...

Alexander's mansion, Attic

"Wow... you really are fast, huh?"

"Master! I didn't expect you!"

Alexander wandered for the first time into the attic of his mansion, where he designated the space for Ocilia to build the chambers for his [Mana Sense] experiment.

The sun shone through the roof windows, and the giant house spiders moved erratically around, feeling apparently disturbed as someone visited them without announcement. There were also dozens of wooden crates stored here, some equipment and other ware, all with a thick layer of dust.

This place was nothing more than the beginning of a horror film and, by looking closer, wasn't considered for cleaning duties for some time. He wanted to find his maids immediately and reprimand them, till he remembered Melina, who had bags under her eyes, almost begging him to get more servants as cleaning after six kids was quite hard work. He decided against it and just ignored the cleanliness of this place for now.

However, besides the erratic and annoyed spiders, the mana chambers were much more interesting to look at. They seemed finished, even though they looked a little rough. The reason for it to be so quickly finished was lying all around the attic: dozens of empty stamina and mana flasks, and when he looked at her, she had giant bags under all of her eyes, 'Wow, it really reminds me of my time at university.'

Yet, even though he pitied her, he was eager to examine the first chamber before him more closely. She hastily but solidly constructed it at around 5 square meters (~54 sq ft) in size and 2 meters (~6.6 ft) in height. It had a triple wall made out of a lime and adobe mixture. Between the walls was the isolation, a cheap metal, roughly smithed only to be somewhat flat to fit between the walls.

The metal was called Manullium. The name already told everything one needed to know what it did: Man was the shortened version of mana, while null meant nullifying, and -ium, a suffix for a metal. It was a cheap metal used as a part of alloys to create armor or swords, which were effective against magical means in either defending or cutting through shields made out of mana.

It was very soft and could barely withstand heat while becoming brittle in cold. It was a shitty metal with barely any uses, and even though it was somewhat effective against spells, it also quickly deteriorated under slightly extreme circumstances. Thus, when mixed with other metals to alloys, its proportions were never higher than 1% since it deteriorated quickly, damaging the whole object.

From what Alexander knew, they had a manullium mine, which barely had any use and only made minimal revenue. Even though he wanted to use it for something, he had no idea for what. However, he didn't believe it was wholly useless, just that it had some practical property, which he simply didn't find out.

So, Ocilia using it en mass for their experiment was actually a clever choice, 'I only said that she should use something mana repellent-ish... huh. Good job.'

Ignoring Ocilia's nervousness, he stepped inside and meticulously observed the first chamber. The walls, floor, and ceiling were adorned with mana gems and stones. It was not a flat surface, though, as they were protruding out in rough pyramid shapes. In the middle was the only flat place where one could sit.

While everything looked fine, the time constraint was showing here and there as there were many gaps between the stones where the metal was showing. However, all in all, it was fine.

Yet, he needed to minimize his mana sense as the whole space was massively filled with mana, making him feel a little uncomfortable, 'Holy shit, I feel as if I jumped into a mountain of snow, just that everything is blue instead of white.'

He walked carefully around, inspecting it while talking, "So, the stones and gems give off mana by themselves? I only saw this partly on some mana items, but this much?"

As Alexander inspected many mana items for his Uncle and Aunt, some had an embedded mana gem, which acted as an energy source. It was a weird mechanism where one put energy into some spot, and a transformation-like mechanism would jolt the mana gem, activating the item.

By observing them, he knew some gave off little mana while others, especially the stones, emitted this much. There was a clear difference between gems and stones, and it was how much mana they held and gave out. Gems, in general, for some reason, stored mana much better, and as he tried to sense into them, they were much denser while giving out much less. Stones, however, could hold, in general, much less but emit much more.

Alexander didn't know why it was the case but speculated that it had something to do with how dense the material was and that it somehow held the mana inside much tighter. However, experimenting on it was forbidden for him, and he only knew about mana stones or gems because he observed them secretly in mana items, not telling his Mother that they had some inside.

He was only allowed to build this chamber because he promised to let Ocilia do everything and not experiment with anything even remotely dangerous. He had no reason to say no and had more than enough other things to study. Also, he wanted to maintain his Mother's trust in him, which he painstakingly built up.

Ocilia sounded a little nervous, bringing him out of his thoughts, "Is this too much?"

He looked at her and frowned, "I... don't know. I guess there is surely some maximum mana density air can hold, and we should reach it, but..."

Ocilia finished for him, knowing that it was a question her Master had been researching for years, not finding a satisfying answer, "We don't know how to measure mana, I know, Master."

Alexander didn't like mana's properties. It was a somewhat abstract concept with natural components like his mana organs, which existed physically. It was like studying the fourth dimension but the other way around. He could practically use it, see, observe, and so on, but he had no idea how to research it theoretically. Ultimately, he was an engineer by trade and had only a basic understanding of everything theoretical, as he never intended to become a scientist.

He quickly changed back to the practicalities, ignoring all the theory, hoping that over time, he could find out much more or build up the education system enough so others would do it for him, "Never mind..." He looked through the room, seeing another entrance, "...is this the door to the corridor?"

Ocilia nodded, "Yes, Master. There is a corridor for the mana density to slowly to subside, but I don't know if it is enough..." Alexander interrupted her, "Let me see."

Feeling a little claustrophobic, he walked through the mana-dense room and opened the door to the next section before him, which was the mentioned corridor. It was short, around 5m (16.4ft) in length and 2m (6.6ft) wide. He started to smirk as it genuinely looked like a first-semester project, which a student would barely make in two nights, significantly underestimating the scope of the task given.

Flat pieces of manullium were hanging all around on strings through the whole floor. He needed to zig-zag around them to go through, seeing that she had an excellent idea to repel the mana coming from the mana-dense room. It was basically a jungle, but instead of lianes, pieces of roughly made metal on strings were hanging around, ruining and ripping his clothes apart as they were smithed with sharp edges.

However, it worked. As he walked through, the mana continuously decreased as it flew against the manullium pieces, scattering and not going any further.

Alexander opened the door to the next room and immediately felt weirded out. There was barely mana, only a wisp or two. He walked inside with Ocilia behind him, who was trying to explain herself, probably thinking that because he was silent, he was somewhat disappointed. She was wrong. He actually loved what she had created, "I tried my best to move the ambient mana, but it was..." Alexander continued for her while using mana absorption to get rid of the ambient mana, creating more of a vacuum, "...no need to move ambient mana, just absorb it."

Bang!

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Alexander got scared and suddenly flinched, turning around only to see how Ocilia facepalmed, "What the fuck? Why are you doing this?!"

She mumbled, barely audible, through clenched teeth, "I needed hours to move the ambient mana out of the room, never even losing a thought about simply absorbing it..."

Alexander shrugged and walked around, trying to get even the smallest mana particle absorbed, but he couldn't sense them at some point anymore.

After some thought, he turned around and smiled at Ocilia, "Good job! Choose a reward, however, I think..." She interrupted him, now much more relaxed, "...I know what I want, Master."

He raised an eyebrow, seeing how serious she was and that she actually jumped on this opportunity while the last time, she had no idea what she wanted, "Yeah? What is it?"

She clenched her hands and became overly nervous, but after some time, she answered, "I want you to allow Ariana and Quill to visit you and..."

She suddenly stopped, making Alexander more curious, "And?"

After another moment of probably getting all her courage for whatever request she wanted to make, she answered. Her upper eyes went wild, and her voice slightly cracked, "And I want you to give Ariana a chance to become your retainer!"

Alexander tilted his head slightly to the side, confused, "Aha? Do you have a reason for that?"

Ocilia nodded, "I... I think it is a dumb reason but important to me."

He rolled his eyes, annoyed by this juvenile teenage behavior, "Just tell me already."

She blushed slightly, "I ride every evening for two hours to Wolfsteeth to be together with her and come back to the estate in the morning. It is really stressful."

After a moment of blanking out, Alexander suddenly laughed, "Haha! You want her to be my retainer because you want to bang her more often and don't have the stress of commuting anymore?!"

Her face turned red like a tomato, "But you said I could take any reward I wanted! I love her and want to be with her together as much as possible!"

Alexander waved his hand in dismissal and tried to relax from the laughter, "Oh man, I can't believe it..." He wiped a tear away and cleared his throat, "...ahem, yeah. Bring her to the estate, and I can talk to her first before deciding. However, I will not count it as a reward. This is just too fucking stupid."

Ocilia became even redder and looked down at her feet in shame. However, Alexander also saw how she smiled, 'Holy shit. A teen is a teen in the end.'

Alexander needed to be careful since Ocilia was relatively inexperienced when discussing relationships. It was her first girlfriend, and she was heavily in love with Ariana. He dearly hoped that her rumored half had a clearer head and wasn't as dense.

He suddenly noticed that Ocilia didn't mention something important, "Did she actually know what you are doing right now? Trying to bring her to my side?"

She flinched and tried to explain herself immediately, stumbling over her words, "N... no, but I think she... I mean, she respects you a lot, Master, and by giving her this opportunity, I think that she can... become..." She suddenly stopped and sighed, slumping her shoulders, "...I didn't tell her."

Alexander patted her back and smirked, finding it quite amusing, even though a little bit annoying, to have to deal again with something nonsensical instead of wondering out of boredom if he could kill himself with his own aura, "Well, you have a lot to talk with her and Aurum."

She raised an eyebrow, "Aurum?..." She suddenly understood, or at least she thought so, "...no Master, you see, she is together with me, and girls can love other girls even without a boy in-between. Aurum has nothing to do with it."

Alexander laughed again, finding it cute how she misunderstood him, "Haha, I know what a lesbian is, Lia..." After saying it, she looked more confused at him, so he explained further, "...she is Aurum's worker, and you are trying to poach her. He will go mad the moment he hears it."

She waved her hand in dismissal, "It's fine. He has found quite the people now and has over a dozen new workers. Ariana being there or not will not make a difference."

Alexander shrugged, "Suit yourself but talk with her and Aurum first about it. The last thing I need is some weird quarrel between my people."

Ocilia nodded with a smile, "Of course, Mas..." Her sentence was interrupted by a dog appearing on the other side of the room, making Ocilia flinch and immediately attack the fauner with her threads. However, when they touched her, they just got ripped apart, with Lili sounding pleasantly surprised, "Good reaction!" Making Ocilia stand in front of Alexander and preparing more threads.

Alexander sighed, annoyed by such childish behavior, "Don't worry. This is Lili, my Grandmother's guard, and it seems like she likes to prank others."

Lili waddled her tail and panted happily, "Oh please, Mr. Alexander. I just wanted to see how your disciple will react, and I am pleased."

Ocilia relaxed slightly but glared nonetheless at Lili, "Nice to meet you, Lili."

The fauner walked toward Ocilia, increasing her aura on her, which felt oppressing, from what Alexander saw, and immediately stopped the nonsense, "Stop!"

He walked to Lili, glaring her down, "You are here to protect me and not to test my retainers, do you get it?"

Lili, though, didn't back down and looked back at him innocently, "Mr. Alexander, by all respect, if I see her as a threat or nuisance..."

The moment she said it, he immediately pointed his killing intent toward her, like a blade held at her throat. There was no need to imagine someone else, as his anger toward her was real. However, it only made her flinch once, and shortly after, she looked relaxed, which made him even angrier, "Listen here, you damn mutt. I don't give a fuck about you, and the moment you become annoying, I will have you thrown out. You will not threaten my people, do you understand me?"

The killing intent increased, but Lili was still relaxed. After another moment of pressuring silence, she nodded, smiling at him, "You really are like Mistress..." Her eyes became more sinister, "...at least I don't need to worry that you are too soft."

It was silent till she chuckled, making Alexander pop a vein, "I need to apologize for my behavior. Your Grandmother instructed me to test your people to see if there are some rats, so excuse me and..." She bowed down to Alexander and looked at Ocilia, who was also glaring at Lili with hate, bowing down to her, too, "...I also want to apologize to Ocilia for coming over as rude."

Before Alexander could say anything, Ocilia bowed to her, too, "No need, Lili. I understand what you did and appreciate your worries."

For some reason, this made Alexander angry, and he tried to intellectualize it somewhat, but it was hard to get over the fact that the people he chose got tested. However, after a moment of thought, while Ocilia and Lili exchanged pleasantries, he remembered that he was a damn child.

Alexander sometimes overlooked that he was now only seven years old, so having him decide who was allowed to come close to him, especially as a noble, was an insane proposition. So, he calmed down slightly, but because of his pettiness, he wouldn't apologize, 'Fuck that shit.'

However, he got another idea, clapping his hands, interrupting the conversation, "I like that you understand each other so well. However, I need Lili actually to test something for me."

Lili looked at him, tilting her head, "Oh, how may I be of help, Mr. Alexander?"

He shrugged, "Well, I need someone to test the mana rooms and if you can get the [Mana Sense] skill."

She nodded, sounding joyful, "Oh, it will be an honor!"

Ocilia also looked happily at Alexander, "That will be great to test it right away!"

Alexander nodded, calming down more and talking to Lili more amiably, "Great, so all you need to do is..."

...

An hour later, Outside the mana rooms

After explaining to her what she had to do, he went outside. There was little to it since it was at an experimental stage. Lili would first stay inside the room without mana for an hour and meditate, trying to feel the atmosphere. Afterward, she would go to the room filled with mana and try to sense the difference.

He wanted to replicate his experience in what he felt when coming to this world and how it felt vastly different. With this, he hoped to give his people the legit [Mana Sense] while streamlining the process without his involvement.

"Ehm, Master?" His thoughts were interrupted by Ocilia, who sounded a little nervous.

"Yeah?"

She opened her arms, sounding severe, "I think what Lili did was good, and you shouldn't be harsh to her."

He raised an eyebrow, noticing that Ocilia was a little nervous. He wanted to disagree with her immediately but reconsidered it at the last moment, thinking he should at least hear her out and encourage her to say her thoughts out loud, "Why do you think so?"

Ocilia relaxed a little, "What she did was for your sake, and while you don't like it that she is questioning your authority in choosing the people you think are trustworthy, I need to say..." Alexander starred at her, not liking at all what he heard, while Ocilia saw this and gulped, trying to bring out all her courage, "...Master, you gave too many people too many chances, going only by your gut feeling, and I fear that this will at some point become a poisoned dagger."

Alexander couldn't disagree with her. He was impulsive and tried to retroactively explain his decisions by how well they worked rather than looking at the situation at the time. It was quite a big problem of his, trusting at some point his instinct to immense degrees when it came to people.

One needed first to analyze the facts of the matter and make decisions based on it, but he, for some reason, didn't like it. Seeing Ocilia now and how she was before, he wouldn't take her in if he thought like that.

After a moment of reflection, while rubbing his chin, he knew why it was the case, 'I just don't fucking care and don't want to go over it.'

With this, he got an idea of how to build an excellent failsafe rather than change, "Fine. After this project, I will have another one for you."

Ocilia gulped, probably thinking he would punish her, "Yes, Master? What will it be?"

"I want to have a Noriken who will test everyone on their truthfulness and background. Go to Aurum, and you both can decide who it will be and how to get someone like that to my side. Feel free to offer whatever you both see fit. How does it sound?"

After a short moment, Ocilia beamed with a smile, "Yes! That sounds great, Master!"

He waved his hand in dismissal, "Yeah, yeah, it was your idea, though, so be proud and take responsibility in looking for one. Tell Aurum it is a priority since I need someone to quickly evaluate a mass of newer people starting in a week or so. I guess Salyna or Mom will stop me at some point from poaching their workers."

She was about to say something. However, the door opened, and Lili came out, beaming with a smile, panting, "I can sense mana..."

She looked around in confusion, probably having problems adapting to her new sense, rubbing her nose with a paw, "This is weird..."

Alexander smiled at her, opening his arms, "Well, welcome to the world of magic."