Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 140: Smell (2).

-Origin is Essence.

-Only by understanding this essence can one utilize origin mana.

However, Milk-Jug Mage couldn’t understand this essence, no matter how much she pondered. What on earth was the essence of that substance?

-How can we use magic? In fact, no one fully understands that. Usually, natural-born mages can instinctively feel and use mana.

-Most mages do not seek to explore that reason. It is similar to the philosophical question of why humans live.

-But therein lies the essence. The reason we can use magic. The reason we can feel mana.

-Because we are the mana and the essence.

-Dive deeper into the essence, seeker.

-Open the Gate of Origin.

Elena sighed deeply. She lamented not being a genius… To what extent had the continent’s genius mage, the Elegant Mage, Lady Belver, comprehended this thing called mana?

Frustrated, she closed the magic book that provided no answers and looked out the window… It was already dark outside.

To get some fresh air, she left her room. The dark hallway was filled with the cold night air, and a quiet silence settled in.

Milk-Jug Mage stood in the darkness, like a ghost, without any movement or sound.

Am I just going to be left behind like this?

Is this my limit, after all?

Sadness turned into resentment, resentment into resignation, and resignation into emptiness.

She had been standing in the darkness for so long that she felt no emotions and stood blankly… After standing still for a long time, she saw a flickering light under the gate at the end of the hallway.

As if entranced by something, she walked towards it step by step. With each heavy step, the wooden floor let out a sorrowful creak.

Elena just stood quietly in front of the gate. She didn’t even think to knock.

A long time passed again. She only came to her senses when the gate opened, and the room’s owner appeared.

“Elena?”

The owner was Itty Titty Natasha. She looked puzzled, wondering why the female mage had come here at this late hour.

“I have something… I’m curious about…”

“…Is it a long story?”

“Yes.”

“Come in.”

Natasha allowed Elena to enter. The mage carefully stepped into the room with a polite gesture.

The gate closed with a thud, and silence filled the air. The flickering candles created a strange atmosphere.

“What are you curious about?”

“…I was wondering, what is the essence when it comes to martial arts?”

Itty Titty Natasha was momentarily taken aback by such a high-level question, something she had never imagined would be asked—no, even if given ample time to think, it was not a question easily answered.

What is the essence?

In fact, this was a question Natasha had repeatedly asked herself for a long time. Especially when she was afflicted by the Demonic Disease. She wanted to understand and overcome the essence of that Demonic Disease.

“Honestly, I never expected such a question to come up.”

“I’m sorry for asking such a sudden question out of the blue, but I thought you would understand my dilemma.”

Of course, Natasha had long noticed the deep concern shadowing Elena’s face. Whether it be a mage or a martial artist, the desire to explore the origin was universal. Naturally, she understood Elena’s concern.

In truth, whether it was magic or martial arts, if you dove into the fundamentals, everything stemmed from a single origin. Thus, ultimately, what both were pursuing was the same.

“What I believe is the essence of martial arts is the understanding of the human body.”

“…Understanding of the human body?”

The female swordsman began to explain in a calm and gentle tone.

“Our existence ultimately depends on this body. Some say that overcoming means shedding the body, but that is not overcoming. That is death.”

Having lived for a long time very close to death, she realized that shedding was not overcoming.

Humans could not shed their bodies. To exist, they had to live with their bodies.

“The bending of joints has limits. The movement of the legs has limits. The stretching of arms has limits. The turning of the neck has limits… In other words, the human body has limits.”

Natasha raised her index finger and lifted it up.

“However, limits do not mean impossibility. Look at that.”

The female swordsman pointed to the object on the table with her raised finger. She stretched out her arm, but the distance was too far for her to reach the object.

“I can’t grab that object right now because my arm is short. So, is it impossible to grab that object?”

Natasha gave a slight nod to Elena as if to answer. The Milk-Jug Mage thought for a moment and then quietly replied.

“Well, isn’t it impossible?”

Hearing that answer, the Itty Titty Swordsman smiled faintly. Then she stood up, walked to the table, and grabbed the object in her hand.

“I grabbed it.”

…Ah…

“I don’t only have arms. I also have legs. Both arms and legs certainly have their limits… but if you understand the body, what seems impossible can become possible.”

Elena had a small epiphany there. It felt like something that had been wandering for a long time was quietly settling into place.

“Understanding the body we depend on completely… I believe that is the foundation of martial arts and the essence of humanity.”

“That’s true… indeed.”

“…I’m not sure how helpful it was.”

“It was very helpful. Thank you so much. I feel like I understand a bit more now.”

Natasha smiled faintly.

“I was worried I didn’t convey it well since I’m still clumsy, but I’m glad.”

“Thank you once again.”

The two women shook hands.

Then, the Milk-Jug Mage returned to her room and fell into deep meditation.

To reach that elusive something…

A month passed in the blink of an eye since hearing the Itty Titty Swordsman’s advice.

From that moment on, Elena shut herself in her room all day, repeatedly meditating. She almost stopped eating and drinking altogether… It was a will born out of desperation.

But just as she felt as if she got close to it, it would always slip away from her grasp. Like grains of sand clenched in her hand. She thought she had it, but when she opened her hand, the sand had slipped through her fingers.

Elena opened her eyes… It was night again.

She cautiously stepped out of her room and walked through the backyard of the building. The cool night air gently cooled her body, heated from the prolonged meditation.

Whoooo.

Her gaze, wandering through the darkness, slowly rose to the sparkling, starry night sky.

The sky, the stars, and the universe.

Where do we come from, and where are we going?

What is mana, and what is its origin?

However, there were still no answers, only accumulating questions.

Her gaze that had been lifted to the night sky fell back down. It wandered in the darkness again—no, she saw a moth caught in a spider’s web, fluttering desperately.

Life and death.

Elena quietly stared at the spider moving toward the moth, as if contemplating life.

…And, at that moment, she felt something sharp hit her temple.

Ah.

Ahh.

Life and death are one. They circulate, unchanging.

Why hadn’t she known that?

Why hadn’t she realized that?

Why had she missed something so simple?

Why?

Nothing had changed from the beginning.

Origin mana, and mana.

Everything is one.

Mana wasn’t altered as it was absorbed into the body.

Mana was always mana, even at the moment it entered the body.

The origin does not change. We, who are made from the origin, are also the origin.

That is the essence.

Elena hurried back to her room.

And then she began deep meditation again.

Essence.

Origin.

Mana.

Her head, which had been wrapped in darkness, was gradually becoming bright.

-Because we are the mana and the essence.

-Dive deeper into the essence, seeker.

-Open the Gate of Origin.

It was a world of gray, neither light nor dark.

Right there was the gate.

Elena slowly approached it.

The gate was immensely gigantic. It seemed impossible to open it alone.

…No, it can be opened…!

Hadn’t Natasha shown her?

If you understand the body, even what seems impossible becomes possible.

If she hadn’t realized it, she wouldn’t have even dared to try, but she did because she could.

She placed both hands on the sides of the gate and slowly pushed it.

With all her might. With all her strength.

…But the gate did not budge. It seemed she still didn’t fully understand her body.

No, once more.

Elena tried again.

Grabbing the gate, pushing…!

Ah.

The gate, which hadn’t moved an inch, creaked and slightly opened… That immensely thick gate…!

…And she peeked through the slightly opened gap.

!!!!!

At the same time, the Milk-Jug Mage woke up with a start.

……It seemed she had opened something far more incredible than she had thought.