Origin Seeker

"This book is called, 'Metal Collection'. Sophia?"

[It really does have what we're looking for! It's an encyclopedia listing a bunch of different metals and their properties! Graff probably used this to find the best metal for those wires.]

Dream could sense Sophia's excitement at getting new and important information. He also flipped open the book to a random page.

"Hmm... Orichalcum? Highly shapable material and gold in color. Wait, this is just gold."

[Elements will be the same on this world as on Earth. The only difference is that manmade materials like steel won't be present. That and the quantities of certain materials will be different. But, that's not what we're looking for.]

"We're looking for how mana affects those materials. So how does mana affect gold?"

[From what I see, its much stronger, but still very malleable. It's also a good mana conductor. Graff may have chosen gold for his wires.]

"So is there any other difference? Just stronger?"

[Don't expect too much from it. Mana, in general, enhances the base properties of stuff it affects. This will be the case for many materials. Although, from what I've seen in this book, there are many extraordinary metals considering strength.]

"Oh? Like what?"

[Well, we now know what the strongest metal on this planet is. Mithril. It is described as silver-white in color and the greatest equipment material. The highest conductivity to mana and the greatest strength. I theorize that it's actually silver. There are several grades of mithril that represent purity and mana density. Low, medium, high, and prime. It's the prime Mithril that is extremely rare and unbelievably valuable. It is said that only the 4th classes in this world have equipment made of prime Mithril.]

"Wow. What about metals used widespread?"

[The common metals I see are Iron and Titanium. There are also elemental metals that take on properties of the elements. There are three, being Chlorophyte, Lokium, and Solarite. These give enhancements over Earth, water, and fire magic respectively. These are also very expensive and difficult to make, with basically only 3rd classes using them as equipment. Iron and titanium are the metals used commonplace. Apparently titanium is much more common here than on Earth. It must be easier to work with as well.]

"Interesting. But my tools are already better than titanium tools. Even my knives are made from graphene. And the armor is made of the same. I doubt replacing them with iron is my best option."

[Well they also haven't been saturated with mana. You have to remember that this world has had mana for a long time, dozens of millennia possibly. That gave time for mana to saturate and change the properties of standard metals. That means iron in this world isn't the iron we know on Earth. So it may very well be better than your graphene tools.]

"And enhancing my current tools with mana would take too much time. I can't wait for millenia for them to strengthen I guess we'll have to begin switching equipment then. For now, let's focus on these books. I'll just grab books and you scan them. I don't have the patience to read each one."

[No problem.]

After that, Dream began grabbing each book on the shelves. Sophia could scan each book in a dozen seconds or so, and when she was done, he moved on to the next. 

Since there were only several dozen books, it only took half an hour for them to finish scanning the last book.

"Alright. So what have you found in this library?"

[Being general, there was a lot about mathematics, engineering, crafting, blacksmithing, how mana interacts with certain materials, and lists of materials. There was a bit about the properties of monster remains, like the bones, hide, and everything else. Apparently, the tendons of monsters are popular as bowstrings. Bones are also often crafted into weapons like swords, spears, arrows, hammers, axes, and so forth. There were also many materials other than metals it talked about that have bizarre properties, mainly alchemical though. Like how the spinal fluid of certain monsters can be used in regenerative potions.]

"So there's alchemy in this world. Are they turning lead to gold?"

[Not really. But the things they can make are extraordinary. Some potions are used for increased sensory perception, allowing people to react faster. Some can temporarily increase strength, some can increase stamina. There are also very rare ones that have permanent effects. Like if you drink the mix of a 4th class Sparrow eye and high-quality Mithril dust, along with the spinal fluid of a 3rd class troll monster, it can grant soul vision by altering your own eyes and some regenerative powers. Though the experiment has only been done once since sparrows are apparently extremely rare. Not to mention how someone with strong awareness wouldn't need it.]

"True, but if such a solution were given to a child, it would almost guarantee their future. The very fact that potions like that exist is dangerous for me. Children who have been reared by powerful families would have many advantages. I only thought it would be weapons and skills, but now even biology I have to worry about."

[Yes but it also means that you can benefit. Who said only they could get those ingredients? And most of all, you have me. I dare say that nobody could do better than me when it comes to simulating alchemy.]

"If only we had the knowledge. I'm sure there's a million experiments to be done before we get real data. So is that all we found here?"

[Alchemy, math, superficial material science. There was a bit of magic knowledge, but nothing I could decipher. We need to learn the fundamentals first.]

"Damn. I was hoping for more. Though the knowledge on monster remains will be very useful at least. Either way, there's nothing more for me here. I should check on my students, make sure we didn't make them retarded."

Dream walked out of the library and over to the table they were at. When he approached, he saw Graff and Riddick looking at each other.

"Oh, so you guys snapped out of it. How was it?"

"Amazing! I tell you, I feel like my eyes have been truly opened! All my knowledge before was merely superficial. The fundamentals of science, oh how this will help me in my research!" (Graff)

"I'm also surprised, Boy. I've even gained enlightenment on certain things involving magic. It's a totally new perspective that could solve many more problems us magicians have." (Riddick)

"Well I'm glad you guys like it. Though since there's a lot and you guys definitely don't understand everything, we won't continue right away. I was thinking every few hours we can do it again. Total 3 or 4 times a day. Oh, and here's what I promised you."

Dream remembered the book he was going to give them. Except it wasn't a book, but a tablet. 

"This is called a tablet. It works just like the screens from before. This thing is your book, which has all the information I gave to you earlier, and much more. Try it."

Dream handed them each a tablet. They played around with it some before looking at the screen.

"How does it work?" (Graff)

"Just touch the surface." (Dream)

"Oh! Got it."

Graff and Riddick touched the screen, which promptly lit up.

"I have given those tablets an intelligence that will help you navigate everything. To use the intelligence, you can touch that button at the bottom left corner. It will speak to you, and you can speak to it, just like a regular person."

Both men quickly pressed the blinking button in the corner. A voice then sounded from both their tablets.

[Hello. I am your assistant, Wiki. I will be helping you navigate the information on this device. If you wish to look at something, just tell me something to search for.]

"Ooo! This is cool!" (Graff)

Both men seemed surprised and impressed by the A.I.. Dream smiled.

"If you want to look at information on a certain topic, just give the topic. Graff, I suggest you look at electrical engineering. Old Man, I actually don't really have a suggestion for you. I'm not sure what you do." (Dream)

"I'm a magician. My magic involves destruction through fire, and breaking down substances." (Riddick)

"And how exactly do you break down substances?"

"Like this."

Riddick brought out a piece of meat from his inventory in his hand. The meat then began to corrode. Very quickly, it disappeared as if never there.

"I held back a lot there, so you could see the process. Usually, I could even destroy high-class metals in seconds. I can also cause explosions that destroy everything in a wide range. My fire is also very powerful, able to burn many things."

"Alright. So you have the power of corrosion and fire. Then I want you to search and study those two things. Those will tell you about how your power works and interacts with matter. Knowing this could also be the key to making stronger magic, and therefore becoming more powerful. With this knowledge and your talent, I believe that 4th class is closer than you think."

"Hmph, don't underestimate 4th class boy. But alright. Hmm, Wiki, show me fire."

[Understood.]

The next thing Riddick saw was a detailed page about the process of combustion, otherwise known as fire.

Since both the A.I. and the book were created and run by Sophia, she was able to format all the information to help the reader understand the information. If she just threw the definition of fire at Riddick, he wouldn't understand. So she had to treat it like teaching a 2nd grader.

It was also the same for Graff. She walked him through the concept of electrical engineering, starting with the physics of electrons and electricity. Since up to this point, he had only done things through mana, not anything else.

Dream sat back as he watched them fervently read through their tablets. Neither saying a word.

'I feel like a school teacher. Anyway. I was thinking we could do some experiments with magic. Since I can't expect to find many books on it until we get to the Spire.'

[I agree. Maybe you should head to the storage room. We can test some materials out as well.]

'Ok.'

Dream stood up from his chair and walked over to the storage room. 

When Dream found the door and walked through, he was greeted with the sight of boxes and shelves strewn across the area. 

'So he isn't exactly the cleanest. What's in these boxes?'

He walked over and looked inside a wooden box that could easily fit three of him. Inside, he found many scraps of metal in many different forms.

'Iron?'

[It looks like it. It at least isn't titanium. Take out a scrap.]

Dream reached in the box and grabbed a scrap the size of his head. 

After he had it in his hands, the right side of his body was quickly covered in his armor. He then ejected the arm blade and slashed at the scrap.

*SHRING*

"...Hmm."

Dream looked at the blade that only cut through 2/3's the scrap before being stopped.

"If it were given more force, it might have gone through. But the fact that this iron can stop the sharpest blade on Earth at all is incredible."

[They could easily stop your weapons as well if made right. So although it isn't as strong as your armor, it isn't as far off as we think.]

"So titanium will probably match my armor. A widespread material on this planet can match the peak of human engineering on my planet. It's almost laughable how unfair it is."

[Well, no use sulking about it. Maybe one of these boxes has titanium. Go look around more.]

Dream nodded and put the scrap away, walking over to other boxes.

Some boxes were filled with more scraps, some had bars of iron, some had other materials like gold. They also found silver and tungsten. The silver was obviously the low grade mithril. And the tungsten was shaped in weird chunks.

"Here's the titanium. They're shaped in ingots. There are also scraps over here. Let's test it."

Dream quickly picked up a head-sized scrap. It wasn't very thick, looking like someone had tried to flatten an ingot before failing and tossing it aside. He took out his arm bade and slashed at it.

*TING*

"...*sighs*"

This time, the blade cut not even half an inch into the scrap. Dream sighed at how amazing that was.

"I think we have our new target material. I'm gonna have to learn some manufacturing techniques."

[You won't have to since I know everything there is to know. We will just have to summon the necessary equipment.]

"That may not work for forging this stuff though. We'll need better tools, and we will need to know how to factor in mana during the forging process. After that though, yes, our knowledge of modern metalworking will be a huge asset. Speaking of mana, I wonder how much this stuff can hold..."

Dream looked back into the scrap box, digging through before pulling out a palm-sized chunk of titanium.

"Last time when I infused my bullets with mana, they imploded at a certain point. Some of the bullet even disintegrated. Now let's see how much these can take."

After recalling his previous tests, he began infusing mana. The mana in his body moved to his hand and then into the chunk.

The first thing he noticed was that it was much easier to infuse. There was less resistance as if it was meant to hold mana.

Very soon, Dream had infused 8x more mana than in the bullet, equal to about half his mana This is when he noticed the changes in the chunk.

The chunk didn't have any external changes, but it was much harder than before. It wasn't hardness that stemmed from contraction and compression though. It was just simply getting harder. 

'Could the bonds between the molecules be getting stronger?'

[That's my theory. There's been no change in mass, size, shape, nothing. that's all I can come up with.]

'Then I can only say that this is incredible. Hang on.'

Dream took out his arm blade and tossed the chunk in the air. He then slashed from the bottom up with all his strength.

*Ting*

*thunk*

The chunk was batted away like a baseball. Dream walked over a picked it up, scanning for any results.

'There's a nick here. Is that seriously it? So it really does strengthen the bonds. This opens up new possibilities for me.'

[That's right. You'll be able to recreate your graphene tools in this world. Since on Earth, the graphene was naturally unstable, which led to it not being produced in 3D forms until later during the information age when manufacturing technology grew. But if you can stabilize it using mana, you'll be able to create it here where the manufacturing technology is low.]

'And I'll have material tens of times stronger than even steel and diamond. Since it'll also be enhanced with mana. I wonder if they've developed graphite on this world...'

Dream and Sophia pondered.

"Now, If this were a bullet, I could punch through 5 bear skulls, not to mention one."

[The only problem is that titanium is weak to magnetic fields. It would be difficult to fire. An iron core with titanium would be good though.]

"Then I think we know what our next goal is. Right now though, we should carry out some magic experiments."