Mana Lake

"Here I am. At the place where everything has begun."

Oscar stood in front of the mana lake. This was the place he discovered mana. Where all of this... fantastic life begins. Before the battles with spirits began everything was slowly progressing and thus giving him the chance to enjoy his new life. So far everything was incredible for him.

"It feels like years have passed already. After all of this, I will take a vacation."

'Yay! Vacation in the Human Realm, I can't wait!' said Kairi.

Kairi was excited about the idea of a vacation in the Human Realm. She was curious about Oscar's world. The possible adventures she could have with Oscar was tempting for her. Living most of her life in a cocoon without her consciousness left much to desire for her.

"We have to solve the problem of collapsing of the Spirit Realm. After that, we could travel across the world. I know some good countries. There is the country of rice, Sanraisu at the far east, the country of the love, Amouret at the east of our country, etc. They are good places for vacations, I heard a lot of good things about them."

'We are definitely going vacation after this! I can wait for the country of rice, I want to eat some rice! All this time I saw you eating it and it looks so tasty!'

Kairi was watching Oscar living his everyday life. It was fascinating for her, even living a normal life was something she longed for. In the Spirit Realm, life was dull. Everyone was trying to prevent their mana from running out and causing them to die.

Oscar couldn't help but smile hearing Kairi. He knew from her that how she lived so far. Her life was sad and depressing. She was the last survivor of her clan, sealed in a cocoon so that she can survive but in exchange for that, she almost never lived her life properly.

Taking a vacation would be good for her. Of course for himself too. It was almost two months now from the moment he gained mana. Staying constantly alert and battle-ready is putting a lot of pressure on him. He sometimes needs to relax.

Sanraisu is especially the target of Oscar. Not they are famous for their cuisine but for their literature too. Their novels, mangas, and animes are attracting Oscar.

"Should we go to Comi... What was its name again? Well, that event looks interesting, we should go there."

While talking to himself Oscar reached the mana lake. It was made out of liquid mana but is it really?

'Oscar... This is... A lake full of blood?'

"What?!"

'It must be a blood of a higher being. I only heard stories about them from my mother.'

"You mean... the liquid mana... is actually blood... All this time I drink someone's blood?!"

'Well... yes. You did.'

Oscar shuddered and fell on his knees. Drinking someone else's blood is disgusting and it made Oscar's stomach hurt. He wanted to vomit but he kept it. It was shocking. All this time he thought it was just liquid mana but now he learns that it was a blood of a higher being.

It took five minutes for Oscar to recover himself. He took a deep breath and walked at the edge of the mana lake. It wasn't a big lake but it was enough to hold fifteen people inside. All of this is actually blood... What kind of creature can have this much blood?

"Is it a giant? There is too much blood."

'You recovered quickly, huh. It can't be a giant. There is no miasma here. If I have to guess, it should be an Ancient Spirit or a Deity Spirit.'

"What are those? It's my first time hearing these names."

'Ancient Spirits are said to be first members of our race. I only heard them in the legends of our clan. But Deity Spirits... They are real. Long before I was born some Great Spirits evolved and turned into The Deity Spirits. Even one member of my clan evolved one. There are records of it in the clan library.'

Oscar was dumbfounded because of the information he learned. What Kairi said implies that Spirits were in Human Realm before the collapse of the Spirit Realm. What was the true meaning of this? But there were some questions he had.

"How can a Spirit could have blood? I thought all of you had bodies made of mana and core. And... you guys can evolve? Enough to reach godhood?!"

'We don't know much about them. Not every spirit can evolve they need special materials and a huge amount of mana to evolve. As for blood, I don't really know. Normal spirits are exactly as you said but Deity Spirits are abnormal and mysterious.'

"I see."

Oscar looked at the mana lake. He activated his Spirit Eyes and observed it. This blood is almost made of complete mana but there are some other minimal things. They are mostly biological matters. It was truly like blood, well it IS blood.

Kairi said that mana harms my body so this is the cause of it. But the biological aspect of this blood is completely another matter. It should have been the disastrous outcome this. But nothing happened so far.

'Are my tissues and body is compatible with it? There is no side effect on me. Well, Lydia and Jason fine too but they are in the end abnormal. Their body easily accepted mana, unlike mine.' thought Oscar.

He was working on a spell to create tissues and possibly organs. He used the Nature Magic Lydia created as a base and focus on the creation of living cells. After all, plants have cells too. So if Nature Magic can create plant cells it can also create other cells too. But when he came to the lake to refill his mana batteries to make some more experiments he wasn't expected to learn so many shocking things.

His Spirit Eyes has the ability to inspect things at the microscopic level. It is very limited to things that are close to him but it still is extremely useful. Thanks to this ability of his he noticed the biological content of mana blood. There were some cells that were barely alive. They were far stronger than his own cells. So, he had an incredible idea. But before that, he had the ask Kairi.

"Kairi, you see what I see. Can it work? As far as I see my body isn't rejecting it. If I make tissues and organs from these cells and add them to my own body, can it fix my body and let me generate mana?"

'...If you do it slowly it can work. But are you sure of it? It is dangerous.'

Oscar was silent. He thought about himself, his friends, and his enemies. The collapse of the Spirit Realm was almost at its final stage. And the spirits who cross the Human Realm began the use humans as their vessels. These are all bad news and they are getting even worse. He has to do something.

"Yes, I am sure. I have to do this."