United States District of Columbia. The White House. Two months since the initial world transfer.

The president is currently sitting in the oval office, his usual place of work. Right now, he is talking and listening to his advisers regarding the war in the three peninsula's. The main topic is currently centered around the mobilization of supplies, war machines, and men on the front lines. "Mr president, army deployment in the region will be longer than initially expected. The logistics problems and the underdeveloped infrastructure is slowing down deployment in the region." The person who just spoke is the chairman of joint chief's of staff Robert E. Langley. He worked for the current and past administration for at least seven years now. He has served the current commander in chief for nearly two years now. However, the scale of this war is much bigger than anything he has handled before. He continues giving his report on the deployment situation. "Right now, most of our manpower and supplies are being funneled from the west coast through Hawaii and Guam at the moment. Strike group carriers from American Samoa, Hawaii, and Guam are also being deployed to aid in the war effort. Enemy navies in the area are trying to cut off the channel between the Flenning and the northern point of Astra. A carrier strike group is expected to arrive and secure the channel in a matter of hours. The fleet is not that big to begin with, so it should not pose much of a problem. However, the main problem lies in the deployment in land troops Mr president. We are expecting delays up to a week in full mobilization."

The president stops him for a moment. "Is there any way to speed it up? What is causing the slowdown? Did we not know that the enemy was going to attack soon from surveillance and intelligence services?" The president did not like to hear about this delay. Especially since the war will continue to create more refugees that may require more U.S. intervention and aid in the region. Because only god knows what kind of support systems those three peninsula's have to aid their own refugees. Hell, the U.S. can barely take care of its own people when large natural disasters hit. But even more so, if the U.S. has problems, the three peninsula's will undoubtedly have less in place to help them. To create less of a mess, the president wants to take care of this conflict with the least amount of damage as possible. However, this delay is a problem. The president further inquired. "What of our marine divisions that were deployed in the region? Have they been able to stop the enemy advance?" With limited support, marines were sent out to the front lines to secure positions and prevent the advance of enemy soldiers to buy time for the ground army to advance eastward in the peninsula's. Given the enemy's firepower and capabilities, it was deemed that the marines could pretty much halt enemy advances if done correctly. However, the president has heard some troubling reports.

"Our marines have been able to secure their initial positions, however many platoons have encountered refugees that have been fleeing from the borders in all three peninsula's. Many of them are in need of care and protection. This is tying down their advance significantly. In order to stop the advance of the enemy armies, we suggest that we mandate marines to move onto their next position and wait for the army to secure their positions." The president contemplated. "This would mean leaving them on their own for nearly a week you know. How many people would die if we did that?" The chairman responded. "Its likely that some may die before our reinforcing army comes to secure them, however many more will die if we don't advance our marines positions. There are many nearby towns that still have thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict. Our marines can prevent further casualties if we tell them to advance quickly to meet up with their other platoons. The president contemplated again for the thousandth time in the oval office chair. "Tell the marines that securing their positions is of top priority. They can provide some medical care when necessary, but they must move on to finish their mission. What else is there?"

The chairman continued. "We have noticed that the enemy kingdoms have an air force, quite a large one in fact. With thousands of these creatures known as "Wyverns" being used in the battlefield, they are helping the enemy advance their positions along the borders in the three peninsula's. With very little air defense, our allies are pretty much useless in fending off these Wyverns." The president asks "Will these guys be a problem for us chairman?" The chairman grins. "No Mr president. Although they number in the thousands, they are vastly inferior to our air force being deployed in the field. We expect total control of the airspace within days Mr President. With this, our marine positions are secured."

"Good" said the president. As his advisor's continued talking, he thought about this whole situation. He thought about just how much trouble this is going to cause in the future if the U.S. continued relying on foreign imports again in the future. Last night he read a report on how only half of our oil supply is produced domestically. The other half is from the peninsula's at the moment. Everything here is because of oil. But what could he do so that this type of war does not happen again? He wondered.

Soon, his advisor's finished their reports and soon left. The only person left is the energy department head. The president inquired him about what he was thinking. "Mr president, I think with the discovery of magic in this world, we will inevitably find some easier method of producing energy than oil. However, its still a bit far off. We are essentially starting from scratch after all. Well, maybe not completely." The president asked him to elaborate. "I have been trying to recruit some promising Mana users from the Kingdom of Astra. So far, not many takers as they all have pretty good positions. Put on top of that, the U.S. is still a relatively mysterious country to them, so of course they don't want to so readily leave. However, a project manager believes they found a very promising person they want to try and recruit."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The president asks a question. "What makes this particular Mana user so promising?" The energy chairman continued. "This Mana user in particular is interested in potential energy production. Although, he calls it something else entirely. Despite that, he will be a boon to the departments efforts to change the way we produce energy. Its honestly a shame he isn't taken very seriously in the Kingdom of Astra." The president inquired. "Why would such a Mana user not be taken seriously?" He responds. "Its because his research is pointless in the eyes of many Mana users. There simply is not much need for that type of research apparently. And it makes sense since they don't need to produce huge amounts of energy. Even his latest creation did not garner much attention from the Mana user community in the Kingdom." The president asked him to continue. "He created something akin to a steam engine. The only difference is that it can apparently run without stop for a long time, granted the supply of Mana stones are available. Its also another reason why the Mana user community hates him, as Mana stones are in short supply still." The president contemplated. "Can you get a program or project together to recruit and collaborate with all fields related to energy to get to work on this? Not just nuclear, but all possibilities. All I need is a cheap source of energy that is not very controversial. I want results by the end of my term in two years." He sighed. "Its possible, especially if we recruit other thinkers from the Kingdom of Astra." The President nodded. "Good, then get to work. Energy is a must if we are to maintain our dominance and security." Soon after the energy chairman left, the president leaned back into his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

***

Astra Kingdom. The Institute of Mana. Province of Astra of the Royal Family.

The Institute of Mana is the foremost grounds of education in the Kingdom of Astra. While the church of Mana teaches those who wish to use it, the institute researches new forms and ways of using Mana. As the foremost institution, its well funded and well staffed at all times, with most of the funds flowing into the school through aristocrats and merchants. Given its expense though, most Mana users attends the church of Mana in the hinterlands of the Kingdom of Astra. However, for those who can afford to, they can receive and gain access to a myriad of information and practices that have cumulatively been recorded over decades of research and teaching. The institute itself has its own supply channels for Mana crystals or even the elusive Macana wood. Given the expenses of obtaining Macana wood or Mana crystals, the institute will only allow those who can afford their own silver. This has created an environment where only the most noble and wealthy are present.

In one laboratory, a Mana scholar and his student are currently fine tuning a black glistening machine in one corner of the messy room. It stood at around half a person's height and is made of a composite metal of unknown origins. As the Mana scholar and his student were working, a knock came from the door. The Mana scholar beckoned at his student to answer it. The student opened the door to find another Mana scholar. He handed over a brown envelope that is packed with papers. The student thanks the Mana scholar and closes the door before handing the packet to his teacher.

"Did he say what this is?" He looked at the odd brownish envelope he has never seen before. It was uniform and neat, with its own metal piece at the top to keep it closed. The student responded "He said its a recruitment notification from the U.S. embassy apparently." The Mana scholar frowns. "U.S. huh.... I have heard about their revolutionary changes in the capital city. I guess they must have been impressed with my work then!" He jokingly said. However, once he opened up the envelope and got past the shockingly smooth and white paper, he read the letter right there. His face turned into shock at the contents. "What is it teacher?" The student looked dumbfounded. "Do you remember how much a Mana crystal is worth?" The student responded confidently. "Of course, who wouldn't know. A Mana Crystal could get you a decent house or place to live. Furthermore, its worth more than a persons total life earnings when comparing butchers and guardsmen. Why do you ask? You should know this by now." His teacher continued. "If I read this correctly, the U.S. Department of Energy or something is recruiting my services to work on a project similar to my field of study in energy generation. They are guaranteeing a sufficient number of Mana crystals for my research and study in their country." The student questioned the "sufficient amount" that it mentions. The Mana scholar could only look at the paper and started laughing. "They say that they have thousands of crystals sitting in a facility somewhere in their country. They are willing to let me gain access to it to conduct my work!" The student looked dumbfounded "Thousands? Impossible. Even the Astra royal family doesn't have that amount. Maybe they are just exaggerating?" The scholar shakes his head. "Even the institution doesn't have the gall to say they have a sufficient amount of Mana crystals to use. And from what I hear, I doubt this country would straight up lie to my face about these conditions. Although, I won't know for sure without checking first. Furthermore, it looks like they are paying me a salary? I don't know if this is good or not though. I am only familiar with Royal coinage. Well, it doesn't hurt to try go through this process. The institute has already cut my Mana crystal supply. And I bet they are willing to beg me to leave the institute in fear of consuming even more of their precious Mana crystals." The scholar grins as he proceeds to find some ink and quill.