With their new "research project" officially underway, Jonah's room became a permanent headquarters for two.
Vanessa brought over a stack of datapads and a comfy-looking cushion, setting up a small space for herself near his chalkboard.
"Right," Jonah said, taking a deep breath and rubbing his hands together. "Time to see what this thing is really made of."
He sat on the floor and closed his eyes, sinking into his Workshop. The Raging Boar essence appeared before him, a furious, pulsating orb of crimson that made the empty space feel hot and claustrophobic.
The last time he'd touched an essence this powerful was in the archive, and that had been for a split second.
This time, he needed to dive in.
He extended his mind, getting ready to connect.
The moment he made contact, his world exploded in red.
It wasn't just a feeling; it was a massive wave of mental energy. A lifetime of pure anger crashed into him. He felt the pain of countless wounds, the frustration of a mind too simple to know anything but hunger and hurt, and a powerful urge to smash, break, and destroy. It was a mental echo of the beast's life, and it was overwhelming.
DESTROY!
TEAR!
ROAR!
The thoughts weren't his, but they flooded his mind, drowning out his own consciousness. His vision flashed with images of bloody tusks and shattered trees.
Jonah pulled his mind away, breaking the connection with a gasp. He was back in his room, his heart beating hard against his chest. He was covered in sweat, and his whole body was shaking.
"Jonah!" Vanessa was kneeling beside him, her face pale with worry. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"It's… loud," he panted, trying to catch his breath. "So loud. I can't think. It's just… rage."
He realized then that higher-grade essences weren't just blueprints you could copy. They were more like haunted houses. To get the treasure inside, you had to deal with the ghosts. And this ghost was a very angry and powerful one.
He explained the psychic backlash to Vanessa, the overwhelming flood of raw emotion that came with the essence.
Her brow furrowed in concentration as she listened carefully. Her fear was gone, replaced by the look of a scientist focused on a difficult puzzle. 'So the Mana Sieve worked for a tiny bit,' she considered, "but it's not strong enough for a full-immersion analysis. The raw emotional frequencies are bleeding through."
She walked over to the humming crystal, her eyes scanning the complex rune patterns she had woven into it. "My first design was a simple filter. Like a net. It was designed to catch the big chunks of 'rage' mana." She tapped the crystal thoughtfully. "But what we're dealing with isn't a chunk. It's a frequency. A resonance. We don't need a net; we need noise-canceling headphones."
Jonah watched, fascinated, as her mind worked.
"Can you… make psychic noise-canceling headphones?"
"Theoretically," she said, her eyes lighting up with the thrill of the challenge. "I'd need to add more complex rune-sequences to the Sieve. Sub-harmonics designed to target and neutralize specific emotional frequencies. It would be a significant upgrade. It would also be significantly more difficult to create."
"Can you do it?" Jonah asked, his voice filled with a hope that was quickly becoming reliant on her genius.
Vanessa looked from the furious essence to the trembling boy on the floor, and a determined expression appeared on her face. "I'm the top-ranked Mage in our year, Jonah. Of course, I can do it." She gave him a reassuring smile.
"Just give me some space. And maybe some more of those weirdly addictive spicy noodles you like."
For the next few hours, Jonah watched in awe as Vanessa worked. She worked fast and with great focus, her hands a blur. She wove new, complex light patterns around the Mana Sieve. She put layers of glowing blue runes, then added thin, silver mana threads over them. She mumbled to herself about matching energy and blocking mind attacks. It was like watching a master watchmaker build a priceless timepiece from scratch.
Finally, she stepped back, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. The Mana Sieve's central crystal began to pulse gently. Its peaceful glow seemed to fight back more strongly against the boar's raging energy.
"The Mana Sieve 2.0 is complete," she announced, her voice tired but triumphant. "It's now designed to filter not just raw mana, but specific emotional spectra. Let's hope my calculations were correct."
Jonah took his position on the floor again, his heart thumping with nervous anticipation. "Ready when you are."
He closed his eyes and returned to the Workshop. The red orb of rage was still there, a churning vortex of psychic noise. He took a deep breath and for the second time, reached out.
This time, when he connected, the storm was gone.
He still felt the rage, but it was not a loud roar. It was like a distant rumble, a storm far off. The upgraded Mana Sieve worked perfectly. It blocked the messy emotions, leaving only clear information.
He could finally think.
With the mental noise gone, he could safely study the creature's core power. He explored its inner makeup, following how its power flowed. He saw how the 'Earth' ability appeared as thick, tightly woven mana in its skin, giving it amazing toughness. He also saw how the 'Strength' ability greatly boosted its muscles, giving it destructive force.
And, most importantly, he saw the 'Fury' trait. It was a brilliant, complex system. When the creature's body took damage, it didn't simply send pain signals. Instead, it released a flood of pure power into itself, which made its next attack even more forceful. Pain was literally its fuel.
The experience made Jonah understand an important truth very clearly. His power wasn't just about scavenging parts and sticking them together. Being a great Weaver meant he also had to be a great scholar. He had to understand the 'why' behind the power, not just the 'what'. Raw power and raw materials weren't enough.
He opened his eyes, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.
"I see it," he said to Vanessa, his voice filled with wonder. "I see how it works."
Vanessa smiled back, no longer feeling tired. She wasn't just his helper; she was a crucial partner in his advancements. Together, their minds had created a solution that neither could have found alone.
The blueprint was clear. The hammer was designed. Now, all that was left was to build it.