The Mech Touch

This Annals of Terra Vita was odd.

Ves had a feeling as if he had come into contact with a relic that was related to an old but storied part of human society.

Whether the maker of this scroll was part of the Five Scrolls Compact remained to be seen.

All he could ascertain was that if the maker wasn't a member of this dreaded organization, then he or she was definitely related to it in a fashion!

Ves didn't have enough information to ascertain whether the Earth cult was a direct offshoot of the Five Scrolls Compact or a dissident organization that had fallen out with its mother organization.

He was leaning towards the latter because it probably wouldn't have been so casual about handing out scrolls like these if it was actually affiliated with the Compact!

Still, the maker of the scroll was not a lightweight in terms of spiritual engineering. The sophistication of each spiritual letter was comparable to that of the Grand Dynamo!

The two even possessed a lot of similar elements if he remembered the Grand Dynamo right. They were made out of the same spiritual tech base, which further reinforced his suspicions concerning the scroll's relation to the Five Scrolls Compact.

As Ves continued to speculate about the origins and background of this paper scroll, Matriarch Erexi finally pulled herself away from the text and provided additional clarification.

"It is pointless for you to read the Annals of Terra Vita. You do not share the same ideology and philosophy as ours. Even if you do, you do not possess our bloodline and are not a part of our family, so the scroll will never share its secrets to outsiders. You are welcome to try and see if you can unlock its secrets, but our past experiences have taught us that it is futile.

The matriarch had reason to feel confident. She probably banked on the scroll's advanced security measures to keep its secrets in her family's hands.

Ves frowned as he tried to figure out how he could possibly make any gains from this instance.

The more he studied the spiritually-charged letters, the more they strained his mind.

It was as if he was looking into a huge swarm of bees. Trying to find a coherent meaning in the pattern of movements was impossible to him. Just looking at this swarm for an extended time made him dizzy!

He turned and studied Matriarch Erexi Aduc once again.

From a spiritual standpoint, her spiritual development was greater and more advanced than that of her peers. It was probably one of the reasons why she had become the leader of the Aduc Family.

If her notable spiritual development was related to the Annals of Terra Vita, then it was almost certain that this was the key to reading the spiritual letters!

Ves became a bit more thoughtful as he studied the matriarch's condition when she went back to reading the text.

The way in which her spirit reacted to the letters and vice versa reminded him of encryption and other electronic security systems.

"Perhaps… the bloodline is not the key… or at least not the only decisive factor…"

What if the decisive factor was his spiritual energy attribute?

Ves possessed a domain that was strongly aligned to metal and life. Though he possessed other attributes just like any other complex sentient life form, they were much weaker and less prominent.

He recalled the way that the Old Lady's earth energy managed to resist death energy a lot better than wood or life energy.

Attributes mattered. Now that he paid attention to this variable, he felt as if he cleared a bit of the mystique of the paper scroll.

Ves thought back on what Matriarch Erexi Aduc had said about the history of this heirloom. Though she hadn't said much about it, the cult that supposedly produced the Annals sounded like a quirky group that worshiped Old Earth as if the planet was the mother of both life and the human race.

If this was the essence of the cult's beliefs, then the scrolls that it made and distributed to its supporters and allies should also share the same beliefs!

He widened his eyes as he made an important realization.

If the scroll indeed only reacted to those who venerated the cradle of humanity, then it had effectively played a powerful filtering and sorting role to the Aduc Family!

Only a minority of the Aducs had fully activated their spiritualities and developed wood, life and earth attributes.

Previously, he thought that these people tended to be the smarter and more talented members of the Aduc Family as most of them were higher-ranked than the rest.

This might not necessarily be wrong, but their powerful spiritual development also led him to believe that the Aduc Family essentially chose their leaders and entrusted greater authority to those who reacted the best to the Annals of Terra Vita!

The result of establishing this mechanism was that the Aduc Family would always be ruled over by leaders that deified Old Earth!

Ves even suspected that the maker of the scroll deliberately designed this mechanism to achieve this result. This way, the Earth cult would be assured that the Aduc Family would always be a supporter to its cause!

In any case, the same measures that ensured the Aducs would remain respectful towards Old Earth also hindered people like Ves from reading this damned scroll!

"Matriarch, what does this scroll actually say? Is it more than just a factual recounting of the evolution of Old Earth?"

"As far as we know, the scroll is that and more." Erexi slowly answered as she took a brief break from reading a bunch of spiritually-charged letters. "The contents may sound dry, but there are hidden meanings and lessons in what we read. It is what makes the process of reading the scroll so profound and eye-opening. Even if I have read this scroll many times, I can still uncover a new meaning or derive a new lesson from the letters."

"Can you provide any details or examples of this?" Ves curiously asked.

"No."

"No…?"

"I am unable to oblige you, Patriarch Ves. As soon as we read and develop our own understanding of the contexts of this scroll, it becomes locked to the point where we cannot divulge anything we know."

"How convenient."

Whoever made the scroll sure knew how to protect his intellectual property!

There were so many mechanisms that prevented people like Ves from stealing the contents of this damned scroll that it was bound to contain valuable knowledge!

The harder the scroll tried to protect its information, the more Ves wanted to crack it open!

The question was how he could accomplish this goal.

After observing Matriarch Erexi once again, he suddenly came up with a bright idea.

He subtly roused Blinky and commanded his cat to perform an interesting experiment.

Mrow…

The companion spirit spat out the small samples of spiritual energy that it had 'borrowed' from the Old Lady.

Her state might not be good at the moment, but Blinky only took out a small bite from her injured form. The old tree should still be able to hang on in the short term!

With the help of Blinky, Ves temporarily took hold of the Old Lady's energy and tried to cover it over himself like a shell or a mask.

His vibe and demeanor subtly changed as he put on a coat that was primarily made out of earth energy.

Even Matriarch Erexi noticed a few traces. She looked at Ves in confusion.

Ves didn't pay attention to how the matriarch regarded him. He only had eyes for the Annals of Terra Vita.

His lips curled.

It was working!

The earth, life and wood energy that he had adopted as a disguise successfully produced a sympathetic reaction from the Annals of Terra Vita!

Apparently, its security measures worked similar to a security software program that wasn't governed by a clever AI!

The spiritual constructs weren't alive in the truest sense and were unable to act outside of their instructions.

In other words, they only operated according to the instructions programmed by their maker.

The creator of this scroll probably never imagined that a freak like Ves would appear who could fake his affinity for earth!

It could also be that the Aduc Matriarch wasn't entirely sincere about the origins of the scroll. There was a distinct possibility that it was never supposed to be the exclusive heirloom of the Aduc Family.

As long as any sincere worshiper of Old Earth passed the test, the scroll should be willing to reveal its secrets to that individual!

Now, Ves already noticed that the scroll produced a lot less resistance towards his attempt to read its letters.

The pressure was not as great and he started to feel as if the scroll was beginning to welcome his gaze.

"Let's see if this works this time."

The spiritual letter still resisted his probing. He felt as if he managed to get past the front gate of an office building but got no further than the foyer.

The damn receptionist was sneering at Ves as if he was a filthy peasant!

Even if Ves tried to do his best to pretend he belonged inside the structure, his affinity for earth was still too shabby to gain the spiritual letter's approval!

"Damnit, this isn't working."

His disguise was too flawed. It didn't matter how much earth, life and wood energy he gathered. It wasn't doing anything and it didn't convey anything except the bare minimum. Even if he had more, he had a feeling that he still wouldn't be able to pass the spiritual letter's test!

The best and most straightforward way to get past this hurdle was to play by its rules.

This was impossible for Ves because he already fixed his domain.

"Wait. There's another way."

What if… he created a spiritual entity that not only possessed the right mix of spiritual attributes, but also possessed the sincerest possible respect towards Old Earth?

His eyes lit up! This was a fantastic idea!

Humans were always more complex and were also spiritually deficient.

If he created a powerful new spiritual product based on the Old Lady, he could borrow her identity and fool the scroll's security measures!

The new design spirit he had in mind would be anything but a fake. She would truly be sincere about respecting Old Earth!

He already intended for the new and improved version of the Old Lady to retain her strong association to humanity's home planet, but now that he came across the Annals of Terra Vita, he intended to supercharge this connection!

"Hehehehe…"

Now that he formed a solid plan that had a high chance of getting past this barrier, he no longer pushed so hard to decipher the spiritual letters.

Instead, he used the remaining duration of this session to speculate what secrets this mysterious scroll held. The fact that it was made by a skilled spiritual sorcerer or engineer built up his hopes. There was no way such a powerful figure would waste his time on setting up all of these exhaustive security measures just to hide the recipes of his favorite meals!

Would Ves be able to access the library of the cult that produced the Annals? Would he gain access to secret records that detailed the history of the Five Scrolls Compact?

Perhaps the Annals might hold a huge spiritual treasure that was just as powerful and useful as the Grand Dynamo if not more!

When Matriarch Erexi Aduc finally reached her limits, she no longer forced herself to interpret the letters any further. The scroll slowly rolled up again and retracted every trace of remarkable energy, causing it to assume the guise of an ordinary museum object.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Not quite. I haven't properly prepared for this visit. Would you mind if I examine the Annals again a few days later?"

"Can we stop you if you insist?"

Ves wordlessly smiled.