Ayden stood in the room that was directly adjacent to the one they were brought to by Margosa earlier. It was largely empty, and gave one quite a bit of freedom of movement. But most importantly, it was pleasant in here. The air wasn’t quite as stuffy as in other parts of the building, and it was perfectly quiet in here. Overall, it was really quite realxing.

Margosa’s footsteps echoed through this room while Ayden was nervously standing there. This was the first time in this world that Ayden had been split off from Noah, so it was especially nerve-wrecking.

“So, do you have any understanding of what Numerology is? At any level?” Margosa asked, and Noah quickly thought about the question. He knew of the concept, but he didn’t know everything there was to know about it.

“I... I think it’s the idea of connecting a meaning to numbers in some form of supernatural way?” Ayden suggested, and Margosa slowly grimaced.

“Close, but not quite. It is in no way supernatural. Magic is part of nature in each and every way, after all. But yes, you got the gist correctly. Numerology is based on connecting a meaning to numbers, geometrical shapes, mathematical algorythms and equations. However, that means that you have to be capable to making all of these complex connections in your mind.” Margosa explained, before turning toward Ayden. And she was immediately taken aback by this young man’s broad grin.

“Magic works under mathematical, scientific logic..?” Ayden muttered quietly. Margosa slowly nodded in response.

“This system at least, yes...” She replied, and Ayden looked back at Margosa, “Perfect!”

“Right... Well, it might seem ‘easy’ to you, but the level of mathematics that I am speaking of here is a bit more complicated.” Margosa pointed out. She raised her hand and once more twisted it around. A glowing magic circle appeared in front of her hand, and the next moment, it was replaced by a translucent board. To Ayden, it seemed similar to a system-message, but without any writing on the board.

Margosa pressed her finger against this dark-gray board and wrote something on it. It was a basic, linear equation.

“Now, solve for the variables.” Margosa said, and before she even fully turned around, Ayden replied.

“X is -4, and y is -5.” He said immediately, “This is just a relatively basic complex equation, though. How can this be used to cast spells?”

“W-Well, not exactly. It has to be combined with other aspects. Each spell has its own formula made up of many different aspects, and when you cast it, you practically have to... fill it in depending on the situation. And then by solving it, you activate the spell.” Margosa explained the basics of Numerology, before wiping her hand over the dark gray, floating board. She got rid of the formula written onto it, and instead started drawing a simple magic circle.

“Each aspect of the formula has its own meaning, which connect with each other to create a larger meaning in the form of the full formula.” Margosa explained, and Ayden sucked every tiny bit of information in. This was all so new to him that he couldn’t help himself but be incredibly excited.

---

Noah looked down at his hands, and balled them in fists a few times, “Holy fucking shit...” He whispered to himself, “They’re, like, completely healed! Shit!”

He looked at the creature floating in front of him. This time, it was something like a tropical fish. It was like its fins were made of colorful flower-petals, and it had droplets of water floating around its body. In general, it moved as if it was swimming through the air like it was water.

“Thank you.” Noah said with a broad smile, and the fish floated around his head happily. It floated back toward Almanac and disappeared in a number of bubbles.

“Well, she seemed to like you.” Almanac said with a slight laugh, “But now that your wounds are healed, I think we can start. The most important thing you need to know is how to you use your mana properly. Since you have come to this world, have you ever used it in any way?”

“Well, yeah, I even had ‘Mana Exhaustion’, or at least Ayden called it that.” Noah explained, “It’s related to my ability, or, err... personal skill.”

“Is that so? Could you elaborate a bit?” Alamanac asked, and Noah slowly nodded his head.

“Wait, let me try...” Noah thought about it for a moment. But after a couple of seconds of nothing happening, he looked up at the humanoid hare, “Can you tell me how to use skills first?”

“Of course, don’t worry. First, you should know that there are multiple sort of skills. The greatest difference is between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ skills. A passive skill will-“

“Improve general abilities of yours and is gonna be active at all times, and an active skill is something more direct that you need to ‘actively’ use by yourself.” Noah sighed, “Yeah, I get the gist of that. Seems like this skill I’m talking about is an active skill, so... yeah.”

Almanac slightly smirked, “I see. Then simply try to concentrate on the skill for now. Treat it like a person, and simply ask what you need to do to use this skill.”

Noah raised his brows curiously, “Uh, alright. I guess so.” He muttered, and then did just what Almanac instructed him to. Noah closed his eyes for better concentration, and thought about the skill. He ‘asked’ how it worked, and the information flowed into his mind as a message window appeared in front of his eyes.

---

[Heart Theft]

[Instructions – To steal a heart’s aspect, simply grab it, thinking of taking it from another. To use that aspect yourself, conjure a mass of mana and infuse that aspect into it.]

---

“Well, shit, that doesn’t help! Like, I understand exactly how I ‘infuse’ an aspect into a mass of mana, but I don’t know how to get that mana out of me in the first place.” Noah grumbled. Almanac smiled lightly.

“I figured something like that might be the case. Then instead, could you maybe try to explain it to me in words, rather than attempting to show it to me?” Almanac asked in a supportive tone. Noah felt a bit embarrassed, but he slowly nodded his head.

He briefly explained how his ability generally worked, and of course how he first stole an ability from the giant boar, and later from that magic tool that the guard used.

“Interesting.” Almanac muttered, “Your ability, as well as that skill you received through your class, seem to be naught if not perfect for a summoner. It practically follows the concept already. As long as you can learn to use your mana efficiently, you might be able to become a rather powerful summoner, Noah.”

“About that, actually... Erm...” Noah said with a wry smile, “You know, summoners just use the summons to do stuff, right? But I like to do things myself.”

“Are you speaking about fighting, perchance?”

“Listen, man, I don’t know. Maybe? This world is dangerous, right? And if we have to live here, then you know... I don’t know what’s going to happen. And I’m not opposed to the idea of fighting for a living. I guess that’s a job here or something, right?”

“Of course, there are many ways for you to make money through combat. Showmanship. Becoming a soldier. Or adventuring.” Almanac explained. Noah immediately stared back at him, weirdly excited.

“Adventuring? That’s really a thing?” He asked, and Almanac smiled back, “Indeed it is. Even I dabbled in it for a while. Depending on the amount of skill you show throughout my lessons, I think it might even be the right path for you four, at least for a while. You can travel to far-away places and learn more of this world, all the whilst earning quite a bit of money and fame.”

“...Is it a good idea to become famous, although we don’t even want people of this world to find out that we’re Otherworlders?” Noah asked, and Almanac slowly nodded, “Of course. You see, there were times when the flows of souls between your and our world were much more closely connected. Many more people came here than they do now. The souls with weaker personalities that made their way here were instead reincarnated in new bodies, having lost most of their memories while traveling through the flows of souls already. And later on, through some of the Otherworlders born in this world like you and Ayden, we found out that through those early souls, the cultures, languages, and ways of living of the people of our world were deeply affected and changed.” Almanac explained, thinking of a good example.

“Let’s just say this language. You called it ‘English’, here we call it ‘Magian’. Or the language that Ayden spoke to Enrico earlier. What did you call it again?” He explained, looking at Noah curiously.

“Ah, Spanish?” Noah replied, and Almanac slowly nodded, “Right, ‘Spanish’. Here, it is called ‘Orodin’. Even though the names of the languages changed, the languages themselves seem mostly the same. That being the case, it’s fair to assume that culture here is similar to that of your world as well. Customs may be different, but you can always use the excuse that you are from a foreign country if you don’t know them. You will be able to fit in more easily than you think. The only ones that will be able to tell might be others like you. Otherworlders. It would be nice to find more that are from the same place as you, is that not right?”

Noah thought about it for a moment, unsure what his answer should be, “I guess so? But I thought some of them are like super horrific people, right?”

“Of course, but you don’t know whether they are until you’ve met them. As long as you can defend yourself against the worst-case scenario, there’s no reason to worry.” Almanac explained, “So for now, let’s try and do just that.”

Almanac took a step back as he locked eyes with Noah, “So. People that are a good fit for Summoning are very empathetic people. People that can get along well with others, people that are very emotional. This allows them to form contracts with beings that one can summon, like Nature-Spirits, Demons, or Fae. They are usually very free-spirited and emotional as well, so people with a strict mind have a tough time with this system of magic. Luckily, this fact makes it easy for me to find a way to teach you. Come over here.” Almanac instructed Noah, who also took another step forward.

Almanac grabbed Noah’s hands. The young man lightly flinched at this hare’s grasp, and Almanac slowly let go again, “If you are uncomfortable due to my resemblance to... whoever scared you this much, then I can find another way to teach you.”

“No... No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I can do this.” Noah said, but Almanac was unsure whether they should proceed this way.

“Please.” Noah pleaded, “This helps me get over it a bit, aight? Like, I had fucking Leporiphobia until my uncle brought home a rabbit for me and told me to take care of it. In hindsight, it was kinda fucked up, but it worked. So, let’s just... let’s just do this. I can do this.” Noah assured Almanac, and the hare slowly nodded his head.

“Is that so?” Almanac asked, hiding away a light smile, once more grabbing Noah’s hands, “Then let us start.”

A few moments later, Noah felt something weird running up his arms. As if his blood had suddenly warmed up, but cold water was covering his arms. This feeling continued, flowing through his body until it happened in every fiber of his being. And it wasn’t uncomfortable by any means. It was weirdly cozy. Like throwing a dozen blankets on yourself when going to bed on a cold winter day.

“This is my mana now flowing through your magic circuits. Feel it, ingrain this into your mind.”