Chapter 123 – Duel AI Knowledge

A couple of days passed with Alexander maintaining his usual routine, and on the surface, very little had changed.

He continued attending to his responsibilities, spending time with Ginny whenever their schedules allowed it, overseeing the various projects taking place within Industrial Illusions, and maintaining his training regimen. There was, however, one small adjustment. Whenever he had the opportunity, Alexander devoted a little more time to farming Duel Points and Duel Energy.

He already knew exactly what he wanted from the YGO System and, more importantly, he knew that his target was within reach, so there was no reason to waste time.

Every duel brought him a little closer. Every victory added another few points to the balance. And while the process wasn't particularly exciting, Alexander had long since learned that patience was often more valuable than enthusiasm, and by the end of the second day, he had finally accumulated enough.

After spending the afternoon with Ginny, Alexander drove his girlfriend home before returning to the mansion.

The drive back had been quiet.

His thoughts had repeatedly returned to the same subject, the Duel AI Knowledge, 'Now I finally have enough Duel Points to buy it... However, a small part of me is reluctant to actually make the purchase, but not because I doubt its value; quite the opposite, that is precisely the problem. I clearly remember what happened the last time I purchased knowledge from the YGO System. The experience of having everything I needed to understand about Solid Vision suddenly forced into my mind has been... Unpleasant didn't quite cover it. It has been uncomfortable. Overwhelming. And, at times, almost painful.'

Alexander had no intention of repeating the experience if he could avoid it; still, the potential benefits were simply too great.

The Battle Box project was already progressing.

Phineas Mason and the R&D team had been steadily improving the hardware, solving problems one by one, and pushing the project closer to becoming something that could actually function in reality outside of his imagination.

What they were missing was the software. The ability to actually understand what was happening during a duel, and that was what Duel AI Knowledge promised to provide.

Alexander wasn't willing to let something like that slip through his fingers, so once he returned to the mansion, he followed his usual routine. He trained, he showered, he ate dinner, and eventually, he retired to his study.

The familiar room was quiet when he entered.

The lights were already on, casting a warm glow across the wooden furniture and shelves lining the walls. The large windows reflected the interior back at him, revealing nothing of the darkened grounds outside.

Alexander closed the door behind him, and once he was alone, he sat down at his desk and leaned back.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling, then he exhaled, "Ahh... Well..."

He rubbed his face. "Here we go."

Alexander straightened and called up the YGO System.

[Ding!]

____________________________________

User Identified: Alexander Maximillion Jones

System Type: Duel Interface

Primary Functions:

• Resource Management

• Card Database

• Card Manifestation Authorisation

• YGO System Shop Access

• Duel Network Synchronisation (Tier 1)

Resources Identified:

1. Duel Energy (DE)

• Generated through duels involving the user.

• Output increases with emotional and cognitive intensity.

• Used for manifestation and high-output actions.

Current DE: 5587.3

2. Duel Points (DP)

• Acquired through victory in duels.

• Used for system transactions and upgrades.

Current DP: 502.7

____________________________________

Seeing those numbers, Alexander smiled while thinking, 'Yup, I did it. I have finally accumulated enough Duel Points.'

His eyes lingered on the number for another moment, '502.7. 500 Duel Points are about to disappear. It isn't an insignificant amount, and after the purchase, I will have only 2.7 DP left. Yet, it also isn't that big of a price, not anymore...'

But Alexander wasn't worried, as Duel Points could be earned again and much faster thanks to the Duel Network Synchronisation function, but the knowledge, once acquired, couldn't simply be taken away.

His mind moved toward the System Shop, but then he stopped.

His expression slowly became more serious as the memory of the last time he purchased the Solid Vision Knowledge came back to him.

That overwhelming sensation. That feeling of having his mind suddenly filled with an impossible amount of information. The way concepts he had never studied before had somehow become things he simply understood. The headache.The exhaustion. The helplessness.

Alexander slowly leaned back in his chair and muttered, "Wait..."

He shook his head. "Not making that mistake again... I won't rush this."

There was no reason to repeat it, and if he knew what was coming, he could at least prepare.

Alexander reached for the telephone on his desk and dialled an internal number.

It took only a few seconds for the line to connect.

"Roland?"

"Yes, Master Alexander?"

"I'm about to have an intense study session."

There was a brief pause as Roland immediately understood what those words meant.

The two of them had agreed beforehand that an "intense study session" would be their codeword for Alexander purchasing knowledge from the YGO System.

"Understood," Roland replied. "I'll be there shortly with everything you need."

Alexander couldn't help smiling slightly. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, Master Alexander."

The call ended, and Alexander looked at the telephone for a moment before shaking his head while thinking, 'Roland had become remarkably good at preparing for these kinds of situations.'

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Roland entered carrying several things.

Clean towels. A basin filled with water. A bottle of water. An empty glass. And ice.

Alexander raised an eyebrow at the preparations and commented, "You make it sound like I'm going into surgery."

Roland placed everything down with practised efficiency. "Considering your previous experience with System knowledge acquisition, I felt it would be prudent to prepare for the possibility that you may become incapacitated again."

Alexander grimaced before he said, "That's reassuring."

Roland gave him a knowing look. "I'm glad you didn't rush without needing my warning this time."

Alexander's expression softened. "Me too."

The exchange was brief, but there was genuine concern behind Roland's words, and Alexander appreciated it.

The first experience had caught both of them off guard despite expecting something like that to happen; this time, neither intended to make that mistake.

The study had also been prepared for exactly this sort of situation.

A comfortable couch had been placed inside the room specifically for occasions when Alexander needed somewhere more suitable than his desk chair to recover from a System knowledge acquisition.

Alexander moved over to it and sat down, and after a moment, he stretched out and lay back.

Roland placed the water and other supplies within easy reach before stepping back and asking, "Will you need anything else?"

Alexander considered the question before replying, "Hopefully, no."

Roland raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't inspire confidence."

Alexander chuckled weakly, "If things go according to plan, I'll be fine."

"And if they don't?"

"Then..." Alexander glanced at the basin. "I suppose we'll find out why you brought that."

Roland's expression remained perfectly composed. "Indeed."

Alexander laughed quietly as the humour helped. It was easier to face what was coming when he wasn't sitting there dwelling on it.

Eventually, however, the moment arrived. Alexander took a deep breath, then another. His fingers tightened slightly against the couch and he muttered, "All right."

With a mental command, he opened the System Shop.

It took him only a moment to find the item he wanted.

____________________________________

– Technology: Duel AI Knowledge

• Grants knowledge of artificial intelligence systems designed for Duel Monsters

• Enables development of specialised duel operating systems

• Provides frameworks for card recognition and battlefield analysis

Effect:

• Enables automated recognition and tracking of cards

• Allows real-time interpretation of card effects and game states

• Enables development of Duel Operating Systems

• Supports AI-controlled opponents and training systems

• Enables battle simulations and predictive duel analysis

• Allows AI to manage Life Points, turns, chains, and other game mechanics

• Enables integration of AI systems with Duel Disks, Battle Boxes, and Dueling Arenas

• Improves holographic entities' ability to respond to duel conditions

Note:

• Requires compatible hardware and sufficient computational resources

• Does not grant a pre-existing sentient AI

• Advanced AI capabilities require further development and training

Cost: 500 DP

_____________________________________

Alexander stared at the price for a moment, then he looked at his remaining balance before he said, "Purchase."

The five hundred Duel Points vanished, and the moment they did, Alexander steeled himself.

Then it began.

An ocean of knowledge flooded into his mind as Alexander's eyes widened.

There was no warning or gradual transition. One moment he was lying comfortably on the couch; the next, his mind was being overwhelmed.

It wasn't like receiving a collection of books; there were no individual memories, no voices, no neatly organised paragraphs of information; it was simply understanding.

Principles. Concepts. Relationships between concepts.

The moment one piece of understanding appeared, it immediately connected to another, which unlocked another, which led to another.

Meanwhile, Alexander's breathing became ragged.

Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Pattern recognition. Data processing. Decision systems. Card recognition. Game-state analysis. Predictive modelling. Duel logic.

Every new principle immediately unlocked another, and Alexander tried to follow it, understand it, and organise it, but there was simply too much.

His hands instinctively rose to clutch his head as a groan escaped him, "Urgh—!"

It wasn't pain in the traditional sense but something closer to pressure. An overwhelming pressure created by his own mind desperately attempting to reorganise itself around information that no human being should have been capable of absorbing all at once.

His thoughts accelerated as he could see systems within systems.

Inputs. Outputs. Feedback loops. Decision trees. Probability. Pattern recognition. Classification. Prediction. Optimization.

Then those concepts collided with everything he already knew about Duel Monsters.

Cards. Effects. Chains. Phases. Summoning mechanics. Life Points. Battle calculations. Field states. Legal actions. Player behaviour.

The knowledge wasn't merely teaching him how artificial intelligence worked, but it was showing him how artificial intelligence could be designed around Duel Monsters.

That realisation was almost enough to distract him from the sheer magnitude of what was happening.

Alexander's body tensed as his fingers dug into the couch while he weakly muttered, "Too much..."

The words barely escaped his throat as he tried to slow down the flood of knowledge, but there was no way to slow the YGO System.

So instead, Alexander focused on something else, on control.

He remembered his previous experience.

He had been weaker then. His mind had struggled to keep up with the torrent, but he wasn't the same person anymore.

The upgrades to his BA had changed him.

His physical body was stronger. His Spirit Energy capacity was greater. His whole essence changed in quality and, apparently, his mind was better equipped to withstand the strain.

It didn't make the experience easy, but it gave him something he hadn't possessed before, a foothold, and Alexander clung to it.

He didn't attempt to understand everything simultaneously; instead, he followed connections.

One concept. Then another. Then another.

Slowly, impossibly, the chaos began to form patterns, and at some point, he became vaguely aware of Roland moving beside him.

A cool glass was pressed against his hand, and Alexander's fingers closed around it automatically.

He drank without consciously realising he was doing so to patch his dry throat.

A damp cloth rested against his forehead before Roland adjusted the cushion beneath his head and muttered, "Easy, Master Alexander. It is going to end soon..."

Alexander heard the voice, yet his entire concentration was focused on enduring the relentless torrent of information.

Time gradually lost all meaning.

Minutes could have been hours. Hours could have been minutes.

Alexander had no idea, and at some point, his muscles began cramping, yet Roland helped adjust his position.

Whenever Alexander's breathing became too shallow, Roland reminded him to breathe.

Whenever the glass was empty, Roland replaced it.

He didn't interfere with the process, as there was nothing he could do about that, yet he simply remained there. Present, watching, and waiting by his side.

The torrent continued.

It felt less like learning and more like absorbing the combined education and experience of thousands of experts on the subject in the span of a single evening, and still it continued.

Alexander endured until eventually the torrent began to slow.

One concept connected to another, then another, then nothing and silence returned.

Alexander remained exactly where he was, and for several seconds, he didn't move.

His chest rose and fell rapidly. His entire body felt exhausted. His clothes were damp with sweat. His head felt impossibly heavy.

His thoughts were still racing, but now they obeyed him once more instead of dragging him helplessly behind them.

Slowly, Alexander opened his eyes and muttered, "Damn it..."

His voice was barely audible as he swallowed and groaned, "Urgh..."

Roland immediately handed him another glass of fresh water.

Alexander accepted it with a shaky hand.

"This time," Roland said calmly, "you looked considerably better than the last time."

Alexander gave him a tired glare. "That was better?"

"Considerably."

"I hate to think what I looked like last time."

Roland's lips twitched. "I wouldn't recommend asking."

Alexander groaned, "Fair enough."

He slowly drank the water. The cool liquid felt wonderful against his dry throat.

Roland waited until Alexander had finished before speaking again, "I suspect your latest upgrade may have something to do with it."

Alexander looked at him. "The Spirit Capacity Enhancement?"

"Most likely. You said the upgrade improved not only your Spirit Energy capacity, but also your physical and mental condition."

Alexander nodded, "Yeah... That would explain it."

He took another drink. "The flood was still overwhelming, but I could follow it much better this time."

That was the important difference.

The first time he had experienced something like this, he had essentially been dragged along by the sheer amount of information entering his mind.

This time, he had been able to maintain some degree of awareness.

It hadn't made the experience pleasant, but it had made it more bearable, just slightly.

Alexander closed his eyes for a moment and began examining the knowledge he had acquired.

This time, he didn't need to learn the fundamentals as they were simply there.

He understood how the systems worked. How the different components interacted. How information could be interpreted. How an AI could recognise cards and determine what was happening on a Duel Monsters field. How the system could track Life Points, turns, chains, and legal actions. How different algorithms could be trained to recognise patterns in player behaviour. How predictive systems could calculate probable actions. How simulation environments could be constructed to allow an AI to test strategies thousands or millions of times. And, perhaps most importantly, he understood how all of those elements could be brought together into a specialised system designed specifically for Duel Monsters.

Alexander remained silent for several minutes while Roland watched him patiently.

Finally, Alexander opened his eyes, and a tired smile appeared on his face as he said, "Roland."

"Yes?"

"I think we're going to be able to build it."

Roland's expression immediately became more attentive. "The Battle Box?"

Alexander nodded and added, "After I fully digest and organise everything I just learned, the only thing stopping us should be the hardware. Fortunately, that's already being worked on."

Roland nodded slowly. "Phineas Mason and the R&D team?"

"Exactly."

Alexander leaned back into the couch.

His exhaustion was still there. Every muscle in his body seemed to be reminding him that he'd just spent hours enduring something that shouldn't have been possible, but underneath that exhaustion was excitement.

The kind he hadn't felt since the project first began.

Phineas Mason and the rest of the R&D team had been making consistent progress.

Every day, the hardware became more refined. Every test brought them closer.

Before today, Alexander had expected the Battle Box to take considerably longer to develop; now, however, that estimate had changed.

The software problem had been the largest unknown, and now it wasn't an unknown anymore.

"If the R&D team keeps progressing at the current rate..." Alexander said, still smiling, "we should have a working prototype much sooner than we originally estimated."

Roland smiled, "That's excellent news."

Alexander nodded.

For the first time since purchasing Duel AI Knowledge, he felt that the enormous cost had been completely justified.

500 Duel Points gone in an instant, yet Alexander couldn't bring himself to regret spending them.

The Battle Box wasn't finished, not even close, as there were still countless problems to solve before something even remotely close to a working prototype could be created.

The hardware needed to be completed. The software needed to be designed and implemented. The AI would need to be trained. Testing would undoubtedly reveal new complications. And there was no telling what unexpected problems would appear once the system was subjected to real-world conditions. But those were problems he could solve.

Problems his team could solve. Problems that had answers.

Alexander looked toward the ceiling and a quiet laugh escaped him. "All right."

Roland glanced at him. "Master Alexander?"

Alexander smiled. "Let's build it."

The words were simple, but they carried the weight of everything that had just happened.

Industrial Illusions had already changed the world with the introduction of Duel Monsters, and now they were closer to taking another step forward, a much bigger one.

The Battle Box wasn't merely an idea anymore, but it was becoming a real possibility, and that meant Industrial Illusions had just taken another major step toward making its next generation of Duel Monsters technology a reality.