Chapter 45 – Vortex

Dream sat down on a box with the titanium chunk in his hand.

"Alright, we need to figure out the language of mana. That guy on the forum said that mana works by giving parameters, like a program. He called it a sequence. But this isn't as simple as electricity in a circuit. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like mana is as simple as being a regular substance either. I'm not even sure if mana is 3-dimensional since it has such bizarre properties, not that I know what they are."

[Mana is 3 dimensional. I don't have any doubts about that. I believe that the soul, however, doesn't operate in the 3rd dimension, but the 4th.]

"If the soul doesn't operate on the 3rd dimension, then how does it control the body?"

[Well there's one thing that you can't misunderstand. It's that just because something is located in the 4th dimension, doesn't mean it can't be in the 3rd at the same time. Just like how things in the 3rd dimension can be in the 2nd dimension. This, however, means that an object in the 2nd dimension cannot perceive the entirety of an object in the 3rd. Same for an object in the 3rd trying to perceive the fourth. This does not mean that the other doesn't exist and can't influence you, just that you can't see it if it doesn't show itself.]

"I understand. So I just can't see the soul. Now here's another question, where the hell is mana stored? We have certain amounts of mana that's ours, but is there like a storage or something?"

[I don't think that there's any single storage space. Do you remember when you asked [Savant] to simulate the soul in your mind using Visualization?]

"I do actually. That's when I was hit with a blinding pain and passed out. I was also picked up by the family during my sleep. Funny, if I hadn't told him to do that, I may not have found the family."

[Well, let's just say that I have some sense of the soul. For now, let's just imagine it as a ball. This ball is an absolute mess of strings. Like a ball of ultra-thin steel wool. Every single string, however, makes up what you are, and they also act as a container for mana, giving you your mana storage. Now it's not so simple as growing the ball to fit more mana. Instead, what I think you need to do is increase the strength of the strings, which lets you stuff more mana in there. Now, when we look at how you would get more mana when you level up...]

"The strings get stronger. So you're saying that the soul gets stronger when we level up? Is...Is that the purpose of the system?"

[I think it is. There's hardly any other way for someone to strengthen their soul. Just controlling mana is an extremely inefficient way to do so. How is anybody supposed to get stronger? Not to mention how nobody can even perceive the soul and try different things.]

"So we were given the system as a guide. *sigh* I'm not going to question why right now. So we know that strengthening the soul allows us to fit more mana. And the soul itself is an ego that can control mana. I guess that explains why we can control mana from distances, since the soul operates on the 4th dimension. And knowing this......still doesn't explain anything about magic."

Dream gave a huff of exhaustion. They theorized all the complex stuff, but the simple stuff still hasn't been solved. Sophia chimed in to lift his spirits.

[That's not necessarily true. We figured out a while ago that skill signatures allow certain applications of mana. Take your [Shooting] skill for example. It lets you infuse bullets with mana. Your [Erase Presence] reduced your aura, which we now know was your soul's ego's effect on your mana. And don't forget how we analyzed Iris' [Devour] skill, as well as the [Copycat] skill. And although it was Savant that did it, I have every bit of information given. So we know quite a bit about high-level applications of mana.]

"Alright. Now since we analyzed [Devour], can we actually use it? Maybe make it a skill?"

[Attaining the original skill won't be possible. This is because you don't have the necessary prerequisites. Iris' [Expanded Stomach] was the biggest, but now her biology is the reason, since her stomach is like an inventory. The analysis did not yield nothing though. Through that information, as well as the broken down skill [Copycat], we now have [Emulator]. It's a skill that was initially gained by you, but put under me as a subskill later. It allows deeper analysis of skills, as well as the ability to break them down.]

"So theoretically, I'll be able to take skills from others? But only if I breakdown their skill."

[Yes. To attain the skill in its full state, you will need to perform a breakdown. The downside to this is that the subject of your breakdown would be unable to use the skill ever again. It will also subject them to unbearable pain since you're basically ripping something out of their soul.]

"Well if they're an enemy it's fine. Now, can I analyze a skill without breaking it down?"

[Yes. Though depending on the complexity of the skill, it will be a basic form of the skill like with Iris' [Devour]. You will also need to have me look at their soul, which may be difficult depending on the target as souls are very sensitive to any form of influence.]

"Interesting. So until I meet any enemies, I won't be able to steal skills. Maybe that's something I should do tomorrow. I can take a quest and experiment on monsters. Starting low level of course."

[Another thing you could do is experiment with the girls. Maybe get a grasp on their elemental skills.]

"I could. One thing I'm interested in doing is taking a look at Luna's [Bestow] skill. She now has the ability to share her skills to a certain degree, like passive healing and communication. What I want to try doing is using that skill and bestowing you, Sophia, to them. That would allow the best coordination, and maybe more insights into magic as they use their own. You could also communicate with them, instead of only talking to me all the time."

[I only need my master to talk to. But I understand your goal, so alright.]

"Thanks. Now, another issue I was having was the regeneration of my mana. And knowing what we know, we have to figure out how to refill my soul's reserves. The normal way is passive, but it takes a while, several hours possibly. I need an active or faster way to recover that doesn't have any stupid conditions like sitting still and achieving zen."

[Well first, you should know that you passively regenerate mana by your soul pulling in nearby mana with its will. It's an instinct that you never notice, but it happens all the time. If you want an active way, It will either require you to change the way your will is utilized or use mana to collect more mana. The second way will definitely be easier.]

"I think so too. What we want is a way for my own mana to reach out and pull outside mana in."

[The way I suggest is through agitation. We can create a vortex with your own mana, and have it catch and guide mana inward through some physics. Another way is to use a system of vacuums. This method will involve the soul's instinct to collect mana. Since the instinct kicks in more when there is less mana, we would need to create empty gaps and force the soul to kick into overdrive to fill them.]

"Hmm...I think both would work, but the vortex one sounds more powerful. How about we try it."

[Alright. The method I had in mind is to dedicate a set portion of your mana to the vortex. This portion will always be active and won't be used for anything. I'll create it now.]

After she said so, Dream's mana began getting moved, though not to the outside. 

Since the purpose of the vortex was to replenish his soul's mana reserves, it needed to be in the 4th dimension where the soul was. Sophia sucked out the mana from the metal chunk since half his mana was in it and even began using the other half of his mana to form the vortex. His storage was quickly emptied to 5%.

When his mana was emptied, he didn't panic because he trusted whatever Sophia was doing. But it unnerved him when he suddenly lost control of the mana in his body.

"Sophia?"

[It's alright. There's just a problem with the vortex. I formed it fine but it decided to pull the mana inside the soul out into the vortex, which is why you lost control and currently have no mana to use.]

"That doesn't sound very alright. I mean I don't totally mind feeling like I'm back on Earth with no mana, but I couldn't say that I want to stay this way forever."

[I'm working on it. I just need to counter the pull of the vortex. Although...]

"Although? Although what?"

[Hang on.]

"..."

Dream had a 'what the hell is she doing' face as he sat there at her mercy. It wasn't like he didn't trust Sophia, just that he really was very vulnerable right now. He wasn't lying when he said he felt like he was back on Earth. He could feel the loss of the majority of his strength and stamina. It was good that this place was a super safe bunker guarded by two friendly class 3's.

And after some time of no response, he could finally feel his strength returning. He could also feel his mana reserves quickly filling up.

<[Sophia] has leveled up!>

<[Sophia] has leveled up!>

<You have created the Passive Skill: [Vorticular Accumulation]!>

<[Vorticular Accumulation] is level 47!>

[I did it!]

"Huh?"

Dream took a second to process the sudden outburst.

"...So you made a skill? Wasn't it just going to be a vortex?"

[Sure but why not a skill? Since it had to be passive, I gave the Will of your soul parameters to follow and it developed a skill signature.]

"Ok. But what did you do with the vortex?"

[Well since a regular vortex didn't work, I changed it. Vortexes don't only have to be like tornados, especially in the 4th dimension. So what I did was make the vortex into an omnidirectional accretion disk. Like the swirl of a galaxy except from every direction. It would be impossible in the 3rd dimension, but I was able to do it in the 4th. I guided everything into a nucleus centered in the soul which will replenish mana. In fact, if you look around you with mana sense you'll see mana being sucked in.]

Dream did what she suggested and activated mana sense. He was soon able to see the mana in the room moving towards him from all directions.

"Huh. This is cool. Though I can see a problem with this."

[You're worried about the fact that all mana will be sucked in. That was something I thought of as well. But you need not worry. You see, I found out something interesting while creating the skill. It was that mana doesn't carry momentum.]

"It doesn't? Then how does it affect mana around it if it doesn't carry energy?"

[Because it's 'energy' is actually intention. The Will of your soul imparts intention to the mana, basically instructions. So if I tell the mana to go a direction, it will go that direction unless otherwise told, just like a ball rolled on a table. Now I can also give the instruction to impart its own intention to other mana. And as long as it has a powerful enough intent, it will do so infinitely. This is what I found while trying to capture mana in the vortex. At first, nothing happened and our mana just rotated by itself. But when I gave the proper intent, that problem was solved and we began capturing outside mana in the vortex.]

"Well, that explains why mana allows us to seemingly bend the laws of physics. Because with mana, the laws are determined by our instruction, as long as you're powerful enough. Now, why would that solve my problem of all mana being sucked in?"

[Because the vortex only targets compatible mana. This stems from your soul's passive regeneration. Its instinct is to only target mana that isn't harmful or uncontrollable. So I just took that instinct and applied it to the vortex.]

"...That really is amazing."

[It is. I can imagine that hardly anybody knows about these concepts as well. It wasn't easy to detect, even for me. Not to mention that you'd need to be aware of a 4th dimension.]

"That's true. But we also can't assume that nobody does. People with powerful souls will become aware of these things, though it's not just those people we have to worry about. Even the people who don't understand any of this stuff can be dangerous. Remember that the system is still here. They don't need to understand souls and dimensions, because the system is there to evolve powerful skills and techniques when they get classes. We can't get cocky just because they're ignorant."

[I understand.]

"I know. It's also for me. I need to make sure never to underestimate people. To just see things objectively and be open to the possibility that there may be something hidden. That's what we need to do."

[Awareness can help with that. I've been devoting processing power to think of new ways to 'see' things. Though it's difficult, so I haven't come up with anything feasible. Just a bunch of theories.]

"Well don't stress yourself. Who knows how many different skills are out there. We will be able to learn a lot, and the opportunities for skill analysis will be plentiful. There will be no lack of experiments in the future. Hehehe..."

[You're turning into a mad scientist.]

"I prefer to think of myself as a passionate intellectual. Anyway, there's nothing more that I can do in magic really. Oh! You have any updates from Earth?"

Dream suddenly remembered and asked Sophia. The fate of his home planet was rather important.

[Well, everyone has officially become aware of your guidebook. Social media pages, news stations, and our forum are going crazy. Everybody is talking about you, both good and bad. The biggest question is still your identity. Obviously nobody could find anything, but many speculations are being made, none of which are correct.]

"Come as no surprise. What about the general situation?"

[People are learning skills. The world is also beginning its descent into chaos. There have been thousands of reports in countries around the world about monster attacks. Luckily, many domesticated animals haven't been affected much. It's everything wild that's going nuts. This in turn is allowing people to level up. More people are talking about magic in the forums as they learn skills, just like we wanted. There has been an obvious but still absolutely massive spike in people either buying weapons, or learning to use one. This is freaking governments out who have begun to respond with restrictions. Though I can already see this turning bad pretty quickly.]

"Of course. People are scared and want to have a weapon, and governments won't be able to stop them but will still try, which will piss people off and cause rebellions. New groups will also rise like guilds and associations. This will undoubtedly tip the power balance in the world, causing economic and political chaos. *Sigh*"

Dream pinched the bridge of his nose in thought as he stressed over the future of the entire planet.