Chương 25: The Garden

The next day, I was in my garden. There was something I wanted to test. Just what happens if I pour all my mana into one plant? The thought came to me last night before bed. I can control the growth rate based on the amount of mana used, but I usually don't use much. Just enough that I don't feel burdened. But… What if I ignore all of it? What if I don't care if I can't brew potions today? What if I ignore the feeling that I'm using too much? What if I don't care if I exhaust my mana?

Just how will it affect the plant? And today, I was determined to find out. First, I tended to my plants as usual—pruning dead leaves, removing weeds, and using my [Plant Growth] skill on them. I only watered them once a week, and that was still a couple days away. After my daily tending was done, it was time to test my skill. I drank a mana potion to start slowly recovering my mana. But the question was… Which plant do I test it on?

Currently, I had a variety of plants in my garden—Basil, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and most notably strawberries. There were a couple more, but those hadn't grown yet. Plus, I was planning on getting rid of all of them except strawberries soon. There were also materials I planted in a segregated section of the room. Those can stay.

"Hm…" I pondered, tapping my chin. It felt obvious I would use a strawberry. Those just taste so good and are the only plant I really care about in here. But, then, what stage of growth should I help? Do I want to use my skill on a baby strawberry that hadn't even sprouted yet? Maybe one in childhood where it's just a seedling? Or should I skip all of that and go for one that's flowering? Options, options… A few minutes of back-and-forth mental debate later, I decided. I'd help a seed out.

One that hasn't even been planted yet. With my skill and C grade soil, it takes about a month of constant tending from a strawberry to go from seed to fruiting. So, I wanted to see how much I could cut that time if I used the best soil possible and my skill to its utmost limit. The first thing I had to do was prepare a planter box. To do that, I'd buy fertilized soil at the highest grade I could find on the exchange.

"Let's see…" [Fertilized Soil] Search Results: 3, 251 [S-Grade Fertilized Fruit Soil - 15, 000, 000 Points] [S-Grade Fertilized Fruit Soil - 14, 950, 000 Points] [S-Grade Fertilized Universal Soil - 30, 000, 000 Points] Never mind. [B-Grade Fertilized Universal Soil - 4, 500, 000 Points] [B-Grade Fertilized Fruit Soil - 2, 500, 000 Points] …

"Ugh!!" I let out a groan at the outrageous prices.

"2. 5 million points for soil!? For B grade soil!? Who sets these things?!"

"This is blasphemy!" This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"That's a tenth of my cauldron price!"

"Ugh…"

"I should vent about this to Mouse later…" At the same time as that thought, a certain silver-haired girl felt shivers run down her spine. She looked around her room before shrugging and continuing to watch the show.

"2 and a half million…" I sighed, "I must be going crazy." Did I really want to spend over half of my points on some soil just to test my skill before I've even bought my cauldron? Of course I didn't! Couldn't I just use the C grade soil I've been using all along? I could. Yeah… Let's just… [Purchase Successful] I bought the B grade soil. If I'm doing something I've gotta go big! Go big or go home after all! … But I'm already home? Agh! Whatever! It's too late to change my decision now.

I sniffled, looking at my point balance. All those days of brewing mana potions to sell seemed to have disappeared.

"My memories…" I mumbled.

"Well, whatever." I shrugged, pouring the soil into a planter. Maybe as a sign of the seller's conscious, there was enough soil for more than one planter box. So, at least that's good news. After filling the planter, I dug some holes for the seeds. I was using seeds from the D grade strawberries I've grown. I'd have liked to get them to C grade first, but I didn't know how far off that was, so I simply settled on the D grade ones.

[Strawberry Seeds] Grade D Seeds picked from a D grade strawberry that was raised with love and care. Due to repeated stimulation of the 'Growth' property, this seed has inherited a 'Growth' affinity, allowing the 'Growth' property to affect this seed more.

"Grow up big and strong! ~" I smiled as I looked at the item's description. If this seed wasn't meant for my skill use, I don't know what is.

"Plant~ Plant~ Plant~" I sung as I buried the seeds. After they were sufficiently covered under dirt, I watered them appropriately. Now, it was time to experiment! Closing my eyes, I could see my core was around 85% filled. Since I had already drank a mana potion earlier, drinking another one wouldn't do me any good.

"Hey little buddy, you're about to get 85% of my mana injected into you, is that alright?" I asked the seed.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." I said with a smile. Putting my hand on the soil, I'd use my skill the original way I was meant to. I hadn't done this in a while.

"Grow little one~ Grow to the moon and touch the stars~ You will grow up big and strong, you will grow up healthy and long, grow little one~ Grow~" As I sung to the seed, I activated my skill. [Plant Growth] I felt the mana naturally draw from my core and flow to my finger tips, the mana left my hand, entering the soil and into the seed. I continuously drew mana, letting it flow into the seed without halt. At some point, I felt my skill telling me that's enough, but I ignored it and continued to draw mana.

A little later, it felt like the seed was full. But I continued. More and more mana left my core. 70% 60% 50% … 20% My core started to feel strained, yet, I continued. The seed was full of my mana; So, I compacted the mana inside of it and was able to inject more. 10% My head started to feel fuzzy. An annoying headache hit me, but I continued. 5%"Haah… Haah…" Heavy breaths left my mouth as I rung my core dry. The blistering headache festered, but I continued.

2% The mana in my core wouldn't come out, so I forced it out and into the seed. Why was I going so far? Why was I enduring even the pain that came alongside this, just to test my skill? Well, I've always been the type to see something through until the end. A one-track mind you could say. I've never thought badly of it, I actually quite liked this mindset of mine. To fully focus… To fully obsess over one thing until the end. I think it's a good trait to have. So, I continued.

1% Mana was pulled from my core in short bursts, it was like the last remaining bit of a condiment bottle. The headache was almost unbearable at this point. Sweat poured down my back and head. My body felt numb and my limbs shook. But, I continued. To reach the end I committed myself to. The only thing that'd stop me now was if I collapsed. 0% As the last bit of mana left my body, my connection to the seed snapped and my eyes shot open.

"Did it…" I mumbled, staggering back. I couldn't stand straight and everything was spinning. There were two planter boxes in front of me…No, just one. I'm seeing double.

"Ugh…" I groaned, stumbling around before falling to the ground. Clutching my head, I closed my eyes. My core looked completely empty. It's brilliant purple luster was nowhere to be seen, replaced with only a dull gray. Slowly, I could see drops of mana from the mana potion drip into the core. It was colorless, natural mana that slowly assimilated into my own. A hint of purple dyed the mana as it slowly became mine. If only I could drink another mana potion right now…

The reason mana potions didn't work in succession was simple. To understand though, first, you'd need to know how mana potions actually work. Mana potions worked by filling a certain mana pathway in your body with natural mana. Natural mana is the world's mana, undisturbed by any element, affinity, or outside interference. It's easily affected by its surroundings and adapts to anything. The mana pathway it enters, prepares the natural mana to become one's own.

It adds your own unique properties and is what allows you to use it once it enters your core. This is a slow process, aided by internal mana regeneration speed. Once it reaches the end of the path, it enters a 'fully prepped' state, and is only missing energy from your core before it becomes your own. The natural mana drips down into the core, where it puddles as natural mana. Your core slowly injects its energies into the mana, dying it in your color, making it 'your mana'. That's just a simplified version of it.

So, back to the question of why drinking another mana potion wouldn't work. The natural mana you'd get would only enter the same pathway where it already is. It'd just increase the amount of mana gained. As for the instant 5% mana regeneration, that only works when the natural mana pathway is clear. At least, that's how I understood it from my alchemy friends.

"Haah…" I sighed, clenching my head and waiting in silence. Staring at my core, I knew I'd have to wait for a while. Ah, the pain of research. I just hope there's good results. … I ended up passing out on the floor. It was only a few hours later when I woke up. The headache was still there, but it was severely less intense. At least I can move around now. Inside, my core was about 20% filled. Since my natural mana pathways were clear, I drank another mana potion, bringing that up to 25%.

"Haah…Now I feel alive." Mana exhaustion sucks. I see why people say never to fully empty your core now. Sitting up, I purposefully avoided looking at the plant. I needed to prepare myself mentally first. Was this a waste of time? Or would I see actual results? Several deep breaths later, I stood up.

"Okay…Good or bad, at least I learned a lot, right?"

"…What did I even learn? Mana exhaustion = bad? I already knew that…"

"Soil = expensive?"

"…Agh, whatever!" I opened my eyes and stared at the plant.

"…" A few blinks later, I even wiped my eyes, yet, I saw the same thing.

"…Is this real?" Standing proudly in the planter box was a tall strawberry bush that had already fruited several strawberries. The strawberries were a beautiful, majestic, red color that reminded me of royalty. They were large, almost double the size of regular strawberries. The vibrant green cap, topped off the fruit.

"Holy…" I mumbled with a wide mouth. If Mouse had seen my face, she'd have called it priceless and snapped several photos of my shocked expression. But… This was too crazy not to be shocked by. Approaching the plant, I identified a strawberry. [Homegrown Strawberry] Grade C+ A strawberry that was pushed to its limits and then beyond those.

Grown in B grade soil, this strawberry had mana gently, but forcefully injected into it stimulating the 'Growth' property, even compacting the mana to fit in more after the 'Growth' property had reach fullness. Due to the 'Growth' affinity, the mana has affected it more intensely, shattering its normal growth level. However, due to the gentleness of the mana, its quality has been raised, simulating love and care. This strawberry has reached its growth limit.

"Grow to the moon and stars~" A smile came to my face naturally as I finished reading the description. Then, I looked at the other strawberry bushes.

"…Should I hit mana exhaustion a few more times?"