Chapter 150: Galvanic Tower
Erebus Field was a big city, one that was filled with buildings for various needs and purposes. Not only that, but it was also filled with farms—hundreds of them—each struggling to produce enough food to keep everyone safe.
This had led to the place becoming quite crowded, leaving no space for new constructs to be created. Not to mention, the workforce was currently struggling as many professional mundanes had been evacuated, or unfortunately, killed by horrible nightmare creatures.
Usually, to build something, one would need workers, a project manager, an engineer, and various machines. That had been a rule since ancient times, and it had only gotten more complicated with the inclusion of Awakened and their mystical abilities.
Some could make the process a lot faster, or even create something entirely on their own.
Hugo was one such Awakened.
Standing atop the highest tower within Erebus Field—one that functioned as a military base—Hugo raised his arm and activated his Omnitrix.
He scrolled through his aliens with a calm expression, until he reached Brainstorm.
Hugo quickly transformed, becoming the crab-like super intelligent alien and examined the area around him.
He utilized his computer-like mind to calculate the necessary stuff needed for his project.
He needed to make sure the tower itself did not fall when he created the thing he wanted, after all he was planning to build something atop this base.
But what exactly was that thing?
Hugo had thought about various ways he could create a mystical artifact capable of communication and came to the conclusion that he was not skilled enough to create such a thing.
Something on that scope would require an enchanter at the level of a Spellsmith, which was far above his own capabilities.
Sending information—Sound waves— from point A to point B sounded simple in theory, but it wasn't. One would need to make enchantments of travel, space, and containment to create something like that, not to mention they would need to be of the Transcendent rank to make it work.
The minds of saints were more potent than that of masters, allowing them to perform many extraordinary feats. Most saints, however, use their Transcendent minds for battle which was unfortunate in Hugo's opinion, but alas not every fighter had the makings of an enchanter and expecting a spellsmith to conquer a third nightmare was absurd.
So, Hugo simplified the process, by simply deciding to make a communication artifact that used mystical means to achieve a mundane result.
That mundane result was transmitting radio waves, protected from the influence of the Winter Beast, to Falcon Scott. In other words, he planned on creating a magical cell tower.
Now, if Hugo was a Transcendent or a Supreme, he would've been able to create something that completely overpowered the authority of a Corrupted Titan, but unfortunately he wasn't. Anything he made was bound to get caught in the profane authority of the Winter Beast...
So, as a mere Ascended, Hugo needed to create something that would bypass the authority of a corrupted Titan without confronting it.
'Let's see... Using Diamondhead, I could easily build the physical construct that is the tower exterior. There won't be any need to create components as the tower itself would serve as the object getting enchanted. After that, I would need to enchant the tower...'
There was a small problem though—such a project would be extremely essence-expending, requiring him to switch between multiple forms.
And he wasn't exactly drowning with soul essence right now.
'After this project is finished I'll be completely drained of essence...'
That meant that Hugo wouldn't be able to participate in combat, but at least he would be able to establish communication between Erebus Field and Falcon Scott.
Beginning the process in his head, Hugo used Brainstorm's enhanced thinking and got to work, designing the shape of the tower and the principles of the enchantments in his head.
With that done, he touched his Omnitrix and swapped forms, feeling his body expand and transform into the crystalline body of Diamondhead.
He raised his hands and began creating the cell tower. A shower of crystal emerged from his sturdy arms, rising to meet the cold night of Antarctica.
The tower was simple and straightforward, being a long pole with interconnected lines.
The interconnected lines were created to support the weight of the tower and balance it out so that it doesn't destabilize the whole building. This was thanks to the calculation he had just made as Brainstorm.
As a cell tower, the construct did not really need an interior. It only needed simple components that would be put on top.
Exhaling, Hugo finally stopped, realizing that the construct was done. Not wanting to waste too much essence, Hugo climbed the tower manually using his hands, and scaled its peak.
Now, the hardest process would begin.
Hugo would need to create panels within the peak of the tower, and enchant them with various runic arrays to create a functioning cell tower capable of transmitting radio waves.
He reached out his hand and created four separate panels first. Then Hugo created a small crystal carving tool and a platform connected to the tower.
Standing atop said platform, he shifted his form once again, transforming into Grey Matter.
Looking down and realizing how high he was, he gulped... A fall from this height wouldn't be pretty at all.
Shaking his head, he started carving the runes into the crystal using the tools he had created as Diamondhead.
The runic array he was going to create right now would use the principles of Galvanic sorcery, as he himself couldn't create a regular runic array capable of creating radio waves.
Typically, Galvanic sorcery required enchanting separate components to create galvanic technology, which would then function as the base of the galvanic sorcery. Now, however, the panels themselves were the components. The tower would become a true Galvanic construct once Hugo applied the Galvans' unique runic sorcery to it.
After all, the enchantments that would be written here would be far less complex than the ones he had written while creating weapons for the cohort.
As usual, the runes he needed to imprint on the tower wouldn't be regular runes but instead ones that would function as "codes," similar to how coding worked in the modern era.
'I should start teaching this type of sorcery to people...'
It would certainly help the development of humanity in this dire age, but alas that was a task meant for the future.
The first thing Hugo needed to do was to make the basic exterior of the enchantment—the runic code—that held an amalgamation of runes and enchantments within it.
Using his tools, Hugo, as Grey Matter, carved the runic code into the panels making up the tower, starting the process.
Then, within that code, Hugo wrote down a complex web of enchantments within the code, creating multiple components to produce various results.
[ {TrueName: String; //The True Name of the Component: communication.}
Rune: String; // [ᚾ]
Following String; //Necessary Soul Essence for activation.
Necessary requirement; //Soul Essence]
The first set of runes served as the basics of all enchantments, which were the activation, energy source, and the desired effect.
'Now for the hard part...'
[//Position of desired location: Erebus Field > Falcon Scott.
Location A: Erebus Field
Location B: Falcon Scott
Runic sentence: {ᚾᛉᚦᛜᚠ}
Translation: {Transmit and process sound waves from location A to location B }
Effect: String; //Transmit sound waves.
Following String; //Transmission of sound waves from Location A to location B.
Requirement for transmission String; //If sufficient Soul Essence is
provided, success is Guaranteed]
With those enchantments finished, Hugo had succeeded in two things.
Firstly, he created the structure of the enchantment and the basics of all enchantments that would follow. To any master sorcerer, this would be child's play, but to Hugo, who is still a fledgling sorcerer, it was a process that required immense concentration and a lot of time.
Secondly, he had managed to create two enchantments—one that made the tower capable of transmitting radio waves to Falcon Scott, and another that allowed it to process radio waves, or in other words, sound waves.
Hugo would have loved to make the tower capable of transmitting radio waves through the entirety of Earth, or at least to the other siege capitals, which would reestablish communication with the rest of the Evacuation Army outside of Antarctica. But alas, that was something that he wasn't capable of right now.
Feeling the cold intensify, Hugo returned to his work and began the most important part of this structure.
He had to create an enchantment capable of bypassing the authority of the Winter Beast, a Corrupted Titan.
[rune: ᛜ
TrueName of: "evasion
Enchantment String; //Due to authority of target (Big stupid titan)
Transmission is difficult//
Enchantment Counter; //Transmission will be sent from elevated height to
Avoid the authority//]
Hugo's first attempt at bypassing the authority of the Winter Beast was simple—it was to alter the route of the sound waves, by making them go above the field of the ice storm and dive down to reach Falcon Scott.
This was the reason for making the tower this tall.
Making the sound waves avoid the authority of the Winter Beast upon release was possible, yes. However, the moment the sound waves dove down into Falcon Scott radio stations, they would be caught by the authority of the Winter Beast and swiftly destroyed.
'What to do... If I had better resources like a satellite, then I could definitely make this work, however I don't. And I don't possess the means or the knowledge to construct a functioning satellite in the first place. Not to mention, space is filled with Nightmare Gates that could disrupt the whole process.'
Galvanic technology could withstand the influence of nightmare gates, yes, however Hugo did not think it could withstand countless gates at once and the terrible nightmare creatures floating in the atmosphere.
Standing on the platform of crystal he had created, Hugo sat in a cross-legged position and deeply contemplated what he should do.
His brain, as a Galvan, was not only extremely intelligent, but also adept at finding solutions to scientific problems. Although right now, Hugo couldn't find any solution to his problem. If it was a mundane obstacle, he would've easily found a solution to it in record breaking time.
But currently, he was dealing with a corrupted Titan, an ancient being of mystical powers that bent the laws of reality.
'Perhaps my other form would have a solution?'
Not seeing any other choice, Hugo touched his Omnitrix and rotated the badge on his chest, before selecting Brainstorm.
He clicked on the Omnitrix, and in a flash of blue light, he was now in the form of Brainstorm, which was a bit heavy for the platform.
'Hmph! My Galvanic counterpart was right to realize his incompetence, hence why he chose me for the situation. It makes sense, after all I'm the superior thinker.'
Smiling, Hugo activated one of Brainstorm's innate abilities, which was accelerated thinking.
In terms of intelligence, the Galvans possessed a slight advantage over Brainstorm's species. However, what made Brainstorm much more useful in certain situations was the fact that he could accelerate his thoughts while keeping his intelligence.
Granted, that intelligence regressed a little due to the speed, but it was still leagues above most other species.
Feeling the hyper sensation of his thoughts being accelerated, Hugo explored countless methods he could bypass the authority of the Winter Beast, constructing simulations within his mind and exploring every possible outcome.
Those outcomes were not precognition or future sight; in fact, they had an accuracy percentage of around 30%. However, they helped Hugo fix mistakes within his calculations and elevate his mind slightly...
'Not enough...'
In the end, Hugo came to a simple conclusion. His current abilities, both as a sorcerer and as an Awakened, were simply not enough to do anything about the Winter Beast.
'...'
But there was a way—or to be specific, a way that could open up a path to the solution.
It was the enchantment [Supreme Mind] of the [Crown of Falsehood]... That enchantment, if activated, would grant him the mind of a supreme, at the cost of exhausting all of his essence.
Summoning the Supreme Crown, Hugo took a deep breath.
Even in his Brainstorm form, which was arrogant and haughty, he knew the consequences of a mere mortal gaining the mind of a demigod, even if it was for a few moments.
This enchantment would only last for seconds, however with the mind of a Supreme, fused with his intelligence and accelerated thinking, Hugo would be able to find a way to solve his problem.
Hugo activated the enchantment, and as he did, a terrible sensation erupted from the Crown and reached deep into his mind, changing it completely.