“Say what now? You can be my bag? You mean as in my bag of holding?” Confusion plastered my face, and I tilted my head. “You also didn’t tell me how you’re able to speak inside my head.”

“Master! You have to promise me first! Promise you won’t sell me!”

“I did say I was kidding,” I reminded the voice, acting like a child in my head.

“No! You have to promise me you’ll never sell me!”

I glanced at the bead. It seemed like it was pleading with me somehow? At least it felt that way.

I sighed, “okay, okay. I promise.”

“Yey!”

“Ok, so now tell me how you're doing this.”

“Okay! Well it’s because Master entered the contract with me, and you also completed the criteria to awaken me. Since we’re tethered together through the contract, we can communicate telepathically.”

My eyebrows narrowed and squeezed together. I didn’t like the sound of what I was hearing, specifically regarding entering into a contract I didn’t remember agreeing nor signing.

“Don’t be mad, master! This benefits us both! You get a bag better than the one you have, and I get to stay awake!”

“Another bag of holding?” I tapped my finger on my chin. “I suppose. But I don’t like entering into contracts without reading the details and the fine print.”

My voice lowered and turned sharp and cold. “Especially contracts forced upon me without my knowledge.”

The bead looked unchanged, but I got the feeling it was sweating? I wasn’t sure how, but it seemed to tremble. Feels mighty guilty, but oddly I wanted to know more.

I continued probing.

“So what are the terms to our agreement?”

“Promise not to be mad?”

I had a bad feeling and kept quiet.

“Promise?” The voice spoke like a child knowing they were in trouble.

I narrowed my eyes in response. “I can’t promise this. Just tell me. It seems we’ve already entered the contract somehow anyway.”

“Yes…” The voice gave a nervous pause. “Well, the contract started when your blood was placed on my shell.”

“My blood… oh, I see…” I looked at the red tint on the black bead before continuing, “and this black bead is your shell? You live inside it then?”

“It’s not a black bead, master! You couldn’t even find “sarzite” in the other realms! Even a black pearl couldn’t compare! It’s far more rare than any gems on this planet!”

“Oh.” My eyes gleamed with greedy happiness at the bead in my hand. “Even rare gems can’t compare, huh? Hehehe. I see.” I smiled the largest and widest toothy grin.

“Poor Lancelots, I won’t hold anything against you all anymore! I’ll forgive you for giving me such a precious parting gift.”

I laughed like a mad man, but I couldn’t help it. I loved it when just desserts were given.

“Master. Your face is a bit perverted right now.”

I snorted at the bead. But couldn’t help reverting back to my so-called perverted grinning face.

“Ahem.” I hid my greed and smoothed out my face as best I could. “Anyway, you were saying? The contract was made upon contact of my blood, right? What else?“

“Well master… um. The other criteria to awaken me requires energy. And the good thing is that you have lots of divine energy like that of a saint! But.”

“Buuuut?”

“But… I need energy to stay awake so… I constantly consume over half of your divine energy.”

“Oh.” I took a moment to digest what I just heard. “Huh? Over half my divine energy. Wait. Half?! All the time?!”

“Um. And I might. Need. More?”

“More. More divine energy!?” The bead’s words sunk in. My mind was shooketh.

“Master! Master! Please don’t be mad! You’ll get a good dimensional world where you can store your items and even live in! Kind of like your bag there! With more mana I can do even more!”

“Huh? A dimensional world? What?” I must have heard wrong.

“My bag is a dimensional storage, but it’s not a world. I can’t live inside that bag.” I said to the “pearl.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I almost laughed, imagining how I’d stretch and rip the bag opening. It wouldn’t even fit both of my feet.

Unable to hold back from seeing the funny image, I chuckled.

“What’s so funny, master?”

“What you said, of course! My bag would rip at such an attempt.” I said, chuckling more.

“I don’t get it.”

The humor dried up. It wasn’t that funny anyway. I sighed.

“You’re joking with me right? Telling me that you can provide a physical dimension that is similar to the real world?”

“Um. No? It’s true.”

“Why do you seem uncertain then?”

“No. I’m certain, but I don't know why you’re surprised, master.”

“Hold on.” Now I was confused.

Rubbing my nose bridge, I continued. “You’re talking about a dimensional bag and not a dimensional world, right? They’re not the same.”

“Yes. But they are?” The bead gave a baffling statement/question. “It’s just that your bag has not expanded or evolved into becoming a dimensional world.”

I paused. “Wait. So you're saying that it can be?”

“Of course. All dimensional storage items can. Though acquiring all the items and meeting the requirements are tricky, it can be done. Afterall, they are based upon the same principles.”

My mind was once again blown.

I dozed off thinking about what I just heard. In the grand scheme of things, it made sense. Just that no one ever considered it because even a normal bag of holding was hard to make, let alone turning it into a whole world.

I took a while to digest what I heard, but I was definitely intrigued.

“So your name was Tei-? Teck-?”

“Tensel, Master.” The pearl quickly corrected me.

“Right. Tensel. Ok. So you need half my divine energy to stay awake, and in return, I get a dimensional world. But what did you mean when you said you needed more divine energy?”

“Well it doesn’t have to be specifically divine energy, but currently that’s all that you have unlocked and trained. But to unlock and grow all my abilities, I need more energy.”

A long lost nervous feeling resurfaced in my heart. The only edge I had over other healers was my absurdly large amount of divine energy. And even then I was still looked down upon. Now that my sole strength diminished, I felt handicapped.

The wheels in my head spun as I thought about how to deal with this major problem.

“Mana potions.” I said, the words echoing loudly in my mind.

That was the only way to barely recuperate my used divine energy.

Yet, I still worried.

Images of disdainful looks from the others in the guilds flooded my mind. Making a living as a freelance healer was not easy. I couldn’t join any church either.

“I don’t understand humans. Why would they berate the healers? And why would you need mana potions? They don’t recover much divine energy.”

“Because healing is not a glorious occupation. Contribution, unfortunately, is quantified more by how many enemies are taken down rather than how many comrades healed. The majority of hunters or adventurers are combat occupations. And they all use this standard. Even though healers are also on the front lines, we fight different battles. As such, healers have never been treated as equals by the other combat professions.”

Tensel went quiet, contemplating my response. I added more food for thought.

“To answer the second half of your questions, there is no optimal way to recover spiritual energy other than meditation or prayer. But mana potions have some effect for recovering spiritual energy, even if it’s low. During a fight with lives at stake, potions are better than praying.”

I felt like Tensel nodded in agreement in my head.

“Makes sense, Master. I understand your dilemma. Hmmm… let me think.”

“What is there to think about?” I asked.

“I want to help you, Master. You’re in a disadvantageous position. For my sake, master’s spiritual energy is permanently consumed, and more will be needed if I am to recover. But then, master will be deeply troubled. Yet, I do not want to disappear or get sold either. I like Master, even if Master makes perverted faces or likes perverted books.”

Strange.

I felt a nostalgic sensation I long forgotten by listening to Tensel’s rambling. The feeling didn’t emanate from Tensel. It was warm and fuzzy that came from within me. It was strangely soothing.

“Was I truly happy by what Tensel said?” I thought to myself, wanting to cringe.

It was kind of offensive, I’m not going to lie. However, I was touched. For a long time now, my heart was guarded. I didn’t think some simple words would lower my defenses.

Tensel’s continued rambling kept surprising me. But this time in a bad way.

“Hmmm… in that case how about Master open up the other energy sources for Tensel’s use? Since master is a healer, Tensel can use Master’s other energy sources. How about it master?”

I felt like this little pearl kept talking about impossible nonsense.

“How about it, you asked?” I scoffed, no longer feeling fuzzy.

“More like how is that even possible!? And you said it so easily, like it was so common! Let me give you some real common sense then! It’s common knowledge that healers only use spiritual energies, mages only use mana, and warriors only use aura. How can I, a healer, have, let alone use mana or aura?!”

“What do you mean, master? You can. They work under the same principles.”

Tensel’s innocent matter-of-fact tone irked me further.

“Same principles? Same principles!? Do you understand what you're saying?! They’re not the same at all!”

“No, they’re not. They’re separate sources, yes. But I didn’t say they were the same. I said they’re under the same principles. All things were once one. Therefore they all are based on the same principle on some level.”

“But!” I could not completely refute Tensel. “That was then, they’re now different. At this level they are different!”

“Yes, that is true. But I am not proposing for Master to merge them back to the origin of all energy. Master can sense mana and aura even though Master only uses divine energy, right?”

Again, I could not refute.

Tensel was right. I nodded in agreement. I could sense mana, and so could everyone else. All humans could sense all different types of energy. However, sensing and using are two different things.

Tensel continued. “Since the current human body has access to more than one energy source, master can allow Tensel to tap into Master’s unopened energy sources.”

“That’s not possible! One human can only use one source!”

Tensel seemed taken aback.

“Why does Master believe that? Humans can tap into multiple sources. Such as a Paladin, which is a specialized Healer profession. Paladins infuse divine energy and aura or qi into their skills and techniques.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“What nonsense are you even saying!? Paladins merely buff themselves with support magic to make their physical capabilities increase similarly like that of an occupation that specializes in close combat. In the end they are still only using divine energy! Paladins are nothing more than a fancy term for Healers who mastered support magic in addition to healing!”

“No master, that is not a true paladin.” Tensel retorted.

I couldn’t believe Tensel, and I didn’t want to argue anymore. It went nowhere. Everything I learned and was taught refuted all Tensel said. But yet again, in the grand scheme of things, Tensel’s assertions would, in theory, be possible.

However, my twenty-five years of trained ego would not allow me to accept Tensel’s claims.

“Then prove it, Tensel!”

“So master will allow it!? Thank you, master!”

The radiating excitement I felt coming from Tensel gave me the impression he misunderstood me, but that was fine. He’d learn the hard way. I sighed.

“Fine. Yes. But I don’t know anything about how to do so. So do you know then?” I asked in reply.

“Umm. Well, no. Tensel doesn’t have the exact knowledge per say.”

“What? Then how?! You can’t expect me to figure it out!”

“But you will, master?”

Tensel’s nonchalant matter-of-fact tone blew up my blood pressure. Sensing my elevated frustrations, Sensel attempted to console me.

“Be calm, master! Be calm. I don’t have the knowledge, but I can allow master to read it. As long as master follows the instructions, master can also become an outstanding user of the sword and magic!”

I felt a beaming smile coming from the dull black bead.

“Let’s go right now, Master!”

However, I couldn’t help but worry about what that little bead had in store for me.