"Hmm, sounds like a really good deal to me. I sort of want to see more of this Crafter stuff for myself anyway now that I've come this far." Allen agreed.
"Hold on, don't you need to be able to use magic to enter the Underside? It's surrounded by some sort of magical barrier to keep normal people from finding it or getting to it. Neither of us is a Crafter, you should've been able to tell that already." Nera sharply explained.
"To be exact, you need to have an aura of Extract, which is magical energy, around you to enter the Underside."
'So magical power is called Extract. Noted.'
"Hmm, isn't that basically the same thing as being a Crafter though?"
"Not quite, and from what you told me about how he was able to manipulate the mana of the specter to his will. I think he may be able to extend that to make an aura for you both as long he has the necessary Extract for it. If he did it unconsciously then he should be able to do it once more consciously, correct?"
"Manipulate the magical energy of the specter...I did that?" Allen cautiously inquired, pointing towards himself.
"I would suppose, whether you were aware or not. First off, do you know what we Crafters call "magic" even is?"
"Uhh...it's like, you know. A supernatural power that can't be understood by science, right?"
"Close, but not quite. I'll ask this then, do you know what the Observer Effect is."
"Yeah, it's when just the act of observation changes the outcome of an occurrence. Many people think this is due to the conscious mind having a direct effect on the world, but it's really just due to the instruments used to observe the occurrence tampering with the outcome" Allen answered this quickly and nonchalantly.
Nera turned towards him with a disturbed look.
"Why the hell do you know something like that in that much detail?"
Allen shrugged, "I read an article about it when I was really bored one day."
"Why would you read tha-"
Wit clapped his hands together interrupting her questioning much to her disgruntlement.
"Correct. Now, what if that wasn't the case, what if the conscious mind could directly affect the world? For example..."
He pulled off a triangle medal adorned on his chest. "Let's say I threw up the medal twice in the same exact way both times with the same power, angle, and etc. Everything exactly the same, but at the second throw, the medal stayed in the air for twice as long. How would you explain that?"
"Uhh..." Allen was not sure what to say. He felt like he was being put on the spot by a teacher with an unreasonably vague and difficult question.
Wit smirked, "Magic! That would be the only answer. Something beyond the observer effect where the mind actually alters the world itself. And the source of that magic is magical energy, ether, a veritable dark matter that must exist in order for an otherwise unexplainable event to occur. Ether produces mana which is then burnt up to produce various phenomena."
"And what makes Crafters so special to be able to use it? I remember Nera saying she couldn't teach me magic."
"Good question. Uniquely, Crafters are born with an intangible object within their bodies made from ether known as a Codex. The Codex is said to be a manual for using the skills of spirits that has been passed down throughout many generations. It allows for the control and generation of mana. However, it seems that, in your case, it's not essential for you to have one to at least control mana."
'Woah, spirits are a thing?! What are they like?" Allen asked with strong curiosity.
"Made purely from ether, linked strongly to nature, and incredibly mysterious. So mysterious in fact, they're much out of the range of my expertise. Now, I think you know enough to carry out my request."
'There's still so much I want to know about this Underworld and its magic, but finding them out for myself should be interesting.'
"I guess that clears some things up. You wouldn't happen to know anything about something like what happened to me happening to other people, right?' Allen inquired in a wry tone.
"I've heard rumors about non-Crafters, Craftless, being able to use magic before, but I never paid them any mind. As I said before, you may find more answers in the Underside. Here." He pulled out a small envelope from one of his pockets and handed it to him. Allen looked over to Nera.
"It's your choice, I don't think we'll be able to get in regardless, but if we do, I'm itching to find out more myself."
"Hmm, it's worth looking into. I really hope I don't regret this. I'll go," Allen asserted.
"If he's going, I'll have to go along to keep him out of trouble I guess," Nera stated.
Wit wiped away a bead of sweat on his face. "Great. I really don't like going out in crowded places, so I'm glad you accepted my offer."
With that, the two were set to venture into the Underworld again for better or for worse.
Just then, a slam of a door could be heard from further behind the counter, and the heavy footsteps echoed through the store as a tall bulky man with graying hair and bronze mechanical arms walked up to them carrying a large and bizarre metallic contraption that vaguely resembled a car engine crossed with a blender. The contraption was very wet and dripping all over the floor.
The tall man had a stern expression on his face.
"Wit, did you seriously leave this in the washing machine?"
"Morning Eyrck, yeah, I couldn't really find any other way to clean the Oil Vaccum thoroughly enough after I was done using it." Wit admitted casually.
'Oil Vaccum?'
The man Allen now knew as Eyrck dropped the machine with a thundering thud onto the floor, rattling the shelves of the store.
"You really are a numbskull. If only you used half of your smarts for something else besides tinkering with machines. Come with me, so you can clean this mess up."
Wit grinned sheepishly "Yes, I'll get right on that in a moment."
"Hold on, can't you get your robot maid to help you out?"
Suddenly, a loud yawn emanated through the air. The seemingly stoic and on-standby robot maid began to open her eyes slowly while rubbing the sleep out of them, awakened by the loud noises of Eyrck's entrance.
"What in the world is causing all that racket? Can't a girl get some sleep after a long night's work," she voiced crankily.
"You're telling me she was just standing there asleep this whole time!?"
Allen watched as she began stretching like she got out of bed, her mannerisms were completely like that of a human. In fact, if it were not for the metallic sheen of her body, Allen would have not been able to tell that this was not the case.
"She's a borderline narcoleptic who falls asleep pretty much anywhere at any position and time. What she does have going for her though is that she's pretty good at stitch work and first aid, she was the one who treated our wounds," Nera chimed in. "Also, you may have been able to tell this already, but she's not actually a maid. That get-up of hers is just one of her cosplays she wears when she's too lazy to find something better to put on. Honestly, she's much more of a tv show-obsessed neet than a maid."
"Yep, that's me," Owlette admitted unashamedly. Her speech did not have a trace of the austerity Allen had been expecting from it.
"That does look like something out of Mecha x Maid now that I think about it." Allen observed, eyeing her outfit over again. "A real robotic girl, huh? Maid or not, I never thought I'd see something like this outside of tv, books, or my dreams."
"You know you said that out loud, right?" Nera stated, addressing his observation.
"Yes."
Owlette folded her arms with a smug expression on her face. "Glad to see another person with good taste in sci-fi shows, unlike a certain somebody who instead only watches Galaxina-"
"Zip it, Bronze-face," Nera fiercely warned.
Owlette shrugged, "Fine fine, however, a true fan of sci-fi should never be afraid to admit their fandom. Anyway, I'm actually dead tired so I guess I'll go sleep in my bed this time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some peace and quiet there." Before she left, however, she gripped her maid dress and in one fell swoop, pulled the entire garb off.
"Aww, that's better."
Instantly, Eryck covered his and Wit's eyes while Nera covered Allen's. Despite this, Allen had still been able to catch a glimpse of Owlette in nothing but her snow-white undergarments and was determined to burn this image into his mind.
***
"Alright, good luck out there in the Underside!" Wit called out with Eryck standing behind him forebodingly, making sure he did not get away from clean-up duty. They had just headed out the door of Trinkets & Treasures. Wit had already told them where they could enter the Underside of Atelier City and where to go once they got there.
"Sure thing, Nitwit!" Nera fired back mockingly.
"Wait, you never actually told me how I'm supposed to manipulate mana." Allen stated as he came to that realization.
"It's just like I said. Just don't focus on what you can observe with your senses, and instead on what you can't."
"What does that even mean?"
"You'll figure it out, or not."
Allen lowered his head dejectedly.
"I give up."
"Come on, Allen. Nitwit's right, we'll figure it out as we go along. Let's go already, we're burning daylight, I've never actually been to the Underside before, I wonder if they have flying mushrooms there." Nera was practically hopping in excitement.
"Huh, you mean flying brooms?"
"Who cares. Come on, don't you want to see it for yourself?"
"Yeah. Let's go before I figure out how bad of an idea this is."
"Mega Awesome."
With that, the two headed out from the odd shop and towards their next destination.
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