Mana System (Part 2)
The way to where I thought Master should be was different than usual. We weren't going to the office of the heir Lilith Aurelia of the Aurelia Duchy, but to her home.
The place where she had grown up and developed herself to become the weapon she was now, both body and mind.
We had to use a teleportation gate from within the Empire Square to get to the closest town. Of course I was silently amazed by the gigantic mirror-like gate but I had to act like I already knew of it.
At first I was excited about the experience but I wasn't warned that first-timers tend to get light-headed and nauseous or actually vomit after it.
Rakhiel was able to learn, while laughing at me of course, that it was my first time to use a teleportation gate.
We reached a small rest house where the driver was changed. It had been an hour since we've reached a dense forest where the carriage had kept going.
A large gate was opened up with Rakhiel's mana output and we easily got through.
Another palace came into view.
This was the second one after passing the gates of the Aurelia land. Supposedly there are three palaces named as the Holy Light, though I'm not quite sure if the ones considered a holy light where the main people living in it or if it's the palace itself.
It just goes to show how shiny the palaces was in the middle of the day.
It wasn't made of gold. It was made of silver.
Of course it didn't look plain but instead, as it name suggests, looked quite holy.
The three palaces were made of silver and if I map out mentally the places I've seen then the last one was a few yards from where our carriage is currently pacing.
Gold light surrounded our carriage as a silver palace with a golden emblem on the main door came into view.
A young boy with blond hair and tired looking eyes greeted us with some attendants. "Welcome to the Aurelia Duchy. My name is Gringer Kalil, and I will be guiding you to Lady Lilith's whereabouts." He seemed to be the same age as Regan or younger.
Simple introductions occur as he led us inside the mansion.
"It's not completely silver..." I muttered under my breath. As mentioned before it had golden frills here and there, almost looking like a replica of the Sanctuary of the Sacred Altar.
The boy peeked at me and with a tired look he explained, "This palace was modified differently from the others because the main heir is residing here. It happens to every mansion that the main heir chooses every generation."
"You create magic like an animal?"
I didn't expect that at all. I was always told I was genius but never an incapable of thought process creature. The diversity of words can sometimes hurt but it was detrimental for a person no matter how mentally strong they are or not to not be able to receive an unguided and lowkey insult.
It had been awhile since the boy Kalil had guided us here.
"Master..." the years of collecting books and rewriting new pages of tales and history of how Lilith Aurelia was before the Tragedy had occured soon felt like it was warped. A hand caressed my head and Khiel who was as shocked as me tried to comfort me in vain.
"I... Yes. I do use magic like an animal. I just experiment with the way mana is disimilar in its core's nature. I do think before casting but not during." I elaborated, unsure of the gravity of my situation.
"Okay. Lord Rakhiel, may go now. I'll take care of Lady Tabitha." My 'many-greats-grandfather but now cousin' hesitated before turning away and leaving, sending me a meaningful glance of good luck.
She guided me silently through the halls and one hallway was empty in particular of the others and had a green door at the end of it. "You can go here anytime you want. I'll tell the attendants of the mirror palace that you can come and go as you wish, you can even explore the whole manor if you wish."
"Master, can I ask a question?" Just before she opened the green door, her attention was on me and tilted her head in question. "I wanted to ask why Lady Lilith is considerate of me. I am someone with unknown origins and now you're taking time from your busy schedule to train me personally."
The door handle twisted open. "I can't answer that right now but let's just say it's connected with the letter you gave me."
"Did the writer of the letter threaten master?" The Cromwell Lady is a person covered in mystery and she knows how to evade questions steadfast.
She definitely seems like someone who knows the secrets of the world and have fun toying with it. At least that's what it seems like to me but Lady Lilith burst out laughing as if what I had asked was the joke of the century.
It didn't take long for her to recover though.
"Yeah. I guess that person seems shady, huh? By the way the person who gave you the letter," She was smiling still but her eyes were dead serious. It's the kind of cold eyes that I had never seen her give to me before. "What color was her eyes and hair?"
"Her hair was black, the eyes were an alluring red" I unconsciously answered. Crap. I just really unintentionally told her that the writer was a Cromwell.
"Hmmmm…" Is it because I was tense about the situation or did her orange eyes glowed red for a second? "Anyways let's talk about that next time. Now it's for your mana system education."
She finally opened the green door full and what revealed itself was…
The sanctuary of the Sacred Tree.
The familiar walkway of various flowers and the closed giant door frilled with a tiny portion of gold linings were there. But it was strange. I couldn't see the Sacred Tree yet I could see the entrance.
"Oh god. Is this even possible…?" I gasped.
"Yes. We're inside the Sacred Tree."
"What?!"
"Don't dawdle. Follow me."
A string of white light was in the middle of the area that was enclosed with a transparent barrier. Lady Lilith and I entered the white light and we were transported in another space.
This time it was a place with a clearing surrounded by trees from the Living Forest. The land was distorted but the mana was heavy compared to the other areas I have secretly scoured every night. "This…"
"If you keep up with history then it would surely match the land before Soledad. This is a miniature version of that. The Aurelia Duchy is the only household who knows of this, you should feel honored." She smirked.
"Honored? I-I am eternally grateful Master!"
I want to jump in joy but her face went back to its stern figure and then the lessons began shortly after that.
In a nutshell the tutor was just controlling mana to embody a screen. A holographic-square looking piece but inside your own brain, and with the help of transferring the basic interface data of the mana system I was able to open mine as quickly as possible. It didn't even take two hours.
"You can open it just like activating a magic spell. As you may know it is called [Mana System]" a golden glow appeared with Lady Lilith's mana system and she showed it to me.
[Personal Database]
[Name: Lilith Aurelia]
[Magic Circle Level: Six]
[Current Magic Specialty: Fusion Magic, Technology Magic, and Unique Magic]
[Personal Spells: Eight]
[Experiments in Progress: Five]
"It is your choice if you want to make the screen visible or invisible, or choose specific things to not show. As default it is only for the castor's eyes only. Once you've finished checking your own screen we'll proceed with magic formulas."
"Understood."
[Mana System]
In my eyes a pure white light appeared in a box shape.
[Personal Database]
[List of Every Spell Learned]
[Experiments]
[Personal Files]
[Household Files]
[History]
[War Records]
"Have you opened it?" I nodded. "I'll explain. The menu itself is different for every castor, there might be folders in yours that I don't have and vice versa."
"As you have done earlier, the system was set within your own brain. A mage's cores are the brain and heart so the brain was the storage of the knowledge capable of handling the complexities of magic. The heart is the foundation and strength that stores mana which is then, in other words, act like our blood itself. Don't forget."
That got me confused real fast. "Isn't the heart the only core?"
"No. The brain is also one. Well since you use magic like how a fish breathe with their gills instead of mouth, it might seem different to you. You use magic itself instinctively thus your heart may have functioned more than the brain but it doesn't mean the brain was useless, it was capable of handling knowledge."
After ignoring the fish talk. "What do you mean with the brain capable of handling magic knowledge, Master?"
"Magic Knowledge itself have a different protective barrier. It is filled with mana and those who doesn't use magic will never be able to understand its complexities even if they tried because magic and mana itself doesn't allow them."
"Another example… If a mage of Circle 3 uses a spell of Circle 7, obviously those two spells have quite a gap of the strength in their knowledge barriers, then the Circle 3 mage will not be able to cast the spell or if they actually did they would either exhaust their personal mana, bleed internally, or die on the spot." She explained all those with her casual expressionless face.
"Do you understand that now?"
"Yes, Master."
"Then let's continue with the system. We got sidetracked. I wonder how Khiel tutored you when you didn't even know this." He had a hard time too don't worry.
"Since the brain can handle magic knowledge barriers then it also means that the mage's brains uses an unconscious magic to protect itself. In other words, the brain can use magic itself. Thus, what we only needed to do was create a magic formula that the brain can process to exert the system and share it with the castor."
"As mentioned, the Mana System has a menu that is different for everyone. It is all because everyone have different lives, opinions, values, developments and type of hobbies. The only similar things are [Personal Database], [List of Every Spell Learned], and [Personal Files] Menu. You should check your [Personal Database] first before we continue. I'll answer every question truthfully and will not lie to you so rest assured that the details are kept in secret."
"As a countermeasure I'll show you the menu folder where the details you give and ask for me that needs secrecy be visible and kept in a lock that only you know."
"Ma-master I think that's too much." Is what I said but I was actually relieved. She was my role model that's for sure but personally I didn't know her that much. "However I can't decline the offer. Thank you for your consideration." I lowered my head.
She nodded. "Then you may proceed. My offer still stands."
[Personal Database]
[Name: Tabitha Obiel]
[Magic Circle Level: Six]
[Current Magic Specialty: Element-based Magic]
[Personal Spells: Six]
[Experiments in Progress: Three]
Aside from the basic details of myself, there were also other things that caught my eye.
[Mana Affiliation]
[1. Mana-blessed]
[2. Sacred Tree]
[3. Golden Throne (50%)]
[4. Sacred Tree Guardian]
[5. Soledad ???]
[6. Lilith Aurelia]
[7. ??? Obiel]
It was a wonder why I was affiliated with Soledad but it might be because I'm a descendant of the person she gave her mana to.
There is also the Sacred Guardian, maybe because the Sacred Tree was used as a means to travel in time. Apparently that ability was the Sacred Guardian's special magic.
[List of Personal Spells]
[1. Dioxazine – Unlocked: Circle 8]
[2. Gravity Manipulation – Unlocked: Circle 9]
[3. Dust Palace – Unlocked: Circle 9]
[4. Sensory – Unlocked: Circle 4]
[5. Water Mirror – Unlocked: Circle 6]
[6. Alchemy – Unlocked: Required Circle 9]
"Master, what are personal spells?"
"Personal Spells or Personalized Magic are those that are unique in nature but experimented by the castor and succeeded to produce. On average, mages that were not blessed have at least 1-3, blessed ones with no affiliation have 3-6, and us children born within the duchy and blessed in mana were specially trained to get at least 5 before reaching 15 years old."
[Unconscious Magic]
[1. Mana Manipulation: Eyes]
[2. Mother]
[3. Alukrasia – Only Available in this timeline]
[4. Blood of Life – Gifted: Unlocked]
'Hmmmm'.
Aside from the personal magic, I have other spells too.
[Gifted Spells]
[1. Riverwhisp – Locked: Required Circle 9]
[2. Hephaestus – Locked: Required Circle 8]
[3. Detention – Locked: Required Circle 8]
[4. Reformage – Locked: Required Circle 8]
"That sounds great! So you experiment magic to get 1 every 3 years? It's a very long time limit but I guess it works for children."
Master's brow creased at me. "I can't let what you said pass. Did you just say 'long time limit'?"
"Well yeah it is."
Realization dawned on her face and with a crumpled smile she said, "You really did live like an animal when it came to magic."
Ouch.
"How many personal magic do you have then?"
"How about master's, first?" I had a feeling that it would be bad to lie but it still didn't feel good to tell the truth.
"I asked first."
"Then we'll say it at the same time."
We counted down slowly and "6" I say.
"8" I felt relieved that she had a higher number than me. It would seem cruel for those who needed requirements to be respected.
Of course, I'm also not undermining the hellish days I've trained to produce good magic but they had requirements that I didn't have to do.
"For some reason, I feel relieved that I have a higher number of spells than you." Master confessed giving me a small smile.
"Hahaha as if I could ever." I promised to myself not to let Master know of the other magic spells that I've got such as the gifts from the heirs before the time travel.
Contrary to my relief, there was a glint of fire in Master's eyes.