The air within the ruined library was thick with residual, highly complex Mana decay. Iseult moved without sound across the shattered marble floor, their posture one of unhurried, precision. Their silhouette was one of neutrality, a form defined by its lack of any secondary characteristic that might imply gender. It was the perfected mold of a magical vessel, a Pure Mana Construct dedicated only to analysis and maximum formulaic stability.
A small, glowing sensor array of Structured Mana, no larger than a child's hand, floated just ahead, diligently logging the minute fluctuations in the atmosphere. The library's collapse had been attributed to a rogue demonic curse centuries ago. Iseult's immediate intent was to classify that curse as a reproducible mathematical script.
The subject of their research was not inert. From a column of warped, solidified shadow a creature manifested. It was a high-level demonic entity, its body a dense coagulation of primal, unrefined Mana, a prime candidate for Adaptive Mana-Scripted Segmentation.
"Inhibition factor 47.9 percent," Iseult murmured, their voice flat, neither high nor low, merely a medium of measured data delivery. The entity's Mana signature spiked, initiating a rudimentary but powerful destructive formula, the kind designed to instantaneously exhaust a biological mage.
The instant the enemy formula began its construction, Iseult's passive defense activated. The Adaptation Meta-Spell, a continuous utility script, registered the incoming phenomenon. It didn't need to be consciously cast. A significant fraction of their vast Mana Reserves was instantly diverted to Formula Dissection and Counter-Formula Synthesis. This process wasn't thought; it was computational output.
The defensive script was synthesized and integrated within seconds. The demon's attack formula dissipated upon contact with Iseult's newly modified defensive layer, resulting in only minor heat distortion.
"Successful neutralization on first application. Data logging confirms a composite of three separate binding theorems," Iseult noted. The moment for clean data collection had been compromised by the necessary defense. The fieldwork needed immediate conclusion.
Iseult didn't chant. They didn't gesture. The Height of Magic principle was a default operational parameter. They mentally conceived the required script: Cleave.
The formula, Adaptive Mana-Scripted Segmentation, initiated at the target's physical location. It executed its two required steps simultaneously: the Target Analysis Component measured the demon's Mana density and structural integrity. The Self-Scaling Component tailored the force and vector for optimal failure. A near-invisible slash of pure, structured Mana materialized and resolved.
The demonic entity didn't even register the attack. It simply segmented, perfectly and efficiently, into three distinct masses of rapidly decaying energy. There was no sound of a sword, no rush of wind, only the clean, silent completion of a formula.
Iseult deactivated the offensive Mana flux. The Meta-Spell returned to its perpetual observation state, its energy allocation stabilizing. "Data integrity compromised by combat variable. Application of high-level destructive formulae is inefficient for comprehensive research. Note for archive: Cleave output efficiency 99.8 percent."
Their primary goal was always the creation of the definitive, comprehensive textbook on the operational physics of magic, and a clean experiment was always preferable to a display of overwhelming force. Iseult turned and continued their search for the origin point of the original curse.
The brief but necessary magical exertion left a faint, complex residue in the air, a scentless marker of Structured Mana expenditure. Iseult inhaled slowly, not to draw breath, but as a reflex of their original conceptual design, which included the sensory components of a living being even if the function was purely observational now. They felt the subtle internal shift as their massive, deep Mana Reserves instantly replenished the power drawn by the defensive and offensive Meta-Spells. Unlike biological mages who risked their very lives with such power, for Iseult, it was merely an accounting transaction.
They stepped around the dissipating remnants of the demon. The creature's demise was a disappointment. It was a chaotic, disorganized life form, its despair and hatred merely noise obscuring elegance Iseult sought. The Pure Mana Construct existed to find order in the universe, and the erratic existence of demons was the ultimate challenge to that pursuit.
Iseult lowered a hand, their long fingers brushing over a shattered section of a tome. The wood had been blasted apart by a magical impact far more primitive than the demon's short-lived formula. The source, the rogue demonic curse, was closer.
Their internal computational script, the one that ran continuously below the surface of consciousness, began comparing the decay patterns from the wall to the known variables logged during the fight. Iseult didn't think about the solution; they processed the answer. It was a subtle, overwhelming focus, the difference between a student solving an equation and a machine instantly executing it.
A tremor ran through the stone floor, a slow, deep resonance that suggested a powerful, sustained magical application nearby. This was not the chaotic burst of a demon, but the calculated deployment of a Barrier Spell. A large-scale one.
Iseult paused. The tremor was a new, unexpected variable, a potential source of clean, organized data. They found themselves anticipating the challenge with a curiosity that was the nearest thing they felt to human emotion, the anticipation of the perfect problem.
The sensor array floating ahead shifted, its glow intensifying as it began to analyze the distant Mana output. Iseult followed the sensor, moving away from the rubble and toward the source of the profound magical field, their original quest for the curse momentarily yielding to the need to document and dissect this new, colossal phenomenon. An intricate Spatial Restructuring Formula of that magnitude was a research opportunity they couldn't ignore.