Looking back on his encounter with the prince, Si Sheng finally breathed out a sigh of relief.
'That was close, one mistake and I could've died.'
When the prince suddenly attacked, Si Sheng had escaped by the breadth of a hair. Internally, he was shaken due to being so caught off guard by the sudden attack. He had been complacent to the fact that there might be an elf at the Institution that knew about humans. From his knowledge about how elves, that actually knew about humans, viewed humans; such a reaction as Bralvi's should be expected, and he should be on guard for it in the future.
However, this incident was possibly his closest encounter with death he'd had so far. If it weren't for his Blink skill, he'd be dead or, at the very least, severely injured. Not even his current prowess at healing magic could've saved him since he couldn't use magic that consumed such an extreme amount of mana. The power the prince put behind his punches was nothing to slouch at and caused Si Sheng to focus to the extreme while facing Bralvi.
Still...
'The history of the Pointless Conquest was quite the revelation. It wasn't so pointless, to be honest. The empire, in essence, got what they wanted, although not entirely; the resources of Alfheim itself were left alone. Still, from what Bythre has said about the hero from around 600 years ago, he wasn't that strong. But Alfheim is still scared that the Hero Summoning will tip the balance of a war in Fujin's favor. Why? Does Fujin have a way to always get strong heroes? Additionally, I'm surprised that the elders suppressed knowledge about humans. What purpose does that serve except to make their people ignorant and arrogant? Do they know about other races, then?... Whatever, the problem doesn't concern me right now.'
The complexity of the issue about the past war and the current state of affairs was something he didn't want to think about right now. Having little information regarding each issue, he could only guess what had happened and about each issue. Si Sheng shook his head and went back to his original train of thought.
Mana zones and mana traces.
From what he learned, mana zones only appeared when a high concentration of mana remained in one area and was thus capable of absorbing the mana of said area due to the mana's own "gravity", creating a zone akin to a dungeon where supernatural phenomena occurred like monsters spawning or a poison swamp forming.
For the mana to appear in such high concentration, it was only observed in the case of a mana trace of an SS or SSS tier spell of the highest level. However, what if mana was forcefully concentrated into a singular area without the activation of a spell? Wouldn't a mana zone form then? The world was naturally filled with mana and there would most likely be areas where high concentrations of mana gathered and formed mana zones, like when an SSS tier spell's mana trace remained. In the case of natural mana zones, no spell was used to inject that amount of mana; it naturally flowed and concentrated to form a mana zone. So, if a person were to use this same principle of flowing and concentrating mana in an area without a spell, a mana zone would form, in theory. This was what Si Sheng extrapolated and hypothesized.
'The problem is, how do I concentrate mana into an area? I don't know how to consciously manipulate mana... If it is possible, then it would be good to learn. I should test if I can consciously perceive my mana first and see if I can manipulate it.'
"Ignite."
Si Sheng used an E tier fire spell and tried to observe the mana flowing and leaving his body. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything besides the fire produced. However, he felt a slight warmth from the spell. Si Sheng wanted to make sure it wasn't wholly the fire, so he tried an E tier water spell next.
"Water ball."
Si Sheng activated the spell and put out his fire. Simultaneously, the slight warm sensation he had sensed was felt again as he activated the spell. With this hint, Si Sheng came to understand that this warmth was most likely the mana inside himself. The problem now was: how the hell would he be able to consciously manipulate his mana? On Earth, there was nothing to compare the feeling of mana to, other than a slight warmth at the site of release. It was like if you put your finger into your open mouth and felt the warmth radiating from within, but trying to move that feeling around your body; humans from Earth just didn't have a function or ability like that. However, Si Sheng quickly came to a solution. If he could not do it internally right now, try it externally. Instead of trying to move the mana with his willpower, Si Sheng thought to use his hand as a guide to get used to moving his mana. The warmth from Si Sheng's hand would emulate the warmth from the mana as well as help him focus on the area and allow him to, eventually, manipulate his mana. His theory was that, by creating a warm spot that was moving, the body would subconsciously move the mana along with the warmth; allowing him to make his mana flow "consciously" and eventually be able to manipulate it.
Testing the method out, Si Sheng cast a spell again and focused on his hands. One was on top of the other like it was ready to clap the other one but just sat there hovering above. The heat from the hand on top could be felt as well as the feeling of mana on the hand below. Focusing on the warmth between the hands, Si Sheng slowly moved his hand up his arm, focusing on the warmth. To his surprise, the warmth coming from both the top hand and the bottom one followed. He was moving his mana!
Well...
After he moved his hand around five centimeters up his arm, the warmth from the mana broke off and dissipated. He couldn't actually manipulate his mana, but it was a good start.
Si Sheng would continue practicing this for a couple of hours. This skill of manipulating his mana, he believed, was an essential skill for anyone to obtain. It also allowed him to be more flexible and actually test things about mana, other than what chants and spells afforded.
Theoretically, if one had complete control over their mana, they could use any type of magic since chants simply convert mana into the specific magic type. A modern-day equivalent would be: an IDE converting the programming language into computer language that was then fed to the computer for it to execute; the chant is the programming language, the magic skill is the IDE and the computer language is a configuration of mana whereas the computer is the world. With complete control over one's mana, one would be able to skip straight to the step of configuring the mana and wouldn't have to write out a chant or use a skill to access the chant; sending the spell straight out into the world. Thus, the ability to use any type of magic, silently mind you.
However, according to a book called "Theories and Understandings of Mana and Magic" from Bythre's library, to be able to convert one's pure mana into a spell outside one's range, as in Si Sheng attempting to cast a lightning spell, he would have to understand the fundamentals behind how the magic was made possible. He would have to know how lightning was created through the influence of mana as a catalyst.
Furthermore, normally, magic was cast through an incantation, like the "Ignite" or "Water ball" spell Si Sheng used. These incantations were "gifts" from when kids went through their baptism at the age of three; similar to how Si Sheng received gifts from the goddess. According to the book, once one reached the age of three, one would go to a church, the elves' was at the base of the world tree or in their town, and be baptized, and their "aptitude" for certain magics would be realized. From Si Sheng's perspective, this was simply them gaining skills for certain magics. This way, magic could be cast without the comprehension of the process of how certain phenomena were created, they only needed the "aptitude" for a magic to be able to use it. With conscious manipulation of mana, however, Si Sheng would need to know how the phenomena behind them were made.
This, however, was exactly why Si Sheng wanted to be able to manipulate mana. He knew how lightning was formed, how fire was made, how water was, etc. Because he had learned so much on Earth about physics and other sciences, he had a strong grasp on how things worked on a fundamental level. While this world's physics wasn't exactly the same, mainly due to mana, it was almost the same and the principles that he learned on Earth could be applied.
From reading the same book in Bythre's office, he learned about magics like holy magic and curse magic. Magic like this was out of the scope of earthly knowledge. While Earth had religions and cults, and things like curses were said to be real, Si Sheng never believed in them and couldn't understand how a curse was formed or how holy magic even worked. What particle was responsible for determining if something was holy or not? Then there was the idea of souls... In short, there were a lot of things in this world that didn't fit into the science of Earth.
Despite that, Si Sheng wasn't discouraged. If he wanted to learn holy magic, he could just eat something that could use holy magic, as terrible as that sounds. While he could simply eat everything and gain magic, he didn't feel like killing people and eating them simply for holy magic. He had morals and eating a person was beyond him. Additionally, he would only be able to use the chants of the magic he acquired since he didn't know how they worked in the first place. This was another thing that he wanted to learn now: what allowed for holy phenomena, demonic phenomena, etc. that were beyond current scientific knowledge?
Despite the luster of mana manipulation, from the book Si Sheng read, it was said to be virtually impossible or improbable to consciously manipulate mana. Something only high elves and other high-races had been able to do, due to their mana affinity and long lives. Nonetheless, Si Sheng was willing to go down the seemingly endless path to obtain mana manipulation. He didn't know how the high elves achieved it, but he believed his method was a fast way of practicing due to the distance he managed to move his mana inside himself already; it was only 2.5% of his body height, though.
Coincidentally, the book: "Theories and Understandings of Mana and Magic," was another book dating back to the Kreis empire and was written by an elven scholar, hence why an elf was in possession of such a book.
Nonetheless, now that he had a method to practice mana manipulation, Si Sheng's thoughts drifted back to mana zones. Although he couldn't create one now or even make a mana trace worth mentioning, he had one more thing to test.
How much mana was left in a mana trace after a spell activation?
With a round of testing, Si Sheng used his Evil Eye to conclude that around two percent of the mana used for the spell was left over as a mana trace. Meaning, if you used a spell that used 100 MP, then 2 MP would be left in the place of spell activation/usage; effectively just floating in space. The funny thing was, the traces didn't disappear for some time. The trace stayed there for around half an hour despite only being worth a few mana points. After that time the mana slowly dwindled until none was left, which took around another twenty minutes. In all, tier F-D spells could be observed in a place around an hour after casting. Si Sheng's immediate thought was for tracking and espionage. This would make escaping harder and thievery as well, since one could easily tell if someone had been there within an hour or more if they used a spell.
'Well, the inhabitants of this world have probably already thought of that and have most likely made magic or techniques to counteract this.'
***
Now that Si Sheng's mana pool had been virtually exhausted due to the repeated usage of Blink during his fights and D and bellow tier spells during his testing, he decided to head to the Commercial District to get something to eat. He wanted to try some of the shops in the Commercial District as he had seen a good number of restaurants while accompanying Bythre, and Bythre was kind enough to give him some money before he left to explore.
While strolling to the district, Si Sheng observed the elves. The students all wore the same uniform, with the exception of the females being able to choose a more feminine look, which included a skirt and a more feminine blazer. Although, there were some who chose to still use the standard outfit.
The people seemed happy and laughed about while walking around campus. Others could be seen reading on benches laid throughout campus, or others sleeping on them. Si Sheng also saw happy couples enjoying their time with one another, having lunch or flirting with one another to the dismay of some of their accompanying friends. It was pretty entertaining to watch.
Si Sheng arrived at the Commercial District and walked through the various streets. He didn't have a particular area in mind that he wanted to visit, he just walked while exploring the area.
While he did enjoy his little adventure, when he passed some elves, he'd notice them eyeing him in either disgust or curiosity. It's not like this bothered Si Sheng in particular, but he would rather not have to deal with the constant stares. Thus, he used Sneak to look around and not be noticed by the general populace. Not many would be able to notice his presence after he used the skill, even when his appearance stood out so much. It was like he was constantly in their blind spot and only if they focused really hard could they see him; of course, this only worked for people who were weaker.
After walking around for a good twenty minutes, Si Sheng passed by yet another alley, except it was quite peculiar, to say the least. Most alleys Si Sheng had run across were either filled with debris, feral animals, or wastrels. However, the alley he was currently at had none of these. It was like a street sweeper had come in and deep-cleaned the area. It was quite odd to see such a clean place when virtually every other alley was nothing but the pits for grim to fester.
Getting particularly curious, Si Sheng decided to venture down. At the end, he found a recessed door with a sign that read "The Hole in the Wall".
'Whoever named this place must be a clever fella,' joked Si Sheng.
Going inside, Si Sheng turned off Sneak and looked around. The place was as nice as the alleyway was; it was clean and there were no customers to be seen. Si Sheng's first thought went to how they ran this place when no one came to order anything.
Pushing that pointless thought out of the way, Si Sheng inspected the bar that he had entered. There was a traditional bar with a counter lined with many bar stools, an assortment of liquor behind the counter that was neatly organized and cleaned to a shine. Aside from the standard bar necessities, there were tables for what seemed like a dining area. Those, too, seemed to be quite special as the wood looked exquisite with its alternating colors and patterns. In reality, it looked quite like an artist trying to test out different ways to draw lines.
Whatever your artistic sense was, this place seemed quite classy and well maintained. Remembering his initial thought, Si Sheng seriously wondered how this place was open despite the respite of customers.
Although the bar was empty, the bartender, a handsome old man with silver hair and fine wrinkles on his skin, was still there shinning the glasses and cleaning dishes. By nature, Si Sheng was curious due to his insatiable thirst for knowledge, so he went inside and went up to the bartender to talk.
"Hello, sir? Is this place open right now?" Si Sheng said, trying not to look at the glasses the bartender was continuously shinning.
A moment of awkward silence filled the air as the old man just kept on shinning his glass. Then, softly setting the glass down on the shelf behind him, the old man turned and faced Si Sheng.
With a low and smooth voice, the old elf spoke, "Yes, we are open, what would you like?"
"Do you have a menu or something?" Si Sheng said, half expecting a waitress to pop up out of nowhere.
"No, unfortunately, we do not have a menu. Typically, our orders are specially tailored to the customer. Whatever you request, we will make it, within reason, that is."
'This is a really strange bar. Why is it run like this? What if someone asks for something they can't make? Whatever. I'm hungry, so let's just ask for something.'
"Can you make me a burger with pickles?"
After a brief pause and the intense stare of the old man, he finally responded, "Yes. If you will wait for ten minutes, your order will be with you in that time. Terra, take care of our customer for me."
As the old man said this, a number of things went through Si Sheng's mind. One, did this old man actually know how to make a burger? If he did, did an Otherworlder already bring over this dish and spread it around? Two, who the hell was Terra?
With the conclusion to that thought, Si Sheng heard a cute voice perk up from behind him, "Customer, follow me, and I'll have you seated."
Si Sheng suddenly felt a chill run up his spine as the waitress popped up, 'The cute waitress appeared! Eh? Wait, when did she get behind me? How could I not have sensed this girl?'
The aforementioned girl, named Terra, was a petite girl who looked to be around the same age as Si Sheng. She had her hair up in a cute ponytail and wore a lace-trimmed skirt along with her uniform, which was a button-up vest. All-in-all, it was like she was a younger sister playing dress-up and you could only smile and laugh at her cuteness.
"Here you are, sir. Please enjoy your stay at The Hole in the Wall."
"Thank you. But, if I may ask, will that old man really be able to fulfill my order? It's not a dish that I've seen or heard of in Alfheim."
"Sir, you worry too much, the master is able to fulfill any request, given it isn't stupidly expensive."
"Alright..."
In the short ten minutes that Si Sheng waited, he continuously thought about how he would have a burger made when it didn't exist in this world in the first place unless someone invented it/copied it from Earth. It was a real mystery to him, whether or not the old man could actually fulfill the request. But, when the ten minutes came around, Si Sheng was happily surprised. The old man actually did it. Sitting on a plate was a burger, topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles and a sauce. Never in his wildest dreams did Si Sheng think it could happen. No, it couldn't happen, unless other humans had been in contact with this person. By now, Si Sheng was wary of this old man. If he knew about humans, Si Sheng didn't want another incident like the one with the prince that happened not too long ago.
"Your burger, sir, with pickles."
"..."
"Sir, is there something wrong?"
"How?"
"How what?"
"Don't play coy old man, how did you know how to make this?"
"...Customer, I am afraid I can't disclose that information."
'Old man, I don't need one headache after another. Eye of Understanding'
[Name: Renith Maril | Age: 321 | Race: Elf]
[Status: Satisfied (Confused)]
[Level: 85]
[Stats]
[???]
[Skills]
[Archery (A), ???, Pain Tolerance (A), ???, Telepathic Magic (A), ???]
'Wait, such a magic exists? I guess that answers my question. But, why would someone use such a useful magic for cooking? Additionally, why didn't I get an alert? That usually happens when I'm being attacked through poison or other imperceptible means; maybe it didn't register as an attack? Also, he has a very questionable skill there...'
Focusing back to the world around him, Si Sheng looked at the old man and addressed him, "Old man, if you had Telepathic Magic, why didn't you just tell me? You almost gave me a headache for no reason."
"?!?"
"Master, how did he...?"
"Dear customer, I would suggest you keep what you know a secret," the old man, Renith Maril, said with a hint of hostility behind it.
"Sure. It's not like I'm in a rush to shout to the heavens, 'hey this guy knows telepathic magic', now am I?"
"I see. Thank you, sir."
"Why try and hide it though? This kind of magic could have gotten you a spot as a high-ranking official in almost any field. Why are you stuck here waiting tables?"
"Personally, I prefer a quiet life and this magic had caused me troubles in the past. I don't wish to experience such a thing again, and cooking is a passion of mine, so I am happy nonetheless."
"Everyone has their circumstances, I guess."
After hearing the old man speak, Si Sheng happily ate his burger and filled his stomach. It felt like the best burger he had ever eaten, with a savory and tangy sauce that complemented the freshness and heaviness of the vegetables and patty, respectively, not to mention the cheese that offered a nice aftertaste and the nice crunch of the toasted bun. After finishing, Si Sheng paid and left the bar with a satisfied expression. He'd probably come back again if he could eat food like that again.
Due to the many incidents during the day, Si Sheng decided to turn in for the day. On his way back, Si Sheng enjoyed the lovely scenery of the campus and plentiful chatter of the people and animals around. It was time to relax now that all these crazy things had happened.