Chương 59: A Necessary Choice

Chapter 59: Looking at the wonderous interplay of energy and information all around her, Scarlet tried to probe a single thread. She wanted to tap into the source, to read what was being sent and what was coming in. To intercept the instructions, and to follow the flows of information back to their sources. Unfortunately for Scarlet, her mental grip found no purchase. Like a word that lingered at the tip of her tongue; it was right there, and yet she could not access it.

It was clear that the information within the web itself was protected somehow. It seemed, for now, she could only see that the streams existed and couldn't interact with them further. However, she knew that was only a matter of time and power. And what if she wanted to create a network of her own? Just what level of enchanting would she need to reach for that? The idea of enchanting encryption was amusing for only a moment, until the reality of that finally sunk in.

Enchanting was not some ancient arcane craft like she had read about in books or seen in media. This was not ye-olde-wizardry meant to make a stone glow or turn a willow branch into an ice pistol. This was technology. Real, and modern. No, this was beyond modern technology. This was programming in four dimensions that she could access, and probably more she couldn't, and she was about to take her first steps in learning how to do it.

Suddenly, raising her mental stats seemed a secondary goal to the craft of enchantment itself. Then she remembered the potion, the promise, the other factions, and the invisible leash. Her excitement dissipated like smoke from a blown-out candle, and Meditation was pushed to the limit as she worked to re-regulate her emotions and refocus on the lecture. It was almost physically painful to pull her thoughts away from her nascent discoveries, and the myriad possibilities but she managed it.

"Before we begin the reading, take the labyrinth box and inject some of your mana into it," The historian said. If he'd noticed her temporary spike in enthusiasm, he didn't comment. She did as she was bid, knowing she was meant to be solving the box alongside the lecture. Splitting her focus. Raising those mental stats. She injected mana into the box and felt as a part of her consciousness was dragged into the first part of the labyrinth, as though it had been pulled into an alternate reality.

The feeling was not too dissimilar from how she felt travelling through portals, only localised and nowhere near as unpleasant. Within the labyrinth box she felt a distinct lack of a body. It was as though her consciousness inhabited a formless ball of energy travelling along a simple pathway. The rules were instinctive: don't touch the walls or the floor. Make it to the end of the hall. It was disorienting, but also strangely fun. The way those single-track App Store games were strangely fun. Follow the path.

Avoid the obstacles. Make it to the end. Go to the next level. Only with the box, she wasn't mindlessly tapping her phone screen to control the movements. She was doing it entirely with mana and psionic manipulation, her decision not to take the Energy Manipulation Skill feeling increasingly justified as she felt herself being challenged already. The first level wasn't the simple tutorial she had expected. Something in the box was actively disrupting her control. It was subtle right now.

No more a nuisance than a gentle breeze while trying to cross a balance beam, but she knew it wouldn't remain that way for long. Then there was the disorientation of having that part of her mind almost completely cut off from her present reality. The Historian hadn't given her much time to adjust to essentially being mentally in two places at once. That was when she realised her ability to split her mind, the one she'd been so proud of, had never actually been challenged.

Even within the Pools, she'd been running simultaneous mental processes that were all somehow related, and that had relieved some of the mental strain. What she was doing right now was nothing like that. She had the labyrinth box in one hand, a part of her mind playing through its alien, telekinetic, obstacle course. Another part of her mind focused on the data slate in her lap as she worked to match the words on the page to the translations the Historian was providing.

Then there was Meditation running in the background, and another part of her mind plotting how to approach another faction, how to complete her Trials and quests and establish her own info-web and… Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. To her astonishment, she realised she was enjoying this type of training. This was the type of challenge she thrived on. Complete the labyrinth. Listen to the lecture. Memorise the textbook. Keep her passive mana sensing running.

Keep a metaphorical eye on Maus. Learn. Learn everything, learn fast. For the rest of the lecture, she tried to balance every mental process. Eventually she was forced to bench her future planning to focus on the present. Meditation cycled away in the background, grounding her, keeping her emotions regulated, and keeping her mind centred despite her mental exertion. She was suddenly very glad she'd eaten the mana-replenishing meal as she struggled with her efficiency while juggling everything.

The rate at which she was burning through energy was deplorable. She would master that too she told herself, pushing harder as she quietly improved. <–... –> Unfortunately for him, Maus was not exempt from training. While Scarlet was focused on her own tasks, her Familiar had thought he'd have a chance to rest. Instead, a voice connected to his mind.

'Your development affects her growth just as hers affects yours. I will not allow you to be the weak link that holds back her story.' For a moment, the little guy considered relaying the conversation to the Boss, but something inside him told him to wait. She already had enough on her mind. Besides, an instinct from somewhere told him not to connect to his bond right now. That if he did while Mr. Histories was in his head, it wouldn't be good. Maus trusted his instincts.

Further, something within him silently agreed with the Historian. He didn't know how he was being a burden, but those were always yucky, always heavy, and never good. Maus was good, the best little buddy! The Boss said so. So, he wouldn't be a burden, and he certainly didn't want to be heavy, because that meant a diet. Maus never wanted to go on a diet ever again. Even though the Boss said he looked cute a little chunky, he knew if he was too heavy, he might drag her down. He would not drag her down.

Instead of responding directly, Maus just turned to face the Historian, radiating determination. The Historian waited a beat, his lecture to Scarlet not halting even as a larger portion of his considerable mental energy shifted to Maus. When he realised that was all the response he was going to get, he pulled out a metal sphere the size of a marble and tossed it towards Maus. Before it reached the little guy, it stopped, hovering just a few centimetres in front of him.

'Your only job is to catch it.' Maus moved to do just that. That's when it disappeared. It simply blipped out of existence, appearing directly behind the mouse. Quickly Maus turned around to try and catch it again when it blipped to his left, then his right, then directly above him.

'Don't just chase it, feel it. You should be able to sense the spatial ripples.' Having given the little guy enough of a hint, the Historian watched as both Scarlet and Maus worked diligently at their respective tasks, wondering what new wonders they might show him. <–... –> The moment she returned to her chambers her mind hyper-fixated on the scene of all those tendrils of information converging and intersecting; like a canopy of invisible threads.

It had been beautiful, and it made her want to form one of her own, one even more vast and all encompassing. She'd been given the slate to read ahead (now that she could read), however she'd ended up once more following the thread to where it connected to the wider web. Trying to map each instance and track the flow of information to no success apart from an increased sensitivity. Then she'd spent hours 'enchanting' the room using her psionics.

Needing no 'symbols' to interpret her will, she'd decided to test her limits. Inanimate objects that had previously been hideously difficult to edit became merely difficult. She was still limited to small things like enchanting a chair to be perpetually warm or particularly cosy. And because she was making the changes directly in the info-layer, unlike with traditional free enchanting, the changes were permanent unless she built in impermanence.

It was glorious, another tool in her arsenal, and one that made her very glad she hadn't accepted Shadow Communion because she was finding so much flexibility with shadows. They were natural points of connection, nigh intangible, yet also an element all their own. Shadows were connected not just to the object they were produced by, but to the light that created them too. Unlike the info-net, as she was calling this specific manifestation of the info-layer, the shadows were completely unencrypted.

She understood why the skill had been called Shadow Communion and not Shadow Manipulation or Shadow Control. Could she manipulate them? Sure, just about as easily as she could mana. However, it was the unique interplay between the shadows and her psionics where she truly found the most utility. She and Maus had spent hours with him blinking to different areas of the villa as she simply felt his presence through the fluctuations of information carried through shadows, all of it connected through psionics.

As she explored, she began for the first time to glimpse the first inklings of her Trait's potential, and just how little of it she could safely explore. As beautiful as the web was, it was a reminder that even in this training world she was a bug in a jar, constantly surveilled, kept in line by contracts, and half-hearted promises. Weak as she was now, if she joined a faction, this would be her forever. They would never give her the freedom to grow, to explore her limits. Which meant she couldn't join. Not yet.

Not without giving up far more than the trade-off was worth. This left her with one real option. She thought of the info-layer, of the shadows she was learning to read, of enchantments that made miracles of the mundane, and of the power she'd need before she'd ever have a seat at the table. As drowsiness crept up on her, her thoughts drifted to her homeworld. In the bright night of the sunless world, Scarlet decided.

'Hey Maus,' she sent. He sent back a feeling of lazy attentiveness.

'It would appear that we will need to save Earth.'

'Okay.' His reply, so simple and sincere, settled her emotions in a way neither Empathy nor Meditation could.' Okay,' she responded. Then she let herself rest and prepare for the fight to come. She had a feeling she'd awaken in a pit.