Chapter 70 Reality Studies
The following days after Shamesh first got his new uniform he was further taught things like taking care of gear and how to polish different metals. He was taught decorum and how to set a table. He learned every simple and common chore that a maid would learn, as well as how to properly assist a noble in things such as finance and greeting guests. His schooling went on and on.
While Shamesh was learning how to be helpful off of the battlefield, Isaac and Lenna were teaching themselves how to play their respective instruments. Isaac was getting back into the swing of playing the piano without any memory of actually playing it where Lenna was actually being taught how to play by her goddess in a sort of possession-like experience. The more they played, the better they became, but even more so, the more they were able to play the songs the other was playing.
The trio’s days passed in such a manner until suddenly the month was over. Now, this usually would have just been another footnote to their daily lives but this was the day, of the night, of the full moon. It was the night of this day that Lenna was going to meet with her goddess. That was not until well after dinner however so the majority of their day would have been like those that came before but instead they were ambushed by Clayton when they returned to the celestial dawn for lunch.
“I finished going through the notes.” Clayton greeted them. “The ones on mana and its colors. Would you like to go over them now?”
Isaac stopped and contemplated for a long moment. “Lenna?” He asked.
“I am fine with either.” She replied.
“My curiosity has been mounting but let’s wait until after lunch.” Isaac told the young wizard.
Clayton nodded in agreement. “Yes, I, uh, haven’t eaten in… a while.” Clayton said bashfully. “I would appreciate that.”
—
“Now, where to start.” Clayton said more to himself than to Isaac and Lenna though he was clearly open for suggestions.
“Let’s start with a quick overview of what each color entails, like how dark mana is death and shadow.” Isaac offered and Clayton nodded in agreement.
“Yes. That sounds like a perfect place to start and then we can delve into what happens when you mix them.” Clayton agreed and then settled in to begin. “The notes start with red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. After that they go to the pairs of indigo and violet, and white and black.” Clayton began. “Does that work for you?”
“Yes.” Isaac replied. “I already know dark or black mana quite well and I can infer a lot about white mana but the rest are pretty unknown to me.”
“Red is the color that governs an increase in heat and the creation of fire.” Clayton began.
“Like combustion?” Isaac wondered.
Clayton shook his head. “Not exactly. Fire needs air but a fireball can explode underwater. This is because of the actual creation of fire that red mana is responsible for.” He explained. “Does heat make sense to you?”
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“Yes.” Isaac replied. “Heat is energy and spending mana to increase heat makes as much sense as spending mana to move an object.”
Clayton nodded. “Good, then we can continue.” He said and Isaac nodded his ascent. “Orange is for absorbing impacts and the creation of stone or other naturally occurring hard materials. Apparently it requires a certain level of knowledge into the material itself before it can be created. The creation of precious metals is banned in every country, though I do not know of a single mage that can actually do it.”
“If we think of mana as a type of morphic energy that can be whatever your intent dictates then this still makes enough sense. Much like how you convert mana into heat energy you can convert it into matter. You said ‘hard materials’ why?” Isaac asked. “Why can’t you use it to create matter regardless of its state?”
“The notes were not only from one person and I haven’t had the time to figure out whose handwriting belonged to whom but one of the writers theorized that it was because it was actually the color of Gia herself and kinetic absorption.” Clayton explained.
“So would the other colors be able to create things as well and have a deity that they are connected to?” Isaac wondered.
Clayton shook his head. “I have no idea.” He confessed. “From orange we go to yellow. Yellow is the color of lightning and stored energy. The stored energy can be released to catastrophic effects, oftentimes an explosion of lightning.”
“Fireballs are not only red mana.” Isaac explained. “They are a complex spell that uses multiple colors of mana to create an explosion. I think red mana is actually combustion and following the pattern it would go; recombining, creation in the solid state, creation in the plasmatic state, creation in the gaseous state, and creation in the liquid state.” Isaac theorized.
Clayton had begun scribbling down everything Isaac had said once he realized that Isaac was making connections based on science that was only touched upon in the upper level classes in the college. “How, how do you know so much about reality? The study of reality is something that very few people actually directly dedicate themselves to but you are talking like an old professor.”
“I don’t know.” Isaac replied honestly. “It feels like common knowledge is fueling my leaps in logic to connect these but it seems right.” He explained. “But what about the other colors? Actually, no, before we get to that, continue your explanation of the first set of colors.”
Clayton nodded and looked back at his list. “According to your theory, yellow is plasmatic creation and the storage of energy.” Clayton picked up where they had previously left off. “That is more or less all of what they had on the subject. Study of it was very volatile and deemed physically dangerous.” Clayton explained. “Next up is green. In the notes it is written as the creation of air and imparting force on objects. After that it is blue. Blue is the creation of water and lowering temperature.”
“Alright, so, on the other side of the color’s coin we have an increase in heat energy, reduction in kinetic energy, storing of energy, increase in kinetic energy, and reduction in heat energy.” Isaac summarized. “Is that right?”
“Precisely.” Clayton agreed. “Are you ready for the other colors?”
“Yes.” Isaac agreed. “I think I’ve got the gist of the first five colors.”
“They are referred to as the Base Colors. The next two are the Binding Colors and the last two are the Divine Colors.” Clayton explained. “The base colors are indigo and violet. Indigo is the color of time and the soul. According to the notes this is the color that was more thoroughly studied. Green dragons have indigo eyes and use soul and time magic. This fact helped them properly place what the color did and how. They discovered that the soul is what dictates one’s passage through time. This means that time is always relative to each person’s soul individually.”
“That is why elvish souls degrade at differing rates in the realm of the living.” Lenna surmised.
“Exactly!” Clayton exclaimed. “By using indigo mana they were able to adjust the rate that a creature with a weak soul passed through time.”
“How so?” Isaac wondered. “Does more mana equate to a faster passage through time or a slower one?”
“Both and neither.” Clayton explained. “Attempting to adjust the passage through time in either direction always resulted in the expenditure of mana.”
“Then how would they choose which way they would affect the target?” Isaac questioned.
“Intent.” Clayton replied. “Intent was the key. It was entirely through the power of their own soul directing the mana that they could choose how the mana would affect the target.”
“Is intent really all that binds mana to us? Why and how is mental intent and focus a measurable phenomena?” Isaac wondered.
“I don’t know.” Clayton replied honestly. “Moving on from there we have violet which is space and gravity. The reality studies in this were far beyond me.” Clayton confessed. “Something about compressing versus tearing the fabric of space?” Clayton shook his head. “It was all draconic to me.”
“Draconic?” Isaac questioned.
“He means it was like trying to learn another language.” Lenna chimed in. “I wonder how magnets apply to all of this?”
Clayton paled. “Please, I was having enough trouble without adding in something as impossible to understand as where magnetic fields come from.” He pleaded.
Isaac chuckled. “I am curious too but we can move on.”
Clayton sighed. “Thank you.” He then straightened a bit. “Next is white and black mana which I am sure you know as much about as they did.”
Isaac shook his head. “Now I am not so sure.” He confessed. “Let’s go over it anyway. There seems to be a lot more science involved than I originally thought.”