Alice spent the next three days verifying a few things.

Now that she was aware of the small little gem-like clump of mana inside of her and Ethan’s brain, Alice started to check other people for the same thing. Alice wanted to see what the System had done with those clumps of mana. If she could figure out how and why the System made them, she might be able to figure out how to deal with the Alice mana in her brain.

For this purpose, Alice first asked Cecilia to let her investigate Cecilia’s brain, since Alice thought that was a good place to start.

However, upon scanning Cecilia’s brain and checking for the tiny, multicolored gem of mana, Alice realized that Cecilia didn’t have one. It wasn’t present in Cecilia’s body – or at the very least, if it was, Alice couldn’t find it. It might be so small that Alice just couldn’t observe it without boosting her senses somehow. But either way, Alice had no way to check Cecilia’s mana gem.

Upon seeing that Cecilia had no mana gem, Alice started thinking. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew why she had a gem and Cecilia didn’t, but just to make sure, she asked Cecilia what level her highest class was at.

Cecilia was now at level 63 in [Enchanter], which had overtaken her [Merchant] class. Alice suspected that the mana gem was something only present in people above level 75.

To gather more data, Alice asked Ethan for help. Ethan had several [Guards], [Soldiers], and other assorted professions come in and let Alice confirm two things.

First, as far as she could tell, anyone below level 80 did not seem to have a mana gem in their brain at all. It seemed that rather than having the mana gem appear at level 75, level 80 was the important one. Which also explained why Alice had never noticed it before – it had probably only shown up after Alice had merged two Perks into her first Tier 3 Perk.

Second, Alice confirmed that anyone who was at or above level 80 had a small mana gem in their brain, regardless of what they did with their Perks. If they merged two Tier 2 Perks together into a Tier 3 Perk, they had a mana gem. If they had just taken another new Perk at level 80, or made another Tier 2 Perk, they also had a mana gem in their brain – although it was much smaller.

In other words, the way that one handled their Perks made a very significant difference in the size of their mana gem. This made Alice lean towards the theory that people below level 80 still had mana gems, it just wasn’t large enough to observe in detail. Alice hoped that whenever she reached level 85 in [Explorer of Magic], she would get a better way to check on smaller mana constructs so that she could confirm this theory, but that would have to wait until later.

As Alice observed these mana gems, she also confirmed that anyone who had reached level 80 before the collapse of the System had a bunch of ‘person’ mana stuck in their mana gem. Ollie the [Hairstylist] had a small amount of Ollie mana in his mana gem. Martha the [Commander] had a large amount of Martha mana in her mana gem. And so on.

This confirmed Alice’s suspicion from earlier. The System was very much aware of the problems posed by things like ‘Alice’ mana, and the mana gems were built to deal with those problems. Everyone who had formed their first level 80 Perk before the collapse of the System suffered no problems from their personal type of mana.

Obviously, whatever the System did hadn’t occurred when Alice reached level 80. When Alice asked the Church of the System and Ethan if anyone else had similar problems to her own, both entitites did a little bit of searching. It took some time to find someone else who had reached level 80 after the collapse, but after a day of searching, two were found.

Similar to her, they had a moderate amount of ‘person’ mana stuck inside of their brain, and complained about minor amounts of personality corrosion. Nobody else had quite the same amount of personal mana stuck inside of their head, the way Alice did – she seemed to have an abnormally large amount of Alice mana to handle. But they all suffered from the same problem.

Alice wasn’t quite sure how to solve it yet, but she was curious to know whether her filtration mana could somehow stuff the Alice mana in her head into her mana gem.

Unfortunately, this was about where Alice’s research stalled out. Even though {Safety Analysis} said that it was safe to try, after some experimentation, the experiment went nowhere. Alice mana could not just be randomly stuffed inside of her mana gem.

Alice wasn’t quite sure what she needed to do to handle the Alice mana in her body yet. Luckily, Alice’s primary class was [Explorer of Magic], and Alice felt that the class was tailor-made to handle the problem. With another Tier 3 Perk, she would hopefully have a better solution for Alice mana.

Thus, Alice decided to put off her research into mana gems for now. She just didn’t have the Perks she needed to observe them in detail yet.

Instead, she prepared for her audience with the [King]. With Ethan’s help, she got her {Etiquette} teacher back, as well as a large quantity of books on {Etiquette}. After three days of cramming, Alice’s {Etiquette} skill made exceptional strides forward.

Through training, you have increased a skill!

Etiquette: 22 -> 28

After her days of research and cramming, it was time to meet the [King].

Alice strode through the doors of the palace with Ethan, trying to look confident.

Even though a part of Alice’s brain knew that she didn’t have anything to fear from this meeting, another part of her couldn’t help but worry that she would somehow mess up. Seeing the [King] of Illvaria felt much more intimidating than the tea party Ethan had brought her to a month ago.

There were a large number of [Guards] scattered throughout the hallways that Alice walked through, a distinct contrast to the way the palace had looked only a month ago. When Alice and Ethan had attended the second [Princess]’s tea party, apart from the halls guarding the artifact, there had only been an occasional [Guard] patrol roaming the palace. Now, it looked as if the [Guards] were the decorations in the palace, rather than paintings and other pieces of art.

Ethan quickly led her through several hallways and doorways, until they came upon a much larger chamber. Inside, Alice could see an older man sitting on a throne, with a woman sitting to the side. The throne room itself was a tapestry of rainbow mana – it looked almost like Alice had stepped into a spider’s web. Alice couldn’t help but feel that there was no place where a [King] was stronger than inside of their throne room, if all of these Perks were from the [King]. Although she wasn’t quite sure what most of the Perks did, with how many were layered on top of each other the [King] was probably safe here.

The man sitting on the throne appeared to be in his early forties. Alice recalled that chronologically, the [King] was supposed to be in his late forties – for him to appear less than a decade younger than his chronological age was a bit surprising. Alice had already reached a point where she was aging much more slowly, and here was someone who barely benefitted from aging speed reductions at all.

She estimated that the [King] was around level 55, which was slightly above average, but not particularly exceptional for a monarch. Since most inherited seats of power tended to favor the child with the best level compared to their age, Alice had to wonder just how the current [King] had gotten the throne. Had he not had any siblings to compete with, or were they just even less exceptional than the current [King]? The man’s level wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t impressive.

Alice decided that it was none of her business, and turned her attention to the woman sitting on a smaller throne in the room.

At first glance, Alice wondered if the woman might be the [Queen] – but a closer inspection revealed that the woman looked similar to the [King]. And she also looked too young to be the [Queen], since the [Queen] was about the same age as the [King]. The woman appeared to be in her early twenties.

Alice searched her memory, and a few moments later, she recalled Ethan mentioning that the first [Princess] was very favored by the [King], and likely to be the next monarch. She also recalled Ethan speculating that the first [Princess] might be higher level than the current [King].

A quick glance let Alice confirm that the woman was absolutely higher level than the [King. She was about level 60. Alice was struck by the strange notion that, despite being born before the second [Princess], the first [Princess] actually looked younger than the second [Princess].

The first [Princess] wore a long dress that probably gave her around thirty points in [Charisma] and twenty in [Intelligence]. She gave Alice and Ethan both clear, measured looks, before she slightly dipped her head towards Ethan. The [King], interestingly enough, did the same, although a moment later, Ethan gave the [King] a much deeper bow.

Alice’s brain kick-started itself as she remembered the proper etiquette for handling Illvarian monarchs. She gave the [King] a respectful curtsy, which the [King] acknowledged with a nod before she returned to her original posture.

“Immortal Ethan sees your majesty,” said Ethan.

“Apprentice Alice sees your majesty,” Alice said.

The formalities done with, the [King] gave Ethan a strained smile.

“Immortal Ethan. It has been a long time since We last saw you,” said the [King]. “I wish that we had met again in better circumstances, but as you know, the current state of the kingdom is quite… something.”

“The current problems are indeed quite troublesome, your majesty,” said Ethan, frowning. “There are new problems cropping up left and right, and every second it feels like ten more appear.”

The [King] grimaced. “We hear that you and your apprentice have had a hand in cleaning up at least some of this mess?”

Ethan ruefully smiled. “Mostly my apprentice. Her skillset is exceptionally well suited tohelp us understand the problem. She has been doing a lot of the work to keep the situation from utterly collapsing.”

The [King] gave Alice a more appraising look, and the [Princess] followed suit. A few moments later, the [King] gave Alice a more friendly smile.

“We’ve heard quite a bit about you, Lady Alice. You’ve done quite a bit recently.”

Alice tried not to awkwardly shuffle as she nodded.

“I’ve been pretty active recently, yes,” she said, once it became clear that the [King] expected her to respond. “There are a lot of things that I feel compelled to handle, because it’s within my abilities and I don’t want people to get hurt,” said Alice.

The [King] gave Alice a more curious look. “Is that so? I don’t detect any lies, but I’m surprised to hear that that’s one of the things to motivate you. I suppose the easy levels that come from solving a crisis like this have nothing to do with it?”

Alice blushed.

“I would do it either way, but I’m definitely happier to work for a reward,” she said. Something about the way the [King] spoke to her felt strange. She had expected him to be more… formal. Overbearing, maybe. Instead, it almost felt like he was trying to keep her off-balance.

Before Alice could focus on that thought, the [King] moved to yet another topic.

“I also heard that you were attacked by Emilia about a week ago?”

Alice shuddered. “Yes, your majesty. During the boat ride back to Cyra, Immortal Emilia did attack us.”

The [King] frowned. “So the Sigmusi really did send an Immortal after a potential Illvarian Immortal.” His frown deepened, and for a moment, the [King] seemed to get lost in his thoughts. Alice could see worry appear on his face, as well as frustration.

The [Princess] touched the [King]’s shoulder, and he shook himself out of his thoughts. He turned back towards Alice, and his gaze was a bit more considerate than before.

“It must have been frightening, encountering a hostile Immortal when you are still so far away from Immortality. We hope that you were not terribly injured during the fight?”

“It was… something else,” said Alice. “I saw Perks that I don’t understand being tossed around on a battlefield I would never have survived on my own. I cannot say it is an experience I am eager to repeat. There were a lot of things that I don’t know how I would handle, if I had been alone. Immortals have truly absurd ability sets when they go all-out.”

The [King] nodded, his eyes never leaving Alice’s for even a moment. Alice had the strange sensation of being stared at by a cold, unwavering block of iron for a moment, before the [Princess] touched the [King’s] shoulder again.

This time, Alice saw a flicker of rainbow mana pass between the two of them, which Alice assumed was some sort of… Perk to relay messages, perhaps? She studied the flicker of rainbow mana with interest, but it disappeared before Alice could get a good look at it. The [King]’s words distracted Alice before she could think further about the spark of rainbow mana.

A moment later, the [King] gave Alice an even more curious look.

“We’re curious, Alice. What do you make of this crisis? It’s obvious that you know quite a bit about it. What is the root cause of all of this? What are we to make of your claims that the deity most Illvarians worship is… malfunctioning?”

Alice swallowed. She felt a certain weight attached to this question that she hadn’t felt earlier. She spent a brief moment wondering whether the monarch of Illvaria was religious. A few members of the Church of the System hadn’t taken Alice’s claims about the System very well, although most of them had been willing to put aside religious dogma in the face of a brewing crisis. Alice also hadn’t divulged all of her thoughts on the matter, such as her belief that the System was neither sapient nor sentient.

If the [King] was very religious, this might be a bit more troublesome than she had been expecting.

“Well… I would like to point out the decisive evidence that the System is malfunctioning, mostly. There are many recent instances of the System not working properly… such as children getting their Status Screens too early, people’s Class mana driving them to act out in ways that run counter to their personality, and Perk selection not having any text…” Alice started, eyeing the [King] nervously.

The [King] slowly nodded as Alice went into more detail on each type of incident. Contrary to Alice’s fears, he didn’t lash out or contradict her as she spoke, simply letting her present all of the oddities she had encountered as time passed. Finally, the [King] turned back towards Ethan.

“What do you think of her claims and thoughts, Ethan?”

“At least for now, I’d say that she has demonstrably figured out a lot of valuable information about the collapse of the System. Not only that, but my apprentice has found ways to counteract some of the problems posed by the collapse of the System. I’m sure you are already aware of the supply line established between Metsel and Cyra, and how important the enchanting materials and enchantments involved are.”

The [King] actually grinned at that, although Alice could barely see it.

“Do you think that there is anyone better positioned than Alice in the kingdom to handle all of this?”

“I don’t. I can confidently say that Alice is the best positioned in Illvaria to handle this crisis, and possibly, the best positioned in the world to handle the aftershocks of the collapse of the System.” Ethan was also smiling faintly, although Alice couldn’t quite figure out why.

The [King] eyed Alice thoughtfully again, and this time, Alice could see a slight twinkle in his eyes.

“Then perhaps we should move to the real reason we called you here, Lady Alice.”