Hello Readers!
Welcome to another entry to Professor Tohsaka at Beacon Academy! I might not be characterising members of RWBY currently. Please tell me if I overdid some aspects of RWBY characters.
Please enjoy, Professor Tohsaka at Beacon Academy!
ShirouKuroEmiya
Chapter Two "Mana"
I watched carefully to make sure all my students were looking at me before resuming my lecture.
"Humanity might have de-evolved and lost the ability to use magic," I said in a professional tone expected of my position, "but we didn't stop evolving. Otherwise, humanity would have gone extinct and we wouldn't be where we are today. We evolved new abilities; Aura and Semblances to replace our lost magic to survive the Grimm."
A hologram lit up to show a familiar biology diagram that many of the students had seen before several times during physical education classes.
"Different regions of Remnant have different names for this part of the body such as Aura Pathway, Aura Channels and etc." I continued as I pointed at the hologram and specific parts of the displayed representation of the human body lit up like the nerves and blood vessels. "Our ancient ancestors called them Magic Circuits. Magic Circuits are located in the soul. Thus, finding the answers to many mysteries related to Aura and Semblances is notoriously difficult to find." I smiled while turning to the class. "Afterall, how are you supposed to find data on something that you cannot detect?"
"If you're suggesting that we cannot detect the soul then how did we make progress in understanding Aura and Semblances in the first place?" asked Wiess incredulously as if not believing my statement that humanity couldn't detect the soul in the first place.
"The same way our understanding of chemistry and physics has been developed until now," I replied. "We cannot see the atom, but we have a great understanding about this subject. How is that so?" I asked, looking around the class then I noticed a student raise a hand. "Please go ahead."
"We might not be able to directly see the atom, but we have indirect methods. I assume the similar process was done to understand the soul even if we couldn't."
"That's absolutely right." I clapped. "That is no longer the case. Tohsaka Industries has discovered a method to directly observe the soul." I paused for a moment to let my words sink in. "This discovery is not related to our class today so you will have to read it in your own time. Links to the discovery can be found on the Tohsaka Industry's official homepage."
I clicked on the pointer on my hand. The hologram started to change slightly as a mist-like substance appeared and began to enter the holographic human body.
"The substance that is represented as a mist is what Dust used to exist before the apocalyptic event that turned Remnant into the planet it is today. In this form, our ancient ancestors called it; Mana. The primordial form of Dust was one of the key factors that made our ancestors capable of feats that modern humans and fanus are incapable of today replicating."
A student raised their hand and I nodded in approval. "Professor Tohsaka, didn't you suggest that the reason why we are incapable of 'magic' was because we lost our ancestor's 'Magic Circuits'? So why are you bringing up what Mana might have existed in the past, right now?"
I smiled before replying, "What limits Huntsmans from slaughtering Grimm until they no longer exist on Remnant?"
"Our Aura," blurted out Ruby.
"Please continue, Miss Rose."
"Aura is the energy that we use to fuel our superhuman abilities. When we run out of Aura, we are no different from any other human or fanus that are incapable of using Aura."
"That is correct," I nodded happily. "I brought up the gas-like form of Mana, which doesn't exist today, because it is one of the fundamental reasons why Grimm started to overwhelm humanity and Fanuskind." There was a pause before I spoke up again. "During the era where the Brother Gods still interacted with humanity and humans were capable of magic, Grimm were seen nusicances similar to how we treat pests as inconveniences, and minor threats that at worst could pose a danger for a small village."
The class erupted in shock and disbelief. Many students were quick to voice their opinions, but I just stood there hearing them all while nodding. If I had been in their shoes, I would have likely thought the same. I had irrevocable proof to back my claims. Yet there was one problem, I doubt Remnant was ready to accept that I was capable of peering into the past with divination magecraft. In a world that would deny the existence of magic, it was highly unlikely they would accept my proof until after a very long time of being informed of what magic was capable of before even accepting that there was magic that allowed one to look into the past.
Note to Self: find someone with a time-related Semblance ASAP. Then my claims can be verified. I reminded myself. Several minutes passed and I waited for the chaos to settle down after Shirou as my assistant quietened down my students. "I will answer those questions near the end of class after finishing my lecture." I politely ignored the raised hands and continued on, "Today, the only way of replenishing Aura, Od as it was called by our ancient ancestors, is to eat and sleep. This wasn't the case for our ancient ancestors. They used Mana to quicken their recovery of Aura or as a secondary source of power."
"Just for clarification," said Blake as she raised her hand. "You are suggesting that modern huntsmen are akin to a machine that is limited to a battery for power while our ancient ancestors were machines linked to the power grid. Hence, they were much more capable of feats that are engraved into myth and legend that modern huntsmen can only dream of doing."
"That is a good simplification, but only in regards to energy." I added. "Imagine if Remnant suddenly lost the vast knowledge and modern technology we take for granted. That we were sent back centuries in science and technology. We only had access to the bronze weapons. This is what it was for humanity and fanuskind when we lost our Magic Circuits and the vast arcane knowledge."
The class collective shuddered. Some of the more insightful and creative minds allowed their imaginations to wander as they could only imagine the scenario that I had created.
"Hence," I continued, "our ancestors were constantly pushed on the back as the Grimm became more powerful as their numbers continued to grow where our ancient ancestors would have culled with the magical might to keep the Grimm in check. It was a miracle that we didn't go extinct. All thanks to the tireless, and often unrecognized sacrifices of our predecessors that would become known as Huntsman."
"Assuming," said Wiess in an incredulous tone, "that everything you have told us is true then the Brother Gods wiped out the magic civilization, deprived our ancestors of Magic Circuits and altered Mana to the Dust we are familiar with today."
"That is correct," I nodded, "or at least what my company has discovered so far. More evidence from a later date may prove our current discoveries wrong." I paused to let my words skin in before resuming. "Continuing on with the lecture. Our inability to use Dust to replenish our Aura may be over..."
The holographic image of the human body disappeared and an image of liquid in a vial appeared. Some of my students gasped or eyes brightened as if noticing what I was going to. I wasn't surprised if they did. My assumptions quickly proved to be correct when the fantasy-genre and videogames were brought up in the hushed whispering between my students.
"For those of you who have guess," I smiled while clapping. "Yes," I nodded my head enthusiastically. "The days were Huntsman were killed or unable to save someone because they didn't have any Aura left is over! With the rediscovery of Mana Potion."
- O -
Weiss Schnee turned to her teammates as they entered their dorm room and asked, "Do any of you believe what Professor Tohsaka taught in class?"
"As expected, a Schnee would deny what Professor Tohsaka says," remarked Blake in disapproval.
"I am not questioning Professor Tohsaka because she happens to own the greatest competitor to my family business." Weiss snapped back as she glared at Blake. "My opinion to question Professor Tohsaka's lectures comes from the fact that her claims seem ridiculous and there was no evidence to substantiate her points besides quoting - I must stress - likely fake evidence that Tohsaka Industries could have fabricated."
"It is so like a Schnee-"
"Guys!" Yang raised her voice as she physically stepped in between the bickering Weiss and Blake. "Why don't we calm down and not question what Professor Tohsaka taught in class? I don't think Beacon Academy would hire a fraud. That would ruin their reputation. So, it is likely Professor Tohsaka's lecture is true."
"Just because Professor Tohsaka was hired by Beacon doesn't automatically make her words the truth," protested Weiss.
"What if Professor Tohsaka's lecture is true?" spoke up Ruby for the first time since returning from Rin's class.
Weiss was about to denounce what she had learned in Rin's class when her tongue stopped as she noticed that everyone else in her team seemed to accept Professor Tohsaka's claims. She simply gave up as it wouldn't be the first time that no one would accept her claims as she was a Schnee, especially when Rin Tohsaka or Tohsaka Industry was involved. The Schnee heiress instead thought of another topic to discuss.
"Professor Tohsaka is shameless! How dare she take advantage of the prestigious position as a teacher at Beacon Academy to constantly advertise her company?!" growled Wiess. "I bet she was able to pull this off thanks to generous 'donations' to Beacon Academy."
"You're just offended that Tohsaka Industries created an entirely new field of products that they would likely have a monopoly on before SDC can make a splash." replied Blake indifferently, but none of the other girls in the room missed the slightest twitch of her lips that strained to curl upwards.
Weiss glared murderously at Blake, "I had thought maybe you just had positive impressions about TI, but it seems that I was wrong. You're a hardcore TI supporter!" Ruby and Yang were about to step in to mediate the situation when something unbelievable happened next that made them freeze up. "It is because you're a Pro-Fanus rights supporter ain't you? Those animals don't deserve to be treated as equals!"
"What did you say-!?" Blake screamed in disbelief. Her expression darkened and she looked like she was seriously considering whether or not to kill Weiss. "Did you dare to repeat that again!"
"Fanus are ani-"
"Weiss, do you understand what you just said?!" Yang interrupted in alarm.
"Of course, I do. Fanus are..." Weiss suddenly stopped talking when she heard a sharp gasp. She turned to where the gasp had come from and saw it had come from Ruby. Ruby's horrified expression struck Weiss home as she finally realized what she had said out aloud.
"Weiss, how could you say something like that?" Ruby whispered out, her voice might as well have been shouted given how quiet the room had become.
The Schnee heiress turned to Yang, and Ruby's older sister had a very similar expression. No, it looked more disgusted than horrified. It was like Yang had half-expected such sentiments from Wiess. Almost as if Yang believed the more shadier and disturbing aspects that the SDC's PR department had done an excellent downplaying and prevented from being presented by mainstream media under the threat of legal action.
"It was a slip of the tongue," said Weiss weakly, and even in her mind it seemed so unconvinced that only a fool would believe her. "I mean, that is what I think of the White Fang." She quickly asserted. "Fanus are just as humans as well... anyone else in this room. They just have features that are... Associated with other creatures."
"You're not convincing anyone, Schnee, that you're a racist. A very hardcore human supremacist if what you said earlier was anything to go by." added Blake as she flicked her hair. "I hope Tohsaka Industries' new invention leads to SDC going bankrupt."
Blake didn't bother to stick around to hear Wiess's response. The black haired huntress trainee quickly left the room as she refused to stay in the same room as the agitated Weiss. She would very much prefer to not hear about anti-Fanus sentiment, even if it was for several minutes. As Blake walked into the dorm hallway, she had the urge to bring out her Scroll and search more about Mana Potions.
- O -
"Finally, it is over..." I sighed in relief as I walked into the room in an exhausted state and threw myself at the couch.
"Good work, Rin," said my husband as he closed the door behind him and walked over to me.
"I hardly did any-" I muttered before I yelped as Shirou placed his hands on my shoulders and pressed down.. "Aha..." I moaned as the initial pain quickly subsided and pleasant feelings washed my body with tensed and sore muscles being kneaded. "Wait! Go back a bit... Aha! There, right there! Aha, that hits the spot..."
The couch might as well have swallowed me as Shirou massaged my back. I let out moans that if someone was eavesdropping they might misunderstand the situation. It lasted nearly a good hour before I was left in bliss on the couch as I enjoyed the lingering feeling of my husband's massage.
"I hate to burst your happy moment," said Shirou as he handed me my phone, or Scroll as Remnant called it. "The Company sent over more data from the various ruins that are being excavated."
A groan escaped my lips as I let out a sign before taking the Scroll from Shirou's hands. It seems like my little break was over and I once again had more work to do on the never-ending list of things that needed to be done.
Thankfully... I shuddered imagining how much more work I would have if I was CEO of Tohsaka Industries. If I didn't have a wonderful CEO taking the helms, requiring only a few directives given once in a while, then I would have been overworked to death by the many other duties I already had.
"I should give Lina a raise." I said off-handley as I navigated through my Scroll to the data that my company had sent me.
"You better increase Lina's bonus package instead of wage. Tohsaka Industries is a very popular company because it treats employees more equally than most companies. It would hurt your company's reputation if you started to pay the CEO more than the other employees." Shirou replied as he sat beside me. "On the topic, I think you should increase the performance bonuses of all your employees so that they would be further incentivised to work harder, and boost the overall productivity of the company."
"I have no problem increasing performance bonuses. Remnant's money will be worthless when we get back to Earth." I smiled as I leaned over so my head rested on Shirou's shoulder. "It's just that I am starting to lose hope..." I sighed in frustration. "Five years. That's how long it has been since we ended up in Remnant. We have made little progress in returning to Earth, and Zelretch should have been able to find us by now..."
"Rin," said Shirou as he rubbed his hand on my head. "Don't give up. You are the smartest person and most gifted mage I know. If anyone can do it, then it is you."
"I appreciate the encouragement." I smiled. "But I think we should start seriously considering settling down on Remnant."
"So are you ready to have children?" asked Shirou while wiggling his brows.
My face started to turn red. "You wish!" I shouted in embarrassment and I gently pushed Shirou away from me as I grabbed a nearby pillow and buried my face into it.
Children... Despite being in love and married to Shirou for nearly a decade, I was still mentally not prepared to have children. I was still a very young woman of twenty-six years. A woman in the prime of my youth, and my prime years were much more longer than a normal human thanks to my background as a mage. It was not unheard of for mages to live for centuries thanks to their magecraft and life-extension methods not available for non-magical humans.
Hell! I even knew some people during my time for Chaldea that were effectively immortal and lived from the time magical creatures and gods walked the Earth.
I sighed. My mind might not be yet ready for the responsibilities of being a mother, but it was my duty as Tohsaka clan leader to produce an heir that would inherit the knowledge and traditions that had been passed from my ancestors to me and my job to the next generation of Tohsakas.
Still... Any progress of returning to Earth was still very far-fetched.
"Maybe..." I grumbled quietly into my pillow.
"It's fun to tease you like this," said Shirou and it was no surprise that my husband heard me despite grumbling into the pillow given his superhuman senses. "But don't feel pressured. I am ready whenever you want to have children."
I blushed once more, and shyly lowered my pillow to look at Shirou. "Can we please talk about something else?" I begged.
"Ah, okay!" He chuckled while gently hugging me. "Why don't you take a look at the data?"
I nodded and grabbed the Scroll that had been thrown away due to my embarrassment of suddenly talking about having children. My eyes focused on the Scroll before the world around me transformed.
My surroundings changed, and I soon found myself in what looked like a library, but I was not fooled. It was not my first time, and I didn't make the mistake of believing I was still in the real world. The environment around me was constructed by my subconscious with the data that my company had sent me into a form that was most familiar to me.
"Sometimes all the hardship I went through as a Pseudo-Servant in Chaldea seems worth it," I grumbled as I used the Spirit Hacking magecraft I had learned from the various Singularities and Lostbelts that were often involved with Moon Cell or where Spirit Hackers were prevalent form of mages.
I started to go through the neatly arranged shelves filled with books at an incredible fast pace. My mind devoured information from the various excavations that my company directly undertook or sponsored regarding Remnant's magical past. It didn't surprise me too much how so many clues were never discovered or misinterpreted. Only a mage could truly understand another mage.
It was not long before I went through all the books in the library before the world around me changed.
"So, what did you discover?" asked Shirou.
My eyes turned to Shirou. I let out a frustrated sigh. Sometimes, I wished that Shirou had never been affected by the corruptive flames that had burned part of Fuyuki City after the 4th Holy Grail War or how Avalon had altered his Origin. My husband had lost the potential of becoming a great mage, if some of his parallel counterparts I had encountered in many Singularities and Lostbelts were anything to go by. He might have great potential as a mage, while nowhere near my own, but that had been sacrificed to make him a specialist mage that excelled in fighting and the creation of magical items.
If Shirou could have helped me with the ability to use normal magecraft then he would have greatly lightened my burden of going through data and assisted in the magical experiments to find a way back to Earth.
"It seems like Remnant only had two major gods, and the Divine Spirits had either faded away long ago or never powerful enough to rival the Brother Gods of Light and Darkness," I replied, summarizing a large proportion of the research data that had been sent to me by my company. "Also it seems like Remnant had never encountered Zelretch or any other user of 2nd Magic, Kaleidoscope." Shirou sported a troubled look and I added, "At least that what I found from current data. The archaeologist could have missed something or we hadn't excavated enough ruins to know. We will have to wait and see for more data before making a definitive conclusion."
"Hmph..." Shirou mumbled in deep thought. "I don't know if I should be pleased that Remnant only had two major gods."
I nodded in agreement. The fact that Remnant had only two major Gods, which was extremely few compared to the countless minor and major gods that were known throughout Earth's history, both had their pros and cons for me and Shirou trying to find our way back home.
There were many Pros, but the most important one was that there were fewer beings we needed to worry about that might be attracted by my attempts to create an interdimensional path to Earth. After all, gods or Divine Spirits were incredibly powerful beings that Shirou and I were unable to defeat on our own without the assistance of powerful allies just like when we had been part of Chaldea. The less gods they were the better it was for us.
Yet, assuming the data that my company had discovered was correct and there were no more gods, I was confronted with another problem. Less gods might mean the probability of my interdimensional experiments might be discovered but that didn't address the problem if my work attracted the attention of a god. Gods were not something that Shirou and I could contest so the best option would be to avoid being noticed in the first place. And if that didn't work out then using another powerful entity of similar strength such as another god was our only real viable solution. Just like how many nations caught between the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War had often pitted the two superpowers against each other to try and weather the storm. Ideally, the more gods involved the greater my chances of success if my interdimensional experiments were discovered.
Whatever the case, I needed to make contingency plans for the...
"Rin," said Shirou in a comforting tone as he pecked at my cheeks. "Don't worry about something that is unlikely to happen." He wrapped his hands around my head and gently pushed me into his lap. "Just focus on the present and not some future that may never happen." His hands started to pat my head. "Besides, we had discovered no traces of the Brother Gods remaining or influencing Remnant after they destroyed the magical human civilisation. So, I think it safe to say that the Brother Gods are gone."
"You may be right," I sighed as I bathed in the pleasure of being doted on by Shirou. "I should not be worried about a possible future that is unlikely to happen."
"That's my girl." Shirou smiled. "So what are your plans regarding Mana Potions? Your original schedule was to introduce them to Remnant several months later. Why fast forward your plans without telling me...?"
Some did I over do Weiss as being a racist? Please tell me what you think on the subjects.
Otherwise please what do you guys think about what you read? Is it good, bad or meh? Any recommendations to improve? Please let me know.
Thank you for reading!