Chapter 33: Faith and Mana
"Despite all having mana cores, it isn’t in human nature to do magic. In fact, long ago, normal humans were never able to do so. What separated us from mystical creatures, the dragons in the kingdom of Valia, and the vile demons, was our mundane nature.
"Of course, throughout history, the gods of the pantheon that we serve would touch a chosen few, granting them special, extraordinary divine powers. But apostles were even rarer back then than they are now. However, after labyrinths began to appear in our world over a millennium ago, the poison leaking from them made it so that we humans developed the potential for thaumaturgy.
"We can now feel the mana that had already been existing in our world. We can draw it into our bodies, and we even developed what we have come to refer to as mana cores. Our cores make it so that the energy we draw in is refined and tailored to our attributes.
"However, at the end of the day, potential is just... potential. We still have to rely on external sources to bridge the gap between our mana cores, our attributes and the world around us. Because while drawing mana from the world into our core can grow to become second nature, our body is not designed to safely channel that energy out, while also influencing the world around us at the same time. Which is why we hunt for mana-gems. With this in hand, a caster can safely draw power from their core, run it through the gem, and ignite the atmosphere into a spell."
Professor Étienne de Saint-Germain continued for over an hour, explaining a bit of the history, principles and fundamentals behind the use of mana-gems.
As the lecture dragged on, Dante was taking notes while also trying his best not to fall asleep. Despite knowing most of this information already, there was nothing wrong with brushing up on some fundamentals.
Though truth be told, by the time the class ended, he looked like a walking corpse, with dark circles under his eyes and an utterly soul-crushed expression on his face.
’I hate school!’
Dante sighed.
Just then, Francesca covered a yawn before picking up her books. As she stood up, she glanced down at him. "I’m leaving for the central atelier. Professor Laurent is helping me out with my project and we need to go over some research files before three in the afternoon."
Without waiting for his response, she gave him a dismissive wave and hurried out of the lecture hall.
Meanwhile, Dante slid his fountain pen back into his pocket. ’I had intended to visit the library today. I need to check out more information about the apostles of the Black Grade. If I’m to find information on that, it should be in the library of an academy such as this.’
He stood up and picked up his book, but after taking just a single step forward, he saw that Claudia was still fast asleep in the row in front of him. She had been sleeping all through the lecture.
"And you called me narcoleptic." He raised his book with his left hand and brought it down on her head for the sake of just being petty.
Claudia groggily stirred, rubbing her crown with a low mumble. By the time she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked up, she could see Dante already walking fast toward the exit as if he was not the one who had just struck her.
***
’Master.
’Master.
’Master!’
’Jeez, I heard you the first time, little one.’ Dante began to fear that he might be slowly becoming schizophrenic.
’You know what I think?’ Edward chimed in, his tone unusually thoughtful.
’What?’
’After listening to that ugly fellow, I think it’s a good thing that you do not have one of those mana cores.’
Upon hearing that, Dante arched a brow questioningly.
Edward continued, clarifying his thought. ’You see, Divine Power and mana are two fundamentally different kinds of energy. These are two distinct forces that react differently with different intents on how they affect the world. The sweet spot for these energies to coexist in a human being is uh... wait, wait, let me see. The Blue Grade, I think?
’My reasoning is that the higher the grade, the holier and denser the divine power becomes.’
’...?’
Dante suddenly grew contemplative as he began to process what Edward had just said.
’So after the Blue Grade, divine power no longer coexists side by side with mana, but begins to suppress the mana core and the mana within a human. Hm. This would explain why higher-grade apostles rely far less on basic magic and almost exclusively on their divine skills. Simply because they can’t cast really powerful magic with their mana being suppressed.’
Suddenly, Dante was hit with another train of thought.
’Wait a minute. Back then in Mother Evelyn’s temple, I had initially thought she had made me a Black Apostle simply because she was remarkably benevolent. But what if it wasn’t just that? What if, because I lacked a mana core, my body was far more receptive to the Black Grade? If I look at it from this angle, it explains why high-grade apostles are so rare. To even become a Gold or Black Apostle means one must be close to being something no longer human. It also explains why even the protagonist is only a Red Grade, and not higher.’
Dante felt that he had suddenly grasped something important.
And one keyword tied it all together... which was balance.
While he was still rubbing his chin in thought, his eyes caught sight of a girl approaching from the far end of the hallway.
She was stunning, with long black hair, sharp gray eyes, and a natural, resting angry face. She walked with her left hand tucked into her pocket, while her right held what looked like a small brass compass.
At first, Dante had not recognized her as his mind was still adrift in his own thoughts, but then he noticed that she looked at her compass, then looked at him, then looked at her compass again, before looking at him again.
Then, she adjusted her stride and began walking directly toward him.
It was at that exact moment that Dante froze, and his eyes widened in realization.
That girl was the protagonist!
In the game Crown of Fates, there were two playable main characters, which were a boy and a girl. It had been designed that way so players who chose to play a solo story, like a traditional single-player RPG, had the option of choosing their preferred gender.
However, there were talks that the canon protagonist was supposed to be a woman.
Now, it turns out, since the game had become reality, it was following the canon.
Dante took a subtle step back.
The real question now was...
’Why the byss is she approaching me?!’
He had originally been heading to the library, but right now, he decided he would much rather do that some other time. So he turned and made a break for the exit.
Just then, however, Dante heard Edward’s excited voice in his head.
’That woman is still approaching us.’
’She is?’ Dante frowned, picked up his pace, and turned the corner.
However, just then, Edward chuckled. ’Hehe. She’s still approaching us. Even faster now.’
Dante sighed and halted. He took off his gold-rimmed glasses and slipped them into his pocket, then he pulled out a different pair of ordinary wire-rimmed glasses and put them on.
This pair of glasses was the [Spectacles of Truth].
***
"I think I have figured out what it is we are missing."
The person who spoke was a scholarly looking man in his fifties. He had short white hair, gray eyes behind a pair of spectacles, and a neatly trimmed beard.
He wore a pristine white clerical robe, making it obvious that he was of the High Priest class. Also, despite the slight wrinkles around his eyes, he carried himself with an energetic posture.
He held an open book in his hand and kept wagging a finger as if he had finally cracked a long-standing puzzle, as he approached the work table.
The work table was messy with lots of papers that had scribblings, a few small green mana gems, and some delicate copper tools, but the highlight of the mess was a golden bracer that had three small mana gems embedded in it.
After he spoke, Francesca, who was on the other side of the table, lifted her head to look at him with expectant, curious eyes.
The man smiled and gestured to the open page. "I think why we are not progressing is because we have yet to assign the conduit an affinity." He paused, letting the thought sink in. "Think. Everyone has an affinity to a certain kind of mana. Some people are mostly able to fill up their mana cores when they are near water, which makes them more proficient in water or ice magic. It is the same for those with a proficiency in fire." He pointed at the golden bracer. "I think assigning the conduit an affinity with a specific attribute will allow the energy to flow without destabilizing the array. Uh... since you are making this for a High Priest, I recommend assigning the Light attribute to it."
When he said that, Francesca’s eyes widened as if something she had been struggling to grasp finally clicked into place.
"I see...."
She reached to the side, picked up a cup of coffee, and took a quick sip. After setting it back down, she bit her index finger out of habit as she began to frantically look through some of the papers on the table.
Seeing her sudden burst of enthusiasm, the professor chuckled softly. "You must really love this person that you’re building this artifact for."
Francesca froze. She lifted her gaze to him briefly before looking back down. Then she answered quietly, "Yes, Professor."
The man smiled warmly. "I have some news that might be interesting to you."
She paused again and looked at him, while adjusting her glasses. The man then continued, "Recently, I think I may have come across someone with the same unique condition as this person."