Chapter 8

Chapter eight : where is mana 

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Mai sat in her room watching her trembling hands. Many thoughts were circling in her head, she tried using mana like she used to but it had no effect. 

"I'm supposed to have completed the Mana Awakening Ceremony, isn't it possible to use mana?" She wondered. 

Then the memory of the devastating explosion that had happened to her came to mind. 

"Oh! Maybe something happened after that… I don't even know how I was saved."

Mai tried to think about the reason for this and decided to examine her body herself using her theoretical knowledge in the field of medicine in her previous life. Due to the lack of suitable tools, she was forced to rely on ancient medical methods. 

She started checking her pulse and it was completely normal. 

She looked in the mirror where a little girl appeared with crimson red eyes and shiny blonde wavy hair, a true beauty. 

"Hmm, normal height… no signs of malnutrition… not too much fat, slim but healthy body… my hair is rather long but it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on growth." She put her hands on her chest and took a deep breath and exhaled, repeating the process several times. "Breathing is normal, no illnesses… my body is almost perfect, shouldn't a mana explosion cause damage? In the first place I should have found burns or bruises but there's no sign of that, and if the pulse is normal then that means the mana vessels are fine as well." 

Mai was briefly confused and then came to a conclusion. 

"Maybe I'm wrong, I should check the mana vessels again… but how?!" 

An idea came to her and she quickly left the room. 

"It's around here somewhere, I think... Ah! I found it." 

Mai held a purple grass in her hands, optimistically. This grass that grows in the shade of trees, what is it used for? 

"...what is it used for?"

"What?" May turned to find a girl with pink hair and green eyes staring at her curiously. 

"I said, 'What are you going to do with the purple parasite herb?' " 

"Parasite… purple? Ah this, nothing I'll just make medicine"

"You?" She looked at her in confusion then continued, "Follow me." 

 And she started walking away. 

Mai followed her from a safe distance, thinking about her identity, the person she wasn't sure of was this child. 

Her name is Irin and she is a rather strange girl, first of all she did not inherit the red eyes that symbolize the tribe even though she is Stella's daughter, she is only a few months older than her but they did not really get along very well.

The two girls' personalities are opposite. Irin is quiet and does not talk much, but at the same time there is an atmosphere of frightening coldness and indifference surrounding her. She is only affected by what interests her, such as alchemy.

Although she is different, the tribe members did not hate her, but rather tried to get close to her, but she rarely appears, and rumors began about the existence of an evil witch who lives in the eastern area of the forest and terrifies monsters. 

As for Mai, she is mischievous, energetic and a troublemaker. She is reckless most of the time and hates studying and complicated things. She only wants to play and have fun, which is normal for her age. It is easy to make Mai hate someone; if they bother her, prevent her from doing what she wants, force her to study or be quiet, or if she does not understand what is going on in his mind, and Irin represents all of that. 

The two girls reached the eastern part where Irin's lab was located. Mai was surprised to find that the place was more ordinary than she had imagined when she entered the hut. 

Irin asked quick questions like what was the purpose of the medicine, how she was thinking of making it, what she was going to do with it, and why she chose this particular plant.

Mai told her about the mana explosion, as it seemed that Irin wasn't there and that she wanted to examine her vessels.

She chose this herb because it had properties similar to mana. She planned to crush it, breathe its dust, then rotate it in her vessels and take it out. If she encountered an obstacle on the way, it meant that her vessels were blocked, and if she lost track, it was torn. 

After thinking for a while, a smile appeared on Irin's little face. "I will help you." 

Irin quickly disappeared and was running back and forth, each time carrying a set of strange items: papers, potions, lab tools, and colorful herbs. 

Then she suddenly stopped in front of Mai and started giving her a long lecture that she could say was the longest conversation the two girls had ever had, despite it being one-sided.

The Conclusion is that this herb is a parasite and will not die even if crushed into dust. While it has properties similar to mana, it is a plant that absorbs mana and may absorb mana to the point of drying out, so its dosage should be reduced. She also suggested adding a few other ingredients to complete the recipe. 

Irin had already started the preparation process and did not wait for Mai's response or reply.

May was bored so she explored the potions.

Irin, who was answering questions with pleasure, seemed easy to please. Mai didn't really understand much, alchemy was a field beyond her capabilities but she knew how to at least be polite. 

The recipe was complete and although it looked and smelled bad, she convinced herself that she had to drink it until Irin stopped her. 

"It's not for drinking, put it in the bathtub with water and the mana vessels will light up, if they're torn or clogged the lines will be broken." 

Mai welcomed the idea, it seemed easier than drinking it. 

The tub was prepared and the potion was poured, then Mai entered the tub to wait for the reaction. 

Irin watched Mai with her bright green eyes, then said calmly, "Tell me right away if you feel anything strange. I don't want your problem to get worse." For a moment, Mai felt a strange warmth run through her heart. She wasn't used to this kind of attention.

A few minutes passed. 

She thought she would finally figure out what was wrong with her, but when she noticed the bright lines running smoothly, she felt a strange contradiction. Her vessels were fine, but that meant the problem lay somewhere else. Just where? 

As Mai sat by the empty sink, she looked at her hands again. There was no clear explanation for what was happening.

Irin returned after disposing of the remaining potion and the contaminated water. 

"Come back here if you plan on doing more experiments, I'll help you." 

Mai smiled and thought, 'Yes, I won't give up! If the first one doesn't work, I'll move on to the second.' 

"Thank you Irin, I'll be back later."

Mai left in a hurry, unaware of the impact her words had on Irin's lonely heart.