System
Finding something to distract herself is simple enough, as there are many options to consider; the challenging part is deciding which one should take priority.
“Obviously, I’m going to investigate the magic.” Mary declared that she had finally exhausted the restraint she had maintained while surveying the room.
With her not-at-all difficult decision made, Mary turns her gaze to look at her magically comfortable pillow and focuses, trying to invoke the feeling that she had discovered while still in the womb. As if called by her focus, a light wave of mana shoots out of her body and envelopes the pillow before returning to her.
In the moments before the pulse returns, Mary congratulates herself for not trying this feat while others were watching. It is undoubtedly highly obvious that such an action would be considered abnormal for a newborn.
Object:
Royal Pillow
Mana Density:
High
Mana Quality:
High
Mana Quantity:
High
Mana Imbuement:
Comfort, Cleanliness, Restful Sleep
Materials:
Silk of the Frost Cave Spider, Feathers of the Midgard Gryphon
Description:
A pillow created for use by the Royal Family of Midgard, a master tailor, has been imbued with the concepts of comfort, cleanliness, and restful sleep. The materials used are of high quality and were chosen for their natural heat attunement.
Creator:
Master Tailor Mack Graham
“There’s a lot to unpack here…” Mary notes to herself, “So spider silk, huh?”
Mary takes a moment to imagine what a Frost Cave Spider might be like, and because of Alexander's experience with virtual gaming, she concludes that the creature is likely to be a giant spider by the standards of Earth.
“So, a frost spider has silk that is beneficial for heat? How does that make sense?” Mary takes a moment to think and ultimately comes up with two potential ideas.
Either as a living creature it is naturally warm or its warmth causes things produced from it to be naturally warm somehow. This argument makes no sense, as cold-blooded creatures do exist. Or frost counts as a type of heat; in this case, negative heat or an absence of it, and the result, with some effort, can be used to be hot or warm instead of cold.
Mary feels that the second idea makes far more sense, but she supposes that she could be wrong. But the fact that a ‘Master Tailor’ is the one who worked on it implies that skill could very much be important here.
"Another point to consider is the difference between mana imbuement and enchantment. Are they not the same thing?” Mary again relies on Alexander's fictional knowledge to explain things, but she's aware that this behaviour is a habit that will ultimately mislead her.
But without any true information on how this world works, she can only make assumptions.
“Non-structure and structured? Or maybe enchantments have a limited lifespan, and imbuement is more natural, resulting in something long-lasting or self-reinforcing," she says in consideration.
It would make sense if that was the case, or at least something like it. “Enchantment would be runes or magic circuits, maybe? These enchantments can physically degrade over time. Mother's tiara definitely had some type of glowing runes etched into it.”
Once again, Mary is finding herself stymied by a total lack of knowledge, and she cannot help but feel that she is wasting her time even trying to think about it.
With a sigh, she turns her attention to mana density, mana quality and mana quantity.
“My hand had extreme mana density; this pillow has high.” Mary muses to herself, “I’m fairly certain that my mana density vastly exceeds this pillow. But is that the gap between high and extreme?”
She frowns as she considers things further. “The system specifically said my hand. Would a baby's hand normally be greater than a pillow made from distinctly magical components? Made by the hand of an alleged master tailor?"
Mary chews on her thoughts further before coming to a tentative conclusion. “Is it relative then? I have extremely high mana density for a baby. This pillow has high mana density for a pillow?” As she voices her conclusion, Mary becomes increasingly certain of her correctness.
With this alone, Mary feels that she has hit the nail on the head. She has a gut feeling that her other conclusions have been erratic or only partially accurate. But with mana density, something within her says that she is generally correct about how this aspect of the world works.
For a pillow, the materials used and the skill or intent of the tailor would obviously affect something like mana density. But did this value simply mean that the relative mana was high? Was there an additional advantage to having a higher mana density?
Mary considers the possibilities for a moment before ultimately concluding that the higher the relative mana density, the more enchantments or imbuements that can be stuffed into a particular object. It stands to reason that mana quality would also influence the outcome, with the addition of how powerful any imbuement could be.
Mary once again feels a vague warmth within her at her conclusion. Alexander had never felt anything of the sort, and something like this feeling should be absent from human biology, even the augmented kind that Alexander experienced. The evidence leads her to conclude that this warmth is an entirely new magical instinct that she has now inherited from her mother's apparently heroic bloodline.
After addressing what she believes are the most basic conclusions, Mary shifts her focus to the other items in the room to see if anything else stands out to her. But as expected, everything in the room follows the general structure and theme that the pillow did.
The royal family of Midgard, along with exotic materials and brief explanations, confirmed what her senses had already told her.
“My instincts were completely right with the imbuements present… so is it essentially the same sense but more deliberate?” Mary believes that her conclusion is also correct; despite a system window appearing right in front of her, it is clear that there is no omnipresent system like those found in anime or manga.
“Then, if the room is as expected… what about me?” she says, turning her focus onto herself.
Object:
Newborn Human Princess
Name:
Mary Midgard
Race:
Human
Title:
Princess of Midgard, Hero
Mana Density:
Extreme
Mana Quality:
Extreme
Mana Quantity:
Extreme
Mana Alignment:
Neutral
Mother
Crown Princess Elizabeth Midgard
Father
Prince Consort / Duke Cidolfus Midgard, born Augustus
Description:
Mary is a newborn princess of the Kingdom of Midgard.
Mary is the firstborn child of the Crown Princess Elizabeth Midgard and her husband Duke Cidolfus.
Mary has inherited the nature of a hero.
Mary has had enormous hopes placed upon her.
Mary feels as if her eyes are practically bulging out of her skull while she looks over her status screen; she instantly hopes that nobody has checked her status yet and that she still has time to figure out a way to hide what she is seeing.
“Extreme? Nature of a Hero? None of this is normal. And what is this about great hopes? When did that happen exactly?”
The more Mary thinks about it, the more she regrets falling asleep; clearly, something must have happened while she was unconscious, and she has no idea who might know about it. Is that why she is alone right now? Are they discussing what to do with her now that they know she’s completely abnormal?
“The people of this place have strange views on women. Mother seems to have been punished heavily for wilfulness, of all things. If they see my status, then what will they do to me?” She asks herself in worry.
Mary feels her thoughts spiralling out of control, and she starts to imagine the increasingly horrible fates that might be awaiting her. But before things can get any worse, she stops, closes her eyes, and forces herself to take a deep, calming breath.
“No. Don’t spiral; there’s no sense in worrying about things I can’t influence.”
She reopens her eyes and tries to consider her situation with a sense of detachment.
“I already suspected I was a princess due to yesterday, that my mother is a princess and my father her consort; I’d already suspected those things too… that father is a duke is new, but unimportant for now." she promptly dismisses any further consideration of her heritage.
“Extreme mana density, as well as quality and quantity… I already know that these things are relative. But 'extreme' is clearly at least a level above 'high', and I don't have any real idea about the range between levels either. No doubt, extremes in those three areas would be strange, especially for a baby. Extreme mana density seems more characteristic of an arch-mage's abilities. " Mary says considerately, “Or a hero?”
If Mary were to identify the thing that worried her the most about her status, it would be about her apparent nature as a hero. What did that even mean? Was it a title given to anyone who possessed a high level of mana?
Or was it inherited from her mother, who was allegedly descended from a hero? Perhaps everyone in the Midgard family possessed the qualities of a hero? This would surely explain why her family was considered worthy of being royalty.
Or maybe it was triggered by ‘great hopes’ being placed upon her? Is that a result of her reincarnation? Or was her birth greatly expected for other reasons? What could possibly trigger such great hopes for her to the point where they are reflected in her status? It was otherwise very lacking in detail, so it must be important somehow, right?
“The most underwhelming part is the race.” She says to herself sardonically, “Here I am, worrying about heroes and hopes for the future. But the fact that race is even present in the status implies that there are other races in this world. Perhaps in the future I will get to meet Dwarves, Elves or Orcs?” She says with some latent excitement.
“However, if fiction has taught me anything about the latter, it is more likely that I will be fighting them, especially if I’m considered a hero.”
“Let’s just move on… what else is there to do in this room? Do I try to do magic? How would I do that?” As Mary begins to seriously consider how to cast her very first magic, she feels her body rebel and her stomach roar.
“… Right, I haven’t eaten since I was born.” She says to herself, embarrassed that she got so lost in her thoughts about her new life that she forgot such a basic part of biology, “I guess I’ll be testing my theory about the maids leaving me alone then.”
Briefly, Mary prepares herself for disappointment. What would be worse: that they rush in proving that they had been observing her? Alternatively, would they ignore her cries, thereby confirming her worst fears?
“… I answered myself before I really thought of it.”
“Well… no time like the present.” Mary takes a final breath, then she acts like a newborn and screams for attention.
“Waaaaah!”