Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 144: Mana

"Haha. You appear surprised. I take it you do not quite understand how tremendous of a feat this is?"

Suddenly chuckling, one of the Elders saw right through my confusion. Unable to dispute him, I shook my head, frankly admitting it.

"I guess not... Can you explain?"

"Of course. Imagine your body like a pool of water. Mana, which you naturally breathe in through the air, is like oil. You breathe it in and exhale it right out. This is because it is impossible for the oil that is the mana to mix with the water that is your body. Do you follow so far?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Fundamentally, pure mana itself rarely interacts with physical matter. This interaction is the reason why many biological creatures require special organs in order to produce or otherwise store mana within their bodies. However, due to the way these organs function, there is a high probability of malfunction if, for whatever reason, they are restricted from this process. This is where the myth that life cannot exist without mana originates from."

"Uh, I see... Ryoko was the one who told me that, but is it not true?"

Giving a small chuckle again, the Elder shook his head.

"That girl is still learning too. And she is quite stubborn when it comes to it, so I wouldn't put an ounce of faith into her words, the cheeky one."

"Oh... But, what does that have to do with this storage spell being so difficult to cast?"

"Ah yes. Back to the oil and water analogy. Your body is water, mana is oil. Ordinarily, if you wanted to capture the oil running over the water, you would naturally require a container to hold it, yes?"

"That's right."

"Indeed. And so, what this mysterious magician has done, and quite expertly might I add, is effectively find a way to bind a glob of oil underwater, in one place, without letting it float to the surface and slide away or doing anything like that. And not only that, but they also did it in such a way that allows the water to pluck some of that oil and use it as it wishes, whenever it desires."

"...I understand the explanation, but how does that make sense?"

"It doesn't, and that is precisely what is so magnificent about it."

"..."

I think I was slowly beginning to understand the nonsensical thing that the Spirit had done.

In essence, although there normally would be no way whatsoever for me to interact with mana, but thanks to the fact I could interact with the Mark, which could interact with mana on my behalf, that wasn't the case.

Still, because the Mark itself was created through mana, it really must've taken a genius to make me able to interact with it...

"Basically, it's a spell that's tethered to my body to function similar to that special organ you mentioned?"

"That is certainly a way of simplifying it, though you must keep in mind they are not quite the same. That organ, typically a mana core, naturally fills with mana as one breathes, but you do not. It means you will not regenerate your store of mana over time, but you already know that."

"Right... Then, does that mean there's no way for me to be able to use magic myself? Or will I always have to rely on the mana stored in the spell?"

Asking the most important question with just a bit of tension, I felt like there had to be at least some way throughout all of these different worlds and universes.

Even if the Dragon Tribe here didn't know of any way, even if they told me it was impossible, I was sure that someone out there, whether it was another kind of Dragon Tribe or someone completely different, would be able to solve it.

"Theoretically, it's possible."

―And what the Elder said in response only reinforced that belief.

"As I said, the reason you cannot absorb and store mana is because you have no biological process that allows for it. It's not something that has ever been done, but if a mana-processing organ was implanted into your body, you would in theory gain that ability."

Another one of the Elders added on.

"Oh, but do keep in mind that such an operation would be incredibly dangerous, most certainly life-threatening. I would not imagine the possibility of success to be worth the risk at all."

"That's correct. That is exactly why it has not been done, and why I mention it only being theoretically possible. You would need both an organ or some other method that allows you to absorb the mana for one, but that alone is not enough. It would also be necessary, in order to prevent a build-up of excess mana within your body, to ensure that you can process that mana and have it flow."

"Ah, yes. Like how humans and many other creatures possess mana veins, pathways to allow mana to travel around their body without disruption and without causing build-up, you would need a way to maintain the same balance biologically."

Listening to the two Elders, I imagined those mana veins using the same analogy of water and oil as before.

If the main source of oil was stored in a container beneath the water, the way to transfer that oil to another container, say for the purpose of casting a spell, would be impossible without something that connected the two, like pipes.

Essentially, something to function the same with mana how blood was pumped around the body.

'I guess that's why they called them mana veins...'

Because I didn't even have that, I could only use magic by casting it straight from the source, which was the Illusory Mark on my right hand.

If I wanted to cast magic without relying on it, I would need both something to absorb and store mana within my body, and also a way to pump that mana around my body, whether through implanted mana veins or something more artificial...

However, in that case, then wasn't there something that didn't add up?

"I understand. But then, how do those Golems outside work?"

That was something I had been wondering for a while, and after hearing the explanation about how mana supposedly interacted with physical matter and all that, it made no sense to me.

"I saw the inside of them when they were destroyed, there was never anything like a mana core or veins like you said there should be. So how does that work?"

At my rather abrupt question, the two Elders glanced at each other, maintaining their silence for just a few seconds before looking back to me.

"...Human. It is getting rather late, so why don't you head back and rest for the night?"

"We can continue this topic tomorrow. It is a fair question, however... the subject matter is not to be discussed lightly."

"Yes. And you must be exhausted from your trip over."

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For some reason, although they spoke with smiles, it gave the feeling of something taboo.