He then used another semiconductor to hack into every security camera and a few satellites, to create a pseudo-Skynet and used the next two months to find the key controllers of the world; people so integral to the political structure, that most would collapse without them.
And then eliminated some while keeping the other hostage. Just these acts were enough for Silas to completely dismantle his previous world.
Of course, he brought back stability soon after so there was not a lot of damage done to the world as a whole.
This story shows just how valuable magic's potential was to Silas, why he was willing to enter this place in his most weak state.
It was because Silas knew that without magic, just like his previous life, he will always be bound to materials. Maybe, he can create the materials that will bring his vision to fruition or maybe he will not just like his plan to create a Dyson membrane to absorb the sun's energy fully, a true monopole trap to manipulate electromagnetic energy to the finest level or a stable Kugelblitz engine to harness a black hole as a propulsion system.
So, in a way magic offered Silas a break from his cycle of frustration, a chance at omnipotence when he became omniscient. Theoretically, he could create anything as long as he understood it, with magic.
So when he understood everything, wouldn't he be able to create or do anything.
As Silas thought of these things, he was also getting ready for bed. He guessed that he had a big day ahead so he wanted to be prepared
Early the next morning, a different young man came, this man was dressed in the same outfit as the other. Even the stripes on his chest were the same. This told Silas that the outfit held meaning, so he began analyzing it.
The outfit had two points of distinction: the stripes and the insignia.
The outfit was a fusion of what Silas assumed magic robes looked like and military uniform. And it was quite stylish. The robe represented the hermit style of this place to Silas. It was black with patterns at the edge and an insignia at the back. The insignia probably represented the school.
There were also stripes on the shoulders that resembled ones on military uniforms. The man in front of him had two stripes. This probably meant that he was a second year student or a second stage magician.
Silas and the man had already reached their destination by the time he was done dissecting his uniform. The man had led him to sit in front of a bronze disk.
Weirdly, the disk had no reflection. Silas assumed this was the first test but he received no instructions.
Silas was quite excited for this test. He was curious to see what the test for such a mystical place would be.
And so, he sat in front of the disk. Inside the disk, he saw his face. The face looked like his but not his at the same time. The face looked at him with cold indifference and Silas replied with the same look.
A minute later, the student returned to tell him that the test was over.
'Well, that was easy', Silas thought.
The man looked slightly astonished. Curious, Silas asked him what the test was.
The man replied, "The disk shows you your own face, not as it is - but as it will be when your fear is gone. Once you see that face and do not flinch - you are ready for the spiral chamber".
Hearing his reply, Silas nodded. As for the man's astonishment, Silas figured it was probably he thought it would take Silas longer than it did.
Silas didn't ask about the spiral chamber. He wanted to be surprised and if he needed to know something, the student would tell him.
While walking towards the spiral chamber the man also introduced himself.
His name was Arthur Hayes. He was a Adept stage student at the Keystone currently in-charge of dealing with enrollment.
From his introduction, Silas learned about the different departments in Keystone. As well as the fact that the second stage of magic here is probably called the Adept stage. But he felt that he was not supposed to know this information.
Silas had guessed right. The information Arthur was giving him was definitely secret and not to be known by any non-member. But Arthur was an incredible loose lipped individual that mostly talked just for the sake of talking.
After a five minute walk, Arthur basically learned the entire organizational structure of Keystone.
You have to know that Silas paid 150 gold cards to learn the address of this place. One can only imagine the kind of price people will be willing to pay for the information he currently knew.
Arthur and Silas finally reached the spiral chamber. The spiral chamber didn't look like anything special.
In fact it looked just like a greenhouse with nothing but greenery in a 100 meter radius.
The spiral chamber was a room built on impossible geometry. Every wall curved towards itself. Every shadow felt like it had depth that led to somewhere.
Arthur gave no instructions and left after saying, "If you find your center here, the center will bring you forward". Surprisingly, he was still very strict about information related to the trial.
Stepping inside the spiral chamber, Silas felt that he had entered an entirely different world, the spiral chamber felt alive, it twisted time and space.
Silas felt his mind unbind. Everything he thought he knew about space now seemed wrong.
The floor was the sky, the sky was non-existent. Or perhaps he just couldn't see it.
He heard voices that carried distinct meaning but somehow, he never remembered what they said.
In his memory, he remembered walking out of the chamber before stepping in; time was warped here.
Then, he started hearing voices, a voice said in a distinct tone, "What do you think you are?".