Chapter 4: Mana circuits, and how to use them. Kinda. / Kane Gets Made Fun Of. Again.

Evan channeled mana through his creation core, imagining a crystal. One similar to the others he had.

It appeared in his hand, molding like clay with his thoughts.

He took out a small tool and engraved odd symbols and patterns on the rock.

“What’s that?” Kane asked, pointing at a bunch of drawings Evan had put to the side.

"It seems that mana can be attracted by certain patterns. I noticed it after that lady walked by the door. Some of the patterns on her clothes appeared to affect mana a little.” Evan said, motioning towards someone who walked away in the distance.

“From just that? I mean, you've done things that are a lot more impressive, for sure, but...Really?” Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Heh. That's not the only thing. I found out exactly how a pattern can attract mana, too. It seems letters can imbue your own mana, and patterns draw in ambient mana. However, they should be symmetrical to a certain extent. Here, look at this.” Said Evan, handing a paper talisman to Kane.

“Go to the burnt up dummy's testing area, then throw it in front of you, like this,” Evan said, demonstrating how to throw it.

“Ok?” Kane replied, walking into the testing area.

“Do it,” Evan said, putting his thumb up.

Kane threw the talisman.

It activated, and a clear wall appeared in front of him, encasing the talisman.

“What is this?” Kane asked, studying it.

He kicked it.

It was solid. More like a brick than glass, but he couldn’t tell how tough it was.

“A shield. The talisman is reusable, just say recall.” Evan explained.

“Recall,” Kane said, to the clear wall.

The wall immediately vanished, and the talisman tucked itself away in Kane’s pocket.

“Woah! That's awesome!” Kane shouted.

He pulled it back out of his pocket and began looking over it again.

“Yeah, I know right.” Evan grinned, a pleased expression on his face.

“How did you know this would work?” Kane asked, flapping the talisman in his hand.

“I made a guess based on my knowledge of mana. It seems to have a will of its own, but it follows your own will for the most part.” Evan replied.

“Meaning?” Kane asked, looking up from the talisman.

“You have to force or ask mana to do what you want. Or both force and ask." Evan explained.

"As for the talisman specifically, though? I used creation mana to make it. That’s why it can materialize a stable physical object. It passes ambient mana through an artificial Gen 2 creation core, and forms a specific shape. I also made the mana circuit connect back to itself, and gave it an on-off switch. And voice detection. It uses the ambient mana as a fuel source. If I wanted to, I could change it between open and closed circuits to make it single-use or reusable. There seem to be ones that can only work with closed circuits and ones that only work with open circuits. It has too much power and fries the circuits for single-use, open circuit talismans. But they are a lot stronger.” Evan lectured.

“How the hell did you figure that much out already? Didn’t you just learn about mana today?” Kane asked

“It’s more accurate to say I made mana. It all originates from my core. And no. Technically it was yesterday, I believe.” Evan replied.

“I still don’t get it,” Kane said, shaking his head.

"I figured out more than just that. If that surprised you, this is going to blow your goddamn mind. I figured out how I could make a Gen 2 artificial core, AND how to possibly make a true artificial core that can actually be absorbed. Gen 2 can transform mana into different types, though. So it actually has a bit of use, unlike the Gen 1 cores.” Evan said, tossing the Gen 1 schematics behind him.

“Wait, seriously? ….By the way, do you always just leave your blueprints, schematics, and notes scattered about like this?” Kane asked, picking up a piece of paper.

He read it and raised an eyebrow.

“How to turn Kane into a dog, Revision three?” Kane asked.

“Yeah, sounded fun,” Evan said with a small laugh.

“What the hell is wrong with your sense of humor?” Kane asked, sighing.

“Dunno.” Evan shrugged.

Kane picked up more papers and rifled through them.

“How to make real-life catgirls?! What the heck? What’s this one?" Kane asked, flipping through some more notes.

"How to make anime real? These actually have detailed plans, schems, and notes! This one, too!.... How to help Kane find a lover?" Kane asked, raising both of his eyebrows with interest.

"Oi, how come this one just says impossible?!” Kane shouted.

“My computer concluded that you like machines romantically,” Evan replied.

“Goddamnit. I swear to god! Where is he? I’ll give him a good punch.” Said Kane, cracking his knuckles.

“Why do you always think everything's a guy?” Evan asked, sighing.