She didn’t think she’d have to face math when learning how to use magic. Besides, how was something as logic based as math supposed to aid in the formation of something like magic? Weren’t they completely different categories?

Blanche took her confusion for something else entirely. “Ah, I nearly forgot: you don’t have the education necessary.” Alice would have taken offense, but what could she say? She wasn’t supposed to even know what the word meant, much less be capable of it. A spark of smugness formed in Alice’s chest before she could stamp it out.

The merchants that visited her village every moon brought with them more than just items. They brought knowledge. Alice usually spent most of her day hanging around the merchants, picking up as much information from them as she could. Her big break came a couple of years ago though, when one of the merchants noticed her presence and took pity.

For the nine days he had stayed, he’d taken the time to educate her on a variety of things, like reading and math. Although his own knowledge was subpar compared to the nobles, he was able to impart enough. It wasn’t like she was going to outright tell Blanche she knew math, that would be stupid pushed to the limit, but she could at least be content she knew something.

Then again, math could be done completely differently than what he taught her. The first pinpricks of fear and self-doubt entered Alice’s mind.

”I’m not going to waste the time explaining what math is to you. Think of it as calculations. Algorithms, equations—wait, if you don’t know math, how would you know that?” Blanche asked himself.

Alice watched, becoming more and more bemused as Blanche’s frustration cracked through his facade. If she was feeling charitable, she would tell him that she knew what they were, but why risk it when she could enjoy Blanche’s suffering? A vindictive surge ran through Alice’s body at the sight of his troubles, a karmic response to his constant mocking of her commoner status, no doubt.

”Whatever,” Blanche said at last. “Think of this way; the System turns Manergy and all the other important things which you don’t need to know into hard numbers and letters. After that, the System takes those numbers and forms equations and calculations to reach the desired effect. What stops somebody from freezing a tree instead of burning it down? After all, Manergy is simply pure energy. The calculations are what allows somebody to choose what type of magic they want to occur. Different magic has different calculations, and different species have different calculations even if it’s for the same magic.”

”Why?” Alice asked.

Blanche snorted. “Do you think our biological structure is the same? Hell no. My Manergy Core is completely different from yours, and the System needs to adjust its calculations for that. It’s the reason why, unless there’s no other option, students are taught by teachers who are the same species.”

Alice scrunched her nose. “So, you shouldn’t be teaching me?”

Blanche snarled, baring his teeth. “No. I shouldn’t. But not because I’m a dwarf and you’re a human, but because you’re a peasant commoner. The fact that your sister was taken to the capital but not you is all the proof I need that you’re not particularly skilled in magic. So shut it, and be grateful I’m teaching you at all.”

Alice nodded hastily, nearly running into an overhead branch. Ducking under it, she thought about what he’d said. Alice should be happy that Blanche was taking the time to teach her about magic, and she was! This way, she would have more in common with Charlotte when they finally reunited. But she couldn’t help but have a nagging thought at the back of her mind.

”Why are you teaching me magic?” Alice asked. Blanche didn’t seem the type of person to offer teaching magic to a stranger for the fun of it. There had to be a deeper meaning

Blanche didn’t reply for a while, long enough that Alice found herself staring at him in confusion. He noticed her gaze and snarled, making her hastily look forward again. After a few more seconds, he finally responded.

”You’re a job, and part of the job is to get you to the capital alive. We never specifically talked about that, but I’m assuming it was part of the deal, unless you wanted to greet your sister as a corpse. The forest is a dangerous place, crawling with monsters and bandits. You learning the bare minimum to survive will take the pressure of keeping you alive off of me, so I can deal with whatever is happening.” Blanche said with the slightest bit of hesitance in his voice.

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That…made a lot of sense. Properly humbled, Alice listened while Blanche renewed his teachings.

”The System will take care of the pesky calculations, or at least it should. You should have been able to see the Manergy without my aid but whatever. You don’t need to worry about doing the math, we all know your puny brain couldn’t handle it.” Blanche stated. Alice wanted to get offended at the slight, but for once, it didn’t sound like Blanche was initially throwing a jab her way. His eyes were locked on the path in front of him and there wasn’t any of the edge that entered his voice when he was usually mocking her.

Alice raised an eyebrow. Then how hard were these calculations? If they were supposed to differentiate magic, then Alice figured they had to be on a level beyond her comprehension. A chuckle slipped past her lips; it was almost ironic, how math was what led to magic.

”What's so funny?” Blanche demanded to know.

”Huh?” Alice said. “Oh! Nothi-–actually, I was wondering, what’s the System?” She figured it had to do with the stat screen that popped up and the voice, but what were they exactly?

Blanche let out an ever-suffering groan that stretched high into the air, past the top of the trees. “Why do you have so many questions? It sounds like you’re forcing them out of your mouth, why not give up and simply listen?”

Alice tightened her lips. It wasn’t like she wanted to keep on asking questions to a callous stranger like Blanche, but he was the only source of information she had at the moment.

”So?” Alice pressed.

”The System is the purest creation of the World. It was installed into the minds of every living creature, to help them control and redirect the Manergy into what they wanted. Calculations which would have otherwise been impossible, became as easy as breathing and as quick as lightning.” Blanche informed her.

So the System acted as a compact oracle inside everybody? Alice wondered if it was a physical aspect, embedded into the brains of everybody, or it was more of a spiritual sense. If somebody took a pair of medical tools, strapped a person with the System down to a table, and cut into their skull with the tools, what would they find? A piece of metal? Or merely squishy flesh, muscle, and fragments of bone?

”Are you paying attention?” Blanche broke through her reverie. Alice glanced up and was bombarded with a face full of fluttering insects, with a handful finding their way into her mouth. Choking and gagging, she forced them out, tears swimming in her vision. Forcing her head up, she spotted the blurry image of Blanche, standing a few feet away. “What the hell are you doing?”

Alice let out one last cough, face contorting as the texture and taste of the bugs oozed out in her mouth. “N-nothing!”

”Then stop playing around, we’re almost to our destination.” Blanche ordered, promptly turning on his heels and continuing his stride through the forest. Alice shot a pleading glare at his back, but soon pushed herself back upright and followed the dwarf. Silence reigned across the wood as Blanche seemed content with the knowledge he’d imparted across to her.

Alice walked nearby, always a little behind him, but never out of reach. With all the information she’d received, Alice found herself examining Blanche from his feet to his hair, trying to find any sign of a System. Anything that made it clear to somebody looking with their eyes alone that Blanche was capable of doing magic. When multiple cursive surveys turned nothing up, Alice decided to try seeing Manergy again. Blanche had told her she should be capable of doing it on her own, and it shouldn’t hurt as much as it had. Still, Alice was apprehensive as she stared at his form. If she used [Reveal], what would she find? Was it a breach of privacy?

”I feel your gaze. What in blazes are you doing?” Blanche asked.

Alice startled, blushing now that she had been caught. “I was just trying to see Manergy.”

”Can’t you be a normal kid and stay silent?” Blanche asked. Alice fumed. She had been quiet! And if what she had done was loud, then Blanche was going to be in for an unpleasant shock if he ever came across another kid. The children in her village would have been ranting Blanche’s ears off.

Alice snickered at the thought of August being in her position. He’d probably be taken off guard by Blanche’s harshness before falling to his default conversation starter: talking about his chores. That was how he became her only friend. Not that it was hard, considering how desperate Alice had been for contact from somebody her age.

Alice’s lips turned down. Thinking back on her village…perhaps it was all the physical distance away that allowed her to see her village from a mental distance as well, but she could see so many problems with her life in the village. Neglectful parents, a friend who only really came to talk to her when they shared chores, and being an outcast among the children. Charlotte had been the sole person in the village, nay, the entire world, who had shown Alice unconditional love. Was it any wonder why she was willing to go to any lengths to reach her once more? Why she wanted to change the world so nobody else would have to go through the same things?

”I can feel you thinking,” Blanche said.

”That’s stupid,” Alice retorted, glaring att the back of his head.

”You’re the one stupid. Anyway, hurry up. Since I’m apparently such a bad teacher, you’re going to get a teacher that actually finds pleasure in teaching brats like you.”

”In the forest?” Alice asked.

”Of course not, you numbskull. In the dwarf village.” Blanche corrected, picking up the pace and leaving the clueless Alice behind.

“Wait, where?”