According to Su Mo's explanation, while the Express Edition of the mana refinement technique was useless to Erica, for the others, it was nothing short of a divine skill.
This kind of accelerated cultivation experience pack was priced at a mere 999 points—it was practically a charity.
If they weren't so poor, they probably would have bought both of Su Mo's listed items already.
After the initial shock wore off, everyone, including Erica, turned their attention to the final item Su Mo had put up for sale.
Erica: "So, what about the last one, the 'Greater Source Mana Refinement - Transcendence Edition'? What does it do?"
Erica: "The name alone sounds incredibly powerful."
Erica: "Master Su Mo."
Rin Tohsaka: "Yeah, even though my magecraft proficiency isn't great, I know that any technique involving the Greater Source of mana must be extraordinary!"
Kanae: "I don't understand, but it sounds amazing."
Madoka: "+1."
After parroting the others, Madoka casually checked the item's price. Immediately, she let out a gasp.
Madoka: "Wait! Am I seeing this right?!"
Madoka: "This last thing the big brother comprehended... it costs ten thousand points to buy?!"
Rin Tohsaka: "What?! Ten thousand points?! I couldn't afford that even if I sold my dad!"
After verifying that Madoka hadn't miscounted the zeros, the young Rin couldn't help but let her jaw drop.
If 999 points was an amount they could save up through long-term daily check-ins, then ten thousand points was completely out of their reach at present.
It was an amount that even Erica, the strongest and wealthiest among them, probably couldn't afford.
Erica: "Ten thousand points... that's no longer the price for a Tier 1 item."
Erica: "Master Su Mo... no, Grandmaster Su Mo! What on earth did you comprehend to create something of this level?!"
After their previous experience, they had completely confirmed that the prices in the Group Store were a direct reflection of an item's value. That being the case, the 10,000-point price tag must represent its true worth.
Erica couldn't understand. How could a mana refinement method be optimized and upgraded to warrant such a price?
It was comparable to the Sanctuary-level magic she had listed before, the "Sacred Annihilation Prerogative." Compared to the basic version she provided, this was a hundredfold increase.
Seeing everyone's questions, Su Mo's reply was brief.
Su Mo: "Refining mana from the Greater Source is more difficult than from the Lesser Source, but its advantage lies in having far greater reserves and power. Moreover, both can be mastered simultaneously."
Su Mo: "As a magus, you should know that when it comes to increasing the power of magic, True Aether has an advantage several times greater than Aether."
Su Mo: "An advantage of this magnitude needs no further explanation."
To Su Mo, this was such a simple concept that it was a question not even worth asking.
But to his surprise, after he finished speaking, the group fell into a strange silence once again.
A few seconds later, Madoka timidly raised her hand to ask a question.
Madoka: "So, big brother... what do 'Greater Source,' 'Lesser Source,' 'Aether,' and 'True Aether' mean?"
Kanae: "I wanted to ask the same thing. Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't get it."
Kanae: "Mr. Su Mo, could you please explain?"
Erica: "Same question."
Su Mo wasn't surprised by Madoka and Kanae's reactions.
They were both novices who had just encountered magic and probably lacked even the most basic theoretical knowledge. It was normal for them not to understand.
What he didn't expect was that Erica would also ask such a fundamental question.
Su Mo: "?"
Su Mo: "I can understand the others, but aren't you a Great Knight-level magical genius? This is all basic knowledge related to mana. How could you not know?"
Seeing Su Mo's genuinely surprised query, Erica, in her world, instinctively shrank back. It felt like being scolded by a tutor during her student days.
Usually so proud and arrogant, she was momentarily at a loss for words under Su Mo's questioning.
Recalling the education she had received, she replied, feeling slightly wronged.
Erica: "But we really never learned this!"
At this point, Rin Tohsaka chimed in.
Rin Tohsaka: "I've heard my father talk about the difference between the Greater and Lesser Sources."
Rin Tohsaka: "The Lesser Source refers to a magus's own body. Converting one's own life force into mana is Lesser Source mana."
Rin Tohsaka: "Greater Source mana refers to the mana provided by the planet, but it seems the Greater Source in our world declined with the end of the Age of Gods."
Rin Tohsaka: "As for 'True Aether' and all that, I don't know anything about it."
Unexpectedly, Rin's theoretical knowledge was much more solid than Erica's.
Madoka: "Rin-oneechan is so smart!"
Kanae: "I don't really get it, but I learned something!"
Erica: "So that's what it means!"
Seeing everyone's reactions, Su Mo pondered for a couple of seconds and immediately understood.
The magi of the Type-Moon world are more like scientists, preferring to research the theories behind power, with practical application being secondary.
The mages of the Campione! world are actually religious believers, similar in style to the Holy Church. They prioritize combat and action and don't care much for theory.
One was the academic school, the other the practical school. Naturally, their styles were vastly different.
For Erica, she didn't need to study any theory; she could just follow the established path and ascend all the way up.
No wonder the mana refinement method of their Copper Black Cross was so crude. To them, as long as it worked, it was good enough.
Having figured this out, Su Mo explained in simpler terms.
Su Mo: "Miss Rin is correct. Generally speaking, Lesser Source mana comes from one's own life force, while Greater Source mana comes from the spiritual energy of the natural world. More accurately, it can be called the Earth's ley lines, or the planet's breath."
Su Mo: "Any power refined based on one's own life force or spiritual power, whether it's mana, spiritual energy, or cursed energy, can basically be classified as Aether."
Su Mo: "Any natural power based on the natural world, the planet, or even the cosmos, can be classified as True Aether."
Su Mo: "With your current knowledge base, it would be difficult for you to fully understand the difference between the two."
Su Mo: "However, to put it in terms you're familiar with, one manifestation of True Aether is so-called divine power!"
As soon as he said this, the group was once again shaken.
"Divine power?"
Neither Kanae nor Madoka could have imagined that Su Mo's theory could be connected to the lofty gods. Seeing Su Mo mention the power of gods so casually, they didn't know how to react for a moment.
Rin Tohsaka, possessing the basic training of a magus, was slightly better off than the other two, but only by a little.
The most important setting in the Type-Moon world was Mystery. After the end of the Age of Gods, there had been no news of gods on Earth.
Never mind a god, even a Phantasmal Species with over a thousand years of Mystery would be fought over tooth and nail in the current world of magi.
And now, from what Su Mo was saying, he could actually replicate the power of a god?
Good heavens, isn't this newcomer a little too ridiculous?
Forget the young Rin; even Erica, who had been educated about gods since childhood and knew that many had descended upon the world, was stunned for more than ten seconds after hearing Su Mo's words.
When she came back to her senses, her breathing immediately quickened.
Erica: "Master Su Mo, are you saying that this Greater Source mana refinement method can allow us to wield divine power?" she asked, unable to contain her excitement.
The Master Edition mana refinement method had already allowed her strength to increase severalfold, bringing her to the peak of the Great Knight level.
If she could also master the use of divine power, her strength would surely leap directly to the Paladin level, reaching Tier 2.
She might even be able to briefly clash with a god, perhaps even achieve the feat of god-slaying [Campione]!
At this thought, her heart burned with a fiery passion. She had yet to truly face the might of a Heretic God and still harbored fantasies of killing one.
As for Su Mo's dismissive comment about her knowledge base, she completely ignored it.
Falling short of a grandmaster's knowledge was nothing to be ashamed of.