Guy felt a sense of accomplishment, in observing the industriousness with which the four teens hustled around and set up their new experiment. The rigour, enthusiasm, and seriousness tugged at his nostalgia. In his past life, he'd observed a similar bustling scene whenever it came time for his students to try out something new and take on a self-led project.
There is an inherent difference between undertaking a predefined experiment versus a self-led project, and it is a matter of ownership. The students OWN a self-led project, as it is something they need to conceptualise and conceive on their own. However, a predefined experiment is something that has been curated and perfected through iteration by a third party. Because of that, the learning modality is different. With a predefined experiment, learning happens through success, but with self-led projects, it happens through failure.
The purpose of a predefined experiment is for the students to go through the steps and procedures described, understand how the variables interact with each other, and how changing certain variables affects other variables. More often than not, the end is already known when the experiment is initiated, as it is just a means to foment theory. With a self-led project, the goal is to tread new ground that is personally unknown to them (they may not be working with cutting-edge science, just science that is just beyond their reach). And in treading this new ground, they are forced to confront the mistakes and errors that fly under their radars.
Guy actually revelled in the symphony of facepalms, muffled curses and animalistic grunts and groans from the students upon realising that there was a mistake somewhere that screwed up their experiment. This wasn't schadenfreude, though, just contentment in seeing that his students were learning something.
He also enjoyed the aura and appearance the youngsters would adorn as they performed the procedures. It just looked... cute - like a baby using a writing utensil.
Guy shook those diminutive thoughts from his head because that wasn't being fair towards Revian, Kevan, Lacey and Casey - the quartet were actual scientists. To the best of his knowledge, no one had ever questioned or even considered the standardised quantification of mana and its usage.
One might ask, why was something so fundamental as counting the resource that literally fuels the extraordinary things happening around overlooked for so long?
The answer to that question is simpler than you think: it wasn't really necessary. Understanding the consumption of mana is an inherent ability to all mages - a mage knows exactly how much mana a particular spell will use after they cast it once. In other words, it is an instinctual understanding. However, this instinct does not define absolute amounts, but rather relative amounts. Furthermore, this instinct grows more precise and accurate, with both experience and with advancement in cultivation realms. So, after a particular point, having a quantifiable understanding of mana consumption is irrelevant or redundant for a mage. Finally, mages in the higher realms of cultivation don't have to count units of mana when casting spells. One could liken their usage of mana and magic to the usage of money by the wealthy and the elite. But it matters a lot to those in the lower realms (both in cultivation and in society), who need to be mindful of the available resources before spending it.
So, while this experiment would definitely benefit those in the lower realms, it has far-reaching consequences as well. Having a standardised method to quantify mana creates a unified language that mages can communicate. With a way to actually measure mana, mages no longer have to rely on arcane and non-translatable definitions and can actually compare notes when casting or developing a new spell. Open and clear communication will then open the doors to growth and development which in turn will push the magic community forward... or at least that is the hope.
In conclusion, Guy was extremely invested in the results of this experiment. So much so that he took the initiative to conduct a test on the side to evaluate the limits of this new ability (or feature of mana sense).
First off, the ability to see the mana quantities is limited to the mage's mana domain - only things within it are observable.
Secondly, the ability to see the amount of mana in an object or person is only possible if the region being inspected is uncontested. Basically, if another person is fighting for control over a mana domain, then depending on the severity of the contention, you will either see a vague value or no value at all. Guy also found out that it was possible to present a completely erroneous value by confusing the mana sense if the gap in cultivation between the sensor and the target is vast enough (much like himself and Revian).
With those minutiae out of the way, the group was ready to delve further into their experiment and run the next set of trials with a different subject. This was of course after finishing the previously incomplete trials with Revian.
With Kevan stepping up to the plate, Guy was patiently observing the experiment to evaluate the repeatability of the process. Was it possible to unlock the power to quantitatively see mana with the same method? If so, was the observed quantity the same for Revian and Kevan? If it so happens that the numbers differ when observing the same object, then it means that there is relativity involved.
Of course, there was also a chance that the number Revian was observing was a relative value that established its baseline according to the activation condition (the spell being cast, the mana crystals being used, and so on). Maybe, if they used a different variation of a fire starter spell, the value observed through the mana sense would be different. Then again, that was a whole other experiment for the kids to undertake at a later time.
Kevan's attempts were far more focused, as he had Revian's notes to help guide his observations. Guy could see that the boy's attention was honed in on the minute movements and behaviour of mana through his channels. Because of that, the boy managed to unlock the feature in his mana sense midway through the second set itself (which was on a subsequent day as prescribed on their surprisingly thorough and stringent safety procedures).
Guy then pulled the two boys aside and compared their observation of the amount of mana inside a myriad of mana crystals, mana gems, and mana cores. After rigorous testing, they determined that the two teens did in fact observe the same amount of mana inside them. Though still too early to conclude, Guy rest assured that even if there was relativity involved, it wasn't dependent on the person.
Meanwhile, Casey and Lacey continued with their trials and managed to unlock the mana sense feature within the first set itself thanks to Revian and Kevan's combined insights. With their input, Guy confirmed the conclusion. Of course, some additional conditions and variables warranted testing (such as age, cultivation realm of subject, and so on), and the teens were also on pins and needles to continue testing out those variations, but Guy was quick to raise his hand and curb their enthusiasm.
"We first need to conclude the information gained from this study before moving forward," Guy declared. "Have you achieved the purpose of your experimentation?"
"We did... right?" Kevan answered, growing doubtful upon not receiving an affirmatory nod.
"You don't know if you did. You saw a trend, a relationship maybe, but are you certain that the observed trend is what you think it is? You cannot conclude your experiment after data collection, there is still the matter of cleaning, processing and analysing the data. You need to extract meaningful conclusions, confirm or disprove theories, or even create new ones. Just because you can arrange cut wood into a chair, doesn't mean that it is ready to sit on. You need to hammer the nails in, confirm that the sizes are cut properly, and then treat the wood afterwards."
The enthusiasm that was bubbling within the teens quelled markedly upon hearing Guy's words. But it didn't discourage them, after all, there was still work left to be done.
"Oh, I just remembered!" Guy exclaimed just as he turned to leave. "Although you guys succeeded in quantifying mana, you need to define a unit that can be used in scientific discussions. Take some to think it through too."
And with that said, Guy took his leave and the teens got down to business.
A week later, a momentous event transpired in the True World Sect's Library. Unlike usual, the place was crowded with all the members of the Sect, and loud chatter rang amidst the usually silent halls.
The doors of the library swung open, causing silence to permeate through the crowd. The crowd then split in two, allowing for Guy, who was at the entrance, to walk through. Behind him, followed Revian, Kevan, Casey and Lacey.
Guy walked in front of the crowd and ascended the impromptu wooden stage placed up front, with the teens following him.
"Today marks a special day, for the True World Sect," Guy declared. "Four of your peers, standing behind me right now, Revian, Kevan, Casey and Lacey, have managed to achieve something amazing. Their unwavering dedication, intellectual prowess, and tireless efforts have culminated in a breakthrough that holds the promise of reshaping the study of magic for the better. Their efforts have illuminated new pathways for study that will, doubtlessly, motivate those of you present to undertake research work of your own. What they have done, essentially, is set the foundation of what I expect to be a revolution in magic!"
As he said this, Guy revealed a cloth-covered object in his hand and unveiled it with a flourish. "This is the manuscript - the culmination of many weeks of research."
At the top, in bold-faced and large letters, it read: "Introducing the Mana Unit (Symbol M): A Novel Way to Measure Mana."
(Here, the M is the capitalised Greek Letter Mu).
"You colleagues have uncovered a new truth of this world," Guy spoke, but his voice grew louder and imperious. "The Mana Unit: The amount of mana required when displacing one cubic centimetre of distilled water to raise the temperature of one-hundredth cubic centimetre of alchemically pure Enthermis Fluid by one Kelvin using the |Firestarter| spell."
The crowd held their breath as Guy raised the manuscript above his head, for all to bear evidence of its inception. Then, with a flourish of his coat, he descended from the stage and walked up to a shelf.
"And now, this newly learned truth of the world has found its new home amongst all other known truths, in the library of the True World Sect, forever to be immortalised in the annals of history!"
And with a dramatic push, the manuscript was slotted in.
Deep inside Guy's core - within the Church of the True World - loud gongs, shrieks, bellows and bells harmonised as one, bathing the manifestation in an auspicious aura.
Amidst one of the rows of books in the Church of the True World, a golden light started to flood out, before condensing and taking a new shape - the shape of a book.
As the light dimmed, and the shape turned fully solid, a new entry found its place in the ever-growing library in Guy's soul.
"Introducing the Mana Unit (Symbol M): A Novel Way to Measure Mana."
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