I track Yafel’s mana signature trail; although the ambient mana currents disrupt some parts of it I quickly catch on again. Like a bloodhound, I track my sister all throughout the village. She has left quite a confusing trail, doubling back several times, but with the help of [Inquisitive Perfection], I easily work through the puzzle she has laid out for me.
Finally, I see her with my vastly reduced vision. Yafel ducks around the corner of a shop. I follow her and pounce, grabbing her and tickling her sides.
"Monster's got you now!" Yafel laughs from my tickling, struggling to break free from my grasp. "Now, where is Yafe?" I say and turn my head towards a barrel.
"Run Yafe, she knows where you are!" Yafel shouts. Yafe bursts out of the barrel and tries to flee, but I catch her with the enhanced speed from [Graceful Movements].
After tickling Yafe, I release the twins. I'm a kind monster; I catch and then release. We continue playing all morning, which helps level my breakthrough a few times in addition to the emotional value of just spending time with them. For the afternoon, I experiment with and study mana, observing the particle and the MM force.
Mana intensity – the amount of energy a mana particle has – is the 'spin' of mana. This spin can alternate back and forth to cause instability within the mana that, with a frequent enough alternating instability, will eventually cause the things responsible for the MM force to flip, repelling the same mana type rather than attracting it; this results in an explosion. The more energy is given to mana, the faster the spin. Many things can give mana intensity, from Race and Class to magical and enchanted items.
Mana uses the MM force in a myriad of ways in enchanted and magical items. The peaks and valleys in the MM force generated by a mana particle not only allow mana structures to form, but also give them purpose. The arrangement of mana particles to overlap the MM force in specific ways can create all manner of effects, from mana paths – using channels formed by the MM force – to even a logic gate and transistors. I'll have to refine my techniques even further to make computers, but the possibility is now within my grasp, assuming there isn't some unforeseen complication that makes them impossible to make.
Ultimately, the idea of a mana computer relies on the formation of complicated mana structures, the problem being that the structures will have to be perfect – not a single particle out of place, something that will take considerable effort and be extremely complex and fragile. My Diadem was made mostly by hammering mana together and I only had to worry about one enchantment; mana computers will have dozens, all interacting in complex ways. This means my method of hammering mana together won't work. Instead, it'll be like trying to build a ship in a bottle; I need careful and precise movements.
"If only Kayafe was here and could show me how it all works," I complain to myself. Visual aid would be tremendously helpful in figuring all this out. The countless hours of experimenting and careful observation are very tedious and often result in failure, since I'm really just tossing ideas out and seeing what sticks.
So far, I've made simple mana structures in tiny flakes of solid mana. I have hundreds of these flakes now, and my efforts have been rewarded with reaching all ten levels in two of my breakthroughs.
Moving onto my studies of vitality and hyper-dense mana, I find that vitality is a form of non-elemental mana, and has no MM force; rather, it seems as if the particle components responsible for the MM force are inert, much like reserved mana. However, in vitality, there seems to be something else, something that I can only describe as ‘lifeforce’. It's much like the MM force, only it pulls on the soul and ectoplasm, stimulating the body and gluing the soul to the body. With enough of it, if the MM force is restored, one can probably build a body out of pure vitality, keeping their soul in a vessel of mana instead of matter.
Hyper-dense mana – liquid mana – is the equivalent of exactly one hundred fifty points of mana compressed into a single point. A single point of mana less, and it can't overcome the normal MM force and will just be a huge blob of fused mana. A ‘point’ of mana is actually an absurd amount of mana particles; I haven't done an exact count, but I estimate a single point of mana to be a collection of around a million mana particles.
Liquid mana can be further compressed, although actually doing so is far beyond my capabilities, and I don’t actually know what the result would be. Another aspect of liquid mana is that it overwhelms the MM force; it can and will erode mana structures.This effect of ignoring the MM field is only one-way; the liquid mana itself still generates an MM force which can repel other mana, or catch it to form solid mana around the liquid. However, if an object made of mana can't be pushed away, the liquid mana will sink straight through it and leave a hole in its wake.
After my review of what I have learned from my studies, I check to see how many levels I gained for my efforts.
Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 272->284!
I only have four breakthroughs remaining to cap out for my [Sense Mana], let's see what they are...
13th Breakthrough: You've observed and learned the mana interactions of magic items. This will help you better understand the process of magic item empowerment and creation.
19th Breakthrough: You've observed and learned how mana interacts with mundane materials. This will help you better understand these interactions.
21st Breakthrough: You've learned to Identify through Sense Mana; this will help you learn more about people and objects.
26th Breakthrough: You've learned how to track magic items and materials; this will help you find the sources of mana signatures.
For the last level of the thirteenth breakthrough, I need to observe many magical items at once. For the nineteenth, I should be able to easily get it with a little bit of study on mana-saturated materials, maybe observing how enchantments have to work around mundane materials. For the twenty-first, I need to study mana signatures more. And lastly, the twenty-sixth breakthrough I am currently working on by playing with my sisters, and I will get it eventually.
With each level I gain in [Sense Mana], the skill's glow becomes more saturated, developing more color. I am getting ever closer to enhancing this skill, my most useful and important skill.
Let's start with [Analyzing] through [Sense Mana]. What I need to do is determine people's levels or Bond levels. I'll first try to sense people's Bond levels; that seems a lot easier, since I don't even know where to begin to look for Class levels.
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I enter [Sense Mana's] state of focus and observe some spirits around me. The tiny souls float through the walls, their bodies of mana able to permeate slowly through solid matter. I can't really get any information from them; they seem more like jellyfish and don't seem to have much, if any, intelligence. They are probably very low level and don't even think about getting more levels.
I turn my attention to more active souls, the villagers around me. I compare their mana signatures to each other, looking for similar Bonds. With my targets in sight, I stare at their mana signature, ignoring the rest of the world.
The difference is very subtle and not where I initially thought to look for, but there is a correlation between the amount of elemental or essence mana generated in people's core and their Bond level. Of the fifty percent of mana produced as waste by my core, the vast majority of it is beauty essence, with the rest of the waste being random elemental mana types and a few other essences influenced by my emotions. Mom's core produces higher than average amounts of water mana, but still less than what my core produces in beauty essence. The more of the mana produced, the higher their Bond, but that's just a general indication: my Race, for example, also heavily affects my core's mana production. Now that I know where to look, I just need more reference points. Both Mom and Dads’ Bonds are relatively low level, around level one hundred ten to one hundred twenty. Mine's three hundred eighty-four, over three times their Bond level.
Yafel and Yafe are at around eighty-six, so that puts the average villager around the low to mid one hundreds in their Bond, depending on how old they are and a few other factors. For example, Chofel, the sound essence musician, should have a higher than average Bond level.
I compare Chofel's Bond to a Kheshamo fighter's, finding that Chofel produces more sound essence. [Inquisitive Perfection] points out that Class, in addition to Race, also factors into the mana production, so if I take those into account, Chofel's Bond should be around level one hundred thirty to one hundred forty.
Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 285->286!
One down, three to go.
Next, I go downstairs into the forge on the first floor of our house. It's after work, so the forge isn't being worked on at the moment. I examine a water-saturated steel sword. The mana inside seems to maintain an odd structure, one that shouldn't be possible. It appears that it is attached to something else, something very, very small but like a mountain in comparison to the mana particles. The mana seems to use this other thing as an attaching point and uses some sort of interaction between instances of it to form new mana structures.
Knowledge of my past life, as well as [Inquisitive Perfection], tells me that mana is interacting with the atoms – or possibly the particles making up the atoms – to give them new chemical properties. Although it is ferrous steel the water mana makes it more flexible, to allow a higher-grade steel without sacrificing the flexibility needed to make a good sword. I'll have to spend the next few days observing the interactions between mana and matter at this level of detail.
After half a week, I finally make sense of my observations, reaching the max level in the nineteenth breakthrough.
"Mana actually uses the weak and strong nuclear forces in tandem with the MM force. Somehow, the three forces are connected." I mutter as I write down my thoughts. One thing is certain; the mana particle is ridiculously small. I've found out that the mana particles are tiny, like a sand grain compared to a mountain, to what are probably subatomic particles like protons and neutrons. Mana particles are also somehow capable of inducing changes to the chemical properties of atoms; some cases are very drastic, others not so much. Iron, the most stable atom, retains most of its properties, but atoms like hydrogen, theoretically, will be very different, and uranium even more so; I can only guess at the differences.
Ting! Sense Mana has obtained level 287!
Only three more levels and two more breakthroughs to go! I'm already working on the twenty-sixth, and the thirteenth breakthrough... I don't have the means to level the thirteenth to the cap.
With my higher levels in [Sense Mana], I should be able to finally sense the individual particles that mana is composed of. I enter my state of perception and focus on the smallest area possible, trying to feel the ‘innards’ of mana. There is a reason why elements are elements, why vitality is the way it is. There is something there that makes mana the way it is.
Slowly, like fog clearing up, I begin to get a picture of what's happening inside the mana. Hundreds, maybe even thousands – it's unclear how much – of something is present the things appear to be aligned in a certain... for lack of better words, ‘direction’. These things are giving off the MM force, a warping of... reality? The thing that realms are composed of? In any case, it's very similar to how gravity warps space-time.
The MM force is a lot like gravity, but also works similarly to the nuclear forces and magnetic force. Could they all be related? If they are, then is it possible that normal mundane matter is also formed by mana? What happens if I compress liquid mana so much that its composite particles fuse? Will it form larger particles like electrons and protons?
There is another particle in mana, just as I suspected. It, too, is aligned in a 'direction' not a physical one but more of a metaphysical one. If my suspicions and [Inquisitive Perfection] are correct, then that will be what determines the elements.
Using [Mana Manipulation], I transform the mana I am observing into another element. I watch with fascination as the particles shift ’direction’, aligning to a new element. The MM force also changes; I assume shifting only the MM force will be harder. The two particles are mixed; it's easy to apply a change to the whole thing but much more difficult to pick out specifically one type of them and only change those.
I cycle through all the elements, cataloging the direction of each element and I notice six seemingly unused directions, empty spots. Using my other mind to control my body, I draw out a diagram to represent the elements. At the top is the lightning element. To its left is water, then ice. Continuing on the left, there is a blank spot, then dark element, then another three blank spots. Earth is alone on the very bottom with three more blank spots on its right. Next is the light element, then another blank spot which leads to fire, then wind, and finally back to lightning.
I put my hand on my chin, using multiple minds aided by [Inquisitive Perfection] to complete the diagram. Different elements attract their similar elements and repel their opposites. Lighting attracts water which attracts ice which should, in theory, attract the unknown element, which in turn attracts dark and round it goes. Ice repels both fire and wind elements; maybe it'll repel the unknown between fire and light? Earth repels water, lighting, and wind, so maybe lightning repels earth and the two unknowns immediately next to earth?
So now the next question is, can I transform an element into one of the unknown ones? I try, but no matter how hard I attempt it, I can't get the element to stay. It technically exists, but it's too unstable, quickly becoming the nearest stable element. Why mana tends to favor one side, I don't know, but the asymmetry of the universe is not unique to mana; matter and antimatter is a prime example. In fact, it could be this exact asymmetry that is responsible for the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, assuming mana can compress into matter and form atoms.
Feeling content with what I've learned, for now, I check my system messages.
Ting! Sense Mana has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 290!
29th Breakthrough: You've seen the components of mana particles; this will let you study the interactions between them and the true nature of mana.
Ting! Sense Mana has obtained levels 288->293!