Chapter 37 - Mana Cycling

"Arakil!" Lily said excitedly as she hastily pulled the book from beneath her mattress and placed it on her desk.

She only had a brief moment, so she needed to get her questions out of the way before she went to classes. If she didn't, they would eat at her all day, not to mention that she wanted to confirm that her extra meditation wouldn't be harmful in any way.

"I just finished with my doctor's checkup. He didn't mention my Mana Core at all. But apparently, I'm getting better? My constitution has improved, according to the doctor. He said it might be because I'm growing, but I think it's because I'm circulating Mana. I woke up feeling amazing this morning, and anytime I spin my Core, it feels refreshing."

[Good morning, Lily. I'm glad to hear that your health is improving and there are no adverse effects from being unconscious for so long. To answer your question, your body has never been saturated with Mana, so the first time this happens, it is somewhat euphoric; this will lessen with time as it becomes more natural.

As for your constitution improving, I can only presume without giving you a thorough examination myself. Still, it sounds like the Mana could be removing impurities that have built up in your body over time or perhaps always existed within. You mentioned the circumstances surrounding your birth being complicated and that you are unlike your peers.]

"Yes, I've always been very small…" Lily confirmed somberly. "I don't look my age at all, and I've never been able to run and jump around without getting sick or collapsing."

She smiled happily, secretly hoping she'd finally start to grow; then, her head and ears wouldn't be so easily attacked by others!

"I have to run to classes, but I wanted to ask about spinning my Mana Core. Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing with it? At the moment, I just spin it and let the Mana spread out, and then I start spiraling it back in."

[Once again, I'm glad you are eager to learn. Your current training regiment is perfectly suited for general practice. If it weren't for the environment being so barren of ambient Mana, it would be a good way to further cultivate your Core. As for further practice, you can try guiding the spreading of Mana to a particular location. I'd start with attempting to gather it solely in your dominant hand.]

"Okay! I'll do that. Thanks, Arakil!" Lily said excitedly.

She packed her stationary away before returning the book to its hiding spot. Then she grabbed her stuff before hastily heading to classes.

Other than her teachers asking about her health and confirming that she was good enough to start lessons again, nothing much happened. Lily had wished she could have fibbed to get out of classes, but she knew it would only come back to bite her—she did not want to earn Margit's ire.

Whenever there was a quiet moment in classes, such as when she had finished the exercise ahead of time, she would immediately start trying her Mana Core exercises. She was fascinated by them and hoped Arakil would be wrong about the feeling going away over time. She loved them; they were like a soothing mist spreading out into her being.

When circulating her Mana, she struggled to get it to gather in one spot. It felt akin to trying to herd cats, and the Mana constantly wanted to fill her entire body rather than just her hand. The best she could accomplish was getting it to spread to the right side of her body, which felt very peculiar like only half of her body was dunked in the soothing mist.

When classes were over, she met up with Rose for lunch. The girl was happy to see Lily out and about and barraged her with questions about the doctor's visit and how it went.

"So it sounds like you're getting healthier? That's amazing!" Rose said happily.

"I did five jumping jacks!" Lily bragged with a giggle. "I was just excited to eventually be able to use magic; I had no idea this would even happen."

"I guess I owe Arakil another apology…" Rose mumbled. "Although the wall took all the damage."

"I can't believe you threw the book!" Lily teased.

Rose sighed and shook her head. "The anger outbursts are not fun… It's why I've begun being more agreeable to Lady Desthu's suggestions."

"I can imagine… I wish you didn't have to go so soon, though." Lily admitted.

"We will have at least two weekends to try doing a bit of monster hunting!" Rose said excitedly. "Assuming you get your spell stuff working by then."

"Well, I got the one attack scroll left, but I've been practicing moving my Mana around. Then, hopefully, I can imbue some ink soon and use that to make some new spells."

"Any idea what you'll do for your bloodline magic?" Rose asked.

"I haven't really thought about it… Arakil kinda focuses on the foundation before discussing later topics, but I hope it's something starry!" Lily replied excitedly.

"Starry?" Rose questioned. "I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that, although admittedly, I don't really pay that much attention to anything not fire."

"I really liked the starry landscape Arakil filled my room with when he first showed me magic," Lily explained. "So if I can learn something that looks sparkly like a night full of stars, or maybe like a glowing moon, then that's what I would pick. But… I'll probably defer to Arakil's judgment; he's the Archmage."

"Yeah, listening to the ancient magical book makes sense," Rose nodded. "I'm surprised he isn't teaching you some magic chants yet, though."

"I'm sure he has a good reason…" Lily answered. "I already have a lot on my plate at the moment, and I don't want to get too distracted while I learn how to get my Mana to flow properly."

"Maybe you should quit your job at the potion shop?" Rose suggested.

"I don't want to do that!" Lily immediately rejected the idea. "I owe Miss Camilla money, and if I get in her bad books, then I might not be able to get another Mana potion."

"Right … Well, what about dropping the scribe work?" Rose tried again.

"I could …" Lily murmured in thought. "But it's very easy work. I feel like I'd be giving up free money and ink supplies. I'm surprised people are so bad with their writing that they pay me to do it in the first place."

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"Hey, don't knock yourself down!" Rose scolded. "You've put in an amazing amount of effort; I don't think I've ever seen someone use a pen so well!"

Lily blushed and nodded.

They continued to chat for a bit during lunch and again while Rose escorted Lily to the shop for her afternoon of work.

Lily asked Rose how she used Mana, which sounded very different from how her Core worked. Rose effectively had Mana flowing throughout her entire body constantly in her blood, and rather than spreading it out before using it, she would seize control of it in bursts.

Rose obviously couldn't control her blood flow, so the idea of having it gathered only in her hand was an extremely foreign concept. The only equivalent she could point to was that she would "raise the temperature" of her blood in her throat when she chanted or her fingers when she was manipulating fire with her bloodline.

I don't think I have the Mana capacity to constantly keep it flowing throughout my entire body and then flare it up in bursts when I need it. At least not yet… Maybe that will change if I manage to nurture my Core enough?

Arriving at the shop, Lily waved goodbye to Rose before entering. Camilla brightened up when she saw her enter.

"I'm glad to see you in one piece!" Camila said with a slightly teasing tone. "When Margit told me you were sick, I must admit I thought perhaps you had done something stupid like drinking something toxic or perhaps stayed up past your bedtime drawing glyphs throughout the night."

Lily shook her head. "No, nothing like that, I promise you."

Camilla nodded. "Well, good! Although I must admit, you don't look like someone who was sick for two days. Were you playing hooky?"

Lily once again shook her head in denial. "I slept the entire two days. I got checked out by Doctor Teofelis, and he said I'm better than ever."

"Oh? That horse is still kicking around?" Camilla said with a short cackle. "I bet he blamed me for you being sick?"

"Actually, he thought you gave me an elixir to make me better," Lily admitted.

Camilla howled with laughter. "That's a good one! I like you, my dear, but I'm certainly not running a charity shop. In fact, if you hadn't returned to work soon enough, I might have had to send the loan sharks after you!" Camilla teased with a mischievous grin.

Lily giggled. "I told him you didn't give me anything. They think it might be from all my walks and fresh air lately. I've certainly been living a very indoor life before this."

"Good, good!" Camilla nodded in agreement. "One must try their best to get some fresh air, and daily walks can do a world of good. I'm relieved to hear my number one apprentice is in perfect health."

"Well, not perfect health," Lily admitted.

"Good enough to draw some glyphs and grind some herbs?" Camilla asked.

Lily nodded.

"That's perfect health in my books!" Camilla said with another short cackle.

Lily started drawing some of the glyphs that Camilla requested. When she finished a glyph, she would do a short cycle of her Mana before moving on to the next one. She wanted to get in as much practice as possible whenever she could find even a minor moment.

Camilla seemed oddly distracted today, spilling her ingredients or glancing at Lily while working. Occasionally, she would mutter to herself, but nothing audible enough for Lily.

Camilla would occasionally check on Lily's work. At first, Lily thought the woman was concerned about her health, but it was becoming increasingly frequent.

Lily was beginning to become a bit paranoid about it. Was she screwing up the work somehow? Lily started to double-check her tasks but couldn't find any flaws. Was Camilla upset that she was working a bit slower than normal?

So, Lily stopped her cycle between tasks and only did it when Camilla left to deal with a customer. She wanted to complain that the woman was a slave driver, but she still felt bad about how the woman had basically loaned her the Mana potion, so she held her tongue.

That was how most of the afternoon went until Camilla called Lily over to one of her cauldrons.

"I need to deal with some customers I'm expecting at the front of the shop. Can you continue stirring this cauldron for me while I'm busy if that's okay?" Camilla asked.

It was a bit of a strange request; Camilla had never asked her to do anything like this before.

"Are you sure? Isn't this a potion?" Lily asked, worried that she'd never dealt with anything more than a tincture or remedy.

"It's just some stirring girl; anyone can do it!" Camilla responded.

Lily nodded in agreement.

As Camilla was leaving, she turned as if remembering an absent thought. "Oh right, call me if it changes to a pinkish color. Otherwise, just keep stirring!"

"Okay! Keep stirring until you come back, or it becomes pink," Lily repeated the instructions.

Camilla nodded and then closed the door behind her, leaving Lily alone in the room.

Lily grasped the handle of the long ladle and began stirring. She couldn't help but admire this handle, which was much fancier than the ones she had used for her tinctures and seemed to be made from some form of special metal.

Lily stirred and stirred, yet the mixture remained unchanging, and Camilla had yet to return. She began growing bored, and her mind began to flit about. She felt the work was monotonous enough that she could try sneaking in some Mana cycling practice to help pass the time.

It's not like I'm doing anything mentally taxing; I'm just stirring.

So Lily began to cycle. She spun her Mana Core with relative ease and felt it distribute through her body. She then tried focusing on gathering the Mana in her hands, and to her surprise, the flow seemed a lot more directed than when she usually attempted to do it.

She felt the Mana leave her lower extremities first and then concentrate on her arms. Excited by the prospect, she continued attempting to direct it toward her dominant hand, but the process seemed to be replicating on both sides. In the hope of finding success, she relented in trying to distribute it to both hands.

Her hands felt warm and soothing. Lily was so excited by the prospect that she hardly noticed that it started to leak out of her hands and into the large handle. She kept stirring the cauldron and glimpsed that the concoction was no longer brownish but had rapidly become pinkish.

Lily gasped and quickly stopped trying to focus the Mana in her hands, beginning the spiral process to recall her Mana.

"Miss Camilla! It turned pink!" Lily shouted, barely noticing that her Core seemed a little emptier than normal.

Lily wasn't sure how long she was supposed to wait, so she kept stirring. Thankfully, Camilla appeared rather rapidly after her announcement.

Rather than thank Lily, the woman immediately looked at the cauldron and hummed in thought. She took the ladle from Lily, lifting up some of the contents and sniffing it before dipping a finger into the contents and giving it a lick.

Lily tilted her head in question when the woman finally spoke.

"Congratulations on brewing your first magical potion!" Camilla said with an almost predatory smirk.

"Wh-what?" Lily blurted out.