It took a while for Maria to recover. "You can't be serious!" she exploded.

"Why not?" I said.

"T-trying to model the spells using math, it's impossible!" she declared. "Spells are not just structures. They are more art than science. Then, there's the unpredictability of mana."

I smirked. "Hey, it worked for Meditation."

"That's different," she said. "Meditation requires geometrical structures, which we already have the math for. Adapting them is one thing. But, trying to invent a completely new branch…"

I smirked. "You know it only makes it more exciting, right?"

That earned a glare. "I thought we were supposed to stick to the practical applications. Trying to invent a new branch hardly seems to be possible in a few days."

A chuckle escaped from my lips, mostly because I already had an alternative idea in mind. As much as inventing a completely new branch was tempting, I needed something more practical. "True. But, I already have a few ideas. Some of the more esoteric topics, like topology; just like how I used fluid dynamics to partially model the movement of mana. And, even before that, I have some practical ideas. I actually owe that to you."

"Really, like what?" she said.

"Your analogy about the suddenly building card models. It reminds me of some of the arguments surrounding evolution. Particularly, existence and evolution of proteins."

"In what way?" she questioned. "I doubt my high school classes gave me the necessary background."

"Do you know the basics? Like, how proteins are long chains of amino acids, lined up based on DNA."

"Somewhat," she said. "But, how that does help?"

"The tricky part of understanding the proteins lies in their creation. DNA is essentially a long sheet of codes, and by its nature, it can only shape the amino acids in a line. Yet, the proteins are fully three-dimensional structures."

She examined the structure I had been sketching. "How does it help us?"

"There's no easy method of predicting how the protein will fold, because it's not based on some kind of direct command. It emerges from local interactions based on the molecules. So, a little shift could change the whole structure completely."

"I see," she muttered, her eyes widening. She might lack a systematic education in science, but she was sharp enough to catch the implications. "Since you have brought that up, there should be a way to calculate it."

Her expectant expression caused my smile to slightly fade. I realized she expected a direct solution. "That's the tricky part. There's no actual model that could actually predict it."

"And, I'm assuming it wasn't just you getting excited for nothing," she added, frustrated yet amused.

"No," I said. "While the protein folding problem doesn't give us a nifty solution, it still gives us two things. A starting point, and more importantly, a methodology."

"How's a methodology more important?"

"Protein folding is one of the more active fields in terms of computational biology and chemistry, especially among the noncommercial ones."

"Is being non-commercial important?"

"Yes, it means everyone reveals their research to get recognition rather than hiding it," I explained. "And, I have browsed through several of those competitions, hoping to get inspired for my sociological problems. And, thanks to my enhanced memory, I could remember them perfectly."

I grabbed a pen and began sketching madly, filling several papers. Not runes or arcane symbols, though some of the symbols I used were certainly reminiscent of it. I went through piles, defining nodes, connections, and tension points.

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Maria, familiar with my methods, said nothing until I stopped. "Is hoping that you solved the problem too much to hope?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Solution," I countered. "This is the basics of a language so that we could discuss the terms properly. Those seven, for example, represent different ways a conceptual power might manifest, from intensity to type, to nature."

"Isn't it a bit excessive," she countered. 'There are like, hundreds of different symbols."

"Honestly, it'll probably not be enough, but it's a start," I countered. "Trust me, once you start dealing with emergent complexity, it'll help."

"And, you think it'll help?"

"It's a start," I said. 'I don't expect to come up with some kind of universal spell solver, and even if we did, it won't be useful?"

"Really, why?" she asked.

"Computational power. Intelligence has its advantages, but from a sheer calculation perspective, it's no supercomputer. I might be wrong, of course, but I wouldn't bet on it on this topic. Especially since I suspect spells are more complicated than proteins."

"Then, what would we do?" she asked.

"We'll approach like how early solutions approached protein folding. We'll gather a diverse set of data, and record it as expansively as possible. That way, we can use it to slowly build an archive, then use that to identify some of the variables."

"We don't exactly have a lot of reference values for hybrid casting," she said.

"True, but that doesn't mean we have none," I replied.

Her eyes widened. "Your decay bolt," she gasped. "It's why you came up with all those symbols."

"Excellent catch," I said. "Thanks to Wisdom, I could easily remember thousands of attempts, and once I write them down, it'll give us a basis for discussion."

She poked my side. Well, she tried. The armor clanked. "What are you waiting for, then. Write!"

"Yes, milady," I said, giving a mocking bow, then started filling a completely new set of papers, filled with various numbers.

She stood behind me, splitting her attention between my writings on the new methodology and my growing pile of notes. At first, she was curious, but it soon turned into disgust. "How could you think such a spell could do anything but explode on your face?" she cut in. "The whole structure is a mess."

"I thought you didn't have a way to test it," I teased.

"Well, I don't need a test to see it would explode," she said. "It's just … what do you like to say about your precious theories … not elegant."

That earned a big laugh me. "True. Such insights can be difficult to explain," I said. But, I didn't stop. I had long known that my own experiments had been clumsy at best, but a starting point was needed. Need character sheets and glossaries? Visit MV^LEM^PYR.

After several more papers were filled, and I reached for one more, she put her hand on it. "Wait," she said. "Do you mind casting this? I know it's a very weak variant, but —"

"Come on, Maria, you know me," I said, then jumped to my feet. "Do you think I'll write off a practical experimentation as pointless just because of mediocre results?"

"True," she chuckled. She watched carefully while I cast the spell three times. "The third rune you draw, can you shift it closer to the fifth one," she said.

"As you wish," I said. When I created the new variant, despite very minor changes, the spell was far tighter, and much more stable. "Wow, is one of those runes about stability?"

"Yes … and no," she responded. "Runes don't have a direct definition like that. They are more contextual than you realize. But, in the case of the elemental bolt, it can be said to be the case."

"I hate that we don't have time to properly discuss such things. If I could get my way, we would spend months dissecting those runes rather than rushing every second…"

She sighed. "That's not the world we live in."

"True," I said and returned my writing.

That was not the only comment she made as I wrote. Sometimes, she asked some questions that forced me to change some parts of my nascent notation system. Other times, we pulled one of the spell examples, and she made me cast it several times, asking me to make minute changes that sounded pointless, yet somehow improved the spell cohesion significantly. Occasionally, it triggered several of my questions.

Unsurprisingly, when there was a knock on the door, distracting us from our discussion, we had long past the two-hour limit I had set to organize. "We have lost track of time, didn't we," Maria said.

"We might have passed it somewhat," I said, though I wasn't too worried. Next to a dungeon gate, I could feel what was going on in the dungeon accurately, and the corruption buildup was in a sustainable state. As for the rest, Harold knew when to alert me. "It happens."

Maria waved her hand, opening the door remotely. Just because she was an elemental mage didn't mean she couldn't use ordinary spells of convenience. To my surprise, it was Jessica that was waiting us. "Sir," she greeted, though her tone more frustrated than respectful. "Lady Rosie has successfully completed her mission to escort the refugees, and she invites you to greet them."

I sighed. "Is this an invitation, or was she insistent on my presence?" I asked, exasperated.

"It was a strong invitation, sir," she said, smiling.

Maria chose to intervene at that moment. "Let me take a wild guess. You're paraphrasing the words of that uncouth rogue quite a bit, right?"

"Uncouth rogue! Who are you to —" Jessica started, her anger quick to flare. I wasn't surprised, as she was developing a strong sense of hero worship toward Rosie.

"You two didn't meet, right? Maria, this is Jessica, my student who has the most trouble keeping her foot away from her mouth," I introduced, then turned to Jessica, who was unhappy with the introduction. "And, Jessica. This is Lady Maria. The ascended mage we have been waiting for."

Maria managed to maintain her stern expression even as Jessica's legs started to tremble, her smile subtle enough for Jessica to miss.

It was mean to let it continue, I had to admit, but amusing.