In total, Alice spent another hour trying to untangle what types of mana actually went into System mana. Since the idea of a ‘compound’ mana was so new to her, she felt that breaking down System mana into smaller chunks was a good way to start. She still wanted to create a System magic seed, after all, even if it would be quite a bit more complicated than she had originally expected.

She was able to figure out Organic mana and Pure mana pretty quickly, since she was familiar with both kinds of mana. Considering the fact that one of the bigger functions of the System seemed to be helping people convert muscle mass into mana step by step, Alice wasn’t particularly surprised by the fact that these two kinds of mana were part of System mana. However, seeing them literally work as part of System mana also confused her. Plenty of things made by the System, such as class seeds, used System mana, and organic mana and pure mana. Since organic mana and pure mana were already part of System mana, why were they included again as separate components in so many mana constructs made by the System? Alice frowned, feeling that something was weird here.  Perhaps System mana lost some properties one could obtain from a ‘pure’ variant of mana, as a result of mixing together so many different components at once? Or perhaps there was some other reason?

Alice had no idea. For now, she added it to her list of unanswered questions.

Apart from that, after an hour of poking at System mana, Alice finally discovered a brand new kind of mana. A kind of mana she would have never, ever discovered the existence of, not because its existence was hidden, but because it seemed so utterly useless in any other context that nobody would ever bother forming a magic seed for it.

Alice realized that one of the easier mana types to identify within System mana was math mana. Which, honestly, shouldn’t have surprised Alice as much as it did. After all, when she had done her initial research into mana seeds and kinds of mana, all those months ago back in Cyra, she had learned that there were even kinds of mana such as hope mana. Even though such magic seeds were considered worthless, if even emotions could be turned into magic seeds, it made perfect sense for math magic seeds and mana to exist as well. However, the very idea of math mana existing just felt so bizarre to Alice that she never would have thought about it before.

However, when Alice looked at her Status Screen, it seemed surprisingly reasonable that math mana existed. After all, the neat numbers on her Status Screen didn’t come from nowhere. Alice wasn’t entirely sure how the System made Status Screens work behind the scenes, but math mana certainly answered a few questions, such as how all of her abilities were evaluated and displayed in numerical form.

Alice ran out of time after screwing around with System mana for an hour, and had to rush to make it to Ezrien’s research team on time. The team was getting very close to finishing their research on kinetic plates, and they nearly had a working prototype of a kinetic plate that was cheaper and less time consuming to use than the cost of hiring a kinetic Mage. Since that was exactly what their team had been hired to do, this meant Alice would be done working with this team soon. At that thought, she couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic at the thought of all the hours she had spent here. Ezrien had sponsored her entry into a magic academy in her early days in Metsel, back when she was barely scraping by economically and desperately needed access to the library of a magic academy to continue her research. Theoretically, the contract she had signed with him stated that she was supposed to work for him for about a year, rather than the four or five months she had worked with the team, but Ezrien had informed her that she was free to go the moment they finished making the prototype of the kinetic plates. Since she had contributed a fair amount of her time to this research project, it was a joy to see it coming to life, even though it was also bittersweet to know that she would be ending her time with this team soon.

However, Ethan had also demanded that she free up some time in her schedule for relaxation purposes after she had told him what her schedule looked like. Ultimately, freeing up her mornings was probably for the best, since it would give her some time each day where she wasn’t obligated to work on other things. Besides, Ezrien and Anna would sometimes pop in for board game night, so it wasn’t like this was the last time she would see them. They just wouldn’t be working together anymore. However, it still left a bittersweet taste in Alice’s mouth to know that her time with Ezrien’s team was coming to an end.

After that, Alice went to classes for the day. Most of her classmates didn’t seem to know about her newfound apprenticeship to an Immortal, although that would likely change as word spread. Alice was willing to bet that most [Students] would know by next week. However, Alice felt that her friends, at least, deserved a little bit more of an explanation, so she pulled them aside and gave them a quick update on the raid on the Society base, Ethan’s claim that she was a combat Mage, and Samantha’s rescue. Since her friends would know that any claim she was a combat – oriented Mage was complete nonsense, Alice also asked them to pretend she was a combat mage for as long as possible. All of them agreed, and the discussion quickly changed into a round of congratulations. Nobody in the group had ever become the apprentice of an Immortal before, and so they offered Alice a round of congratulations for becoming one of the more well connected people in the country. Being the apprentice of an Immortal showcased just how hard one had worked to gain Achievements and improve their potential, and Alice becoming Ethan’s apprentice showed just how rare and valuable her hard work up until now had truly been.

The only one of Alice’s friends from school who was missing from the meeting was Samantha. Samantha didn’t show up to school that day, understandably enough, but Alice was relieved to hear from other [Students] that she had made it back home safely and was resting up. Nobody seemed entirely sure of the details yet, but most people seemed hopeful that she would return to school soon. Alice made a mental note to visit Samantha the following day, when she was done with her classes.

After Alice finished her classes for the day, she was ambushed by professor Feliza.

“Alice! I meant to get back to you on Monday, but after Samantha got kidnapped, things got pretty hectic for a while. Since I’ve heard you were acquaintances with the girl, I felt it was a bad time to talk to you, so I originally intended to delay things for a few weeks. However, now that Samantha is back, I wanted to follow up on our discussion from last week.”

Alice frowned, before recalling what Professor Feliza was referring to. With all that had happened in the past few days, the things that happened last week felt as if they had happened months ago.

However, originally, Professor Feliza had promised to take a look at Alice’s research paper, and also expressed some interest in Boris’s situation. Professor Feliza had also stated that she was willing to try running a manaless room experiment on herself the previous weekend. Afterwards, she had requested that Alice show up in her office sometime soon so that they could discuss the results.

It was now Friday, and Alice hadn’t shown up to Professor Feliza’s office. At the very least, the woman didn’t seem mad that Alice had been preoccupied with other matters. It wasn’t every week that an acquaintance was kidnapped by the Society, and the woman seemed unsurprised by Alice’s absence.

“How did the manaless room experiment go?” asked Alice, a hint of nerves creeping into her voice. Alice was fairly certain she already knew the answer, but having her results tested again by an actual academic authority set her nerves on edge in a way that was hard to describe.

“Your paper was correct. After sitting in a manaless room, one will start to experience a reduction in their Stats, and a mild reduction in the power of their Perks as well. I have a few Perks which are easier to quantify from my [Organic Mage] Class, and I’ve determined that each Perk I had access to seems to lose about the same amount of power that your stats do. So, if a Perk normally gives you, say, a 10% boost to your stats when you meet its activation conditions, and you suffer a 20% reduction to your stats from mana deprivation, the Perk will only increase your stats by 8%. I recall you mentioning in your paper that you had a hard time testing the actual effects of mana deprivation on Perks, so I made extra sure to evaluate that. Now, it is possible that [Organic Mage] has some sort of unique reaction to mana deprivation, so it would be best to test how mana deprivation interacts with other Perks and Classes. However, it seems reasonable to assume that they are probably affected by mana deprivation the same way.” Professor Feliza gave Alice an interested grin.

Alice also felt herself relax a little. Even though she had known Professor Feliza should get the same results she had, it was a relief to hear it said out loud.

“Since I’ve tested your conclusions, I’m also willing to go with you to see Boris. I assume that was what you were trying to lead into, when discussing this topic last week?”

“Yes, I was originally hoping you could oversee my treatment of Boris. I intend to make an enchantment that cuts him off from mana in his surroundings, and attempt to treat his strange illness that way. It won’t work long term, obviously, because surviving without ever coming into contact with mana is… impractical. But at least for now it will stop him from getting worse, I think. But I also don’t want to get into legal trouble, so I need a more experienced healer watching over me. And having experienced [Organic Mage] watching over my treatment in case something goes wrong is never a bad idea, just in case. {Safety Analysis} claims that this should be safe, but a backup plan never hurts,” said Alice.

Professor Feliza nodded, smiling faintly. “I’m more than happy to oversee your treatment of Boris, and I’m glad you’re taking as many precautions as you’re able to. Do you have a time set aside already?”

“I usually visit him every weekend, on either Saturday or Sunday. Would two days from now work for you?”

Professor Feliza frowned for a moment, pursing her lips in thought, before she nodded. “I should be free that day. Where shall I meet you?”

The two worked out a few details about where and what time to meet, before Professor Feliza departed.

As Alice watched Professor Feliza leave, she wondered if she should inform Ethan about her plans for the weekend. Now that he was her mentor, and was supposed to oversee Alice’s research into magic seeds, it seemed relevant to inform him about her plans, at least. In fact, having Immortal Ethan also look over Alice’s conclusions about manaless rooms and her attempts to cure Boris might help him give Alice a new perspective on some of her thoughts and conclusions. Since he was in charge of keeping her safe, and was also her mentor, it seemed relevant to let him know. She decided that she would update him that night, once she went back to his mansion.

* * *

That night, after Alice gave Cecilia an update on Samantha’s situation, and then delivered a quick message to one of Ethan’s [Maids] at his mansion, she finally followed up on one of her other ideas from the past week. Since she had money now, Alice could finally afford to send a few letters back to Cyra. There were a few people she felt deserved some word from her, and who she wouldn’t mind keeping in contact with.

After a few moments of thought, she started her first letter.

Dear Milo,

How have you been?

Alice paused, tapping her pen against her cheek as she tried to think of what else to say. On Earth, she didn’t need to obsess over each word she sent in a text message to one of her friends. However, letters in this world were quite formal, making it harder for her to come up with ideas for each sentence.

I’ve been enjoying my time at the capital now. I’ve gone through a great deal of unusual events, some of which I can discuss and some of which are of a more unusual nature. The first, and perhaps most important part, is that I successfully found a sponsor and got into a magic academy. Illa’s connections really helped. The library of the academy is massive, and was of great help to some of my earlier research.

Alice frowned, wondering if there was a possibility of her mail getting intercepted by the Society. While the odds seemed low, it might be best not to mention her research in a letter that she was sending to her acquaintances in Cyra. After a few moments of thought, she scribbled out the word ‘research’ and replaced it with ‘studies.’ Then, she continued.

After that, my classmates and I got caught up in an incident where we fought a small group of Society members.

Alice felt that she wasn’t doing the incident anywhere near the justice it deserved. The most important aspect of that fight, besides the studies about Broken Mana baptisms she had received from the corpse of a society member, had been centered around Boris. She had also seen a [Scout] die of a broken mana baptism at that time. However, since she was trying to avoid mentioning anything too sensitive in her note, she couldn’t discuss many of her discoveries, just in case the mail did get intercepted, which seriously limited what she could discuss about the incident.

Alice frowned, wondering how she should continue the letter. Finally, she put her pen back to the paper.

I have also made a few new friends over the course of my studies. They are an interesting bunch, but I enjoy spending time talking with them before class. I have also started creating board games, which I enjoy playing with Cecilia, along with some other acquaintances such as the Mage who sponsored my first year in the Magic academy. Board games, if you aren’t familiar with them, are kind of like the games [Gamblers] play, but more elaborate, and without any money involved. If I see you again in the future, I would love to play one with you and a few other people.

However, all of the more interesting tidbits of life I’ve discussed so far pale in comparison to the incident I experienced earlier this week. An acquaintance of mine was kidnapped by the Society of Starry Eyes, which resulted in a huge mess. You may have even heard of it as far South as Cyra, although I’m not sure if news has spread that far yet. By the time you receive this letter, I imagine some people may have heard of it, at least. The resulting aftermath was complicated, but by the end of it, I have become the apprentice of Honored Immortal Ethan, the Immortal of Spells and Seeds. The way this came about was rather unexpected for me, but due to my high rarity Achievements and work ethic, he seems to see a certain amount of potential in me. I hope that I can live up to his expectations as a combat Mage.

Of course, Milo knew full well that Alice wasn’t particularly talented at combat. She got by using her Perks and Skills, but frankly, Alice didn’t have the natural mindset a truly talented combatant did. However, while Milo wasn’t the brightest man on the planet, he wasn’t a fool either. He would probably realize from this letter that he shouldn’t go around blabbing about Alice’s true interests, at least, after receiving this letter. Admittedly, Alice hadn’t thought about that fact at all until now, and had originally just been planning to send a letter to someone who had helped her out when she was in Cyra. Unexpectedly, sending Milo a letter was useful for helping her keep her façade as a combat mage going for a little longer.

I’m also starting to reach a higher level of financial stability due to my work as an [Enchanter] recently. It is the reason I can afford to send this letter to you.

I’ve never been great at writing letters, but I wanted to thank you for the help you gave me in Cyra, and tell you what I’ve been up to recently. I hope you’re also doing well. If you can, send me back a letter, or at least update Illa if you want to say anything to me. I’m also sending her a similar letter.

Thank you,

Alice

P.S. keep an eye out for any weird floods of dimensional mana. The Society seems to be investigating outbreaks of dimensional mana that have been suddenly appearing across the world recently. If you see one, let me know – I can probably inform my teacher in advance, and that will hopefully allow us to react in time to minimize the damage.

After giving her letter another scan, Alice folded it up and sealed it. After that, Alice wrote a similar letter to Illa as well. While the content differed somewhat, and also included a special note thanking Illa for the help she and her husband had given Alice in finding a sponsor when she was new to Metsel and much weaker.

Even though many of the steps Illa had taken to help Alice also had clear benefits for Illa herself, the help Illa had given her was undeniable. Alice wasn’t an ungrateful person. Giving Illa a heads up about the Society’s hunt for dimensional mana would probably give the woman some idea what to look out for, and would also let Illa know she needed to clamp down extra hard on any mention of Alice’s strange arrival in this world, as well as the giant outbreak of dimensional mana the expedition had investigated near Cyra. Alice didn’t know if Illa could shut off the news of the incident, now that it had happened so long ago, and Alice also had no idea whether that would actually be an effective solution to removing the Society’s interest in the area. However, Illa was a smart woman. She would know how to keep herself and her town protected as long as she knew enough information.

When Alice thought about her origins as an {Outworlder}, she wondered if she should tell Immortal Ethan about her history. Since he was working hard to protect her, it seemed relevant to inform him about this potential danger. However, it also didn’t seem prudent to tell one of her most dangerous secrets to someone she had only known for a week, even if he was one of Illvaria’s Immortals and seemed to have worked for Alice’s best interests so far. After a few moments of hesitation, Alice added a final line to her letter to Illa.

P.S. how well do you know Immortal Ethan?

Alice wasn’t good at scheming, but she felt that Illa was someone who could read between the lines and realize that Alice was looking for information on Immortal Ethan. Since Illa knew that Alice was an {Outworlder}, Illa could probably sneak some advice into her letter if she sent anything back to Alice. And unlike Milo, Illa could definitely financially well off, and so she could afford to send Alice a return letter.

After sealing both letters, Alice went to a [Messenger’s] guild and hired a relatively high-Level [Messenger] to deliver her letters to Cyra for her. It cost nearly a full gold sun to hire the man’s services, which would have been a ruinously expensive price earlier. However, Alice wanted to minimize the odds of the Society reading through her mail as much as possible, even if she had removed any dangerous information from her letters. That required paying for a significantly higher Level [Messenger] than her messages would have otherwise required, but it was worth it.

After sending letters to her closest acquaintances in Cyra, Alice grinned to herself. She spent the rest of the day thinking about finally fixing Boris’s problem this coming Sunday, and preparing the materials she would need to enchant a ring that would keep mana way from the kid for now.

acaswell

I return! Or, well, I've kind of been here for a while, but first new Budding Scientist chapter of the year!I had a lovely break. One of my friends very strongly recommended that I try a game called Hades recently. Apparently, it’s rather well known, and I’m just out of the loop… but I did finally try the game! It was a lot of fun. So I spent a few days just sitting in discord calls with my friend while dying over and over again. Apart from that, I drank large quantities of tea, read some books, and gave my kitty some attention (she very much approved), and spent time with family and friends. It was enjoyable. Still coughing very slightly… usually less than ten times per day now. Annoying but largely unimportant, I guess? Meh.

I hope you guys also had a lovely holiday season!

Shameless plug – you can read 3 chapters ahead for $3 on patreon!