Chapter Sixty-nine: Awakening I
A week passed after that.
Throughout the entire week, Morgan and the others had been constantly busy.
From running the company to handling even the smallest tasks, there was no pause.
Morgan had thrown himself into every aspect.
But more than that, perhaps, was the event that happened last week.
Morgan had sold all the data he acquired from DEM.
Yes, he put it up in an open auction, deliberately blocking DEM themselves from participating.
Naturally, he only sold a copy.
And that copy was missing most of the sensitive information, especially anything related to ACD and ACP.
All their analysis and records on those subjects had been wiped clean.
Originally…
Morgan had expected to sell it for any price, since he wasn't particularly interested in profit.
However, to his surprise, Asgard Electronics, from the start outbid everyone.
By a large margin.
And by a large margin means by a whopping 300 million USD.
Morgan, Maya, and Elaine, the ones directly involved, just stared at the number.
Dumbfounded.
"Why on Earth…?"
Elaine couldn't even comprehend it.
"I think it's reasonable, since a lot of things there shouldn't really be exposed to the open."
Maya returned with a shake of her head.
Experiments, new technology, and countless other secrets.
"Instead of wanting their data, Woodman is protecting it, huh? What a beautiful sacrifice."
Morgan clapped, genuinely impressed.
He had suspected they would eventually win, as they were DEM's only real rivals.
All the other big companies were just adding more fuel to the fire.
But he hadn't expected them to leave absolutely no room for competition.
'Eh? At least we have enough to build our facilities now.'
With the auction money as capital, Morgan officially launched the company.
Clocktower.
On the surface, it advertised itself as a developer of Virtual and Augmented technology.
But underneath, it was far more than that.
Elaine and Abellum were presented as the Director and Manager of the organization—
—while the CEO and higher management remained a closely guarded secret.
Morgan took the position of CEO.
Artemisia, as his right hand, assumed the role of Vice President.
Cecile was assigned as secretary to both of them.
Meanwhile, Maya freely took on the role of Research Head.
With experience from DEM and from Morgan's mother, she was well-suited for the position.
Now that she had nothing left to hide, she slowly began to change for the better.
The headquarters was located in the commercial district of Tengu City.
A towering skyscraper, adorned with a digital depiction of an analog clock.
Several facilities surrounded it, with gardens and greenery filling the space.
Since it was already an existing building, Morgan had simply bought it outright.
Better still, the surrounding facilities connected to underground passages.
Due to occasional spacequakes, the main building had been reinforced.
It featured a system that strengthened its structure in case of an attack.
And right now…
Inside one of the underground facilities.
The space stretched at least two hundred meters in length and fifty meters in width.
It was entirely coated in grey metal plating.
Six figures stood there.
Four figures standing on one side, and two more on the other side.
"Before the creation of the new Combat Assistant Technology, I have a test for everyone today."
Morgan announced, standing before the four with arms crossed, raising a finger for emphasis.
Naturally, these were Morgan and his team.
Each of them was equipped with a CR Unit.
..everyone except Morgan and Artemisia.
Maya and Ashley wore their CR Unit, which was mostly an almost skin-tight bodysuit.
This suit is then accompanied by a compact and compressed realizer at their chest.
Said compact realizer acted as the reactor for the suit.
Ashley's «Britannia» and Maya's «Ex Y Gooch»
On the other hand,
Morgan had given Cecile a temporary key to «Avalon».
The CR unit was still his greatest masterpiece so far, so he was looking forward to it.
He wanted to see how else another Wizard could pilot his overpowered unit.
And how well, especially Cecile herself, would make use of Beta and Avalon's functions.
The only person here with a slightly outdated Unit, by Clocktower's current standard, was…
Leonora.
Yet under no circumstances was her CR Unit outdated.
It was a proud Ashcroft series, capable of jamming a Territory.
Still, everyone present had the means to counter that.
"I want each and every one of you to gain a power solely unique to you."
Morgan clenched his fist; a golden wave rippled around him, forming a wave.
"I'm sure you all are aware of my special ability."
Saying that, everyone let out a wry smile.
Yes, how could they not be aware?
That was what made him the infamous
Because he could bypass a wizard's Territory.
Naturally, no one could replicate his Divine Vibration technique.
Such a thing is unique only to him.
However,
"The rest of you can develop one unique only to you, just like mine."
Finishing that, Maya raised her hand.
"I think I already have one though."
Morgan turned to her with a slightly unimpressed stare.
He already knew the ability she was talking about.
"That one is useless in combat."
Well, not entirely useless.
But he needed her to think outside the box.
It had to be something guaranteed to work against a powerful opponent.
Right now, he didn't want them developing a Wizard technique.
Instead, he wanted them to develop a superpower.
Like his [Thought Acceleration] or his [Divine Vibrations], which don't require a Territory to function.
'By stimulating their Brainwave enough, Clair wants to make them stronger.'
Artemisia nodded in agreement.
No matter how many powerful advanced techs they built…
…facing an opponent like them without surefire abilities would be disastrous.
Fireworks wouldn't work against spirits or these kinds of threats.
They needed actual powers.
"During this spar, Clair and I would also push your abilities to the best we can."
Artemisia stepped forward.
Which means, in other words, they would be going easy.
It was only natural that she wanted her friends to grow stronger.
Seeing her advance, hands motioning to them, the four felt a chill run down their spines.
"Uhm… can, can I actually do this?"
Leonora Sears timidly raised her hand.
But just as she did—
Wham!
"Eeeeep~"
A heavy thud resounded from her back, followed by her high-pitched scream.
"Hahaha! If my brother called you here, that means you're no less than us, right?"
Morgan nodded, folding his hands together.
From his current stance, he could read their brainwaves with ease.
Since they were all wizards with modified brainwaves, interpreting them was simple.
Maya's abilities leaned toward interference, Cecile's toward perception.
Ashley's and Leonora's were more complex, trickier to analyze.
However, with enough push, he could discern them as they start the process.
"Well, enough talk. Let's get to it."
Excited, Ashley strutted forward, slapping her fists together with a wide grin.
Morgan and Artemisia nodded.
"Alright. Let's begin."
He assumed a stance, and everyone else mirrored him.
A tense silence hung between all six of them.
Then—
"Go!"
The moment the word left his lips, everyone deployed their Territory simultaneously.
Ching!
Two intersecting circles illuminated the ground, rippling outward.
"Oh…"
"It's Maya-san's work."
All of them had already moved beyond their initial zones, appearing at the farthest edge of the room.
Artemisia observed calmly.
"Clair, let me handle this."
"Fine, knock them out then."
She nodded, sweeping her right hand to the side as motes of light coalesced.
Then it formed a short pillar.
Tightening her hand on the pillar, it turned into a glowing longsword.
Morgan gathered and manipulated the mana, while Artemisia gave it shape.
But then—
<
Cecile's calm voice rang in everyone's comms.
Click—chack!
Nyuuuuun~!
A familiar whistling sound whizzed through the air.
It closed in on the midpoint where Morgan and Artemisia stood.
Artemisia, however, casually stepped in front of the incoming missile and—
Whoosh!
A gust of wind slammed back against the projectile, detonating it mid-air with a boom!
Dark smoke, however, now obscured Morgan and Artemisia's vision.
"No problem!"
Artemisia tightened her grip on the sword and swung laterally.
Whoosh!
Another gust of wind sliced through the smoke.
By folding and releasing the airflow in her Territory this way.
She could generate gusts of incredible force.
Tsshhhh~
At once, the airflow cleared and,
Bang!
Artemisia blinked, now faced with a rifle bullet heading straight at her.
Snap!
Mimicking Morgan's technique, she snapped her fingers, deploying a protective Territory in an instant.
Then, she looked up.
"Nice strategy."
From above, three figures were already descending.
Cecile had used Leo as a starting attack to separate them.
She knew that if the two of them fought together, they would be unstoppable.
Not that they weren't dangerous individually.
But facing them together would have been more pointless.
And that is why.
<
<
<>
Territory Neutralizing Bullet.
And that was the plan.
"That's a bold move, Cee…"
Artemisia muttered, respecting her friend's decision, holding her left hand forward.
Two fists collided with her protective Territory.
It was Ashley's and Maya's with the former grinning from ear to ear.
Meanwhile…
Cecile calmly landed in front of Morgan, pointing one of [Avalon]'s dual swords at him.
"Oh, so you're the one who chose to face me?"
Morgan frowned.
He had expected her to challenge Artemisia, who didn't know [Avalon]'s full function.
Naturally, he also assumed the pressure from Maya and Ashley would fall on him.
"No."
Cecile slowly lowered the sword, pointing it to the ground.
"This is the only way to earn your acknowledgement, sir."
Morgan blinked.
That sounded… oddly polite. And acknowledgement? What did she mean?
But then…
"Fine then, give me a good fight, and I'll acknowledge you."
"Yes!"
In an instant, she dashed forward in a blur, appearing behind him.
Her hand swung the sword in a wide arc, but Morgan intercepted it with a steel weapon.
'...that is!?'
Silver Lance
"Don't worry, I won't be unsealing this, so, come."
Cecile didn't feel embarrassed by his words.
After all, she was fighting someone overwhelmingly unfair.
Even wielding that lance, he already showed how much he respected her strength.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their weapons clashed, sending sparks flying awry.
Yet, as they pushed against each other, they closed in again and again.
No—"clash" wasn't the right word for what was happening.
The perceptive Cecile now began to understand his fighting style.
Sliding his weapon to avoid a lock, opening space for another strike.
She'd made many blunders.
But after repeated blunders, she began to see it—his lines, his attack patterns.
'Fluid, calculated, precise. He hates wasting time.'
Blocking another strike and sending his lance aside, she noticed his uncomfortable stance.
Yet, she saw him spinning in an unreal manner to land another strike.
And following each strike was another heavy strike.
More impressive was the [Avalon] Unit she wore.
Whenever she was using a CR Unit, her perception was already boosted multiple times over.
But now, she felt she was close to seeing everything in full clarity.
'What are those particles around him?'
Ceceile thought as her body arced in a fine manner to the back.
She placed her free hand, sending her two legs up as Morgan closed in.
But he jumped aside at the last instant.
Her kick would have connected if he'd lingered even a second longer.
'Even at that position…?'
At this point, it wasn't ascended anymore; this wasn't how a typical wizard fights.
She knew this from experience.
He seemed to just be different.
But, unbothered, Morgan twisted the lance before propping it on his shoulder.
"You, why haven't you used that Unit's powers?"
Eh?
Cecile made a small sound of surprise.
"Are you not the one whose specialty lies in analysis and coordination?"
"If you can't utilize the full power of your surroundings, how can you earn my acknowledgment?"
Morgan said this, tilting his head lightly.
At that moment, the golden circle beneath his feet vanished.
Full power of my surroundings?
[Avalon] is genuinely a combat assistant unit, created solely to boost operational powers.
Morgan had always relied on technicalities in battle.
This unit existed to let someone exploit that fully.
In other words, once equipped, the wearer could wield near-unparalleled computing and tactical power.
'...ah.'
Cecile thought.
Her awareness sharpened.
The dull weight behind her eyes and the fog in her mind vanished.
Everything snapped into clarity. Every detail, every movement, could be observed perfectly.
<
She transmitted the instruction to Ashley, who dodged an attack and countered.
—Only to be blocked by Artemisia's protective Territory.
"Whoa!"
Ashley cheered, clenching her fist with a wide grin as she pressed the attack again.
"So? How does it feel to gain Heightened Perception? To see everything clearly and respond without lag?"
«Zero-Latency Cognition»
The user's perception, decision-making, and motor output occur with no measurable delay.
Sensory input is processed instantaneously, bypassing neural transmission limits.
In other words, just having fast reactions alone isn't enough.
"Amazing… it's like there's no gap between my thoughts and my actions."
So her thoughts and will were perfectly aligned?
That was… frightening, Morgan thought.
But, as expected of him.
He allowed himself a brief, narcissistic smirk.
Her awakening was accelerated by [Avalon]'s cheat function.
Even so, her brainwaves were already unusual, [Avalon] had pushed them further.
When she finally handed the computational load over to [Avalon], her perception fully unlocked.
Her limiters had shattered.
She was now operating at 99.9% of her brain and cognition, with zero backlash.
"Congratulations. No ordinary Wizard, except anyone in this room, should stand a chance against you."
Cecile closed her eyes, then gave a slight bow.
"Thank you."
She straightened into a ready fighting stance.
"I still want to go."
"Hou? Then let us continue our dance."
Cecile nodded.