"A solution?" Ariel muttered, unable to understand.
"Is there anyone amidst the anti-memed that has a mana brain?" Alec asked.
"Unfortunately, no. Most of us are students or the people working in the infirmary. Totaling to about two hundred people. The highest-level person among us is the Master Healer, Rebecca Bailey. Although she is a professor, she doesn't give any classes. She also unfortunately doesn't have a mana brain." Ariel explained. Her words attracted Alec's attention. Although he had never heard of this 'Rebecca', he found it weird that a professor wouldn't have a mana brain, considering that other professors would have more than one.
"Why doesn't she?" Alec asked.
"She is particularly weak in combat and doesn't like pain. So she never opted to get one. Still, her healing skills are undeniable," she answered. Iris and Evan looked at Alec awkwardly.
"That's bad. You see, because of the mana brain's structure, namely how it is made up of mind and memetic magic, it has an innate resistance to both of those magic types," Alec started explaining. "Even though the resistance is minuscule, it helps a lot when you know how to use it. Also, with more usage, you get more control over your own brain too."
This was true. Normally, arranging your own memories, shifting them around, hiding them from yourself, and overall manipulation weren't easy feats. At least, they were not as easy as Alec made it look. Because of his constant use of the mana brain and the extreme situations he had been put through regarding his mind, Alec had gained an incredible level of control over it.
"To survive in this war, it is better to keep control over your thoughts. I advise one of you to get a mana brain, just so they can become a central leading figure," Alec said. He thought of telling Ariel to be the one to get the mana brain, however, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to ask her. He didn't want to see her suffer like he did.
"Then I will ask Professor Rebecca. I think she won't refuse it now that things have come to it," Ariel said. "Though, will you be able to conduct the ritual on your own? Isn't it hard to do so? Also, do you have enough credits to handle the ingredients?" she listed question after question.
When it came to the ritual, Alec was confident in being able to handle it. Unlike using magic spells, he could spend all the time in the world preparing the ritual circle. When it came to the ingredients, he had a billion different channels to gather them. He could ask Professor Andrew and pay him some money – Which he would only get more of with time. Their 'business' with Evan was going well –. If he couldn't provide them, Alec could always use The Author's Pen, sacrificing some mana. Although he had promised himself he would focus on increasing his stats, it seemed like his mana expenditure would have to be reallocated for the time being.
"Absolutely. Don't worry about that part," Alec said. "Try and train in the matters of controlling your thoughts, though, I assume you have probably been working on that. If the anti-memed become capable enough to venture freely outside the infirmary without risking getting mind-wiped, they will be an incredible asset. Like a secret task force."
"Mm. For the same reason, it's better if I leave now. When should I come back?" Ariel asked. Just like Alec had said, she was risking getting mind-wiped any second now.
"Our regular library sessions are on Saturdays at around noon. I will try and pay you a visit before starting," Alec said. Although he would have liked to spend more time with Ariel, there was a time and place for that. "I will also try and figure out a way to properly enter the infirmary. It seems like even a combination of potion and incense isn't strong enough."
"Mm," Ariel nodded. Her mouth opened and closed, seemingly about to say something. However, she didn't continue and instead turned around, leaving the library.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"Now that is done, we have to continue devising plans..."
----------------------------------------
"This is turning out to be harder than I thought," Edward muttered while watching Alec struggle. They were currently in the public section of the training grounds. After all, what they were doing was a simple spell-casting training.
At least, that was what it was supposed to be. Unfortunately for Alec, enhancement was a whole other branch of magic from the ones he specialized in. When it came to the branches of memetic, anti-memetic, mind, and gravity magic, Alec had a clear advantage.
Magic circles weren't constructed randomly. Most of the time, the spells of the same branch utilized similar, if not twinned constructs. Sadly, enhancement magic was very far away in the magic tree from Alec's specialties. Coupled with his disabled system, Alec had to learn a lot of stuff from scratch.
"I don't know what to say, Alec. This isn't a problem of teaching. You just can't seem to remember the circles," Edward said with a sigh, his arms crossed. With a grimace on his face, Alec glared at him with annoyance.
"Really? I hadn't noticed that," he said sarcastically, which seemed to fly past Edward for some reason. 'Maybe he is too much of a hard-ass to notice...' Alec thought. Though, his blatant obliviousness to methods of entertainment aside, Edward was still a cool guy to hang out with. He didn't seem the type to take things too seriously unless needed. and was ready to learn the hip young people things if Alec deemed it necessary to teach.
He also excelled in Magikards, which made him a fun to duel opponent.
"It's good that you notice now. As I have said, you have to focus on the inner workings of your cells. It's enough if you just remember how they work. The reason I'm saying this is that the spells of this branch usually utilize those. If you understand them, your understanding of the circles will get better," Edward explained in one breath. "At least, hopefully..."
"Yeah..." Alec groaned tiredly. He had been trying his hand at enhancement magic for the last hour but seemed like he was getting nowhere. As he had already chosen his classes for the year, he couldn't pick to go to the enhancement classes. He had tried reading some books on the topic of enhancement but found Edward's guidance to be more effective.
What he found the most interesting about enhancement magic was the robustness of its scientific foundation. It was the exact opposite of fire magic. Fire magic, which mainly utilized physics, had the most practical and useful spells but lacked a scientific foundation. The mainstream magical academia seemed to have a level similar to that of the early 20th century back on Earth.
On the other hand, biology was prosperous, maybe fifty years ahead of physics. There was a lot of free theoretical knowledge, waiting to be made use of and turned into magic. This was one of the reasons Alec had found it to be of importance. If he could utilize it, who would know what he could do? Still, this was a matter of later importance. He had to first figure out the simpler stuff.
With considerable help from the mana brain, Alec finally managed to construct the spell. After completing the four essential stages of spellcasting, Alec felt his body heat up. It was similar to how one would feel when faced with imminent, lethal danger; only without the confusion that would come with it.
"Finally, Alec. Good job," Edward said with a sigh. "The Adrenal Boost spell is one that mainly depends on your bodily stats, especially health. It causes you to secrete a certain group of hormones that help boost your physical prowess beyond their natural limits. It isn't a widely-used spell, as mages don't really have that many points in that but..." he was explaining, but felt something weird before coming to a stop. Bringing his hand closer to Alec, he jumped in place and took a step back.
"A- Alec! You are burning!" Edward shouted. His eyes widened in worry, trying to think of a way to help.
"Don't worry," Alec muttered calmly. He was aware of his situation. His body was currently in an overdrive. Even while just standing there, an immense amount of heat was being released, causing nearby air to heat up. If one looked closely, they could even see smoke coming out of his head, which was worrying. At least for a normal human.
[Name: Alec Greenwood
Strength: 30
Agility 30
Health: 31
Mind: 27
Mana: 33]
Alec's unreasonable amount of stats was a strict exception. The Adrenal Boost spell would boost him as much as possible without directly harming his body. However, those limits were way higher for Alec than for other mages. 'Ah... Truly a spell for a jack-of-all-trades like me...'
Deciding to test his capabilities, Alec lowered his body and readied himself to dash. Seeing this, Edward's recently calmed nerves became alert once again.
"Alec stop! Don't—"
Crack
BOOM!