Chapter 9 - Problems

Chapter 9 - Problems

Days 29th, Month 3, Summer, Year 3022

Kyle woke up in the morning and Dodo told him that he had finished analyzing the artificial souls and the capsules. "So, what are the results? Will everything be fine using the machine?" Kyle asked while he was preparing his breakfast.

[I want to say that everything will be fine but unfortunately, no] said Dodo dejectedly and he continued, [From theory, the machine will work but after I analyze the artificial soul and compare it with the soul data we got from watching a monster being killed… It is insufficient]

Kyle was not surprised. He knew that they would encounter a problem. There was a reason why the natural soul was better. Though humans were unable to find out the reason, they knew something was different. They tried to study it for the past thousand years and were unable to find out the reason.

[So, the machine can make a better artificial soul but it will not be as perfect as what my data is saying… It is not even close to the natural soul] Dodo was disappointed that the theory he had would be useless. He needed more data.

"Well, we will make do with what we have. I will change the soul once we get the better one. The system will help me after all. No need to worry," said Kyle. He wanted to cheer Dodo up. "Anyway, analyzing the material by ourselves is better than relying on theories from books. We will need to absorb a lot of things."

[You are right. Let's start now!] Dodo got excited. Kyle smiled. [Then, absorb the bread, coffee, vegetables, and everything in this building! I want to analyze them myself] said Dodo. He was burned with a passion to get more data but Kyle was stunned.

"You can get data from household things too?" Kyle was surprised but he realized he sounded stupid saying that. Dodo could analyze anything he absorbed, so it was obvious that he could do that. Dodo said that straight before.

"Will we get anything useful from absorbing anything in this house??" Kyle asked. If by chance he let Dodo absorb everything in this house, he would need money to buy them again. He had not much money left and he was unsure when the dojo would start operating. He had a feeling it would take a while longer.

[Any data will be useful] said Dodo and he continued, [I know your concern. There is no need to absorb everything. For now, how about letting me analyze something organic? For example, vegetables and fruits? There is no need to give me inorganic things because the books data is more than enough at the moment]

[I think that I will benefit more with the data from organic things] said Dodo and Kyle sighed in relief. He did not want to empty the building just for the sake of analyzing them. Once he got more money, he would buy them exclusively for Dodo to analyze.

"Anyway, will you need the vegetables as a whole?" Kyle asked. He had no idea how the analysis worked and decided to ask Dodo.

[The more the better] said Dodo and Kyle gave Dodo any vegetables or fruits he had in the fridge. Dodo happily absorbed them and started analyzing them immediately. Kyle had his breakfast and he already felt tired.

Since Dodo wanted to absorb something organic, Kyle decided to go out of the building and absorbed the grass and soil outside. Dodo was elated. He excitedly said to Kyle that he gained a lot of things from the things he had absorbed. Kyle smiled.

With nothing much to do, he decided to go shopping for groceries. He decided to buy some meat, fish, vegetables and fruits for Dodo. Since he said he gained many things from them, Kyle decided to put in some efforts.

Kyle did not go to the city center. He only bought the groceries in the neighborhood. He did not go there mainly to buy groceries, he also wanted to get close to his neighbors. Relationships are important if you want to open up a business.

A few hours later, he came back and saw the other materials for the machine had arrived. Kyle took them all in and left it at the shop. Dodo would settle everything else by himself. Kyle went to the kitchen and put everything he had bought in the sink.

There was chicken, fish, meat, vegetables, and fruits. Kyle also bought living fish for Dodo to absorb. Kyle was shocked when Dodo said he could absorb living things too but he had a limit. Only those weak ones were possible, for example, the small fish.

Kyle wanted to buy bigger fish but Dodo said he could only absorb the small one. Kyle ended up buying living anchovies. According to Dodo, he wanted to study the soul of the anchovies. Though anchovies were different from the eagle, he would be able to understand more about the basics of monster soul.

With the basic knowledge of the soul, he would be able to apply it to the artificial soul to improve them. Kyle absorbed all of the materials he had bought and stored the leftover he bought purposely for his meal.

"Now what?" Kyle had no idea what he wanted to do next. There was nothing to clean because Dodo had handled everything related to cleaning. With nothing else to do, Kyle decided to play games. It had been a while since he played games. Since he got Dodo, he never once played games.

He dedicated himself to collect more data for Dodo and thus, he had no time to play games. Kyle checked online for any interesting games he could play on his mobile phone and found an interesting RPG game. People nowadays prefer to play Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality games.

Due to the advance of technology, those concepts of games that were only seen in animation and novels had become reality. If magicians got their joy from becoming stronger for real, normal humans got their joy from getting stronger digitally. Though they would not be able to change the universe with their digital power unlike magicians, they were still happy with what they achieved.

Kyle played the game and he saw the menu, storage, and many more things he usually read from novels and saw in games. He was playing silently when a thought came to mind. Kyle asked Dodo.

"Dodo, is the system the same as the system in the novels, comics, and games? I mean will they look like this?" Kyle asked and showed Dodo what he meant. Kyle showed Dodo the menu interface for the character he was playing.

[No. Didn't you realize that I am talking to you in your head instead of letting out a prompt for you to read? I know what you mean but the system doesn't work like that] said Dodo and Kyle nodded but Dodo continued, [That is for other systems but not me] Kyle was confused.

"So, you mean the dojo system will be like this game?" Kyle asked. He was curious about it. From what he knew about the system from the novels, all of them were the same. They had a gaming interface. Something like the status menu and storage.

[The dojo system and any other system in the multiverse is just a special power to help their master. They are similar to the system in novels because they help their master grow stronger faster than others. However, they do not have the gaming interface] said Dodo.

[However, after gathering much data, I said to you that I upgrade the dojo system. One of the upgrades is making the gaming interface. From the data I have about games, I found out that the gaming system is useful and easy to use and I decided to implement the system to the dojo system] said Dodo proudly.

Dodo knew long ago that Kyle loves that kind of stuff and he wanted to make his master happy by making the system similar to games. It was hard doing that kind of upgrade but Dodo did it. Once he told Kyle about it, he felt that Kyle's mood was getting better and he felt happy.

"So, once the dojo system is activated, I will see the same kind of gaming menu?" Kyle asked while smiling. He suddenly felt like the dojo system would be fun.

[Yes] Dodo answered. [Ah, I am not entirely sure if all the other systems will not have the gaming interface but from the knowledge I have about the systems, they don't have the gaming interface] said Dodo, and Kyle nodded.

"Even so, since you can do it, I am sure the other system can do this too. If the system users are humans, they can upgrade the system like you. This kind of gaming experience is a dream to many humans," said Kyle, and Dodo agreed.

"So, Am I the only one that will be able to use it or my customers too?" Kyle asked. If by chance his customers can use it too, it will be part of his dojo's specialty.

[Your customers can use this too but I plan to perfect the function more especially after I know how useful the analyze function is] said Dodo and he continued, [Luckily, I am inside your body and using the analyze function, I can understand more about humans and that will increase the precision of the gaming function]

[Once you become a magician, I will do more upgrades to the function because I will have more detailed data about magicians] said Dodo.

"Will you be able to analyze our customers too?" Kyle asked. If Dodo could do that, they would gain massive data they could use to perfect the dojo system.

[I can. Since they are basically inside my body (the designated building for the dojo) I can analyze them. I will also know their skills, weaknesses, and everything else about them. However, I can only do this after the dojo system is activated. My power is still limited at the moment] Kyle was happy to hear that.

"The analyze function is really powerful," thought Kyle and he continued playing the game. A few hours later, more and more materials for the machines arrived and another hour later, the last pieces of materials arrived.

"Is this all?" Kyle asked while looking at the piles of metals, wires, and many more materials for the two machines. Dodo confirmed that everything was there. "Will the machines be okay?" Kyle was worried that Dodo would ruin the machine and waste the materials.

[Everything will be fine. No need to worry. I will build the mana generator first because it is easier to build. Kyle, you can go back to your room and I will handle everything here by myself] said Dodo but Kyle was a bit worried. Dodo started building the machines. Kyle watched the process for an hour and he decided to leave Dodo alone.

That night, Kyle had his dinner and went to the first floor to see the progress of the machine. Kyle saw a white metal cubic structure sat at the side silently while Dodo was building something else. Kyle went to the white cubic structure and decided to ask Dodo.

"Is this the mana generator?" Kyle asked. He knew how the mana generator looked and they looked nothing like the clean white cubic. However, Kyle knew that there were some similarities between the white cubic and the common mana generator.

[Yes. I made it into that shape because it looked much more beautiful than the common one] said Dodo and Kyle did agree that the mana generator looked beautiful.

"How to use this? I don't see any of the buttons around," said Kyle. Even the best and simplest mana generator would at least have the power button but there was no button on the mana generator Dodo made.

[I am the only one capable of using it. Because it will become part of my power once the dojo system is activated, there is no need for a button. It is a waste] said Dodo. He knew that Kyle wanted to save money and he decided to build one without any button to cut cost.

Kyle frowned and asked, "It is not part of your power yet, so, how can you use this?"

[The machine is inside this building and I can control anything I want inside this building. So, even without the button or it is not yet part of my power, I can still use it] said Dodo, and Kyle remembered that that makes sense. He nodded and went back upstairs because he did not want to disturb Dodo.

While walking towards his room, Kyle mumbled, "The mana generator looks techy enough and It must be more powerful than the common mana generator."

[Yes Kyle. The mana generator I build is 100 times better than the common one. It can store energy enough for this building to use for a few years. The conversion rate of mana to energy to use for the building is 100 times faster than the normal generator. Not only that, the process is much smoother than normal mana generator and it stores energy 100 times faster than normal mana generator] said Dodo and Kyle were amazed.

[However, relying on this one mana generator alone is not enough for our dojo] said Dodo and Kyle frowned. [The dojo will use many times more energy compared to other dojos. Especially after the upgrade of the dojo system power, we will need to use more energy] said Dodo.

[From my estimations, this mana generator can only last us 8 hours a day after we open our dojo. After that, we need to recharge it for a few hours for it to become full before we can use it again] said Dodo, and Kyle frowned.

"That will be a problem," thought Kyle and he said, "Can't you make it to be able to simultaneously absorb mana and generate energy for the dojo?"

[With the materials on hand, it is impossible. I can make that kind of mana generator but we don't have enough money for the materials. The materials will be insanely expensive and we cannot afford it] said Dodo and Kyle was a bit disappointed.

However, Dodo added something else, [The 8 hours is my estimation if all the dojo's service runs at full power. At the beginning of our business, the dojo will be fine because we will not have that many customers. Other than that, I told you before that we can upgrade it later because the mana generator will become part of my power]

Kyle nodded. He understood that he could not get everything at full power from the beginning. Everyone started weak and then, they would work hard to become stronger. Though he hopes for a better outcome, he decided to accept everything.

"How long will you take to create the other machine?" Kyle asked and he realized he had yet to know the name of the machine and added another question, "What is the name of the machine?"

[This machine will take at least the whole night for me to build. As for the name of the machine, I don't know yet. How about you give it a name?] Dodo asked Kyle to give the machine name.

"What is the function of the machine? I want to know the full extent of the capability of this machine." Kyle asked.

[In theory, this machine can be used to create artificial souls and improve any other artificial and natural soul] said Dodo and he added more, [However, it might not work exactly like what I theorize it will do. The machine will work well to create the artificial soul but to improve the natural soul is a bit uncertain because I don't have enough data for the natural soul]

"What about the anchovy soul?" Kyle asked. Dodo said earlier that he would get the basic idea behind the natural soul with the anchovy soul.

[The analysis is still ongoing] said Dodo and Kyle nodded.

"We can improve the machine later, right?" Kyle asked and Dodo said yes. "We will make do with what we have," said Kyle.

"As for the name, let's call it the soul machine," said Kyle. After that, he lied on the bed and continued playing the game he downloaded earlier. A few hours later, he went to sleep.

Days 30th, Month 3, Summer, Year 3022

Kyle woke up as usual and had his breakfast. Dodo informed him that the machine had finished three hours ago and he had started creating the eagle artificial soul. There was bad news too and that was regarding the analysis of the anchovy soul.

According to Dodo, the natural soul was super complex and with his current ability, he was unable to fully analyze the soul. Dodo might succeed if he had more power and that means he needs Kyle to fully activate the dojo system for them to be able to fully analyze the soul.

Kyle seemed to anticipate that and he was not disappointed or angry. To Kyle, the concept of soul was not just the collection of mana arranged in a certain shape, it had more meaning than that. He knew it would be hard to analyze.

Dodo informed Kyle that the eagle artificial soul would be done in two hours. After he had his breakfast, Kyle went to the first floor and saw the huge soul machine. The machine had the cylinder shape with the lower part of the machine being the machine itself while the top part was a thick transparent glass.

Inside the transparent glass, the artificial soul was slowly being created. At the moment, the soul had taken the shape of an eagle. All it needed to do to be an artificial soul was to fill it in with the right mana.

Two hours later, the artificial eagle soul was created. Dodo took out the eagle soul and gave it to Kyle. Kyle touched the eagle soul and he felt like something inside his body was pulling the eagle soul hard into him.

[Don't resist it] said Dodo and Kyle let it enter his body. Once the eagle soul entered his body, he felt a warm feeling enveloping him and he felt like something was forming inside him.