The results are in, and honestly I'm genuinely impressed by the change in both my scan and his stats.

First and foremost was his mana capacity, which he had almost doubled by reaching fifty four total capacity and a visible rate of recharge.

His transmutation affinity also seemed to be a slight bit more developed, and he didn't have any lingering effect from his magic this time. That must mean that he can switch it off consciously now and draw in the mana excess quickly.

Next was the numbers for his growth rates, which were all now just around ten. His lowest was once his source growth rate, but he'd managed to make it his only stat to break into the double digits.

The good news was brought to a halt when I saw what the state of his scar was. The wound wasn't leaking mana, but the strain it placed on his flow was effectively limiting him to a quarter of his output power. There was some metric assigned to it off to the side saying that it was recovering, but the rate at which it was healing was so awful that he might only fully heal in twenty years.

His resistances were visible, but it seemed as though they weren't able to grow any faster than his magic pool.

I wrote all of my notes down and handed them to him. Mibata was staring at the page with an unreadable expression, though I am sure he must feel somewhat hurt. He let out a tired sigh and dropped the page onto the table.

“I…understand my situation better now. The only path forward is to endure and persist as usual.”

Damn it, there has to be something I can do to help him. Look at his scan again and really focus Kayrux, there’s got to be more… wait, what's that just under the blurry letters? Down there just beyond the gibberish is a line that might be legible. Potential mana influence possible, magic essence manipulator detected in entity Kayrux. That's me… what is my scanner trying to tell me?

Essence manipulation, does that have something to do with my runes? To me it was just the same as making components in my mind just like a machine, and those could be powered by anything from the air to people or mana stones. Mana stones, like the one tucked away in the storeroom. What if there's more to controlling mana that I had thought? I knew it could be influenced by desires and intent along with how the flow was channeled, but maybe some aspect of living beings or their removed mana stones played with the rules in a different way.

Wait, wasn't that the case with Charles? He was swimming in a sea of my magic, but he was made of a different shade of mana. Now that I think about it, my magic was oddly colorless as compared to everyone else's. This requires an experiment, which meant I needed a sample.

Mibata had just opened his mouth to speak when I abruptly slithered out of the room. Lucky for me Bahruk was awake and sorting the storeroom, allowing me to slide in and grab both the cone mana stone and another bluish purple stone that caught my eye a while back. Dad barely managed to turn around and see me snatch the shiny rocks before my tail acted like a spring to throw me back towards the hobby room. My brother was just rounding the corner when I returned, which meant that he had to jump back in order to not get body slammed. Alright, I've got an idea to work with, so let's run some safety tests.

“Kayrux, what are you doing?”

My response was scrawled onto my slate automatically as I kept my hands moving setting some carved rune plates set up.

“I saw something else in my scan. I might be able to help you heal. Need a test first to be safe.”

I didn't care to measure the weight or mana density this time, I was only looking for a test fire from each rune. I gave each of them ten mana, allowing the colorless mana to settle down. Then set each stone aside. Before me was a simple rune plate designed to spin an attached gear using a rotation rune, and at my touch it began to work as normal. My focus was not on the flow or power output, but on the color of the mana. My clear mana flowed into the device on the inlet side, spun around in the rune, then swirled along the gear in a pale gray sheen.

Okay, baseline achieved, now for the others. I gestured for Mibata to do the same, and though he was hesitant he complied. His dark gray and silver mana did the same as mine, and in the end filtered to a shade close to wood ash. The magic stones were what intrigued me, as both pushed mana out that corresponded to the color of the rock themselves, though it looked more like my mana with a slight hue of yellow or blue. This confirmed my theory to some extent, but I would need to test on a living being to be sure. I looked to Mibata, whose eyes were lost in confusion over my erratic behavior, and let out a worried whine as I debated whether or not this would be safe.

Hey Charles, do you have a second? After a moment his ruby red color appeared, followed by his little words.

“Kayrux wishes to inquire about mana transferring.”

Yeah, how did you… oh wait, you're in my brain already. Alright, so is it possible?

“Confirmed. Kayrux mana devoid of affinity, easy for digestion. Forewarning: refrain from exceeding overflow threshold of 10% saturation. Any further might degrade recipient source of donor mana. Allow for twenty hours of digestion.”

You totally just read my mind and answered my follow up questions, thanks. Can I ask how you know this?

“Trial and error. Charles exceeded safe consumption rate by accident, causing Charles minor disturbance in operation. Integrity repair unimpeded, will not repeat mistake.”

If you say so. Take care buddy, and keep up the great work. He was gone the moment I stopped focusing on him, allowing me to instead lock eyes with my brother. I pursed my lips as I tried to figure out how best to phrase my plan.

“I have an idea. If I put more mana into you than your body is meant to hold it might stretch the scar out and give you more room to grow. I asked Charles if it would work, and he said it would if I kept the dosage below a tenth of your capacity. If this helps, then every morning I can lend you some extra magic and boost your healing process.”

Mibata nodded along as he read, but his eyes lingered on one particular word. Oh crap.

“Question: who is Charles?

Uh, how the hell am I supposed to explain this one? Please don't freak out bro, because this is going to be a really weird explanation.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“You remember when we were hatchlings and I ate that red stone?”

He winced at the mention of that event but still nodded to confirm that he did remember.

“As it turns out, there was a lingering piece of the original host that grew that mana stone within the gem. After I ate it the piece became a part of my source and has been what allows me to understand what everyone says. At first he was just Comprehension and I was unaware of him, but after talking with him mentally I decided that he needed a name. Charles is what I call him, and from what I gather he is just the function of the stone with no free will or ulterior motives, but I still treat him like he does because it would be wrong not to. Oh, and he also saved me from having my brain messed with by some kind of influence from the dragons and has been working to find where in my source it is hiding, so there's that too.”

Mibata read the dense wording on my slate slowly, then just slowly blinked as he let the board slip from his fingers into my lap.

“Your penchant for naming unusual things in unusual ways is most concerning, dear sister. Nevertheless, this Charles seems to be another of your unorthodox magical deviations that escapes my understanding. If you trust this entity with the important task of preventing your mind from being compromised, then I too shall trust its calculations in regards to your scheme.”

Points to him for being able to handle the frankly absurd things I kept going through, he was a real trooper with how he kept up with the crazy and maintained that stoicism. I tentatively reached out to him and gave him another scan to confirm that his mana pool had refreshed. I held out a thumbs up, and once he returned it I allowed my hand to touch his torso. Five mana ought to be safe, so let’s just have a collector hold just that much before funneling it into his mana lines.

Honestly, this process of injecting him with magic energy felt quite awkward, almost as if I were giving him a blood transfusion without any tools. I watched as the intangible threads of the ethereal essence weaved through him along unseen paths until they found the swirling orb of power that resided in his core. He winced as the mana reached his source, but after a moment of letting the newly added power settle into the current he relaxed again. I spun my slate around asking how he was doing and what he felt.

“I’m alright, it is just uncomfortable. I suppose the closest sensation I can compare it to is like trying to force more air into your lungs once they are already full while also having a full stomach. So what does your rune say about me now?”

Great question: what does it say? The scanner took a new snapshot and processed the information quickly while Mibata rolled his shoulders in an attempt to adjust to his uncomfortable situation. Alrighty, let’s see what changed.

New statuses were lined up in front of me: overcharged source 9%, strained channels 9%, mana contaminated (false) ~8%, mana processing (true) ~8%, and something called tether connection (disabled). Total mana was 59/54, but his growth rates were all over the place. The data on his source scar was also off kilter as it was displaying no numbers or extra info, just that it was recovering at a blank rate. I double checked with my notes, and surprisingly it looked like his mana resistance had gone up one point. Perhaps transfering mana can also grant him some of my glitched resistance score.

My guess is that it was working, but the side effects were that his insides were having a fit trying to make sense of what was happening. Luckily it seemed that the contamination was dropping, which probably meant that my added mana was being digested by this processing status. The strain was probably going to fade over time along with the overcharge, but the mentioned tether was the thing that stumped me and had no percentage next to it. Tether might be what sharing my mana was, and it being disabled might just mean that I’m not actively juicing him up.

“It looks like it’s helping, but until the mana runs its course I can’t tell how fast it's working. You also gained one point in mana resistance and have a handful of new statuses tied to having your source filled with too much power. If you can hold it in until tonight then we can check again and see about coming up with a new plan.”

Mibata closed his eyes and bowed his head as he spoke.

“I’ll try. Thank you for trying to help me, Kayrux, this means a lot to me.”

I reached over and scratched the top of his now exposed head. He didn’t make any noise like other kobolds did, but his slowly easing posture told me that he enjoyed it. What an awkward brother I had, always trying to hide how he felt and keep this air of superiority. Too bad for him I knew all of his weaknesses and saw through all of his masks. Alright, that was enough at home magic experimenting, we had to get ready for work and hope that dad didn’t try his hand at cooking. Mana stones, you’re coming with me for more experiments in the lab.

…

Battercaps are absolutely the best thing in fast food that could ever come from this fantasy world. A mushroom that tastes like waffles and apparently grows everywhere sounds too good to be true, but as my brother the mushroom harvester has confirmed they really are just everywhere in the fungal forest. I was in the workshop with one of these tantalizing toadstools hanging from my mouth when I noticed a distinct lack of red kobolds in the repair area. I almost went over to Zokkos, but remembered midway that they were not a reading capable kobold. Shit, looks like I’ll have to ask Hitkova.

She was lounging at her table with a book propped up on her untouched project, reading what looked like a romanticized tale of a princess eloping with a baker. Aw, how cute! She eventually noticed me and slammed the book shut, her pupils now narrow lines in her eyes.

“What you want, can’t see busy?”

Sure, we can call that busy if you like but I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t just see what your tastes are. I can taunt her later, right now I wanted to know where my sister slash assistant was.

“Where’s Dobo and family?”

The supposed enchanter rolled her eyes and went back to her book, her words nothing more than a mumble over he shoulder.

“Party. Don’t expect them today.”

Oh right, I’d forgotten about that. Looks like it's just me and my pet bug Tim. I looked down at the funny critter scuttling around at my feet and flashed a little mana into my hand. As expected his little black eyes locked onto the magic I held with some kind of awe which made leading him over to the lab and through the easily unlocked doors a breeze. You know what, I might just find out why he’s so interested in my mana today before playing with these rocks.

Cavern cleaner Tim, please brace yourself for a preliminary scanning before the experiment proceeds, thank you in advance for your cooperation. His personal sheet of magical medical records were filled with the same stats as before, then it was on to a genuine experiment. I sat myself down on the floor so he could reach me easier, then in my right hand I allowed my mana to flow freely through a 10% limiter. The iron shelled isopod was immediately drawn to the invisible wisps of magic as though he were a moth to the metaphorical flame. You’re up little guy, show me what it is you want.

Tim didn’t move from his spot that he had taken inches from my hand, and instead was just staring at the fingers dangling just above his metallic form. Maybe if I lower my hand he’ll do something. My hand was now on the floor, but he still wasn’t doing anything but stare. Hmm… didn’t Vimna say that he was acting incredibly wiggly during my lightning tests? I pulled my now inactive magic hand back and allowed Tim to move away a bit before setting up a thunder rune on a limiter rune.

The electricity began to form in my flesh as it had before and was just beginning to arc to the faraday cage when Tim sprinted between me and the cage. Whoa there little guy, are you sure you want that? An arc of energy touched his shell, and to my surprise seemed to do nothing but make the bug chitter in delight. More electricity danced from my fingertips onto his shell, and every time he would make happy bug noises. I have so many questions right now, and none of them can be answered because you are a bug.

I let this strange conductive ritual play out for a few minutes before deciding that he might have gotten enough energy for a new scan to make sense of. Okay Tim, just what exactly is my lightning doing for you? I skimmed over the scan to see if there were any differences but was disappointed to find nothing out of the ordinary until reaching the bottom. Some of the garbled text had cleared up and said (elemental charge 28% thunder, affinity shift soon). Hold up. Tim, are you trying to tell me without actually saying anything that you’re mooching off of my power so you can get a thunder affinity? Clever bug, but until I know if that’s safe for you I’m going to avoid letting you suck up any loose voltage and keep an eye on you.

Good grief, just what is an owner to do with a critter like Tim?