Alien Evolution System 11 The Names Of Magic

The female stood a good bit away, but not out of precaution. The Collector could not sense any tenseness in her muscles, any rigidity that indicated fear or a need for self-defense. Rather, she stood away so as to obtain the best view of the Collector as possible, marveling at its form.

"I have agreed to allow your company, human, so tell me of magic," said the Collector impatiently.

"Oh, right, right," said the female. "Pardon me. My heart is simply bursting from excitement at witnessing such a fabulously new being such as yourself."

The Collector clicked its mandibles in irritation. "Enough. Magic. All that you know. Tell me."

"Well, that's a certainly a broad question," said the female. She swept ashen locks of hair back as her eyes narrowed in concentration. "If you asked some sorcerers that question, they might lecture you for years. Let us start from what you already know. You said you glimpsed at least a few of my memories. Did you witness magic in any of them?"

"Yes. You utilized it to conduct electrical discharges, generate cloaking fields, and create organic constructs."

The female nodded slowly. "Very curious. It seems that you are utilizing the basic structures of our language, its prefixes, suffixes, and general etymology to construct new words not yet in our vocabulary."

"This has nothing to do with this 'magic'," said the Collector.

"Very true. Pardon my curiosity, it does get in the way sometimes." The female lost her inquisitive tone and became calmer. "So you saw me use magic, but you have no conception of what I did or how it works. Then I will explain the basic mechanisms of magic, starting with mana."

The Collector's antennae perked up. "Mana?"

A new word.

The female extended her arms and twirled around. "Mana. All around us. In the dirt, in the water, in the air. The essential substance of life and the fuel of magic."

"You describe a particulate?" The Collector focused on its senses. "And yet I cannot perceive any such unique matter in the environment."

The female held her hand close to her face and blew out a breath, scattering floating b.a.l.l.s of bright blue towards the Collector. "Try touching them."
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The Collector swiped at the spheres of light, but its claws simply phased through them.

"Mana is not a physical substance," said the female. "It has no inherent form. Even the color and shape you see right now is due to my manipulation of it. At its purest state, it is a formless presence that lies in every single crevice of this world, constantly nouris.h.i.+ng its inhabitants. Creation first came from nothing, and mana is precisely that - nothingness with the capacity to create. Those that can actively harness mana therefore harness the primordial force of creation itself."

"In essence, an energy source," said the Collector. It could not comprehend how this 'mana' was capable of existing according to natural physical laws, but it paid no need to that. Such questions were left to the senseless ruminations of tinkering species. It only cared about how it worked, and, by extension, how it could be utilized and defeated.

The female smiled as she recounted her knowledge. It was evident she was proud of it. "Precisely! However, not all living beings can use mana equally. Although every living creature grows up breathing in mana, they come in many different shapes and sizes. Why is that? Well, it is because their physical form is determined by their natural limit to process mana. Those with higher limits tend to grow larger and stronger while those with lower ones are smaller and weaker."

She pointed to the clearing where the goblin den was.

"Those goblins you slew. Their maximum capacity to process mana was low, and so they could only grow so much. The hobgoblin was born with more natural potential, and therefore it grew more. At an extreme scale, such as with dragons, they absorb so much mana in their bodies that they become almost like magical constructs, all their body parts infused with magical power, their very breath laden with mystical force."

"You are mistaken. The hobgoblin's growth was caused by a mutation regarding its musculature," said the Collector.

The female nodded. "A mutation created by mana. If a being's potential to absorb and process mana is high, then their body will naturally utilize mana to create mutations or changes that allow for further growth and strength."

"I am beginning to understand," said the Collector. "Among starfaring species known to me, there are those grown in more enriching atmospheres that allow them to become stronger, larger, more complex in their genetic makeup. Similarly, this world's atmosphere is immensely enriching, infused with this 'mana' that allows specimens to gain strength."

The Collector clicked its mandibles. "And yet that must mean that I, having a.s.sumed and harvested the forms of natives here, am also absorbing mana. But I cannot feel its presence, nor can I mold it to my needs as your species have."

"And therein lies the difference between monsters and intelligent races," said the female. "Unintelligent creatures do not have the mental capacity to feel mana, or if they do, it is only at a very basic, instinctive level. As a result, they cannot actively think about shaping and molding mana to their will, and that shaping process is what magic is."

"I am no unintelligent creature," said the Collector aggressively. "In the sheer efficiency of my neural processes, I far eclipse your kind, and still I cannot feel this 'mana' you speak of."

The female raised an apologetic hand. "Oh, pardon me. I did not at all intend to imply you unintelligent. Rather, what I was going to say was that intelligence is simply a prerequisite to shaping mana into magic. What is most important is using that intelligence to synthesize knowledge. Knowledge of mana, of how to shape it through incantations and inscriptions, of learning how to channel spells and so on and so forth."

"That is why you are here, human. To grant me this knowledge." said the Collector. It did not like how this female spoke with so many words when she could simply get to the point. "So speak with fewer words and tell me how it is I may feel this 'mana' and shape it into 'magic'."

"Very well," said the female, a little disappointed that she couldn't dump her well of stored knowledge. "Firstly, tell me your name."

The Collector scoffed. "I have no such thing. Names are symbols of individuality. We collectors are part of a greater unity that you tinkering species cannot begin to appreciate."

"That...complicates things," said the female. "You see, names are seals of great power. Monsters without the thought to recognize their names leak mana. Once they reach maturity, absorbing as much mana as their bodies allow them to, they enter a state of equilibrium where they expel much of the excess mana they absorb so as to prevent their bodies from taking in power they cannot handle. As a result, it takes many years, decades to centuries in fact, for monsters to grow stronger once they are mature.

Intelligent, magic-wielding species, however, utilize their names to seal excess mana within them, preventing it from leaking out. In this way, provided one can access sources of great mana, it is possible to rapidly gain power and store excess mana to shape as spells."

The Collector stood its ground, such was its dislike of tinkering species and their customs.

"Names are weakness. I cannot a.s.sume one."

"Then you will have to wait centuries before your body organically develops magical properties."

"Nonsense. From your rambling, I am certain then that there are beasts that have lived extensive lives and developed magical strength. I shall consume them and obtain their forms."

The female paused. "You want to do this to try and kill me for good, right?"

"You are perceptive, human," said the Collector.

"Then no hope. Any monster that's long-lived enough to have enough magical power to put me down for good is far too strong for you to fight and consume right now," the female said with a matter of fact voice. "I am not meaning to disrespect you. I told you I would grant you information, and that is raw, unbiased information."

The Collector could not afford to wait hundreds of years, that was true. Most planets were fully a.s.similated within the span of weeks. For it to take centuries would be the greatest dishonor possible to the Collective. It would swallow its pride for the greater good of the Collective and take a name.

"Then I will a.s.sume a name for now," said the Collector.

The female shook her head. "I am glad you are seeing my side of things, but that alone is not enough. Another must christen you with a name, as is tradition. It is said that when the mortal races were young, weak in body and fodder to beasts and demons, the G.o.ds took pity upon them and christened them with names, allowing them the privilege of magic. From there, mortals have pa.s.sed on that power, christening their children with names with their children christening their children and so on. Another must name you."

"This is nonsense," said the Collector. "These rules are arbitrary, undefined and unsupported by natural laws. Matter does not heed names, it merely exists. You are spouting primitive superst.i.tion."

"Yet they are rules nonetheless," said the female. "I understand your confusion. You come from a realm where no magic and no mana exists and so have no conception of the rules revolving around it."

"They are senseless rules," the Collector snarled. "Tell me, if these rules hold true, how is it that I destroyed a member of the species you revere as 'G.o.ds' without possessing a name or magical power? This specimen was far more powerful than you, far more powerful than anything I have witnessed upon this planet, and yet I could shred it limb-from-limb and hear its death throes in my original, perfect state that was not yoked by these senseless laws."

"Do pardon me, but what!?" The female put a hand to her head in realization before realization. "Forgive me, the memories I received from you are muddied as well. I know only of your birth, when you were in some larval stage in your world, where a voice told you that you were to defend it and consume all you came across."

"That 'voice' was the Collective, primitive," said the Collector. It did not like when primitives degraded the great unity of the Collective as a mere 'voice'. That 'voice' contained the combined essence of hundreds of thousands of species. It was not a 'voice', it was perfection incarnate. "And you know little then of my potential for growth. When I first emerged from the Collective hive's womb, I was far more than this. I was the pinnacle of biological might, towering over the pitiable constructs you call homes."

"Run into tough times, huh," said the female as she observed the Collector's current form.

"Silence, human. I will not tolerate your mockery." The Collector would have pried the female apart, but it knew the gesture was meaningless. The female would simply reconstruct herself.

"I do apologize," said the female. She then nodded vigorously. "I perfectly understand now. You were the reason for Solarion's death. You were the prophesied end the G.o.ds spoke of."

The Collector's antennae twitched. "I did not a.s.similate this 'G.o.d', and so I could not obtain its language, and yet I recognize that word. 'Solarion'. From this name did that being obtain power? Yet even that power could not match the might of the Collective."

"That is interesting…" said the female as she put her chin on her hand. "Even if you were bigger than a mountain and stronger than a hundred armies, had you not magical power, you would not have been able to permanently kill a G.o.d. Tell me, can you repeat everything Solarion said to you? I know the divine tongue, so I'll be able to tell you what he said."

"You wish for me to recite the being' vocalizations? The Collector blinked its eight eyes. "For what purpose? To explain another one of your senseless rules?"

"I…have a theory. Just tell me what he said, please?" said the female.

The Collector could not see a reason to refuse the request. Perhaps something useful would come out of this female's mouth. It decided to humor here, reciting verbatim what the being of light had said from its battle cries to its parting words.

The female put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. "By the G.o.ds, the realms, and all that is holy and unholy. You do have a christened name."

"Explain yourself, human."

"The G.o.ds believe in a prophesied end of all things. It would be heralded by the emergence of a great disaster from above called Ragnarok, the very twilight of the G.o.ds and the end of all creation. When Solarion saw you, he believed you were the prophesied end and called you Ragnarok, and in doing so, accidentally granted you a name . And a name christened directly by a G.o.d, especially one as powerful as Solarion, is a powerful thing indeed, full of divine magical power. Solarion accidentally granted you the means to kill him, never knowing that you were not a magical being in the first place."

The female nodded slowly, digesting the information. "But the fact that you cannot kill me means that your name has lost power, no doubt because you slew Solarion, the source of the power. Still, even a name granted by a dead G.o.d is one that ensures that you will learn magic with exceptional potency."

"Your rambling begins to annoy me," said the Collector. "You merely had to tell me that I had a name and that I am capable of utilizing this 'magic'. Now give me the knowledge you promised."