Murai had no plans to eat uncooked meat or anything seeping with blood. The Horn Snake's meat was raw, and blood was flowing from the one part where he hit with Beak's Fury attacks, making it unfit for his tastes.
So, he had to figure out how to cook it, or at least get something out of it since he needed a shot of some Vitality and much-needed nourishment.
Gazing at the open wound where the head used to be, Murai Shaped a quick Mana Blade to see how much meat he would retrieve from it. Horn Snake was lean but quite larger than him, so he should get enough food out of it. While he was Shaping, Murai decided to use his control and make the blade smaller and thinner, which amounted to better slicing power, but much lower power. It was a kind of tough idea, with harsh interpretation to his control, but he managed to do so after a dozen or so tries.
A 1-centimeter-thin and meter-long blade had passable physicality to work as a cutter. With its tip, he managed to penetrate the snake's scales, which were still tough. It was impossible to do so with the edge of the blade, so he used the point of the tip to manage it, which just spoke of the overall power of his Shaping. It wasn't great at some things, but passable at others. Chopping circular steaks out of its body, Murai did his best even though he was rough.
By this point, Lisa turned her attention to him after calming down. “What are you doing? Are you gonna eat it raw? What if it's poisonous? Majority of the water snakes are.” She reasoned.
Not this one. I think... Murai thought, making his intentions heard by Lisa. And no, I won't eat it raw since it's time to figure out the method of elemental flow. Mana in this world is plentiful, while my Shaping will do the bare minimum to curve around the rules. It shouldn't be more... complex even if this world seems strange. If it's even the right term for that.
“Element? Like fire? Isn't it fairly hard to conjure a flame without proper affinity or technique?” Lisa asked. “It's part of the magic after all, and it has all kinds of properties that are hidden in its essence. Mages need their affinity to wield it and form basic instincts over the mana and following spells. It even acts outside of Will of Battleworld's rules, you see? One needs to be born with it, and find or earn enough gifts to learn it.” Lisa looked at him in surprise, curious about what his curve around the rules meant.
“Curiosity killed the cat... Well, that may be true, but the common trends and knowledge don't work for me. Few are passable and usable for me. So let's see.” Murai quacked, motioning the blade to chop another 20 or so steaks, before stopping and pointing the blade toward his head.
The Mana Blade dissipated into tiny particles that resembled tiny little stars and glowing fog. He forced the Mana Blade to its most rudimentary form and let it remain without proper shape. It was the core energy of the mana that he used to Shape up the Mana Blade. The fog didn't fly anywhere. It just floated close to his beak, where Murai watched it with focus and utter intentions as if he were facing his worst enemy.
He was trying to feel the right way to make this chaotic energy of his, work. Changing and bending the rules around the mana should give him a good advantage, as well as a change, and answers to follow with more experiments. Pretty much anything was possible next if he succeeded.
Mana acted according to his Will, or in undefined ways by its core rules that stated simple things. Become one with the world, as there was no need for this power to flow endlessly around the empty air. It had some purpose. A goal or desire, but Murai never figured out which kind.
It was one of the undeniable beliefs that he discovered and believed in.
Mana had a certain identity.
Mana also assembled any kind of mage's identity, but Murai lacked proper feelings for this cause. In his case, mana itself wasn't meant to be that easy for him to wield according to some unkept truth. His hunch told him that Anatidae wasn't "loved" by mana, which would explain a lot of things. That, or he was simply bad at feeling and handling the mana in this body, while any regular Anatidae with instincts and will of one wouldn't. It was a possible answer.
So be it. I don't have to ask for permission for anything, and experiments are fine attempts at seeing my memories touch the present. He figured. Flame... Let's start with bending that kind of rule first. A simple exercise. Flame is an encompassing entity. It is a star. Sun. It all begins where? Friction? Spark, in broader terms, outside of microscopic matters of the Beginning? That's it. That will do, as it's basic enough. The rules of mana aren't something crazy different in this world from others. Whether the Gods changed the mana, the rules, stability, and realms outside of this planet still remain. That would make no sense if it were different unless the Gods would change the mana as a whole to something completely new. Sometimes they do, but this world remains in a proper form. For now...
Realizing this, and thinking of his purpose, the glowing fog began to flicker under his intent, shaking in friction, or so it appeared. It didn't seem like much at first. A shaking, trembling, and glistening jolt around the foggy mana was something Lisa noticed.
Murai wasn't stopping, and in fact, went faster and faster until a spark ignited through the friction, causing a blazing fireball to turn from mana into a purposeful source of a specific element.
“Good. I succeeded with a rather clumsy method of controlling it. It was difficult but better than using the mana of the world in a flaming structure, or Tome. I swear having a universal affinity isn't bad, but having one with the flaming elements would've been much better than doing so with nothing.” Murai guessed, but couldn't help but cheer himself up, unnoticing a flabbergasted Lisa beside him, who viewed this unfamiliar concept of highly advanced magic.
It seemed simple to shake the mana particles to form friction, but such knowledge wasn't known in the Battleworld, and she was a former succubus with a Mana Core, so she viewed it with some doubts.
Without giving her a choice of being annoying, Murai began feeling the flame and whether it was passable to control it, even though it was made with his mana. Unfortunately, even these methods needed a time of training, and any discovered element needed proper care.
Scorching the steaks dry was easy, however, and cooking them was simple enough. All he needed was to control the volume and heat of this mana and move the shape of the ball to the meat. The meat will taste dull, and bloody, but since he didn't have any seasoning, Murai had no choice. At least it won't be raw. He had simple needs at the moment, so he was satisfied with what he would get.
It wasn't that long after his start of grilling that the Will of the Battleworld informed him of a new message.
[Congratulations you piece of an animal! You have discovered the fire! Unlike the caveman, this isn't as bad as it should be. It is clever, albeit... ruleless, which made it seem cheap and a bit cheaty]
[Mana Flow grade improved from F to E, enabling your mana to have better quality, which means going from quite bad, to bad, so deal with it as you wish]
[Your following Mana Abilities improved]
[Mana Detection: Level up]
[Mana Shaping: Level up, Level up! That's two levels! Impressive enough]
[Alas, the flame is short-lived and one couldn't survive without the Mana]
[As the rules and stakes of the Battleworld give Order to the Chaos, the case of the Mana Core is established in your heart, with the name of... BEAST CORE! Sounds exciting, doesn't it?]
[It is a fundamental core of the demonic beasts of the Battleworld with special, and unique talents, bloodline, and purpose. It is different from humans since monsters are no humans, but humans can be monsters. Get it? Nevermind...]
[The slip of the flame began to flow to your Beast Core. A basic understanding of the Mana Flame's element is taking its roots towards your Beast Core]
[Flame reached the threshold of forming a basic affinity. It will be under your constant use of mana, but dependant on your Shaping, Conjuring, and care of intentions]
[Flame: It is a primordial core of the universe, that is long older than any being can imagine. The universe is full of it but in different magnitudes of strengths and forms. There is heat, radiation, light and brightness, a scorching flame of high velocity and even a partial way to this is lighting, but you don't have to worry about it]
[no level]
[Grade F]
[Your achievements are impressive, considering your passing ages days, but the power of the early Anatidae is powerful]
[Beak's Fury: Level up]
[YOU! - Level up, Level up]
[Attribute's strength Improved]
[Yey! you are level 7 now so try to get powerful for the sake of the Battleworld, and don't be clumsy and afraid of battles. Soon enough, the concept of your beginning will cease to exist, enabling others to fight you for real]
That was the end of the message and Murai felt the distinct gust of power from the ground and walls of this old place. It was similar to evolution but it was less powerful. A Blessing from this system and world floated to him, giving his Beast Core and his body a Boost in terms of power and numbers.
The reason and the cause?
Mana of the Battleworld made it so, or it was something else. Murai glared around, feeling the tension in the air that was no mana. Strange... It always feels forced. He thought, noticing how it all charged from the earth, enveloping him for a couple of dozen seconds, before halting as fast as it appeared. Afterward, he felt more powerful, and new things appeared in his body.
Hearing nothing else, Murai watched the surroundings with clear suspicion.
Nice.. this pretty much confirms that this place has some other... greater power controlled, or grasped for the sake of this Battleworld. Though, why are there those who can control it without being Blessed? What makes it different from the regular one, or how it works? Murai wondered, grilling the meat while thinking of his new achievements.
By the end of his wondering questions that weren't privately done, Lisa appeared around his face, observing the flame and meat that sizzled on the filthy stairs. She, for once, didn't make many comments about the message, since she expected it to some extent - albeit begrudgingly.
“This looks awful,” She commented.
“Smells good, though. It's sizzling in fat, which will add excellent texture but limited flavor. Hopefully... Blood is also diminished in this way, so that is great. My flame is quite hot, but lack of seasoning makes it lacking.” Murai quacked in a good mood and continued with his grilling for more minutes.
“Where did you learn this stuff?” Lisa asked at last. “Making a sparkling flame by controlling the basic structure of the mana seems like a very high-level knowledge, and making it into a real thing is even harder. How have you done that?” she asked, not caring about the steak or the smell since she couldn't care less about them. She can't eat, nor smell it because of her lacking physicality as a Soul Form.
“Why ask? You answered it yourself. It's a basic control and bending of the structure of the mana. Controlling the premise of the friction can achieve the spark, giving rise to flames. Also, as you heard, this isn't something I need to worry about in the future, since the Flame is already within my Beast Core. I can feel that rising heat within me, somewhere... I can Conjure or Shape any kind of flame from my mana at the moment. As long as it is.... fine, or up to my Shaping, which is another issue. It is still convenient because I have no need to cater to anything else. Flame is already there.” Murai nodded from his own explanation, feeling good, even though it was fundamentally caused by the Battleworld and sparked by his experiment and action.
After all, forming a first threshold of resting a Flame in a Mana Core was something harder than this. A mage had to spend days cycling the flame to their core until it formed a swirling flame around the Core, making it usable and stable. That was at least what all sorts of beings had to do, but this world was different. Murai got it handled to him for cheap, and Flame went to his Core and swirled there around it.
“I know... I heard that through our connection. You speak a lot to yourself.” Lisa said, not knowing whether it was as easy as he said. She had some doubts about it since the structural cause of magic and mana was a rather complicated thing, but she didn't know things that he did. Hence, it made her upset.
Soon enough, the first steaks were done. A brown colorful crust and quite a fatty-looking meat rested on the messy stairs. Murai grabbed one piece without any regard, munching it with his beak and teeth.
Eyes sparkling, he hummed the song of a happy duck, and even his tail wriggled, albeit unnoticed to his knowledge. “Oh, my bloody meat! This is so good! Fuck the bones!” He squeaked after eating it all in less than a couple of minutes. “Apart from the marrow, that is. Hell, this snake doesn't have sturdy bones, and I even ate the scales away thanks to my tough teeth. How convenient for me.” Murai cheered himself, having a proper meal for the first time in his life.
Like this, Lisa looked at Murai who ate one steak after the other, and less than 20 minutes later, the Horn Snake was half gone. She looked at him with a bored expression and was somewhat surprised by how much he stuffed himself up with this meat.
“You sure you can move like this?” Lisa asked in worry, floating to Murai who was lying on his back, legs facing the ceiling.
“Give me half an hour and I am all good and done.” he moaned in pleasure, causing Lisa to sight what kind of freak of nature this duck was. Well, it went with the expectations of knowing Anatidae species and their legends and rarity. They were the rarest species of ducks, with roots of the demons, and many other things that were a bit too lofty, so that went without saying. The other part was... Murai himself, which made her question more things, rather than the premise of a freaking Anatidae.
Alas, the time limitation was a thing that came at the best or worst time. Although, it shouldn't be the case for either since this was the Will of the Battleworld.
It formed another message.
[15 minutes remain in your task. Get moving or your failure will be imminent]
[Failure: no rewards, nor the ability to reach any kind of compensation for your efforts. 2 waves remaining so move on, you lazy duck]
This caused Murai to open his eyes as if he had seen a ghost! “CRAP! I forgot about the time limitation!” he quacked, getting back to his feet, even though he was quite a thicker duck at the moment.
“It's your own doing, Hisagi Murai. Staffing your belly so much. Your mana will be in chaos.” Lisa commented behind his head, already taking a seat on his back.
“Why haven't you said something!? I was satisfied that much, thanks for your kind words, Lisa.” Murai said, dismissing this issue that wasn't really an issue. “Now, let's get out of the water! I can't wait to be done with this trial! No! Let's hunt some fish again. Sounds great.”
With that said, Murai jumped into the water where he used the Diving Sphere to move quickly to the main tower.
This time, it had some flaming luster to it, but Murai went with more rich and affectless mana without any kind of flames. A flame wasn't known for good defenses. In fact, the flames were kind of soft when it came to the masses or physical realms. However, their strength was in different things, such as the temperature and high offensive powers.
The flame was one of the fiercest and deadliest elemental affinities one could ask for, but what if a lot of beasts and mages had it? What then? The balance would've long turned to shambles, so purposeful truths, purposes, and rules followed mana.
Murai flew from the hole, and while he was at it, he appreciated the rest of the body of this Horn Snake that he wouldn't be able to eat.
His Eater status long told him most one would know about this sort of being, and Murai was quite happy with knowing this information. The Eater Status informed him of a few more things for the first time, but he was too busy with the meal, so he listened to it once.
The message of the Eater was the following.
[The Eater Status uncovered the information about Level 12 Horn Snake]
[They live and breathe in the majority of the nations with no distinct qualities of living. Jungles, cities, and even long and barren plains are for their taking. They are good swimmers, so living near the oceans or rivers is also possible]
[Case of the Eater Status! Special information gathered! This specimen of this Horn Snake lived in the Celestial Pool since birth, so its Attributes weren't small, and his body was full of mana. Thanks to the growth in this environment, the case of any negative elements was negated, making its meat incredibly good]
[Thanks to the richness of the mana within its body, the following Attributes are strengthened, and so are some, parts of the mana as a whole]
[Vitality + 2]
[Dexterity +1]
[Strength +1]
[The Mana pool improved by 30 points]
Murai felt a tinge of power emerge after he finished eating and listening to this. It seemed every upgrade he made followed this Boosting structure.