Using a steel knife that I palmed from my dad's workshop, I snipped off a single shimmering leaf from the Mystic-Willow-Oak and went into the tent to properly examine the biological processes taking place inside it.

My Infoscopes fizzed out every two minutes due to our proximity to the fault, so I had to constantly make new ones. Holding the leaf in my hand made it easier to scan.

Infoscopes 1 and 2 were spinning in a perfect circle around the tower, keeping track of potential incursions while I used Infoscope 3 as a microscope to evaluate my crystalline-organic sample.

Crystallography, the study of crystal structures was a major focus of Soviet science in fields of physics, chemistry, and materials sciences. Influential scientists like Shubnikov and Vainshtein made substantial contributions to the development of crystallography.

I visited the Moscow-based, A. V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography often in 1959 when I worked on my Virology thesis, attending lectures covering the latest research in the crystalline structure of viral proteins. The Shubnikov Institute had an excellent department of X-ray crystallography, which allowed professors and students to study the atomic and molecular structure of crystals.

My Infoscope couldn't produce an X-ray beam, nor did I have the necessary equipment to determine the amount of x-ray diffraction to produce a three-dimensional picture of the density of electrons within a crystal.

What it did have, was [Identify] and [Modify], the first responsible for pulling information about an object it was pointed at from the nearby Astral and the second able to modify the smallest currents of magic.

Magic, as I understood it, was a phenomenon unique to Novazem. If my Earth possessed any magic, it was not detected by the brightest minds of USSR. What we did have was radiation.

Both magic and radiation were invisible forces that influenced and altered the world around them. They operated beyond the realm of normal human senses, yet their effects were profound.

The crystalline-organic leaf of the Mystic-Willow-Oak was a prime example of nature and magic intertwining. Just as a radioactive sample of plutonium emitted alpha particle radiation, the leaf in my possession radiated magical energies, which Alanians referred to as 'etheric mana'. Specifically, the leaf projected a weak [Vascular-Vitality] field, a tad less so, now that it was cut off from the tree.

Both radiation and magic had the potential to cause harm or provide benefits. Radiation caused cellular damage, but could also be harnessed for medical treatments and power generation. There was a multitude of radiation that we studied and harnessed in USSR such as: Visible light, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, X-ray, Neutron, Cosmic, Ultraviolet, Infrared, Microwave, Radio Wave, etc.

Magic, on the other hand, possessed infinite specific conceptual alignment defined by my Infoscope with Omnicode-words such as [Life], [Death], [Destruction], [Fire], etc.

Understanding and manipulating both radiation and magic required special knowledge, tools and training. Just as USSR engineers studied the principles of radiation, the local mages studied the principles of magic and created tools to manipulate it more effectively. The Overseer's Armacus, for example, somehow overcame the magogenic fault, producing LV 88 spells.

The leaf in my hand was identified as

Mystic-Willow-Oak tree leaf. LV 20.

As I ran my Infoscope across the tree above me, I identified numerous similar leaves below and at LV 20.

A carpet of dead leaves littered the ground around the tree, slowly drying out, decaying and turning into violet-tinted sand.

Unlike the armacus, the tree had no anti-spy runes on it. I dove my magical construct into its depths. The bark at its edge was [LV 20].

To my surprise, the deepest, hollow part of the tree contained a ring of large, violet crystals that showed up as [LV 27].

This discovery lead me to another hypothesis - both magic and radiation required special containment or shielding to protect against negative effects.

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In USSR we used lead vests during X-rays crystallography experiments to protect our bodies against radiation.

The effects of the [Decay] magic pouring from the magogenic fault were likewise blocked by the bark and thick wood rings of the Mystic-Willow-Oak infused with [Vitality].

"You look like you're in contemplative mode," Delta commented. She was peeling potatoes to boil them on the pot by fire.

"I have a contemplative mode?" I arched an eyebrow, focusing on her firelit figure.

"Oh yes," my sister nodded. "You look like you're staring at nothing. Considering how much I spaced out during my early years thanks to [Chrysalis], dad thought that I would be a layabout, but it turned out that you're far less active than me. You've no idea how many times mom or dad asked you to fetch something and you've simply spaced out and forgot... and I had to be the one to do it."

"It's part of my cover," I said. "They knew that I was born with LV 6. If I appeared too smart and didn't forget things, mom or dad would suspect something. It's perfectly normal for children to become distracted."

"Sure, sure," Delta stuck her tongue out at me.

"Also, I'm not a layabout," I said. "I think that I've just figured out how the armacus is able to cast LV 88 spells."

"Do tell," she said.

"I suspect that the magisteel metal in the Overseer's armor and armacus contains crystalline structures. These crystals generate a high level [Vitality] standing wave that blocks the [Decay] field that engulfs Skyisle. You remember seeing a large, ruby crystal pyramid in on her chest? I believe that it's a large battery which constantly powers her armor and armacus with a [Vitality] pulse."

"So..." she mulled. "You want to steal the Overseer's armor?"

"I very much doubt that Kliss will let us steal her armor," I commented dryly.

"Aren't you an all-powerful, all-knowing, science-wizard, Mr. disassemble-spells-in-the-air?" Delta winked at me.

"Whatever gave you that idea that I'm all-powerful or all-knowing?" I asked.

"You talk a lot," Delta said.

"I talk a lot?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Using big, fat words," she grinned, pantomiming with her slender fingers exactly how fat my words were from her point of view.

"I died in Aralsk when I was sixty," I pointed out. "I'm technically seventy two now, old enough to be your grandfather. I've read a lot of books with a lot of 'fat' words in them and have two university degrees. That makes me a typical Soviet 'intellectual', not all-knowing."

"I'm having trouble imagining you as seventy two when I look at your goofball face and scrawny little arms," Delta commented.

"Am I a scrawny goofball or all-powerful?" I asked. "Which is it?"

"Why not both?" she laughed. "Seriously, invest some points into [Strength], some wind could push you over. I could push you over."

"I do have sixteen points in Strength. Alas, I cannot max everything," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm simply Min-Maxing."

Delta raised a silver eyebrow at me.

"Min-maxing in virus design involves the strategy of increasing the virus's lethality, transmissibility or its resistance to existing treatments. This is achieved through specific genetic modifications or by selecting strains with these inherent properties. When a virus is made too lethal, that also lowers its ability to be transmitted," I explained. "The best, most dangerous virus is a one that doesn't kill its victim right away."

"Way too many big, scary words," Delta joked, nuzzling into my side. "I'm glad you don't talk like that at home because if you did, our parents would definitely banish you into the wastes as a walking aberration."

"I'm effective at scanning and modifying magical currents," I clarified. "At the cost of being terrible at everything else. Get it? Three hundred and eighty six in Intelligence and about sixteen points at most in every other stat. Min-maxing."

"I know that you're not all-powerful," she said softly, offering me a hug. "I just like to think of you as such, my older brother who can protect me from anything. I cannot do the things that you can do."

"My skills are definitely an effective card against our current Overseer," I nodded.

"We got lucky with Kliss, then?" Delta mulled.

"Yes," I nodded. "Had we been evaluated by someone who wielded higher level spells, we'd be dead now. From the moment I've met her, I knew that she was perfect."

"Perfect how?" Delta tilted her head.

"She's believes wholeheartedly in the evaluation ability of her tools. My bullshit certainly wouldn't have worked against someone who's a tad more experienced," I explained. "I kept to myself and didn't go anywhere near the Church of Skyisle till now, as the other Overseers there were older and far less impressionable. Kliss is like a tank - good at plowing ahead, but clearly terrible at judging people."

"I think that while the previous overseers of Skyisle were older and higher level, they were also very unmotivated, using the position for a cushy job that gave them an excuse to do the least amount of work possible," Delta mulled. "You seriously gotta work on some physical defenses."

"I do," I sighed. "Unfortunately my focus on scanning tools doesn't allow for that. I cannot modify physical objects with the Infoscope."

"Why not?" She demanded.

"The magical currents which my [LV 20 Modify] generates are microscopic and incredibly specialized," I explained, spreading my hands in an exasperated gesture. "The best I can do against a monster or a physical attack now, is run away or avoid it altogether."

"Hrrrm," Delta huffed. "So then what's the plan to move up in the world?"

"The crystals inside this tree are our best chance to bypass the level cap," I eyed the Mystic-Willow-Oak above us. "I'll be damned if I don't figure out how to use it best."