What exactly is MP? Yes, I'm referring to those little letters in your Akashic Record. It is common knowledge that MP is a measure of an individual's capacity to store the imitations of their soul, often referred to as 'mana', and to therefore evoke magic. More MP means more magic. Simple, right? Well, not quite. We've explained what MP represents, but not the unit of measurement itself.
For any two individuals, one MP means exactly the same thing. There may be slight differences in an individual's actual MP compared to what is displayed on their record, primarily as a result of rounding, but we'll put such fiddly details aside for the moment. In most scenarios, one MP from a novice will be exactly equal to one MP from a Great master of Ideals. All mana is equal, having the same energy potential per unit.
The use of MP as a means of measurement predates the Akashic Record. In ancient times, mana totals were tested using specially designed artifacts or by manual testing, having the user expend their entire mana pool performing a specific task. The mana expended would then be calculated based on the results. These methods are still used today by those who eschew the Akashic, although they are less reliable and accurate than simply using the Akashic.
The traditional definition of an MP is the amount of mana required to produce sufficient force to lift one cubic unit of pure gold one unit into the air, gold being used because of its naturally low magic resistance. This was at a time when both the use of mana and testing methods were less efficient than they are today, however. The value of one MP has been redefined over time so as to line up with previous flawed measurements. As a result, one modern MP represents the force to lift 1.65 cubic units of gold one unit into the air.
That may seem like a surprisingly large amount of strength for a single MP. A cubic unit is large, and gold is heavy. It's true that there is more energy packed into each MP than most magic users realize. Part of the reason for this is that few spells are suited to directly lift a hunk of Gold. If someone has mastered the Ideal of Illusions, for example, they may have a hard time lifting an object no matter how much mana they use. Even an Ideal suited to lifting, like the Ideal of Strength, might be used with less than perfect efficiency depending on the caster. As such, it is advised that you never assume you will get the full force of an MP in any practical scenario.
-Excerpt from Understanding the Akashic: Units of Measurement
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Leader Ghul considered the events of the day as he calmly destroyed a charging Corpse Worm with a punch to its center mass. Today had been a bad day, even worse than he had expected. Two of his long time friends were dead, as well as many fine young men and women who he had known personally. It was a tragedy, and despite being misled multiple times, he finally knew who was to blame.
The demons.
Ghul cut through a horde of Giant Caterpillar crawling through the street with a stroke of his halberd. At first, he had attributed the danger he had sensed to the King's meddling. Then, he blamed Cithlar. And when Phagia Republic attacked, he thought he had it all figured out. But, once again, he was proven wrong. Leading the Republic in this unjustified sneak attack was the enemy of all life.
When both the Republic champion Nemo and an ever-loyal ant-man had confirmed that general Farwind was a demon, the Republic leadership quickly agreed to a peaceful withdrawal. They didn't even offer to assist in clearing the dungeon monsters when they withdrew, but perhaps that was for the best. No one wanted to try to explain to the Geltheas soldiers that they would need to work side by side with the army that just murdered their friends.
If only Ghul had realized the truth about Farwind when they first met. The cause of all this was how annoyingly difficult it was to detect or track demons. There was no known method of detecting them without either killing them or a suitable Unique skill. If Farwind had been expecting to be cut in two, he could have even prepared fake internal organs. Since killing everyone suspicious to check if they're demons was not a sustainable policy, the only viable way to detect them was the use of certain sensory Unique skills. And those who had such a skill were often found dead. Unfortunately, Ghul's nose did not have that capability.
Following a sudden impulse, Leader Ghul opened his skill menu. He hadn't actually checked the thing in years, since he hadn't mastered any new skills lately. What he saw nearly made him drop his weapon.
Skill Name
Requirement
Enhance Skill:
Bloodhound (U)
Smell the banishment of a demon.
After recovering from his shock, Thagi smacked away the Corpse Worm that was chewing on his face and accepted the upgrade. The familiar feeling of his soul shifting followed. As the last piece clicked into place, Ghul immediately noticed a new scent.
[Bloodhound (U) Skill mutated into Demonhound (U) Skill]
A smell emanating from his armor and weapon from their previous clash, and lingering around the places that the demon Farwind had visited while inside the city. Ghul could already smell Farwind before this upgrade, but the stench that Ghul instinctively recognized as demonic was new.
There was another smell, however, that was much more concerning than the lingering stench of a dead man. A second demon. One which had been inside the city recently. It even smelled somewhat familiar. Leader Ghul's nose twitched like a rabbit, trying to identify the source. Unfortunately, the stench of demon was so overwhelming that he could not identify the source from his memory.
That did not mean it would escape, however. He had the scent now, and he would hunt that demon down.
Technically speaking, the Association had a peaceful relationship with the demons at the moment, so he might need to temporarily retire to exact his revenge. He knew plenty of people who would be happy to join him on a demon hunt, even without the aid of the Delvers.
Later that evening, after sunset, Ghul finally returned to the Delvers Association. The flow of beasts from the dungeon had finally slowed to a stop, and all of the escaped monsters above tier two were dead. It was best to allow the rest to be cleaned up by delvers and the guard. To grow stronger, and to regain their pride.
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As Ghul trudged through the Association lobby, he was approached by Shin. When Shin arrived next to Ghul, the samurai pulled a small object from a pouch on his side and pushed it into the Association Leader's hand. Thagi looked down at the small artifact that now pulsed with barely contained power from the multitude of soul fragments trapped within. "The achievement recording tool..."
Ghul tightened his giant fist around the tiny artifact. Everything had gone so wrong. "I suppose you're the only one that will be turning this in. Not that it matters, no one else could collect nearly this much." Ghul looked down at the light that now spilled from between his fingers.
Shin shook his head. "That is a lie. How many died from the Executioners spell?"
He had a point. That small little golem's magic was weak, but in terms of coverage, it was unsurpassed. Although Mud did not assist with the cleanup as Shin had, his contribution was likely even larger. "He just killed Caterpillars. You killed a demon. Clearly you contributed more."
Shin once again shook his head. "The rule you set was one kill is one point. I will not stain my honor by accepting a false win. I do not care if the Executioner can not turn in his stone, we both know it to be the truth."
Ghul handed the glowing stone to a passing association employee, wanting to be rid of the remainder of the horrific week. He turned back towards Shin. "You're the only one left from the tournament that didn't flee the town. Congratulations, you win by default. The contribution from that should be enough to put you past the construct."
"That is not satisfactory. I never finished my fight with Mud." Ghul's raised an eyebrow, but Shin held up a hand to stop his reply. "I know I clearly defeated him, but the tournament was delayed. I will not accept a fake victory."
"Well too bad. I'm in charge and I declare you the winner." Ghul yelled towards the employee now carrying the recording artifact. "Go get the prize for the tournament and give it to Shin. And record him as the winner."
"I will accept the prize, but not for myself." Shin squinted through his visor. "I will find the Executioner, and I will complete our duel. Whichever of us wins will keep the reward."
"Fine, do whatever you want with it. It's yours. And get your ego weapon from him when you find him." Thagi waved a dismissive hand towards Shin and walked away. After a few steps, he stopped and called back over his shoulder. "Shin... I'm preparing for a big mission soon. Non-Association. I could use your help."
"Not until my work is over."
"I thought you would say that..." Thagi walked away for a well-deserved rest.
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Sitting on the sofa after Mrs. Bloodhammer left, Mud began flipping through the binder. Valuable information about all aspects of the world was neatly organized and presented in an easy to understand format. Compared to The Master's library, which often assumed a large amount of prior knowledge, these worksheets worked up from the most basic concepts.
Sometime later, Novus came down the stairs. Novus leaned over Mud and let out a confused murmur. "Why are you staring at a test sheet?"
"Novus, do you understand this paper? I do not understand the formating, and it appears to include erroneous information."
Novus rested her elbow on the back of the sofa and put her chin in her hands. "That isn't information, that's a test. You're supposed to circle the correct answers." Mud placed a finger against the paper and traced a circle, electing a giggle from Novus. "No silly, with a pen. That way the teacher can tell you if you were right later. It's for testing your knowledge."
"That will not be necessary. I already know that I know the correct answer. Further verification is not necessary." With that announcement, Mud flipped to the next page.
"Couldn't somebody who is wrong also be sure they have the correct answer?"
Mud hesitated for a moment, but continued through the pages. "That does not apply to me. I am certain I memorized the information correctly." A few seconds later, Mud flipped back to the test page and stood up to find a pen. "I will take the test, but only in order to prove my mastery of the subject and inspire further loyalty in my humans."
"Uh-huh, sure that's why." Novus nodded and smiled smugly.
When he completed the test, Mud had one answer wrong. Mud had misinterpreted a homonym.
As Mud prepared to fill out another test sheet, the golem was distracted by Jabrax poking its head with her finger. As Mud did not understand the purpose of this gesture, it continued answering multiple-choice questions.
"Mud, stop ignoring me. I need to know where to steer this house."
Mud replied while continuing its work. "I wish to avoid human civilization for the time being." Completing the worksheet, and being very pleased with the perfect grade that Mud gave itself, Mud quickly flipped back to an earlier part of the binder, showing a simplified map of the Civilized Continent.
"Our approximate location is here." Mud narrowed one of its fingers to a point and placed the tip within the Pancal mountain range, east of Geltheas. "I believe this is still too close to human civilization. I would like to travel to the opposite side of this mountain before stopping to create shelter." Mud slid its finger up and to the right, tracing a path around a large mountain. "Does the mansion have enough fuel to complete the journey?"
Sitting comfortably in the air beside Mud, Jabrax nodded. "Yeah, we're fine for a long time. At our current speeds, it will take at least a day to reach that location."
"What is your opinion on this location for a temporary base of operations? Is it suitably far from Sapient areas of activity for our safety?"
"That place hmm? Well... there won't be any Sapients there, I'm sure of that." Jabrax grinned slightly.
"Excellent. It's decided then. Adjust course northeast."
Jabrax gave an exaggerated salute and "yes, captain" before floating back down the stairs.
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A small, scruffy, lizardlike biped in a green camouflage cloak quickly sprinted down a cold stone corridor, lit only by the cool orange glow of illusory fire set into the walls. Arriving at the large metal door flanked by guards, the small creature doubled over to take a few quick breaths, hands on his knees.
One of the much more heavily armored but equally short lizards guarding the door flicked his tail in annoyance. "What business do you have with the queen?"
The Kobold scout took a few more deep breaths, then stood up to reply. "I have a report for her." Digging through his layers of soiled clothes beneath his cloak, the scout finally pulled out a dirt-caked metal badge. After a few quick rubs against his cloak to get most of the muck off, he presented it to the guard, who let out a sigh and opened the door.
Once the door had opened a crack, the Kobold scout slipped through like a breeze, rapidly heading for the center of the enormous stone cavern. All through the room stood sculptures, paintings, books, pottery, and many other pieces of art, all of the highest quality.
In the center of it all lay the Queen herself. A towering brown dragon, lying curled up in a ball and resting peacefully. Her size was incredible, at over twelve units nose to tail. As an Earth Dragon, she had a rather stocky build and angular facial features. Two impressive off-white horns grew from the sides of her head, bending sharply at two spots along their length to form an upward curve.
As the scout silently neared, the dragon spoke in a voice like tumbling gravel, not opening her eye. "What gift do you bring me, child?"
"Information, my Queen." Once again digging through his soiled clothing, the Kobold this time pulled out a scroll and began to read its contents. "Sighting of a large beast or machine of unknown origin traveling along the southwest edge of the Queen's territory, traveling east. Approximately..." the Kobold stopped for a moment to check a small device on its wrist before proceeding, "one hour ago it shifted course northeast, directly towards this mountain. Description of the invader: Very large, estimated over twice as large as the Queen. Movement and shape resemble... um, a house with crab legs?" The kobold stopped reading for a moment to rub his eyes, then double-checked the writing. "Weird... Um, the crab legs are made of metal. That's all the information we have at the moment." Its message complete, the Kobold returned the scroll to its pocket.
"I see. How odd." The Earth Dragon lifted her head and looked at the Kobold with piercing gold eyes. "Lets sure to give them a proper welcome, shall we?"