Ch.107Chapter 107 – Elena Experiences Mana Euphoria

After leaving Pathos’s workshop, Elena returned to the dormitory.

Back in her room, she gazed down at the magic stone in her hand.

Thanks to her father, who was an archmage, Elena had been exposed to various magic tools and magic stones from a young age.

Having encountered so many magic tools and stones, the magic stones sold in the market were nothing more than common pebbles to Elena.

Most of the magic stones she had seen until now were those used by mages affiliated with the Magic Tower for their magical research.

Moreover, after seeing the enormous high-purity magic stone that powered the Magic Tower, Elena considered only that massive stone to be truly top-grade.

Although such an attitude was something a mage should avoid, neither the Magic Tower mages nor her father corrected Elena’s misconception.

This was because the top-grade magic stone in the Magic Tower was indeed the largest and highest purity magic stone discovered in this world.

What alchemists called “top-grade” magic stones were merely stones of adequate quality to those who had seen the Magic Tower’s stone.

But today, when she visited Pathos’s shop…

Elena had to doubt her own eyes.

The magic stone Pathos had taken out, though just a small fragment, was causing mana resonance.

What is mana resonance?

It’s a phenomenon that occurs when the unique vibrational pattern of mana within an object matches the pattern of mana existing in nature.

Mages and alchemists are people who regard nature’s own mana as the highest form.

Therefore, to them, magic stones that strongly exhibit mana resonance were considered premium items.

For Elena, a mage, this stone represented a golden opportunity to significantly increase her stagnant mana growth.

Perhaps that’s why Elena found herself wanting the magic stone in Pathos’s hand.

With that stone, she was certain her magical prowess could reach new heights.

And Pathos gave that precious magic stone to Elena as a gift.

For Elena, who knew the stone’s immense value, receiving it as a gift came as a great shock.

‘He’s just giving me something this precious?’

It was too valuable for her to simply accept.

If she were to take it to the Magic Tower right now, mages would line up to buy it.

So to Elena, the magic stone from Pathos was a treasure in itself.

‘With this, I can reach a higher level!’

All mages dreamed of reaching higher levels, and Elena was no exception.

But most mages failed to reach higher levels because the amount of mana they could use didn’t increase easily.

Elena clutched the magic stone Pathos had gifted her.

As she held the stone exhibiting mana resonance, the mana within the stone began to resonate with the mana inside Elena’s body.

‘Mana resonance happens this quickly? This is truly amazing!’

As the resonance occurred, mana gradually began to flow from the stone in Elena’s hand into her body.

Elena could feel the stone’s mana drawing in the natural mana from her surroundings as it flowed into her.

However, Elena had overlooked one thing: the magic stone Pathos had given her contained not only a large amount of mana but also mana of high purity.

“Ugh, nngh! Ahh!”

High purity and abundant mana meant a powerful stimulation of a mage’s mana circuits.

The magic stones Elena had used for growth until now were, at best, high-grade stones.

Even the natural mana drawn in by high-grade stones wasn’t enough to strongly stimulate Elena’s mana circuits, which held great potential.

“Ungh, oooh, kyaaah!”

But the stone Pathos had given her began pushing an enormous amount of mana into her body—something she had never experienced before.

‘If I take in this much mana at once, my body might break!’

The tremendous flow of mana mercilessly stimulating her mana circuits began to churn wildly inside Elena’s body.

If impure, low-quality mana had entered her body, the mana already inside her would have tried to push it out.

However, the mana in Elena’s body was actually opening pathways, guiding the external mana to flow through her mana circuits.

‘What, what’s happening? Why isn’t the mana in my body listening to me?’

Elena tried desperately to calm the external mana, but her efforts were in vain.

The mana within her body, which should have been taming the external mana, was instead synchronizing with it, sweeping through her mana circuits.

‘I-I feel strange… My body feels tingly, and I should feel bad, but why does it keep feeling good? Mmm…’

Moreover, thanks to the mana flow sweeping through her circuits, the residue in her mana circuits was being pulverized.

Right now, Elena’s mana circuits were widening in real-time, and simultaneously, her internal mana storage space was gradually increasing in size.

After spending time in this trance-like state, Elena finally regained her senses.

“Haa… haa…”

Elena’s face, after the mana had swept through her body and subsided, looked like someone who had spent a passionate night with a lover.

Her cheeks were flushed red, and sweat from her body’s heat had soaked her clothes.

It was a scene that could easily be misunderstood as someone having enjoyed a private moment of pleasure.

“Ugh… ungh… my, my body is too sensitive…”

She tried to get up quickly to change her clothes, but Elena’s body wouldn’t obey her.

Although her mana circuits had widened and the mana inside her body had calmed down, the strain on her body wasn’t just in her imagination, like phantom pain.

Eventually, Elena could only pull herself together after lying down for about an hour.

‘What exactly did the Count give me? Is this really just a magic stone?’

Having experienced something extraordinary that she had never felt with other magic stones, Elena left the dormitory and headed to Pathos’s shop.

Heading to Pathos’s shop, she found him sitting on a bench in front of the store, leisurely enjoying tea.

“Hmm? Lady Sandrios?”

Because people were passing by, Pathos called Elena by her family name rather than her given name.

This was something they had agreed upon beforehand, to avoid any misunderstandings among bystanders if he were to call her by her first name.

“Count Severio.”

“Yes, Lady Sandrios. What brings you here?”

Pathos looked puzzled as Elena approached him with disheveled hair and flushed cheeks.

“What exactly did you do? You made me like this, so take responsibility right now!”

“Eh?”

Elena shouted loudly in Pathos’s face.

In a normal state, Elena would have quietly called him aside to talk privately, considering both his reputation and her own…

Unfortunately, Elena was not in her right mind due to the powerful expansion work of the high-purity mana from the top-grade magic stone.

“That thing you gave me! Do you know how it toyed with my body?”

“W-what are you saying right now?!”

Pathos was quite flustered when Elena shouted.

She suddenly appeared, demanding he take responsibility.

Adding that her body had been toyed with—anyone overhearing would surely misunderstand the situation.

“Just a moment~”

At that moment, Pathos’s relief pitcher stepped up.

“Professor Emelda?”

“Now, now, Elena Sandrios? Just wait a moment~”

Professor Emelda, who had suddenly appeared from somewhere, placed her hand on Elena and cast a spell.

Elena’s disheveled hair returned to normal, and the flush on her face disappeared.

“Are you feeling more clear-headed now?”

“Professor Emelda? What… what have I done?”

Emelda approached Elena and used magic to calm her down.

Thanks to this, Elena regained her senses and realized what she had done.

“…”

“That’s not what I meant to do! I’m truly sorry! I apologize!”

Elena repeatedly apologized to Pathos, who was dumbfounded.

“Everyone! Please don’t misunderstand! Elena Sandrios was training with mana and fell into mana ecstasy, so I hope you all understand? Okay?”

Fortunately, Professor Emelda explained to the students what had happened to Elena, preventing rumors that the two had that kind of relationship.

This was because mana ecstasy was a common occurrence among people whose mana circuits suddenly grew in a short period.

“Ah…”

“Hey, what’s this? I thought the two of them had that kind of relationship.”

“Mana ecstasy can cause that. Still, Elena is decent. Last time, some male student got mana ecstasy and performed a strip show inside the academy.”

So the students all showed understanding.

Some even responded that it was fortunate no bigger incident had occurred.

‘But how powerful must the magic stone Elena received as a gift be, for her to fall into mana ecstasy that usually happens to novice mages during training?’

‘It must be no ordinary stone. Considering how Elena fell into mana ecstasy, it’s definitely not something easily obtainable.’

‘I heard he gave it as a gift—I wonder if we could somehow get such a stone too?’

Rather than causing problems, Elena’s mana ecstasy actually caused Pathos’s stock to rise.

After that day, the number of students entrusting their equipment to Pathos doubled compared to the previous semester.

As rumors spread that he had given Elena a very good magic stone as a gift, not only new students but also existing ones began bringing their equipment to him.

“It’s good that customers are increasing, but I wonder what I should give as a service.”

Eventually, Pathos fell into contemplation…

“Oh well. I’ll just include a reasonably sized magic stone as a service.”

And so he began providing what mages called high-purity magic stones—top-grade stones—as a service.