It's real. It's everywhere. And honestly? It's kind of a pain in the neck.
In my past life—the one that feels like a blurry dream of glowing screens and asphalt—I probably would have been a scientist. Here in Eldoria, I'm just "Lierelle," a noble girl with "prodigious talent."
But they don't know my secret.
I'm not just using mana. I'm using geometry. I'm using physics. While the other students are praying to ancient spirits, I'm over here calculating trajectory like I've got a cheat code.
But even with all the "modern knowledge" in the world, I wasn't prepared for her.
"You shouldn't be here, Lady Lierelle."
The voice was like silk dragged over moss.
I looked up. Standing in the center of the Forbidden Thicket was a girl who shouldn't exist. Amara.
She was a walking contradiction. Dark Elf obsidian skin paired with the vibrant, leafy hair of a Dryad. One side of her was the terrifying shadow of the underground; the other was the gentle pulse of the forest.
System Error, my brain whispered. Biological impossibility detected.
My heart, however, didn't care about biology. It was currently trying to beat its way out of my ribcage for a completely different reason.
"I know I shouldn't be here," I managed to say, adjusted my mana-conductive sleeves. "But the rules of Eldoria say you shouldn't exist either. So I figured we could be 'impossible' together."
She tilted her head. Her eyes—one violet, one emerald—widened.
Yeah. Science be damned. I was definitely in love.