Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 150 - Question

Merath continued to examine the tomes in silence. Pages flipped open and shut on their own as he moved through them, his expression giving nothing away.

Lumi watched him during this time and contemplated.

The man was very old.

This was already established. Merath was hundreds of years old, having been alive before the Dark One’s first attempt to take over. He had been alive before most of what currently existed in Masteria had been built. To claim any sort of accurate read on him without properly knowing him was folly.

But as far as Lumi knew...

It wasn’t that Merath was stern or impatient as a matter of personality. Rather, it was a consequence of his position. A man of his caliber had to adopt such a stance simply to prevent every random nobody from walking through his door and wasting his time. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

It wasn’t how he had originally acted with Lumi, but he was sure that it would be extremely easy to fall back on such a default personality if troubled. Clearly, the news of Alton had troubled Merath to this day.

It could be said that it was surprising that Merath had personalities to show other than stern at all. Who would he be friendly with?

His friends?

What an insult.

Lumi was sure Merath had some. Key word being had.

Where were they now?

The answer was obvious. The Dark One. When the Dark One originally began his war all those centuries ago, countless people had resisted. Countless had died.

That event had singlehandedly pruned Masteria of its experts.

Demigods were rare, but they were not rare to the point that there should be none acting in the public eye. A demigod possessed an inexhaustible lifespan, able to live indefinitely if not killed. Over time, they would naturally accumulate.

Except the Dark One had happened.

A mass slaughter across the entirety of Masteria. Perhaps only forty percent of the total population had been killed. But when it came to those at the Fourth Rank or higher, it was closer to ninety-nine percent.

To give a more familiar point of reference, the Fourth Rank, using the system’s definition, began at level 100.

With entire paths broken and shattered, the new generation had no guidance, no materials, no foundation to build up from. The knowledge had died with the people who held it.

That was the true terror the Dark One had brought upon the world. And it was also, somewhat, understandable why certain decent people had ended up joining the Wings of Darkness. Even if they weren’t really evil, they knew exactly what the Dark One was capable of. The mentality of "better to be on the winning side" was a powerful one when the alternative was watching everyone around you be erased.

Lumi pulled himself out of the thought as Merath finished with the tomes, setting them aside.

His expression changed as he turned to Lena. It was a small change, but his mood lightened as he gave the smallest of smiles. "You wish to advance to a Cleric, do you not?"

Lena nodded. It was what she had established weeks ago.

"Tell me." Merath began questioning. "What is it that makes a magician different from every other class, if every class employs mana?"

It was not a standard question from him. Usually, Merath would send someone on a field mission to demonstrate their worth through action. He was only doing this to accelerate Lena’s progress, giving her a token exam to formally justify what he already intended to do.

The vast majority of players would still fail it. Who had actually sat down and read the in-game books? Ironically, Merath’s token exam would be infinitely harder for most players.

Lena, however, didn’t hesitate.

"Mana is energy." she said. "A force used for change. It’s similar to potential energy in the physical world. An object placed on a high shelf has potential energy. When dropped, that potential converts to kinetic energy. Mana works the same way. It’s potential, waiting to shift forms once utilized."

She continued. "Every class uses mana. A warrior uses it to enhance their body or their weapon. A bowman uses it to sharpen their shot. A thief uses it for speed or for concealment. That is to say, there has never been anything about mana that makes it a magician’s exclusive domain. What makes a magician different is that we use mana by itself. We form it directly into something that wouldn’t otherwise exist, not to enhance something already does."

"The upside is that with enough skill, knowledge, and power, the ceiling is practically nonexistent. The downside is the cost. Because we’re working with nothing as a base, forming mana from the ground up, the expenditure is enormous."

She paused for a bit, thinking of how to word the next part. She then slowly spoke. "Suppose, for a moment, that we used units of measurement to measure the abstract concepts of mana and damage. A warrior might use ten mana for an attack that inflicts a thousand units of damage. A magician doing comparable damage might spend ten times that. Likely more."

Merath furrowed his brow. This was not in disappointment or anger. It was a mix of confusion and intrigue as her answer impressed him.

Potential energy. Kinetic energy.

How long had it been since he had heard such words?

They were not concepts taught across the vast majority of Masteria. He had only ever encountered them through pre-war scholars, and in modern times, through faint rumors about the studies conducted in Entei.

Yet, she had used them as a casual reference. She was clearly not from Entei. Rather, she was from whatever strange place the new strange people had been popping up from. Such a curious puzzle...

He had already made up his mind. Even if she had demonstrated nothing else, even if she could barely cast a spell, he would have given her the second rank books on the strength of that answer alone. It was an answer beyond what he would grade as perfect.

Still, he would go through the motions.