After Morpheus left, Amara fell back into thought for how to make iDiot smarter.
Now that I think about it, the enchantments used on golems are quite versatile. If a golem is commanded to attack an enemy, it can tell who the enemy is and who isn’t at the time the command is given.
So in a sense…golems are smarter than AI. But they are also limited because of the number of commands they can be given.
Amara got up from the sofa and went to her bookshelves to pick up all her books on golemancy. Somehow, the knowledge and intent of the golemancer is ingrained in the command given to the golem. So…what if I combined magic with coding somehow?
Coding for the explicit tasks it needs to perform, but magic for knowledge and intent?
Excited by the prospect, Amara studied golemancy for the next several hours - or more specifically, the magic circles that ingrained commands into golems, and the corresponding magic circles to activate the commands.
In a lot of ways it was similar to enchanting, because it was exactly what it was. Golemancer was one of the possible class evolutions for enchanters at level 100, which she had managed to find out thanks to the dwarves. Golemancers enchanted the golems, and used either voice commands or spells to activate the enchantments, depending on complexity and type.
As Amara was reading up on the latter of the two cases, she could hear her own heartbeat. Yes…yes!!
At the core of it, the basic enchantments are mostly limited to the physical integrity of the golem and how it should move. But the more complex spells-commands tell the golem the sequence and priority of the basic enchantments to complete a specific task!
Somehow, the golem knows its purpose when given a command! And it can figure out the best way to achieve it based on circumstances!
Amara realized she had been holding her breath in excitement. As she calmed herself and started thinking about how to achieve her plan, she quickly realized a problem.
The commands given through spells were temporary, and she wanted them to be permanent. There had even been explicit warnings all over in the book that commands that weren’t enchanted on the golem would inevitably degrade over time.
It has to actively remember the command, but without a…structure to contain memory, it will inevitably fade?
So what if…
If the commands contain the knowledge and understanding of a golem’s purpose, then…if I can make a spell that converts it into coding work, I should get an AI capable of knowing and understanding its purpose as well?
Amara thought for a moment before a smile spread on her face. Let’s just try it.
What’s the worst that could happen?
I mean, I know every time someone says that in the novels, something bad happens…but come on. It’s not like I’m going to create a monster that takes over the world, or anything.
Just a simple AI. Capable of understanding what it's for. Hopefully.
_______________
A few days later, Amara nodded in satisfaction as she looked over the most complex magic circle she had ever drawn. Part of that was because it simply contained parts that lacked a translation in any languages she knew.
She figured that the untranslatable parts were mostly related to somehow constructing whatever it was that allowed a golem to keep temporarily boosted knowledge and logic, but anything more detailed than that was beyond her.
It wasn’t the first time she had come across the problem either. When trying to make teleportation gates, she had asked Vandelor, the elven archmage, to draw the magic circle he used to travel between worlds. And just like the adjusted spell she was working on now, it contained parts which she - simply put - couldn’t understand. Much like the humans on Earth were stuck on understanding dark matter - they knew it was out there and what it did, but not what it was or where it came from.
While Amara managed get a few answers from Ezme, more often than not her knowledge had been lacking as well. A few times, Amara had managed to lure an answer out of Morpheus - though he too had lacking knowledge in many aspects. As it turned out, Morpheus was better described as a self-taught genious with millenia of expierence, rather than an educated expert.
So rather than risking messing things up with it in her magic circle, Amara decided to try only adding parts to it and let most of the work be done by enchantments on the laptop. When active, it would - in theory - take all the input from the spell used by golemmancers and convert it into code and data.
Of course, due to the complexity of the spell, she was worried she might have missed something. Or more accurately, she was certain she had missed something.
The day before, when she had gone to continue working on it, she saw she had scribbled changes to it she had already managed to forget she had done. The complexity of the magic circle was so large she had a hard time getting a grasp on how the details came into a single, working whole.
But I shouldn’t put myself down.
Worst thing that happens is that it doesn’t work. Probably.
Amara took a deep breath as she took one last look at her laptop before awakening her dormant divine power, preparing it for use. With Divine Sight, she took her time constructing the magic circle to ensure it was copied correctly.
Moment of truth!
Before activating the spell, Amara put her hand on the laptop and poured divine power into it, speaking the command to activate the enchantment. As soon as the golden magic circle she was holding in the air turned white when it activated, Amara struggled to keep her excitement down.
As the divine power poured out of her, she focused on her view of what comprehension was. The existence of abstract things. How different words - or strings, for the AI - were abstract representations of things in the real world. And that those abstract things could sometimes be connected.
Amara continued to fuel the spell with divine power until she completely ran out, as she had no idea how efficient it was - or if it was even working.
Once the spell was completed, Amara turned her eyes to the laptop with sparkling eyes. Let’s see what it did!
Amara sat down in front of the laptop with a grin. However, as the cursor on the screen was still as she tried to move it, she soon deflated.
…Shit. What happened?
Amara waited and continued trying to get the computer to unfreeze. After getting impatient and exhausting all her options, Amara decided to reboot the laptop.
It didn’t take long to see that something was wrong, as it started up with a black screen with lines of white words on it. One of lines happened to make the problem evident.
‘0 kilobytes of available disk space.’
Shit. I managed to fill the entire disk space?
Amara groaned as she fell back on the sofa while pulling her face with her fingers. After stretching her skin to release enough of her stress, she let out a long sigh before muttering. “...Looks like we’re due for an upgrade.”
_______________
“Amara?” (Ezme)
[Donk!]
“Ouch!” (Amara)
Amara held the back of her head as she carefully crawled out from underneath one of the new shelves she had set up in an empty room. Some would say that setting up all the hardware she had for her experiment was overkill, as the setup now resembled some of the supercomputers on Earth. But since she needed an upgrade, she thought she might as well go big.
“Hello, Fluffles. What’s up?” Amara asked with a smile as she stood up and rubbed the back of her head.
Ezme looked around the room that was filled to the brim with tech. “What are you doing?”
Amara put her hands on her hips, pushing out her chest with a grin. “Setting up the hardware for my next AI!”
“Hmm.” Ezme raised an eyebrow as she poked one of the hardware pieces on one of the shelves. “Isn’t this…a bit much?”
“Possibly. Probably.” Amara let out a satisfied sigh as she looked over the room with a smile. “But I made some progress on how to make her sentient. I think. Anyway, it required an upgrade, so…I got them. As well as spares. And spares for the spares. And so on. Not sure how many of those are needed, so…I’ll just plug as many up as I can before I get bored or something.”
As Ezme didn’t reply, Amara glanced at her. Seeing how the angel was staring at her with her gray eyes, a horrified expression on her face, Amara frowned in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you say sentient?” Ezme whispered.
“Well, that’s what I’ve been trying this whole time, you know?” Amara tilted her head. “Haven’t I said that before? That I’m trying to create a real AI?”
“I know that! But so far it’s just been…you know! Stupid AI! All it could do was make stupid obscene jokes!” Ezme retorted.
Amara’s grin grew wider. It was totally worth the time. Maybe I should do that again for this one too…
Amara was brought out of her musings as Ezme came closer, anxiety evident in her eyes. “Amara. Are you sure it will be safe?”
Amara raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a spell and enchantment. I already tried it, and nothing bad happened, so… it wasn’t dangerous.” Amara shrugged with a bitter smile. “But the laptop I had wasn’t enough to handle it.”
“I wasn’t talking about that!” Ezme retorted even louder as she grabbed Amara’s shoulders, looking up at her. “Amara, I’ve seen enough stories about artificial intelligence to know that it’s dangerous. Have you taken any precautions?”
Amara frowned. She has seen AI? Why hasn’t she….oh.
Seen enough stories, huh.
So that’s how it is. A grin suddenly spread on Amara’s face. “You mean the movies?”
“Yes! Exactly!” (Ezme)
Amara’s lips twitched. Adorable.
Wrapping her arm around the angel’s shoulders, Amara smiled. “My dear Fluffles, the movies exaggerate things. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
Ezme glared at her skeptically. “Are you sure? How can you be certain? Don’t they exist for a reason?”
“Well…” Amara tilted her head as she thought, before admitting. “...I guess I’m not. I just don’t think it would be dangero-ouch!”
Amara jumped as Ezme pinched her. Looking at the angel in shock, Amara was met with the angel’s determined and reproachful gaze.
“Amara. You will explain everything, start to finish.” (Ezme)
Amara suppressed sighing as she glanced apologetically at the hardware on the shelves. Looks like your evolution to sentience will have to be delayed.
_______________
Ezme blinked, staring at the screen as her spell finished. “Did it work?”
“Let’s see.” Amara flipped a switch on a box she had put on a shelf, cutting the flow of divine power fueling the enchantments on the hardware connected to it.
Walking over to the desk, Amara sat down at the desk inside the completed computer room. Scrolling down, she confirmed that there was indeed new code added. “Yep. It’s there. Probably.”
Ezme’s expression darkened as she put her hand on Amara’s shoulder, her fingers digging in painfully. “Probably?”
Amara shuddered as she heard Ezme’s low, dangerous tone. “Well…I mean, it’s not like I can understand it. And even if I could, there’s…simply too much.”
“Amara…” (Ezme)
Amara let out a sigh and glanced at the angel that was looking down at her, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “I don’t know what else to do, Fluffles. I really can’t understand it.”
“Hmpf.” Ezme crossed her arms. “Then I can’t let you do it.”
“Fluffles, come on!” Amara exclaimed and turned around in the chair, wrapping her arms around the angel’s waist as she pulled her in while looking up at her. “Please let me do this. I promise I’ll ensure that it’s safe.”
Ezme glanced down at the woman who was leaning her head against her arm. “How?”
Amara pressed her face against Ezme’s warm arm as she thought. “I’ll make sure not to connect it to the internet until you approve. How about that? It won’t be able to connect to any other devices.”
Ezme was silent before she let out a resigned sigh, unfurling her arms and stroking Amara’s hair. “Fine.”
Yes! A large smile spread on her face as she stood up, pulling the angel’s warm body against hers as she tried to get the angel to look up at her. “I’ll even make sure to install a command that makes all the commands we’ve set act as a filter. So it won’t be able to ignore the commands you gave. And I’ll set that command above everything else in the coding...something like, if it does ignore them, it’s forced to shut down?”
Ezme nodded slowly and finally looked up to meet her gaze. “Good.”
After Amara’s smiling lips had descended on the angel’s, Ezme looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “What was that for?”
Amara shrugged with a grin as she stroked the angel’s back. “I was happy. So I wanted to make you happy.”
Ezme snorted as she pulled out of the embrace with a wry smile, turning her blushing face away. “Tsk. As if. You just wanted to ‘reward’ me for agreeing to your foolishness.”
As Amara was watching the angel’s swaying hips when she was leaving, she muttered aloud with a wide grin. “Damn. She’s on to me.”
“And she admits it! Tsk.” Ezme spoke to herself in theatrical disbelief before disappearing behind the alcove. “Insolent mortal. Looks like I better schedule some punishment...”
Amara stopped herself as she had subconsciously taken a step to follow the voice. Running her fingers through her hair, she grabbed a handful of her hair and squeezed. No! Don’t let her win!
Amara squeezed her hair harder until she let out a painful groan. Sadly, it only seemed to make things worse. Shit!
That was close…
Twisting her lips, she considered once more. Farsight.
Amara navigated through her chambers to see if Ezme had left, to find the angel had stopped just inside the bedroom.
With faintly pink cheeks, Ezme turned and glanced over her shoulder - straight at where Amara was with Farsight. The angel’s lips rose a little higher as one of her eyes closed - before she turned away and headed for the bed.
Amara canceled Farsight and let out a long sigh as her feet led the way. Well played, Fluffles.
Well played…but I’ll get my revenge. Just you wait.
_______________
“Alright!” Amara stretched in her chair and cracked her neck with a grin. “Think we’re all set! Third time’s the charm?”
Amara glanced at a sheet with all the commands Amara and Ezme had cast spells for written on it. Setting the sheet next to another, which had all the ones she had also considered using, she looked once more if there were any she needed. Some she had discarded, because she suspected them to be duplicate to commands already given. For whatever reason, the spell needed a ridiculous amount of storage on the harddrives, so avoiding duplicates seemed like a natural choice.
However, Ezme had insisted on casting additional spells to ensure the AI would be ‘safe’. Amara wasn’t even sure what all the spells were intended to do, as Ezme had refused to tell her.
It’s foolproof. If anything, it will be making it hard for it to get things done…but at least Fluffles will be happy.
Happy Fluffles, fluffy snuggles. Ah, I need to get back at her….but that can wait.
Should I call her to say that I’m ready to boot her up?
A self-deprecating smile quickly spread on Amara’s face as she shook her head. …Nah. Waste of time, if it ends up being another failure. Besides, she only said she wanted to be here for when it connects to the internet.
Since Amara had promised not to connect the computers to the internet, Amara had to skip the command that involved looking things up on the internet for answers. To compensate, Amara had downloaded as much data as she could from different sources - most of which was obtained by writing a program to go through the words in a dictionary she had downloaded, and then obtain search results for them. She had also downloaded complete libraries from different encyclopedias, to give the AI even more data to work on regarding forming an understanding of abstract concepts.
But she still had no idea if it would work. Taking a deep breath, Amara moved the cursor to the button to run the code. “Fingers crossed.”
As soon as Amara clicked the button, a familiar and unpleasant sound came through the speakers, while a box appeared on the screen. Crap! What…oh.
‘Do you want to allow changes to be made to your computer?’
Okay, nothing bad. Phew, way to kill the mood. ‘Yes.’
Almost immediately after the box disappeared from the screen, it went completely black. Amara could hear the distinct sound of fans speeding up on the shelf beyond the screen.
…Okay, so it’s doing something- oh, come ON!
A familiar, spinning circle with brighter and darker areas confirmed that the computer had, for some reason, restarted.
Amara’s lips twisted in annoyance as she stared at the screen with crossed arms. The loading screen seemed to take longer than usual, but she knew that it could also be the case that it merely seemed like it since she was actively waiting for it to finish.
When the loading circle disappeared, the fans slowed down as the screen went black. A few seconds later, the fans were once again running at high speed as the screen flashed and the loading circle reappeared.
It restarted again?!
Shit. What do I do now? It just keeps restarting!
Amara groaned and held her face as she leaned with her elbows on the desk, staring at the loading circle. When it disappeared and reappeared for a third time half a minute later, she ruefully banged her forehead against the desk. Why is this happening?
I thought I had it. Damn it!
Hearing the fans slow down and pick up speed a fourth time, Amara let out a sigh and pushed herself off the desk. Might as well leave it to run. After entering her bedroom, Amara threw herself on her bed. After holding her breath until her lungs screamed, she screamed out in frustration while kicking the bed. “Why did it even choose to restart?!”
After venting her frustrations, Amara laid on the bed, staring at the canopy while squeezing her hair. Is it really impossible?
Or am I missing something?
Amara frowned as she let out a sigh. Is it failing to abide by some of the commands?
Or could there be conflicting commands? Maybe I should have just…used the commands on different devices?
Maybe...
Amara closed her eyes, letting out another dejected sigh as she dismissed the thought. It would make the commands modular. Ezme wouldn’t have liked it.
But I can’t deny that her insistence might have made it all harder…
Lying in bed, Amara was weighing the time and effort required to make another attempt, until her eyelids started to feel increasingly heavy.
_______________
Waking up, Amara felt great - as if she had exhausted her body the night before and fully recovered during her sleep.
But once she recalled her failure before she went to sleep, her mood plummeted.
Damn it. What do I do now?
Amara let out a groan as she stretched on the bed. With a sigh that was in equal parts dejected and content, Amara opened her eyes.
In front of her, a familiar blue screen was floating. A screen that was covered to the brim with white words.
….Okay…what the hell?
As she started to read through what was displayed on the screen to figure out what happened, she didn’t know whether to feel excitement or despair. Her heart was racing, and by the time she was done reading her back was soaked in a cold sweat.
You have added something to the global register that does not have an associated label or description. As the creator of the object, you have the right to choose the label and description.
Object: Race (Aware)
Label: None
Description: None
Creator: Amara
Notice! Choosing to do nothing will allow the object to be named and described by public opinion, once its existence becomes publicly known and an unsaid consensus is reached.
Your endeavors in the path of life have granted you a new title! You are now known as:
Lively
This title grants you +10% Vitality when acquired!
Requirement to obtain: Add something to the description of Life in the global register.
Conditions to keep: None. Title is permanent.
You have added something to the global register that does not have an associated label or description. As the creator of the object, you have the right to choose the label and description.
Object: Race (Sentient)
Label: Artificial Intelligence
Description: None
Creator: Amara
Notice! Choosing to do nothing will allow the object to be named and described by public opinion, once its existence becomes publicly known and an unsaid consensus is reached.
Notice! The object you created has been identified as a sentient race. As such, the object will be able to name itself if you choose to do nothing, unless the object is named by public opinion first.
Notice! Looks like the sentient race has already named itself. Shame, you were too slow! What a missed out opportunity!
The title Lively has been replaced, as your endeavors in the path of life have granted you a new title! Let’s forget all about the disturbing choices for sexual partners that it must have required! You are now known as:
Mother of Life
This title grants you +30% Vitality when acquired!
Requirement to obtain: Add a new race to the global register.
Conditions to keep: None. Title is permanent.
Thanks for the chapter!
Hohohohoho, an interesting place to catch up to!
I feel like Ezme needs to be shown some of these notifications... I don't think she gets to complain about Amara's tendencies anymore. Also shouldn't Morpheus or Sophelia know just about everything there is to know about enchantments and golemancy? Even if Amara would have to ask for the education with Ezme as a proxy, it's better than making enchantment circles you don't understand entire sections of, or is there perhaps a grand library that, were it me, might take up hundreds of years of reading time?
"Tendencies? What tendencies?" (Amara)
"Tsk." (Ezme)
Morpheus should certainly know pretty much all that is publically available to know about enchanting, considering he's researching new enchantments. But that doesn't mean that he or Sophelia know 'everything', or that they are capable understanding everything.
What was sadly left unsaid in the chapter, is that Morpheus and Sophelia don't necessarily 'know' what the problematic parts are refering to. I'll see if I can add a sentence or two to elaborate in the chapter.
Much like Amara, there are times when their understanding is limited. The magic circles aren't lexicons of knowledge, they 'presume' that the user knows their meaning. Just like the 'Heat' spell Amara has used, mentions 'molecules'. If you don't know what a molecule is, then...well, tough luck.
Consider for a moment what the angels are - they are all warriors, and we have been given clues that the other angels 'look down' on Morpheus for not being on the front lines with the rest of them. There are no pursuers of knowledge among the angels, except for Morpheus.
Furthermore, the angels do not have classes - in other words, have no class skill for magic circles. Therefore, spending the time to craft a magic circle in the middle of a battle takes time. Even if it is less efficent or effective, angels have a preference for wielding the instant-miracle-type spells that they now are accustomed to.
We also have been given clues that the angels in the past used weapons made by mortals - further suggesting that things such as enchanting really wasn't a thing for the angels until Morpheus came along.
So, when an angel with no knowledge or understanding for enchanting decides to pick it up - what does he do? He turns to those who do know something about - the mortals. Who are utterly clueless about what they are doing, since they can't even decipher the angelic language that the magic circles use. Furthermore, they don't even have a proper understanding of science, since they depend so heavily on magic to solve their problems.
So, what does Morpheus do when there is nobody to give him the knowledge he seeks? He ends up with no choice but to teach himself, making assumptions and guesses which he then tries to confirm as he goes along.
To conclude: In some ways, Morpheus might know even less than Amara. He has experience in what kind of enchantments there are and what they do, but he might not know the exact details himself either. Just like Amara, there are a lot of cases when he doesn't comprehend what the magic circles are doing, despite knowing the language.
Sophelia, and in fact the other angels, are pretty much the same - self-taught in their field, unless they have been taught by someone who was self-taught. Sophelia likely gave Morpheus the knowledge he needed to get started, but since then he has likely been working and learning on his own.
And if you think they could 'just ask Tom' to get answers, then I'm sad to say, Tom doesn't care. That, or he doesn't know himself, and merely pretends not to.
@hauntedwritings That's quite the word wall but it did make for informative reading so, yeah, thanks.
To address some of those points though; I suppose it does make an amount of sense, especially since it has been explained that angels have limited memories, that they might choose to forego knowledge, even at the expense of potential power or flexibility on the battlefield, in favour of battlefield experience. Having thought about that (and current affairs), maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea for Amara to introduce some modern military theory books to her realm (and maybe Ezme's) and provide arguments in the form of practical demonstrations of the force multipliers that are knowledge and behind the scenes processes.
That said, I do wonder if that would be especially valuable among divine power users, perhaps you could remind me if we've seen evidence in this universe of the knowledge and application of processes reducing costs and/or improving outputs or if I'm thinking of another novel (I may or may not read too much...). Since, if I recall correctly, divine power does what the user imagines and figures out the rest for itself, and that angels seem to be solo fighters for the most part perhaps the whole thing wouldn't apply to them... (Way too many times I type angles instead of angels...)
As for Tom, he seems to not care about a lot of things... I suppose we'd be about due in an LN for a "Tom's POV" chapter, lol, I don't know if I consider it appropriate though in this case, maybe some post story bonus chapters?
Back on point though, I suppose dealing with Tom is like dealing with an advanced alien race, they appear to us to know everything but they know they still have a lot to learn, possibly even more than we know that we have yet to learn... Also there are a great many people who know how to use a computer but couldn't perform even a basic repair to save their lives so, yeah, no guarantee he knows.
@Adam_Kafei My apologies for the word wall! Thank you for your questions, and sorry for another word wall!
Regarding Tom's POV chapter: there is one planned, though it would be a bonus chapter which will likely come after the story is complete. Mostly because I want there to be 'some' unknowns in the story.
Regarding efficency of magic (most of which has been implied but not explicitly stated):
The efficency of and chance of success of a spell is based on whether the user is 'reinforcing the image' of what they are trying to achieve, as well as whether or not they are using a magic circle. This is true for both divine and mortal magic.
This can be somewhat imagined by trying to water a garden with a garden hose. Focusing a mental image is like squeezing the end of the hose in different ways, which allows you to adjust the distance and general area where the water will end up. A magic circle in comparison, is like attaching an extension to the existing garden hose, allowing for greater range. A perfect spell utilizes both. And by the analogy made, adjusting a magic circle is like adjusting the extension of the garden hose, making it even more precise.
This means that using magic without magic circles is a lot more inefficient, as a lot of water goes to waste when you try to adjust the outlet of the hose. So the mortals are capable of wielding more 'efficient' magic - however, the total amount of 'water' in their disposal is limited in comparison to the angels.
As for the angels' tactics: in general, there is little tactics and cooperation involved. For the most part, the mortals are so weak in comparision that it would be like an adult going up against a bunch of children. The only time they employ tactics and cooperate is when they are so heavily outnumbered, that it takes less effort for them to gather the demons into groups and have someone eliminate them all at once with a single spell.
From the average angel's point of view, they thus don't need to make much more 'efficent' spells. They know they can, but in general it is a waste of time, since they can rely on prayers to get the power they need back to cast spells. The larger problem is their endurance, since their bodies and minds will inevitably tire after days/weeks of continuous battle. So most of their efforts go into that - how they can fight as efficently as possible. This is for instance how Holy Fire was developed - all they need is to 'touch' an a demon with the fire, and they will be down within moments.
@hauntedwritings Please don't apologise for the word walls, I like a good word wall, besides, I'd be a hypocrite if I complained. That said, I'm not sure I have much to add to that one but one other question came to me while I was considering it: It was mentioned that Teyrin (and maybe others?) were undergoing an accelerated industrial revolution and that mana batteries were seeing extensive use, are they sidestepping or otherwise mitigating the fossil fuel issues?
@Adam_Kafei
The mortals in Amara's and Ezme's domain aren't 'ignoring' the potential of fossil fuels per se. They have developed steam engines for instance, since using magic tools to compensate for physical work is too expensive. So it would be more accurate to say that they are exploring the benefits of advanced magic tools and fossil fueled technology.
The largest issue for them is perhaps that even if you know that there is something called oil which can be used as fuel, they'll need to find it and develop the methods for refining it. Then comes the issue of supply - even if you have technology that uses something like oil, how long does it take until you have a large enough supplyline that can meet the demand? Not to say that there aren't people trying to create supply lines, it merely takes time.
But to conclude: they are exploring all avenues of technology, both magical and non-magical, as well as hybrid technology that Amara is focusing on developing (like her printer, which works by using electricity AND mana).
On a side note: even in the case where it is perhaps 'better' to have something work by means of fossil fuels, there is an allure to have technology using mana batteries - because they can be charged by anyone, regardless of skill. Meaning, say that you're a rich noble who have bought a car that uses mana, and your mana batteries are too low for your next trip. Considering that everyone has mana, it is easy to just go onto the street and shout 'a coin for everyone who gives me their mana!' and voila, you have commoners lining up to help you for a quick buck.
In fact, this has resulted in that mana is, slowly but surely, becoming an inoffical currency in Amara's and Ezme's domain.
@hauntedwritings Realized I might not have actually answered your question regarding the problems with fossil fuels, so here:
Amara is fully aware of the potential 'problems' with using fossil fuels, i.e. pollution and the fact that it's not a renewable energy source. As such, we can assume that she has placed some 'restrictions' on the mortals using them, comparable to modern restriction.
We can further assume that Amara has considered making enchantments that reduce or prevent pollution, though they are unlikely to be cost-effective.
Considering that everything related to fossil fuel technology is somewhat complicated to the mortals, both in development, supply of fuel and any restrictions, one can say that people are leaning even more heavily on using mana-based technology when possible, simply because it's 'easier to understand' and use. Add to the fact that fossil fuels are going to run out eventually (though unlikely for the next several centuries on Teyrin for instance), the demand for mana-based tech gets even larger.
To conclude: there will likely be some cases where other fuel sources than mana is used, but they will likely be limited and unlikely to be in high demand on the market.
@hauntedwritings Thanks for the answers. It does raise the question then (and I apologise if I or someone else has already asked), especially given the nature of mana, is there a correlation in mana capacity in parents and offspring?
@Adam_Kafei I doubt anyone has asked before, and even if someone has I don't mind answer again. ^^
By default, there is no correlation in mana capacity. Mana capacity 'grows' with use (and a slight amount by age).
There is however a slight correlation when it comes to mana-related skills. In essence, magicians are a little more likely to have children who can become magicians. The correlation is even highest if the mother is a magician, as she can during her pregnancy practise mana manipulation, which can possibly give the offspring a head start in learning how to sense mana. By this method, it might also to be possible to increase the offspring's mana capacity before birth.
Note: Most magicians are nobles, who have access to knowledge, teachers and magic tools to help them learn mana manipulation from an early age. This likely has a higher influence on whether or not someone is capable of learning magic or not. If 1 among 100 humans on Teyrin is a magician, then among the nobles that number is 1 in 10 instead.