They were now in the Royal Academy's grand library, with Adrian currently searching for books regarding his particular methodology of combat, while Marilyn focused on her essay about her understanding of magic.

And magic, by definition, was the manipulation of supernatural energies, particularly Essence Energy, to achieve intentional tangible results. From casting spells to enhancing one's body through arcane enhancements, magic was a versatile system that was very integral to the world that Marilyn lived in.

Essence Energy by itself was one of the most fundamental forces that permeated throughout the world. It was the core foundation that composed it, and magic was the art of manipulating this very force to one's own will.

That was the summary of what had been taught to Marilyn ever since she started learning magic, told by her father all those years ago.

And to expand on that…

“Origin of Essence Energy and the Theory of Incantations…”

As it was said, Essence Energy was a fundamental force that permeated throughout the world, but its origin was another interesting one. As it was told by the book Marilyn was reading, it originated from a higher realm called the In-between.

It was an infinite higher plane of existence, containing an uncountably infinite amount of metaphysical energy that was Essence. The energy that was in this space existed as a transcendental web, akin to 'pages' of boundless information. A realm that was beyond the notions of spatial and temporal.

And because of the idea that it was a space filled with information, it was also the very place where thoughts, emotions, and memories resonated and interconnected with each other.

All of them permeated from what was perhaps both her current world and any other possible worlds out there. It was the place where souls would go when they die, becoming one with the energies of that realm.

This was where Essence Energy itself originated from, the force that composed the universe in which she was within, seeping from the In-between and into physical reality, becoming a fundamental constant in the universe.

Arcane scientists theorized that due to the nature of this realm, they could perhaps exploit it for potential infinite energy and even cross to other worlds, but so far their efforts had been naught.

"Hm...my previous world really doesn't have this kind of knowledge huh..."

They did manage to penetrate the layers contained within using the very pinnacle of arcane technology, as well as have said technology withstand the infinite energy within that realm, but to use it in such a way that would benefit the entire world was a far away dream they could not hope to achieve in perhaps another thousand years.

“Hm…that’ll be it for Essence here for the essay, now…”

But, this was not necessarily the topic she's searching for. Essence Energy would remain important, but the methodology of her magic was more of a priority than that.

"Onto the methodology of magic then..."

The Essence Magic system in which her tome system had described as her main discipline was perhaps the most commonly used system of magic by both elves, who were the originators of the system and humans, as well as other races that used it as secondary systems.

It was an adopted methodology of magic, for humans never had their own racial power system ever since their inception. Demi-humans for example could transform their bodies into their corresponding animal, and dwarves had their own completely independent magic system based around smithing.

Essence Magic however was the system of magic that utilises Essence Energy to its most fundamental level at its peak. The core nature of Essence Magic for the elves was that they took advantage of their spiritual biology, making them capable of manipulating the constraints that composed the world through incantations or their own will.

As a result, incantations and will of the mind itself within this system was considered as a declaration towards the world, in how one would want to realise their change within it.

"Hmm..."

Their spells could range from the basic blasts of magical energy, manipulating them into varying elements, giving one's self specific enhancements and advantages through manipulating either internal or external factors, or even using Essence to alter the very laws of the world to do their bidding.

"I wonder if I can actually reach that point...?"

It would have its drawbacks however, for humans never had a spiritual body, so their potential to manipulate Essence was often more limited compared to elves. Essence Magic was also inherently intelligence and visualisation based and required a lot of discipline and understanding of the world, taking years to train with in order to reach higher levels of mastery.

Because of this most Elves were tied to specific disciplines of their magic, and it was why Essence Magic was split into something called 'Paths'. Even the Elves tend to only stick to either only one and master it, rarely more.

Those that weren't tied to enclaves tend to become a jack-of-all-trades and not master any path at all, like what Marilyn had been doing right now.

But despite the difficulty, humans had one advantage over the elves, that being their wisdom.

"And this was a section in a book my father bought for me!"

Elves were a mostly logical race that had a naturally high level of reasoning, it was how they managed to dominate as a race during the Age of Myth. But humans had the advantage of ‘delusions’, or less derogatorily, faith and the power of belief.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Because of this, humans could manifest completely original spells, or even entire paths, that went against the very method of how elves use the system in the first place.

And although human mages still did need the discipline and mastery to control it, they did not have to understand its very intricacies in order for their own spells to work perfectly.

“Man…this will take forever to get to five thousand words…I guess I’ll just have to go through the other factors and dynamics of the system too…?”

Marilyn was now a bit tired reading this book. She did indeed love learning, but when forced to do so for a quite the mundane task it could become jarring for her.

She sloped downwards towards the reading table, laying her head within her arms, groaning slightly with mental exhaustion.

“Any progress on your part?”

But a voice interrupted her, as expected. So, she lifted her head and spoke towards that voice’s origin, Adrian Hunt.

“Just the first five hundred words, 10% of the way there I guess…you?”

Adrian would sit right across her, placing several books on his end of the table before responding. “Found my sources, just need to write it now.”

The device that they've been using to write their essays was in actuality the library’s computer, which was essentially just an up-scaled version of a tome with a holographic keyboard added in. The moment that they were done for the day or have completely finished their task, they could download it to their personal tomes and print it out soon after.

Quite ingenious she must say, this world had its own version of the internet and bluetooth.

Looking up towards Adrian who’s focused working on his computer, through the holographic screen that both of them are using, Marilyn had an idea to pass her boredom away.

“Eyes of Heaven…”

Analysing...

Name Adrian Hunt Race Human Titles Novice Fighter Discipline

Essence Magic - Path of The Warrior

Spirit Cultivation

Strength Level 12 Willpower Level 20 Essence Aptitude Level 14 Esoteric Traits

Indomitability

Natural Leader

Equipment List

Combat Whip

Runic Steel Blade

Deep blue leather-woven combat clothes

“Level 20…?” She thought.

Inquiry Detected. Answering…

Indomitability trait is often identified for students who have strong willpower and endurance, which can let them survive attacks beyond their scope of strength or aptitude.

“Woah…”

“Why were you looking at me like that?”

“Ahh-!”

She may not have noticed it, but Adrian had immediately stopped working and stared at her the moment she uttered the ‘incantation’ for Eyes of Heaven. She might've been too deep in her own thoughts to do so.

But with a small blush, propping herself up from her slouched position, she tried to explain herself.

“I-it’s nothing, I was just thinking about something!”

“And that involves staring at me…?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Y-ye-I mean no! No! That was just a coincidence!”

He was a bit sceptical, at least in her eyes, but he just smiled it off. “I’ll leave you to do that then.”

She doubted it, he was too nice and gentle with his words. He must’ve felt weirded out by her staring at him. But, she couldn't answer it for certain.

However, now that she did have that piece of information…she began to think about it. More specifically, Spirit Cultivation.

Humans, throughout all of the race’s history, did not have the universal quality of utilising magic or let alone have their own racial magic system. That much was true, and through one's evolution being exposed to Essence, humanity gained this instead.

So...

"Adrian, do you know what Spirit Cultivation is?"

"Hm?" He did not look up, seems like he's a bit focused on his studying, but he opted to answer still.

"Spirit Cultivation is an art of using Essence, or the Spirit of one's body to be more precise which also comes from Essence, to amplify one’s own body and senses to maximise its chance of survival." He said, "It's not magic, more of an adaptation, no? Basically magical adrenaline that can be mastered and controlled."

"Yeah, I do know that."

It could not be called magic, but more of an evolutionary adaptation, just as he had said it himself. It was much like how Halflings are capable of having their offspring take the appearance of the dominant race in their environment to better their survival chances.

The term 'magical adrenaline' though wouldn't exactly cover this particular art well, hence why Adrian added the fact that it can be mastered and controlled. With this in mind, people that extensively trained in the art would be capable of enhancing their strength, speed, senses, and stamina at will without much risk of drawbacks.

Adrian continued again, it seemed that he was actually reading off of the book while doing this, "Most humans have little capability to utilise this art, but those with aptitude for Spirit Cultivation could achieve the levels of strength the likes of the stronger races have naturally, through rigorous training alone and the honing of one's skill..."

"I see...I think that's how Helena got so capable then..." She said to herself.

This art was initially only practised in the eastern lands of the world, and the western equivalent of it was less sophisticated and individualistic, relying heavily upon the talent of the individual from birth with no standard path of progress.

But through centuries of globalisation, this particular art had become the universal method of gaining superhuman capabilities.

"Hmm..." Adrian got a bit more focused shortly after he read another passage quietly.

Since it was an adaptation, other races would be capable of utilising this art as well. In fact, she suspected that Elysia might be using it to enhance her own strength, but it was generally not necessary for them.

It was the fact that humans didn't have their own unique trait that made them focus so much on this particular art, which was why Spirit Cultivation users were predominantly humans…outside of the logical reasoning that humans were the dominant and majority race in this world that is.

And as she finished that train of thought, once again Adrian was staring at her. He had closed his book.

“I am not staring at you weirdly…right?” She asked him.

“Nope, I’m just thinking too, and me observing you is purely coincidental.” He said to her, his eyes closed momentarily.

She pouted a little, she felt like he was teasing her. But so far Adrian was quite the genuine man, so his answer could actually be honest.

Speaking of Adrian though…

She placed her hands upon the table again, “Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“How is your family?”

An odd question, but not without reason. After all, the Hunts were the original holders of Kharnam, her home region. This particular query therefore came from the sincerity of her curiosity, and that was all that could be said about it.