Reiki had a smile on his face, he said. "What's the most common method to replenish a reusable mana crystal." Moranor crossed her arms and confidently said. "Infuse it with your mana. If you're skilled enough, depending on the size of the crystal you can put high-tiered magic in them." Reiki pointed at her and said. "Correct."

Melanor walked towards the couch and sat on her daughter's left. Melanor said. "And how exactly is this related to inscriptions?" Reiki let out a chuckle, he said. "What do the two of them have in common?" Moranor moved her hand closer to his face as the sound of faint crackling was heard and a string of lightning appeared in the tip of her finger.

He kept a straight face as he turned his head to face Moranor, he said. "You could've let me have my harmless fun." Moranor narrowed her eyes, she let out a scoff and said. "I don't like how you're dragging the topic." Reiki let out a small sigh as Moranor moved her hand away from his face. He said. "What they have in common is their source of energy, mana."

Moranor's hand was reaching for his neck which made Reiki move his head away as he used his hands to try and stop her from getting a grip on his neck. He hastily said. "Let me finish my sentence." As he let out a forced laugh from the cold glare Moranor was giving him. Melanor placed a hand on her chin and said. "I'm listening."

Reiki faked a cough and continued. "The other thing they have in common is consistency." Moranor had a confused look on her face, she said. "Huh?" Melanor thought for a bit as her eyes widened in realization. She said. "You mean the method of an individual infusing their mana to the crystal."

Reiki nodded and said. "Yes, regardless of how it'll be used you'll need to infuse a consistent amount of mana. Depending on the spell you might need to infuse a large or small amount of mana every interval. If the volume of the mana is too low the spell would degrade and would lose some of its potency, if the volume is too large if you're lucky the crystal would crack, and if you're not the crystal might explode in your hand. The tier of the spell would affect the size of the explosion-."

Moranor placed her arm around his shoulder as it made a loud smacking sound, she said. "Yes, yes, we wanted an explanation. Not a lesson." Reiki scratched the back of his head and said. "I'm almost done, don't worry… Where was I?..." Melanor answered. "Size of the explosion."

Reiki thought for a bit, he said. "Right, right… It's the same for inscriptions. The inscription that's the power source is also responsible to transfer mana, just like the two-part inscription the chocolates were. It was sending a consistent amount of mana to the second part at certain intervals. The inscription that I made, if it works, it would be able to… Any chance you girls know how electricity works?" Both of them nodded, Melanor said. "We are familiar with the concept. Since we have to… Observe what you humans create and its applications."

Reiki continued. "If you were to charge a phone let's say it would need a hundred volts." Moranor had an odd look on her face, she said. "What kind of phone is that?" A smile appeared on his face, he said. "An indestructible one." He let out a chuckle, Reiki looked at both of their expressions and saw they weren't amused. He let out a small sigh and said. "If the inscription that I drew works then it should be able to lower the amount of mana it needs to transfer for every interval…"

He placed a hand behind his head and looked at the floor, both the elves stayed silent as they waited for him to continue. Reiki said. "... Let's say the original inscription sends 5 mana every interval. Then my modified inscription sends 4.85 mana, saving three percent." Moranor who was staring at the ceiling said. "Then in the long term, it would only return 1.5 mana for every refill… Theoretically, it sounds good but… A crystal with a capacity of 50 would only have a leftover of 1.5… Who would refill the same crystal a hundred times just to save 150 mana?"

With a big smile on his face, Reiki said. "How many boxes use this inscription? How many elves refill it every day? And how much mana would accumulate over time? If you were to use a machine to transfer the mana to a large crystal, what could you do with it?" Both of the elves did some mental calculations in their heads as Reiki looked at Moranor's arm around his shoulder. He took a whiff of her hand and thought. She smells like a bed of orchids. He took another whiff and continued his train of thought. Brassavola nodosa.

Meanwhile, both the mother-daughter pair of elves' eyes widened in realization. Moranor turned her head to see him sniffing her hand that was on his shoulder, which made her quickly move it. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she took a whiff of her hand. Melanor narrowed her eyes as she placed a hand over her mouth, she said. "What makes you think there's a crystal powering the inscription? We could be using a different method and just embed mana to the inscription itself without the usage of crystals."

Not looking away from her stare Reiki said. "The wooden spoon." Melanor had a confused look on her face while Moranor was carefully placing her hand away from him as she placed them on her thighs. Reiki let out a chuckle and said. "When I touched the inscription I was shocked, literally. I wasn't sure if it was because it was me directly touching it or a crystal was hidden inside the container itself. So I picked up the spoon and tested it again."

Melanor said. "Then wouldn't it be bad for you if Enrel showed it to the higher-ups and gained credit for it." Reiki started laughing as he managed to stop himself, he let out a cough and said. "Remember the part I said about mana crystals exploding? If Enrel-san is lucky nothing would happen, if she's not the crystal might burst along with the container."

Melanor stayed silent for a few seconds, she said. "How big would the explosion be?" Reiki answered. "Nothing lethal, at best it would just scorch a wall or two. If they're too close they might lose their hearing for a day or two because of the sound." Moranor had a hand on her chin and said. "Then how would the explosion occur? You've already completed most of the work, why would it fail?" Reiki tried to comb his unkempt and scraggly hair back as it became even messier. He spoke with a faint hesitant voice. "That's because… I… Didn't see the connection between the two inscriptions…" Both of the elves gave him an odd look and simultaneously said. "Huh?..."

Reiki let out a chuckle and said. "If I'm correct, there would have been a small crystal just beneath the inscription on the bottom. I noticed that inside the container where all the chocolates were inside a second layer, meaning the first layer was a thin outline of the container which had the line that was connected to both inscriptions. I wasn't able to study it since I would have to carefully dismantle the container itself that was built with methods that I don't know… Should someone stop her from trying this?..."

Melanor's eyes were narrowed, she said. "That doesn't have enough evidence as to why the inscription would fail." Reiki scratched the back of his head, he looked at the table and walked towards the parchment and quill. He dipped the quill in the ink bottle and drew a cylinder sideways. Moranor walked to his left and was looking at what he was drawing while Melanor was on his right staring at the parchment.

On the parchment, he drew an inscription on the right end of the cylinder, and on the left, he drew an arrow that was pointing to the right. Reiki pointed at the arrow, he said. "This is where the mana flows." He roughly sketched a wavy line that was connected to the inscription on the right. He said. "Let's say this wavy line of mana has a value of 4.85." Both of the elves were listening intently while Reiki was darkening the lines of the cylinder. He said. "This cylinder has a capacity of 5." He looked up to both of them and said. "Guess what happens."

Moranor chuckled and confidently said. "The mana travels to the inscription." She pointed at the wavy line and dragged her finger across it without touching the wet ink. Melanor had a hand on her chin and was thinking about something. Moranor had a smirk on her face and said. "For someone who was on to something you jumped off the rails." Reiki ignored her remark as he waited for Melanor's response. Melanor moved her hand away from her chin while she turned her head to face him, she said. "The inscription would overload."

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Reiki nodded and said. "Correct, the inscription only needs a smaller amount of mana than the previous one. But the cylinder thinks that said inscription needs a value of 5 and shortens the next interval sending more mana. The inscription that receives the mana is overloaded and turns unstable." He dipped the quill in some more ink as he drew some lightning on the inscription on the right.

Reiki pointed to the inscription and said. "Since this has a simple design and nothing complex it wasn't made like other inscriptions that would forcefully shoot the mana out or destroy a part of itself to prevent it from activating. If Enrel did try to attempt this, the interval would keep getting shorter as the crystal would empty itself within… Roughly fourteen seconds. Since the mana is so erratic it would go through the link and force itself back into the crystal."

Moranor was thinking about what he said, while Melanor's eyes were narrowed. Melanor said. "This… I haven't heard about this principle before…" Moranor nodded in agreement as her eyes slowly narrowed while continuing her train of thought. Melanor looked at him and said. "What was the title of the book? If you know the author's name It'll be better."

Moranor raised her hand, she said. "How valid is this principle? Some spells can cancel magic." Melanor let out a sigh and said. "How you managed to pass the accelerated course is beyond me… Mana is just another atom and molecule. So even if a spell is canceled the mana would just disperse and go around the surrounding environment, there have been records of mages casting spells that failed and rebounded back to the mage killing the individual. This has been taught on the first day of school, Moranor."

Reiki's eyes slightly widened as Melanor saw this reaction from the corner of her eye. He thought. Mana is an atom?... Melanor narrowed her eyes as she turned her head to face him, she said. "Reiki is something bothering you?" Reiki faked a cough and said. "It's nothing. I just forgot about the fact that she once took an accelerated course." Melanor's stare was still on him, he continued. "And to answer your question about the author, there is none."

Both of the elves gave him an odd stare, Reiki continued. "I just made this up, I call it the drawback theory." Moranor and Melanor's eyes widened, with their voice having a tone of complete disbelief as they simultaneously said. "... Huh?..."

Reiki stared at both of them and said. "Is this so hard to believe?" Moranor was about to shout something but Melanor quickly moved her hand to cover her daughter's mouth. Melanor said. "Do you even understand what you just did? 'If' and this is a big if. Your design works and your theory is real… Do you even know what would happen?"

Reiki shrugged his shoulders and said. "It's just a measly three percent. Moranor-san said it so herself, the amount of mana is small..." He placed a hand behind his head and continued. "I think we forgot something important…"

----------------------------------------

In A Bright Room

The room had a single metal door and no windows and all the walls were painted white, there was a large metal table in the middle with dozens of unfinished potions and a small cauldron that was bubbling. Two large metal cabinets on the edge of the room and three large chillers with four handles that had glass so you could see what's behind each storage. All of them had different plants and herbs inside that were growing at different temperatures that could easily be discerned.

Some of them were frozen and covered in snow but had a faint glow, some had red dirt with a few streaks of lava, and another one was filled with water with a few plants that had sharp spines and a thin layer of murky dirt on the bottom with a few dark seeds. And lastly, a normal one with a small patch of grass and a few herbs that looked like it was about to mature.

Enrel was on the opposite side of the two large cabinets and was carving an inscription in a lid of a box with the parchment on the right that was next to a couple of more things. In front of her was another metal table but smaller in size, she was looking at it every few seconds to see if she made a mistake as she carefully carved it in the box. Enrel was finishing the last part of the inscription as she slowly moved the chisel in her hands, placing the chisel on the table in front of her she let out a sigh and said. "Now for the finishing touches."

She picked up a calligraphy brush and dipped it in a bottle of ink with a wide bottleneck. Enrel meticulously made sure to remove the excess ink and slowly inhaled, her hand was slowly glowing a faint blue and enveloped the brush in her hand. She swiftly wrote the inscription on both parts of the small box and made sure to just barely fill in the part where she shaved off a thin layer of the wood using the chisel.

She let out another long sigh and excitedly said. "Now for the ink to dry…" Enrel was looking at both the inscriptions as she moved both her hands on top of each of them as a small gust of wind came from her hands, carefully picking up the lid of the dried ink. She said. "Now for the moment of truth." Enrel placed the lid of the box onto the container and waited for it to work, her pupils started glowing as she observed the mana fluctuations.

A few seconds passed while she kept her gaze on the box, nothing was happening as she placed her hand on her hips and furrowed her brows. She said. "That's strange… Why isn't it-." Her eyes widened as she saw the mana's fluctuations turning violent. She took a step back and snapped her fingers as a thick semi-translucent mana barrier surrounded the table along with the container. Enrel placed a hand over her eyes as she closed her eyelids to prevent herself from seeing the flash.

Everything in the entire room slightly shook as the small metal table the container was on burst with large scorch marks on the floor and the wall. Enrel let out a sigh and said. "No wonder he gave me the parchment so willingly… It wasn't even finished..." She turned her gaze on the parchment and saw it was only one-fifth of its original size. Enrel's eyes slowly lost their glow as the barrier faded, she clapped her hands and shouted. "Little helper! Clean this mess up! I need to… Convince someone… About a thing!" She turned around and headed towards the metal door.

----------------------------------------

Back At Melanor's Living Room

Reiki's eyes were closed as he plugged his ears using his fingers. Moranor had a concerned look on her face as Melanor was lecturing him about something but could still hear it even with his attempt to drown out the sound. Melanor said. "Reiki, I know you can hear me, so make sure to listen to my explanation for the third time."

Melanor slowly gritted her teeth as she tried to calm herself by slowly breathing. She continued. "I'll forget about how you just casually handed a new theory that could potentially help understand why certain inscriptions fail to work. I just need to make sure you won't do this again in the future!"

Reiki lazily nodded and replied. "I get it, I get it. Don't give anything to anybody." Melanor rubbed the temples of her head, she let out a sigh and said. "I'll settle for that…" She turned around to face her daughter who tried to hide her concern on her face, Melanor said. "Make sure whatever he… Does stay within the house. I need to go to a couple of places."

Reiki moved his fingers away from his ears and said. "Make it one. Enrel-san is already here." The door was opened as Enrel walked inside, she walked towards the other two elves with a big friendly smile on her face. Enrel said. "We've known each other for our entire-." Melanor's eyes turned frosty as she glared at her, she coldly said. "The answer is no."

Melanor took a step toward the door then suddenly stopped when she heard Reiki speak. He said. "How was the experiment? You failed, didn't you." The corner of Enrel's eye slightly twitched. She said. "Do… You know how to… 'Fix' it?..." Reiki quickly answered. "I can." Enrel's eyes brightened up as she walked in between Melanor and Moranor as both of them were forced to take a step back to prevent themselves from falling.

Enrel sat on the floor next to Reiki by kneeling, with a big friendly smile on her face, she grabbed one of his hands and gently held it with both her hands. Enrel said. "Can you do me a small favor-." The sound of lightning crackling was heard by everyone as Enrel let go of his hands and moved away while Reiki just barely managed to move his hands away from a bolt of lightning that hit the sofa on his left.

A few strings of lightning traveled around the sofa as a large burnt area in the middle was burnt with a few lines of dark smoke coming off from it. Reiki, Enrel, and Melanor turned their heads to see Moranor with a cold look on her face, all three of them had a weird look on their faces. Moranor noticed everyone had their eyes on her as she quickly faked a cough and stared at the ceiling. Melanor crossed her arms and said. "Is everything alright-." Before she could finish Moranor hastily said. "I'm fine."

The weird look on Enrel's face slowly turned into one of shock, she said. "Did you… Did you just hurl lightning at me?..." Moranor turned her head and looked at the wall, she quickly replied. "No, I didn't." Enrel's eyes widened as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. She said. "Then how can you explain-." Moranor interrupted her and said. "Mom did it."

Melanor's eyes widened as she copied Enrel and placed her hands on her hips. Moranor kicked an invisible can in front of her as she looked up to her mother with puppy dog eyes. Melanor let out a long sigh, she said. "She's right… I told her to do it…" Enrel gave her an odd look as Melanor flashed her a helpless smile. Enrel raised an eyebrow and was looking at Moranor with a scrutinizing gaze. Reiki quickly said. "Be honest with me Enrel-san. Why do you desperately need my help?"

Enrel turned her head towards him and saw Reiki slowly standing up as he looked up to her to make eye contact. She let out a chuckle and said. "I don't 'desperately' need your help." Reiki walked next to Moranor, keeping his gaze on the door he said. "With that, we need to prepare for dinner. Melanor-san do you have the necessary ingredients to make lasagna? Or do you need to make a quick visit to the shopping district?"

Enrel said. "Wait a minute you're not sticking to the script." Melanor suppressed a chuckle and said. "No, everything we need should be in the fridge or the cabinets. If we are lacking a couple of ingredients I can always have my usual delivery drop by."

Reiki stopped mid-step and turned his head to face Melanor, he said. "Is it that time when I smelled that stinky tofu?" Melanor let out a chuckle, with a smile on her face she said. "Correct." Enrel was on the verge of yelling, she said. "I get it! I get it! Please! Can you please help me!"