Rose began retelling the events of that night. Lily was tapping her finger along the spine of the book, listening. She had no idea that Arakil had put a secret message in the inscription he had claimed was a spell to secure the ritual.

Technically, it had secured the ritual, but Lily wasn't about to admit that as she was still feeling disgusted by the fact that she had not only drunk blood but blood from someone else. That was all kinds of gross.

I couldn't recognize a single part of that, not the crest or sigil, so Arakil must have done something to hide the message. Did he use a different glyph language or something? Lily wondered to herself.

After Rose's explanation, she finally opened the book. The first thing she did was accuse Arakil. He had no ink, so it wasn't like he could respond, so he had to just sit there while she verbally lashed out.

At the end, she sighed. She felt a lot better after being able to vent it all out, but the truth of the matter was that if they hadn't fed her that vile potion, she probably would have failed.

"I… Forgive both of you," Lily whispered. "And thank you both for making this dream a reality…"

"Of course!" Rose shouted without any hesitation.

Finally, Lily gave ink to Arakil. At first, he apologized for the deception and reiterated that it was only a last resort and that he truly wished the safety net would be unrequired. A small part of Lily knew it was probably due to her inadequacy at the part, perhaps not gathering it quickly enough or the trouble with the meditation.

However, Arakil reassured her not to be so downtrodden and instead praised her accomplishment. He bemoaned his own inability to give her more hands-on guidance throughout the endeavor, and even though the contingency was needed, it still did not diminish Lily's accomplishment.

Finally, he asked for a retelling of the events from both girls' perspectives. Lily sighed at not having the foresight to open the book so he could have heard right from the start. It took quite a while for both of them to finally finish their story. When they both had run out of things to say, Lily finally gave Arakil ink to respond.

[Remarkable. You've truly done an outstanding thing, Lily! I couldn't be more proud. One of the other reasons I was hesitant to use Rose's blood as an option is that it would have partially corrupted your Mana Core. It would have taken considerable time and effort to cleanse your Core of foreign impurities, but you took unforeseen initiative and successfully filtered the incoming Mana.]

"I just didn't want my silver moon to become red…" Lily admitted, feeling a little embarrassed at the extreme praise Arakil was giving.

[The reason for your extended sleep period was a spell I layered into the final stages of the ritual. Gaining a Mana Core often involves Mana Channels being carved throughout your body if you do not have any naturally; it can be an excruciatingly painful experience and not one I would want you to suffer through. The spell placed your body into a forced stasis until your Mana Core had stabilized.]

Lily nodded, feeling relieved that she didn't have to experience that. She had wondered what that burning sensation was of something digging through her body right before she had passed out. If what Arakil was talking about was worse than that, she was most grateful, even if it was inconvenient to be asleep for so long.

Arakil also mostly confirmed what Lily had figured. Her weak condition was that her Mana Core was trying to replenish itself and did not have enough available resources. He also confirmed that Lily could use the same meditation to slowly develop her Mana Core.

"But there's so little Mana sparkles; how am I supposed to grow it at all?" Lily questioned.

[Yes. As I mentioned, the ambient Mana has become dreadfully low. I'm honestly shocked that this is the state of the world and that no gods have intervened. You could artificially stimulate it by ingesting anything rich in Mana, although if it's plant-based, we must be careful that it contains nothing harmful. You could even partake in more of Rose's blood, although I'd caution against that as you risk partially corrupting your Core.]

"No!" Lily shouted. "No blood! Never again!"

[Not an issue. As I said, it was risky, and much safer methods are available. Besides, if my theory is correct, then the most fruitful method of nurturing your Mana Core would be to defeat monsters.]

"Monsters?" Lily asked, tilting her head.

"What's this about monsters?" Rose spoke up.

Lily read back everything Arakil said out loud for Rose.

"Well, if you want some more, the tap is always open," Rose said, tapping the underside of her wrist.

"Rose…" Lily muttered, visibly upset at the poor joke.

"Kidding! I'm kidding!" Rose said, waving her hands to calm Lily down. "But still… Monsters? I can sort of understand what Arakil is saying. I'm guessing it's like how the monsters made me stronger; if you're there, it will make your Core stronger?"

"Hey!" Lily said excitedly.

"What?" Rose asked, surprised by the sudden excitement.

"You finally called him by his name," Lily said happily.

"Well… I did say I would if he kept his promise!" Rose admitted with a slight blush.

Lily giggled.

"Moving on… You could certainly defeat a few little monsters. Something like a slime or a gremlin shouldn't be too much trouble if you learned an attack spell," Rose said, demonstrating as she made a small flame appear in the palm of her hand before crushing it in a clenched fist.

"I… Don't really have any offensive spells," Lily admitted. "I have the one Arakil made, but I've never learned any offensive glyphs."

"Really?" Rose muttered curiously. "You have the fire thing ; couldn't you take that and make it shoot? Honestly, you can kill a slime with a burning stick, pretty much."

Lily paused, tapping her finger against her lip while her ears twitched. "Maybe ? I've never tried adding a directional sigil to the fire crest."

Wanting confirmation, she gave ink to Arakil so he could finally respond to the conversation.

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[Firstly, Rose is correct. I believe monsters will be suitable fuel to feed your Mana Core. Moreover, after defeating one, you can perform the spiral meditation. It should channel their Mana or Essence directly into your Mana Core, although you might need to purify it.]

"Meditating after every monster kill sounds horrible…" Lily muttered while Arakil kept writing.

"Guess that means more practice for you!" Rose teased. "At least you're actually meditating with purpose now and not just blindly."

[Also, while I have not directly given you an offensive glyph composition, you have the building pieces for some rather rudimentary ones. You could make a rather simple firebolt glyph that should be sufficient for dispatching simple monsters.]

"Firebolt?" Lily said.

"It's like a crappy fireball," Rose retorted. "Although… I guess it's a good starting point if you aren't a Dragia."

"But that's all glyphs and stuff; what about using my Mana?" Lily questioned.

[I was wondering when you would ask. It is relatively simple to start utilizing your Mana Core; you just need to visualize the meditation in reverse. Instead of collecting Mana into your Core via a spiral, visualize your Core itself spinning and releasing Mana into your entire being.]

Lily's eyes sparkled as she read that. It sounded absolutely amazing, and in hindsight, she should have realized that it made perfect sense.

"That sounds so cool . When can I learn real magic?" Lily asked, then gasped and realized she had said. "Sorry ! I didn't mean it!"

[I'll forgive the slip of the tongue, especially after what I put you through with the blood potion. However, I will remind you that glyphs and inscriptions are, in fact, real magic.]

"I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Lily pleaded.

[To answer your question, it depends on how adept you become at manipulating your Mana. You will need to become accustomed to channeling Mana from your Core. We will also need to determine its capacity and purity at some point, which will determine your starting point.]

Lily nodded. "So I just need to practice spinning my Mana Core and releasing Mana into my body?"

[In simple terms, yes. However, once it is distributed, you must practice shaping and bending it to your will. One method I believe will please you would be practicing imbuing ink with your Mana. Doing so requires considerable control to focus it within the palm of your hand enough to emanate into an external object. Plus, that will give us mana-charged ink that can be used for inscriptions. You will have glyphs, and this more spontaneous form of spell casting, such as what Rose can do.]

"Yes! That sounds amazing!" Lily said excitedly.

"Explanations, please! I'm feeling like the third wheel here," Rose interrupted.

"Sorry," Lily giggled before conveying everything Arakil had written.

"So… It sounds like you need to start practicing as soon as possible," Rose said.

"Yeah!" Lily said with an excited, ear-flopping nod. "We used our last drop of glyph ink, not to mention all the Fairymoss. So until I can imbue ink myself, I won't be able to make any glyphs to defeat monsters."

"Well, unless you use the one Arakil made you," Rose pointed out.

"I'm sort of saving that one for an emergency," Lily said, "If the shield inscription he made is any indication, it's probably extremely over the top."

"If I had known we needed to kill monsters, I would have been less active in my walks …" Rose muttered. "I've killed a bunch of the small fries, so they will take a bit to start spawning again. I could take you with me and kill a gremlin or two with you nearby?"

"That might work… Especially if it happens while I'm actively meditating," Lily said with a nod.

"I also really want to help you as much as possible before I have to go with Lady Desthu," Rose sighed. "If I can give you a bit of a head start, that might be really helpful since I don't know how long it will take you till you can imbue ink."

"Thanks Rose…" Lily said, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Worst case, I finish paying off Miss Camilla and get her to order additional Fairymoss and make more glyph ink."

"If there's any left!" Rose giggled. "I swear, the amount we used, they probably think there's a headache epidemic in Ceedale."

"I hope not… I want to buy some to grow my Mana Core…" Lily said with a hint of worry.

Rose snapped her fingers. "What about a Mana potion?"

"That might work!" Lily said, bouncing happily. Then she thought a bit more, and her ears drooped a little. "Although I haven't even finished paying off the last one…"

"Well, you have the time. Something to work towards, assuming it would work?" Rose said.

They turned to Arakil and asked him.

[Yes. Those Mana potions are likely the best source for you outside of monsters. If Rose's startling growth is any indication, I believe you will benefit greatly. However, we must still ensure your safety first and foremost.]

"I still have my shield glyphs, so I should be fine…" Lily mumbled.

"And you'll have me by your side!" Rose said with a small arm flex. "If you were truly desperate, I bet you could ask some of the teens here to take you with them. Those boys love showing off that they can beat a dire rat or a slime."

"Maybe…" Lily reluctantly entertained the idea.

"So… I'm dying to know how good of a job you did! Aren't you?" Rose asked.

"Oh, right!" Lily agreed. "Arakil, how can we check my Mana Core?"

[Until you learn how to channel your Mana, it will be difficult to evaluate currently. Once you've had your Mana Core for a few days and have channeled Mana throughout your body, it will start accumulating in your blood, and that will be a sufficient method to evaluate it.]

"No…" Lily shuddered and hid her fingers away under her armpits.

"Oh, come on now, Lily. I'm sure a little prick on the finger will be enough…" Rose said, shaking her head.

"I hate blood … It reminds me of all the needles and doctors…" Lily shuddered.

Rose gave her a comforting pat on her head, ruffling her ears.

"Oh… don't forget you have your checkup tomorrow. You better eat and sleep well to pass it with flying colors, or we both might get in trouble," Rose pointed out.

Lily gulped. She had nearly forgotten about that, and an errant thought crept in.

Will they be able to see my Mana Core?