A week later

Adam opens his eyes. You can see some dissatisfaction in his gaze. 'It's been a week, according to the information, I am already in the mana sensing stage. But that is just the first stage of an apprentice, I can't reach the second stage, mana connection. Logically, I should have reached it a while ago but no matter what I do I can't connect to the mana surrounding me. I can't even refine my body, something the majority of people should be able to do. I'll have to ask Lady Fay, there may be something wrong with my body since I don't belong to this world.'

With his decision made he gets up and waves at the owl. The owl has stayed with him this whole time, either to watch him, which does not make sense given he's unable to leave the tower by himself or Fay knows the reason he's unable to use the runes and connect to mana leaving the owl to help him. 

Following the owl toward its master's location, he thinks about some of the questions bothering him. If this world is seeking its development, does it follow its own path to strength? Does it even comprehend strength the same way its denizens do? To the people, strength ultimately boils down to one wish, barring some exceptions, freedom. Freedom to follow your choices. You may choose to dedicate your strength to a person or an organization, to protect yourself and your family, or for any other reason. The point is people don't want to be forced into any situation out of their control. Those who can, empower themselves, while those who can't follow those who can. Regardless, what does the world seek by getting stronger and what is its motivation?  

While lost in thoughts, he finally reached the Grand magus. He came to a different room this time. This room was divided in two by a transparent glass pane. There was a glowing portal on the other side of the divider. The portal itself was wide enough for two people to enter side-by-side. The Magus herself was on his side of the room, sitting on a meditation mat. The room was empty, save for an empty mat facing her. Stepping forward, he sits on the mat and waits for Fay to stop meditating.

A few minutes later, she opens her eyes, looks at him, and smiles "I assume you have difficulty connecting to the surrounding mana?"

Adam cocks an eyebrow "Have you been watching me that closely? I have been expecting it, just not to this degree."

She chuckles in response "While I am conscious of everything happening in the tower that is not how I know. I was aware of this potential problem ever since I've met you. Lifeforms born in mana-rich worlds have no problem interacting with the surrounding mana, to a certain extent. Common lifeforms, humans or otherwise, do it without thought. In their case, their bodies radiate mana to a simple degree, enabling them to use low-tier runes without too much trouble. That is not to say they produce mana endlessly, they need to sustain themselves like any other lifeforms and are unable to activate anything other than low-tier inscriptions. The reason is simply that everything that constitutes them is infused with mana. We breathe, eat, and live in mana. A pregnant mother has mana herself, the food she eats has been produced in a mana-rich world, the air she breathes has mana. The same goes for the growing fetus in her stomach, every nutrient it absorbs has been touched by mana one way or another. You however are from a mana deficient or null world. So you will need a period of adjustment. The time needed will be dependent on your age. Or more accurately, the age of your body. Which in your case, seems to be quite young, despite what I sense from your mental waves. Curious...."

Tactfully ignoring her unasked question, he asks "Is there any way to speed up the process? I can guess that simply living here will help, but it seems to be a slow crawl."

"There is a way, which will not cost me much. In the spirit of honesty, I will tell you, this method does not belong to me, it belongs to the Council, so what I would pay is minimal at best. But I do still have to pay something, if you can solve two of my doubts, I will not mind using said method."

Adam takes a few seconds to think, and ultimately accepts. There is not much he needs to hide except for Odin and his task, and he believes she has no inklings of such matters. He even avoided inspecting the extra item he found in his bag a few days ago, courtesy of the Allfather if he had to guess. On top of that, he still wishes to obtain some resources from her. This will probably help achieve one of his objectives: getting a backer.

She smiles and questions him "I've sensed you speaking to someone mentally, or more accurately, your mental waves reacted as if you're in a conversation but I can't sense anyone connected to your thoughts. It is nigh impossible to hide such things in front of an accomplished Magus, let alone a psychic such as myself. Care to enlighten me?"

He internally sighs in relief, at such a simple question. "In my world, we have discovered a way to better utilize our brains. While a regular human uses every single part in their daily life, they do not use its full processing power. Our efficiency was quite low. We created a bio-organic device that harnesses its unused processing power to help us. We are able to efficiently use our full memory capacity, delineate how much should belong to the subconscious or the active conscious. Enhance the speed at which we receive information and process it. We've also obtained a pseudo photographic memory. We can memorize anything, but it will not be in the conscious part of our memory unless we wish so as opposed to a real photographic memory. We believe that to be an upside. There are many other things possible. The device, which we call a chip, is by the loosest definition of the word an artificial intelligence. The reason I say this is because it is not us adding a foreign system to ourselves. It is more like an expression of our unused cerebral power condensed into something personal to the user. In my case, it is a personal assistant, while to some people it was what we called a 'system'. I am basically talking to myself in a certain way."

Fay was internally shocked. Shocked to an impossible degree. Any civilization with mana empower themselves physically to a certain extent. This includes the brain. What Adam's world has done is fundamentally different. They sought to utilize what they had to the highest efficiency possible to them. While this concept is not strange to her, it's the simple fact that a mana empty world was able to successfully achieve it with no downsides, if he were to be believed. Still reeling from this discovery she asked him "Is it possible to replicate this feat? More specifically, are you able to replicate this feat?". Adam, cognisant of the value of his world's product didn't fully answer her "I am missing things, but in the far future it should be possible. With the right resources and research into this worlds humans. Of course, there is no guarantee. The blueprint for the one I have was under heavy lock. And once integrated, it is all but impossible to take it back out. It will act like any dead organ and decompose, only instantaneously." Fay's eyes flashed, theoretically, some magi who delved into the concept of time could potentially prevent that, but they would not know what to do with it let alone reverse-engineering it. Adam's instincts flared for a second but he did not outwardly react. He expected it. He would be the same if someone as weak as the current him possessed a revolutionary device. He did not take it personally. 

Gathering her thoughts, she questioned him and confirmed some of his thoughts "While I was watching you make your way through the forest where you first arrived, I first thought you were a parasitized human. Can you explain what I saw, the seemingly metallic organism living in your body?"

Trying to answer in a way she could understand, he begins "You could call them golems. We call them nanomachines. Our machines were powered through a multitude of ways, the main one being electricity. Nanomachines are such machines, only miniaturized, to an extreme. Have your researchers discovered how the human body works, on a microscopic level?"

Thinking to herself for a moment, she responds "We have tried, but mana interferes when we try to interact with the human body at a small scale. We can observe the organs and the circulatory system and interact with them. But we can't seem to interact with the blood on a smaller scale, mana disrupts any of our observations because, at that scale, mana itself becomes visible. Of course, you have to be a Magus to observe mana or even experiment with the human body at that level." 

While processing this new information and its repercussions on his future research, Adam continues "Well, in a typical organism, its body will be composed of something we call cells. Those cells dictate how a body works and also contain a hereditary record of the body itself. Different organisms have different types of cells with different roles. But I digress, those nanomachines, or more specifically, mine, are designed to interact with my cells. They ensure that my body functions at peak level at all times. They regulate how my body functions, optimize it and if need be, fix it. They, like my chip, are considered a bio-organic add-on. Meaning there will be no rejection and my body functions with them in mind, on an instinctual level unless I assume control. Of course, there are certain surgeries needed to ensure that everything is optimal, to ensure the brain recognizes them as part of it. Those surgeries are typically done by the machines themselves, so everything is considered user-friendly. In my case, knowing I would not return to my planet, I have a Nanocore. It is not the accurate nomenclature for it, but it gets the point across. It is basically a factory. If provided the necessary resources, they will constantly produce them in my body. Nanomachines, in general, have a wide range of utilities, not just for the human body. Unfortunately, I was unable to bring anything electronic with me past the portal, or rather I didn't want to risk disrupting it. Those I possess function off the electricity produced by my body/brain." 

Fay, once again is shocked. To even think of this kind of contraption is unbelievable, let alone create a functioning proof of it. A miniaturized golem inside your body?! She is now thinking if it would not be better for their world to focus on technology. At least until they gain enough of a foundation to produce such miraculous products. Of course, a magus has no need for such things at a higher level, but that would be as they are now. According to what he said, it's a part of his body, just like his arms or eyes. Does that mean, as he empowers his existence, they get empowered as well? The possibilities they could provide are endless, compared to now, it would be like night and day. 

Exhaling slightly, she looks at him, her blue eyes locked onto his hazel ones. Even if the man himself were to be incompetent, which she doubts, just what he could provide with his body alone would be more than enough to research for a long time. The Magi of this world never had a chance to genuinely delve into other technological worlds. Their devices, while not abnormal, were foreign enough that they were unable to extract any useful information from them. The weaker ones they got a hold of did not have the clearance to access the important stuff while the higher-ranked had preventive measures for such cases. Had they known that such inventions were possible, they would have focused on them at all costs. While they do believe that external aid is superfluous at best and useless at worst, there are things indispensable to the average magus, and what he possesses could very well become one of such things.

The silence stretched for a few minutes, each one lost in their own thoughts. It was Fay who broke the silence "At first, I did not know why Fate pushed me to meet you, even warning me that I'd regret using forceful means. I can see it now. While you say you are unable to replicate what you own, if in the future that changes, then you could possibly revolutionize the way we Magi perceive technology and interact with it. We typically disdain such devices, but for what you possess, it could raise a Magi's overall power, whether it's in research, day-to-day life, or militarily. The information you provided me, is not only dangerous, something I am sure you are aware of, but also more valuable than what I was prepared to offer. If you have a need for anything, let me know and I shall see to it. I accept this show of trust and I appreciate it. But do not think that most Magi would react the same. The majority would dissect you. Please do not speak of these matters outside of this tower."

Adam closed his eyes while thinking 'I knew the possible dangers, but it exceeded my expectations. I took a risk and it paid off. I was lucky but I should not count on that in the future. The issue, in this case, was my lack of information. A grade 3 clearance is not enough to understand the gravity of what I possess. I need to understand more to prevent such needless risks. To a certain level, I understood that Fay does not mean any harm, only wishing to understand what benefits I could provide. Even then, she stayed amicable whereas anyone in her position, myself included, would've probably tried to extract everything from my mind and body.'

 Of course, Adam was unaware that, while Fay herself is not such a person, she is also not above them. It is simply because of her shallow understanding of Fate that she decided not to risk it for no benefits. She's at a crucial part of her life, while she just broke through to the level of a Grand Magus, which at her age is nothing short of incredible. Her impressive background puts her in the spotlight. The Council itself has minimal examples of nepotism. It is impossible for a weaker and unaccomplished party to lord over their betters, no matter their background. But when you join the circle of the strong, you have more expectations piled on you, expectations she intends to fulfill, if not for the sake of honoring her background, for political power.

Adam opens his eyes and looks at Fay, who was waiting for him, "I wish for you to become my sponsor. If I understand the system correctly, sponsorship is used to raise talents for a person's particular faction in the Council. They provide them with everything they need on their path and the talent repays them by aligning themselves to their sponsor's faction. I am willing to join your faction. I understand my value, even more now, after your reaction. I am sure you could provide me with everything a top talent needs. At my age, I am unwilling to fight for resources. I prefer to research and discover new things. Things that would be more than enough to repay whatever you may use on me in the future."

Fay, while surprised, was expecting something similar. She thought over the pros and cons. Technically speaking the only con would be his age as apprentice Magi start young, but with his weirdly young body, that is not an issue. She's the only one aware of his origins. Given the aura on his body, he has integrated himself into this world. So there are only benefits and no downsides to recruiting him. The only caveat would be to see if he has the requirement to be a psychic. Even then, it would not be an issue if he can't. Factions in the Council don't discriminate against the truly talented. "I agree. You shall be my sponsee. I will raise your clearance to rank 6. While it is not usually done for an apprentice, I am sure you can use the information appropriately. I will have my attendant at your disposal. She has access to a certain amount of my available resources. Resources you may use. I will provide you with a means of contacting me, it is inconvenient for me to meet you every time. Unless it's important of course. As for your previous issue, you can use the time room in the tower. It is a room engraved with a Magus's understanding of time. The room itself is not that rare, it is the amount of mana required for its activation that is costly. Relatively costly. It does not cost me much. You may use it at your convenience. I do not recommend using it too often. You will understand why when you access the new information available to you."

Sensing the end of their conversation, Adam gets up, gives her a short bow "Thank you, Grand Magus Fay. I shall contact you if there's anything wrong."

A few minutes later, back in his room, Adam thinks over the previous conversation. While not exactly what he predicted, the overall objective was achieved. He will use the faction's resources to establish himself. Of course, he will not alienate them or dismiss them once he does not need them. As long as they remain friendly, he will treat them well. Benefits go both ways after all. Before interacting with the Council in a more open fashion, he will have to strengthen himself. In a world where conquering is commonplace for the Magi, staying weak is simply idiotic. He will stay in this city until he needs or has to leave. A Grand Magus should have access to enough resources to last him a while.

Author's note: Another info dump. sorry peeps. The next chapter is prolly another info dump. Thinking about it, I am just trying to get the power tiers out of the way now rather than later. I want the Mc himself to plan for his future path. The nanomachine and the A.I chip make him different from the usual apprentice. He will need to plan far ahead if he wants to take advantage of them. That's why I provided him a way to access information all the way to the peak of rank 6. Rank 9 is the highest in this world, maybe? *wink wink*. Regardless, he will be different from the regular Magus. So expect more infodump in the next 2 or 3 chapters. After that, a time skip maybe? I'll see. I don't plan for this story to be super long. I will have the MC explore the world a little in the future, so it becomes more than just a footnote on his future path.

Reviews, comments, yada yada. see y'all later.