About three months ago, Lima Bean had stumbled upon a gold mine. A field littered with different crops including her favorite food: lima beans.

She was just about to begin to gorge herself when another contender showed up looking to steal her prize: a meerkat. He stared at her tauntingly, flicking his wrists and making threatening noises. As if she would be scared off by a meer meerkat.

The audacity of that beast!

She had ignored it and went about collecting lima beans; she would save some for later when she was in safer territories as her search would often lead her to human lands.

Unfortunately, the meerkat would not be denied his chance at infuriating her. He snapped at her tail and shoved her this way and that. She was getting annoyed as he would easily dodge her [Wind Gusts] and [Wind Chops].

Intent on getting rid of him, she searched for something in her that would carry out enough force to blow the pesky beast away. She had found her mana pool. She hadn't known what it was at the time, but it looked somewhat powerful, so she gathered up nearly all of it and blew at the meerkat.

That was the day [Torpedo] was born and she'd feasted upon thousands of lima beans (about 50 or so).

Now, as Lima Bean sat in her usual place underneath the falcon's nest tree, she searched for that energy again. The minutes went by and still, her search resulted in nothing. But she refused to give up; if she could just find some sign of it, she would be free to look for all the lima beans she wanted. She would eat until her heart's content.

And then she saw a little tendril of...something gently nudging at her mind. It wanted her to follow, so she did. She traveled for what seemed like ages until she found it―the mana pool.

During her battle with the meerkat, it wasn't worth more than a puddle. Now, it looked like an ocean. Waves upon waves of mana threw itself on her core. Eager, she grasped as much as she could and tugged. And as she watched her mana come to her, she felt something break and then―

Stolen novel; please report.

Pain. All she felt was a deep, burning pain as the mana slammed against the fragile barrier of her core. She felt the cracks spread and then-and then...

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When Lima Bean woke up again, she was curled up in the furs, something small and soft pressed against her side with another something gently tapping her head. She groggily reached up and tugged at Bo's ear, her signal for him to get off.

He refused and proceeded to bury his head even deeper into her stomach. She sighed and cuddled him a bit longer. Babies were so needy.

But she would allow it for him. She felt a tinge of guilt because of her recklessness but waved it away. She was fine and Bo was just being a big baby...An even bigger baby than he already was.

She patted his head and said: 'Alright, alright. That's enough, get off.'

Reluctantly, the leveret untangled himself from her and sat up. His eyes were red and puffy as he stared down at her, and he had little hiccups. 'Michi said you hurt yourself super badly.'

'I'm fine, Bo. Stop worrying.'

He wrinkled his nose and his expression tugged at her heartstrings. He was so adorable. 'But...he said it was because of your mana.'

'Well...yeah. But I told you, I'm fine. My mana settled in my core right now.'

Bo looked alarmed at this. 'It's still inside you?'

'Bo, mana's inside all of us.'

'Yeah, but...Mine's never hurt me!'

She shrugged and waddled over to the entrance. 'I got a little careless...Anyway, I'm going back to train with Michi.'

'What?'

Bo leaped from the furs and landed right in front of her. 'You can't go back! It hurt you!'

'Bo-'

He interrupted her, looking into her eyes: 'You have to promise me you won't use mana again!'

Lima Bean shifted uncomfortably. She didn't want to lie to Bo but she also didn't want to make a promise that could potentially ruin her future. If she could somehow make her [Torperdoes] even more deadly when she learned better control...

Sighing, she looked at Bo and said with the most convincing smile she could muster: 'I promise I won't use my mana...that recklessly again.'

He smiled and stepped out of the way. Guiltily, she walked up to the surface. Technically, she hadn't been lying. She didn't plan on using her mana that dangerously again. She would train diligently and be the best mage she could be. It was for Bo; she had to do this.

But why did it feel so wrong?