Jhon lived in his workshop, constantly tinkering with things. He would occasionally get a customer who just wanted him to fix some things for them and left without actually buying anything.
Jhon's business had been in decline for quite some time now. I was intending to become the 'saving grace' for Jhon and become one of his close friends.
The workshop looked more like a garage, to be honest. Kind of like a tire-shop, but much more modern with holograms, and LED lights.
It was on the ground level, and thankfully, his shop was still open.
I cleared my mind and went inside.
...
"Excuse me, is this Jhon's Workshop?", I inquired the young man sitting on the counter, half-asleep.
He looked like a 24-year-old, handsome black man with sap green hair and equally green eyes. His hair was in dreadlocks and tied up behind his head, likely because he didn't want them to get in the way of his work.
"uhh... HUH?! AH! Sorry, haha... Yes, it is. I am Jhon. How can I help you, sir?", Jhon responded after breaking through his half-asleep state.
"Hello, Jhon. I am Samuel Francis, a student at Nexus Academy.", I said as I showed him my ID card.
"N-Nexus Academy?!", Jhon was startled.
"W-wow! Congratulations!", he genuinely congratulated me while giving me a slight bow.
"I have something very important to talk to you about. How about we sit down?", I got straight to the point.
"Uhh, sure! Here, follow me. I'll bring you inside.", Jhon said as he turned back and walked inside his shop.
The shop's depth was surprisingly much larger than what one would think after looking at its front.
"Here, take a seat.", Jhon pointed to a sofa and spoke.
I obliged and sat down as requested.
"Now, what do you want to talk with me about, Mr. Francis?", Jhon was extremely formal and to the point, something I really appreciated about his personality.
"I'll get straight to the point. I am here to sponsor you.", I blurted out, looking directly at his eyes.
A few seconds of silence engulfed the room as Jhon stared at me dumbfoundedly.
"Uhh, Jhon? you there?", I inquired.
"huh? AH! Sorry about that, I just got so shocked that I zoned out! haha...", He managed to fumble out.
"B-but... are you sure you have the right 'Jhon'? I mean, it IS quite a common name... heh..."
"I'm 100% right. I can transfer the money into your account right now, if you so wish. Only after signing a contract, that is...", I said as I pulled out a scroll tied with red string from my side bag.
"Well... I'll have to look at the contract, first then...", Jhon suddenly became very on-guard, which was natural, as who in their right mind would just accept a contract from a stranger for some money?
"Certainly.", I untied the string and gave the scroll to Jhon.
He received the scroll and started to scan through it, absorbing every syllable in it.
After about 5 minutes, I could see Jhon's forehead starting to sweat. He double, triple checked the scroll and looked back at me in a daze.
"Are you serious about the second part?", He asked me after gulping down his own saliva.
"Absolutely.", I replied without hesitation.
Jhon now sat down on his sofa and put his head in his hands, thinking and contemplating about his next decision.
The contract I offered Jhon was quite simple: I will give Jhon 50 million USD and the latest, classified information about the 'Mana Theory'. In return, he will give me a 60% discount on anything I buy from him, lasting for lifetime.
He wasn't interested in the 50m, but the 'Mana Theory'.
Mana was the 'Energy' that enabled humans to survive the catastrophes and fight back. It is the essence of Magic and the backbone of modern civilization. But we humans actually know very little about what Mana really is. It's the biggest mystery on the new Earth. The government and other high-level guilds are working together with the best wizards, scientists and programmers to solve the mystery, but as of today, no one has ever succeeded.
Now, a question arises: Why do we need to understand what Mana really is, and not just use it like we always have been?
Well, the answer to that is: If you understand something better, you can also use it better.
Meaning, improving our understanding of Mana is directly proportional to Humanity's growth and evolution.
Now, I obviously know the entire mana theory, as I have read it in the novel. Even if I tell Jhon a few bits and pieces of it, he will eventually solve the mystery himself.
In the novel, it was Michelle who first came up with the base of the Mana theory. After that, Jhon had improved upon it and finally Adam Louis was the one who completed it.
I was going to skip a lot of story and directly give Jhon the Mana theory, much, much earlier than the original time of the novel.
'I could care less about the novel's storyline, really. I'm not even using it as something like a 'Foresight' and abusing it. Don't get me wrong, being omniscient is nice, but I don't have the patience to wait for the story to progress with 'cHrAcTeR dEvElOpmEnT'.'
'I just use the novel's knowledge to have the general idea of where important people are, artifacts are, and some important events that can't be accelerated by me.'
Anyway, after a deep thought, he finally broke out of his trance and looked up at me with determined eyes.
"I have made my decision.", he said. His voice was loud and clear.
I smirked a bit and asked him, "so? what's it gonna be?"