-222- Significant improvement in strength

"Ding ding ding—ding ding ding—ding ding ding—"

An annoying sound suddenly echoed in a room that wasn't too large nor too small, continuing its clamor.

The source of the noise was an alarm clock.

Although the clock's design was modern and electronic, the alarm sound was set to be quite old-fashioned, which indicated the owner's personality. It was either rather old-fashioned or just lazy.

A hand reached out from under the blanket and forcefully silenced the electronic alarm clock placed on the bedside table. Then, the head of a young boy emerged from under the covers.

Staring blankly at the time displayed on the clock on the bedside table, the boy rubbed his sleepy eyes and muttered after a while.

"... Why can't the world be forty-eight hours a day and the sleep time is twenty-four hours?"

With a complaint that could even challenge the laws of the world, the boy reluctantly got up from his bed.

He wore a white short-sleeved shirt on top.

Comfortable shorts adorned his lower half.

His face carried an air of laziness.

His whole being exuded a lack of energy and a sense of lethargy.

Other than Rozen, who else could it be?

Of course, only he himself knew his name for now.

In the eyes of others, he was an incredible boy, Kirigaya Aoka, who was adopted from an orphanage ten years ago by Kirigaya Midori, a computer editor.

"Ten years, huh..."

Rozen slapped his cheeks, muttered unconsciously, and then took a look around the room he was in.

This was an utterly ordinary room.

As long as they weren't from wealthy families or particularly poor households, in this world and country, the size of a typical child's single room was likely similar to this one, right?

Inside the room, there were no forbidden magic books, nor distant communication devices. There were only ordinary manga, novels, magazines on the bookshelves, as well as textbooks, notebooks, and bags spread out on the indoor desk.

If there was something particularly conspicuous in this room, it was the high-performance desktop computer that appeared to be very modern.

The computer's interface was still on.

Displayed on it was the interface of a very popular PC game, indicating how enthusiastic the room's owner was about gaming.

In fact, Rozen quite like this world.

In this world, the gaming industry had expanded rapidly, causing other industries to be influenced more or less by gaming. Some industries were gradually emerging in the business world, while others were fading away, resulting in game-related news and reports everywhere.

Especially in recent years, the gaming industry had undergone significant changes, allowing Rozen to enjoy it thoroughly.

However, at the same time, Rozen was also quite helpless.

"Why is this world devoid of any mysteries?"

Over the course of ten full years, Rozen had tried various methods to search, but he still hadn't been able to find a single magus. There wasn't even a trace of magic present.

What's more, even the Mana had disappeared without a trace in this world.

The so-called "Mana" referred to the life force filling the outside world.

It was well known that a magus's magical energy was derived from life force.

However, the life force converted into magical energy didn't necessarily have to be one's own. External life force could also serve as a source of substantial magical energy.

In this context, a magus's source of magical energy could be divided into two types.

One was magical energy derived from the "Mana"

The other was magical energy derived from the "Od".

The Mana was the life force abundant in the outside world, which was the life force of the "planet" itself. Although it was almost of the same nature as the "Od", there was a significant difference in quantity.

The "Od" was the life force a magician held within themselves. Even considering the difference between individuals, the amount of life force differed entirely. Compared to the "Mana", it was like comparing a drop of water to the ocean.

Magicians could use the pseudo-neurons in their magical circuits to draw in life force from the outside world and convert it into magical energy. They could also use their own life force to transform into magical energy.

However, the amount of magical energy a magician could convert from the "Mana" was limited by the quality of their magical circuits. Even if the "Mana" were infinite, it couldn't be used without limit. Additionally, there was a limit to how much magical energy one could hold, and the process of converting external life force into magical energy was also quite difficult to control. Therefore, it wasn't possible to convert a massive amount of "Mana" into magical energy and store it up.

On the other hand, with the "Od", since it was the magus's own possession, it didn't require the absorption process the Mana did, making it easy to control. Consequently, in the modern era, many magus used the "Od" to generate magical energy.

Of course, using one's own life force to convert magical energy, as Rozen did, would result in affecting the body if overdone.

Considering this, it might be troublesome, but even so one should use the "Mana" magical energy, right?

However, firstly, magus are not entities concerned about their own safety. As long as they can reach the Root, it doesn't matter even if they lose their lives. Secondly, the mysterious decline is also evident in the continuous decrease and deterioration of the Mana, which has led to the situation where magus now use Od to generate magical energy.

Once the Mana completely disappears, it will mark the complete decline of magus in this world.

In view of this, the more modern it gets, the more magus go mad, desperate to reach the Root at any cost. If there's a reason for this, that might be it.

The problem lies here.

Since arriving in this world ten years ago, Rozen realized.

"This world simply doesn't have a Mana."

In the Automaton World, Rozen could still feel the existence of the Mana, even more abundant than at Chaldea. It allowed the magus in that world to form a group that could be recognized by the public. Magus were present in the military, schools, and households alike.

But in this world, the Mana had completely vanished, causing Rozen to be dumbfounded for a good while initially. It took a while for him to recover.

"It's fortunate that 'Miracles' can open doors between worlds. Otherwise, without the Mana, even using magic would have adverse effects."

With this thought, Rozen could continue practicing his magic and even pursue his research in this utterly ordinary, completely un-mysterious world. While progress in training and research was slower due to the loss of many external conditions, Rozen still steadily improved over these ten years.

Moreover, Rozen had even discovered a method in this world that could significantly enhance his strength in a short amount of time.

Thinking of that method, Rozen's mood suddenly brightened.

"If things go smoothly, perhaps I can gain the power to directly confront Servants, maybe even more."

Rozen thought to himself.

Just as Rozen was thinking about it...

"Aoka!"

A familiar voice came from outside the door. To be more precise, it came from downstairs.

The owner of the voice was Kirigaya Midori, Rozen's foster mother who adopted him ten years ago.

"Come down for breakfast!"

Kirigaya Midori shouted, bringing Rozen back to his senses.

"Coming!"

With a yawn, Rozen got out of bed and walked towards the door.

//// Just to point out I used the term Mana In the previous chapters without knowing it's an actual thing in FGO. The term Mana, Od and prana took me a while to find it. You can search it up yourself. Man had to search through Type moon wiki to find these name... And Please ignore the Mana I used in the previous chapters cuz I thought it was just short term for magical energy ////