12. Back to the boring work.

The next day Alex was again back in the sewers. This time with two apprentices of the Cityworker Guild and a burly Copper with the name of Brod.

The two apprentices were busy scrubbing away dirt and oxide from the runes that didn´t need the touch of a higher-ranking worker, and then sealing them with some kind of varnish. Brod and herself had just to be there and get rid of the slimes.

They had been at it for some time now, and she was bored as hell. Brod was either not the big talker, or he was put off because they had put Alex in charge of their little group. As her reponsibilitys here didn´t take much of her concentration she started a conversation with Kagami. Of course, only in her head, with the others around.

Hey, Kagami! Can you explain some points about Mana and Magic to me?

Of course. Kagami answered. What do you want to know?

Well, I spoke to the others about Affinitys and how to get them sooner. And I think that Zar´car will want to know more about that after Herbarth tells him about it. I mean, I know, that most of those ways you told me are not manageable in a world with low Manadensety like this one. But I would really like to help Herbarth, Nick and Rick to find their Affinity.

That´s a verry complicated topic. Kagami said. As we have time now, I will give you the basics first. Or do you want to know simply some way that they can do here?

No, hit me with the full story. At least it will distract me from the smell.

I think I already told you, that those Affinitys are more or less something, that fits enough, so people understand it than the truth. In itself Mana is just Mana. But it is changed trough interaktion with, well anything. You will never be able to find or percive Mana in its pure form, as the simple act of observing is already enough to change it.

That sounds very familiar. Remember me to tell you about Schrödingers cat but go on for now.

Okay! Let´s try it with an example. A human is born and grows up. Until he Awakens, he is impacted by a pledora of influeces that are all to some degree mixed with Essenz and Mana. For now, just think of it as if all those influences together build a pattern or resonanz that defines this human.

If you want to categorize Mana and Essenz in Affinitys or whatever you have different tiers. Your Lifemana would be at the highest tier in this example. Simply as it incoperates everything that is or was alive. For the lower tiers you take the whole as a spectrum and each little part of it as a separate Affinity. Like a Plant- or Decayaffinity. Those tiers are not about power, they are about specialisation. A person with a high Plantaffinity will be able to manipulate plants easier and cheaper than you, but if he trys to affect other things than plants the costs and difficulty rise steep.

But back to our example of a human and his resonanz. First, there will be always a good amount of Lifemana of some kind in the resonanz. Simply because he is a living being and he grows up around other living things. Then there are a mixure of other Affinitys. Most people have at least a little bit of fire Affinity in them, as there is so much contact with it in a civilisation. The same with water and a lot of other things. But if there are not some special circumstances, those Affinitys are all to small to have an impact on the Awakening and the first Class. Our random human example would only be able to choose a basic Class without any speciallitys through an Affinity.

So, like Nick, Rick and Herbarth as in opposite to Neeli and Gretha? Alex asked.

Well, Herbarth is a little different, but Nick and Rick are good examples. As I told you, as a lifeform Awakens, there develops something like a little Rift inside them. It is not like that Rift connects them with a place of a form of Mana that is like their personal resonanz. The Rift brings in raw Mana that is changed imeditaly by this resonanz into their own special mixture.

Someone like Rick and Nick has no Affinity that is big enough to be of use, but they have at least a part of that mix, that is able to affect their body. So, they can take a Class, that uses that part.

It might even be better to take a Class like that if you have an Affinity that is just big enough to be usefull. Think about it like this. At Awakening a human has a Manacontainer of one hundred points. He has a just usable fire Affinity of 10 % but a mixture of Lifebased Affinitys that he can use for a simple Class of 40%. So, if he took a pure fire based Class he would have just a Manapool of 10 points, while the simple Class had a pool of 40 points to work with.

So, it would be better to take the simple Class?

Yes, or some hybrid Class, that uses both. Neeli might have such a Class, as most Aurabased Infuser Classes with an elementare effect are like that. As in, they use the other Mana to form their Aura or infuse stuff and use the elementare Mana for the effect only.

Gretha too?

Most likely. It´s quite rare to have two usefull Affinitys from the start, but it might be simply an Affinity of a higher tier, that encompasses stone and earth. I can just speculate here.

And what about Herbarth? Alex asked. You said he was different than the twins.

Well, either he has just a really big portion of his Manamixture, that is able to interact with his body, or he has a usefull Affinity somewhere on the lifespectrum, that is able to interact with his senses. You would need a really good practiser from an Inspector Class to know which is true.

That´s also the problem with your plan to train those Affinitys. As first step you need to identify the Affinitys that are already there and in which quantity. It is nearly impossible to get a completely new one into an already Awakend being. But you can strengthen those that are already there.

That happens naturally, by using them anyway.

Let´s say, Nick has a 5 % Affinity for fire. That Affinity wouldn´t be trained, because he dosen´t use it. But if he is exposed to a lot of Fireessenz he would be able to strengthen that Affinity. That is where in worlds of a higher treshold alchemistic substitudes come into play. They bring, very simplified, an Essenz into a body, in a form that the body can use. There is no way to get those in this world. You need Essenzcrystalls or Cores of the spezific Affinity to make these substitudes. The Essenzcrystalls you can get with a special Lootritual, but here it would be like carrying water with a sieve. You would need imposible masses of Beasts to just get one crystal.

And Beast create Cores only when they are pretty powerfull on a world of the next treshold.

So, how would we expose Nick to the right Essenz here in this world.

There are two ways, and they are slow working. Kagami explained. First, eating beastmeat and awakened Plants, that are rich in the right kind of Essenz. Or spending a lot of time in an environment which is rich in free Essenz and Mana of the needed kind.

But even if you do both, it´s a really slow process.

To be truthfull, they are better off, if they use their time in training those Affinitys they already using with their Class. I would only recommend otherwise if there were one, that is already near to a usefull amount.

Do you think I might be able to find an Inspector that is able to tell us the exact mixure of Affinitys they have?

Not imposible. Kagami said thinking hard. But I wouldn´t put my hopes high. They would need to already be a specialist in that direction, and I see no reason why anybody here would do that. Don´t forget, what I told you is mostly unknown in this world. For them someone has or has not an Affinity. Some get one later, but they don´t know much about it.

Even on worlds of a higher order they see Affinitys as singular things instead of a part of a spectrum.

Is it really all just different parts of the same spectrum? Asked Alex. I mean, you said my Lifemana encompasses all life. But to wield the whole spectrum I would need acess to that pure unifluenced Mana, and that is imposible if I did understand right.

Yes. Said Kagami. That can´t happen. But there are like categories, that together encompass everything that is.

Lifemana is one of these. That and Energymana encompasses most Affinitys that are possible to have. But it is unlikly that anyone would have a Energyaffinity, because it´s hard to really understand on a deep level, that everything is energy. Even an Affinity for all matter would be nearly impossible.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Wait. So, like the Plantaffinity is part of the Lifespectrum, something like the Stoneaffinity is part of the Energyspectrum? Alex asked surpriesed.

Yes, but it might be easier to think of the next tiers as categories. So, like matter, the electromagnetic spectrum, gravity and so on.

So other than life and energy, are there others?

Yes, as a matter of fact there are seven of the highest form. Six if we put the pure Mana on the highest tier.

They are like the seven Primordial Truths I told you about. Or perhaps the Primordial Truths exist because of that. That´s the old chicken or egg question.

You have Life, Energy, Transmutation, Time, Space and Annihilation.

In short, to have an Affinity from the Life or Energyspectrum is quite common. The Transmutationspectrum is rare, and Time and Space are very rare. Magic of that kind is mostly just accessible throug Ritualmagic. But that would go too far for now.

Annihilationmana of any kind is absolut a no no!

What? Why?

It´s the Mana of the Primordial Truth of the End of everything. Death! Complete deconstructin! Even the smallest spec of it would be fatal. Not just for you, but also for your Soul!

So, no Necromancers? No undead or things like that? Alex asked, sounding a little dissapointed.

What? Kagami was visibly surpriesed. No, they exist. But you must understand, that that what people call Deathmana has nothing to do with the true Annihilationmana. It´s a perversion of Lifemana. As is the Blight I told you about.

It´s Lifemana? So, I could, do it?

Hey! Kagami looked at her furiously. Don´t even think about it! Belive me, you wouldn´t like the results. To work with perverted Lifemana would mean to pervert the Mana in yourself. Even working with it through Ritualmagic would leave its mark, but in your special circumstances there would be bigger problems. To become a slowly rotting living corpse would be one of the nicer fates that are possible. So, there is absolut no way I will let that happen. I might be just like a halluzination, but belive me, you will have no quiet moment anymore if you do anything in that direction.

Hey, calm down. Alex tried to appeas her. I didn´t know that it is such a big deal. I can assure you, that I don´t want to end like that.

Kagami still gave her the stinky eye. To change the subject, she asked fast.

So, that is it about Mana? I mean, I know we said that Ritualmagic is something that is way into the futur for me, but as I can only work with Lifemana it is quite interessting to me that you have said that you can work with other forms of Mana trough it. Even if you have no Affinity for it, I mean.

Yes, but that´s really advanced stuff. Kagami said, still looking a little pissed. Even if you would learn it now, you wouldn´t be able to do something like that.

Why? Is it too complicated or is it a question of power?

Well, Rituals, and Encheantments too, work basicly in two ways. First, you power them with your own Mana. That gives you a way to do something that youself don´t have the controll or the possibillity to do by yourself. Like a Wand. That´s a small Ritual in form of an Encheantment. Someone with Firemana and an Auraclass can use as an example a Fireballwand. He could make a fireball by himself but would not be able to send it outside of his Aura without losing part of his Aura. The encheanted Ritual makes that possible.

And befor you ask, those are costly and not very practical. As long as you don´t use insanly rare materials they cannot be used very often. That´s why Ritualist make one-time Rituals for, well let´s call them spells, and don´t use something like Wands.

The second way to power a Ritual or Encheantmant is with the free Mana that is all around. That is way more practical and easier on the materials, but also way less powerfull. At least if there is not more free Mana around than normal. That’s way they gather all that Mana down here in the sewers and feed it to the hungry Encheantments at that plant.

So, you can do magic, that you don´t have the Mana for, but only if that Mana is around as free Mana. What about the axes that Neeli has? Are they like Wands?

No, those are not even really Encheantments or Rituals. They are just made in a way, that they are able to conduct her Mana. There are different possibilities for different Mana. Probably just a fireaffine ore in the alloy. Like you can infuse Bloodsteel, because of the blood in the alloy.

Okay, but why is it such advanced stuff to make Rituals with Mana that you have no Affinity for? I mean, it sounds like you have to just find a place where that Mana is around.

Oh, no. I didn´t mean something like that. If powered by free Mana they are really just minor stuff or need a lot of time to gather the needed Mana.

But at a Master level there are more posibilities. Things like building a Nexus that is like an artifical Core of an Awakend being. A Beastcore of the right kind that is enchanted to bring forth the Mana and is used to power the Ritual. But even if you had a Beastcore, you would need years of training and experience to get to that point.

Years? Like 10 or more?

Kagami laught laudly. Not even close. Ask again in a hundred years maybe. Perhaps sooner if you take a Ritualist and Enchanterclass as your second Class. But I don´t think you can achiev it in under 50 at least.

Well, that Ritual stuff sounds amazing enough. So maybe I will take it on. Alex said. Oh, I just remembered something. As we are discussing things that may take a long time. You told me, I think it was on my first or second day here, that there is something like those Mages in my storys, but it would take years to learn.

Yes, and as hard as it is, it is easier to achieve as mastery in Enchanting and Ritualmagic. But you still need Ritualmagic for it and are bound to its boundaries.

What do you mean by that?

See, let´s take as an example that you want to heal someone. Just a boost to the naturall regeneration, that takes 10 % of your Mana.

On your own you have to touch them, and inject the Mana, of course infused with intend, into him. As it just is a general boost you can pull back your Aura immediately.

If you have a Wand that creates a ball of your Mana and launches it, you can do the same and it has the same effect as long as you hit your target.

Or if you know that Ritual, you can make a one-time ritual that does the same thing. All that you need to do is, is a material, that you can infuse whith your Mana.

But please, I really simplify it a lot. Only to come to this point needs a lot of studying. Rituals and Enchantments are dangerous if done wrong or sloppy.

Okay, but how do we get to something that is like those mages I told you about?

See, if you are really good at forming your Aura, you can skip the part where you build the Ritual with a material that you can infuse. You form the Ritual with your Aura.

That´s way cheaper and faster but also much more difficult and dangerous. It´s one thing, if something goes wrong in a Ritual you have built on the floor before you, but if it happens inside your own Aura… Belive me, it´s an easy way to kill yourself if you don´t know what you are doing.

Thinking about it for a while, still kicking slimes back into the sewage, Alex was sure that it at least sounded amazing. She grinned and said to Kagami. Well, it sounds at least like a nice long-term goal. I mean, I have a long life in front of me. I don´t have to hurry, but it sounds like something I really like to learn.

You are right. We havn´t at all spoken of your plans for the future. I mean other than what to do in the near future, like going to the Copperhouse and so. I actually thought you were still trying to aclimatised to this new life of yours. Kagami said and put on an earnest face. I didn´t even ask for some while now, how are you doing? You seem okay, from your acting and the thoughts I´m able to hear.

Well, at least I think I´m quite fine.

Really? Kagami asked apprehensively. To say the truth, I was quite worried to ask sooner, as I didn´t want to stirr things up. I can´t even begin to comprehend how it must be to find yourself suddenly in another world. And not just that, in a body of not only a different race but also gender.

Funnyly that is the part I have the least problem with. I never was that happy with my life and body there. I don´t mean that I wanted to be female or such. But I was beyond the half of my life. The time I woke up with nothing hurting in anyway were behind me and I didn´t lead a healthy lifestyle. I don´t miss that. Just being young again would be nice even if I had landed in an ugly body. Instead, I´m a hot Elf, with a long life in front of me. So, I can truly say, there is not much that I really miss.

What do you miss?

As a matter of fact, and quite strangely, it´s catvideos.

What? Kagami looked at her bewildered.

Yes, don´t think there was a single day I didn´t watch one. Luckily, I didn´t had a cat of my own. Would perhaps break my heart to have it left behind.

But enough of that. How about you tell me more about the posibilities of Rituals. You got me interested there.

Okay. Said Kagami and started into the basics of Ritualmagic. A good distraction from the mind-numbing chore of holding the tide of dump and pretty harmless slimes away from the working apprentices.

The next day, in the early afternoon, Alexandra was finally finished with the sewer job. At the moment she was happily scrubbing away the last filth and stink of it. Sitting in a nice tub in one of the better bathhouses the city had to offer she made heavy use of the scented soaps they were providing.

She was really happy not to have to go down there anymore. It wasn´t even the stink that had made it so bad, the boredom had been the worst. The fight with those Beastrats had been the absolut highlight of the last days, short as it had been.

Tomorrow is Temple Day again. Spoke Kagami from the side. That means the day after we will be leafing here and will go to that Copperhouse. Is there anything that you need to do before that?

Well, I will make a tour around some Alchemists and that Actionhouse, just to ask after subblements and Essenzcrystals for affinitytraining. But other than that, I will most likely use Temple Day for training again. Why?

Just courious. But why the tour with the Alchemists? I already told you that there is no way that they have something like that.

The important thing in a good lie is concistensy. Alex explained. I know it from you, but no one else knows about you. If I hadn´t you it would be what I would do to find out.

Ah, yes. I hadn´t thought about that. It is likely that we are still beeing watched.

Yes. And even if not, it can´t hurt to be at least acting like it is so. That´s also the reason I speak only in Aril with you. If someone is listening in, he might think I have the habit of speaking to myselfe, but they will not realize that it is half of a conversation.

I mean, you could just speak to me in your head. You did it the last two days without problems.

Nah! Alex said and shook her head. I like it more like that. You are a real person for me, not just something that exists only in my head. I will do it if we are not alone, but it just feels more natural like this. And to be truthfull, I already had the habit of speaking to myself.

After feeling clean and fresh again, she did as she said and spoke to some Alchemists, which she left quite confused. A fakt that had her in a verry good mood at the end of the day. She might have a strange kind of humor, but to bring people to absolut bewilderment and leave them befuddled was just a blast. And it wasn´t even as if she would gaslight them. What she told them was the truth, they would just not be able to get the ingridients to work with the stuff she told them.