Keylock Talisman

The only problem he had left was how to make it so that his senders knew exactly which receiver to send the image/audio to.

Thinking for a while, Minos eventually came up with a simple yet brilliant plan, which he simply called 'keys.'

Just like how each lock has a unique key that can be used to open it, if Minos attached a specific 'key' to every receiver talisman, then all someone had to do was enter the key, and they would be connected with the matching receiver talisman.

However in that case, it meant he had to also make it so his sender talismans had the capability of decoding and connecting these keys together.

With that in mind, Minos immediately got back to work on a new talisman, one he aptly called the Keylock Talisman.

Once the Keylock Talisman was finished, he just needed to connect it with his Grand Signal Talisman, and by then, his system wouldn't not only have the bones, but also the muscles.

While that still meant it was far from perfection, Minos felt that at that stage, it would be adequate enough to enter full production, so he didn't plan on waiting any longer.

With success close in hand, Minos was incredibly motivated, quickly burning through materials as he kept creating prototypes of his Keylock Talisman, getting closer and closer towards completion with each step.

The hours passed by in a flash as Minos was completely consumed by his work, having completely forgotten about the depressing events from yesterday.

With his mind and spirit clear, Minos finally succeeded just as the sun completely set beyond the horizon.

Holding up the Keylock Talisman in his hand, Minos gave it a quick test before nodding his head in satisfaction.

Not finished yet, Minos spent the next few hours connecting his Keylock Talisman and Grand Signal Talisman until he finally figured out how to connect the two together, having them work in full cooperation.

Given the hour, Minos would have normally been forced to leave, but the VIP room he used was unique in that one could stay for 24/7, unlike the normal rooms that closed every night.

With plenty of work still left to do, and no one to go home to anymore, Minos threw himself into his work, not planning on leaving until everything worked.

Having figured out how to connect the Keylock Talisman and the Grand Signal Talisman, all he had left to do was create the 'key' system.

Thinking for a while, Minos pulled out another piece of talisman paper, getting to work creating a new Signal Talisman.

However a quick inspection would reveal that this Signal Talisman was different from the one's Minos normally created.

Using a special technique he had read about in the library, Minos slowly bled some talisman ink under the surface of the talisman paper.

This technique was aptly called 'Bleeding,' and it allowed one to essentially create two talismans in one, one on the top surface, and one underneath.

Despite how powerful the technique sounded, it actually wasn't very popular, and that was for two main reasons.

The first was the sheer difficulty of the skill, after all it was already incredibly hard to create talisman strokes on the surface of the paper, much less underneath.

The second, and arguably more important problem was that the vast majority of talismans wouldn't work simultaneously, meaning that creating two talismans in one would just destroy both.

With that in mind, the Bleeding Technique could only really be used on some special talisman's that could actually mesh with other talisman's, but those were rare and usually not that strong, hence the Bleeding Technique fell into obscurity.

Not to mention there was a higher level technique called Imposition that also allowed one to meld talismans together while still having both work at full capacity, which completely destroyed any popularity Bleeding had left.

Minos had read about Imposition in the library, and this was considered a top-tier technique that usually only Seven-Moon and above Talisman Master's were capable of utilizing.

Even the Talisman Guild, as powerful as it was, only had a handful of Seven-Moon Talisman Master's, so one could imagine how rare it was to actually see talismans that were created with such a method.

Minos also wanted to learn, but for a technique as powerful as Imposition, it went without saying that you couldn't just learn it in the library, and would instead have to buy it with contribution points.

Fortunately, the Bleeding Technique was mostly abandoned, so Minos managed to gain a full guide on it without much problems.

Clearing his thoughts, Minos finally finished his Signal Talisman, inspecting it under the light as he focused his pupils, analyzing the second talisman he had created underneath.

In fact, calling it a talisman was a bit of a scratch, rather Minos had created a 'key,' which was essentially just a unique talisman pattern.

After creating about a dozen more, Minos had more than enough to begin his preliminary testing.

Taking the Keylock Talisman in hand, Minos tweaked it slightly so that its pattern would match the key pattern he had created on his first talisman.

After making sure the two matched, Minos reconnected it to his Grand Signal Talisman before activating.

With his breath slightly held, Minos waited patiently, his eyes glued on the first Signal Talisman.

The wait didn't last long, and after only a split second, the Signal Talisman lit up with a soft glow, causing Minos's eyes to shine in joy.

Looking around, Minos confirmed that all the other talisman's didn't react before pulling out the Keylock Talisman and once again changing its pattern.

This time, he connected it to a talisman at random, and after another test, it connected with no problems.

Ecstatic, Minos quickly went through the dozen talismans, confirming that it worked every single time without fail.

Smiling, Minos began thinking about the next problem, which was how to get the Keylock Talisman to respond automatically.

It naturally wasn't possible for him to just sit by and change the pattern by hand every time, instead he had to make it so it could change through an external force.

The problem sounded simple, but Minos could instinctively tell that this would be quite a hurdle to overcome.

Leaning back in his seat with his eyes shut, his split souls all began thinking in different directions as he tried to come up with the best solution.

Suddenly, Minos's eyes flung back open as a strange material flashed across his mind, filling him with inspiration.

This material was called Dancing Sand, and while it wasn't especially valuable, it was unique in its extreme sensitivity to sound.

Depending on the pitch and volume, Dancing Sand would begin moving around rhythmically, following the beat of the music, as if it was dancing, hence the name.

It was quite popular as a novelty toy among the children of Aleph City, and a lot of musicians liked incorporating it into their performances to make things more lively, but it was still only considered a mortal resource.

However Minos immediately saw something special in this rhythmic nature, realizing that if he incorporated it into his Keylock Talisman, it's possible he could have it change its pattern according to sound.

Each sound would essentially be its own key, and by replicating that sound, Minos could have the Keylock Talisman change accordingly.

The only problem was that Dancing Sand wasn't a spiritual material, meaning it wouldn't work as talisman ink, but Minos felt that was an easy problem to solve.

Calling in the maid that had already been changed to someone else for the night shift, Minos ordered an entire bucket's worth of Dancing Sand, which the maid didn't quite understand.

However she didn't dare go against a Talisman Master, so without asking any questions, she ran off to prepare the material.

Soon enough she came back, dragging a large bucket of Dancing Sand into the room as she did so.

Thanking her, Minos tossed the bucket onto the table before setting up a small cauldron over a fire.

Touching the cauldron to make sure it was hot enough, Minos tossed in a few vials of blood before mixing gently for a couple minutes.

Once the blood began bubbling, Minos sprinkled in a handful of Dancing Sand, not wanting to overdo it.

After stirring for another half hour, Minos put out the fire before waiting patiently for his concoction to cool.

Once it was ready, Minos dipped a finger into the cauldron before spreading a bit onto a piece of regular paper.

Afterwards, Minos began tapping gently on the table, watching closely as the blood slightly shifted with the noise.

Happy to see that there was actually a reaction, Minos kept changing up his tapping, the blood similarly changing with his rhythm.

While he was happy to see it working, he still felt that the response was still too weak, so preparing another cauldron, Minos added more Dancing Sand.

This time, the blood was even more responsive, but Minos felt like he could go further, so he kept pushing.

After a few more tests, Minos finally came to the conclusion that a ratio of 2:1 blood to Dancing Sand was the best ratio.