Chapter 998: Instability

In Cecil, priests don’t necessarily wield the Holy Light, nuns aren’t guaranteed to heal, rogues often fight with greatswords or stun batons, and even the elven race’s so-called pinnacle of beauty might actually be bald underneath it all. So, it’s hardly surprising that a “Singer” might not be able to sing.

Still, Gawain stood there pondering for a long while, feeling that something about this just didn’t sit right…

But then again, if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. After all, very little on this land follows any kind of normal pattern—he’d even witnessed a cyberpunk dragon kingdom. At this point, Gawain’s tolerance for strange aesthetics was at an all-time high.

No matter the style, as long as it works.

He turned his gaze to the young test subject standing in the center of the testing ground. With the help of several technicians, the subject was being connected to rune panels and a magitech terminal. Nearby, another technician carefully retrieved a device from a storage box—a silver-white metallic contraption resembling a spine: the Neural Thorn.

One technician approached Wendy, first saluting Gawain, then reporting, “Test subject’s equipment check complete. Personnel and devices are in good condition. Ready to proceed with the experiment at any time.”

Wendy nodded and glanced at Gawain, who gave a brief “hmph.” “Then let’s begin the test… I want to see what you’ve achieved so far.”

“Begin connecting the Neural Thorn,” Wendy immediately instructed her assistants. “Prepare the neural signal amplifiers and the helmet!”

The technicians sprang into action. Gawain watched as the technician holding the Neural Thorn carefully affixed the shimmering, spine-like device to the test subject’s nape. Another technician brought over a strange helmet made of layered metal plates, curiously covering the eyes completely. The back of the helmet was connected by a soft material to the Neural Thorn’s interface. Other staff activated various testing and safety devices around the area.

They clearly had done this many times before. Within minutes, everything was ready.

The technicians stepped back, leaving the young test subject standing quietly. The Neural Thorn hung silently on his back, the odd helmet obscuring his eyes and skull, its neural contacts tightly linked to the device. He awaited further instructions.

Meanwhile, Wendy explained the equipment to Gawain: “We designed a specialized Neural Thorn, more sensitive than standard models, allowing psionic Singers to keenly detect abnormal mental contamination. However, this also imposes a mental burden, so ordinary people need training to withstand the pressure of this heightened perception…

“The Singer’s suit contains a series of resonance plates. Under the control of the Neural Thorn, these can emit specific high- or low-frequency magical oscillations. The ‘Song of the Deep Sea’ effect spreads through this mechanism. To further amplify it, we designed a set of three neural signal amplifiers—though they’re not activated yet. You’ll see them shortly.

“The helmet contains numerous neural contacts to enhance the connection efficiency between the Singer and the suit, and it also provides some protection…”

Gawain listened quietly, then couldn’t help but ask, “Why does the helmet have armored plates covering the eyes?”

“To prevent mental breakdowns,” Wendy said seriously. “During testing, we found that the Singers’ perception not only intensifies dramatically but also produces various ‘extrasensory phenomena’ unlike normal human experience. This involves a complex neuro-spiritual interaction. The result is a visual mutation—they see many things they shouldn’t, which can bypass their mental defenses and shatter their rational barriers.

“After all, Singers are soldiers against mental contamination, but they’re still mortal. Once their defenses break, they’re not much stronger than ordinary people.

“So we designed this visual suppression device—the armor plates don’t just physically block vision; the helmet’s neural contacts temporarily inhibit the brain’s processing of visual signals, minimizing the risk of mental contamination caused by visual pollution. It’s far more effective than simply closing one’s eyes.”

Heddy couldn’t help but interject, “But then, what about their vision…?”

“Don’t worry,” Wendy smiled. “Though their eyes are covered, the Singers can still ‘see.’”

She raised her hand and beckoned to the young man in the center. He immediately lifted his head and waved back, as if his vision were completely unaffected.

“Yes, I can ‘see,’” the young test subject said with a smile, his nervousness clearly gone. “And it’s clearer than normal sight.”

Gawain’s curiosity was piqued. “What does the world look like to you?”

“That’s… hard to describe. I can perceive everything around me—front, back, even beneath my feet,” the young man said thoughtfully. “It’s a direct perception; all information is presented straight to my mind. But almost everything I see lacks color—just varying shades of gray. It takes some getting used to.”

“The only ‘color’ a Singer sees in this state is the ‘hue’ of mental contamination,” Wendy added. “This conclusion came from simulation tests conducted with Narithil’s help. But the real effect still needs to be verified in combat, since Narithil no longer possesses true ‘contamination.’ How her simulated divine power compares to actual divinity in the real world remains uncertain.”

Gawain nodded in understanding and exhaled softly. “I see. Can we move on to the next step?”

Wendy immediately looked toward the test subject. “Mr. Ex, are you ready?”

The young man, called Ex, gave a thumbs-up. “Ready anytime.”

“Then activate your suit—starting with the three neural signal amplifiers stored in the activation room,” Wendy said. “Everyone else, prepare to record and monitor data, and be ready to provide magical countermeasures!”

As Wendy finished speaking, the test subject began moving—flexing a joint on the magitech terminal. Suddenly, waves of magical light shimmered across the suit’s surface. As the magical response intensified, he seemed to lose all sense of gravity, slowly floating upward in the center of the testing ground.

After a few seconds, he waved toward the edge of the room.

In a corner of the lab, three diamond-shaped metal devices about the length of a forearm immediately lifted off a table. They flew past the staff and hovered behind the test subject. Responding to his hand movements, the devices unfolded mechanical structures like rigid, metallic flowers blooming. Golden sparks flickered and crackled between the “petals,” emitting a sharp popping sound. Then they began circling the subject fluidly, almost like living creatures.

Gawain’s eyes widened in surprise, then he quickly realized: this was the Neural Thorn in action.

This was exactly the final step he had envisioned long ago—allowing ordinary humans to break through the limits of the supernatural and truly “release” spells. No buttons, no preset spell models—just direct control through the user’s thoughts and mental power. The ultimate link enabling ordinary humans to perceive and manipulate magic.

And now, that link was realized.

“Good. The test subject’s condition is stable, all devices functioning normally… Neural Thorn feedback signals are clear and steady, brainwave readings normal…” Yuri, monitoring the data nearby, spoke while sensing the magical fluctuations with his own mental power. “Now, let’s increase the load. Mr. Ex, please try activating the Psionic Echo. Let’s observe the effect of the Song of the Deep Sea.”

Floating midair, the test subject nodded, then raised his arm and clenched his fist. A low-frequency noise drifted from the three neural signal amplifiers behind him. The sound lasted only briefly before reaching a frequency beyond human hearing—it seemed to vanish. But Gawain could sense the “Song of the Deep Sea” had begun, spreading throughout the room. The air shimmered with magical ripples, and a subtle, invigorating energy seeped into everyone’s hearts.

“This looks promising,” he said to Wendy. “But I heard the prototype soldiers have stability issues?”

“Yes, stability is a problem. What you’re seeing now is the lowest load—barely enough to resist unconscious, directionless mental contamination. But as the load increases, the prototype soldiers quickly lose control over the Neural Thorn…”

As she spoke, the test moved to the next phase. After gathering sufficient data, Yuri signaled the test subject to increase the Psionic Echo’s intensity. Gawain distinctly felt a surge of stronger magic fill the room, even a faint tingling on his skin—but it lasted less than a few seconds.

With a burst of high-frequency noise, the suit’s glow flickered erratically. The Neural Thorn, which had floated with the subject, suddenly went dark. The young man struggled to regain control of the magic, but without the Thorn’s assistance, he barely managed to hover briefly before falling back to the ground.

Fortunately, he had only dropped a few inches, causing no harm. He staggered but regained his footing, then dejectedly removed his helmet.

“I lost control,” he apologized. “I tried to maintain energy balance, but some of the magic was beyond my perception…”

“You did very well, Mr. Ex. This is a technical issue at the current stage, one we need to solve next,” Wendy sighed softly. “Go rest now. The next test will be tomorrow.”

“Understood, Ms. Wendy.”

Gawain watched everything quietly. After the test subject left, he frowned slightly and asked Wendy, “What’s the cause?”

“Manipulating magic is effortless for experienced supernaturals, but for ordinary people, it’s a completely different matter,” Wendy sighed. “Even though the Neural Thorn provides the physical basis for perceiving and controlling magic, their brains, thought patterns, and neural responses require a long adaptation and adjustment period to master it.”

“So… it’s not enough to just let ordinary people sense and control magic. Their nervous systems… can’t comprehend it?”

Wendy nodded. “It’s like suddenly giving someone an extra set of limbs—far more complex than their original four. The nervous system needs a very long time to figure out how to control these new ‘organs.’ The human mind also needs time to adapt. Effective training methods might shorten this process, but developing those methods takes time too. At least for now, we have no clue. I know how to train supernaturals, but no one knows how to teach an ordinary person who’s never used magic before to cast spells.”

Heddy frowned slightly. “…I’m afraid we don’t have that kind of time.”

“…Is there anyone who can quickly adapt to the neural thorns without any training?” Gawain couldn’t help but ask.

“There are,” Wendy replied with a shrug. “Veteran supernaturals—mages and knights, for example—they can use the psionic singer’s gear to unleash the ‘Song of the Deep Sea’ without any training. But that kind of defeats the purpose. The neural thorns were originally designed to let ordinary people harness magic, and now it seems ordinary folks are being shut out.”

“That is a bit ironic…” Gawain agreed helplessly. “But if there’s no other way, we’ll have to train a group of mages temporarily to become psionic singers—we’re desperately short on those special operatives right now.”

“I understand,” Wendy sighed. “I’ll draft a plan.” Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she added, “But… something just occurred to me.”

Gawain and Hetty spoke in unison, “What is it?”

“We don’t know how to get ordinary people to quickly master magical skills, but Typhon… they’ve been researching mass-producing supernaturals for years,” Wendy said thoughtfully. “Of course, their mass-produced supernaturals are selected from childhood and trained long-term to become full-fledged mages with frontline combat abilities. Setting that aside, they have mature catalyst drug technology that can reconstruct the human nervous system, special magical rituals to enhance low-talent individuals’ magical perception, and advanced rapid training methods combined with magical stimulation techniques that allow people encountering magic for the first time to quickly grasp skills…

“If all we want is for ordinary people to simply ‘get familiar’ with magic, to have their nervous systems ‘adapt’ to it, then these technologies might actually be useful to us.”

Wendy’s words gave Gawain and Hetty something to ponder.

(End of chapter)