CH110 Learned Helplessness
Alex leaned back in his chair, tapping the edge of the parchment with his pen.
He had to decide just how much coverage each surveillance device would have.
In the end, he chose the cheaper, more flexible option—
Multiple low-grade cameras, each covering a small area.
It was far easier and cheaper to acquire numerous low-grade mana glass lenses with narrow fields of view than to purchase even one high-grade lens with a wide coverage area.
Sure, it added extra work.
All he had to do was write a simple post-processing program for the OmniRune Core—
Something that would automatically stitch together all the small-angle footage into a seamless wide-area feed for the Sub-AI module’s training databank.
He then considered the device’s power source.
Ambient mana. It was the obvious choice.
But that came with a trade-off—
He’d have to limit the camera’s functions. No fancy active detection or continuous recording.
Instead, he made a note:
→ Passive mode: only record when motion or sound is detected.
That way, power consumption stayed low, and the device wouldn’t need any obvious maintenance or recharging.
Plus, he wouldn’t need to explain to anyone why he kept fiddling with artefacts near the training ground.
It wasn’t like he planned to tell anyone what the devices were for.
Then a new idea occurred to him.
’Wait... If no one knows what the cameras actually are...’
A glimmer flickered in his eyes.
’Doesn’t that mean I can plant them all over the castle? With the right program, I’d know everything that happens in Ashen Castle!’
The idea was incredible. Terrifyingly useful.
But Alex reined himself in.
’Focus. If I’m going to do this, I need to be extremely careful.’
He’d have to cloak the mana emissions perfectly.
’No one—not even Father—can be allowed to detect them.’
’But... can I really achieve that?’
He wasn’t sure. Not yet.
His mind ran through possible solutions.
’If I apply on-site data compression, the transmission size reduces, which means less mana emissions. And if I stabilise the rate of data transfer... then the mana flow becomes uniform with the surrounding ambient mana.’
’Father’s a warrior, not a mage. He can only sense disturbances in the mana flow. So, if I eliminate fluctuations... he shouldn’t realise what’s going on.’
His eyes lit up again.
Then came another consideration.
’What if... on the off chance someone detects the data stream, and even worse—intercepts it? I’ll need to make sure they can’t read the footage.’
A smile crept across his face—almost childish in its delight.
It was the little trick he’d picked up during that absurd, accidental experiment that gave birth to the Nest Queen Project.
And now? Now it would be his video camera project.
’What better key than my True Name?’ Alex grinned.
He had no intention of ever revealing that to anyone, which made it the perfect encryption key.
He scribbled on the parchment:
→ Encrypt with True Name as primary seed. Irreplicable without knowing the full True Name string.
Even if someone detected the Runes, they’d need an extensive understanding of Runes just to interpret the structure. And that narrowed the potential list of suspects to high-tier RuneSmiths or Array Masters—
Two of the most scholarly, niche professions in the world.
’And even then,’ he mused, ’with my encryption formula, I doubt 99.99% of them would be able to crack it.’
He paused, then added with a cautious frown.
He didn’t discount the possibility of their being a prodigious genius who could crack the code. After all, the world had someone like himself. Who was to say there wasn’t another.
’If the world can produce someone like me... it can produce others, too.’
Speaking of the creature that had inadvertently helped Alex discover the concept of Runic Encryption—
Alex heard the humming of insect wings nearby.
The Nest Queen was still undergoing her ongoing control and conditioning regimen.
The Pavlovian training was going perfectly.
Alex didn’t even need to personally oversee the process.
Everything was handled by the OmniRune AI, following the protocols he’d designed.
Alex’s system was built around coded reinforcement protocols.
On the surface, they were nothing but gibberish code—utterly meaningless. But thanks to a bit of Rune-induced neural manipulation, the Nest Queen’s biology had been conditioned to interpret them differently.
He’d rigged it so the transmission of a positive reinforcement protocol would trigger the release of a dopamine-like reaction, flooding her with a pleasant high.
Meanwhile, the negative reinforcement protocol was wired to stimulate her pain receptors—
Inflicting sharp, body-wide agony through her neural pathways.
So now, the Nest Queen believed those otherwise useless code packets were literal commands of life and death.
If she obeyed, she got bliss.
If she disobeyed, she got suffering.
Through Pavlovian conditioning—and let’s be honest, a fair dose of learned helplessness—Alex was well on his way to creating a loyal, obedient, and utterly submissive Brood Queen.
With the last of his camera design notes scrawled down, Alex finally had a full project outline to follow.
Now, he could move ahead with execution—no distractions, no design delays.
Thanks to the projector screen built into his OmniBracer, he summoned the OmniRune Core’s Simulation Mode outside of Mindspace. The holographic interface flared to life.
He couldn’t help but smirk.
For a brief moment, he felt like a sci-fi scientist working on cutting-edge tech—The kind that would’ve made his co-workers in his previous life turn green with envy.
Of course, the novelty wore off quickly.
As always, Alex shoved aside the excitement and locked in.
Just because he knew what he wanted to build didn’t mean it was going to be fast.
Rune design, or Runic programming, was a time-consuming, detail-heavy nightmare.
He worked on it for a full week.
He might’ve completed it sooner if he were still at the Enclave, where he could bury himself in his work without interruption.
Here, at Ashen Castle, his days were consumed with endless training.
By the third day, Alex had fully grasped the foundation of each of the four Abyssal Conqueror’s Steps. At that point, there was nothing left for Earl Drake to teach.
The rest of the path was Alex’s to walk alone.
Naturally, being the pragmatic warlord he was, the Earl immediately called in Jared to immediately begin Alex’s multi-weapon combat training.
Alex had expected the training to begin with swordsmanship.
Instead, the stoic Dark Knight handed him a plain training rod and said,
"All weapons can be traced back to a humble wooden stick. Swords, spears, clubs, axes... Learn to wield a stick, and you’ll learn the basics of them all."
There was something in Jared’s voice—some quiet, iron-bound authority—that made it hard to argue.
Alex simply nodded, accepting the rod.
Unfortunately, Jared was a drill sergeant from hell.
It was like the man had a sixth sense for Alex’s physical and mental limits—And made it his mission to smash through them, again and again.
No matter how much Alex complained, protested, or tried to excuse himself by claiming,
"I’m a mage, not a warrior!"
The Dark Knight never listened.
"You can hate me all you want, Young Master Alex. But the sweat and tears you shed today will spare you blood and death tomorrow. That’s all I care about."
It was such a Dark Knight thing to say that Alex couldn’t even muster a comeback.
He just gritted his teeth... and kept going.
There were days when Fen had to literally carry him home on his back.
Yet even then, Alex—the workaholic that he was—still dragged himself into the Sanctuary at night, just to chip away at the Video Camera RuneTech project.
Was the only reason he managed to finish it within a week—
Despite the hellish, Spartan schedule.