"Has magic been found in the world?"
Philip asked with seriousness and the atmosphere of the room dropped. His heart was pounding as he asked that question. The Headmaster and Yuze also became serious
Depending on the Headmaster's answers, will tell if his imaginary power of Fate Control and Future Vision is real or not. Philip always wanted to know and confirm in any way he can if his control of fate and vision of the future is truly accurate. He never had the chance to confirm it because he often forgets what he controlled and he will never know the difference
The Headmaster stood up from his office chair and walked to the right couch, next to Yuze, across Philip. He grabbed the teapot and crudely poured the tea on his teacup. He took a drink and placed the teacup back down on the tea table
"Yes, but no." The Headmaster finally answered the question
Philip tilted his head in confusion towards the Headmaster's twisted words, "What do you mean??"
"Well, to be exact, there's no magic. But, we believe that we can harness Mana in the air to create magic. We just don't know how to do it yet"
Philip's eyes became bloodshot and he became nauseous. He couldn't believe that it really happened. He had doubts since nothing was happening for four years since the year 2021
But today, just hearing the word "Mana", made his body feel different. Probably because some sort of weight has been removed from his shoulders
His emotions and feelings were overflowing and it became harder to manipulate it. In the end, he let it flow. He almost cried, but that's the only thing he managed to hold back
He was shaking and he couldn't breathe properly. He was just clutching the bridge of his nose as he lowers his head to hide his flushed face
The Headmaster observed Philip. He was sympathizing with him since he saw the records that was gathered throughout his life
From his understanding, Philip's despair was something that can't be understood properly. If people learned about this, they would think that Philip was just overreacting or something, or he was just some ungrateful brat that was immature or couldn't accept the reality
But the actual truth is, these people are the ones who are ignorant and keep on escaping reality
The Headmaster tried his hardest to understand Philip's suffering and he did, but he believe that he just scratched the surface
Seeing Philip almost cry upon the confirmation of magic made him realize more of his feelings. A part of him thinks that there is a bigger picture here that he doesn't know of, but he decided to ignore it for now
Yuze is unmoving this whole time with her eyes closed
Philip asked one more crucial question to truly confirm his imaginary power,
"Was it found in early 2021?"
"..." The Headmaster didn't quickly reply. He squinted his eyes at Philip, whose head is lowered, as he was suspicious as to why he asked that specific question
Yuze, on the other hand, abruptly opened her eyes and looked towards the Headmaster, who is looking at Philip with squinted eyes. She then returned his gaze towards Philip
The Headmaster was contemplating whether to answer him truthfully or not. He then replied after a few seconds,
"Yes"
A wave of newfound emotions washed over Philip as he felt vertigo as if he was falling on a bottomless pit or going through hyperspace. He wanted to smile wide but he bit his lips to contain the overflowing emotions
He sat up straight and his fuzzy eyes blocked his vision. He inhaled deeply as he raised his left hand and snapped his finger. An audible sound reverberated through the Headmaster's Office
As Philip raised his left hand in a snapping finger, the Headmaster and Yuze became wary and cautious
Yuze stood up and jumped back behind the couch. The Headmaster also stood up and slid in front of Yuze to protect her if some energy or force were to blast them
Yuze was in mid air and the Headmaster was in mid dash when Philip audibly snapped his fingers
Philip exhaled deeply as color returned to his eyes and he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. He felt extremely light and very relieved
"What did you do?!"
Philip heard the Headmaster raise his voice. He turned towards him and saw him standing with his left arm raised to the side as if to protect someone. He then saw Yuze peeking behind the backrest of the couch, gazing at him with sparkling eyes
"I just snapped my fingers. It was a habit of mine to supress my emotions. I was extremely excited and I don't want to lose control"
The Headmaster looked down at Philip with a discerning eye as he thought that it was strange to control and limit his emotions
'Has he been doing this all this time ever since we observed him?! Is this another ability of his?! We ignored this odd action of his since we haven't found anything about it!'
The Headmaster was very confused and shocked. He did not expect to witness this person's mysterious power personally. The records only showed one of his odd ability that makes him unable to be hurt and return the pain by a random amount of output force
This strange ability is enough for Philip to be scouted and accepted into the secret project, the Mystical Academy. They only let Philip finish his university before they take him in the academy
"I see... How do you feel?" The Headmaster calmed himself down and sat back down on the couch. Yuze also returned to the couch and sat back down
"I feel light and quite excited about... Mana?" Philip spoke in a confident manner
"Mana? I guess that's your next question?"
"Yes... Is this what I think it is?"
"Yup, it's the typical mana you see in your fantasy and magic types of anime and novels"
***
Mana appeared in the world since early 2021. Mana appeared in Mystical Hotspots around the world, particularly in places where religion, myths, legends, conspiracies, and divine or holy aura are present
Mystical Hotspots are points in particular places that mysteriously burst open. Large holes appeared on the ground and nothing came out of it
Normal people thought that it was a sinkhole, a forming volcano, or some sort of a geyser but unordinary people such as priests, monks, shrine maidens, and other people that has some sort of extra sensory senses can see and feel something coming out of the holes
Pale blue mist were being spewed out of the hole. The mist spread rapidly up into the atmosphere and several kilometers in radius from the hole
This was the first appearances and the discovery of the new force called Mana, which is also the First Law of Mysticism
"How was it concluded that Mana was a force and not a type of energy?" Philip asked with conviction as if he knows what he's talking about and the people that discovered Mana completely missed the true essence of it
Hearing Philip's question, the Headmaster felt like he was being reprimanded of his failure. He collected himself and explained it to Philip,
"Since there are no instruments that can detect or measure Mana, the ones that can see it hypothesized that it was some kind of force when they tried to experiment with it. They found out that Mana can directly affect an object if they harnessed it, like making an object move from afar or let the object float"
Upon the discovery of Mana, people that can "see" the Mana volunteered to experiment with it, along with other researchers, since no modern technology can detect or measure Mana. The experimentations were succesful and peaceful and since the coming of the Mystical Age, the intelligence of several people who excel in obtaining knowledge has been increased to the degree where they could calculate complex mathematical problems and formulas mentally in just a few to several seconds
They found out that Mana can be harnessed by people who has a high spirituality within themselves. They could control Mana by letting it flow through their bodies
It was later found out that Mana flows through the body in a medium simplified as Spirit Fibers that are present in between the Skeletal System and tissues. These fibers are thinner than the nerve cells and smaller than blood cells
Mana flows through the Spirit Fibers slower than the blood flow at least 2 centimeters per second. It was also hypothesized that the speed can become faster with experience and mastery of control over Mana
It is also found out that Mana collects into one point throughout the body. Upon further observation, the Mana becomes concentrated to every joint in the body which varies in sizes. These concentrations of Mana in the body is temporarily called as Mana Spots and the bigger Mana Spots are located into important and functional joints such as the shoulders, elbow, wrists, knee, ankle, spinal cord, and pelvis. The smaller ones are located in joints such as the fingers, toe fingers, jaw, and several minor joints around the spinal cord, shoulder joints, and rib cage. There are a total of 360 Mana Spots found in a body
Upon further research, the large Mana Spots are the Meridians or Pressure Points of the body. If these pressure points are broken or severed, the concentration of Mana will disappear. Mana can still flow through the pressure points since the Spirit Fibers are not destroyed but controlling Mana will be exponentially harder since there is no pressure point to regulate the flow of Mana
After the volunteers has mastered controlling the flow of Mana in their bodies, they continued their experiment with harnessing Mana
They first experimented by absorbing and releasing Mana out of their bodies. They found out that the small Mana Spots are the ones responsible for controlling Mana
Since there are twenty seven Mana Spots in one hand, they easily absorbed Mana present in the air in one hand, letting it flow through their bodies, and releasing it onto their other hand
Then, they found out that upon the release of Mana from their body, they have the ability to control Mana outside of their bodies for a brief moment like a pale blue flame dancing around on their palms
When they mastered controlling Mana outside of their bodies, they began the experiment of its effect on certain objects
The least that they can do is to push an object from afar by letting the Mana flow through the air and into the object. Mana can also affect liquid and change its direction of flow. It is hypothesized that this is because of friction between Mana and the liquid but this hypothesis was deemed false because it was later found out that Mana uses the controlled force from the user to move liquids in the direction it was desired to move
It couldn't be friction since Mana was not a state of matter and it has no particles or molecules to interact with the liquid
However, Mana can't affect gasses in any way and several gasses doesn't react towards Mana
The best that they can do when controlling Mana is lifting an object from the ground or letting a liquid flow from one container to another without the use of a pump or a tube
"That's how the first researchers concluded that Mana is a force." The Headmaster concluded his long explanation as to why Mana is deemed as a force. He then looked at Philip with interest as to why he would think that Mana should be a type of energy
"I see..." Philip crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he began to think. "I can see why they concluded that Mana is a force"
"Oh?" The Headmaster was very interested in Philip's insight. He wanted to hear what he has to say. Maybe he might change what the people, that knows about it, think of Mana
Philip then opened his eyes as he came to a conlusion, "Let me ask you this first... Has further research about Mana is being conducted?"
"Yes, until today, research is being conducted"
"Then what about research about the plants around the academy?" Philip then looked towards the tea than Yuze brewed
At this point, Yuze, who has been listening this whole time, realized something and became surprised
The Headmaster, however, narrowed his eyes as it seems that he does not understand Philip's point,
"There was little to no research about it. It was just recently that different species of plants mysteriously grew around the Mystical Hotspots about several months ago"
"I see, it's the same with this Silky Gaia Leaves right? This plant never existed before until now?"
"That's correct, what of it?" The Headmaster was confused as to why Philip was pointing out the obvious
"Let me ask you another question so you can understand... How and why did this mysterious plants grow around the Mystical Hotspots?" Philip asked the Headmaster with full confidence with his theory
The Headmaster thought for a while until he finally realized. His eyes went wide and he had an audible gasp
Yuze, who was also thinking, spoke and joined in on the conversation, "It was because of Mana!"
"Exactly!!" Philip approved Yuze's answer. "How can these mysterious plants grow around the Mystical Hotspots and why are they different from the usual plants before the Mystical Age came? It's because of Mana!"
"Mana supplies energy to these mysterious plants so they could grow!" Yuze said excitingly as she learned a new knowledge
"Correct! If Mana was not present it the atmosphere, these plants won't exist and the energy from the Sun will trigger the plants' photosynthesis and they will only rely on the energy from the Sun, as well as from the nutrients of the ground and water"
"But that doesn't make any sense! These mysterious plants should have been taking nutrients from the ground and absorbing water?" The Headmaster interjected as he saw some holes in Philip's theory
"These Silky Gaia Leaves, were they freshly harvested or were they stocked before you brewed them?" Philip turned towards Yuze and asked a question
"It was stocked for a few days now." Yuze replied as she was confused as to why he was asking about the tea leaves
"When you brewed them, they were still fresh, aren't they? Shouldn't they have wilted or dried already?"
Upon hearing these questions, Yuze finally realized. She covered her mouth upon the realization behind Philip's words
"What does that mean? Cut to the chase!" The Headmaster couldn't wait anymore and wants to know the answer
"Since the tea leaves were not wilted or dried and it stayed fresh after harvesting it a few days ago... The tea leaves was still growing despite not being on the ground and not being watered." He then turned towards Yuze who is still covering her mouth,
"That's why the tea that you poured on my teacup has four tea stalks on it rather than just leaves or nothing. The tea leaves continued to grow in the pack or container and grew tea stalks. Maybe you did not notice the tea stalks when you were brewing the tea and by some chance, the tea stalks slipped past the strainer with fine sieve"
Yuze became speechless. She didn't know what to say upon this discovery that the researchers hasn't discovered yet. She looked at the Headmaster who looks like didn't understand anything
"So, in other words?" The Headmaster put up a front as if he understood and he wanted for Philip to simplify the explanation. Philip stared at him with empty eyes to which the Headmaster returned with a curious look
"In other words, the Mana in the air has been providing the necessary energy for these mysterious plants to grow!"
The Headmaster slammed the table in excitement as he began to understand what Philip is getting at, "Ah!! I understand now! This is a great discovery! I must write this down and show this to the association!"
The Headmaster extended his hand from the couch towards the office table, which is 3 meters away, and a pale blue mist extended from his hand to the office table and grabbed a pen a white notebook
The pen and notebook floated towards the Headmaster and grabbed it with his hands. He then began writing down Philip's theory with evidence from the Silky Gaia Leaves
After writing it down, the Headmaster realized something and asked Philip,
"What about the thing I did earlier when I grabbed the pen and notebook and what about the flow of Mana in the body from the Spirit Fibers and Mana Spots?"
"Hmmm..." Philip clutched his chin with his right hand and closed his eyes to think
Yuze's head is lowered as he keeps on peeking at Philip's face, 'How can he know these kind of things and concocting a theory just from hearing the explanation about Mana for the first time and from the little evidence from my tea? He just learned about the Mystical Age!'
Philip then opened his eyes and began to speak,
"You said that Mana is the First Law of Mysticism, surely there's a second one and probably more?"
"There's three." The Headmaster showed three fingers and began to count down the laws
"First Law of Mysticism, Mana; Second Law of Mysticism, Spirit; and Third Law of Mysticism, Mystical Energy"
"Can you please explain the other laws?"
***
Spirit was discovered one year after the discovery of Mana
The researchers tried to investigate the Mystical Hotspots and found glowing blue stones formed in veins and pockets inside the caves deep undeground
They took sample of these blue stones and studied them based on properties and its connection to Mana
They found out that Mana is being absorbed to these blue stones like it's being possessed by Mana. It was later found out that these blue stones are releasing a more concentrated and pure amount of Mana and then dispersing into the atmosphere through osmosis
This was the reason that the Mystical Hotspots was releasing Mana, it was due to these blue stones
It was later established that these blue stones are to be called Spirit Stones because it resembles the material from cultivation novels. Although they are called Spirit Stones, they release Mana into the atmosphere if the stone is overflowing
Upon further research, Spirit Stones can also be used as pocket Mana by people who can harness Mana. These Spirit Stone acts as a battery for Mana users to absorb the Mana inside the stones and releasing it without them having to gather Mana in the air. This way, they can harness concentrated and pure Mana rather than Mana scattered in the air
Several months later, the researchers found more Spirit Stones deeper in the Mystical Hotspots. These Spirit Stones are bigger and larger than the ones they found not too low from the surface
The Spirit Stones that they first found are just the size of a thumb and the ones that they found just now vary from the size of fist to a handful. This larger Spirit Stones contain incredible amounts of concentrated Mana and they are deemed to be incredibly precious
To differentiate the sizes of the Spirit Stones, the researchers developed a naming system of these stones based on their sizes;
Stones are at least less than 2 centimeters in diameter; Gems are at least 5 centimeters in diameter; Crystals are at least 10 centimeters in diameter; Cores are at least 20 centimeters in diameter; and Stars are at least 50 centimeters in diameter
Currently, there are no use for these larger sizes of Spirit Stones and they are currently stored in a very secured storage house. Further research from the Spirit Stones has been very slow since there are countless variables to take in consideration when studying newfound materials, unlike Mana which is undetectable and unmeasurable by modern technology
"That's it for the Spirit." The Headmaster finished explaining about Spirit
"Mhm, please continue to Mystical Energy." Philip let the Headmaster continue with his eyes closed in order for him to absorb the information and knowledge he's receiving
"From what I know about Mystical Energy, it is the supernatural events or happenings around where Mana exists..."
"That's it?" Philip opened his eyes from the little information he got about Mystical Energy
"Yes, that's it. Mystical Energy was just recently discovered and hasn't been studied quite yet. There's a reason why it's called 'mystical energy'" The Headmaster could only shrug his shoulders
"I see..." Philip closed his eyes once more to think deeply
"So, what do you think?" The Headmaster seems like he was hurrying Philip as he was very excited in his theories about the Laws of Mysticism. Yuze was also pretty excited from learning new things
Philip opened his eyes and told them what he thinks,
"I think that, you already answered your questions"
"How?" The Headmaster tilted his head in confusion as he can't piece it together
"Regarding the Spirit Fibers and Mana Spots, Mana do not exist in these locations. Spirits are what is inside of your Spirit Fibers and pressure points! There is a reason why it's called 'spirit fibers'" Philip smirked towards the Headmaster as he got back at him
The Headmaster was not affected since he was thinking deeply about what Philip just said. Same as with Yuze
Philip sighed and explained further,
"Look, it's true that Mana is present inside of the Spirit Stones but once Mana was concentrated and placed in a container, it becomes a Spirit. Our bodies are also a container, a vessel, and once Mana was concentrated and contained in these so called Mana Spots, it becomes Spirit"
The Headmaster was glaring with seriousness towards Philip as smoke was rising from his head while Yuze is glaring at him with sparkling eyes that are eager to hear more. Philip then continued,
"This further proves my theory that Mana is a type of energy and not a force. Once Mana entered your bodies and they are concentrated and contained in your meridians, you feel lighter and fell stronger. It's obvious that energy is swelling inside your body as you take in Mana. Of course, you'll get sick if you take in too much Mana. Just like how a light bulb will pop when large amounts of energy or electricity is being applied to it"
The Headmaster was then writing this down on the notebook as he listens to Philip
"Also, since Spirit Stones are like battery to people that can harness Mana and is filled with concentrated and pure Mana, which is a type of energy, I'm pretty sure that Spirit Stones can be a replacement for chemical batteries and other sources of energy used in electronics, vehicles, and power plants?"
Philip asked a question towards the two, which they became wide-eyed. The Headmaster stopped writing and stared at Philip, as well as Yuze. Philip then dropped another bombshell unti their already fried brains,
"Also, if these Spirit Stones contain such large amount of energy... What if they are attached to items such as artifacts, staff, staves, accessories, armor, and weapons? Will they become magic items?"
At this point, the Headmaster and Yuze was snapped out from their amazement. They became confused as to why they would attach Spirit Stones to items when items doesn't have any Spirit Fibers or anything that Mana can flow into
"What? Why?" It was the Headmaster who asked Philip why he proposed this strange suggestion to which Philip showed them three raised fingers
"Third Law of Mysticism, Mystical Energy"
The Headmaster and Yuze became even more confused. Why would Philip mentioned the third law when there is little to none informations or research about it?
Philip saw this and smirked,
"Mystical Energy is not what you think it is. It's not some unexplained instances or mysterious happening when there is Mana present around. It is Magic, from the result of controlling Mana!"
The Headmaster and Yuze is still unmoving and it seems that they still needed further explaination
"Magic is not a type of energy, it's a force. You guys interchanged Mana and Mystical Energy. The researchers thought that the Mana that is being controlled and released from the volunteers are still Mana, but they are actually the so called Mystical Energy."
"Yeah, I understand that, but how?"
"This leads to the composition of the universe, Dark Energy as Mana and Dark Matter as Magic"
The Headmaster and Yuze's eyes became wide again from surprise but it turned into confusion since they felt like topics are being thrown everywhere. They decided to ignored their confusion as they want to learn and know why Philip brought up the undetectable and unmeasurable Dark Matter and Dark Energy
"!!!"
"!!!"
As they are thinking for themselves, they immediately realized something. They both looked at the same time towards Philip which they saw him nodding while smiling. They then looked at each other as they couldn't believe what just transpired
"As science has crudely explained, Dark Matter is a type of matter that is undetectable and interacts with visible matter by Dark Energy. It holds matter throughout the universe together. On the other hand, Dark Energy is a form of energy that drives Dark Matter and matter in the universe to allow them to interact with other forms of energy, forces, and matter"
"Oh my god! My head hurts! But I need to write this and show it the associations later!" The Headmaster exclaimed as Philip finished his explanation
Yuze leaned on the arm rest of the couch with her left hand clutching her head
"Who says I'm done? I'm about to finish it!"
The Headmaster was once again surprised but he became tired and let Philip continue, "Bah! Go ahead and continue!!"
"Since Dark Matter is the result of Dark Energy, so as Magic is the result of Mana. If Mana was used through a medium, then it will create Magic. The Mana control you did earlier to grab the pen and notebook from afar? That is already Magic! It's close to being a Telekinesis! The Floor Transporter and that power Yuze showed earlier is already Magic! It's already teleportation!"
Philip slammed and tapped the table again and again as if he was angry with the two that they did not understand something so simple
"If you place a Spirit Stone, which is a medium to contain Mana, on an object, you can inject the Mana into the object from the Spirit Stone and generate the desired Magic by using the object as a bigger medium and an extension of the hand!"
Philip explained deeper as to why inserting a Spirit Stone on an item can harness the Mana more efficiently by using an extension of the Spirit
"Anything that was generated by harnessing Mana is already Magic, or what you call Mystical Energy!!"
***
Philip already finished explaining the supposed relationship between Mana, Spirit, and Mystical Energy which is now Magic towards the Headmaster and Yuze
The Headmaster closed his notebook as he finished writing everything Philip said. He then clasped his hand and placed his elbows on his knees then lowered his head towards his knuckles. He looks like an old man that just lost purpose in life
Meanwhile, Yuze is clouching on the couch as her left arm is placed on her head. She was looking at the ceiling with expressionless face like she was question the meaning of life
"Oh! By the way, that was just my theory! I'm not too sure if that was accurate or not..."
The Headmaster and Yuze was snapped back into the real world and instantly turned their heads towards Philip
"Huh?"