My mentor led me on the path of a mage - Master Mage Russell
Maybe the Soul Forbidden Zone truly is the realm of the gods. Just as Robin was on the verge of delving deeper and losing himself in pondering this profound enigma, he was suddenly hit with a blackout before his eyes and an overpowering sense of exhaustion.
"Warning! The concentration of high - energy molecules in your blood has plummeted to a critically dangerous level. Robin, you urgently need to eat and replenish your energy," Origin's voice sounded, unusually frantic.
It would've been better if Origin hadn't spoken. The very instant of that reminder, in the next second, Robin was assailed by a hunger that felt like a tsunami.
"Is there anything to eat?" Robin mumbled feebly, his voice so faint he could barely hear it himself.
He was completely spent, his limbs twitching slightly. His stomach was throbbing with pain, his head felt as if a boulder was perched on it, and he could no longer think clearly. His consciousness was flickering in and out, like a car running out of fuel, on the verge of coming to a complete halt.
Robin was so fatigued that even thinking seemed like an insurmountable task. He just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up.
He knew things were taking a turn for the worse. Clearly, the energy expended in that intense, all - consuming calculation just now had exceeded this body's endurance limit.
The original owner of this body had suffered from malnutrition for years. Despite having some small muscles from years of physical exertion, the harsh living conditions had long - since sapped his body, leaving it unable to take any more stress.
You can't expect a battered old boat to race like a high - performance Ferrari sports car. And Robin had just pushed this body to perform like a jet plane. It was no wonder it was falling apart!
The amount of information processed in an instant by the brain of a super - elite from an interstellar civilization is light - years away from that of an ordinary teenager in an agricultural civilization. A massive flow of information naturally demands a great deal of energy to drive it. Neither Robin nor Origin had ever faced such an awkward situation of insufficient physical energy before. What's more, this was a brand - new body, and they had no experience using it.
So, Robin was in a real bind!
By the time Origin noticed the dire straits Robin was in, it was already too late.
Right now, if Robin let his guard down, he'd die on the spot. And of course, as Robin's subsidiary intelligent body, Origin would cease to exist as well.
After all, if the skin is gone, where can the hair attach itself?
As a pure logical unit, Origin made a decision without hesitation.
Just as Robin was on the verge of giving up, a searing pain shot through the depths of his mind, as if something vital in his brain had snapped.
The sudden pain was like a bucket of ice - cold water being dumped over his head, instantly chasing away his drowsiness.
The pain in his brain vanished as quickly as it had come. Then, waves of coolness spread throughout his body, rippling like water. Each time the coolness washed over, Robin's life force, which had been flickering on the verge of extinction, grew stronger. The extremely weak body cells slowly but surely began to regain their vitality.
The 'water - like waves' washed over three times in succession, barely bringing this extremely feeble body back to the state it was in when Robin first arrived. His life was saved.
This unexpected turn of events made Robin's heart skip a beat. He had a sinking feeling.
"Origin?" he called out tentatively, but there was no response. This would've been unthinkable in the past.
Robin immediately knew what had happened. Origin, his auxiliary intelligent body, had executed the First Treaty and automatically chosen to go into hibernation!
The so - called First Treaty states that under any circumstances, the auxiliary intelligent body should prioritize the survival of the main intelligent body, even if it means sacrificing its own existence.
Abandoning the advanced logic unit that isn't immediately beneficial to the current survival state, releasing a large amount of life - sustaining energy to maintain the basic survival of the main logic unit, is in line with the principle of optimal survival.
The meager energy provided by this emaciated body he now inhabited could only support Robin's intelligent body, and that too, at the absolute minimum operating state. Even then, it was precarious, on the verge of collapse at any moment. There was no way it could support the co - existence of two highly - developed interstellar intelligent entities, let alone allow for efficient operation.
The auxiliary intelligence commonly used by interstellar civilizations was far too much of a luxury for this skinny boy from an agricultural civilization. He simply couldn't afford it!
"When you're down on your luck, even using your brain can be fatal! What a lousy body," Robin lamented, filled with regret.
Now, not only could he no longer rely on Origin for support, but his own mental faculties could only function at the most basic level. Any high - density logical thinking would plunge him back into a near - death state.
Origin was in hibernation, and it would take a lot of effort to re - activate it in the future. Robin was so frustrated that he felt like cursing.
After venting his frustration, Robin started sifting through the remaining memory fragments of the boy, hoping to gather as much information as possible about this world.
From the fragmented memories, Robin learned that the place he was in was called Wildfire City. It was located on the outskirts of the Storm Kingdom, a small city near the Thunder Mountains, a rather unremarkable place.
The boy was an orphan, with no name, let alone a surname. Having a surname was a privilege reserved for the aristocracy in this world. The townspeople simply called the boy "Su" - short, easy to remember, and coincidentally, it sounded similar to "Robin".
Due to malnutrition, Su had been skinny since childhood. But he was tough as nails and wouldn't be bullied. He often got into scraps with other orphans over a scrap of food, and he'd even steal food from wild dogs. More often than not, he'd get what he wanted, but he'd end up getting hurt every time.
This dark period of constantly teetering on the brink of life and death lasted until he was twelve. Thankfully, Su reached an age where he could be employed. He landed his first job, working as a helper in a tavern in town. Although the daily pay was meager, just three black breads, and the monthly salary was a mere one silver coin, at least he no longer had to worry about starving.
What astonished Robin was that the boy not only fought tooth and nail to survive but also never missed an opportunity to learn. Now sixteen years old, the boy had learned most of the common characters used in the Storm Kingdom. He'd also managed to read a few books, and his horizons were far broader than those of an average person.
Because of this, Su wasn't like other ordinary orphans, aimlessly drifting through life. He had dreams and a strong will.
Despite his frail body, he harbored an aspiration that most people wouldn't even dare to dream of - he wanted to become a mage!
Since time immemorial, mages had been a privilege of the nobility. Civilian families simply couldn't afford the exorbitant costs associated with training one. Even some minor nobles often found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy trying to train a mage in the family.
How could an orphan with no one to turn to ever hope to achieve such a thing?
But then again, nothing is set in stone. There was another possibility - that he had exceptional magical talent. People like that were often spotted by established mages, taken under their wing, and trained personally.
In order to save up money to get his magical talent tested at the Mage Tower, Su worked at the hotel during the day and moonlighted as a night - watchman at the Wildfire City Cemetery at night. Only this lowly and even dangerous job was available to an orphan like him in Wildfire City, with no one else vying for it.
The small wooden house he was in now was the night - watchman's quarters. Outside the house was a cemetery spanning hundreds of acres.
After absorbing the boy's memories, Robin sighed, "What a humble yet remarkable life."
It cost one gold coin to get your talent tested at the Mage Tower! For any ordinary civilian family in the Storm Kingdom, that was a small fortune!
Because of his job as a night - watchman, the temple in Wildfire Town paid Su three silver coins every month. And one gold coin was equivalent to 100 silver coins.
It would take over two years of saving, without any expenses, to amass a gold coin. It was indeed a long and arduous journey.
Robin had a newfound respect for this boy. If Robin hadn't taken over his body out of the blue, with the boy's determination, in a few decades, provided he was lucky enough to survive, he would surely have made a name for himself in some field and become an important figure.
However, admiration aside, all that was now in the past. Robin's attention soon shifted to the concept of mages in the boy's memory. He was intrigued.
The legendary mages were mysterious, noble, and incredibly powerful. They were said to be able to destroy the world and seemed almost omnipotent. Some of the most powerful mages were practically worshipped as living gods.