章 24: Where Are We and the First Body Forging
The kid didn't say anything, just looked at me. Eventually, I decided to ignore it and move on to what I need to do for now.
'Kitty, can I use any of my rewards in this world?'
[Yes, the first chapter of all of them can be used.]
I thought about what to do next. I have body forging, swordsmanship, cultivation, and a choice of something else.
'What would be the best thing I could use the choice reward on?'
[I can't tell you what's the best; it's up to you. But I would recommend something that will help you get more powerful in this world.]
'Show me what I can choose from.'
The system display showed a long list, a very long list. Everything from cooking to music to crafting weapons to combat techniques were in the list.
'Filter out all the music, cooking, and crafting stuff.'
The list reduced, but still had lots of things I didn't need in it. After filtering out many other miscellaneous things, I was left with combat techniques, magic spells, arrays, runes, and a few other useful things.
I decided to go with Kitty's hint and filtered out everything that wasn't from this world's power system and saw everything took mana to activate.
'Kitty, I don't have mana, so how can I use this stuff? Can my energy act as a replacement?'
[You must create a mana core and use a technique to absorb mana and create mana rings. No, your pure energy shouldn't be a replacement; it would be like using a lightsaber to boil water rather than a stove.]
I imagined the picture; the water would instantly vaporize and might even split into its base atoms.
Okay, so I need mana. I'll look to see if there's a technique like I got for cultivation for mana.
After half an hour of scrolling, I found it. From the description, it was made by someone who had their mana core destroyed and embarked on a journey to rebuild it, something considered impossible, but he succeeded and even became the strongest in the world. I bought it and started reading.
Over the next three days, I just sat there reading. I don't know how many times I read it. At first, it was a bunch of gibberish nonsense, but eventually, I began to grasp the meaning of the words and connect the pieces together.
Once a day, someone would come and throw a chunk of bread into the room, but no one ever entered. The kid still darted out and grabbed it, but eventually, it moved slower, trusting that I wasn't there to harm it or steal the food. It spent its time observing me while I stared at the system panel, trying to comprehend the book.
On the third day, the kid crept up to me and set down a piece that had been broken off the chunk of bread thrown into the room that day before moving away again and waiting behind the crates. I couldn't help but smile; I knew the kid must be hungry as there wasn't even enough food for itself, let alone to give me some. Yet it still gave me some, thinking I must be hungry after these days even though it might starve itself. How kind of it.
I used my devour skill on the bread, then produced an apple and a small knife, slicing off a piece of the apple. I devoured the rest of the apple and knife, then stood up and walked over to where the kid was hiding. Looking around the crates at it, I could almost feel its fear. I squatted down and held out the slice of apple towards it, then set it on the floor so it wouldn't have to come closer to get it before returning to my original spot.
I could have given the whole apple, but I remember hearing that something about if someone hasn't eaten enough then eats a bunch, it can have consequences. So, I decided to slowly give it more each day.
I listened, and after a bit, I could hear the crisp snap as the slice was broken followed by a soft chewing sound.
After a short amount of time, it looked at me, and I could tell it was longing for more.
"I'll give you more later, but I don't want to give you too much food too fast and make you sick or die."
When it heard this, I could see its eyes were shining with worship as if looking at a god.
After 6 or 7 hours, I repeated the process, but this time it came over and sat down a few feet away, just barely able to reach the slice when I held it out.
I was able to get a better look at its appearance. Its clothing was full of holes and dirt, its face and hair also full of dirt. I don't know how long it has been in here, but it can't have been a short time. I wasn't sure what color its hair originally was as its color was distorted by the dirt, but I think a dark color. The ears on top of it's head were covered in matted fur the same color as its hair. It's tail was wrapped close to itself with the fur in the same state as the ears. It really needed a bath but nothing I can do about it now.
I decided to try the body forging first as the first step is the brain, improving comprehension and thinking ability so I hope it helps me understand the rest of them, I started reading the body forging manual.
As the days went by, the kid became less frightened and ended up sitting next to me as I studied the text, waiting for more food. We've graduated to a bowl of rice with a little meat. Every time the bread is thrown in, the kid brings me the whole chunk, and I devour it.
Eventually, I was confident I understood the body forging method and produced enough food to last the kid until I was finished my forging.
"I'm putting some food here; it should last a month so eat some every day. I'm going to work on something, so don't disturb me until I'm done."
It looked a little sad but nodded, and I went and sat in the corner to start.
Following the instructions, I started using my energy to make alterations to my brain. It was an extremely slow process as I connected the nerves and cells in a more optimal way. My head felt tingly as I worked, and I could feel my thoughts becoming clearer and faster. It started extremely slow, but as time went on and more was finished, the remaining portions were forged faster and faster. After 3 weeks, I finished and opened my eyes to see the kid sleeping against a crate in front of me, almost like a little guard.
I smiled and started to get up. As soon as I moved, the kid woke up and looked at me with a happy expression. I walked over to where a pile of old bread was and devoured it along with the remainder of the food that I left from before, then prepared something better and gave it to the kid.
"You never told me who you are or where this place is. At this point, I don't even know if you can speak."
I heard a quiet, cracked voice that seemed to have not been used in a long time. "Lilla Sena, this was a storage building of the beastman kingdom palace."
I was shocked; we're in the storage room of a palace? Does that mean this kid is a servant of the palace or something? I realized from the name it was a her. I gave her some water since her voice sounded so bad maybe it would help.
"So why are you here?"
She got a hard look on her face like she was angry about something.
"Because second mother wants me to die."
Poor girl, she looks like she's only 7, and someone wants her dead already.
"There seems to be something more to that I don't understand, but you can tell me some other time."
"So what are you going to do locked in here?"
"Nothing I can do except try to stay alive as long as possible since she wants me to die fast, I refuse to!"
Her voice was starting to get better.
"But why don't you practice magic and get out of here to take revenge?"
She gave me a look like I was an idiot.
"This place is sealed off so no mana can enter, and even if it wasn't, my mana core is broken like yours."
I don't know why she thinks my mana core is broken, but it must be since I don't have one that she thinks it's broken.
"I never had a mana core, so it isn't broken."
She looked at me in shock and just blinked a few times before shaking her head.
"So how did you get in here?" she asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. You said that this place is sealed off, so no mana can get in. Can you tell me more about that?"
She nodded. "There are magic symbols on the outside of each wall that don't allow mana to enter."
クリエイターの想い 
CarathAthor
CarathAthor Thank you for reading.
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