Mana Essence

Drip... drip...

"Pfft! Cough, cough, cough... Blech! That tasted awful. Slime mucus is so spicy!"

Moss knelt atop the shattered Slime corpse, continuously vomiting up the mucus left in her body!

The corrosive mucus kept burning Moss's esophagus and stomach, making her entire body feel feverish!

At that moment, the Golden Finger's voice kept sounding in her mind.

Talent: Corrosion Resistance → Corrosion Resistance I

Talent: Omnivory III (35% ↑)

Talent: Minor Injury Recovery I → Minor Injury Recovery II

"Why... cough, cough, cough... can Talents still activate after Magic Power is depleted...?"

Moss could clearly feel that her body was completely empty, yet the notifications continued to ring out.

Talent: Minor Injury Recovery II (Activated)

Moss tentatively activated Minor Injury Recovery. As expected, the notification for the Talent's activation sounded in her mind.

However, a wave of dizzying vertigo followed, nearly causing Moss to pass out on the spot.

"This really is a huge discovery... Haha, cough, cough, cough..."

Moss gave a bitter laugh, got to her feet, and staggered toward the cave.

Why could she still activate Talents while her Magic Power was depleted?

If Magic Power was not the key to activating Talents, then what did the power inside her body have to do with Magic Power?

Her previous conclusion had not been correct, and that incorrect conclusion had led to a mistaken understanding of power.

After returning to the cave, Moss kicked Little Ball out before hiding inside alone and falling asleep, muttering:

"I need to sort out the relationship between all this again. Otherwise, something dangerous like this might happen again..."

And so, Moss spent another two days rethinking and observing!

At last, she completed her understanding of the power within her body!

"So that's how it is!"

Moss climbed down from her Little Ball mattress and looked up at the densely packed writing on the wall!

It contained everything from her own experimental data to observations, research, and conjectures about the monster known as a "Slime"!

Looking at this data, Moss's eyes shone with increasing excitement as she muttered:

"Now that I think about it, it all makes sense. Monsters and human Awakened Ones are the same, and animals naturally follow the same principle!"

"Magic Power is not merely transformed Mental Force—it also requires an actual substance!"

Moss decided to name that substance "Mana Essence"!

It was something commonly found in fantasy novels, generally referred to as magical elements!

Although different novels had different understandings and names for magical elements, there was no denying that Mana Essence was an extraordinary substance!

It was a substance that truly existed, one that could merge with the mind—soul or consciousness—and unleash miraculous power!

This substance was not possessed by humans alone. Monsters possessed it as well, and even all things in the world!

The only difference was the amount of Mana Essence contained within each individual.

Mana Essence was a changeable substance, the foundational material used to wield extraordinary power.

Taking human Talents and monster abilities as examples, they were basically Mana Essence plus the influence of an individual's mind.

That was why all kinds of miraculous changes could occur!

From this, it could be inferred that Mana Essence might undergo different changes when combined with other substances.

However, Moss had not seen that happen yet, so she could only speculate. But from that, she could derive even more conjectures.

For example, Mana Essence without human influence might have no attributes.

The Mana Essence possessed by every living creature carried that creature's own traits, and those traits often came from the effects of the Talents it possessed.

The Dragon's Might unconsciously radiated by a Giant Dragon was the effect monsters or humans felt from its Mana Essence.

From this, it could be concluded that a Giant Dragon possessed an ability similar to "Intimidation."

Thus, even without activating its ability, the Mana Essence it radiated alone could make other creatures feel uncomfortable.

Magic Power, meanwhile, was not what Moss had initially believed it to be—the total amount of energy in one's body.

It was a special type of Mana Essence unique to an individual, formed after Mana Essence had been transformed by that individual!

Magic Power was more like a controller, representing the upper limit of Mana Essence a creature could use!

Once that limit was exceeded, one would fall into weakness or even unconsciousness due to depleted Mental Force!

But exhausting one's Magic Power did not mean one's Mana Essence had been used up!

What Talents required to activate was not Magic Power. Fundamentally, they required Mana Essence.

Therefore, even after Magic Power was depleted, Talents could still be activated, as long as one could withstand the weakened state caused by Magic Power depletion.

As for what would happen after Mana Essence was exhausted, Moss did not know. But reason told her that it would be extremely dangerous.

"So it really was close back then. I almost kicked the bucket, hahahaha..."

Moss laughed a few times, then turned to look at the Slime beside her.

Talent: Detection (Activated)

The next moment, several streaks of rainbow light flashed through Moss's eyes!

Name: Slime (Little Ball)

Level: Bronze Level 1

Constitution: 2

Spirit: 0.1

Magic Power: 1

Mana Essence: 21

Skills: Liquid Form, Physical Immunity, Mana Perception, Water Flow Resistance, Jump, Poison Generation...

"As expected, Detection can show the values I want to see."

Moss withdrew her gaze and nodded in satisfaction.

Magic Power and Mana Essence were both names Moss had chosen herself. She did not know what the outside world called these substances.

But the Detection Talent had directly used the names Moss had chosen, which meant the laws had accepted those names.

This showed that her understanding of Magic Power and Mana Essence had been correct so far!

"Great, I've finally figured out the power inside my body. Things will be much more convenient from now on!"

Moss happily scratched the whiskers on her face and looked down at her hands, intending to see what her own values were.

As the Talent activated, a new panel appeared before Moss again.

Magic Power: 10

Mana Essence: 20

"What?! My Mana Essence is actually lower than a Slime's?! I refuse to accept this! Aaaah!!!"

The instant Moss saw the displayed values, she cried out. She kicked Little Ball beside her, her face full of indignation!

Puyo! Puyo! Puyo!

Like a rubber ball, Little Ball was sent bouncing wildly around the cave by Moss's kick!

Its still-unawakened brain had no idea what had happened. After staring blankly for a moment, it scooted back over and rubbed against Moss in a fawning manner.

"Hmph! Just looking at you annoys me!"

Although Moss said that, she still sat back down on Little Ball and continued looking at her panel.

"Ten points of Magic Power and twenty points of Mana Essence. The Magic Power is the same as what I estimated before."

Looking at Little Ball's panel again, the total amount of Mana Essence seemed to be ten times the sum of its Constitution and Spirit attributes?!

"Hiss... Something's wrong..."

Moss felt that something was off, and her brows furrowed slightly.

If the total amount of Mana Essence was the sum of the Constitution and Spirit attributes, then what exactly did the Constitution attribute represent?

Could the various tissues that made up the body all be composed of Mana Essence?

"If I explain it as Mana Essence being contained within the body... that still doesn't seem right."

Moss muttered softly, then shook her head.

What exactly did the Constitution attribute represent?

Physical strength?

The body itself?

Mana Essence?

If she added Job Points to Constitution, would the body change, or would the Mana Essence change?

The fact that a substance was a substance meant that it definitely had physical form.

Moss recalled the fifteen-centimeter Slime she had killed. What had happened to its corpse in the end?

"Damn, I didn't record it in time."

Moss tapped her head and wore a troubled expression.

Her mind had not been very clear at the time. She could only vaguely remember the Slime rapidly collapsing after it died.

When she went to check the next day, the Slime's corpse had already vanished.

"It seems my research into Mana Essence is far from over..."

Haaah~

Moss yawned, leisurely lay down on the Slime, and slowly fell asleep.

Puyo!

Little Ball seemed to notice Moss's movements, and the light on its body gradually dimmed.