Chapter : 1343

"Sleep is for people whose inventions actually work," Lloyd said, sitting down heavily in a chair opposite her. "I am trying to build something. Something important. But I am stuck."

He explained the situation. He didn't use technical words like "central processing unit" or "multi-threaded logic" because that would confuse her. Instead, he used simple terms. He told her he built a suit of armor that could move on its own, but it was too dumb to walk and fight at the same time. He told her the stones he was using were too simple. He needed a core that could think. He needed a core that could handle a thousand commands at once without melting.

Milody listened quietly. She didn't interrupt. When he was finished, she closed her book and looked out the window.

"You are trying to give life to metal," she said softly. "That is a dangerous path, Lloyd. But it is not a new one."

Lloyd blinked. "Wait. You mean someone has done this before? I thought I was being revolutionary."

"Not exactly like you," Milody corrected. " But the concept of a 'thinking machine' is old. Very old. There are legends in the Austin family records. Stories that go back to the Age of Gods."

Lloyd leaned forward. "Legends? I love legends. Especially legends that solve my engineering problems."

"Have you heard of the Golem Heart of Anubis?" she asked.

"No," Lloyd said. "Sounds ominous. Is it cursed? Please tell me it's not cursed. I have enough curses in my life."

"It is not cursed," Milody said, though she didn't sound entirely sure. "It is an artifact. The legends say it was created by a master craftsman hundreds of years ago. He wanted to build a guardian that never slept and never tired. But he faced the same problem as you. Magic could animate stone, but it could not give it judgment. Golems are stupid. They follow orders, but they cannot adapt."

"Exactly!" Lloyd exclaimed. "That is my problem. My suit is stupid. If I tell it to walk, it walks into a wall because I didn't tell it to stop."

"The craftsman created the Heart," Milody continued. "It is a crystal sphere, inscribed with runes that are lost to modern magic. The legends say the Heart has a will of its own. It can learn. It can react. It can think. It does not just follow commands; it understands the intent behind them."

Lloyd felt a shiver go down his spine. That was it. That was exactly what he needed. An adaptive AI core. A learning computer made of magic.

"That sounds perfect," Lloyd said. "Too perfect. Where is it? Is it lost in a dungeon? Is it at the bottom of the ocean? Do I have to fight a dragon for it?"

Milody smiled. "No. It is not lost. It is quite famous, actually. But nobody knows what it really is. To most people, it is just a very pretty, very useless antique."

"Where?" Lloyd demanded.

"The City of Ramos," Milody said. "In the Military Museum. It sits on a pedestal in the Hall of Ancients. People look at it, admire the carving, and move on. They think it is a decorative orb. They do not know it is the brain of a human."

Lloyd sat back, his mind racing. Ramos. That wasn't too far. It was a neutral city, known for its scholars and its history.

"A museum," Lloyd said, a grin spreading across his face. "It's sitting in a museum. That is hilarious. The ultimate weapon is being used as a paperweight."

"It is listed as a 'Non-Functional Relic'," Milody added. "Many mages have tried to activate it over the centuries. None succeeded. They poured mana into it, and nothing happened. So they assumed it was broken."

"They didn't know the password," Lloyd said, tapping his temple. "Or they didn't know how to interface with it. But I have the System. I have the All-Seeing Eye. If anyone can turn it on, it's me."

"Be careful, Lloyd," Milody warned. "Artifacts with a 'will of their own' can be tricky. They might not want to help you."

"I can be very persuasive," Lloyd said. "I'll buy it flowers. I'll take it to dinner. I just need that Heart, mother. If I have that, the Aegis will work. And if the Aegis works, I can survive anything."

Chapter : 1344

Milody looked at her son. She saw the fear hidden deep in his eyes, the fear of the enemies coming for them. She knew he wasn't building this suit for fun. He was building it to stay alive.

"Then go," she said. "Go to Ramos. Find the Heart. But do not steal it, Lloyd. We are a noble house. We do not steal from museums."

"Borrow," Lloyd corrected. "I will permanently borrow it. Or buy it. I have a lot of money now. I can probably buy the whole museum."

He stood up and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Thank you. You are the best librarian in the world."

"I am a Duchess," she corrected him with a smile. "Now go. Before you change your mind."

Lloyd left the solar, his step light. The despair was gone. He had a target. He had a location. He had a solution. The technological dead end was over. The road to the future went through a museum in Ramos. And Lloyd was going to be the first visitor in line.

Lloyd didn't rush straight to the stables. He was excited, yes, but he was also a careful man. A reckless man ran into a dungeon without a torch. A careful man went to the library first to read the map.

He headed to the Austin family archives. It was a dusty, quiet place filled with the smell of old paper and history. He loved it. It was much safer than a battlefield.

He spent hours searching through the records his mother had mentioned. He needed to be sure. He didn't want to travel all the way to Ramos only to find out the "Golem Heart" was actually just a petrified melon.

He found the text in a crumbling leather book. The pages were yellow and brittle. The handwriting was spidery and hard to read.

The Heart of Anubis, the text read. Forged in the fires of the Star-Fall. A core that mimics the mind of man. It perceives. It calculates. It commands. It was the center of the Guardian of the Sands, a giant of stone that defended the old kingdoms.

"Guardian of the Sands," Lloyd whispered. "So it ran a giant robot before. That's good. That means it has experience."

He read on. The text described how the Guardian was destroyed in a great war, but the Heart remained intact. It was indestructible. It was passed down through kings and warlords, none of whom could make it work. Eventually, it ended up in Ramos, a curiosity for tourists.

"It perceives and calculates," Lloyd noted. "That's exactly what I need. Perception for the sensors. Calculation for the movement. It's a magic CPU."

He closed the book. The confirmation gave him a surge of confidence. This wasn't a wild goose chase. This was a recovery mission.

He started planning the trip in his head. Ramos was a city of stone and iron, located in the mountainous region to the west. It was independent, governed by a council of retired generals and scholars. It was a place where history was respected more than gold.

"Buying it might be hard," Lloyd thought. "Scholars are stubborn. They hate selling history. They prefer to keep it in glass boxes where it gathers dust."

He would need a cover story. He couldn't just walk in and say, "Hello, I am building a suit of power armor to fight a demon lord, please give me your best artifact." That would raise too many questions.

"I'll go as a scholar," Lloyd decided. "A researcher. I'm researching... ancient magical conduits. Yes. That sounds boring enough to be true."

He walked out of the library and headed towards his room. He needed to pack. But more importantly, he needed to figure out the logistics.

He couldn't take his whole team. This was a personal project. The Aegis was his secret. If the King knew he was building a weapon that could rival an army, things would get complicated politically. If the enemy knew, they would try to destroy it before it was finished.

"I'll go alone," Lloyd decided. "Or maybe with Ken. Ken is good at carrying heavy things. And he doesn't ask questions about why I'm staring at a rock for three hours."

He reached his room and pulled out a map of the continent. He traced the route to Ramos. It was a week's journey by carriage. Maybe four days on a fast horse.