chapter 89 – Teach

Dream hovered down to the land above the facility. 

[I've already got everything summoned.]

"Bring it out."

When he said that, items started flooding out of his inventory. They were assorted and plentiful.

There was aircraft for transport, machines for mining, and everything in between. All of these machines were designed specifically for mining in the most efficient way possible. Whether it was drilling, using controlled explosions, or even proximity scanning to make sure they had everything, it was there. 

The entire operation force had a few hundred machines and over a dozen heavy aircraft. The aircraft was designed not only to move materials back to the facility for processing, but to transport all of the machines wherever they needed to go. 

After everything was summoned out, Sophia got to work and modified everything. One big issue with being on another world was that they lacked designated sources of power, whether it was fuel or energy. Eventually, these machines would die and they had no way to fuel them back up. But with Dream's magic, they could set it up so that they could generate all the electricity they wanted wherever they were.

It used his thermal fluctuation magic. He could enchant any object he wanted to generate heat using mana as fuel, and this could be converted to electricity. This would act as a battery and charger, which Sophia used as power sources and incorporated into all the devices they made. 

So once Sophia had used the majority of his mana and swapped the power sources for the machines, they all revved to life and boarded their designated aircraft, which also revved to life. Soon, they were loaded and the aircraft began to rise up, heading to the mining site.

[The mining site is another hundred or so miles away. They'll arrive and deploy themselves with the AI that I've installed controlling them. I've also scouted the area and there's nothing that will disturb them. Even if there is, there are some guardian bots equipped with weapons that'll take care of issues.]

"Nice. Then let's get back to the Spire. Arrina is probably waiting."

Dream rose back up into the sky and flew back to the city.

15 minutes later, he was back at the academy, heading to his dorm. And sure enough, when he arrived Arrina was already there waiting outside his door.

"...I told you you could show yourself in."

"I don't think you understand how weird that is. But besides that, where were you?"

"I got caught up at the hospital, people dying and such. But anyway, let's head in."

Dream opened the door and walked into the room with Arrina behind him. When they walked in, a very simple living area greeted them.

"...There's hardly anything here."

"I don't need a bunch of crap put on display. There's enough to be plenty comfortable. And anything else I need is in my inventory. What do you have in your dorm?"

"All my books, clothes, and everything else I need. I don't have an inventory, so I can't store everything."

"Well maybe that'll change after I'm done with you. Go ahead and take a seat on a couch."

Dream pointed over to one of three couches in the living area that surrounded a small coffee table. She sat on one and he sat across from her while bringing out some food, setting it on the table.

"If you want any."

"I'm alright."

"Then we can get started."

Dream sat back and put his leg on his knee, getting comfortable. Arrina wasn't so laid back though. Dream could tell that she was very nervous, unable to control her strong heartbeat and high blood pressure. Though he could see nothing on the outside, there was no hiding anything underneath. 

"...The first thing I'm gonna do is explain to you the concept of mana manipulation."

Dream put up his hand and brought out a chunk of metal, the same one he gave to her during practical. 

"Mana is an extension of the mind-"

"Isn't it a part of your body?"

"...No."

"Then why do we control it with our body?"

"You don't. You might think you do because you feel your mana as you move it, but you do not control mana with your body. It all happens up here."

He pointed to his head. Arrina nodded.

"I don't know if this is taught, but every organic being, whether its plants, animals, or humans, has a soul. For humans, this soul is what makes us, us. We cannot see it, but it is there. It houses your Mind, and it's where we do all of our thinking. The soul is connected to our brain, or our heads, and this lets us control our body. Think of it like a puppet and its master. The soul is the master, while the puppet is our body. You get all that?"

"I did. Though I find it surprising that even plants have souls. Does that mean they can think like us?"

"No. Their soul isn't developed enough, extremely simple."

"Ok."

"Anyway. Mana is also an invisible substance, and it is controlled directly by our souls. We can control mana in different ways, and through manipulating it, we can create magic."

"So how do you make magic without magic circles?"

"To know that, you have to know what magic circles are. Do you know what magic circles are?"

"Making them allows us to use magic."

"False. Making them allows you to control your mana. Because people's souls are too weak and their minds aren't developed enough, they don't have the ability to directly make magic. Instead, they have to form their mana into runes and circles in a sequence, letting them organize their mind and make a spell. But if your mind and soul are strong enough, you can skip the process of making a circle and instead directly manipulate mana into spells."

"...So when I was trying to levitate that ball above my palm, I couldn't do it because my mind is weak?"

"Yes and no. Your mind also isn't used to directly manipulating things, so it'll be difficult. But since you're willing to give manipulation a shot, I'm here to guide you down the road of making it easier."

"By strengthening my mind."

"That's one way. Another thing I'll also have to do is educate you. Your view of the world and its inner workings is currently ignorant and flawed. And one key to manipulation is understanding what you're manipulating and the consequences of such. For example..."

*Woosh*

Dream brought up his other hand and began sucking air towards it, making a dense ball of it to the point where it was visible like fog. 

"What's in my hand right now?"

"Air."

"And what is air?"

"It's...I don't know."

"And that's a problem. You won't be able to control air if you don't know what you're really controlling. Up until now, the circle has done everything for you. That'll be no longer. But we're going to start small and easy."

Dream leaned forward and placed two objects on the table, getting rid of the food. One was a metal cube and the other was a cup of water.

"The cube is the easiest to practice manipulation with, while water is harder. Air is the hardest."

"What about fire?"

"Fire is not a substance, so it's not exactly something to be manipulated. That's one of the flawed views that you have that we will fix."

"..."

"But talking isn't going to help you right now. The first step in your journey is working out your mind. And you're going to do the same thing I had you do during practical."

"Levitate the cube?"

"Yup. Let me see you try right now."

"..."

Arrina leaned forward and slowly took the metal cube in her palm. She lifted it and began to infuse mana into it. 

The same scene as last occurred and she struggled before raising the cube an inch before letting it fall. 

"Again."

"What?"

"Do that again. Now."

"..."

She didn't speak and tried to lift it again, getting it an inch high before it fell once more.

"Again."

She did it once more.

"Again."

And once more.

"Again."

"How many times?"

Arrina snapped to him, exasperated. 

"Until you can't. Until your mind is exhausted. You keep lifting that thing until you can lift it higher. Push yourself. Did you not come here to do just that?"

"..."

"I know it's different. Your mind being tired is worse than your body being tired. But even if you weren't trying to learn manipulation, you can't go far in magic without your mind being strong. You think those at the class 3 level have weak minds? The mind is what creates magic. If you want better magic, then you need a stronger mind. What I'm having you do is just the most direct and efficient way to train your mind. So, what are you gonna do?"

"..."

Arrina stayed quiet. But eventually, she sighed and began focusing on the cube, lifting it and dropping it. Dream nodded and stood up, walking to the kitchen as to not disturb her. When she understood that a strong mind was needed to gain power, Arrina didn't ask anything more and just did what he told her. 

Dream figured that with her personality, once she got over the fact that this was what she needed to do, then she wouldn't have any problems doing it. She was competitive and he never saw her doing anything but working hard during practical. She obviously had the drive, and now she had a direction to push. 

For the next 3 hours, Arrina did nothing but lift the cube. It was a weight for her mind, and she constantly repped it, only taking a couple of short breaks. But as a result of her super hard work, she was mentally and even physically exhausted as she had expended plenty of mana. 

Dream had been 'reading' a book across from her and finally looked over to her when he heard the cube fall from her hand onto the floor. He had been watching her the whole time, monitoring the mana in her body and saw how she weakened over time. Finally, with no mana and a weak mind, she couldn't do it anymore.

"Tired?"

"...yes."

Arrina weakly answered. When he looked at her face, he saw that she looked about ready to cry. This confused him until Sophia chimed in.

[Her mind is weak, fragile, and vulnerable, so her emotions are going to reflect that. Don't be surprised if she starts bawling. ]

'...Great. At least I know she worked hard.'

Dream closed his eyes and prepared himself to deal with such a situation. He sat up and faced her.

"You okay? How are you feeling?"

"...*sniff*...No..."

"Oh god..."

"What?! You made me work super hard and *sniff* now my head hurts!"

After Dream spoke, tears started pouring out from Arrina. He facepalmed and she went off on him while sniffling.

[A poor choice in words. Though it probably would've happened either way.]

'I just... Nevermind. I'm just wondering how I'm going to get her back to her dorm.'

Dream watched her get mad at him and bawl while thinking about how to handle this hot mess.

[You're probably not going to be able to get her anywhere, especially without attention. Get ready to give up your bed.]

'*sigh* I guess so.'

Dream accepted his fate and faced a still emotional Arrina.

"So...It's late. Let's get you to bed."

"No I...I'm tired."

"You don't know what you're saying. Come on."

"Well maybe if you weren't so smart I wouldn't be so stupid!"

"So I took your smarts?"

"Yes!"

"So it makes you emotional and an idiot..."

"Yes!...huh..."

"Let's just get you to bed. You'll be sleeping well tonight."

Dream picked her up as she weakly punched and kicked him like a child. He carried her and put her on his bed, covering her up with the sheets.

"There there. Just relax and go to sleep."

"No... You *yawn*... I don't want to."

Dream used his cognition skill a bit and made her tired, causing her to yawn and fall asleep. He turned off the lights and walked out of the room. 

"*sigh* Not so bad. The skill makes it pretty easy."

[Only if they're weak like that. But yes.]

"So how's the mining operation coming along? They should be there by now right?"

[Yes, they got there a while ago. They've already set up and just recently pulled a sample from underground, confirming the presence of Iron. Full-fledged operations are underway and it won't be too long before the first batch gets to the facility.]

"Nice. I'm looking forward to getting that steel. In the meantime, I guess I should experiment more with magic circles."

Dream laid down on the couch and put his hands behind his head, getting comfortable. Moments later, the dark living area lit up in various colors while runes began forming themselves by the dozen. Soon, there were over 30 magic circles had formed themselves all around Dream, and even the mana concentration in the room began to increase. He began to ponder while looking at all the circles.

"Although it seems like circles are a primitive magic, there actually might be more to it. I really need to get my hands on those advanced copies. The way it works is...different."

[I agree. As we find out more about how mana affects the physical world and the ways it's employed, we begin to find more possibilities.]

"One of the questions I'm still trying to find the answer to is, how does Scarlet manipulate fire? Or is it even fire? Luna's power of water and earth is simple, and she even has the ability to cool. But fire? I would love to see her use that power again with my new abilities."

[You would also love to see her in general.]

"I would. But that's the least possible thing I can do right now besides going to Earth. *sigh* I wonder how long I'll be stuck here."

[Who knows. Though there's a high chance we can get in contact with those angels if we fight the demons. Talking to one would be huge.]

"It would be. But knowing the demon threat, I'm not sure I want to fight them now. I don't feel ready. Maybe that's something we should prepare for using those materials."

[There are lots of things we can make in terms of weapons. And you know how many ideas I have.]

"I do. But we can't do anything now. Let's focus on this magic first. Analyzing these runes is interesting."

Dream went deep into thought while watching all the formations and sequences floating in the air, not caring about how late it was getting into the night.