What followed was an intense hour of spar after spar. All of which ended quite quickly with how aggressive everyone ended up being. Honestly, if that went on for much longer, I’d have run out of mana.
Also, I’d almost forgotten that mana veins could also get sore. Even stranger though, was that I even had to cast a proper vein healing spell multiple times. At least my veins are getting stronger. Though I don’t really know why they are being so strained in the first place, which is concerning.
And, the rate of my mana recovery has surprisingly gone down, it seems. While it’s hard to tell, especially as my capacity also seemed to have increased, I’m pretty sure my recovery didn’t get the same level of increase. I wonder what else has changed.
That’s odd, but this is only the beginning, as it usually takes around a week for your monster ascension to mostly finish taking effect. So long as you make sure to properly train during that time, of course.
“Haa, I’m tired.” I complained as we headed to dinner.
“Oddly enough, I’m not. I guess the heart has massively increased my stamina?”
“I mean, biologically, the heart just pumps blood, so it should improve everything even vaguely related to your blood flow, right? So, it may be more accurate to say the power of your blood has increased, instead of your heart.” I guessed.
“Hmm, makes sense, though I haven’t studied biology nearly enough to comment on that.” She shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter all that much anyway. You’ll figure out all the effects over time anyway.” I also shrugged. It didn’t take much long for us to reach the kitchen.
“Are we early?” Melly asks.
“Indeed.” Hansen answers. “We still have a few minutes to wait.”
“Okay then, should we chat in the meantime?” Melly suggests.
“Okay. Does anyone have a particular topic they would prefer to discuss?” Greg asks.
“Um, does the brain do anything?” I ask, getting several weird looks.
“If anyone could answer that, it would be you.” Rapunzel comments.
“No! I meant the dragon’s! For fusion!” I correct in embarrassment.
“Oh, that is a far better question.” Greg starts. “Brains in general tend to increase your memory and calculation ability. Oftentimes, this improved the recipient’s ability to cast magic.”
“Even with the dragon being, well, not the most intelligent.”
“Correct, though only particularly intelligent beings give a proper increase. As such, the dragon’s brain is likely its least valuable part.”
“I see, that makes sense. Oh, what about final gambits? Are they possible to acquire?”
“Not usually. There are only a small amount of final gambits that have a focused part that applies the effect. Even then, such powers tend to be either weak, risky, and/or detrimental in some way. As such, they are rarely even considered.”
“Thank you, Greg. You are quite well informed.” I complemented.
“I do put in some effort to be so. By the way, how are everyone’s fusions progressing? I have already noticed a large increase in my mana capacity, with the amount of mana I am capable of using with each spell has also been increased.”
“My spirits seem to like me more, though I can’t tell how much.” Hansen said. Yeah, there aren’t exactly a bunch of new spirits for you to contract here.
“I’ve noticed a decent increase in basically every aspect, but my stamina has by far improved the most.” Melly reported.
“The heart is usually the most valuable part used after all, so I am curious to see how much you improve.” Greg comments.
“Indeed.” Hansen adds.
“Well, all of my senses have increased, though my eyesight has gained the greatest increase.” Rapunzel says flatly. “What about you, Eli?”
“Well, my mana’s power and control has increased and my spells are being cast faster, but it seems that the strain it caused has likewise increased.”
“What do you mean?” Rapunzel asked.
“Well, despite only really casting spells for an hour, I’ve had to heal my mana veins several times, which is really strange. I’ve never heard of anything close ever happening before.”
“That is odd. It is quite rare for a monster ascension to cause strain, and even then, that usually only happens with unusual fusions.”
“Well, it’s not like fusing with a core is usual.”
“It is with demon cores, and they should be fairly similar.
“What are the differences?”
“While I will not go into too much detail, the main difference is that as demons create their cores artificially, they lack a will, making the battle of wills effectively ceremonial. Regardless, a will, no matter how hostile, should not cause any problems after the battle has been concluded.” Greg explained.
“By the way, what do demon cores do?”
“Um, Eli? Did you not know before fusing with a core?” Melly asks in shock.
“I also didn’t know how battles of will went either.” I add.
“Haa, of course you didn’t. You are quite reckless. How’d you even grow up like this?” Melly asks.
“Mainly the easy accessibility of healing magic to fix even minor injuries.” I answer with a shrug. “Many church orphans end up similarly, especially for those of us that become healers.”
“I see, that does make sense, but you are still too reckless!”
“Well, that’s just how I am. So anyway, what do cores do?”
“They mainly increase your control over mana, as well as things like its density, power, and speed. It also increases your, mana’s… trait.” Greg says, coming to a realization. He then pats Melly on the shoulder from across the table. “I wish you luck.”
“Aww!” Melly shouts in distress. Oh. Yeah, that’s not good.
“Incorrect.” Hansen corrects. “It adds a trait, though they can end up combining if they are similar enough.”
“Oh, phew.” Melly sighs in relief.
“I wonder what sort of trait a dragon would have?” Rapunzel questions.
“Uh.” Hmm, let’s think. Traits for the dragon: arrogance, dominance, aggression, pride, um, these are sounding pretty similar to mine. And, looking at everyone else’s expressions, they came to a similar conclusion.
“It’s okay Melly, maybe we are mistaken.” Rapunzel offers.
“Maybe, it’s not like a monster core has to act the same.” She says hopefully.
“I do wonder though. If she does acquire a new trait, would said trait end up being enhanced similarly to her first trait?” Greg ponders, causing Melly to go pale at the thought.
Apparently I’m the same, as Rapunzel asks me. “Are you okay Eli?”
“I guess not.” I admit.
“Why?”
“Um, you know the saying about two tigers on a mountain?”
“That there can only be one? And that they would fight to see who stays?”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, that could end badly.”
“Yeah, I guess Melly might not be the only one suffering from my mana.” I sighed. Well, they say there is one way for two tigers to live in harmony… Let’s just hope for something like that.
“Oh, maybe that’s why my veins are sore.” I say in worry.
“Oh, um, Eli? Maybe you should slow down your training.” Rapunzel offers.
“Yeah, if your mana is going to start fighting itself, maybe you should wait until one trait wins.” Melly agrees.
“Haa, I don’t know. Let’s ask the Hero what he thinks. He is the one that caused this after all, I’ll have him take responsibility!” I declare. Let’s see how grand our Hero really is!
“I guess you’re right. Who knows, maybe he somehow has a plan.” Melly shrugs. I’m definitely not the only one who’s noticed the Hero’s oddness.
“It is fairly likely, he has been guided by the Gods this entire time.” Greg agrees, voicing his, or, well, their, conclusion.
I, however, don’t think that’s the case. He seems more like he is somehow seeing the future. Or at least fragments of it. Which is an ability I’m quite certain our Gods do not possess.
Haa, whatever. Maybe I’ll ask him later, or maybe he’ll bring it up. Honestly, if he can see the future, he probably knows what I’m thinking already.
“Haa.” I sigh as I rest my head on the table while waiting for our food. Ah, that always cheers me up. Everyone seemed to have the same idea as they left me alone. How much longer do I have to wait though?
It turns out, about a dozen minutes.
“Sorry for the wait. I wanted to make sure the food was good.” He winked.
“Food.” I say, holding out my hands. I’ve been lost in negative thoughts for a while now, so I could really use this meal.
“Yeah, yeah. Here you go. I thought you were a saintess, not a princess.” He teases. I just rolled my eyes and started eating.
“Oh!” While not quite true food, it was fairly close this time. I don’t know why I think so, but that’s what my gut is telling me, maybe literally. Still, why doesn’t he always make true food? Is there some sort of requirement or cost? Whatever, it’s time to eat, so let’s ignore everything else.
“Haa, lovely.” I say after I finish. Amazing as always.
“Oh yeah, Eli wanted to ask you something.” Melly brings up, causing the Hero to turn towards me.
“Ah, yeah, so, when using my mana, my veins have been overworking themselves or something. Within an hour, I had to heal them multiple times. Do you have any ideas?”
“Isn’t that just because your mana has become more powerful? Like with muscles, if you over use them, they will get strained. Your mana has probably just gotten stronger, so the force they release is more than your veins can currently handle.”
“Okay, that might actually be worse.” I realize.
“Why?” Melly asks.
“There’s a limit to how strong your veins can get, just like any other part of your body does. So, while I currently do have a good amount of growth available, it’s only the first day. How strong will my mana get by the time I fully unlock the core’s power. Will I even be able to cast spells then?”
“Of course!” The Hero declares confidently.
“How?” I ask, confused. Am I going to have to heal after every spell? But the heal would also damage me, so that wouldn’t work. ARG! I’m panicking, calm down, calm down. Haa.
“Simple, just use less power.” He says, somehow like it’s both sage advice and blindingly obvious at the same time.
“What?” Well, at least now I’m too distracted to worry.
“Well, what would you do if the full force of your muscles would tear themselves apart?”
“Uh, not use my full strength?”
“Exactly.” He smiles after doing a ‘job well done’ nod.
“But, how though? I’ve never even heard of using less force with your mana.” Like, if you wanted weaker spells, you just use less mana. He’s basically asking me to only use fewer of my muscles instead of just using less force.
“Do you not know? That’s odd.” He comments as if he was surprised, but his smile said otherwise. Haa, what’s he on about now?
“Yeah, yeah. Even if such a technique exists, I’ve never heard of it.” I admit.
“Well, that just means I have to teach you. And we should probably hurry, before your body starts to tear itself apart.” He smiles as if he was joking.
I don’t think that was a joke. I DON’T THINK THAT WAS A JOKE! Calm down! It will be fine. He’ll help me. But what i- Don’t think of negative things! DON’T! NO! BAD! Magic! Let’s calm myself with magic.
Haa, better, though my mind feels a bit numb.
“Are you okay Eli?” Melly asks.
“Yeah, I just imagined myself being torn apart a bit too vividly.” I say weakly.
“Are you sure?” She asks again. I just nod. “Haa, okay. You don’t always have to be strong though. You can show weakness.”
“I know.” I’ve done that a few times already. She just gives me a doubtful look. “What?” I questioned.
“It’s fine as long as you keep that in mind.” Okay then. I will.
“So, are you free? I’d like to start training as soon as possible.” I ask. I don’t know what’s going on with Melly, but that can wait. Not being ripped apart by my own mana is just a bit more important.
“Yeah, Let’s go to our rooms. It’s not like your magic is dangerous.” He suggests.
“Sounds good.” I say as I immediately get up. “Let’s go.”
“Okay. I’m coming.” He follows with an amused smile at my impatience.
Once we entered my room I asked. “So, What do I need to do?”
“First, release some mana above your hand.” He says, demonstrating.
“Okay.” I copied.
“Now, without adding any extra mana, spread the mana out.” He makes his mana ball grow. “The most important part is to make sure there are no gaps so that the mana is distributed evenly.” He explains.
“Okay, what comes after?” I ask. It’s harder than I thought it would be, so I might as well figure out the rest.
“Once you spread it out as much as you can, usually within a reasonable amount of time for maximum efficiency, you absorb the mana. Afterwards, you just repeat.”
“Okay? How long do I do that?”
“Until you can spread your mana thin enough that you decide it is good enough. Or progress slows to a crawl, whichever comes first.”
“That’s it? It’s just that simple?”
“Yup. The only other thing is once you’ve gotten proficient at that, you should start drawing out thinner and thinner mana, instead of just thinning it afterwards.” He shrugs. “I know it seems simple, but that’s it. I mean, it’s not like it is something grand.”
“I, I guess not. Thanks, I’ll tell you if I have any questions.” I thank as I start practicing.
Honestly, Despite how simple it seems, how does one spread something without gaps? It’s not like you can just make water fill a jar without adding more.
Hmm, what to do.
After a few minutes of nothing, I got an idea. That’s right! If you seal a container of water, there’s air in it! What happens if you remove the air? Something has to fill that space, right?
Um, what ‘air’ am I removing? Haa, failed again. Let’s try something else.
Hmm, what about the opposite? Can things become more dense? I mean, it’s not like you can just squeeze two rocks together and condense them. But that if you had enough force? Enough to break them, but keep the parts together? Something would have to give, right? I know matter can’t be destroyed, so would they somehow combine if you used enough force?
Well, I might as well try it out.
Anyway, after several minutes, I’ve succeeded, at least, a little bit. It’s only a little denser, and oddly unstable, but it’s still a success!
Okay, now that I know it is possible, let’s do it again while paying attention to the process. Then, I can just do the opposite!
“Yes! I did it!” I cheered after I eventually managed to do the opposite and spread out my mana. It was surprisingly simple.
Now to move to the next step, evening out the density. This was also surprisingly difficult as it was surprisingly stretchy. Whenever I pulled some mana from a dense pocket, it was pulled back. I’m gradually getting better though.
“Haa, good enough.” I sigh after some more time has passed. It’s far from even, but, as he said, spending too long on this is inefficient.
So, I absorb the mana and try again.
“You’ve already succeeded!?” The Hero shouts in surprise.
“Yeah? Was I not supposed to?”
“Haa, it’s fine, I was just shocked. You were quite fast.” He sighs, calming himself.
Um, how long does it normally take?”
“Usually a few hours for each step, taking a day’s worth of practice to complete, but you took a bit less than an hour.”
“Oh. Nice!” I smiled.
“Yeah.” He seems a bit bummed. Before I could say anything though, he continued. “Regardless, that’s a good thing, if you were too slow, you might have gotten hurt. As always, your mana trait is pretty useful. Well, I’ll head back to my room, just come ask if you have any problems.”
“Thank you, I will!” I bowed.
Haa, he seemed a bit down. Was, was he jealous? Hmm, I guess even the Hero had to actually learn how to do everything he does. Anyway, he mentioned my mana trait being useful, just like the Cardinal. Is my mana trait the reason why I’ve apparently been having such an easy time controlling my mana?
It would make sense. I do wonder if it’s just because I’m a saintess, or if my mana trait specifically is the cause. Haa, I wish I could talk to the previous Saint. Whatever, I’ll just have to figure this out myself!
Well, after I’m done training my mana of course. Being torn apart definitely wouldn’t be fun.
So, I kept on practicing until it was time to sleep. I’d gotten fairly good at it, I think. Let’s hope this is enough. Oh! Maybe I can try using less dense mana when I’m healing people tomorrow.
I also should learn some better mana vein spells. Casting one every dozen minutes is pretty bad, especially for the first day. That might be my main bottleneck for the rate of my training. Haa, I even had to cast a spell after my density training.
My veins are so weak! I need to hurry up. At least I can use my core as an excuse to take several breaks, so I'll have plenty of time to learn a new spell. I have to do my punishment of healing people that are training, after all.
Haa, tomorrow’s going to be tough.