The Martial Unity

Both Dwight and Rui were impressed when they understood the mode of power that Tekvores exercised.

Rui had half been expecting this man to run around converting everything into light and creating horrifyingly powerful explosions, but this was a faulty line of thought. This was the kind of power that Bodhisattva Maitreyi would likely obtain if she became a Transcendent.

But Argenton was not a Martial Artist.

He didn’t directly exercise his power for violence the way Martial Artists did.

”Even now, when I close my eyes...” Argenton did as he said. ”I can feel the source code of reality itself. Reality is the ultimate technology, in a way. My ambition is to cultivate this technology.”

Rui’s eyes lit up at those words. Cultivating reality itself sounded like it had the potential to be extremely powerful. He didn’t entirely grasp what this would look like, though. Would Argenton become some sort of black hole that just absorbed reality? That sounded antithetical to his existence as a Transcendent who mastered light.

Dwight, however, understood what he was referring to. ”I, too, have realized the vast potential for reality to be engineered. In fact, I have made some gains in that direction. By applying my Creationverse to information itself and bringing about informational harmony, I have created consciousness where it doesn’t belong. That is a form of reality engineering.”

Argenton nodded. ”Dwarves are more concerned with creation rather than technology. The technology is merely a means to creating more powerful creations. But technology is the center piece for us tekvores.”

If that was the case, then Rui found it rather condemning that dwarves had more advanced technology than the tekvores, though the tekvores were always close. He suspected NOVA had dragged her race down with her actions while Dwight had uplifted them, causing the gap to emerge.

”But your specialty is light technology.” Rui scratched his head. ”How can you engineer reality when your specialty is light?”

Argenton shook his head at the question. ”Your perspective is that of a Martial Artist. When you see the information dimension, you simply see a new layer of the battlefield. When I see the information dimension, I see a new layer for engineering. Do you get it? There is no contradiction between pursuing light technology and metaphysical technology. The information dimension is the source of everything, including light.”

His cybernetic eyes lit up with genuine anticipation. ”By engineering the information of light, I can cultivate metaphysical light technology. I can engineer new from of luminal technology that violate the laws of physics!”

It was only then that Rui fully understood the limitless potential of his Verse. If what he was saying was true, then he would be able to chart new territories when it came to light technology. It was especially scary when he considered the fact that technology was mass-producible, which meant that Argenton at this level was much less constrained than he used to be.

”I’m overflowing with ideas,” the tekvore gazed at his silvery hands. ”I can create a new form of light that moves faster than light. I can engineer the electromagnetic force to perform the role of the other three fundamental forces. I can engineer a new form of light that has mass.”

Dwight’s eyes widened with shock at those words. ”Impossible! Such forms of light do not exist! They cannot exist! They violate the laws of reality!”

Argenton sneered at those words. ”I am a Transcendent. The laws of reality mean nothing to me anymore. I can break them at my will and I can create technologies that cannot naturally exist by engineering the information that governs reality. Then I shall integrate those impossible technologies into my very being and become an invincible god among pathwalkers.”

Dwight grew stunned at his words, falling into thought. ”Hmm, impossible technologies...”

His consciousness engineering was already one such technology. Creating consciousness without a physical system of integrated information was not possible, but he had done it anyway by applying harmony at the informational level.

However, Dwight’s Verse was not specialized for pursuing this path. He was specialized for creation and that referred to creations in the material world, not in the informational dimension. Anything he did in the information dimension needed to serve the goal of creating powerful material artifacts.

In comparison, Argenton could focus on developing broader metaphysical technologies whose existences were impossible. However, there were things that Rui didn’t understand about how he exerted his power.

”Verses violate the laws of physics because we use our consciousnesses to edit the information directly,” Rui remarked with a knowing tone of voice. ”But when our metaphysical staminas are depleted, the violation in reality and the laws of reality become firm. How can you create technologies that continuously violate the laws of reality?”

Rather than answering the question with words, the tekvore chose to respond with action. He raised his hand, ejecting a light transmitter from within it. It was one of the many solid light projector modules within his body. A highly advanced technology, but one that fully adhered to the laws of physics.

Then, Argenton activated his Verse, applying it to the information of the projector. Both Dwight and Rui paid close attention to what he was attempting to do. They saw his consciousness spread to the information dimension. This was something they did all the time; they were even doing it at the very moment.

But then, Rui saw his Verse travel even deeper into the information dimension.

Into a deeper layer of it.

He was already familiar with the layers of the information dimension.

There was the surface layer that described the immediate causal physical states of reality. It described the momenta and position of particles. The configuration of matter and energy across reality, within the constraints of quantum mechanics, of course. Rui called this the causal layer. It simply described.

One layer deeper were the laws of physics that decided how the causal layer would change; the layer of laws. Rui violated these laws when he changed the causal layer as he pleased. In comparison, Argenton ignored the causal layer and immediately went to the layer of laws.

This was where we exerted his power.