Chapter 10

MANIPULATION

PART 2

Mara smiled at the mech, Dante was progressing faster than she could have hoped- Already it was starting to question itself, a clear herald of the slippery slope that was independence.

“A good answer. That's called ‘alignment’- A symptom of Fate. It manifests when you encounter something heavily intertwined with your own timeline, acting like a reinforcing attraction to intersecting events.”

Once again, Dante was confused- ‘Fate’, another four letter word that it didn't understand.

“Is that like mana? Another ‘temporal force’? Or are they related?”

Leaning back, Mara brought her hand to her chin in thought, gaze drifting to an ambiguous point in space somewhere over Dante's shoulder.

“Mm. I used to think so, but they're summarily different forces, like magnetism and gravity. Both can express similar effects, but the way they do so is fundamentally different. However, yes, they are both forces through time, rather than space- Though the jury’s still out on their relation.”

Shifting her weight to her other leg, Mara could see Dante was hooked, now eagerly anticipating each and every word that parted her lips, but it was a fool if it thought she was just going to do all the thinking for it.

“But that's not what you were my j8asking about… You wanted to know about mana, the tactile force, which brings us right back around to where we started, the Rite Of Self- Why do you think that might be?”

Dante leaned back in its own chair, its metal chassis softly clinking against the chair hemmed from the same stone-like material the rest of the ship used as its hull.

What did that have to do with Mana?

It was more than just a form of ‘access’, Mara had very clear, these were forces they were dealing with, not something that held arbitrary requirements. The Rite she spoke of was indicative of something more.

“If a concept of self repels the side-effects of mana, then mana is…”

Dante looked to Mara, its adoption of her language nearly complete, yet it couldn't find the words to describe the concept it was dancing around.

“A force composed of… Self to be? Or… non-self?”

Mara slapped her hand on the table between them, overjoyed Dante had struck the same proverbial nail that she had.

“Yes! That! A terribly hard concept to articulate isn't it? I've taken to calling it ‘conceptual energy'- Just takes intent and purpose to catalyze, which is the easiest thing about it. The real challenge is quantifying it, it practically deters analysis- You have to look at the footprints to see it. Thankfully though, this whole world is made from it, so there's a lot of shrapnel to look through.”

Dante's eyes went wide before squinting as it extrapolated what Mara spoke of. ‘Conceptual energy’… And this place, Somniantes, was built with it.

But… Paired with and the nebulous and poorly understood bits was a critical piece of information, mention of a promising lead.

“That ‘easy part' you mentioned, intent and purpose, expand please. Then tell me more about how this world is ‘made from it’. Quantification can follow.”

Nodding, more to herself than Dante, Mara leaned forward and interlaced her fingers, wiggling them about as she chewed on the cloud of thoughts that cropped up every time she talked about this with others.

“Mana manipulation is a two part process at every level. Judging from what I can tell from here, you've already figured out one of the prerequisites, but past that you're as lost as the mundanes. Mana too alien a concept to grasp still. Lots of places will claim they can teach it, but all they really have are pointers loosely based on what's worked in the past, and not the actual source truth- Hence how we've approached your question thus far.”

Taking the opportunity, Mara stood up and walked behind her chair to the large window Dante had created earlier, the sun just beginning to creep out from behind its shadow.

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“Why does world have a name? What could that imply, now that you understand the mechanics of names.”

Dante’s eyes went wide as it followed Mara’s train of thought. Somniantes was more than just a place, it was… a being.

Turning about, Mara could see Dante understood what she’d implied, but lacked the words to reply to such a notion.

“In many cultures on this world, that name keep cropping up, regardless of language, and that's led to certain… Beliefs. The idea of a ‘creator’ in simpleton terms, or a ‘divine entity' in more educated circles. And… Much to my own remiss, there's merit to it all. The Church Of Somni being a prime example, making astounding headway on leveraging that facet, sequestered away in their ‘holy sites’, communing with their idea of a ‘god’- Because this realm is alive, and its name is mana.”

Sitting back down in her chair, Mara could see Dante was transfixed on her dissertation, so she continued unabated.

“Mana manipulation is a binary process, rooted in imagination and projection. With sufficient understanding, and the right kind of mental will, one can embed their ideas upon the world, setting it in mana like pressing shapes into clay- This then facilitate the other half, the mana itself. Your ‘simulation’ of the events, the story you tell with, entices the mana, attracting it to occupy your intentions over its chaotic norms. In practice, these two mechanisms operate in tandem, curving your intentions as you impart concepts, the whole cycle a co-creation with the mana around you.”

Nodding along, Dante was finding himself far more accepting of Mara’s intangible concepts than he was expecting- The promise such information held was compelling enough, but Mara seemed to have a talent with words, beyond using truths to hide lies, to which the only defense seemed to be direct questions.

“So… It can't be stored then?”

Mara smirked at Dante's comment, her new ‘pupil’ was far more adept than its predecessors.

“Now… I never said that.”

Gesturing up, then flicking her hand out flat, Mara summoned a wooden table from positively nowhere and tossed out a gold coin atop it.

“Now that we've clarified what mana is, and how its manipulated, what do you think will happen if I tried to store mana in this coin.”

Dante looked between Mara, the wooden table, back to Mara, then to the coin she'd proffered, unsure which ‘thing’ it needed to take issue with first.

Part of it had already scalped the brainwaves she exhibited as she whisked a table out of nothingness, but without understanding the thoughts behind it, Dante was just as confused about how she done as it was about the coin she'd tossed atop it.

Taking from what she'd so far though, Dante knew it wasn't as simple as charging a battery- There were ramification hiding in the nature of it all.

“If mana is conceptual energy, and it's collected into a vessel, that object can… gain a sense of self?”

“Mm. Yes, on a long enough timeline. However the interim spans several stages-”

Extending an open palm, Mara focused on the gold coin and balled her hand into fist, as if she were crushing the coin in her palm, causing it to glow for moment, then released her grip, returning it to its mundane appearance.

“This- Is what’s known as a mimic. They naturally occur in mana rich areas over time, but if you know what you're doing…”

As she spoke, Dante watched as the small gold coin shook, then began to blink open a trio of eyes.

Glancing between the coin and its caster, Dante couldn't believe the scans it was getting off such a unique creature- It appeared entirely made of gold, yet it was moving!

“A mimic you say?…”

Reaching out to pick up the ‘creature’, Dante froze as his hand got too close and the coin snapped closed all its eyes at once and returned to looking indistinguishable from any other gold coin.

“…What just happened?”

Mara seemed to find his reaction quite humorous, holding back a giggle as she picked up the coin herself.

“Terribly shy creatures, it takes them a while to figure out moving around, let alone eating, so they spend most of their time asleep until they're alone. Dangerous little things though, so…”

Clenching her fist upon the coin once more, this time with it actually in her palm, Mara instantly turned it into molten slag, squirting bits of liquid gold out in all directions- To which she paid no mind to, not even flinching as she whipped the slag off her hand like excess water.

“Mana infusion is categorically known as the process of ‘monsterization’, a poorly researched field due to its high casualty rates. However, I can say in summary, mana infusion without a sense of self is how monsters are born, regardless of race.”

Dante looked between the molten gold still dripping down the arm rest of the chair and the woman who did not look at at all like she could crush a coin in such a manner, and weighed what she had said with a great deal of significance and concern.

“So… I'm safe from that then, yes?”

“Ehh… You, yes. This ship?… Could certainly cause you problems down the line, as slaving thought has ramifications. You should either scuttle its potential for higher level conception, or bridge it something similar to what you've done with yourself.”

Dante looked about the room, the command deck of the first Obelisk. Before, it would have said its command deck, but now… Now there was definitely a distinction.

“…I see what you mean now. If what you say is true, which I've no reason to doubt at this point, I must consider my options.”

Slapping the arm rest of her chair, squishing the soft gold solidifying upon it, Mara stood up and gestured away the table in a cloud of ash.

“Excellent. I do believe my work here is done, for now at least. So I'm going to go rejoin my companions, we've a country to found- I'm sure you'll have no problems finding me in the future if you need anything, right?”

Dante blinked, a seldom used expression as its eyes lacked a need for routine hydration.

Her question was clearly meant rhetorically, spoken with full knowledge of Dante's ongoing observations. She'd certainly met her end of their bargain, now all it had left to do was put the pieces together.

“That is reasonable. I will be here. Perhaps I'll make myself a new home here if the need arises.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Mara feigned idle curiosity as the little girl inside her fist bumped the sky- She'd just gotten all the confirmation she needed that she’d played her hand right, now all that was left was to let the cake bake.