Chapter 166: Sigrid
I tapped my identity card against the desk sensor, logging into the Mega Al interface.
"Alright," I muttered, opening the primary research index. "Let’s see how the physics of this world actually work."
I typed my query into the search bar: Fundamental Physics, Conceptual Structures, and Mana Mechanics of the Supernatural World.
A massive tree of technical documents, mathematical formulas, and theoretical papers expanded across the holographic display. Thanks to my newly upgraded memory and focus, I began scanning through the data at an absurd speed, my eyes gliding over thousands of words per minute while my brain absorbed the information effortlessly.
The deeper I read, the more fascinated I became. The physics of this world weren’t governed merely by standard gravity, thermodynamics, and atomic structures. The physical universe was simply the bottom layer of a much larger, multi-tiered reality.
The Mega Al broke the system down into several core pillars:
First was the Structure of the Realms.
At the top of existence sat the Astral World, also known as the World of Concepts or the Platonic Realm. This plane didn’t contain physical matter, spatial distance, or linear time. Instead, it was an infinite ocean of raw logic, fundamental truths, and archetypes. Every concept that existed in the physical world, fire, ice, space, time, gravity, life, and death, originated as a static rule in the Astral World.
Below the Astral World sat the physical reality. Physical matter was essentially a downstream projection or a shadow cast by the Astral World, bound entirely by the rules established in the conceptual plane.
Second was Mana and Spellcraft Mechanics.
Mana wasn’t just mystical fuel, it was a fluid conceptual bridge. It existed simultaneously in physical space and at the border of the Astral World. When a standard Awakened cast a spell, like a fireball, they channeled their internal mana to connect with the concept of "Heat" or "Combustion" in the Astral World, temporarily projecting a physical manifestation of fire into the real world.
However, because standard mages were merely borrowing conceptual force through mana, their spells were temporary. Once the mana dissipated, the fireball vanished, and the physical environment returned to its natural state.
Third was Spatial Physics and the Planetary Barrier.
𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
I pulled up the technical schematics detailing King Gilgamesh’s ancient planetary shield. The barrier didn’t just function as a physical dome surrounding the planet, it operated as a massive spatial filter layered directly over Earth’s space-time continuum.
The barrier split Earth’s surface into two distinct frequency layers: the Mundane Realm (where normal humans lived without perceiving magic) and the Mirror Realm (where supernatural cities, hidden territories, and academies like Avalon existed.)
Because the barrier forced high-frequency spatial friction across the planet, standard spatial manipulation like long-distance teleportation was heavily restricted. Bypassing the barrier required established transit circles, specialized spatial keys, like my grandfather’s cane, or exceptional spatial authority.
Finally, I opened a high-tier paper on Conceptual Authority and Reality Alteration.
This section explained the fundamental difference between standard mages and conceptual users. While ordinary Awakened used mana to temporarily borrow concepts from the Astral World, individuals with Conceptual Astral Souls could directly edit or rewrite the underlying logic in the physical reality.
When a conceptual user altered an object, they weren’t applying a temporary magic effect, they were changing the fundamental rules of that object’s existence in the physical reality.
This explained why my Origin reality manipulation produced permanent results. When I turned a rotten apple into a fresh orange during my training session under the estate, I wasn’t casting an illusion or covering the fruit in magic. I was accessing the conceptual blueprint of the universe, erasing the rule that defined it as a rotten apple and replacing it with the rule of a fresh orange. Reality simply obeyed because the underlying information had been permanently rewritten.
Information...yes, that was the best way to put it. One didn’t change the fundamental laws in Astral World, not that I knew of anyone who could do that atleast. But they could change the fundamental information of something or someone, depending on their control over their Astral Soul and also how powerful the Astral Soul was too.
I leaned back in my leather chair, letting out a long, satisfied breath as the vast ocean of physical and conceptual knowledge settled perfectly into my memory.
Understanding the mechanics of the world didn’t lessen the impact of my power, it made me realize just how absurdly broken my Origin soul really was. Standard mages had to spend decades mastering complex mathematical formulas and mana channels just to temporarily borrow a tiny fraction of a concept. I could alter the foundation of it simply by willing it to change.
"Knowledge really is power," I muttered to myself, tapping the console screen to save my study notes.
I closed the holographic displays, stood up from the desk, and stretched my arms. With the fundamental physics of the supernatural world locked into my mind, I was ready to see what else Avalon had to offer.
I stepped out of Cubicle 402, feeling refreshed after absorbing the fundamental physics and spatial laws of the supernatural world.
Val was standing beside the glass doorway in her sharp dark suit, her hands clasped loosely behind her back. The moment the door slid open, her violet eyes locked onto mine with her usual razor-sharp focus.
"Did you find the information you were looking for, Seth?" Val asked, her tone composed.
"Yeah," I replied, rolling my shoulders as we walked back toward the glass balcony overlook. "The Mega Al cleared up a lot of things. Mana mechanics, the planetary barrier, conceptual editing... it’s a lot more logical than I expected."
"Knowledge in the hands of someone with your authority is a dangerous tool," Val noted with a subtle, affectionate smile. "Are we heading back to the residence, or do you wish to explore more of the library?"
I glanced down at the lower level of the Futuristic Wing. Beyond the private reading cubicles lay the Practical Spell Synthesis Labs, a series of reinforced circular glass bays where students tested theoretical spell matrices and dimensional constructs in real time.
"Let’s check out the synthesis floor," I said, leaning over the railing. "I want to see how students actually build their spell models."
We took the glass escalator down to the lower level. The synthesis floor hummed with the soft crackle of containment barriers and holographic code lines. Dozens of high-ranking students from various pantheons stood inside individual containment pods, typing furiously on floating keyboards or channeling mana into floating runic circles.
As we walked past the second row of testing bays, a loud, frustrating BZZZZT echoed from Bay 12.
BOOM-CRACKLE!
A burst of icy smoke erupted inside the pod, coating the reinforced glass walls in a layer of white frost.
Standing in the center of the bay was a girl. She looked to be around my age, standing tall with a sleek, athletic build. Long, shimmering silver hair fell past her waist, and two dark, polished obsidian dragon horns curved gracefully above her temples.
A sleek, silver-scaled dragon tail poked out from the back of her tailored Avalon uniform skirt, flicking back and forth in irritation. Her eyes, a striking, vertical-slit golden yellow,bwere narrowed at the floating holographic terminal in front of her.
She wore a long, pristine white lab coat over her uniform, stained with faint soot marks at the cuffs, and held a metallic stylus between her sharp, manicured claws.
"Illogical," the dragonkin girl muttered, her voice surprisingly crisp, clear, and utterly devoid of self-doubt. "The thermal dissipation coefficient for Frost-Dragon compression should stabilize at twelve thousand kelvin equivalents. The matrix algorithm is mathematically flawed."
She aggressively tapped the screen with her stylus, resetting the holographic projection. A complex seven-dimensional magic circle materialized in the air, glowing with volatile blue light.
I stopped near the glass barrier, watching the floating runes. Thanks to the memory and brain upgrade Paige had given me ten minutes ago, my brain processed the complex formula instantly.
"The thermal math isn’t the problem," I spoke up casually, leaning against the containment bay railing. "You’re anchoring the spatial pressure to the outer kinetic ring instead of the central core. Every time the frost mana condenses, the outer ring snaps from pressure."
The dragonkin girl froze.
She slowly turned her head toward me. Her vertical golden pupils dilated slightly as her eyes scanned my face, my suit, and then settled on my hands in my pockets.
She pulled a pair of silver-rimmed reading glasses from her lab coat pocket, put them on her nose, and looked at me with an expression of unshakable intellectual superiority.
"Human," she began, her tone completely devoid of anger but filled with overwhelming, matter-of-fact confidence. "I am Sigrid Vaelors, First Scion of the Northern Dragon Spire and Lead Theoretical Researcher of the Third-Year Academic Wing. My spatial comprehension metrics rank in the top zero-point-one percent across all global pantheons. A human whose species only discovered basic mana mechanics not long ago cannot accurately critique a seven-dimensional dragonic matrix."