Volume 1, Chapter 32 – Hypercomputation

Without a doubt, Anastasia was a woman of action. No sooner had she made her suggestion than she immediately began teaching magic.

She first placed several magic crystals, each no larger than the nail of a little finger, in front of Fia before launching into an explanation of magical principles.

“The essence of magic is using one’s own mana to harness the elements in the environment, compelling them to obey and condense into the desired form. For example, the [Fairy Fire] Your Highness excels at is a product of mana combining with fire elements. Incantations and magic staves, on the other hand, serve as mediums to resonate mana with the elements and tools to accelerate communication with them.”

“Generally speaking, without chanting incantations or using a magic staff, a spellcaster cannot use magic. However, if someone has an exceptional affinity with the elements, they can still cast spells without incantations or a staff. This is the [incantationless magic] Your Highness used this morning. To cast fifth-tier magic without incantations—even across the entire elf kingdom—you are the only one who can do this.”

That wasn’t fifth-tier magic at all—just ordinary [Fairy Fire.]

Fia wanted to explain this, but even if she did, Anastasia wouldn’t believe her, so she had already given up trying. In Anastasia’s understanding, a mere first-tier [Fairy Fire] could at most condense into a fireball the size of a human head—it was impossible for it to wipe out a squad of Holy Kingdom soldiers in an instant. This was as natural as a kindergarten child being unable to outrun a world-class sprinter.

Of course, Anastasia had no idea what Fia was thinking. She continued her explanation as the evening sunlight streaming through the window dyed her golden hair a fiery red.

“For aspiring spellcasters, the first hurdle is being unable to sense mana, and the second is failing to resonate mana with the elements to produce magic. For the second problem, simply providing some low-grade magic crystals and countless attempts will gradually help one find their way. But the first problem can only be overcome through personal enlightenment.”

Anastasia lowered her head, her gaze at Fia now tinged with expectation.

“Since Your Highness can cast [Red Lotus of Calamity] without incantations, you must have already overcome these two hurdles, correct?”

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“Uh.” Fia froze. Though she could use magic and understood what mana was, she had never sensed anything called “elements.” “What are elements?”

“…Hah?” Anastasia’s eyebrows shot up. Though she likely didn’t intend it, Fia couldn’t help feeling like she was being treated as an idiot. “Your Highness, since you can use [Red Lotus of Calamity]’ you must have already communicated with the elements. Only by first connecting with the omnipresent elements in the air can one cast magic.”

“But I really haven’t felt anything called ‘elements.’ All my magic just happens with a single thought.”

Whether it was [Fairy Fire] or [Orbital Beacon Bombardment,] all she needed was to concentrate, and the spell would activate. The only difference was that if she focused more and selected a distant target, it became [Orbital Beacon Bombardment,] while less focus made it [Fairy Fire.]

“How strange.” Anastasia frowned, picking up a fingernail-sized blue crystal from the table. “Your Highness, try channeling your mana into this crystal.”

“A magic crystal? Detonating it indoors?”

Because the elf princess’s personal belongings included similar items, Fia had specifically looked up descriptions of them in The Secret History of Witches. These were called magic crystals—tools into which magic scholars could seal pre-set spells using magical knowledge. When needed, one could inject mana into the crystal to release the stored spell.

The advantages of magic crystals were obvious. Since the spells were pre-sealed, they consumed less mana and required no incantations. Carrying a large number of them essentially turned one into a walking magical artillery platform.

But magic crystals also had significant drawbacks. First, due to low production yields and high practicality, they were extremely expensive—hardly something ordinary families could casually purchase. Second, limited by manufacturing techniques, even the same spell released from a crystal would always be weaker than one cast directly by a spellcaster.

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Take Fia’s [Fairy Fire,] for example. Normally, it would manifest as a fireball the size of a human head, but if released from a magic crystal, it might only be half to two-thirds as powerful.

Still, even a fist-sized fireball was dangerous to use indoors.

Anastasia crossed her arms, her expression brimming with confidence.

“No problem. This magic crystal contains [Wind Blade.] A spell of this level can be shattered with a mere wave of my hand. The simplest way to experience different elements is to use magic crystals to interact with them directly.”

“Then… alright.”

Taking a deep breath, Fia focused her attention inward, locating the thing called mana, then grasped it and forced it into the blue crystal in her hand.

Pop.

With a faint cracking sound, the crystal turned to powder, and in its place, a wind blade the length of an adult’s index finger shot straight toward Anastasia.

True to her word, Anastasia merely raised her hand and crushed the wind blade.

“So, Your Highness, could you feel the resonance between mana and the wind element?”

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“Rather than resonance, it’s more like…” Fia’s expression turned extremely odd. “I think I’ve already learned the [Wind Blade] spell?”

The moment the magic crystal shattered, Fia felt a faint sense of dizziness, followed by a vision in her mind—like an AI simulation—showing the process of mana forming the wind blade. By the time she regained her senses, the [Wind Blade] spell had become as accessible as [Fairy Fire,] usable with just a thought.

Though she hadn’t actually cast [Wind Blade] yet, she had this inexplicable intuition.

It was almost like AI computation.

Wait—could this be the effect of Hypercomputation?

If true, wouldn’t that mean she could instantly master any spell just by using its corresponding magic crystal once? In that case, Hypercomputation was no less impressive than Orbital Beacon Bombardment. If the Nanomachine Body ensured her immortality, then Hypercomputation granted her near-limitless potential.

It would make all those who had painstakingly studied [Wind Blade] with envy.

Sure enough, Anastasia’s eyes widened in shock.

“You’ve learned it? Just like that? But you still can’t sense the elements?”

No, Anastasia, I know you’re baffled, but I’m serious.

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Knock, knock, knock.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a knocking sound came from behind Fia. Instantly, Anastasia’s body tensed, her expression turning wary as if facing a dire threat.

It was Claire.

“Shouldn’t we wrap this up? It’s dinnertime.” Seeing Anastasia’s nervousness, Claire smiled wryly. “I bought some food on my way back. I can bring dinner here for both of you.”

“No need. Your Highness, please dine with Lady Claire first. I’ll go contact Kirill—he understands magic better than I do and might be able to explain the anomalies happening to you. My apologies, Lady Claire.”

With that, Anastasia brushed past Claire and left without another word.

It’s probably not that she dislikes Claire but that she’s uncomfortable with the curse on her, Fia thought. Though she couldn’t perceive the so-called “fear” herself, judging from how others reacted to Claire, Anastasia’s behavior was undoubtedly a last resort. Perhaps just sitting near Claire would make Anastasia too tense to eat.

“Looks like it’s just the two of us.”

Claire’s beautiful face was full of bitterness as she shook the bamboo basket in her hand with a resigned smile.