Theo approached the machine with a toughened mind.
He didn’t have a problem letting his parents see what abilities he possessed, but so of the stuff he had was far too unique to let an emperor of an entire kingdom witness.
He sat in the chair in front of the machine, and that was when he saw the ’machine’ boot up.
Symbols started cascading across the screen, as though it were loading. Theo frowned.
’I can’t even recognize those symbols...’ Theo thought and let out a quiet breath of relief.
All this ti, he had suspected that the Outer Devils might be humans from his previous world.
Theo knew that there would co a ti when they would reach a stage like this. But reaching this level of technology in a few hundred years was impossible; according to it, it would need at least 1000 years of the species’ survival.
But soon enough, sothing strange happened.
As if the screen boot sequence had already completed, the alien symbols flickered and instantly shifted into characters that were very familiar to everyone in this room.
"This..." Theo did not know what to say.
Not only was the screen’s resolution a lot higher than anything Theo had ever seen in his previous world, which was expected, but what truly stunned him was that he could read every word displayed on it too.
"We had the captured Outer Devil use its skills to make so adjustnts to the machine, young Theo," the Emperor explained, making Theo nod.
’He just referred to the Outer Devil as an ’it’... when everyone knows they are human too,’ Theo thought.
A disturbing scenario crossed his mind, where he too would be referred to the sa way.
As an ’it’.
Just because he was a foundation human.
"This machine serves many purposes," the Emperor continued. "But we mostly use it to examine the status of promising individuals. There are always one or two interesting aspects in them that help us guide them better. Just as we intend to do with you."
Theo’s gaze shifted to the Baron, who stood silently, watching the screen co alive.
"It’s ti," the Baron muttered.
The person who had activated the machine stepped forward and pressed a coloured key on what seed like a keyboard pulled straight from the future.
It appeared the mont the machine booted up, but it was like a keyboard that was etched directly inside the tallic surface beneath the machine.
Theo watched as the robed figure pressed a few of the pre-marked symbols, as though following a programd sequence. The mont the last symbol was touched, Theo felt sothing strange and instinctively closed his eyes.
A beam of light burst from the machine, sweeping over him to do a full-body scan while his eyes remained closed.
When he opened his eyes again, the screen above began loading with the sa unfamiliar symbols.
Theo didn’t know what to say to that. He glanced at his parents, then at the emperor, but noticed they were too focused on the screen to notice him staring at them.
Within a minute, the symbols disappeared, and in their place, an entire panel of information ca forward.
Theo tried reading it, but it was still in that unknown script. But just when he was about to speak, the symbols flickered and the language shifted.
Everyone stepped closer to the screen and started reading what was being displayed.
Theo did too.
**********
Status quoted from the engraved code. Ti elapsed: 1 min 25 sec
Na: Theo rrick
Type: Foundation Human (Friendly)
Level: 10 (Above normal for age)
Experience points: 55,000/55,000
Age: 11 years 264 days
*****
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 115 (Above average for age, lower compared to level.)
Stamina: 105 (Above average for age, lower compared to level.)
Agility: 95 (Above average for age, lower compared to level.)
Vitality: 130 (Above average for age.)
Intelligence: 150 (Above average for age.)
Dexterity: 100 (Above average for age, lower compared to level.)
Luck: 250 (Abnormally high, needs to be studied.)
*****
TAMING ATTRIBUTES:
Affinity: Evolution (Strong correlation to Artifact#122, Potential Threat: Extre.)
Taming Mastery: 870 (High for age, average compared to level.)
Charisma: 75 (High, can influence beings around. Caution level: Low)
Beast Command: 920 (High for age and average compared to level.)
*****
ABILITIES:
Foundation Human (Passive): An evolved human variant granting the trait of Spatial Awareness.
Lesser Sword Aura (Ability) (Level 4, 62%): A weak and unstable manifestation of blade aura that lightly coats the weapon with the wielder’s intent rather than raw power.
Hive Link 1 (Ability) (Level 7, 12%): Establishes a weak but direct symbiotic connection between the user and a single Hive-type existence, making the user a secondary node within the hive network. This ability is incomplete and should not normally manifest in a Human-type existence.
NOTE: Above average number of Abilities detected.
’Theo rrick’ needs to be transferred to the Genesis Project for source code extraction.
**********
"Start noting down everything," the emperor commanded.
The robed man pulled out a pen from one sleeve and a large sheet of paper that seed to have been folded at least four tis from the other.
Theo watched him copy every detail on the screen, but right now, that wasn’t what concerned him.
’This is what I look at every single day... but these extra brackets and the things written in them...’
He frowned inwardly.
’I seem to be above average in almost everything for my age... but only average for my level. That does sound bad.’
Theo didn’t care what others thought about the status. For now, all he could see were improvent points that he himself could use to help himself grow better, not just for his age, but for his level too.
’But there are two things I need to rember... and they will definitely get in trouble too, I am sure of that.’ Theo’s eyes twitched a few tis as he reread two words on different lines.
The first was the ntion of ’Artifact#122’
That alone seed weird, and for it to say that his affinity was closely tied to it only ant one thing.
The Benevolent Artifact
’Are you serious right now?’ Theo’s thoughts spiraled, and he couldn’t help but feel too shocked to think properly.
’Do you an, aside from the Benevolent Artifact... there are at least 121 more like it out there?’
The more Theo thought, the more his breathing turned erratic.
It was one thing not to understand a single artifact on a bigger scale.
But what happened when you realize that even more existed?
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