Robin furrowed her brows as she tapped her fountain pen against the parchment paper. She thanked the gods that pens were accessible in this world, as she didn’t want to deal with the drippy feathered quill.

Currently, she was taking notes about Ibaraki and Moei’s report in the throne room. It was a habit to re-organize information, by taking down on paper for Robin during her time at college.

Currency in Afrein holds the same intrinsic value of this world. 1 Gold coin - 50 silvers 1 silver coin - 100 copper 2 copper coins - $1 USD [according to flatbread, the cheapest commodity] Language foreign but can be understood by us. Written messages are auto-translated. English is auto-translated when speaking to others. Seems something like language acquisition type ability. Origin is unknown [need to figure it out] Residents are strangely hygienic and don't seem to be as malnourished They have a centralized power and practice feudalism, with the king in power. An adventurers guild available like any other settings in world transfer novels. Is slavery legal probably two kinds? A lot of magical stones which is used for daily life. 8. A guild exists and so do adventurers.

As she finished jotting down the last word, she took the blue colored stone from the pile of colorful stones. Of the pile, some ranged in the size of a pebble to the size of a doorknob. She turned to the wooden container containing a viscous liquid that reminded Robin of honey.

From what Moei described, it was magical glue used to stick magic stones on other inanimate objects and did not obstruct the flow of mana. However, it had other uses besides sticking magic stones together, like using it as a magical conductor. The merchants sold it for 10 silvers, and it could be seen sold in multiple stores. Just from the amount sold, Robin concluded that it may have been easily mass produced.

The colored stones laid on the desk had their own unique functions too. She was acquainted with these stones because they were often used to upgrade and create low-level weapons and equipment. They had plentiful uses in Afrein and were quite cheap depending on the quality.

The stones currently laid on the desk were not as bright and clear compared to the ones found in her brother’s inventory. The blue stone was small around the size of a half dollar and held a dull blue color. The duller the color, the lower the quality the stone was.

She picked up another dull looking stone of the same size and color and placed them equidistant from one another. Before continuing, she cleared the desk of any papers and had Quinn come closer.

Taking the thick viscous liquid, she drew a line connecting the two stones.

“Quinn please touch one end of the stone and try to pour a little bit of mana.”

In an instant, the stone at the other end, glowed lightly as water started to gush out from both ends.

“Master...is this how a conductor works?” Quinn asked, astonishment prevalent on her face. She quickly retreated her hands to prevent any more water from escaping.

Robin nodded in response, a small smile rising up. “I'm guessing you're the battery while the glue is the conductor. When you transmitted your mana, the stone processed it and because the glue was present, the current of mana probably flowed until it reached the other stone.”

She paused trying to think of how the process worked scientifically. To be honest Robin did not understand the inner workings of how the process occurred and even if it wasn't related to mana, she still wouldn't be able to explain what the ions were doing if it were electricity instead. She only had a general picture for now.

As for the mana, Robin currently did not possess any. If she did, her body would have felt significantly different, but she did note consuming liquids or solids containing mana did not affect her adversely, hence she took health potions like it was a formidable painkiller.

She turned to look at the amount of water that had formed, enough to be an accidental spill. It was quite a lot of water for a low tier magic stone. What would happen if she used a mid tier and high tier stone?

Robin internally shuddered at the thought of using the high tier stones that were the size of a doorknob. The output may flood the entire place or at least fill up a resort swimming pool.

She recorded the data on a clean sheet of paper before continuing to test the light element stone. She reached to replace the blue colored stone with the clear ones and found it was stuck to the viscous glue.

Like hard plastic from a hot glue gun after drying, the glue kept the stone in place. The light golden hue turned a bit orange and was now stuck to the office desk. Luckily with a bit of force, she tugged at the blue stone before it popped and replaced it with the clear stones in its place.

As expected, both ends flowed like two light bulbs and excreted mild thermal energy. She quickly jotted it down, drawing a neat table from her observations.

Before long, she compiled her data regarding the low tiered magic stones. She decided to conduct more experiments later but for now, the present data collected would suffice.

Type of Stone [Low-Tier]

Output Displayed

Water Stone

Creates a puddle of water, [measure amount later] Pressure can be adjusted from the output of mana

Light Stone

Generates light and mild thermal energy [no instrument to measure lux] Comparable to an incandescent light bulb Grows hotter the more mana expended, and brighter

Fire Stone

Creates a small flame around the same size as a normal sized candle As more mana is expended, the hotter the flame gets [blue flame]

Earth Stone

No initial reaction Needs catalyst [soil and a seed needs to be present] [conduct more research later]

Dark Stone

Creates a small vacuum Similar to a black hole, but miniature Absorb light? [Inconclusive conclusion]

Out of all the magic stones, the dark-colored stone was the one that gained the most attention. Robin held the small obsidian-like stone in her hand and held it up under the light. It gleamed due to its shiny luster, the dark color hiding much of the impurities lodged in the stone.

Other than the magic stones, the glue was a peculiar interest for Robin. She couldn't remember anything about the glue in Afrein.

“This glue holds amazing properties,” Robin muttered, tapping at her chin. She pondered for a moment staring intently at the dried line of glue on the desk.

“No matter. Let’s move on.”

Aside from the language acquisition that Robin had yet to unravel, she took out a few books that Ibaraki and Moei purchased. Like many Japanese world-traveling novels, Robin read the context with ease. Frankly, she was pleased because it helped overcome a tremendous barrier if she planned to travel and search for clues related to returning home.

The first book was about the fundamentals of magic, with a short prelude about the basic history of Xaexaviel Empire. The cover was made from some animal skin, akin to leather and the pages were coarse but durable enough for the ink not to bleed into the next few pages. The borders of the each and every page were decorated with interesting monsters and weird hybrid animals coupled with a few robed people. The written language held a unique aesthetic and showed no signs of any oriental symbols rather it reminded Robin of ancient Arabic scriptures with a few alterations.

After a few pages in, Robin had gotten the gist of the history behind the magic but remained skeptical of the authenticity relating to their founding. A few parts were over exaggerated, but this was expected since it was not a history book. A few writing errors were present when she read through some of the sentences because it sounded awkward and held noticeable spelling-errors when auto-translated. She disregarded those few errors since they were all handwritten, but it became troubling if any more errors occurred once she encountered the actual principles of the magic subtext.

“Magic is the manifestation that derives from mana used by all life forms of Cria. For magic to manifest, mana is a mandatory prerequisite. While all life contains mana flowing through them, the human body is a form of catalyst to utilize mana and transform it into a functional form, whether physically or mentally. [...] Depending on the natural law of each biome and environment, mana changes into different forms that correlate to provide environment adaptability. For example, in an area where volcanoes and lava are common, mana molds itself to be more compatible with fire and earth attributes. Thus, many species in this particular environment are mostly of fire and earth elements. This adaptability allows significant leverage and sets a basis of resistances, magic attack, and physical appearances.”

The book held amazing insight than what Robin had initially given credit for. To a degree, the magic book contained very similar concepts Robin recalled from her biology course and familiar budding ideas of evolution and a little bit of basic chemistry.

In other words, mana may be this world’s form of the backbone of all life or an addition to the building blocks.

Robin leaned back against the cushioned armchair, tapping her finger against the armrest. In her mind, she was pondering over if mana had some sort of relations to atoms and such.

If mana is the building block of all life; if I forcibly exclude that from a living organism, will it still survive?

The laws of the world are still undiscovered or premature, even if Robin did not finish reading the book. She had a hunch how the rest would be and decided to put it off for now. They had amazing potential, but most of it remained untapped. She had no wish to be like the protagonist of many worlds traveling novels, with simply accepting that magic exists, therefore its magic. Actually, Robin wanted to clash two totally different entity together and see what would happen.

Time traveling and energy went hand in hand. The possibility of using mana to bend time almost as if folding a clean sheet of paper seemed feasible. Though that would require a numerous amount of energy and resources. As for where she would get the resources and research needed, required a large facility.

Quinn and the rest of the servants were very bright, but they lacked the intuitiveness and creativity. They were like soldiers, occasionally thinking of themselves for the benefit of their leading commanders, and if not, listened to every command given. She needed eccentrics, amazingly smart eccentrics, the madder the better.

If she ever scouted them and hired them under her wing, future expenditures would require lodging, food, and stress-relieving resources to keep them in shape, mentally and physically. Only a large country could support the tremendous amount of resources required, such as America during the Cold War and the Great Space Race. It provided a very good model of some sort.

She suddenly recalled a very famous Japanese novel, with the protagonist having formidable skills from his game character, and building up his own country.

The recollection suddenly introduced an interesting idea for Robin. If she were to follow in his footsteps, it may possibly allow her to research and gather data. The plan required a tremendous amount of resources, energy and research. Only a country was able to support that.

It’s not good to impulsively follow something from a book, but still a viable option.

She sighed, resting her head on her hand her gaze lingering at the open window. The moon glowed brilliantly just like her first night, accompanied by a sea of stars.

Her sudden plan to find a way home held gaping holes with failure etched in them. Even if she managed to successfully execute it, the correct outcome she wanted would only prove to be just barely a sliver. However, Robin firmly held her hopes in magic and science, so she may one day see her brother again.

There is light at the end of every tunnel.