Reisen Riou worked all night. The next morning, he tossed four mobility limbs to Reisen Anko with a curt, "Don't bother me for a while," and retreated.
Anko, about to ask for instructions, saw the One System, Ten Thousand Divine Machines project installation steps holographically. Pre-existing vents and ports made attaching the limbs easy.
Reisen Riou wanted magnetic levitation or vector propulsion, but current tech fell short. Materials like those floating stones at Tenshukaku could enable levitation, but vector propulsion? Nope.
Sumeru's Red King ruins had vector-propelled automatons, per Bona's letters, but those were forbidden knowledge, banned by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. As a Sage candidate, Bona promised to prioritize harmless forbidden tech research, including automaton propulsion, if confirmed.
Reisen Riou dreamed of making the One System a Vision-like device. Impossible for now.
His bond with Bona, forged over countless meals and chats, was rock-solid—not soulmates, but close friends. Reisen Riou even collected rent for Bona's hydro observation post, now run by the Tenryou Commission.
Their researchers, though, were subpar—sipping tea, sailing every ten days for a mere two or three. To Reisen Riou, they seemed more on vacation than studying hydro dynamics.
He flopped back onto his lounge chair. Anko, following the manual, installed the limbs and switched to follow mode, eager to test the mobile One System in the wild.
She hadn't trained outdoors in months, too hooked on the One System's boosts. Could her blade aura still fell trees smoothly?
The One System scuttled crab-like, hitting 30 km/h—slow for Anko but faster than most humans. Acceptable.
…
With the One System's aid, Ritou Shrine's mikos and the Kawakawa clan made strides in months.
Each miko mastered three or four new spells. The Kawakawa samurai varied. Patriarch Kawakawa Tarou and Kozirou, older, crept to Life Level LV27. Younger members shone brighter.
Kawakama Kotarou led at LV30. Kozirou, though, progressed fastest, dual-training in swordsmanship and archery. Archery's massive boost pushed him to LV27, matching his father.
He shared his findings, but others—busy or lacking archery talent—lagged. The real issue wasn't talent but logic and math skills. Reisen Riou's archery required heavy math prerequisites, outlined in his manual's opening. Kozirou, diligent, studied math alongside archery.
Others skipped math, training raw archery. Early on, it worked, but mid-level techniques demanded math for support. Reisen Riou's archery tied to precise physical forms, backed by mathematical proofs. Without them, experience boosts didn't stick.
Kozirou's edge came from this rigor.
No miko stood out yet, but many hit steady gains. Several met Grand Narukami Shrine's training criteria, but Reisen Riou and Anko agreed to raise the bar. Stronger mikos could better protect themselves and grow at the Grand Shrine.
The mikos, knowing their limits, accepted the plan.
Oddly, the One System's strangest users were the Slimes—loyal workers for over a decade. They didn't change much, still Slime-shaped, but Reisen Riou wasn't disappointed.
They were optimizing internal energy cycles, improving elemental quality and storage.
Wild Slimes used 15% of their elemental energy, wasting the rest. His Slimes, long-lived, stored excess in their gel, already more efficient.
With the One System's guidance, they adopted parts of Reisen Riou's humanoid elemental energy cycle. Stored energy fueled their growth, boosting most by one or two life levels—surprising for low-intelligence beings.
Their rapid progress caught Reisen Riou off guard.
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