"So?" Lilia asked once the meeting was over. "How did it go?"
"Terrible."
"The Verdant Harvester was terrible?" Lilia asked in shock.
"No, the meeting was terrible. The Verdant Engine was too efficient, which pushed it into Rank 3 territory. That means it was so well made it cannot be used in this kingdom."
Lilia narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"Should I be happy that my runic system is considered Rank 3, or should I be sad that our baby was rejected?"
"You're allowed to feel both," Bastion replied with a chuckle. "On the bright side, I was able to take note of some of the ideas in my blueprints that caught her attention."
"You mean those carriages?"
"No, not those. She clearly thought they were inferior compared to existing methods of transportation. Why bother with a car when a carriage can already go faster, travel longer, and do it without a driver?"
Bastion realized carriages were still common because magical enchantments made them practical. Cushioning charms could soften the ride over rocky terrain, space enchantments could expand the interior to the size of a house, and a trained Stoneblood horse could pull one nonstop for a month. Summoned creatures could even replace the need for horse training and upkeep.
They could even replace airplanes and boats, since all that would need to be changed was the enchantments applied to them. They could be made to fly, float, or dive underwater. The creature pulling them would also need to be suited to the new environment, but that was a minor concern in comparison to the completely new vehicles Bastion was proposing.
"Then, what did she end up taking an interest in?" Lilia asked.
"Our telepathy and paired crystal prototypes."
"Oh, those," she sighed dejectedly.
Their failure was in the difference between the mediums of communication. The paired crystals worked well for long range and operated via vibrations, while the telepathy-enchanted earrings worked well for short range but operated via intent. If they could be combined, they could begin the production of a network that would allow long-distance communication. Unfortunately, there was no connection between sound and intent other than a middleman that would work similarly to telephone operators in Earth's history, a clearly inefficient method.
"Why do you think she took an interest?" Lilia asked.
"I'm guessing both technologies are already widely in use, and perhaps they have been similarly stumped by the same problem. Our idea might involve some method she was aware of that would allow the two technologies to combine."
"Doesn't that mean she could steal our ideas and pass them off as her own?"
"Perhaps, but I believe it won't be as efficient as she initially thought."
Lilia shrugged in response and dropped the matter. It didn't concern her one way or the other. Their prototypes worked for their intended purposes, while their failed project to combine them faced a material or knowledge barrier they were unable to overcome due to their restrictions in the kingdom. More importantly, she was worried about her Verdant Engine.
"Does that mean I need to dumb the engine down?" Lilia asked.
"Don't bother. If you dumbed it down, it wouldn't offer much help to the farmers since they can already do a better job with just hard labor."
"What are we going to do for them, then?"
"I don't think there's anything we can do. The restrictions are very clear, Rank 2 kingdoms can't share in the prosperity of technology. At best, they might benefit from a few farming spells, but without the requisite Intelligence, most people wouldn't be able to cast them anyway."
"That's kind of sad."
"That's the price of living in a kingdom sheltered from higher ranks. The same rules that keep their power from destroying us also keep us from advancing."
"What do we do now?"
"Our priority has always been to gain power first and foremost, so we'll use this time to max out our stats and bring our Art and Skill levels up to the new limit at 5. After that, we can focus more on the technology we personally need, like more equipment, weapons, and bullets. Then, when the time comes to leave the kingdom, we can work on creating a product to sell to the empires."
In all honesty, Bastion was stumped. Every attempt to apply technology seemed to hit a dead end. Either this world already had a magical equivalent, or the infrastructure required to make it work was far too excessive. He couldn't think of a single piece of Earth technology that could fully take advantage of this world.
Even computers, the greatest invention of mankind, were crippled here. They depended on hardware and infrastructure that didn't exist, and their usefulness was undercut by the way Intelligence and Wisdom worked. Why bother typing and processing information when someone with the right stats could solve the same problem instantly with a glance?
Computers could theoretically aid those of lower rank, but their energy demands would place a heavy burden on the kingdom. And why give such advanced tools to peasants when they were already content with their simple lives?
Opportunities to improve one's life were always there for those willing to try. Anyone could attempt to join the 10% who survived the Apprentice Rank and advance to Rank 1, where more resources became accessible. At Rank 2, they could even leave the kingdom and seek greater fortunes elsewhere.
Instead, most chose to remain content with modest lives that required minimal effort to sustain. People here were healthy, strong, and largely free from problems beyond ordinary conflicts with others. By keeping their heads down, they lived without significant hardship.
Bastion saw this firsthand while touring the territory. The population was largely happy with what little they had. His visions confirmed it; when these people died, they were content. They had lived simple but fulfilling lives, preferring stability over risk.
This outcome was inevitable, given the kingdom's power structure. Those who lacked ambition stayed behind, while those who hungered for more had already taken their chances. They either succeeded by rising in rank or died chasing that dream.
"We're not going to make anything anymore?" Lilia asked dejectedly.
"Not for now. I thought that perhaps the Verdant Harvester would make a difference, and once that succeeded we could make more stuff. But since we were denied even this, there's no point in making anything more so long as we stay in this kingdom. You can help me enchant my bullets, though?"
"Bastion, you have millions of bullets. There's no way I can enchant every single one of them. Besides, you make bullets faster than I can enchant them. I will never be able to finish."
"This was exactly why I wanted to hire you in the first place. I need these bullets enchanted to maximize their damage. I would have been able to kill more Rank 2s during the flood if my bullets were enchanted. Instead, plenty of them managed to run away."
"Ugh, fine! I'll enchant your stupid bullets."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you focus on this. Your priority is yourself first. Only when you want to practice your enchanting should you enchant them."
"Do I get to enchant them with whatever I want?"
"So long as it doesn't end up killing me or destroying the cannons, you're fine to do as you please."
"That's better, I guess. At least I can do some experiments."
"Just don't go overboard."
And so, Bastion decided to set aside inventing any new Earth technologies while living in this kingdom. Instead, he prioritized improving their stats, Arts, and Skills, leaving technology development as a secondary concern.
It couldn't be helped. Bastion's initial plans and ambitions had become irrelevant. The weapons he had were good enough for now, while the computer he had obsessed over was becoming less relevant as he grew in power.
Not only did he not personally need one, he couldn't even make one that would actually be convenient because of his own lack of knowledge. He didn't know how to make the extremely tiny parts that made up microchips. That technology was closer to material science than engineering.
On top of that, if he ever truly wanted to make a computer, he could always use a golem core to simulate intelligence and outsource the thinking process. Instead of solving a problem by himself, he could hand it over to copies of his thoughts through multiple golem cores that simultaneously attack the problem from different angles. This was a device that could already outperform any computer he could possibly make with his current capabilities.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," Bastion thought.
"What doesn't sound like a bad idea?" Lilia asked.
"Integrated golem cores that allow them to think for themselves within a simulated environment."
"Sounds complicated. The environment would have to be thought-based rather than physical."
"It would be easier because it's thought-based. Imagine using an empty golem core as a shared mental space, where other golem cores could connect, communicate, and exchange ideas."
"Like an empty space to build their own copies?"
"Something like that."
"Do you even know how they would connect?"
"I think we should take a closer look at those runes that feed energy into the limbs. We've never looked into the output and checked for intent, after all."
"Does this mean we have a new project?"
"I think it does."
"Yay!" Lilia cheered.
Amidst their rising excitement, Bastion suddenly received a telepathic message from Elyra.
'Master, Seraphina says you should make a gun instead.'
'What kind?' Bastion asked.
'The kind to give to your new wife.'
'Lilia doesn't need guns.'
'Your other new wife.'
'You?'
'No, Master. I don't use guns.'
'Then who?'
'Ariel Valemont, the woman Seraphina has selected to be your new wife.'
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