OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 290: Technological Singularity

Chapter 290: Technological Singularity

?

Half of the students immediately raised their hands, all wanting to answer first, and all obviously after the credits.

Emir took no offense to that, of course; he previously gave them the stick, so now the carrot

was necessary.

"You, back there."

He pointed at some unnamed student near the back of the classroom.

His intentions were apparent.

Show the image of justice, of equality; he wouldn't act like one of those nobles who disregarded the less fortunate, the impure.

While he didn't care about them, such a sight would look bad on his resume, so he acted the part of a good teacher.

And the students picked up on that.

"Thank you for picking me, Professor!"

At least... the part about him being good.

"It's fine; just don't waste my time and answer."

wasn't discouraged by Emir's stern words and spoke with a smile:

"The distinction is that the spell weaver is more flexible, meaning that they can use their many abilities in many different ways. Meanwhile, the Zenith Warden, like all other paths, has some flexibility in their abilities, yet they can't change the core entirely like how the spell weavers do it, but the upside to that is that their abilities are more potent."

Emir clapped his hands three times and gestured for the student to sit back down.

"Perfect answer ----, you'll be getting the credits by the end of the class."

He then looked at the other students, reading apparent discontent on their faces. 'Greedy now, aren't they?'

He didn't want to spoil them, but with what he planned for them in mind, giving a few more carrots now would help because they would definitely despise him later on.

"Since you're all starving, I'll ask two more questions with the same amount of credits as compensation."

If they were sources of light, they would've blinded Emir by how much their faces beamed as they heard his words.

After a chuckle escaped him, he asked:

"This one is simple: how does our life span increase when we rank up?"

Almost all students raised their hands in response... it indeed appeared to be too easy of a question.

But he wanted a certain someone to answer this time around.

"Quinn, stand up."

Although surprised, she sprang up like a coiled spring and calmly said:

"Life span... It increases because our cells, our tissues, and our organs rejuvenate after each rank up; it's as if they travel back in time. This means that even mortals have the potential for immortality, but there exists a barrier, of course."

Her words came smoothly, sharply, as if she were trying to prove a point.

"Our own bodies wish for death..."

A point that Emir shouldn't underestimate her intelligence.

"I say this since theoretically cells can live forever, and by taking that as fact we understand that our cells have commands that make them kill themselves."

While she spoke, her eyes remained stuck on his.

"Every time we rank up, that command gets delayed by an entire lifespan; I don't know how long the delay is for the main ranks, but that's something that you know, right, Professor Emir?"

And... she was challenging him again.

He sighed and massaged his forehead for a moment.

"Sit."

She complied, offering no further comment.

"Quinn, you'll be awarded ten AUC, oh and since I'm answering your question, that'll be the

last AUC that I'll give today..."

Immediate commotion.

That was the students' reply.

"That's unfair!"

"But Professor, we need the credits!"

"Professor, can't you just not answer it?"

"That's right, just minus her credits!"

The 'named' remained quiet through said commotion.

They were seated next to each other, but they never felt further apart.

Aria still hadn't talked to Elijah, so she felt awkward.

Ava and Max were fighting like usual.

Sofia was just Sofia.

Arthur was off in wonderland, while Quinn herself showed panic as everyone around her began to cuss her out.

'I can be sly too, you know.'

Emir, who hid his grin, ignored them and turned to the holoscreen.

"Blame her for that; now stay quiet, or you all will lose credits!"

Just as his warning rang out, the students fell in line, returning to silence.

Then the hologram before them flickered to show an image that depicted what the Old World

was theorized to have looked like.

"It's an increase of two lifespans per major rank, and this doubles after each major rank, so for example, I, a Seraphim can live for four hundred years."

Those words were the final nail in the coffin.

The students truly missed out on ten AUC for such... 'nonsense.'

Sure, they actually didn't know the exact number, but who cared about that?!

They wanted to buy this new trending AI app!

It had true-to-life conversation skills for every character one could think of.

Girlfriend and boyfriend with just a click!

AI's true purpose-

"What you see is a natural cause of technological singularity."

Emir's words cut off the thoughts of those who drifted.

"Sometime during our missing history, AI reached artificial general intelligence, which basically means that all systems under that banner were able to do everything a human can

but better."

"Yet that wasn't the point of no return... It was when we achieved true AGI, the actual sentience of AI, and such advancement took us to what you see here."

Buildings, incredibly tall ones, so tall that the term 'skyscraper' no longer fit them as they pierced the clouds above the sky and beyond, reaching ungodly heights.

Neon lights galore. Advertisements in all shapes and sizes that would put all under the

cyberpunk genre to shame.

Cars that flew along in between it all, always uniformly, under a collective hand called Air

Traffic Control.

It looked the exact same as the current Mars, except for the fact that red replaced the beautiful

blue.

"Our technological singularity."

Emir commented, bringing the student's amazement to a close, and then proceeded to give examples of the technology Earthkind achieved at that time.

A teleporter was one of them.

It started off as a very studied concept, and only after their first contact with a Primordial

during the Age Of Myths did they achieve results.

Of course, this was thanks to Marcus's discovery of Aether, since without it, the concept

couldn't take form.

Said concept amounted to this:

"After separating two linked particles an incredible distance away, they measured one particle, breaking the entanglement, yet the particle on the other side showed an identical

state."

Emir measuredly said while showing a hologram of two linked points on each side of Earth's

polar axis.

"Any of you can technically confirm this... How? Well, let's use 'linked' dice. So we roll one of the two separated dice, get a number, and we automatically know what the other number would be on the second dice."

His words flowed as the holoscreen presented the students with a video of scientists doing

exactly what he said.

"This means that information was teleported, something that the AIS confirmed to be true."

The concept was finally validated.

"After confirmation, money was pumped in as every government raced to be the first to create a teleporter, a situation similar to the nuclear arms race of ancient times." "With the help of Technomancers the US was the first to create one. A piece of technology that presented a plane of substance, of Aether, which had so much mass that it warped space itself and connected to somewhere else."

"After many trials and re-trials using AI simulation, they've figured out a way to specifically choose a location, and the result is the teleporters we use today."

The students of SS-1 were almost transfixed by his every word, interested in knowing their missing history, which was surprising to no one.

Only the cream of the crop, the Elite-at least Sofia, Max, and Ava—were not showing the

same enthusiasm as the others.

Two of the three simply didn't care, while the coldest of them already knew this information,

as she was quite the nerd, or so her professor would classify her as such.

Emir didn't bother with them, and his gaze turned to look at the time in his HUD.

The 'bell' was about to ring.

Scanning the class for the last time, his eyes paused on Arthur for a moment.

He was looking at empty air once again, but this time his eyes showed focus as if he was

looking at something, something visible to only him.

'Ah...'

And Emir immediately grasped an unfortunate truth.

'I see.'

One that he couldn't do anything about.

'Of course.'

Not yet, not any time soon in fact.

"There are many other examples, but I've given enough freebies; if you're interested in

learning more, you can either buy that knowledge from the Archive or just join our Academy's

history club."

"And most of you already know this, but just to remind you, the clubs in the Academy will be

showing off their stuff today in the Empty Marble, so don't forget to check them out."

Emir turned around and headed to the door.

"If you're going to request the creation of one, come by my office."

It slid open, allowing him exit.

"Good day."

His feet stepped outside just as the class time ended, and every student received a ringing bell

icon from their bracelet.

He didn't even take a second longer on both his arrival and exit.

'Of course, of course...'

And while his steps weren't in a hurry, his mind raced through many thoughts.

'That rat bastard still has his systems.'