Chapter 168: Elementary Mana Physics

Rewen carefully went through the letters and shook his head with a bitter expression.

First off, "pathetic" wasn't enough to describe his stats.

All his life, he had only studied basic subjects like - Language, Computers, Social Studies, Science, etc.

For him to score 400 out of 750 in his last year of high school was already the greatest achievement of his life considering that he was a victim of Stage 5 Interference. So it wasn't a surprise for him to have such low stats. 'But what [Forging]? I have forged basically all my life. So why is it just Novice?'

[Toddler -> Beginner (0-9) -> Novice (0-9) -> Adept -> (0-9) -> Skilled (0-9) -> Expert (0-9)]

'I understand the ranks but my question has still not been answered.'

[When the feature [Blacksmith] was merged with the request, some of the things were lost while merging.]

'That can also happen?' Rewen felt like he was discovering things too fast. 'Nevermind. What about the SP? What are they? Where can I get them?' The [Skill Tree] was the most eye-catching part of everything on the screen.

[SP = Skill Points.]

'I guessed it. So, where can I get them?'

[You can't.]

'...'

[You only asked to 'measure' and list off your skills that are essential while creating Magic Artifact.]

'Then--'

[Request denied.]

Rewen cursed for a while, then slapped his cheeks with both his hands lightly. "I have to focus. Which subject should I start with? Is Elementary Mana Physics a good starting point? Eh, I'll just start from scratch. But first, let me just check…"

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[Memorization] (52.54%)

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Rewen observed that slowly and gradually, the speed of progression of [Memorization] was falling. When he was learning [Petal Dance], he had approximately progressed to 35%. After that, he used [Memorization] everytime he sat down to study for the knights exam. With all this, it felt a bit wrong for him to 'just' progress to 52%.

'But whatever, what matters is that my memory is several times stronger than an average person. I don't know if higher ranked mages have a sudden increase in memory power but for now, I should use this to my advantage.'

Elementary Mana Physics.

A subject dealing with the application of mana using the laws of physics.

If the theory of "Infused Mana", i.e., mana infused in the atmosphere along with the virus in the apocalypse is held absolutely true, then it could be safely concluded that it has changed most of the popular laws that were prevalent in the pre-apocalyptic period. 

Rewen had a basic idea regarding it. "That doesn't mean that an apple doesn't fall onto the ground when someone sits under a tree. Nor does it mean that the rates of diffusion of gases aren't inversely proportional to the square roots of their densities under similar conditions of temperature and pressure. In fact, the laws are seemingly the same. The reason I say 'seemingly' is because the laws can show interesting properties because of mana."

Let's take one of the most basic laws - Newton's third law of motion which simply states that - "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" which is universally still true. It is even more true in case of battles where physical and non-physical attacks are constantly exchanged.

Then, how is it "altered" in any way?

In the year 2756, an experiment was once held to test whether mana really influences some of the most basic laws in our life or not. For the experiment, two Rank 2 Mages were called and were told to have a physical change while encouraging them to use mana as much as possible without using skills.

The battle lasted for two minutes. Since it was a friendly match, they stretched the fight and eventually, no one won the fight. According to the organizers, the purpose of the experiment had not failed and concluded that mana hadn't altered the laws of physics in any way.

In the next year, a lunatic researcher thought that the experiment was very bogus and himself went out of his way to fight with one of the organizers of the experiment. The battle was bloody and brutal. 

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A bespectacled skinny man stood one of the damaged windows on the second floor of a three-story house. "You still dare to call yourself a new world researcher!?"

"What do you want, madman!? You are fucking lunatic!" An overweight middle-aged man coughed a mouthful of blood before turning to look at the crazy man suddenly destroying his house's walls. He reached his pocket to make a call but it was snatched by the bespectacled skinny man.

"Fight me." He said, before breaking his smartphone into pieces.

Seeing this, the overweight middle-aged man got angry and stood up. No matter what, he was still a Rank 1 Mage.

A bloody battle commenced.

The bespectacled man first tried out normal physical attacks against his opponent.

It followed the traditional laws of physics.

The bespectacled man tried out normal skills.

It followed the traditional laws of physics.

The bespectacled man tried out his core skill.

It still followed the traditional laws of physics.

It was at this moment that he realized one particular thing. 'If all these really mattered, then why is it still a question whether the laws of physics had been altered or not? I have to think out of the box and do something that has not been done before.'

He pushed himself as well as his opponent to the limits.

"Cough, cough. Don't force me to use this…" The overweight man looked at the lunatic with hostility in his eyes.

The bespectacled man's eyes shone brightly. "Ah yes, this is the moment…"

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On that day, Elementary Mana Physics was invented.

The lunatic, Steven M. Kornell was a university professor who was very progressive. In the final deciding moment of his battle with the organizer of the faulty experiment, he destroyed his core.

His opponent did the same.

Then, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Air waves filled the surroundings and the organizer was thrown out of his house while Steven remained standing.

Later, it was found out that destroying cores at the same time creates a resonance which has the potential to deliver a blow created from nothing. Although it could be technically said that the blow was the result of two cores resonating with each other, the question - why? -  still remains unanswered till this day. 

There were, of course, exceptions to the laws of motion but it was not on a macroscopic level. Now that something openly defied a law that has existed since centuries, it rose up the dormant progressives. It started a revolutionary movement consisting of research enthusiasts.

But even with all this happening, Steven M. Kornell was still arrested and sent to prison with three charges against him. There were protests but it didn't help. Because of this decision, the public and the media boycotted the government and the police for quite a while.

Rewen shook his head while reading this.

Although he believes that the deed Steven M. Kornell did was extraordinary not only because he was the source of inspiration for the later generations but also because he was selfless, but there was no way the law system would forgive him, especially considering the country he was living in.