“Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“Can you teach me about mana manipulation today?”
As I walked towards the training grounds with Rachel, I asked. I wanted to develop my mana, the very essence that shouldn’t be ignored in a medieval fantasy setting.
Fortunately, unlike many other fantasy stories, in this world, anyone can manipulate the mana that flows in the air. However, there’s a limit to how much mana one can hold in their Mana Core.
Those with a significantly larger capacity than others possess the talent to become great sorcerers or mage knights; those with a reasonable capacity, like Rachel, can compensate for their lesser amounts by blending mana with martial arts. Conversely, those with small capacities can only manage enough mana to light a campfire or produce a small glow, while those with negligible amounts can’t use mana at all in their daily lives.
This is how it was explained in the mana manipulation theory book, so it was reasonable to believe I possessed the foundational power to handle mana. However, I needed to practice to discover the true limits of my capacity.
Trying to awaken my Mana Core and manipulate mana based on what I learned from the theory book proved challenging, as information alone was insufficient for understanding.
I thought that if I could witness a demonstration of mana manipulation, I might grasp it better; hence my inquiry to Rachel. After all, she was a romantic sword warrior who incorporated mana into her swordsmanship.
The reason she was known as the “Purple Knight” was not merely due to her lavender hair but because she predominantly summoned purple mana during combat, earning her that moniker naturally.
To overcome the innate limitations of physical strength, she adapted her mana in combat, and I was curious whether I could utilize such advantages, which is why I wanted to learn about mana manipulation.
To make supreme ingredients from top-tier monsters, one had to either walk the steady path towards mastery through martial arts or take the shortcut using innate mana; achieving one of these was essential.
Naturally, opting for the latter, the path of using mana, was easier and faster than pushing limits to their extremes. Of course, one had to be born with a sufficient capacity in the Mana Core.
On a side note, the original novel depicted a monster ranking system quite different from ordinary fantasy tales. For instance, dragons were considered mid-level monsters in this unique hierarchy, where one of the top-tier monsters classified was none other than a slime.
To put it positively, the original work presented a brilliantly unconventional world view. Or perhaps…
“The original author might have been a slime enthusiast.”
According to the monster encyclopedia, slimes, with their squishy yet resilient bodies, could evade all physical attacks and were immune to any magical damage except for fire. They were notoriously hard to hunt. Moreover, their shapeshifting bodies would engulf hunters like a tidal wave, suffocating them before dragging them to their center to dissolve them slowly in digestive fluid.
The eerie sight of human flesh merging into their semi-transparent bodies was something to behold.
Ironically, unlike other bizarre monsters, the slime’s appearance was so adorable that it became a top-notch dessert in aristocratic circles, with pudding made from it reigning supreme.
Given their extremely low population and high difficulty in hunting, I could understand that a single plate cost the same as a small house, which meant it wouldn’t grace the dwindling banquet table of a declining count’s family.
If I couldn’t buy it with money, I’d just have to make it myself.
Perhaps, the final destination of my culinary journey might just be “Slime Pudding.”
Anyway.
Since my learning started late, I was in dire need of mana. I sincerely hoped that the capacity of my Mana Core could at least support my late-blooming powers.
Rachel, having finished her training preparations, responded while gripping her sword.
“Mana? Is that what you’re asking about?”
“I figured having mana would be beneficial. But I can’t wrap my head around what I learned from books.”
“Well… I also stumbled upon it by chance, so I’m not sure how to explain it.”
“By chance?”
“Yeah. I only managed to awaken it just before death. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
Ah. Hmm.
A rather perilous awakening, wasn’t it? Unfortunately, I was not ready to gamble my life just to learn; I would have to implore my teacher for safer ways to learn again.
“Could you at least give me a rough idea? I think I’d grasp it better if I could actually see it in action.”
“……”
Rachel’s black pupils turned towards me.
She had looked at me like this during our first training session as well. When I asked her to explain the basics of swordsmanship, she had given me the same look.
A gaze filled with contemplation.
Then she said she’d organize the content and let me know the next day, apologizing for her lack of words.
That same look was back, and thus I figured I’d have to wait for tomorrow.
“I understand. I’ll share the feeling with you. But please bear with my inadequate expressive skills.”
My teacher graciously agreed to her student’s request. Not only had she given me honey water from her father’s secret recipe for my hangover, but she had also generously afforded me the special part of grilled green lizard’s tongue, which was a bit of a stretch from her disciple’s request.
Today, it seemed like my teacher was extra kind.
“Like this… feel something wriggling inside…”
“Like this… gather it to the heart…”
“Like this… send it up to the shoulders…”
“Like this… gather it at the elbows…”
“Then… send it to the fingertips you wish to use…”
Boom!
Purple flames erupted from Rachel’s hands.
“This is how you manipulate mana.”
….
…….
Such a kind……
………teacher.
How was it? Quite easy, right?
Just like that curly-haired uncle who instantly creates lifelike landscape paintings and smugly asks, Rachel’s lesson concluded.
But, oh dear, we’re moving too fast this morning, teacher.
I should complain, but knowing that Rachel had done her best without ever having taught or learned from someone else, I silently dusted off my backside and stood up.
Actions over words.
Experience over practice.
For someone like Rachel, who had grown solely through self-study without ever being taught or sharing knowledge, asking her to articulate something she randomly discovered at death’s door was a contradictory desire.
Most importantly.
It certainly resonated with me more than learning from books.
Thanks to Rachel’s demonstration, the dense fog that obscured my vision, which was less than 1 meter, seemed to thin out, giving me a broader perspective.
To express it a bit exaggeratedly, I felt the mana rising from Rachel’s Mana Core flowing through the bloodstream.
I think I finally grasped something.
Seeing is believing.
Surely, our ancestors understood long ago that seeing something once is more effective than hearing about it a hundred times, which is why they imparted such wisdom.
With my teacher’s heartfelt effort not going to waste because of my inadequate expressive skills, I approached the matter with seriousness.
I placed my hand on the area around my Mana Core.
For some reason, I felt a pulse.
Then, there was this strange swirling sensation.
“If you give me some time, I can refine the details and teach you further,” said Rachel.
However, her words fell on deaf ears as I had already begun to concentrate.
Feeling the pulsation from my Mana Core, I attempted to pull it upward, just like Rachel had demonstrated.
“Like this… lift it up.”
I caught it in my heart.
The heart’s pulse quickened momentarily.
“Next… raise it to the shoulders…”
I divided the pulse, which had gathered in one place, into both shoulders.
The heart’s beat began to slow down.
“Now gather it at both elbows…”
Although I focused on the tips of my fingers, trying to unleash it, it felt as if something was blocking it, and the pulse at my elbows began to weaken.
It seemed like that pulse was returning to my shoulders.
Eventually, the sensation of the pulse in my left elbow completely vanished.
I clenched my teeth.
I tightened my grip.
I braced my abdomen.
For some reason, I felt it was necessary.
“……”
My entire body started to tremble.
A shiver reverberated from deep within, and the fading pulse suddenly erupted into a vigorous thrum again.
Soon after, I sensed something flowing from the gathered energy in my right elbow down through my fingertips like a winding river.
It felt as if a thunderous bolt had struck, branching out along narrow veins.
And then…
Pop…
Crackle…
Black sparks began to jump onto my palm.
It was more like a glow from an electric charge than a flame, and a thick beam of light erupted momentarily before extinguishing.
Simultaneously, the pressure gripping my throat relaxed, and I felt my entire body weaken, forcing me to support myself on my knees as I gasped for air.
“Haah… haah…”
Before I knew it, I was soaked in sweat.
After regaining my breath quite vigorously, I raised my upper body.
“……”
I saw my teacher’s dumbfounded face.
It felt as if I had easily accomplished the awakening that Rachel struggled to achieve at the brink of death, causing me to sheepishly scratch the back of my head as I spoke.
It sounded like an excuse.
“Haha… I really didn’t think I could do this…”
After a moment, a light I had never seen before flickered in Rachel’s eyes.
It was similar to the gleam that had sparkled in Ariel’s gaze when I asked for book recommendations.
Elation… excitement…?
Something like that…?
And that evening, when Rachel emerged in a red dress for Ariel’s party, she donned a garment that revealed her shoulders and accentuated her curves.
It was the first time I had seen such a feminine side of her.
“Is, is it strange…?”
Rachel hesitantly adjusted her red dress as she asked, and I conveyed my genuine thoughts.
“It looks great on you.”
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