Alex’s morning research was not going well.
His initial thoughts had led him down the path of looking for Enhancements that would work with the mana type he felt would suit him the best. Something that could easily be connected to sharpness. Having a preexisting rune he could modify to work with his mana type should make things easier if he managed to get the mana type.
He wasn’t delusional, he knew the odds weren’t good even if this worked. But anything that could make a difference had to be used.
The problem was that he was struggling to find Enhancements that would fit the bill. He had no interest in making his fingernails sharper or transforming them into claws. Sharpness was a mana type that would show its worth more with Abilities, but Abilities weren’t counted towards Tier 0 Mana Body Achievements. They were almost impossible to power with one Connection, and the Trialbringer didn’t reward wasted time. The fact that Achievements could boost your Connection to a level where they were usable didn’t seem to change the rule.
He eventually grew frustrated and moved on to something else. He would circle back to this if the other topic showed promise.
He grabbed several books related to the principles of mana that included information about mana types. Understanding mana types better would let him make a more measured decision about his idea to chase a Legendary Mana Body.
Mana can be described simply as the energy of the soul, manifest in the world. The Ethereal Plane, as we have titled the place where the soul resides, is made up of this energy.
In the early years, it was a common misconception to believe that mana was created by the Arrival. Most saw the confusing new energy as a curse, as the planet’s immediate ascension to Tier 1 escalated problems that should have begun as minor inconveniences. This new, seemingly unpredictable form of energy began to interfere with the day-to-day lives of normal people.
Alex continued reading, not allowing himself to skim over the summary. Mana’s interference with the ability to store energy was one of those topics that were significantly too involved for him to have more than a surface-level understanding. It was more Becca’s field, Alex was just thankful that only a single year of physics was required to graduate.
The book went into some detail about debunked theories for why mana meddled with energy. The author explained why each had been initially regarded favorably, before being discarded as the understanding of mana evolved. There was some attention paid to how things had changed when the planet reached Tier 2. After nearly seventy years of research. Scientists had felt that they were beginning to understand the new rules of the world around them, and then those rules seemed to transform overnight.
Unattuned mana will always seek form. Ambient mana, created by the planet itself, cannot exist in an unattuned, formless state for long. Instead, it will bond with other types of energy. The altered energy will then act unpredictably, either attempting to propagate itself or exhibiting supernatural behavior. These behaviors range from miraculous to unassuming to catastrophic and can be permanent or temporary.
Recent years of study have shown that mana is heavily influenced by desire. When there is no sapient will or runic command to direct mana, it instead acts according to its environment.
Why was it so unpredictable, then? Or was it more erratic than unpredictable, at this point?
Alex found this topic surprisingly interesting, and he finished reading the first chapter, which served as an introduction to the rest of the text. It wasn’t really what he had come here to discover, though. While the second chapter covered the bonds mana formed with various types of energy and the tendencies of several more common combinations, he didn’t bother with the specifics. Instead, he moved on to the seventh chapter after reading the introductory opener.
Mana types are a disproportionately researched topic, as they are required to reach Tier 2. Attuned mana completely disregards the rules of unattuned mana, but is far more consistent. The attunement gives the mana form, and it acts according to that form. It’s important to note the difference between attuned mana, produced by the soul of an Attuned being, and unattuned mana which has bonded to a source of thermal energy. The first is far more pure, powerful, and stable. The second is frequently referred to as fire mana, but it is at best a weak mimicry.
The Common mana type required to reach Tier 2 is not as simple as it sounds. Even a low-level understanding of the rules behind a specific type of mana is difficult to acquire, and the low Connection we possess makes transferring that understanding to the soul incredibly difficult.
Alex wasn’t overly surprised by this information, it was all just a natural progression of what his classes had taught. The Academy didn’t teach students how to gain a mana type, it just provided some important background. Many would come back for further instruction after opening their first aperture and reaching the peak of Tier 1, but Alex was getting the abbreviated version from a book.
He continued reading, and the book turned to topics that he wasn’t looking to research. Seeing examples of attuned mana behaving differently from unattuned mana was useful, but he was looking for more information about the process of gaining a mana type. Alex moved on to another book but found himself stifled again, this one was nearly entirely anecdotal. Even information on mana types wasn’t necessarily consistent, with different people using mana in different ways.
It felt like all of the books took information from each other, and he wouldn’t be able to get an actually practical understanding of mana types as a whole anytime soon. There was simply too much information and no way to tell what was useful and what wasn’t.
At some point, Becca arrived and sat across from him, placing down a few books that she had found. They exchanged a brief hug of greeting, but Becca didn’t interrupt his reading.
“Are you still on about this plan to gain a mana type?” Becca asked him when he took a break to rub his temples.
“Yes, but the information isn’t proving easy to find. These books are just looking over the principles that mana seems to operate according to, none of the books are particularly confident in their claims,” Alex sighed, rubbing at his temples. They’d had a late night, and he’d woken up early on his own for once. He wouldn’t describe himself as exhausted, but he was getting there.
“You realize how rare it is for your Connection to spike high enough for this to be relevant, right?” Becca asked, “Enough to make it even a possibility is uncommon, making it feasible is nearly unheard of.”
“I thought you were against this because it’s so dangerous?” Alex answered a question with a question. Of course, he knew that.
“Well, I thought about it some more,” Becca replied, “And after what we read yesterday I’ve decided that it’s so unlikely to matter that you’re basically just using your time until graduation studying. I’m not going to risk undoing years of progress by telling you to not study.” She grinned at him while she said this.
Becca and Jess were the main reasons that Alex’s scholastic performance was good enough to avoid taking away from his mana control and combat performance. There was still a noticeable gap, but years of reminders to study and complete assignments had eventually been habit-forming.
“Anyway,” She continued, “In the rare occurrence where things go wrong and your Connection does spike, it’s not like knowing more about mana will hurt you. Maybe knowing that a random hunch you get is wrong will even save you.”
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“Well,” Alex replied, “I should warn you that I don’t think it’s actually that unlikely.”
That stopped Becca in her tracks, “What are you talking about?”
“It was a footnote in the first book I read, and it’s been popping up a bit in the other books. Mana is very easily influenced by desire.”
Becca thought over that for a second, “You think wanting your Connection to rise will make it more likely to happen?” There was no mockery in her voice. It tracked with what they’d learned in classes quite well. To a limited extent, mana wanted to be directed. Difficulty rose significantly when you attempted to do anything complex or refined, but just entering his body and giving him a blanket attribute boost couldn’t be considered either.
“Yes,” Alex replied, “Ambient mana is impossible for us to control, but it still responds to the soul. We just don’t have the attributes to consciously direct it.”
“That’s why they use emplacement rituals,” Becca realized after a second, “The runes isolate and direct the mana to make sure our desire doesn’t ruin things.”
“Which doesn’t work for untiered, anyway.” Alex added, “It’s different for us because we have to gain at least some Connection. I think that they have to yield some of the control to us for that to happen. Buff Abilities don’t work on Connection, after all.”
Becca nodded, “Okay, let's say your idea works and you somehow get a mana type. How are you going to create a functional Enhancement that improves your Mana Body? It has to actually work to be Epic, and there’s no way you can push Legendary that easily.”
Mana Body Achievements were a bit odd at Tier 0. Common, Uncommon, and Rare followed a pretty standard scale, where the difficulty rose significantly with each tier. A Heart Rune that drew in mana and released it back into the body was enough to qualify for a Common Mana Body and its related Achievement.
Uncommon required any Enhancement with an effect that improved the user measurably. This could even just be a specialization of the draw and distributor used in a Common Body. Most chose to push the limits of their skill and maximize the benefits outside of the Achievement, but there were plenty who struggled to go past the minimum. Rare required no fewer than four Enhancements that were all of a high quality. At least one of the Enhancements had to be particularly exceptional. Muhammad’s sight Enhancement was the one that pushed him over the edge.
Epic, on the other hand, required only one Enhancement. It just had to be based on a mana type. Enhancements requiring a mana type were generally more complex, but it was still technically easier to inscribe than Rare. The actual difficulty was getting the mana type.
A Legendary Mana Body was a combination of both Rare and Epic. At least one of the body’s four or more Enhancements would have to use a mana type. Gaining the Legendary Achievement and the considerable rewards that came with it was a matter of both skill and either luck or talent with mana. Considering that there weren’t any Aspirants in the entire city with a mana type, most considered luck the larger factor.
Mythic was… not important. No one knew what a Mythic Mana Body required at Tier 0 because no one had pulled it off.
“Well, that’s why I’m studying,” Alex replied.
“So your plan if you get into a situation where you might blow yourself up is to definitely blow yourself up?” Becca asked, “What happens if your mana type doesn’t work with the rune you decide to imprint and you create a heart blockage?”
“I just wouldn’t imprint a rune that’s not functional. Everything I’ve read makes it pretty clear that you’re able to tell when it comes to modifying runes to fit your mana type.”
Becca took a steadying breath. Alex noticed that she was repeatedly clenching and releasing the fabric of her skirt, which wasn’t a good sign, “Despite that, we still have a specific term for heart blockage.”
Alex paused in acknowledgment, thinking for a second. Finally, he nodded, “That’s true, I guess I would just have to trust in my abilities.”
Becca leaned back in her chair with a sigh, “Why can’t you just accept the Epic Achievement?”
“I don’t understand why you can’t see what an incredible opportunity this is.” Alex replied, “Everyone knows the path is dangerous, why not take a risk for the best possible start?”
“This isn’t a risk, it’s borderline suicidal.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Alex scoffed, “I’ve spent years focusing on the sword, I can figure out a mana type related to it.”
Becca gave a frustrated groan, “I need to take a walk, you’re being ridiculous.”
Alex was surprised the disagreement hadn’t escalated further, but he decided not to push his luck any further. He looked down at the books spread across the table, and one immediately stood out to him. It was clear that Becca had grabbed it, thinking that it would be useful information for the future. Alex was just surprised that he had missed it when he was looking for books himself.
On the cover, was the title “On Insight. 19th Edition.” More impressive was the author. Because of the small size of the book, Alex had missed a work personally written by the Dean.
There was script all across the cover, although it didn’t have any obvious effect. Alex was immediately enraptured by the supernatural appearance of the booklet.
Before the Arrival, I worked as a college professor for a few decades leading up to the Fall. During that time, I was more of a researcher than a teacher, but many of the joys and pains of teaching reached me anyway.
The scripts that covered the outside of the book could also be found in the margins of the pages on the inside. It gave the book an odd weight that Alex hadn’t experienced before. While the book wasn’t actually much heavier than you would expect, he felt as if he was holding something important. The words gave off a similar feeling, this book was significant. Reading the anecdote about the Dean’s old life, he almost felt like he knew exactly what the man was talking about. As if he’d had similar experiences.
In that line of work, I came across many catchy phrases meant to help students understand this or that. I found most of these sayings to be unfortunately reductive and unhelpful, but there are a few that have stuck with me. When it comes to the topic of gaining a mana type, there is one that I find especially poignant.
Alex turned the page at this, his brain lamenting the lack of information to be found on a single page without quite realizing just how little he’d read. The margins of the script took up a great deal more space than he thought, but his eyes were glossing over them in a similar manner to how they treated the Stirling Tower.
Just because you know something, doesn’t mean you understand it. There is a crucial difference.
In a different set of circumstances, Alex may have been disappointed by this. It was a saying he’d heard plenty of times before, a favorite of many of the instructors. Instead, his interest never wavered as he turned the page. He knew something was coming that he needed.
The two are, of course, heavily intertwined. Knowledge could be considered the basis of understanding, as you can not understand something that you don’t know. However, it is quite clear that the practical requirements to demonstrate understanding go beyond the surface. Understanding comes with experience, it requires comprehension on a deeper level.
Alex turned the page again. Hardly noticing as Becca sat down next to him, and not noticing the other individual who approached at all.
Gaining a mana type requires a similar leap. It is not enough to know, and it is not enough to understand. Even extensive experience will come up short without the crucial, missing component.
Alex was holding his breath without realizing it as he read. The text had drawn him in, and he’d needed to turn the page multiple times just to reach the end of this paragraph. For all that the words were few, it felt like he had learned more just from these pages than from all his earlier reading. His fingers grasped the page, realizing that this would be the last one he turned.
To know something is not the same as to understand it. To understand something is not the same as to have insight into it.
To gain a mana type is to hold insight.
The word, insight, didn’t quite look right as Alex read it. The scripts covering the page imbued it with additional meaning well beyond the mundane term he had used in conversation so many times. Insight wasn’t just about the physical, it was about the ethereal. Understanding how something worked on Earth may not apply to the Ethereal Plane, which could prevent the formation of a mana type.
Mana types couldn’t be taught, they required insight beyond the mundane. The soul was beyond the reach of a teacher. He’d heard the term used before, but it felt like just reading the book had bridged the gap between knowledge and understanding. He understood what insight was.
Alex’s thoughts drifted after he finished the book. His mind was hyper-focused, and yet the topic of his thoughts frequently changed. He was torn between a sense of having learned something grand and having failed to grasp it truly.
His thoughts turned to the script on the inside of the book, which he’d paid less and less attention to as he read. Was he missing something there? Was this a book written by the Dean to teach those with the ability to comprehend greater knowledge?
Ah, I see that book has created an Obsession,” A kind, but worried voice broke through his fugue state, “I believe you will have to come with me.”
Becca had come back, standing beside her was a golden retriever that Alex recognized from his pictures.