[Chapter:15][Mana Origin]

"Now then…"

Looking at the half eaten cookie in the plate, I sighed as I set it aside and walked to the kitchen. Why was I there? To make more cookies, of course.

I took the cute white kitty's cookies and candies, and as much as I'd enjoy her glaring at me with an adorable pout, I wouldn't want to make her upset or sad now would I?

"Well, here goes."

Recalling the blessing I had on me…honestly, it didn't change much. I was still as lazy as ever. And I certainly felt like just putting everything down and wandering into dream land.

"Oh, the sacrifices I make…"

With a sigh, I get to baking cookies. I wasn't that good at making candies, since neither I nor Rino had much of a sweet tooth.

"Right, Oota likes sweets. Maybe I should try to make him some."

My best friend had helped me a lot, after all. Spending some effort to gift him some homemade candy didn't sound that bad.

As for the cookies I make, since I started anyway, I might as well make some good ones for everyone.

"Chocolate chip…double chocolate chip…oatmeal…strawberry cookies? Why not, the ingredients are here…mint flavoured…pizza cookies…"

Honestly, the last few I made were quite…weird, so to speak. But well, they taste good anyway.

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

"Finally done…!"

I sighed in relief as I take out the last batch of cookies and put them aside for cooking. A total of thirteen batches of cookies, each a different flavour, and 40 cookies per batch. Now I really feel like just lying don on the sofa and take a well deserved nap…

"But I still haven't actually started yet…"

I could only sigh as I sat on the sofa and crossed my legs, and closed my eyes as I looked at the small quantities of mana which my body naturally generated during the past few hours.

"Too little. Then again, according to the book, the first speck of mana generated naturally would need a magician to be void of all mana for several weeks and even months…"

I could only thank Cael for giving me her blessing. If not for her, I was sure I would take a lot more effort and sacrifice a lot more nap time for this.

"Thank you Cael, truly. You can take a cookie if you want to as my thanks."

…I didn't mean that literally.

Looking at the freshest batch of cookies, which had four cookies missing the very next moment, I felt my lips twitch.

"Well, whatever. Since ours here, might as well take some for your mysterious daughter I haven't met yet."

Another four cookies went missing.

Hope you like them.

"Now then, back to work…"

Taking a deep breath, I recall the method used to stimulate the natural mana generation the body and soul, and followed it.

At the same time, I also recalled other useful techniques.

'Basic body reinforcement…and basic mana circulation.'

He former was a spell, sort of, while the latter was more of a 'cultivation' technique. Those were some of the few applications of mana that were present in the books, the rest of them stuff being pure theory which I had already memorised and history I skipped entirely.

'Circulate the mana through your body…through your soul…'

The first step was to spread the mana throughout the body. To do this, of course, a fairly large quantity of mana is first required.

With my current rate of mana generation, obviously, that wasn't happening anytime soon. But there were several ways to take care of that.

The most basic one was to consciously generate mana. There was a large difference between subconscious and conscious actions, after all.

All this time, my body and soul had, all by themselves, been generating mana. But now that I am consciously doing it…

*weng!*

My body shook as I felt the pain course through it like waves or pulses.

'Painful…!'

I could only grit my teeth and continue, however. Artificially stimulating the body to quicken things it'll do by itself…obviously, there would be certain consequences. What I a, experiencing now is the least dangerous one of them all.

Pain, I am actually quite used to it. Or at least, I used to be used to it. The past three, four years of peace seemed to have dulled my nerves, though.

'More…I need more…!'

The mana within me started to become active, agitated. It swirled within me as more and more began to appear seemingly out of nowhere…

'No, not out of nowhere.'

My 'vision' sank into the centre of my mana reservoir, and then towards the source of the turbulent mana even as I felt the pain pulse through my body. At the very centre of the storm of mana, was a tiny, pulsating crystal.

'This is new…'

I stopped stimulating my natural mana generation, and watched in surprise as the crystal slowly stopped pulsating. No, rather, it slowed down.

'Is this…like the mana version of a heart?'

It seemed quite similar, to be honest. The crystal, other than the shape, pulsed every now and then, and emanated a wave of mana from within it. At the same time, it seemed to siphon a very small quantity of mana for itself, perhaps to maintain its own existence?

A pulse which reached outward from the centre of the crystal generated mana, while another pulse which began from the edges of the crystal and travelled towards the centre seemed to consume some mana, just like the rhythmic expansion and contraction of a heart.

'So assuming this is the 'core' of my mana reservoir…my 'source', so to speak…'

I curious why no book mentioned such a thing, yet recalled that my 'mana vision', my ability to 'see' mana, was something it hadn't mentioned either.

'Is it something that is like a secret…or is it unique to me alone…?'

Regardless, what mattered now was what am I to do with this…