Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (12/?) WiP 1 (Patreon)

Hello everyone here's the Work in Progress for Chapter 12 I hope you guys enjoy! :D 

It was at that very moment that I realized the sheer disconnect between the realities of my world, and that of Thacea’s. In that crossroads between genuine understanding and vague oversimplifications did I finally get it. The SIOP manual had touched on it multiple times, the instructors at the IAS had mentioned and hammered the concept home across several lectures, yet it was only now that I began to viscerally understand the concept of fundamental systemic incongruence.

It was a big concept the scientists threw around for what I could simplify in a single word: ignorance.

Though it went far beyond the textbook definition of the word, and also, pushed it into overdrive.

What fundamental systemic incongruence ultimately entailed, wasn’t just your typical lack of knowledge or understanding on a topic. Instead, it was a complete and utter lack of any and all context that formed the foundation of the things we all took for granted. Whether it was the concept of something as simple as an LED bulb, or as complex as FTL space travel, every living human had some passing familiarity on the topics, enough to understand some of the fundamentals behind them or at the very least the implications of their existence.

However, when you remove yourself from a life led with constant exposure to said knowledge through formal avenues of learning and passive cultural diffusion alike, you’re left with someone without even the fundamentals required to understand the building blocks of the things you might mention off handedly.

What was worse however was when such a person exists in a reality with a fundamentally different set of universal laws. With a society that has adapted to prefer the utilization of said laws in the accomplishment of similar and analogous tasks to those performed by traditional and conventional scientific principles. It makes the explanation of something as simple as say, a bomb, far more difficult as they already had existing principles and established knowledge to replicate something similar. So whilst a casual discussion regarding an explosive was generally understood in passing conversation, we ultimately had two very different entrenched knowledge sets on how that explosive came to be, and how it even worked.

This made explaining the severity of the situation to Thacea, far more difficult. Indeed, this set the precedent for just how difficult it would be to communicate on a variety of other topics I took for granted, to the residents and natives of the Nexus and the Adjacent Realms.

So with that in mind, I took a deep breath as I prepared myself to bridge this gap in understanding.

“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow, Emma.” Thacea responded in kind. “Just how is it impossible for the foremost manipulators of mana in the Nexus, to dispel a simple trap spell? You describe it as a bomb, and indeed, we do have such weapons in our arsenal. However as with many devices strewn together using artificed methods, even they are prone to the same dispelling measures all Academy graduates, let alone staff, are well versed in managing.”

“Thacea, I’m not sure how well I can explain this but, you remember how I told you that I need this suit to survive right? That mana is dangerous to my kind?” I began, which had clearly begun to turn a few cogs in the avian’s brain as her eyes sharpened once more. The implications of a truly mana deficient realm, leading to a species that had no innate abilities to deal with said mana was starting to sink in.

“Are you saying that this device you speak of, isn’t a form of artificed trap, or a trap spell?” Thacea began, her eyes shifting back and forth as she was running through the Earth shattering realization of a society devoid of any mana-based sciences and technologies. “But that… no, then how would, your armor, your luggage, your civilized tendencies and your knowledge of inter-realm communications… that… those can’t just…” She took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breath as she looked away from me as if to gather her quickly derailing train of thought.

I gave her a moment to think about the ramifications of this realization. Having her come to her own conclusions and correcting any wrong assumptions was better than just info dumping on her.

It took a solid minute as she shuddered in place a few times, her eyes ravaged by whatever thought processes was going inside of that avian mind before she was confident enough to address me again.

This time, she reached her hand to touch my armor, tracing up and down my chest plate, my shoulder plates, and even my gauntlets.

“This… am I correct in assuming that none of this. Not a single piece of masterfully forged metal, is enchanted? That the forging process itself wasn’t derived from mana-powered implements or equipment? Or any mana-based methodologies? That… that this, this metal was forged using the same techniques as a backwater mana-poor town’s blacksmith?” She asked with a voice that was surprisingly composed for someone going through a reality altering realization.

Though it was very much far more emotive than the nonplussed, lofty royal inflexions she used back in the Grand Hall.

“That’s right.” I began, although I took a moment to take the princess’ passing remark as a jumping off point. “I assume you guys have blacksmiths that don’t use any mana methods or equipment right?”

“Yes. Hence why I used that as an example-”

“Alright. Imagine a society, a civilization, that never stopped doing that.” I began, slowly, taking a moment to grab my tablet, and having EVI run through the specific examples I was looking for as an image of a primitive forge was displayed on screen. “We started from the same primitive origins. Yeah. But we didn’t have any mana, or any of this magic stuff to work with. So we improvised.” The image on screen moved to more advanced metalworking techniques. Larger blowers, more manpower poured into the art of metallurgy. “Brute forcing it was one way, but we learned about the fundamental principles behind it. First by trial and error and by just experimentation, before finally, we cracked the code using the scientific principle and building entire schools of knowledge around it.” The pictures moved fast, from old metalworking workshops during the middle ages all the way through to the industrial revolution where factories and foundries containing massive crucibles filled with molten metal sat in endless rows of industrial scale mass production. “We advanced not with the help of your unseen and untouchable mana, but by using the principles we learned that governed the world… and using them to our advantage.” The images moved quicker still, through the world wars, up to the 21st centuries with machines and CNC capable machines taking the charge. “You see, Thacea, it took us thousands of years before we got to where I am. The armor you see me wearing is the culmination of thousands of generations of blood, sweat, and toil. I wear the legacy of a million scientists, engineers, forge workers, technicians, and miners on me. Your little mana-poor townie blacksmith? Well, we supercharged that without the aid of mana.” I explained with a hint of pride in my voice.

Thacea didn’t even look or flinch away once as she went starry eyed at the tablet in front of her. I knew that a lot of it went over her head. It would take weeks upon weeks to fully explain every little aspect of each photo to her. In fact, I knew that the more modern a picture was, the longer it would take for me to carefully point and elaborate on every single object seen within the pictures. I didn’t need to at this point however, I just needed to prove a point, and that blacksmith was a jumping off point I just couldn’t ignore.

“I… I am… I am going to assume then that… that this trap, this bomb of yours is formed on the same mana-deficient principles. That you managed to construct such a violent weapon, without the aid or enrichment of mana?”

“Precisely.”

There was a solid few moments of silence that followed that as the princess moved towards one of the couches in the room and sat on it with a slow, practiced movement. She gestured for me to follow which I did, as I took the seat in front of her, and another spike of mana radiation hit me.

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 225% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

It was clear that the princess was becoming quite used to making sure the seats I parked myself at was safe from my massive weight.