

For the following week, Ace was basically confined to his room all day. Except for meals and using the latrine, Peter always saw him deep in thought during mealtimes and instructed everyone not to disturb him.

After careful comparison and experimentation, Ace discovered the relationship between Soul Runes and Lesser Runes of the same type. Although the Soul Rune was more complex, its basic expression was similar to the Lesser Rune, only that many advanced expressions were omitted in the Lesser Rune.

The internal structure of a rune is also a kind of language. Ace speculated that if he could fully master it, he might even be able to create original runes based on the laws of nature in the future.

The key to degrading a rune lies in skipping the core point of expression. The Soul Rune could not be replicated, but not all of the content was unreproducible. Only part of the core points could not be replicated. If he ignored the core points, and the replication was successful, making it visible and activatable, it meant the degradation was successful.

After some research, Ace found that the Mana Rune on the copper mirror was slightly different from the one on the Eye of Illusion. Perhaps he could record them as Soul Mana #1 and Soul Mana #2. Due to the limits of his mental power, he could not research the specific functional differences.

He successfully degraded the rune on the copper mirror. He degraded two Lesser Tool Runes, Emotion Suppression and Thought Activation, and one Lesser Foundation Rune, Automatic Siphon.

The effect of the Lesser Automatic Siphon is that it can automatically absorb Mana or mental power within a certain range. It can be used in combination with the Mana Rune or independently.

A Lesser Spell Model with an embedded Lesser Automatic Siphon can automatically activate when the conditions are met.

The other runes were auxiliary runes and Mana Runes, so there was no need to degrade them.

Ace successfully combined and crafted the Lesser Mechanized Mind Spell Model and drew it onto a card in his Spell Book. By fully activating the spell, Ace successfully entered the Lesser Mechanized Mind state.

He used the Lesser Aversion spell on himself. The feeling of aversion was immediately suppressed by the Lesser Mechanized Mind.

The Lesser Loss of Gaze and Lesser Panic Gaze are spells cast through the eyes. They can be cast on oneself using a mirror’s reflection, with a slight weakening of the effect. Ace used these two spells on himself, and he was still immune to them.

After about 10 minutes, Ace felt himself exit the Mechanized Mind state with no adverse reactions.

He recorded this experiment in his Magic Diary, concluding: “To classify existing spells by their effect, the Lesser Mechanized Mind needs a separate category. I name spells of this type, which apply a status to oneself, Aura Spells.”

The magic research was complete. With one week remaining, the subsequent content of Logic also needed careful preparation. There was a lot of content about judgment. Recalling his state when he first studied judgment in his past life, his mood grew increasingly pleasant.