The Way Ahead

Chapter 67: Book = e^X

Edwin was ecstatic. While it may have objectively been a relatively minor discovery in the grand scheme of things, certainly not something which would help him survive if he encountered another panther, or even get him to Tier 2 any faster, it was still pretty great.

Hed noticed tiny odd discrepancies in his Almanac everything he could strategy at times, when something he wasnt anticipating would already have a tag, but even with Memory he wasnt really able to figure out any sort of pattern. Well, until now at least.

He could tag words. Also letters and other symbols, but most importantly, words.

Honestly, he should have thought to formally try it when he discovered he could make notes on parts of his Status, but the way it worked was distinct from most of the rules Almanac obeyed. After all, he could tag something either generally or specifically, with specific overriding general. While a particular rock could be tagged with Almanac, he couldnt put two rocks next to each other and have that count as its own object.

Letters, on the other hand, could be grouped in that way. Why, he wasnt sure. What was fundamentally different between two rocks and aa scratched into the dirt? Was it because letters when combined formed new discrete objects, similar to how materials would form a new object when assembled? That seemed the most likely.

A quick test which could determine if it really was the word holding the tag was to write the same word in two places and see if they shared tags. They did.

Okay what about tagging a specific word, seeing if it overrode the general appearance of the word? It did.

How about trying to Almanac a word, then including that word in another Almanac, and try to pull up the first entry in the second? That also worked. Wow. This made his note-taking so much easier. He could make his own wiki if he wanted to! Sure, he didnt practically need to get even more space than his current limit of 1206 characters- no wait, 1336 now. Hed gotten two levels- but he certainly wanted to now! It also removed the final weakness of his notebook, by turning it completely digital.

Inion, sadly, did not share in his enthusiasm- she seemed slightly put off by it, actually- but that didnt dampen his excitement in the slightest. After redoing his entire file structure, using Memory and Visualization as a sort of copy/paste system over the course of a long, sleepless night, he set in to do much the same with his current object of study.

Talsanenris Bush

Identifying the word Talsanenris itself brought up a more detailed notification. This way, he could still make specific notes on specific bushes without having to worry about character limits or lost access. Much more convenient.

Talsanenris is a magical shrub whose berries apparently contain potent biologically-attuned mana.

Simultaneous exposure to light and water causes the berries to spontaneously germinate, and they can be used as a high-energy food or as an ingredient in several healing potions.

TalsanenrisEcology

TalsanenrisLogbookIndex

TalsanenrisFormulaIndex

He considered leaving each hyperlink- as they basically were- as a more general word, like Ecology, Logbook, or Formula, within the entry, but ultimately decided that using unique words was the way to go. This way, if he ever wanted to reference his TalsanenrisLogbook3, he just needed to write as much on pretty much any surface to access it. Much more convenient than the alternative.

Edwins Logbook: Talsanenris

First hypothesis (revised since pre-testing began): The flesh of Talsanenris berries are functionally pluripotent stem cells with a rapid transformation upon exposure to a different type of cell.

Current Hypothesis: Talsanenris contains a form of mana which accelerates an organisms metabolism while also providing them with the energy to operate at that increased metabolism, though not any additional nutrition.

Test on plant (1 berry, crushed and mixed in with soil): after about a 15 minute delay, the plant grew at an accelerated pace for several minutes before growing sickly, yellowed, and even growing already-dead leaves in some instances. Seems to match nutrient deficiency symptoms based on loose memories.

Test on captured Juvenile Verdant Meadowmouse (1 berry, fed to it inside its clay box): the mouses activity skyrocketed for several hours, after which it seemed to suffer no serious adverse effects, other than some level of lethargy afterwards.

Test on self (1 berry, eaten on a mostly empty stomach early in the morning): Instant shot of energy, like an energy drink. Heart rate increased, breathing stayed mostly steady. Heightened levels of energy persisted for several hours of minimal activity. Repeat trials showed that vigorous activity can reduce the time of effect.

Test on self (1 berry taken while sprinting at maximum speed when stamina began to wane, approximately every 5-6 minutes): Berries staved off the effects of exhaustion mostly indefinitely, limitation proved to be running out of breath.

Variations of berry delivery method (eaten whole, crushed and mixed with water) appear to have the same net effect, assuming the same quantity of berry.

Result: Hypothesis not disproven.

Attempted various Mana Sense and Mana Infusion-related experiments.

Attempt: Infuse berry.

Result: Unable to Infuse, seemingly due to a higher concentration of mana already present in the berry than Infusion is capable of providing.

Attempt: Infuse ground around bush

Result: faster germination of talsenenris bush, producing berries after 5 instead of 7 days.

Attempt: Infuse sprouting bush.

Result: Infusion did not occur as usual. Bush seemed to suck in mana forcefully, resulting in a relatively unique sensation. First time this occurred, cut off Skill. Resulted in slightly faster germination. Second time this occurred, allowed to happen. Other than being mildly uncomfortable, no adverse effects were noted. Managed to germinate an entire bush, bringing it to flowering within two days of constant supplying of mana (other than sleeping) and berry growth within a third.

Attempt: Infuse ground around bush daily

Result: Faster germination of talsenenris bush, producing berries after 4 days instead of 7 days.

Hypothesis: Talsanenris utilizes a mana-based variation of photosynthesis, using atmospheric mana in place of sunlight and creating berries with energy supplied via magic instead of sugars.

Test: Attempting to grow bush in complete darkness. Planted berries in a set of pots filled with dirt in the basement, each covered by a large bowl.

Result: Berries initially refused to germinate in darkness, regardless of mana Infused into its surroundings. Tried exposing to torchlight to see if it was the result of requiring both light and water. Torchlight did not begin germination. The berry required exposure to direct sunlight to begin germination. Afterwards, mana from Mana Infusion did cause some growth to occur, though much slower as compared to the outside trial. Bush did not grow as large as others, and never began to flower. Slight discoloration in leaves. Possible nutrient deficiency?

Test 2: Planted berries outside, covered by a bowl. Exposed to sunlight for initial germination, minimal exposure thereafter. Mana was provided by slipping arm underneath to minimize direct exposure to sunlight. Watered in a similar manner.

Result: Berries germinated as normal, grew as normal, producing berries after an average 7 days. Outgrew the bowls they were initially placed under on day 4-6, though.

Test 3: Planted berries outside, covered by a bowl. Exposed to sunlight for initial germination, minimal exposure thereafter. Watered daily by lifting up the edge of the bowl.

Result: Berry germinated as normal, grew as normal though produced berries after 9 days. Outgrew its initial bowl after 6 days.

Edwin pulled at his hair in frustration. What the heck was up with these results? Even discounting the occasional bush which just refused to grow- not that there were many of those, nothing made sense!

Hed spent the last two weeks running overlapping growth trials, only to end up with almost contradictory results. It clearly didnt need light to grow, except when it apparently did- or was that just nutrient deficiency? It benefited from mana to grow, but didnt need it where was the energy coming from?

Okay, what am I doing wrong? he eventually asked Inion, whose smug countenance was mocking him with silent knowledge.

Oh, I havent the faintest clue. I told you, Im no magi.

Yeah, but you ought to have at least some idea as to whats going on. Like, you have to have a more accurate mana sense than I do, if nothing else. Mines almost useless save as a yes or no detector. Its like my geiger counter from Rad lab but with magic! he ranted.

Should I understand what thats supposed to mean?

No, no. Youre fine. Just annoyingly imprecise equipment from back home.

I see? Well, nope. I dont know. Just know that there is magic in everything, but that doesnt mean it cant be stopped.

Edwin blankly stared at her, Was that supposed to tell me something new? Or are you just trying to confuse me?

She shrugged, and Edwin rubbed his forehead, Or are you also clueless and just saying something you hope will sound intelligent? he sighed at Inions beaming smile, I should have known.

Hmmm. Was his bowl adequately blocking mana? Probably not, actually. He had picked it because he knew it would block light, but then hed repurposed it for his non-mana test without thinking twice about it. Actually, he knew clay wasnt exactly opaque to mana, given the fact he could Infuse things they were holding.

A bit of testing with his Basic Mana Sense, trying to infuse objects through the clay, confirmed his suspicions- mana could penetrate through the earthenware bowls with relative ease. In contrast, mana could not penetrate into Obairlann, though that might have been because of how thick the walls were, Mana Infusion didnt work? While the inside was perhaps even more magical than the exterior, it was so far the only place a talsanenris plant had not fully sprouted and grown, so it had to be doing something different?

Edwins Logbook: Talsanenris

Test 4: Planted berries in the soil inside of Obairlann, breaking up a small corner of packed dirt. Some were regularly Infused, some were not.

Test 5: Planted berries in pots outside of Obairlann, some covered, some uncovered. Of each, some were regularly Infused, some were not.

Results 4: All plants germinated normally. Infused versions grew more than non-Infused, but neither grew to full maturity. Some stunting of growth and leaf discoloration present. No flowering occurred.

Results 5: All plants germinated normally. Infused and uncovered versions grew somewhat more quickly than non-infused, but all grew to full maturity. Non-Infused and covered plants grew most slowly, though still eventually bore fruit. All bushes were smaller and more stunted than non-potted variants, though.

Test 6: Potted berries primarily kept in Obairlann, removed at least daily for exposure to sunlight.

Results: All plants germinated normally and grew to full maturity. Smaller and slower to mature than potted exterior plants, though not by a significant degree.

Conclusion: Mana is needed for berry growth, particularly specific kinds not found inside Obairlann, but while bush growth is significantly less impacted, it is still affected by a lack of mana. Light is not required. Soil nutrients are needed for bush growth but not berry maturation. So long as it has at least some level of sunlight exposure each day, it is capable of reaching full maturity and producing berries essentially normally, though perhaps somewhat slower than normal.

Current Hypothesis: talsanenris is a bush which utilizes mana for growth in place of light, though does benefit from light in addition to mana. It requires nutrients for the normal parts of the bush, and grows at a vastly accelerated rate.

Inion.

Yes?

There are different types of magic, right?

Naturally.

Okay, great. Can you tell the difference between types of magic?

To an extent, yeah, the fey agreed.

Is there a difference between inside and outside Obairlann?

Yeah. Out here is flush with loads of nature magic, like most of the Verdant, plus all of the standard types of magic that everything emits. Inside, its more just normal nature magic for the most part, though a bit of I guess you might call it hearth mana? Protectiveness, comfort, and shelter mana.

Hearth mana? No, no. Not going down that route right now. Focus. Edwin collected himself, Everything emits mana?

Oh yeah. Fire mana comes from anything burning, water mana from water, air mana from wind, you name it, its got magic.

That was strange, So wait, everything is magical? Why cant I feel it with my Skill?

Whos to say you dont? Its also really weak, just barely there. It wouldnt surprise me if you cant. Unless youre in the middle of a massive storm or at a volcano, or in the largest patches of untamed wilderness on Joriah, you wont feel very much of it.

Is the Verdant the largest untamed wilderness on Joriah? Edwin frowned.

Blight if I know. Still havent been able to leave, remember? It was one of the largest back in my day, though.

Right, right. So wait, its magical because its so massive? I thought it was so massive because its magical.

Eh. Turtle, turtle.

...What?

Oh, right. That wouldnt translate, would it? Basically, that means its hard to say which was first, but they both play a role now.

Ooookay then. Well. Hed come back to that later.

So do you know how these berries work, magically speaking? Sure, he could have asked beforehand, but he wanted to run his experiments with minimal external influence.

Mmm. Im pretty sure theyre just really rich with life mana.

Life mana?

Life mana, nature mana, she shrugged, Its all pretty similar. You can use it in all sorts of different things.

So how do different types of mana interact, then?

Inion smiled, Isnt that your job?

Level Up!

Skill Points 878 898

Progress to Tier 2: 1053/1770 (Avg level: 48/77)

Basic Mana Sense 51 53

First Aid 47 50

Sleeping 44 46

Outsiders Almanac 90 93

Harvesting 42 47

Memory 40 43

Nutrition 36 41