Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 177 The Extraordinary Path to Mechanical Ascension
Joining the Cult of Machines is easy, but becoming a Machine Priest is extremely difficult.

The former only requires devout faith, or even if the faith isn't entirely devout, as long as you can generate enough faith power, it's acceptable, since casual believers are a common phenomenon. The latter, however, requires passing various tests and meeting certain talent requirements, especially in intelligence and perception, which have hard criteria.

Tasia mentioned that the Insight Cult has higher requirements for intelligence. If intelligence is insufficient, mechanical modification is required, such as implanting brain-computer chips and data interfaces to forcibly raise the upper limit of intelligence.

However, such renovations are very expensive, and nobles who are not from the upper echelons of the capital city can basically not even dream of doing it.

The human brain has limited computing power, unless the brain is developed to an exceptionally high level, but this sect will eventually need to replace the brain.

In many Mechanicus sects, without an innate intellectual advantage, some basic spell sequences cannot be learned. If they were to fight other Mechanicus priests, they might be overwhelmed by the junk data packets thrown at them by the enemy in an instant.

This data-virus-like attack method is very effective against highly mechanized cyborg priests.

Tasia had previously mentioned that she had joined the Cult of Insight, so this woman's intelligence is higher than one might imagine.

Of course, there are some exceptions among these sects, which do not place much importance on intelligence.

For example, in District F46, where Duncan is located, this is the territory of the Steelcasting Cult. They value perception, that is, the perception of one's inner self. Although there are certain intellectual requirements, they are usually not afraid of interference from junk data. It doesn't matter if the computing power is insufficient; they can simply block the signal.

To use a simple analogy, the Insightful Cult's mechanical monks are like radar-like biological computers, constantly sending and receiving signals. Once attacked by a data virus, they need to rely on computing power to solve the problem, thus building a mental firewall.

The mechanical monks of the Steelcasting Cult are like an old Nokia phone; they simply switch to airplane mode, cut off the internet and signal, and rely on their physical strength to smash you to pieces!

Moreover, they still have human brains, so they can actively block out certain information and act based on their senses and intuition at critical moments.

of course.

The mechanical monks of the Steelcasting Cult are much less capable of casting spells. Due to insufficient computing power, they are unable to control the army of mechanical servants, nor can they rely on their personal computing power matrix to interfere with and control a large number of mechanical devices.

Most of them inscribe steel runes on their bodies. Perhaps powerful beings at the bishop level can control some mechanical servants, but their computing power is still much lower than that of other sects.

Druids have spells that summon animals.

The spellcasters of the Cult of Mechanism create their own mechanical servants and control them using computing power. If their computing power is not strong enough, their potential will be greatly reduced.

The only exception here is the patriarch of the Steelcasting Cult, whose computational power is said to be terrifying.

According to some secret rumors, the leader of the Steelcasting Cult possesses a mysterious fragment of wreckage, which gives him confidence even when facing the leaders of other Mechanicus factions. Furthermore, he essentially provides the basic computing power to maintain the hive cities controlled by the Steelcasting Cult, and can directly issue orders to the archbishops of any diocese, connecting to global signal points with a single thought.

Duncan, of course, was unaware of these matters.

However, from his perspective, the Steelcasting Cult is undoubtedly the most suitable path to transcendence for him. First of all, he has the bloodlines of dragons and giants, which gives him a physical quality that far surpasses that of ordinary people. The bloodline of dragons is also somewhat related to metal machinery, since dragons have eaten a lot of metal ores.

If Duncan undergoes mechanical modification, he will give up his original physical advantages. However, if he can advance to the steel casting path, his physical attributes will probably become extremely exaggerated!

This is the advancement path for humanoid Gundams.

The Steelcasting Cult also has mechanical implants, but far fewer than other cults.

The flesh and blood are weak and the machine soars!

Other sects focus on transforming and replacing the physical body, while the Steelcasting sect places more emphasis on cultivating themselves into a 'construct'.

Each faction within the Mechanicus has its own strengths.

However, in the hierarchy of various sects, the Steelcasting Cult has always been at the bottom because they are crude warriors who sometimes use cold weapons to kill people. Power hammers, power axes, force field swords, and the like are the most commonly used weapons by the Steelcasting Cult, and they are not particularly skilled in technology.

But who cares about all that!
As long as you can fight.

Duncan went to the prayer room as usual today, and this time he successfully simulated devout faith again. However, when he left, the mechanical prayer he recited was still unresponsive.

However, there seemed to be one exception this time. He was a man in his forties who looked to be of low social status. He was dressed in tattered clothes and had a hunched back. He was overjoyed to pass the trial because his prayer triggered a reaction from the steel runes.

At this moment, a mechanical priest glanced at him, frowned, and said, "You're getting a bit old."

"Can we succeed in the first step of the fusion ritual?"

Generally speaking, they prefer to select candidates under the age of thirty. As people age, their strength, physique, and agility decline, but their perception and intelligence improve.

However, the depletion of vital energy and blood is not a big problem for other sects; it simply requires spending some money to replace mechanical parts.

However, this is a big problem for the Steelcasting Cult, because a body depleted of energy and blood may not be able to keep up with the consumption, and may not even be able to pass the first step of the fusion ritual.

The mechanical priest standing nearby glanced at it and slowly said, "It is indeed a bit old."

"Send them to the Christian Guard."

"We can start with a technical monk and have him learn to inscribe steel prayers."

"If we achieve something, we can transfer back."

As expected, Duncan was eliminated for the second time.

However, the mechanical priests present were all secretly observing him, and some had even made a record of his file. The reason was simple: Duncan was the youngest among them.

Young people are restless and it's hard to say they have a devout faith in gods. Moreover, their minds are not yet fully developed, and they still have room to grow in the future.

In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, humans need to be over eighteen years old to gradually mature, and if they want to become priests, they are mostly over twenty years old, because at this time their internal attributes such as perception catch up.

Outside the square where the steel-cast angel stands.

Duncan frowned, thinking to himself, "How did I get eliminated again?"

"Why?"

Undoubtedly, the first hurdle in the secret trials of the Cult of Machines is faith; only devout believers can become Machine Priests. Duncan should have already passed this simulation.

The second hurdle is most likely perception or intelligence. Duncan felt that his intelligence should be able to pass the test, since the Steelcasting Cult is different from other mechanical cults; they do not require a particularly high level of intelligence.

"Could it be a lack of perception?"

"That shouldn't be the case!"

"I think my intuition is pretty sharp?"

There must be some hidden assessment criteria there that Duncan is unaware of, but with so many people in the prayer room, he couldn't examine it carefully, and he dared not try to mobilize his magic, lest he alert the stationed mechanical priests.

Dimensional space.

Duncan checked his current Legendary status.

—Legendary status: 21/85.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to invest the twenty points of Legendary Points directly into strengthening his soul. Since the human body was just a vessel, he relied on it to gain external attributes such as strength, agility, and physique after his arrival. However, his internal spiritual attributes depended more on the soul strength of his original body.

The enhancement of his soul should also make his senses more acute.

In an instant!
With a significant investment of legendary points, Duncan felt a substantial change in his soul, and some special prompts appeared on the projection screen.

—“Extensive knowledge and strong memory: Significantly enhances your memory ability. You can temporarily gain the ability to remember everything you see. The knowledge you record is stored in your consciousness and can be recalled for a period of time. However, it cannot be permanently remembered and will be slowly forgotten over time.”

(Human host number three gains additional computing power, while other human hosts gain slight increases in intrinsic charm, intelligence, and perception.)
(In a special world, enhance the human's level of understanding.)
No wonder the first human host has such a long mana bar, and his efficiency in learning spells is not as good as others.

Emotions are an intrinsic quality, so they can't compare to Merlin and the others!
As for the second human host, the dragon's talent cannot be judged by common sense. Humans' internal attributes grow relatively slowly and are easily fixed, but dragons are different. They transcend age groups, and their internal and external attributes improve together.

However, the improvement in strength and physique is more astonishing, so other aspects do not seem to have changed much.

The human form of Number One has killed too many people.

It can be said that he has maximized his strength and physique, reaching the limits of mortals, and rarely sits down to study magical knowledge day after day for years.

"Comprehension?"

What kind of world would need enlightenment?

"This seems to be an Eastern concept, doesn't it? Understanding and perception include a part of intelligence and perception."

Insight is the ability to understand and analyze things.

High intelligence is good, high perception is also good.

Duncan's first thought was of martial arts or fantasy worlds, because only in such places is comprehension value emphasized. In novels, martial arts prodigies with high comprehension can learn something after reading it once, master the knack after reading it twice, and even steal other people's martial arts moves when they fight.

As for innate talent and such, someone like the first human host would definitely have full innate talent.

I'll try again tomorrow.

When Duncan got back, since he had nothing better to do, he beat up the gang thugs from the neighboring residential area.

He's indiscriminately attacking!
Whenever you encounter them, just give them a good beating until they kneel down and beg for mercy.

This act of helping others directly led to a rapid decrease in gang members in the residential area. After the guild started recruiting, they all flocked to the industrial area to honestly tighten screws.

Three blows shatter the social dream; Godfather, I'm just a working-class man.

In just two days, Duncan made an indelible contribution to the security of the entire F46 district. The gang of hundreds of people was reduced to a few dozen, and they became much more honest in their dealings. Although they still collected protection money and divided up territory, they basically stopped extorting money from the lower classes.

Even organized crime groups need to maintain a certain image.

Even drug trafficking and smuggling are more respectable than extorting food rations from the poor.

the next day.

As soon as Duncan stepped outside, he saw a large group of people standing outside the building. The gang members from other districts all had bruises on their faces. When the Wolf Gang thugs in front saw him, they immediately bowed and said, "Boss."

"I've brought what you asked for."

Not far away, Tasia, as usual, came over to try and improve Duncan's favorability. She probably wanted to continue testing the waters and find out more about Duncan's background. Duncan's demeanor made her think that he was not a commoner from the lower class of the city, but possibly the illegitimate son of a nobleman from the upper district.

At this moment, she looked very surprised and secretly observed from the shadows.

You'd think it was a secret deal by the underworld if you didn't know better.

In fact, they were just there to give Duncan his welfare benefits. F46 was just starting out and there was no money to be made. Local industries had not yet developed, so there was no work to be done in smuggling. They had scraped together a little bit of profit to offer.

These guys only respond to force, not persuasion. Don't be fooled by their current docility; once military control is lifted, they'll be up to their old tricks again.

There's always the possibility that a ruthless person might get their hands on a gun and try to shoot Duncan to take over.

But that’s fine too.

Once the military control ended and the Mechanicus's protectors withdrew, he could begin killing.

To commit murder at this moment would be tantamount to defying the wind.

………………

(End of this chapter)