When the world reappeared around me, and I found that I was in an all-white room, I nearly had a panic attack.

I could almost see it unfolding before my eyes. I had somehow traveled back in time, back to the beginning of the tutorial, and now I had to live through the last week and a half, again.

Game over. Try again.

Samantha said.

As my mind calmed down, I noticed the table and chair in front of me. Behind me, I could see shelves full of various high-quality materials.

Why didn’t you mention this before? Do the other skills have illusion wards?

Samantha sighed.

You should have mentioned this was going to happen. What happens if we don’t pass this illusion ward?

Samantha could barely hide her excitement. I sighed, taking a seat and Identifying each rune pattern blueprint.

Durability Rune Pattern Blueprint (C-rank)

Explosion Rune Pattern Blueprint (C-rank)

Invisibility Rune Pattern Blueprint (C-rank)

Personal Mana Shield Rune Pattern Blueprint (C-rank)

Isn’t that a little…uninspired? I couldn’t help but ask.

I had weaker forms of every one of these rune patterns.

Samantha said.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Do you think I’m an idiot? You’ll start forming the Invisibility Rune Pattern inside my body, probably turn me permanently invisible as a side effect, and Petra wouldn’t stand a chance reading your mind. No way.

Samantha said.

We’re not doing that one, I said. What’s your second choice.

Samantha said, immediately.

Mana Orbs? I asked.

So…in order to make a Personal Mana Shield, I will need to carry around a boulder with me wherever I go?

That’s rich, coming from you. How many unnecessary risks have you made me take?

As I learned the blueprint, I quickly realized that I was completely out of my league.

The first, most obvious thing that stood out to me was that I was now expected to form three dimensional runes. It turns out every rune that I had already learned also had a three-dimensional form.

Until now, I had been using my Rune Master’s Knife to trace all my runes. But now, the Schema was currently treating me like a C-rank Rune Master.

This granted me one key new ability—the ability to guide unattributed mana freely outside of my body in a neutral state.

Samantha explained.

We spent the next half hour sending mana outside my body and controlling it.

We ran several tests to see how much mana I could comfortably control outside of my body at a time—about 50 points of Mana. Then we tested my fine control of mana, Samantha creating 3d images in front of me, and I molded my mana in the air to fit those shapes.

As we practiced, I had a sudden thought. Once mana leaves my body, can it ever rejoin my Mana Pool?

Samantha said, proudly, and excitedly.

Is this something any magician can do? I couldn’t recall seeing Petrov, Vasilia, or any other magicians storing mana outside of their body.

Samantha said. She sounded as though she were explaining something obvious.

Samantha continued,

The main base of the Personal Mana Shield was a generic, glossy white breastplate, forged from Mithril.

Mithril is real? I asked, vaguely surprised.

Samantha’s shock actually exceeded my own, for once.

I thought back to what I had read. It’s a lightweight, sturdy material. It showed up in The Lord of the Rings, over fifty years ago. Why?

Samantha said.

Samantha spoke slowly, and somewhat unsure of herself.

Samantha talked quickly, but there was one part that stood out to me. Wait, what? What do you mean, the Schema cracked the World Core?

Samantha sighed.

From the way Samantha said it, I could almost hear an itch, a yearning, in her voice, as if she wished to see that war.