Chapter 50
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There were two ways of allowing Monika to directly interact with the outside world. The first was to project the screen of the inner world onto a wall. While this allowed for the ability to mess around with programs and show windows, it remained fundamentally a 2D experience.
The other was to project a holographic scanning image onto a pillar of mist. Low resolution, low-fidelity, but at least could present herself as a complete figure of a person. Sadly, the projection didn't actually share any senses, Monika had to use my camera and her built-in sonar/radar sense to calculate the proper head angle to seem like she's directly talking to people.
Monika's existence to people on the outside was strongly dependent on technological devices that we would never be able to replace once they are damaged. The other way, using the standalone cube projector, was actually more at risk due to constantly being near so much moisture.
I took out the cube and put in on the coffee table beside me, and cast [Mist] over it. The blank scanning waves lit up the mist. Monika could not cast physical spells natively.
I thought about how unfair that was. Here I was, basically just living the dream. Monika may have been freed from the torture of her digital existence, but her new life was still just a slightly bigger box, tantalizing her even more with the experiences she couldn't have.
And because of this, was I just taking advantage of her attachment? Was she just forcing herself, like a girlfriend trying to appear interested in her boyfriend's hobbies, changing herself to suit someone else's preferences? As much as she had mutilated others to make them look unappealing to the player, now was she just cutting off pieces of herself and grafting new traits, new behaviors, in the fear of being abandoned again?
And then all those doubts went away when she burst into existence accompanied by strains of sitar and a worshipful "Aiya-yai-yaaaah!" chant as her background music.
Her long brown ponytail spun around in a delayed spiral. She appeared with one arm held stiffly out behind her. The other was bent in front, the splayed open finger insufficient to cover her face. Her hips and chest out in a bizarre yet alluring pose.
"Monika you magnificent creature…" I breathed out. "You're beautiful when you're all jelly."
A tiny version of Monika popped over my vision and indignantly muttered /"Su-shut up!"/ while pointing accusingly at me. Yet she was blushing, obviously pleased by the attention.
Once more, she was no longer just a girl that was sick in the head and in the heart. While she might be stuck in a box, she could pretend to be bigger than that. Once more she was larger than life, once more she could be free in becoming something she was not.
I forgot that Monika had a much stronger reason to try and escape her past.
More openly, she stated /"The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain. How lucky for you, that as we achieve greater precision, perfection becomes more and more impossible to achieve."/
I did not quite recognize the quote, but given how she was giving me a Jojo pose as a sop to my interests, that was obviously something from Dante.
Monika's projected image rose until she was almost twice the height of a normal person. She bent over upon reaching the ceiling, pointing down at me like that pose of the Creation of Man in the Sistine Chapel, and our fingertips almost touched.
Then she spun around to point at Charlotte, /"And now as for you…."/
And then we were all startled to see Charlotte just outright kneel and prostrate herself. And by this I don't mean kneeling on both knees, but outright getting down on the carpet like it was a prayer mat.
Once again I winced. I couldn't help but to notice how much this accidentally emphasized the delicate curve or her back or the rise of her derriere from her tightly clinging white long robe, and surely Monika couldn't help but to notice the spike in my blood pressure.
/"… what is this even about, really?"/ Monika sighed. /"Please, get up. I can't talk you like that."/
"I greet thee, Great Spirit, on behalf of the mages of Belfast. I thank you for this opportunity to experience even the slightest bit of your wisdom!" the court magician spoke hurried with her face pressed to the floor.
Charlotte, you see, traveled to Mismede to learn magic at the foot of the Fairies, beings who were hundreds of years old and with mastery over multiple elements. And if they were anything like what I imagined Fae to be, they would probably be mischievous with their long lives looking for anything to beat the ennui, or with all sorts of arbitrary rules of behavior.
Charlotte returned to Belfast as one of the most powerful magicians in the continent despite her youth, and apparently also somewhat of a traumatized wreck.
/"… didn't they tell you? I'm not a natural spirit. I'm a human that that was turned into a spirit."/
In Mismede, they worshiped spirits. People swore oaths to spirits because they were the only ones who would still be alive to remember them after kingdoms were dust.
"I apologize for any insult offered by implying your curse is a good thing. But spirits are the beings closest to magic. The oldest living beings that still exist! A human turned into a spirit can know and feel magic like nothing else can…
Charlotte looked up, "That just makes it more impressive, milady! Please be assured you will have all my effort and personal research to help resolve your problem!
"And to solve it… we need to know more about it. What do you see? What do you feel? What can you share? I have… so many questions!" Charlotte looked up, her expression wide open with both a fear to offend and the bravery to ask anyway. For ̷S̷c̷i̷e̷n̷c̷e̷ Magic!
Monika got the full force of that thirst, that hunger, that sheer naked lust for information.
Monika kept up her placid imperious expression. Her mini-Monika on the smartphone screen popped up again and scolded me, /"I feel so unsafe! I fully blame you for this! You will compensate me for this later!"/
She told the court magician /"I have prepared a list of questions. Please tell me you have one of those too."/
Charlotte nodded eagerly, and the look of fear and awe on her face was tinged with a bit of academic respect. "Yes!"
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/"First question. I'm not going to bother with something like 'What is magic', because that is a deceptively simple question with deep answers and we could spend whole days talking about that…"
/
Monika frowned minutely at how Charlotte seemed happy to spend those days anyway, just theorycrafting about magic, and continued /"So – here. What are the types of magic? Are there other forms of magic than just wand-waving and innate abilities?"/
Charlotte answered primly, "Elemental magic, as activated by magic stones, has long been the standard for magic because of how easy and repeatable it is to activate. But other nations have older and some might even say obsolete forms of magic, such as ancient artifacts, ancient magic research, engraving sorcery, enchanting sorcery, beast faith sorcery, talisman arts, and ninjutsu."
"Wait, ninjutsu?!" I had to interrupt. I turned towards Yae and asked "Really? That's a thing?"
She nodded. "It requires much talent, that it does. The knowledge is also jealously guarded within shinobi clans."
/"What do you mean by obsolete?"/ Monika asked archly. /"Engraving and enchanting sorcery… talisman arts… I don't know what those are, but if they are involved in the creation of magic tools, they sound incredibly useful."/
Charlotte nodded eagerly. Then she shook her head. "While I agree that they are very useful to put magic in the hands of more people, in practice it is very difficult to enchant magic items. The reason why Felzen Magic Kingdom is the Magic Kingdom is because they are the ones who can afford such research. Because of this, almost sixty percent of all magic items world-wide come from Felzen."
/"That sounds… reasonable,"/ Monika answered. Were they this world's South Korea and Samsung? /"Is there any particular reason that you can't attempt a similar production line here in Belfast?"/
"By very difficult, I mean that the success rate for enchantment is one in ten. Felzen, being beside the Dwarf Kingdom Lyle has access to the best metals and smiths, and if even they can't improve their chances then we can't hope for much better starting from zero."
I winced. Ten percent success rate would be so frustrating. Imagine working on something and ninety percent of the time you're going to fail at it. The assembly line exists so that people and magic power could be spread out and dilute the stress of inevitable failure. That probably explains why magic items are so rare… and why they're so weak.
The things I routinely expected from a typical DnD adventure tend to come from personal magic instead of item magic. There wasn't even the convenience of healing potions!
Adventuring was god-awful lethal if you didn't have a healer in the party.
/"I see. Well that's a shame."/ Monika shrugged. /"A few more and then you'll be able to ask your own questions. What's talisman magic and how different is it from engraving or enchantment magic?"/
"In theory, they are very similar. However, talismans take advantage more of natural flows and ley lines of magic. It can do things like set up large magical formations, and large rituals can do some impressive things. But for the individual, there are only a few tools with very specific uses. It is mostly concerned with achieving longevity or exorcism. It is mainly practiced in the Empire of Yulong in the Far East."
/"Wait… isn't that just Feng Shui?"/
"Wait, isn't that just Taoist Magic?"
Monika and I spoke at the same time. Then we turned to stare at each other.
"More like Mr. Vampire than World of Cultivation," I said.
/"... I have no idea what you even mean by that."/
"It's a classic 1985 horror-comedy with Lam Chin-Ying, directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. It's hilarious. Let's watch it tonight."
/"Okay then. It's a date."/ Monika touched a finger to her lips.
Eheheh. If Yulong wasn't shitty asshole xianxia bully land, it might actually be interesting to visit there sometime.
Charlotte waited until we had finished with our little digression before saying, "That is one of the uses, yes. Yulong does border the Xenoas Demon Country to the north, and vampires are among the monster races that live there."
/"What."/
Monika then raised her hands and physically pushed that issue aside. /"No, I can't keep getting pulled into side topics, I have enough of that from Player. What is Beast Faith Sorcery?"/
"Ah, this is interesting too! From my research, this is actually an ability that was granted to certain bloodlines or people living in a certain area by spirits from long ago. Maybe it would be better to call it Beast Taming Magic. Since there are behemoths and other fierce monsters, it could be very powerful."
"Oooh!" Like Pokemons?
(I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was
To catch them is my real test
To train them is my cause!)
I successfully rolled against the urge to sing.
"Of course, first you have to survive taming the behemoths, so it does not enjoy a particularly high success rate either," Charlotte continued.
Oh. Yeah. I suddenly had a mental image of Pikachu shocking Ash, and without cartoon durability it would be fatal. There were no safety features in this fantasy world.
/"So with all others having their obvious disadvantages or the need for special tools, I can see why elemental magic is the most commonly practiced magic. You just need a magic stone, input commands, output magic. So I have three questions about this.
/"First, is there a standard metric for measuring magic power that goes into a spell?
/"Second, do people with more than one magic affinity start with larger magic reserves?
/"And third, what are your magic affinities?"
Charlotte answered "No, there is none. Magic expenditure is a personal thing. There is no way to measure efficiency in spell casting outside of casting repeatedly until the caster feels the mental drain. A person can also acquire increased mental endurance from practice.
"Magic power… it could be visualized like that of a well and buckets. Some people start with a wide well that makes it easier to draw out water by using multiple buckets. People are born with innate strengths of affinity, making casting easier. They have larger buckets or a pulley to making drawing water for only this specific element.
"Some people have a narrow but very deep well of power. Some people have shallow reserves that can be emptied quickly, while others can have their internal well of power replenish itself very quickly even if they can't draw from it as deeply or quickly."
Charlotte made gestures with her palms that actually reminded me more of shaping a vase.
"These qualities are intrinsic and unique to everyone, though with enough practice they can be mitigated. That is what 'efficiency' means… perhaps someone with limited ability to output magic power is doing more with less… or has expanded their ability to force out magic power. There is no real way to tell.
People with more magic affinities can also have the same limits, but because those with more than one affinity tend to use them more in different ways they are expected to have larger reserves in the end."
I nodded and glanced aside towards Linze. Fire, Water and Light. But Light was her weakest element… it was innate, but was that also atrophied by lack of use?
Though I suppose starting with a strong affinity to one element keeps multi-affinity magicians from being mediocre generalists.
/"So what about your magic affinities?"/ Monika asked.
"I am capable of using Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light Magic," Charlotte replied without even the smallest hint of pride.
Linze sucked in her breath. Five Magic affinities! If three magic affinities were rare, then Charlotte was a true treasure for any kingdom. No wonder she was the court magician while still so young. If Viscount Sordrick could make Yae feel so inferior and unlearned, now it was her turn to face her own feelings of inadequacy.
I only wondered if being sent to Mismede was as much about trying to protect her from political hooks before she was ready as it was about learning from the few people on this world who might have as broad experience and affinities with magic.
Charlotte sat primly while we stared at her. After a few moments in silence, she asked, "May I ask my own question in return now?"
/"Go ahead."/
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There were two ways of allowing Monika to directly interact with the outside world. The first was to project the screen of the inner world onto a wall. While this allowed for the ability to mess around with programs and show windows, it remained fundamentally a 2D experience.
The other was to project a holographic scanning image onto a pillar of mist. Low resolution, low-fidelity, but at least could present herself as a complete figure of a person. Sadly, the projection didn't actually share any senses, Monika had to use my camera and her built-in sonar/radar sense to calculate the proper head angle to seem like she's directly talking to people.
Monika's existence to people on the outside was strongly dependent on technological devices that we would never be able to replace once they are damaged. The other way, using the standalone cube projector, was actually more at risk due to constantly being near so much moisture.
I took out the cube and put in on the coffee table beside me, and cast [Mist] over it. The blank scanning waves lit up the mist. Monika could not cast physical spells natively.
I thought about how unfair that was. Here I was, basically just living the dream. Monika may have been freed from the torture of her digital existence, but her new life was still just a slightly bigger box, tantalizing her even more with the experiences she couldn't have.
And because of this, was I just taking advantage of her attachment? Was she just forcing herself, like a girlfriend trying to appear interested in her boyfriend's hobbies, changing herself to suit someone else's preferences? As much as she had mutilated others to make them look unappealing to the player, now was she just cutting off pieces of herself and grafting new traits, new behaviors, in the fear of being abandoned again?
And then all those doubts went away when she burst into existence accompanied by strains of sitar and a worshipful "Aiya-yai-yaaaah!" chant as her background music.
Her long brown ponytail spun around in a delayed spiral. She appeared with one arm held stiffly out behind her. The other was bent in front, the splayed open finger insufficient to cover her face. Her hips and chest out in a bizarre yet alluring pose.
"Monika you magnificent creature…" I breathed out. "You're beautiful when you're all jelly."
A tiny version of Monika popped over my vision and indignantly muttered /"Su-shut up!"/ while pointing accusingly at me. Yet she was blushing, obviously pleased by the attention.
Once more, she was no longer just a girl that was sick in the head and in the heart. While she might be stuck in a box, she could pretend to be bigger than that. Once more she was larger than life, once more she could be free in becoming something she was not.
I forgot that Monika had a much stronger reason to try and escape her past.
More openly, she stated /"The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain. How lucky for you, that as we achieve greater precision, perfection becomes more and more impossible to achieve."/
I did not quite recognize the quote, but given how she was giving me a Jojo pose as a sop to my interests, that was obviously something from Dante.
Monika's projected image rose until she was almost twice the height of a normal person. She bent over upon reaching the ceiling, pointing down at me like that pose of the Creation of Man in the Sistine Chapel, and our fingertips almost touched.
Then she spun around to point at Charlotte, /"And now as for you…."/
And then we were all startled to see Charlotte just outright kneel and prostrate herself. And by this I don't mean kneeling on both knees, but outright getting down on the carpet like it was a prayer mat.
Once again I winced. I couldn't help but to notice how much this accidentally emphasized the delicate curve or her back or the rise of her derriere from her tightly clinging white long robe, and surely Monika couldn't help but to notice the spike in my blood pressure.
/"… what is this even about, really?"/ Monika sighed. /"Please, get up. I can't talk you like that."/
"I greet thee, Great Spirit, on behalf of the mages of Belfast. I thank you for this opportunity to experience even the slightest bit of your wisdom!" the court magician spoke hurried with her face pressed to the floor.
Charlotte, you see, traveled to Mismede to learn magic at the foot of the Fairies, beings who were hundreds of years old and with mastery over multiple elements. And if they were anything like what I imagined Fae to be, they would probably be mischievous with their long lives looking for anything to beat the ennui, or with all sorts of arbitrary rules of behavior.
Charlotte returned to Belfast as one of the most powerful magicians in the continent despite her youth, and apparently also somewhat of a traumatized wreck.
/"… didn't they tell you? I'm not a natural spirit. I'm a human that that was turned into a spirit."/
In Mismede, they worshiped spirits. People swore oaths to spirits because they were the only ones who would still be alive to remember them after kingdoms were dust.
"I apologize for any insult offered by implying your curse is a good thing. But spirits are the beings closest to magic. The oldest living beings that still exist! A human turned into a spirit can know and feel magic like nothing else can…
Charlotte looked up, "That just makes it more impressive, milady! Please be assured you will have all my effort and personal research to help resolve your problem!
"And to solve it… we need to know more about it. What do you see? What do you feel? What can you share? I have… so many questions!" Charlotte looked up, her expression wide open with both a fear to offend and the bravery to ask anyway. For ̷S̷c̷i̷e̷n̷c̷e̷ Magic!
Monika got the full force of that thirst, that hunger, that sheer naked lust for information.
Monika kept up her placid imperious expression. Her mini-Monika on the smartphone screen popped up again and scolded me, /"I feel so unsafe! I fully blame you for this! You will compensate me for this later!"/
She told the court magician /"I have prepared a list of questions. Please tell me you have one of those too."/
Charlotte nodded eagerly, and the look of fear and awe on her face was tinged with a bit of academic respect. "Yes!"
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-
/"First question. I'm not going to bother with something like 'What is magic', because that is a deceptively simple question with deep answers and we could spend whole days talking about that…"
/
Monika frowned minutely at how Charlotte seemed happy to spend those days anyway, just theorycrafting about magic, and continued /"So – here. What are the types of magic? Are there other forms of magic than just wand-waving and innate abilities?"/
Charlotte answered primly, "Elemental magic, as activated by magic stones, has long been the standard for magic because of how easy and repeatable it is to activate. But other nations have older and some might even say obsolete forms of magic, such as ancient artifacts, ancient magic research, engraving sorcery, enchanting sorcery, beast faith sorcery, talisman arts, and ninjutsu."
"Wait, ninjutsu?!" I had to interrupt. I turned towards Yae and asked "Really? That's a thing?"
She nodded. "It requires much talent, that it does. The knowledge is also jealously guarded within shinobi clans."
/"What do you mean by obsolete?"/ Monika asked archly. /"Engraving and enchanting sorcery… talisman arts… I don't know what those are, but if they are involved in the creation of magic tools, they sound incredibly useful."/
Charlotte nodded eagerly. Then she shook her head. "While I agree that they are very useful to put magic in the hands of more people, in practice it is very difficult to enchant magic items. The reason why Felzen Magic Kingdom is the Magic Kingdom is because they are the ones who can afford such research. Because of this, almost sixty percent of all magic items world-wide come from Felzen."
/"That sounds… reasonable,"/ Monika answered. Were they this world's South Korea and Samsung? /"Is there any particular reason that you can't attempt a similar production line here in Belfast?"/
"By very difficult, I mean that the success rate for enchantment is one in ten. Felzen, being beside the Dwarf Kingdom Lyle has access to the best metals and smiths, and if even they can't improve their chances then we can't hope for much better starting from zero."
I winced. Ten percent success rate would be so frustrating. Imagine working on something and ninety percent of the time you're going to fail at it. The assembly line exists so that people and magic power could be spread out and dilute the stress of inevitable failure. That probably explains why magic items are so rare… and why they're so weak.
The things I routinely expected from a typical DnD adventure tend to come from personal magic instead of item magic. There wasn't even the convenience of healing potions!
Adventuring was god-awful lethal if you didn't have a healer in the party.
/"I see. Well that's a shame."/ Monika shrugged. /"A few more and then you'll be able to ask your own questions. What's talisman magic and how different is it from engraving or enchantment magic?"/
"In theory, they are very similar. However, talismans take advantage more of natural flows and ley lines of magic. It can do things like set up large magical formations, and large rituals can do some impressive things. But for the individual, there are only a few tools with very specific uses. It is mostly concerned with achieving longevity or exorcism. It is mainly practiced in the Empire of Yulong in the Far East."
/"Wait… isn't that just Feng Shui?"/
"Wait, isn't that just Taoist Magic?"
Monika and I spoke at the same time. Then we turned to stare at each other.
"More like Mr. Vampire than World of Cultivation," I said.
/"... I have no idea what you even mean by that."/
"It's a classic 1985 horror-comedy with Lam Chin-Ying, directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. It's hilarious. Let's watch it tonight."
/"Okay then. It's a date."/ Monika touched a finger to her lips.
Eheheh. If Yulong wasn't shitty asshole xianxia bully land, it might actually be interesting to visit there sometime.
Charlotte waited until we had finished with our little digression before saying, "That is one of the uses, yes. Yulong does border the Xenoas Demon Country to the north, and vampires are among the monster races that live there."
/"What."/
Monika then raised her hands and physically pushed that issue aside. /"No, I can't keep getting pulled into side topics, I have enough of that from Player. What is Beast Faith Sorcery?"/
"Ah, this is interesting too! From my research, this is actually an ability that was granted to certain bloodlines or people living in a certain area by spirits from long ago. Maybe it would be better to call it Beast Taming Magic. Since there are behemoths and other fierce monsters, it could be very powerful."
"Oooh!" Like Pokemons?
(I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was
To catch them is my real test
To train them is my cause!)
I successfully rolled against the urge to sing.
"Of course, first you have to survive taming the behemoths, so it does not enjoy a particularly high success rate either," Charlotte continued.
Oh. Yeah. I suddenly had a mental image of Pikachu shocking Ash, and without cartoon durability it would be fatal. There were no safety features in this fantasy world.
/"So with all others having their obvious disadvantages or the need for special tools, I can see why elemental magic is the most commonly practiced magic. You just need a magic stone, input commands, output magic. So I have three questions about this.
/"First, is there a standard metric for measuring magic power that goes into a spell?
/"Second, do people with more than one magic affinity start with larger magic reserves?
/"And third, what are your magic affinities?"
Charlotte answered "No, there is none. Magic expenditure is a personal thing. There is no way to measure efficiency in spell casting outside of casting repeatedly until the caster feels the mental drain. A person can also acquire increased mental endurance from practice.
"Magic power… it could be visualized like that of a well and buckets. Some people start with a wide well that makes it easier to draw out water by using multiple buckets. People are born with innate strengths of affinity, making casting easier. They have larger buckets or a pulley to making drawing water for only this specific element.
"Some people have a narrow but very deep well of power. Some people have shallow reserves that can be emptied quickly, while others can have their internal well of power replenish itself very quickly even if they can't draw from it as deeply or quickly."
Charlotte made gestures with her palms that actually reminded me more of shaping a vase.
"These qualities are intrinsic and unique to everyone, though with enough practice they can be mitigated. That is what 'efficiency' means… perhaps someone with limited ability to output magic power is doing more with less… or has expanded their ability to force out magic power. There is no real way to tell.
People with more magic affinities can also have the same limits, but because those with more than one affinity tend to use them more in different ways they are expected to have larger reserves in the end."
I nodded and glanced aside towards Linze. Fire, Water and Light. But Light was her weakest element… it was innate, but was that also atrophied by lack of use?
Though I suppose starting with a strong affinity to one element keeps multi-affinity magicians from being mediocre generalists.
/"So what about your magic affinities?"/ Monika asked.
"I am capable of using Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light Magic," Charlotte replied without even the smallest hint of pride.
Linze sucked in her breath. Five Magic affinities! If three magic affinities were rare, then Charlotte was a true treasure for any kingdom. No wonder she was the court magician while still so young. If Viscount Sordrick could make Yae feel so inferior and unlearned, now it was her turn to face her own feelings of inadequacy.
I only wondered if being sent to Mismede was as much about trying to protect her from political hooks before she was ready as it was about learning from the few people on this world who might have as broad experience and affinities with magic.
Charlotte sat primly while we stared at her. After a few moments in silence, she asked, "May I ask my own question in return now?"
/"Go ahead."/
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-
--There were two ways of allowing Monika to directly interact with the outside world. The first was to project the screen of the inner world onto a wall. While this allowed for the ability to mess around with programs and show windows, it remained fundamentally a 2D experience.The other was to project a holographic scanning image onto a pillar of mist. Low resolution, low-fidelity, but at least could present herself as a complete figure of a person. Sadly, the projection didn't actually share any senses, Monika had to use my camera and her built-in sonar/radar sense to calculate the proper head angle to seem like she's directly talking to people.Monika's existence to people on the outside was strongly dependent on technological devices that we would never be able to replace once they are damaged. The other way, using the standalone cube projector, was actually more at risk due to constantly being near so much moisture.I took out the cube and put in on the coffee table beside me, and cast Mist over it. The blank scanning waves lit up the mist. Monika could not cast physical spells natively.I thought about how unfair that was. Here I was, basically just living the dream. Monika may have been freed from the torture of her digital existence, but her new life was still just a slightly bigger box, tantalizing her even more with the experiences she couldn't have.And because of this, was I just taking advantage of her attachment? Was she just forcing herself, like a girlfriend trying to appear interested in her boyfriend's hobbies, changing herself to suit someone else's preferences? As much as she had mutilated others to make them look unappealing to the player, now was she just cutting off pieces of herself and grafting new traits, new behaviors, in the fear of being abandoned again?And then all those doubts went away when she burst into existence accompanied by strains of sitar and a worshipful "Aiya-yai-yaaaah!" chant as her background music.Her long brown ponytail spun around in a delayed spiral. She appeared with one arm held stiffly out behind her. The other was bent in front, the splayed open finger insufficient to cover her face. Her hips and chest out in a bizarre yet alluring pose."Monika you magnificent creature" I breathed out. "You're beautiful when you're all jelly."A tiny version of Monika popped over my vision and indignantly muttered /"Su-shut up!"/ while pointing accusingly at me. Yet she was blushing, obviously pleased by the attention.Once more, she was no longer just a girl that was sick in the head and in the heart. While she might be stuck in a box, she could pretend to be bigger than that. Once more she was larger than life, once more she could be free in becoming something she was not.I forgot that Monika had a much stronger reason to try and escape her past.More openly, she stated /"The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain. How lucky for you, that as we achieve greater precision, perfection becomes more and more impossible to achieve."/I did not quite recognize the quote, but given how she was giving me a Jojo pose as a sop to my interests, that was obviously something from Dante.Monika's projected image rose until she was almost twice the height of a normal person. She bent over upon reaching the ceiling, pointing down at me like that pose of the Creation of Man in the Sistine Chapel, and our fingertips almost touched.Then she spun around to point at Charlotte, /"And now as for you."/And then we were all startled to see Charlotte just outright kneel and prostrate herself. And by this I don't mean kneeling on both knees, but outright getting down on the carpet like it was a prayer mat.Once again I winced. I couldn't help but to notice how much this accidentally emphasized the delicate curve or her back or the rise of her derriere from her tightly clinging white long robe, and surely Monika couldn't help but to notice the spike in my blood pressure./" what is this even about, really?"/ Monika sighed. /"Please, get up. I can't talk you like that."/"I greet thee, Great Spirit, on behalf of the mages of Belfast. I thank you for this opportunity to experience even the slightest bit of your wisdom!" the court magician spoke hurried with her face pressed to the floor.Charlotte, you see, traveled to Mismede to learn magic at the foot of the Fairies, beings who were hundreds of years old and with mastery over multiple elements. And if they were anything like what I imagined Fae to be, they would probably be mischievous with their long lives looking for anything to beat the ennui, or with all sorts of arbitrary rules of behavior.Charlotte returned to Belfast as one of the most powerful magicians in the continent despite her youth, and apparently also somewhat of a traumatized wreck./" didn't they tell you? I'm not a natural spirit. I'm a human that that was turned into a spirit."/In Mismede, they worshiped spirits. People swore oaths to spirits because they were the only ones who would still be alive to remember them after kingdoms were dust."I apologize for any insult offered by implying your curse is a good thing. But spirits are the beings closest to magic. The oldest living beings that still exist! A human turned into a spirit can know and feel magic like nothing else canCharlotte looked up, "That just makes it more impressive, milady! Please be assured you will have all my effort and personal research to help resolve your problem!"And to solve it we need to know more about it. What do you see? What do you feel? What can you share? I have so many questions!" Charlotte looked up, her expression wide open with both a fear to offend and the bravery to ask anyway. For Science Magic!Monika got the full force of that thirst, that hunger, that sheer naked lust for information.Monika kept up her placid imperious expression. Her mini-Monika on the smartphone screen popped up again and scolded me, /"I feel so unsafe! I fully blame you for this! You will compensate me for this later!"/She told the court magician /"I have prepared a list of questions. Please tell me you have one of those too."/Charlotte nodded eagerly, and the look of fear and awe on her face was tinged with a bit of academic respect. "Yes!"--/"First question. I'm not going to bother with something like 'What is magic', because that is a deceptively simple question with deep answers and we could spend whole days talking about that"/Monika frowned minutely at how Charlotte seemed happy to spend those days anyway, just theorycrafting about magic, and continued /"So here. What are the types of magic? Are there other forms of magic than just wand-waving and innate abilities?"/Charlotte answered primly, "Elemental magic, as activated by magic stones, has long been the standard for magic because of how easy and repeatable it is to activate. But other nations have older and some might even say obsolete forms of magic, such as ancient artifacts, ancient magic research, engraving sorcery, enchanting sorcery, beast faith sorcery, talisman arts, and ninjutsu.""Wait, ninjutsu?!" I had to interrupt. I turned towards Yae and asked "Really? That's a thing?"She nodded. "It requires much talent, that it does. The knowledge is also jealously guarded within shinobi clans."/"What do you mean by obsolete?"/ Monika asked archly. /"Engraving and enchanting sorcery talisman arts I don't know what those are, but if they are involved in the creation of magic tools, they sound incredibly useful."/Charlotte nodded eagerly. Then she shook her head. "While I agree that they are very useful to put magic in the hands of more people, in practice it is very difficult to enchant magic items. The reason why Felzen Magic Kingdom is the Magic Kingdom is because they are the ones who can afford such research. Because of this, almost sixty percent of all magic items world-wide come from Felzen."/"That sounds reasonable,"/ Monika answered. Were they this world's South Korea and Samsung? /"Is there any particular reason that you can't attempt a similar production line here in Belfast?"/"By very difficult, I mean that the success rate for enchantment is one in ten. Felzen, being beside the Dwarf Kingdom Lyle has access to the best metals and smiths, and if even they can't improve their chances then we can't hope for much better starting from zero."I winced. Ten percent success rate would be so frustrating. Imagine working on something and ninety percent of the time you're going to fail at it. The assembly line exists so that people and magic power could be spread out and dilute the stress of inevitable failure. That probably explains why magic items are so rare and why they're so weak.The things I routinely expected from a typical DnD adventure tend to come from personal magic instead of item magic. There wasn't even the convenience of healing potions!Adventuring was god-awful lethal if you didn't have a healer in the party./"I see. Well that's a shame."/ Monika shrugged. /"A few more and then you'll be able to ask your own questions. What's talisman magic and how different is it from engraving or enchantment magic?"/"In theory, they are very similar. However, talismans take advantage more of natural flows and ley lines of magic. It can do things like set up large magical formations, and large rituals can do some impressive things. But for the individual, there are only a few tools with very specific uses. It is mostly concerned with achieving longevity or exorcism. It is mainly practiced in the Empire of Yulong in the Far East."/"Wait isn't that just Feng Shui?"/"Wait, isn't that just Taoist Magic?"Monika and I spoke at the same time. Then we turned to stare at each other."More like Mr. Vampire than World of Cultivation," I said./"... I have no idea what you even mean by that."/"It's a classic 1985 horror-comedy with Lam Chin-Ying, directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. It's hilarious. Let's watch it tonight."/"Okay then. It's a date."/ Monika touched a finger to her lips.Eheheh. If Yulong wasn't shitty asshole xianxia bully land, it might actually be interesting to visit there sometime.Charlotte waited until we had finished with our little digression before saying, "That is one of the uses, yes. Yulong does border the Xenoas Demon Country to the north, and vampires are among the monster races that live there."/"What."/Monika then raised her hands and physically pushed that issue aside. /"No, I can't keep getting pulled into side topics, I have enough of that from Player. What is Beast Faith Sorcery?"/"Ah, this is interesting too! From my research, this is actually an ability that was granted to certain bloodlines or people living in a certain area by spirits from long ago. Maybe it would be better to call it Beast Taming Magic. Since there are behemoths and other fierce monsters, it could be very powerful.""Oooh!" Like Pokemons?I wanna be the very bestLike no one ever wasTo catch them is my real testTo train them is my cause!I successfully rolled against the urge to sing."Of course, first you have to survive taming the behemoths, so it does not enjoy a particularly high success rate either," Charlotte continued.Oh. Yeah. I suddenly had a mental image of Pikachu shocking Ash, and without cartoon durability it would be fatal. There were no safety features in this fantasy world./"So with all others having their obvious disadvantages or the need for special tools, I can see why elemental magic is the most commonly practiced magic. You just need a magic stone, input commands, output magic. So I have three questions about this./"First, is there a standard metric for measuring magic power that goes into a spell?/"Second, do people with more than one magic affinity start with larger magic reserves?/"And third, what are your magic affinities?"Charlotte answered "No, there is none. Magic expenditure is a personal thing. There is no way to measure efficiency in spell casting outside of casting repeatedly until the caster feels the mental drain. A person can also acquire increased mental endurance from practice."Magic power it could be visualized like that of a well and buckets. Some people start with a wide well that makes it easier to draw out water by using multiple buckets. People are born with innate strengths of affinity, making casting easier. They have larger buckets or a pulley to making drawing water for only this specific element."Some people have a narrow but very deep well of power. Some people have shallow reserves that can be emptied quickly, while others can have their internal well of power replenish itself very quickly even if they can't draw from it as deeply or quickly."Charlotte made gestures with her palms that actually reminded me more of shaping a vase."These qualities are intrinsic and unique to everyone, though with enough practice they can be mitigated. That is what 'efficiency' means perhaps someone with limited ability to output magic power is doing more with less or has expanded their ability to force out magic power. There is no real way to tell.People with more magic affinities can also have the same limits, but because those with more than one affinity tend to use them more in different ways they are expected to have larger reserves in the end."I nodded and glanced aside towards Linze. Fire, Water and Light. But Light was her weakest element it was innate, but was that also atrophied by lack of use?Though I suppose starting with a strong affinity to one element keeps multi-affinity magicians from being mediocre generalists./"So what about your magic affinities?"/ Monika asked."I am capable of using Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light Magic," Charlotte replied without even the smallest hint of pride.Linze sucked in her breath. Five Magic affinities! If three magic affinities were rare, then Charlotte was a true treasure for any kingdom. No wonder she was the court magician while still so young. If Viscount Sordrick could make Yae feel so inferior and unlearned, now it was her turn to face her own feelings of inadequacy.I only wondered if being sent to Mismede was as much about trying to protect her from political hooks before she was ready as it was about learning from the few people on this world who might have as broad experience and affinities with magic.Charlotte sat primly while we stared at her. After a few moments in silence, she asked, "May I ask my own question in return now?"/"Go ahead."/--
