Chapter 16: New Potion? – 4

Chapter 16: New Potion? – 4

“This is it, right?! The scales of that ‘Ice Lizard’!”

A battle with a giant monster that suddenly popped out.

I don’t know where it came from or what its purpose was… but it gave me a great trophy, so isn’t that enough?

I’ve been searching the forest for hours… I wanted to leave soon.

*…It’s right, but it’s not.*

“What do you mean it’s right but it’s not?”

*’Ice Lizards’ usually don’t get that big. They’re not that aggressive, and they don’t create a fog that can freeze a person to death.*

“Then…?”

*It means you caught its superior species. Therefore, the material is also a higher-level material.*

To be honest, I sensed that the surroundings became cooler when the fog spread out earlier, but I didn’t expect it to be that much.

…I feel anew that this cloak is a precious piece of equipment.

“I don’t know why they don’t commercialize something this good…”

*…I don’t know why you thought that again, and why you said that thought loud enough for me to hear, but to answer you…

It’s a matter of practicality. It’s too much of a loss to give up protective equipment like armor just to wear a cloak that has no function other than maintaining body temperature.*

“Is there any chance of getting physically hit by these guys? They didn’t attack properly except for that fog, did they?”

*…The monster gave up attacking and chose to defend and run away thanks to that absurd physical ability, but monsters are originally inherently aggressive.*

“Hmm… it’s difficult. More than that, I sensed an unknown, very heterogeneous power earlier, what was that?”

Saying that, I lifted the scales of the monster I was fighting earlier.

…It wasn’t as cold or heavy as I thought.

Rather, the weight was light even from an objective point of view.

*It might be a bit of a long explanation… let’s talk while we go.*

“I was going to do that anyway. I don’t want to be in this forest anymore.”

That’s how I left the forest. …Today.

I would never know that glass bottles became a symbol of fear for monsters throughout the forest after that day.

***

*First, to summarize simply, you succeeded in activating ‘mana’ in your body.*

“Simple? I thought it was something very grand and magnificent.”

*It is magnificent. Originally, we planned to tell you how to handle mana in relation to alchemy as a reward when the experience points accumulated after achieving achievements reached a certain level…

Ah, the face of that section chief is quite a sight right now.*

Saying that, the system didn’t send any other messages for a while.

To be precise, judging from the fact that only some cut-off messages were coming, it seemed like it was making typos while being scolded.

…It seems that it got caught laughing at that ‘section chief’ existence.

“That’s why you shouldn’t badmouth your boss anywhere.”

*…I didn’t expect to experience that directly and agree with it, but anyway. The important thing is that you figured out how to handle ‘mana’ on your own.*

“Oh, you’re back? But even though I figured it out, I can’t really use it? It was just a one-time use again.”

In fact, the power that I felt during the battle earlier thanks to the unique urgency and tension of the battle situation is not felt at all now.

If I fight again, I might feel ‘mana’ again… but there’s no guarantee.

*That’s because mana is applied to your body in a slightly unique way.*

“Applied uniquely?”

*As shown in the novel setting, most people use mana by drawing on the special power that exists in their body, that is, ‘mana’.*

“Ah, I remember.”

‘Mana’, a mysterious power that exists in the world and is unique to living things, and the human will and skill to express magic or mystery.

The two meet to become various magics.

Therefore, they freeze the world, burn it, and make their bodies harder than rocks… each with their own magic.

Therefore, the mana contained in the user’s body is the fuel, and tools used like wands are catalysts for magic, or just passages through which mana passes.

*However, you can’t use the mana that exists in this world because you’re not originally from this world. To be precise, you don’t have mana inside your body from birth.*

“Then what was that earlier? No, in the first place, what is the alchemy ability to make potions…?”

*Instead! With our measures, you can also draw and use the mana that exists in the world itself. Mana exists inside living things, but in fact, there’s the most mana just floating around in the world, right?

However… originally, its use was limited to ‘alchemy’…*

Saying that, the system sent an emoticon winking brightly.

…It was difficult to express in words, but roughly translated, it felt like “Oh, we’re screwed!”

*We haven’t analyzed why, but you used magic that wasn’t related to ‘alchemy’. Um, the section chief is being ripped apart in real time because of that!*

“…So, I was originally supposed to use mana only in relation to ‘alchemy’ abilities such as making potions, but something went wrong and I can just use magic too?”

*To summarize? You didn’t know it when you were making potions, but mana was being used? In the first place, there’s no way such a magical medicine would fall from the sky, right?*

“So that’s why the movements are so complicated and the speed of stirring the solution has to be accurate when making potions?”

Full of sarcasm, it was a protest against why a higher quality potion comes out if you have to do it that way if you’re going to use mana to process it with magic anyway…

*That’s right. It was a measure taken because it was obvious that you wouldn’t be able to use mana directly. The best thing is for you to control the mana that exists in the world yourself…

We assumed that it would be impossible and created a kind of ‘sure-win formula’. Maybe not now though.*

…It was unexpectedly the correct answer, so I was rather embarrassed.

No, weren’t you just putting in a fantasy-like and alchemist-like setting…?

The angle and stirring time were really related to drawing in mana, and that’s why the quality of the potion was different…?

But, putting aside the brief shock, I asked the question I really wanted to ask.

“Then, why can’t I feel mana now?”

*I don’t know? It may be because you drew in the mana that exists in the world, not your original mana.*

“…You’re not helpful at all, really.”

*That’s probably the case. It’s questionable how you were able to use mana for purposes other than ‘alchemy’, which is the purpose designated by our system…

Well, with that ridiculously strong physical ability, nothing seems impossible.*

Certainly, I started to feel strength when I focused on the enhanced senses.

…If what the system said is true, that physical enhancement potion that my assigned system gave me at the beginning is the first and best opportunity for me.

‘The more I think about it, the more I like this body?’

It’s certainly not without uncomfortable parts because the gender itself has changed.

…For example, clothes.

To be honest, I only wear it because there are only skirts to wear, but it’s by no means comfortable.

Should I say that I miss the stability of pants?

But there were things I liked even more than that.

Putting aside the fact that my voice and face have fraudulent performance, the physical enhancement applied by the potion I took at the beginning is especially so.

In fact, I think it’s a device that drastically lowered the difficulty of my life from very difficult to easy.

…Of course, it seems like I’m raising the difficulty again by getting involved with the main characters myself.

“Ah, come to think of it, I have to go to Christie, …it’ll take forever to make this into a potion again.”

*Still, now that you’ve felt and used mana directly once, it’ll be easier to make than before.*

“Even so, it doesn’t mean that the complicated potion manufacturing formula that is terribly difficult to match will disappear, right? Where, in which direction, how much, for how long… Ugh.

You have to guess everything with your senses, right?”

It was my first potion-making experience that I ruined everything by relying on that sense and went into manual labor.

…Of course, it took terribly long because I wanted to make a higher grade potion, but that damn sense was terribly bad.

It got better as I made potions little by little… but it was still about the same.

Of course, the system seemed to think a little differently.

*I’m saying that the ‘sense’ has become a little more accurate… well, you’re not going to believe what I say anyway, so it’ll be faster to experience it yourself.*

“Hey, you seem so calm even though this kind of thing happened? I might be able to use all kinds of magic, unlike what the system expected?”

*This is not calmness, it’s called resignation. Please keep that in mind. Anyway, the section chief will rip me apart as soon as work is over, telling me to come up with countermeasures.*

I was a little pissed off by the attitude that I wouldn’t know even if I told you, so I poked at it once for no reason.

I didn’t intend to, but it seemed to hit the weakness properly.

…I thought it looked detached since a while ago, but it had just given up.

But, after work…

“…Doesn’t that just mean you have to work overtime?”

*…Could you please not remind me of the reality I was ignoring? Overtime! Such a terrible thing!*

Saying that, the system started to list complaints about overtime and the section chief, as if something had started.

…I quietly cleared the message window out of my sight and walked home.

…Somehow, the way back felt terribly long.