Origin Seeker

Chapter 13: An Ethereal Voice

[The process to read all of your memories requires total neural activation. The memories cannot be viewed in a specific order, and you will feel the full experience of your life that hasn't been totally forgotten. This process can be traumatic as the most vivid memories will be re-lived in full. It is not recommended to carry out the full process as memories could be overlapped and the individual could become permanently dissociative.]

"Hmmmm"

Dream listened to Savant's breakdown. The question he asked was what it would take for Savant to read and store all information from his memories. This was the answer and It wasn't looking good. Reliving his most vivid memories? No thanks. Some were good, but others were horrible. Not to mention it could go wrong.

Dream had another idea though. He went to Riddick and asked,

"Hey Old man, can skills combine? Or evolve from each other? You said something about fusion skills earlier right?"

"Skill evolution can only happen when the skill involved is maxed out. And then you have to level up enough to get to the next class where any maxed skills with the qualifications can evolve. Fusion skills are created when you combine two or more skills to do one thing. Like that copycat skill of yours."

"Interesting. Hang on."

'Savant! You said that skills have signatures right? And Copycat is the ability to read what those signatures do through how it manipulates energy. If you broke down a signature/skill to its base components, wouldn't you be able to figure out the language of skills like software?"

[The theory is possible. A skill to experiment on will be needed and it cannot be guaranteed that it will be successful as my abilities alone are unknown to be sufficient. In which case the skill would be lost.]

'Hmm.'

"Old man, Scarlet told me that her title was daughter of the void. Does that mean she has abilities to devour and break down energies?"

"Iris? She does. She inherits a form of my skillset. My skills are designed for pure unadulterated destruction. Hers are dialed down but she also has the ability to take stats from enemies."

"Alright. SCARLET!! Commere!!"

Dream yelled for Iris and footsteps came from outside

"Dream? Dad? What is it?" (Iris)

"Do you have any skills geared for breaking down and devouring energies?" (Dream)

"Uhh, ya? Thats how I gain most of my stats. I can eat an enemy's energy and gain stats dependent on what type of monster it was. If its a fast monster then I would get agility. The process does require the breakdown of mana. "

"Sweet! Hang on."

'Savant! Are you capable of connecting with another person's soul and use their skills through awareness?'

[To connect with the soul is possible but consent from the other party is needed. They will also need to activate the energy of the skill. I can handle the guidance of energy to use as needed.]

'Good. So if you had the devour skill, would you be able to use it to breakdown a skill alongside Copycat, Awareness, and visualization?'

[The chances are much higher.]

'Good'

"Riddick, Scarlet, I have something that I need your guys' help with."

"Hm?" (Riddick)

"What is it?" (Iris)

"Actually, get Luna too."

Dream gathered everyone to the kitchen and told them his plan.

"I want to max out the level of my skill [Savant]. My plan is to have Savant break down one of my skills and learn the signature from the soul. To do this, I need Scarlet's devour skills to cooperate with my skill and carry it out. I want everyone here with me just in case something happens. So I ask you, Iris, will you help me with this? It's an invasion of privacy and if you don't want to I get it. But your help will give me a higher chance of success."

"Hang on. You're tampering with the soul?" (Luna)

"Ya. Savant told me that that's where all skills are so he's gonna go in there and break one down to its core components to study-"

"NO! Absolutely not! Tampering with the soul could end extremely badly! Not to mention the pain that comes with tampering. Plus, what if you lose that skill in the process? That may be irreversible!" (Luna)

"She's right, Boy. Messing with souls is only done by high-level people who's souls can handle it. Yours isn't to that point."

Riddick and Luna spoke out in protest. And they were right. Messing with the soul could turn Dream into a retard. But he had a contingency for that purpose.

"Now hang on. Old man, remember my title description? It said that my mind can't be influenced. The mind is directly connected to the soul. You could say that it is the soul itself, in fact. The brain is just a controller for the soul to control the body. So if my soul can't be influenced, then that means it can't be broken down. But I can still edit the signatures of skills because its a part of me, not something external. So I say I'm pretty safe."

""...""

Luna and Riddick wanted to say something but couldn't refute the title. Titles were like absolute existences. If it said it did something, then it did it.  That's why Dream's perks were so ridiculous.

*Sighh* "Fine. But we're still gonna be here just in case." (Luna)

"Thanks. So, Iris?" (Dream)

"Well, you don't exactly leave me much choice, do you? Yes, I'll do it." (Iris)

"Thank you! Alright, I want to get started!

"Now?!" (Iris)

"Yes! To my room!"

Dream got up and skipped to his room. Everyone else looked at each other like they saw a crazy person, but still got up and followed.

When everyone was in the room, Dream laid down and told them what to do.

"All you guys need to do is maintain contact. I'm actually gonna knock myself out so I'll be asleep. But first, let's make the connections. Savant! Make a connection with everyone!"

[Confirmed]

After everyone was holding Dream's arm, they all got a notification in their heads from Savant.

[My name is Savant. I will be creating a mana channel that connects to your soul. This will allow me to guide the energy of your skills. Any action that requires your assistance will be requested of you.]

"This is an interesting skill, Boy. But why do you want me here?" (Riddick)

"To protect your daughters should anything happen. I trust my skill with this, but that doesn't mean you have to. Savant will be requesting Iris to activate her skill and then he will guide it and use it as needed. That's what the mana channel is for. This also means that you, Riddick, have the ability to regulate things. If you find that Iris is being harmed, you can cut her channel forcefully. I also request that Luna make the channel just in case Savant wants a mending ability."

"Hmm. Alright, Boy. I can accept that. I just hope you don't come out hurt from something stupid." (Riddick)

"You can't get hurt!! I can't believe I'm agreeing to something so idiotic! I'll kick your ass if anything goes wrong!" (Luna)

"Hehe, its alright Luna. I'm not going to war or anything. Anyway, everyone got the mana channel?" (Dream)

"""Yes"""

"Ok then. I'll be sleeping. See you in a bit. Savant! I give you full control! Your objective is to fully analyze the skill [Copycat]. [Visualization] and [Awareness] can be used as you see fit. Let's kick off this power leveling session."

[Confirmed]

And with that, Dream passed out as if he were dead. 

Iris then got a spook

[Iris. Please activate your skill [Devour] and give me permission to control it. Accept?]

"Yes. Go ahead."

[Permission has been granted. The breakdown of the skill [Copycat] has commenced. Unknown completion time. Please do not break contact with Dream's body.]

After Savant made the announcement to all three people, he got to work.

Iris' energy was pulled through the mana channel and towards the soul. Savant then used the energy to encompass the skill [Copycat]. This was when the analysis started. Dream's mana started being used to break the skill signature into pieces and be broken down. 

At first, the breakdown was slow. But then Savant started to level up. Savant's level stagnated at 73 from everything Dream did over the 2 months. And progress was finally being made.

<[Savant] has leveled up!>

<[Savant] has leveled up!>

<[Savant] has leveled up!>

<[Savant] has leveled up!>

<[Savant] has...>

Notifications appeared for no one, but the results were noticeable. The skill kept getting broken down faster and faster. And after 2 and a half hours of processing, the result Dream was looking for appeared.

<[Savant] has reached max level!>

This notification was only the beginning however.

[Skill has been broken down. Max level has been reached. Admin access has been given for all skills. Evolution is possible. Attempting...]

As Riddick said earlier, skills can be evolved. Usually, they have to be done by the system during class evolutions. But Savant had other plans.

Savant spoke to them.

[Mana pool is insufficient for skill evolution. Requesting for connected individuals to supplement mana. Accept?]

"Evolution?! How the hell can he evolve his skill?! Damn... Uhh, Savant! Use my mana alone!" (Riddick)

Riddick spoke to Savant. He didn't want it to take the mana of his daughters.

[Confirmed.]

However, once Riddick gave his permission, Savant started drawing insane amounts of mana.

"How much mana does this skill want?! Why doesn't it just take it all?!" (Riddick)

"How much is it taking, dad? You have a lot so it can't be that much right?" (Luna)

"I've lost almost 20% of my mana! And that was just the first chunk. It's still probably gonna take more." (Riddick)

"That much?! His body can't even hold that much! Will he get hurt?!" (Iris)

"....It'll probably be fine." (Riddick)

Riddick said that but he really wasn't sure. But he didn't want to harm Dream by refusing to give his mana, which he can always just regenerate. 

As they were talking, Savant was still trying to evolve.

[Evolving independently is impossible. Attempting assimilation with [Awareness]....Failed.]

[Attempting assimilation with [Visualization]....Failed.]

[Attempting assimilation with [Visualization] and [Awareness]....Failed.]

[Signature from skill [Copycat] has been analyzed and broken down. It is possible to read and copy skills of a certain level.]

[The skill [Devour] is necessary to complete assimilation.]

Savant came to that conclusion and then requested Iris

[The signature of the skill [Devour] needs to be referenced and used for skill assimilation. Do you give permission to read the Signature?]

"Uhhh...Will anything happen to the skill?"

[Your skill will not be affected. It will be temporarily used to assimilate the skills. This will, however, prevent you from accessing the skill while it is in use.]

"...uhh, I guess?"

[Confirmed]

"Wha...?"

Almost as if Savant was eager to evolve, it took Iris' hesitation as a yes. Iris was then cut off from using her skill.

[The skill [Devour] has been temporarily acquired. The skill signature will be copied and used to integrate with the signature of [Copycat].]

[Skill integration complete.]

<The skill [Emulator] has been acquired!>

[The breakdown of the skills [Visualization] and [Awareness] are necessary. Breakdown using [Emulator] commencing...Complete.]

[The skill [Visualization] will be enhanced with [Emulator].... Complete.]

<The skill [Mind Space] has been acquired!>

[Evolution will now occur. The skills [Awareness], [Mind Space], and [Emulator] will be lost. The skill [Savant] will use the temporarily acquired skill [Devour] to assimilate said skills. Evolution commencing...]

Savant had finally started to evolve after enhancing several skills. It used Iris' skill and began devouring the signatures of the other skills and editing itself to make it better. 

It was following its master's desire for a better skill. To be able to carry out his will better. There was only one problem.

[Connection with the Record is blocked. Unable to access for evolution. Attempting possible alternatives......Pre-assigned alternative found.]

[Attempting connection through the Title: [Origin Seeker].....Connection established.]

{Oh? Now what do we have here?}

"What is that?!" (Riddick)

Riddick was scared beyond belief when that voice rang out.

The voice came from everywhere. The reason Riddick was so scared, was because that voice carried an unbelievably ethereal power when it spoke.

"Who are you?!"

{My name is not important, nor will you hear it. Just know I'm not here to hurt you. I am here because a connection was opened to me. It looks like he is evolving one of his skills.}

"...Dream? Yes he asked us to help him but he was only trying to level up his skill called [Savant]..."

{So he maxed out the skill? Interesting... Well, the skill is now evolving, and it looks like I am needed. Plus, I can't be here for long or it'll get dangerous.}

"Is Dream going to be okay?" (Luna)

{Oh? Worried are we? Hahaha you don't need to worry child. The amount of pain his soul went through wasn't light but nothing will happen. Maybe you should give him some comfort when he wakes up. And don't be so embarrassed. I can see the love he has for you and yours for him. That includes you, Miss [Daughter of the void].}

"Wha... How could he possibly love me? That's.....And I don't-...I just don't hate him as much! But-" (Iris)

{Hahahaha! Little one, believe me when I say that only the goddess of love is better than me when it comes to matters of the heart! I know what you feel. However, let me give a little advice to the both of you. When it comes time for Mister Dreamer here to leave the nest, be sure to make your decision clearly. The path I have put that boy on is not easy. But it is filled with endless possibilities. Decide if you want to be the ones by his side.

And to the father right there, don't worry about the boy's thoughts for you. He sees you as an uncle, and won't do anything without your approval. He cares deeply for your daughters. I just hope you don't make things difficult for him. 

Alright! I must take my leave. The boy is in pristine condition for you ladies. Have fun!}

With that, the ethereal voice was heard no more, leaving behind a father with a complicated look and two daughters with beet-red faces.

[Skill evolution complete]

With one last comment, Savant made way for a new skill.