133 – Power theory

Albert sat cross legged on a small stone that was cold but, fortunately, not frozen over. He was thinking of ways to get the job done, giving Scrappy enough magic so that he wouldn’t have to worry about her survival. True, she still had the Defense Handbook and had done the procedure for the day, but he didn’t feel comfortable leading her deeper into danger until she had magic of her own.

Whether said magic was mana-based, Doom or something else entirely didn’t matter. It would be an academic concern, but no more than marginally relevant when compared to her survival. Interestingly enough, Albert found himself caring less and less about the nature of magic, as long as it did what he wanted it to do. Where did it come from mattered little when life and death was more important. Perhaps in the future he would have more free time on his hands to devote to research.

Nonetheless, his brain still made connections and Jeff gathered data. In a sense, it wasn’t like he was slacking off at all, because everything he saw went towards the creation of a theory of magic, Doom and Bending. Having an AI with perfect recall abilities was handy, more so than even Analysis Mode.

“Does everyone have a class?” As such, he asked questions. “I know you were a cat and all…” She glared at him, and he chuckled. “But I figured you might know.”

She studied him. “That I do. No. Only some people have actual classes with names, I think. Others are mages or… cultivators, right? That was the name you used.” She paused, biting her lower lip with – now that Albert knew what to look for – unusually sharp and long canines. “You seem to know many things, but not others, that you don’t. Why?”

Albert shrugged. “I am different, not from here. From another time, you might say. From before all this was formalized and known. Hell, there was barely any trace of magic back then, and what little there was was kept secret. Do you have any idea why your class might be broken?”

“It happens sometimes. I don’t have any skills, stats or even Quests… I’m barely any better than a non-mage. Please. Don’t abandon me.”

“Of course I won't abandon you. Told you. I got attached, and now we are stuck with each other. Now, give me a second to get my thoughts in order, then we begin. Get ready, do some stretches, I don’t know… something.”

Scrappy nodded with a hum. Albert turned his attention inwards. He closed his eyes, and found himself standing in a room full of computers, screens and technology. There was a huge window to one side, from where he could see the real world as if he was a tiny human standing on the top floor of a huge skyscraper that brought him to the same height of his real world eyes. It was eerie.

In the room, among the technology, were many schematics and half completed machines, crystals and inscriptions. At least some of them he knew were his ideas, while others he had never seen before. On the far was diagrams and equations spilled out of a blackboard into the wall itself, and there Albert thought he spotted several things he had observed about magic, along with thoughts both his and not his on the matter.

And standing like a butler in the middle of it all, was a man.

“Jeff.”

“It is me.” Jeff said, voice as smooth as silk. Albert also thought he noticed a faint British accent there somewhere.

“Cool avatar. Cool place.”

“Thank you. I created this space to facilitate our work. As you can see, time is dilated by as much as your mind and Power can handle.”

Outside the window, the world proceeded in slow motion.

“How much?”

“15 times. For now.”

Albert nodded.

“That’s super cool. Let’s get back to business though, or I will get too distracted. Did you analyze Scrappy’s class, or the magic that makes it up at least? It’s not the first time we encounter gamified magic either, is it? Did Kainen have one? Konstan?”

“I speculate they did not.” Jeff said, leading Albert to the blackboard. With a wave of his hand, the equations were moved over to the side, making space for new diagrams.

“Konstan was a cultivator, yeah. But Kainen? He wasn’t a mage or a cultivator either, right?”

“I don’t think so.” Diagrams appeared. A human silhouette, with mana channels similar but different to what meridians look like in traditional Indian mysticism. Different yet again to Albert’s old meridians, meaning that what Kainen had was unique in that regard.

“How do you explain it that some people like Scrappy here have classes, others have skills and stats, and overall things very similar to a system like the one I had?”

Jeff’s butlerous face was pensive, meanwhile Scrappy’s silhouette appeared on the blackboard. This time, the magic depicted within was a mess of blue and red, mana and Doom. Barely any organization to it. Yet, there were hints that some sense could be made out of the mess.

“It seems that magic can organize itself into many expressions, one of which is a rigid system.”

“Spontaneously.” Albert said with a scoff. “Stuff doesn’t just happen by itself.”

“Unless there is an entropy gradient leading towards an outcome.”

“Assuming magic even cares about it.” Albert rebuffed. None of the talk so far was getting him any closer to finalizing his approach towards fixing Scrappy’s class.

His eyes went to the diagram of her body. He had an idea, though.

“If not classical entropy, some magical equivalent. At least, it appears that way.” Jeff said.

“And yet, not all people have rigid systems.”

“We would need to determine what the percentage of population that does is, in order not to speculate wildly.”

“I guess for now we can say that magic can but not always will develop into a system.” Albert sighed. Scrappy had a system of sorts, just incomplete. He wondered, how could he use his external Power – which was neither mana nor Doom – to kickstart it? His idea grew.

“Also, from your memories I was able to determine that your system had reality bending capabilities that far surpassed any theoretically possible mana-to-reality conversion. None of the people encountered so far who are a candidate to be system users come even close to matching a fraction of its power.”

Jeff had been working behind the scenes it seemed, while Albert was running for his life.

“Which means that the system was not mana-based.”

“Indeed. Nor was it Doom.”

“Was it Power?”

“Possibly.”

Albert nodded.

“That doesn’t help us now. Doom… we know what Doom is, right? Alignment Energy. We could use it, but it might be dangerous. What about mana?”

“We know precious little about mana. However, I agree that using mana rather than Doom would be wiser, for now.”

“What if the instructions for how mana behaves came from the Universe, whatever it might be? The same entity that answers questions and gives appraisals.” Albert said, voicing one of his more outlandish theories. One which, however, had also informed and shaped his current tentative approach towards solving Scrappy’s issues. “When I used Intent to power magic, it basically acted as a surrogate Universe.”

“It is possible, but if that were the case it would leave a detectable trace behind.”

“How much power would I need to create a system?” Albert asked.

“From scratch? Impossible to calculate. But to even be able to do what it did in the first week you had it, you would need several orders of magnitude more Power than you have.”

“Not from scratch.” Albert said with a smirk. “I have an idea.”

Albert came back to the real world and refocused on Scrappy. She was asking him a question.

“What about you? What a—what is your magic?”

Albert thought about it for a moment.

“I merely flex my Power and the world changes accordingly.” He said. “The how and why is complicated. There are no strict rules, but if I make up weird restrictions then the magic gets stronger.”

“Why, it makes no sense, that it doesn’t!”

“I have a theory. Something something computational irreducibility something something entropy. Basically the more unlikely the event I try to manifest, the harder it is to pull off. By adding weird constrains, I pull the rest of reality down to the same degree of unlikely-ness. And when reality loses its… reality-like properties, it’s easier to impose my will onto it.”

“Uhh… Power, then! I like it!”

Albert smiled. He knew that his explanation went over her head, especially with the way he simply glossed over the main topics. One day, perhaps, he would explain it better to her. Perhaps once he had enough information himself so that his explanation was a statement of fact rather than a wild speculation.

“I like the name Power. Very confusing to use. In any case, remember this: complex workings of Power take a lot out of me, and to do them I need to set up weird conditions. Like procedure 779-Cavanough in your handbook, but” he smirked “I grow stronger every day.”

Albert got up, stretching. Scrappy followed suit, feeling his gaze upon her.

“Alright, come here Black Cat.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Albert stuck out his tongue. Anyone seeing a tall, brooding half-elf dressed in tattered clothes stick out his tongue to a teen girl would probably think him insane. He didn’t care.

“I will call you that. Now, close your eyes and tell me if anything changes, okay?”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

Okay Jeff. Let’s crank it. Let’s make the Universe give her a Quest.

How?

Use the mana.

Albert used a considerable amount of Power to communicate Intent to Scrappy’s mana, boosting it with Bending so that the Universe would step in. He went woozy, and leaned on a large stick to avoid falling over. The large rock he was sitting on was cold. A notification appeared that he had gained Power, but he ignored it and searched for a reaction from the girl.

“It didn’t work.”

“I noticed.”

I thought that by giving the Universe an outlet… a path of least resistance, I could make it happen. Apparently, either giving her a quest is not the path of least resistance or we were wrong in our – many – assumptions.

It doesn’t make any sense. If what we thought is wrong, then why do people even have classes? Why does magic spontaneously organize itself into classes for them?

Well, if the Universe isn’t willing to provide, we need to change our angle of attack.

Plan B, much in Reality Bending fashion, was to just think less. Just wish for something to happen, add conditions, and let the fucking Universe deal with it. Magical theory be damned.

Meanwhile, Scrappy studied him attentively. He tried to reassure her with a smile. “One moment, I’m onto something. Just need to rest a minute.”

With my miser 60, no, 65 Power I need to start simple. Unlocking her class and by giving her access to her first skill.

I suggest a dodging or protection skill.

Dodging. It’s easier to do because it requires her constant effort. The more she does, the less the magic needs to carry her, the easier it is for us.

Understood. I assume you will want her to complete the quest before proceeding.

Yes. Let’s come up with a task she can complete within the hour.

“Can you handle some pain? I will be here to heal you.” Albert asked.

“For what?” Suddenly, the girl sounded less certain in her desire to acquire magic.

“If you want magic, you will need to earn it. That’s how it works. No pain, no gain. Are you willing to endure pain so that you may earn more powerful magic?”

“Yes.” She said, hesitating. It only lasted for a moment before her face morphed into a mask of resolve. “I am willing, that I am. Will you watch over me?”

“Of course.” Albert said. “Well then. Let’s try this…”

Albert waited until he was back to full Focus, then strained himself to the limit.

Let’s try to keep the specifics as vague as possible. I have a feeling that this time the Universe will indeed follow the path of least resistance this time.

Understood. Parameters?

Time limit: one hour. Task: perform a physical challenge. Reward: dodging skill with growth element. Let the Universe fill in the gaps with knowledge from my mind.

Parameters set. You will have to initiate it, Albert. You know I can’t Bend.

Albert’s eyes narrowed. Yeah. Ais that lack consciousness seem unable to. At least as far as they tell me.

Are you implying that I have lied—

Perhaps not lied per se. Perhaps you didn’t even notice yourself. No matter. Begin!

By the time Albert managed to regain a semblance of composure after the ludicrous expense of Power, the girl was jumping up and down with unconstrained joy. She had tears streaming down her face.

“I got a quest!”