A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 121: Major Mana Level Up

They were just surprised I managed to bridge that insurmountable gap that would've normally taken years upon years to close, in just five weeks. I had sustained a time barrier, stayed awake, supplied mana, all in one.

Frankly, they thought I was either a god or a monster.

When I assured them that I most certainly wasn't a god and Tear Fang wouldn't send a monster to do a meaningful task like this, even though I was more monster than god in some ways, they went right on to it. I had no idea why they accepted it so easily, it just happened. Maybe I should have paid more attention.

I sat back down on the stool prepared for me, then faced the circlets. I put my hands on the tables, my small and childish hands, and then started pouring mana. There was only about 500,000 MPs left until it was complete, and with my 622,425 MPs we were done in no time.

"Okay, so maybe not a day, but instead a minute," Smith corrected Major. "Now, who's going to try it out?"

Everyone looked at me.

"Wimps," I sighed, grabbing the circlets. They were all the same size right now, big enough to slip over a normal person's head and land on their neck like an Egyptian's necklace. Once put on, however, it barely gave you enough breathing room. Hesitantly, I slipped on all of them and took a deep breath as they slowly enclosed, eating up the unnecessary metal in between as they fit my small neck and wrists and ankles and head. "Hey...you know how to get this off, right?"

"I wouldn't have suggested we try it on if not," Smith sighed. "Now, pour some mana into it please."

"What if I don't have any left?"

"If you didn't have any, then it wouldn't have locked on in the first place."

"Hou..." I cogitated about that, thinking. So someone with Severe Mana Depletion like me couldn't have this apply to them...even though I outlasted the disease long ago. "Well then."

I leaked some of my aura, using half of the amount I walked in here with at first, somewhere around 55,000 MPs. Not a single bit showed, and no one seemed even the slightest bit pressured as I pushed out more, more, more...

"How much have you used?" I was asked.

"It's impolite to ask a lady's mana total. Besides, how do you know if I know my own Status?"

"We've had this conversation before."

"Really...? Hm. I guess lack of sleep really does get to a person," I shrugged. "But yes, I've expended what you might say is about, oh, 5,500 times the average human's mana reservoir?"

"55,500?!" Major exclaimed, lifting his cap shakily while running his hands through his hair. He placed the cap back down, then pulled up a stool to sit. A few of them breathed in strongly, looking at me oddly. Some Dwarves nearby had to stop what they were doing just so they didn't accidentally hammer their hands or something. "By Jelke..."

"But that's nothing?" I whispered to myself. Maybe an eleventh of my MP total.

"Nothing! Nothing, she says!" Grant Bhemus, Major's lookalike from earlier with the green eyes turned in circles, feet leaden as he paced. I started to pour more mana, just to test it out, and found that no matter how much I expended, it was all contained within the circlets. When I had three MPs left in total, I finally asked to have it taken off.

They did, but I didn't learn the secret as to how. No matter, I'll learn it later.

Then, I fell asleep while sitting upright on the stool, not breathing. I later learned that I caused an uproar when someone tapped me on the shoulder and I fell over, heart not beating and air not passing through my nose. They thought I died from overextending myself. When I woke up, a day left until we were supposed to be back at the tribe, my mana was fully replenished and I had never felt better. The time barrier had broken the moment I fell asleep, so I'd truly been asleep in real time for about two days.