Happenstance (I)

  “Still don’t think this situation is familiar, Cyril?” Doctor Miller inquired sarcastically as he pressed the square piece of gauze to Cyril’s cheek.

  “Not the kind of familiarity I was hoping to experience anytime soon, but yeah. It feels like I just got hit with divine judgement.” he replied languidly.

  A chuckle came from the amused instructor standing to his left, while the other man positioned on his right simply shook his head. “That was a bit much, wasn’t it Olivia?” Wilhelm pushed the question, a bemused tone in his voice.

  “Relax. I made sure to tone down the amps so the only thing he really got hit with were volts. He should be fine, aside from a bit of trouble with his muscle coordination, right, doctor?”

  “Yes, that's correct, and I must say I really have to thank you for that miss S-rank. I think I'm getting a little too used to seeing his battered body on an operating table. This is honestly a nice change of pace.”

  “You’re very welcome.” Olivia replied, smiling politely. “Cyril, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to ask but—you are feeling fine, right?”

  “Never better.”

  Her students somewhat cheeky and overly sarcastic reply made Olivia’s brows twitch a little, but she suppressed the sudden urge to zap him again with a preset smile and retained her professionalism.

  After his highly predictable loss to Olivia, they decided to return aboveground to finish his re-assessment. Of course, it was all being done in a private room away from the prying eyes of the public. The room seemed fairly similar to the special assessment ward—minus the unfavorable freezing temperatures and the strange, MRI looking machine unique to that place.

  It resembled a small operating room, the kind typically found in private medical facilities. However, the only element that fit that familiar image was the large white bed where Cyril currently sat, flanked by two neatly arranged pipe chairs on either side.

  The rest of the room was occupied by a vast array of machinery from blinking lights to floating keyboards that were all connected in some way or the other, with the entire thing being hooked up to a large main monitor. Miller returned to his position in his desk chair at the helm of the blinking and—quite possibly futuristic — contraption.

  “Alright Cyril let’s begin.” said the doctor, doing a full three-sixty in his desk chair. There was a small black sphere the size of two fists in his hands — a device they were all very familiar with.

  “A mana meter? I wasn’t expecting this kind of simplistic approach Miller. Wasn’t this final test supposed to be conclusive?” questioned Wilhelm

  “True, this is a rather simplistic method of doing things, but I already gathered enough data with the microsensors after his fight with Olivia a little while ago. Its enough for me to draw a conclusion with at least eighty-percent certainty. This little trinket here is one I personally modified; it works just as well as the larger ones they use around the association, but I made mine smaller for efficiency’s sake.”

  Miller spoke confidently, as if what he’d just said was the easiest thing in the world but the ‘original’ he was referring to was a full three meters in size. That was how much larger a typical meter needed to be in order to function with some level of accuracy and yet, of his own accord the supposed physician reduced the device down to the size of a small container on a whim.

  Still, no one present seemed surprised in the least. That was just how much faith they had in his abilities.

  “Here.” Miller called, tossing the dark object to his patient. Cyril caught it with one hand, peering at the device curiously. “Fill that up with a steady flow of mana for one minute, then give it back to me—and please use both hands, I’d like to eliminate any systematic errors if possible.”

  Miller’s tone wasn’t fierce, it was restless. Relenting to the man's demands, Cyril simply muttered “I got it.” before complying with the simple set of instructions.

  One minute elapsed, and Cyril tossed the dark object back to the Physician furiously typing away. The object had taken on a deep violet glow after ingesting a full minute's worth of his mana, the doctor gave it a curious look and tapped a key on his floating keyboard.

  Click

  A small circular slot, perfectly matched to the meter's diameter, opened on the expansive keyboard panel in front of Miller. He carefully lowered the device into place, allowing the internal mechanisms to lock it securely with a precise, mechanical hum.

  A single loading screen appeared on the large monitor—usurping the position of the countless other windows Miller had kept open. It lasted only a few seconds, and once the ring of dots disappeared the results of Cyril’s examination were displayed.

  “Looks like I was right.” The doctor sighed, tilting back in his chair.

  On the screen, columns of text displayed complex calculations and formulas, all overshadowed by a single, decisive result: [Analysis of mana capacity and quantity complete. Estimated Cognitive Affinity Index (C.A.I): 5.314]

  “What? That’s impossible, since when did your index get so high Cyril?” Pressed Olivia, failing to conceal her shock.

  “Wait...my index increased by that much?” Cyril himself was no less confused than the rest of them. He barely managed to suppress the rising inclination urging him to spring off the bed and move closer for a better look at the bold text being displayed on screen.

  Fortunately for him, the answers to his unspoken query presented themself within his own mind.

  [Affirmative. Wielding the power of a realm factor requires a higher level of cognitive processing. As a result, your Cognitive Affinity Index was enhanced during your recalibration. It will continue to refine itself until your body can fully harness the realm factor's potential. That is the purpose of the scenarios—to train your abilities, push you to your limits, and gradually elevate your Affinity Index.]

  His ears registered Aria’s words but the implication still didn’t feel real. He recalled hearing her mention it before, but he hadn’t expected the outcome to be so overwhelming. In the past, he had spent countless waking hours striving for this very goal, yet after achieving it so easily—without even realizing he had done so—it left him with a hollow sense of accomplishment.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Looks like you expected this Miller. Seeing as your so confident, I presume you’ve already formulated some kind of explanation, right?” Wilhem inquired passively, folding his arms in anticipation. Under normal circumstances, such a posture would indicate that he was in the process of calming down, but the incessant tapping of his finger against his bicep suggested otherwise.

  “Well more or less. If things have panned out the way I imagined them to, then it might end up being a bit of a long story. But first, Cyril, there’s something I need to know right now, just how many skills do you have?”

  “...Five. As of right now, I have a total of five skills.”

  “Five?!” Wilhem responded instinctively, mimicking Olivia’s startled expression, the both of them oozing disbelief. It was as if a wave of overwhelming shock had blanketed the room, leaving everyone gasping in awe—everyone except Cyril, the supposed D-rank, and Miller, a man of many talents often hailed as a godly physician.

  “Its’ the truth.” Cyril said, shifting over on the bed.

  According to him, this is how his skills worked:

  Unique Skill: [Juggernaut] — This skill grants the power of augmentation by increasing the magnitude of a specific physical quantity. It has a limited range and requires direct physical contact to activate. There are limitations, the main ones being that the user can only enhance the force of their strikes within the limits of their body’s ability to endure the resulting recoil. Certain augmentations—like increasing mass—carry predictable drawbacks, such as added weight. The skill affects the current state of inanimate objects and can trigger complete structural collapse by magnifying existing flaws.

  Extra Skill: [Niflheim] — A specialized fire ability that produces white flames fueled by an inverted combustion process. Rather than emitting heat, these flames draw it in from their surroundings, drastically reducing temperatures and freezing the environment through absorption instead of ignition.

  Unique Skill: [Counter Stop] — A passive skill that remains constantly active, shielding the user from non-physical interferences or ‘negative status effects’, such as miasma, curses, and any condition that would impair the optimal function of the body. It does not protect against physical damage, and the full extent of its capabilities is still under investigation.

  Unique Skill: [Life Surge] — This passive skill drastically enhances the users rate of recovery via rapid cellular division. The mechanics and limitations of this ability are still being explored.

  Extra Skill: [Mobius] — This skill grants the user heightened perception, surpassing that of typical deviants, who rely on reacting to environmental mana fluctuations. Mobius interprets the interactions between manites—the quantum particles that form mana—by analyzing the vibrations generated during their random collisions. The information exchanged by these particles is converted into perceptible data, granting the user a greater awareness of their surroundings, particularly in regards to discrete mana signatures. The mechanics and limitations of this ability are still being explored.

  “My word...” Olivia instinctively brought a hand to her mouth.

  Sensing their shock, Cyril produced a weak smile. “Yeah, that’s how it is now apparently. I’m not too sure how exactly how I ended up with all these skills myself.”

  “.....”

  For a moment, there was an odd lack of words inside the isolated space that was originally meant to discuss Cyril’s condition. No one knew what to say—neither Cyril, caught in such a peculiar situation, nor Olivia, a veteran magician with years of experience as a hunter, nor even Wilhem, the chairman of the Hunter Association, an organization operating beyond direct governmental regulation.

  Finally, it was the physician’s astute declaration that broke the silence.

  “I have a hypothesis.”

  All heads turned toward the man at the helm of the blinking contraption. He folded his arms and took a deep breath before addressing them. “This might get a bit long-winded since I’ll have to go over some basic concepts we should all be familiar with, but bear with me for a moment.”

  “Not a problem. Continue.” Wilhelm replied, steadying his posture.

  “Ahem, well...” miller began swiftly.

  “…first, let me start by covering the basics. What we refer to as mana is actually an ambient extradimensional energy that has the ability to bypass the observer effect and bend entropy in ways that lead to predictable outcomes. It does this through its constituent units, particles known as manites, which can temporarily overwrite the given state of a system by altering its information—essentially, mana allows for the manifestation of supernatural phenomena. By extension, that’s what deviants are: humans who have adapted to influence the energy known as mana.”

  “If you’re starting this off with the absolute basics....” Olivia added, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “...then I think I know where this is going.”

  Taking note of her response, Miller’s expression softened somewhat.

  "I figured you two would catch on quickly, but I need you to hear me out a little longer—this is where things get tricky. By its nature, mana is fundamentally a higher-dimensional power, something our three-dimensional minds cannot fully comprehend. That’s why our brains can only adapt to it on a subconscious level. We use the Cognitive Affinity Index to gauge how much insight a deviant has into mana, which directly correlates to their level of control and output. To put it simply, the higher a deviant’s C.A.I., the more powerful they are, because they can channel and control more mana."

  Miller paused briefly to glance at Cyril. Shaking his head, the boy responded to his gaze nonchalantly. “The academies here have been drilling this into us since middle school doc, don’t worry about me, you can continue.”

  “I won’t have you looking down on my honor student like that Miller. This much is nothing for him to wrap his head around.” Olivia cut in, her tone sharp with pride and defiance.

  “It seems he’s caught on to my train of thought too.” Chuckled the physician. “Let’s move on, we need to discuss saints for a little bit. People throw the word ‘saint’ around a lot these days, but most of them don’t ever actually consider what the word really means.” Miller adjusted his glasses, his eyes sharpening as he straightened himself in the office chair.

  "Saints are individuals who have adapted to mana so efficiently that their Cognitive Affinity Index exceeds the theoretical maximum of ten. They possess the highest natural affinities and mana output in the world. Indexes are mutations the brain developed subconsciously as a survival mechanism—essentially a sixth sense that emerged in humans during Ragnarok. For most people, it cannot be consciously trained; the only reliable way to increase it is through years of repetition or by chance under extreme, often life-or-death, conditions. Saints are unique because they are born with that level of power, hence why some people say that saints ‘start at the finish line’.”

  His words struck a note inside the boy's mind and Cyril formed a perplexed expression—not because he didn’t understand, on the contrary it was because he understood Miller’s words all too well. At some point he’d almost forgotten the desperate sense of futility he felt in those days of fervent efforts in exchange for little to no results.

  "Alright, last thing we need to cover—the basics of skills. Skills are supernatural abilities unique to the vanguard classes. Unique skills manifest when a deviant’s strongest subconscious desires connect with mana at the moment of awakening. Extra skills, on the other hand, are obtained by absorbing manites from manadite cores, replicating a monster’s inherent mana manipulation signature to reproduce its abilities. It’s kind of like stealing someone’s memory card. The important thing to remember is that skills are always active abilities—aside from [Mobius], I’ve never heard of a skill being passive before."

  Miller extended his arm to the side and clicked something on his computer. The monitor shifted again, this time displaying information related to Cyril specifically.

  “Let me ask just for reference but is the project going to play a part in your hypothesis?” Wilhelm asked in a gruff tone.

  “Yes” Answered Miller “That’s actually what we’re about to get into now.”

  The words registered in Cyril's mind immediately and before he knew it, his expression had already stiffened out of shock.

  “By project you mean...”

  “Yes, Project Lamplight— the plan to create an artificial saint.”