Chương 51: Mana Manipulation Training?

Luna and I sat side-by-side on the couch while watching a movie. During one of the boring scenes, Luna turned to me and asked,"… Are you sure that's a proper training method?" I turned to her with a tilted head. In my hands were two wooden knitting needles and in my lap was a ball of yarn. I was currently (attempting) to knit a scarf—though, it certainly didn't look like one. This wasn't the method that the manager taught me. But, it was like a precursor I had to complete before I could actually start training.

First, I'd have to properly knit a scarf, then I'd move on to knitting a blanket. Once I knew how to knit a blanket with at least some skill, I could move on to attempting to shape my mana into a blanket. Theoretically, I could skip everything and jump straight to using mana, but that'd be silly. The interlockings of a blanket are more complex than I thought and since I need the final product to be stable, I'd rather just learn everything from scratch and make it proper.

Plus, I couldn't even project mana externally yet. When I tried forming a string from finger to finger… Let's just say it didn't go well. So, that brings us here. Knitting while watching a movie with Luna. She was—understandably—surprised when the delivery person arrived with a box full of knitting supplies.

"Mm…A precursor." I explained, "I need to know how to do this before I can start."

"I see…" She nodded, "What about potions? Weren't you going to brew one earlier?"

"I think I'm going to use all my attention to this—potions can wait until I'm satisfied with my work. Rather then spending a few hours every day on alchemy, I'll focus on knitting."

"…Is that something an alchemist should be saying? First, you're a gardener with that skill of yours, next, you're knitting instead of brewing potions?" She teased.

"Hehe, right? Next thing you know, I'll get a knitting skill instead of an alchemy skill." I joked, "Is there even a knitting-specific class? What would that be? Knitter?"

"Probably a tailor? I don't doubt there's some advanced class focused on knitting though. There's probably some niche class out there."

"Oh right, tailor. Forgot about those."

"Hah," She chuckled, "So, you won't be brewing potions for the foreseeable future? Are you still selling them then? You do have a bit of a stockpile."

"Mm…Nah, I'll just leave them in storage. If I'm not replenishing them, I'd rather keep them in case I need to use them."

"Makes sense." She nodded before turning back to watch the movie, "Oh! I love this scene!" I rolled my eyes and continued to expertly(lie) knit a scarf. …

"You made quite a nice…Rag…" Luna mumbled, looking at my finished product. I pursed my lips, opening my mouth several times but failing to let out any sounds. As she said, what I created couldn't be classified as a scarf—rather, it looked like some rag with a bunch of holes in it. The pattern was completely unaesthetic and it looked haphazardly made. If someone told me they accidentally dropped this in a machine used to poke holes into steel, I'd give them about a 70% chance of telling the truth.

"…Do you like the color at least?"

"About the only thing I like about it."

"At least that's a plus." I smiled, "Here then, a gift."

"…Giving me such a precious creation, I'm honored." She sarcastically said. Though, she did still take the scarf(rag). With a fresh slate, I tied a knot around the needles and wrapped the yarn. Time for round two. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"You're going again?"

"I'm gonna be honest, I'll probably be doing this until we go to bed."

"No breaks?"

"We're watching a movie, aren't we?" Luna shrugged before placing her attention back on the TV. I really miss her couch-bed. My couch is comfy, but it's nowhere close to the one at her house. …

"Hey, that one looks better." Luna commented, staring at the mess in my hand.

"Something you'd wear?"

"…I'd rather not." …

"There's less holes this time."

"I'd rather there'd be no holes…" I mumbled before sighing. It was already past evening—about the time for dinner. It takes about 3 hours per scarf and all three times I've ended up with something more befitting the name 'Rag'.

"But look, you've actually made a lot of progress today." Luna said, pulling out the first scarf I made and holding it next to my latest creation. The one she held looked sloppy—the patterns were completely out of sync, gaping holes were dotted all over the place, and it just looked unappealing. While the one in my hand…Well, it still looked unappealing but it looked less unappealing than the first.

"Yeah," I nodded, "That's good news at least. Anyways, what do you want for dinner?" I asked.

"Um…Could you do potatoes?"

"Sure, I'll make loaded potatoes then."

"Yes! Thank you!" She did a small cheer as I headed to the kitchen. …

"Hehe." Luna happily munched away at the potato. She really is a foodie, every time I've seen her look so happy is when she's eating food. Is it all food that makes her this happy? Cause I'm a decent cook, but I'm not that good.

"Nom~Hm?" She looked up and at me as she put the fork in her mouth. Why does she act 10 times cuter when she's eating? I wondered.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked.

"It's nothing." I shook my head and got back to eating. After we finished our food, Luna decided that washing the dishes was her chore to do since I made dinner and I wasn't complaining. Living with someone is pretty nice—I don't have to do everything myself, and it's nice to have company. Though… I wonder if all days are going to be like this? Thinking about it, what did we actually do today? I knitted for 9 hours straight and Luna watched movies for the same amount of time.

Not once did either of us mention anything about going out or doing something else… I'm beginning to think that we might both be hikikomori's… Putting that line of thought on the back burner, I stood up and headed to one of the boxes that was delivered earlier today. It was our toiletries, I hadn't actually shown Luna yet since I wanted it to be a surprise.

"Mouse, we need to brush our teeth." I called out.

"Mm? Of course. Are you finally going to show me what you bought?" She asked, approaching me.

"Hehe, you're going to like it." I said. Without waiting, I showed her the toothbrush I bought her. It was a mouse-themed toothbrush with a cute design.

"What the?" She took it with widened eyes, "Why's it so cute!?" She inspected the toothbrush, "And it's even got soft bristles! I actually really like it."

"Amazing, right?" I said, "But wait, look at mine." I showcased the toothbrush I bought—a raccoon-themed one, "Matches our nicknames and has a similar design!"

"Woah! So cute! We match." She smiled.

"Hehe," I giggled, "I actually bought two of each design since I planned on replacing my old toothbrush anyways. So, I'll have raccoon-themed toothbrushes at both houses."

"Did you get me two mouse-themed ones too? I want to replace my old toothbrush as well now."

"Figured you say that! So predictable~" I smiled, showing her the second mouse-themed toothbrush.

"I think you just know me well rather than me being predictable." She said with rolled eyes.

"Hehe, I'll take pride in that then." I said, "Oh! I have another surprise for you." I smiled, devilishly.

"…Should I be worried?"

"No, no. It's good! One sec, laundry should be dry so let me go hang those first." And I did just that, bringing the laundry from the basket to my closet, I neatly organized everything into their proper place while keeping two specific outfits on the side.

"Hehe…" I giggled looking at what I planned to have Luna wear. Leaving the closet with a pep in my step, I quickly headed to Luna,"Mouse!" I said with a bright smile, "It's night time now, right?" She looked at me suspiciously as she hesitantly answered,"…Yes?"

"That means we're going to sleep soon, right?"

"…Yes?"

"And we can't sleep in these outfits! We need to wear sleepwear!"

"…That's right…But I don't have my clothes here…" She seemed to get an idea of what I was hinting at but didn't directly say anything.

"Of course! That's fine because I just so happen to have two pairs of pajamas!"

"…Right…"

"Go to the bathroom, brush your teeth and I'll bring you your pair!"

"… Okay." Though suspicious since what I was saying wasn't wrong, she couldn't do anything about it! Hahaha! All she can do now is wait and accept what I bestow upon her! Did I need to act so suspiciously in front of her? No, but it's funny so I did! There's no way she doesn't also think it's funny since she's playing straight into it. Small things like these really make me appreciate Luna. I'm really happy that we're friends.

After she headed to the bathroom, I grabbed the onesie I prepared for her with a devilish grin. The bathroom door was open, so I just peeked inside. Luna was standing in front of the sink brushing her teeth. I waited until she was done before handing her the onesie.

"Alright, let's see what devious thing you've prepared for me." She said.

"Hehe." I handed her the onesie and she unfurled it, looking at it in its entirety. Gray pants and arms with a white belly, a bushy black and gray tail hung off its backside and the hood had a cute thief-looking animal face on it. Yes, I had given her a raccoon onesie.

"…" She stared at it for a moment before looking at me, "…I should've expected this."

"Hehe, do you like it?"

"It's definitely soft and comfortable."

"Of course! Those are my prized main pajamas!"

"…Then what're you going to wear?"

"You'll see!" I said before closing the door and heading back to my room. Of course I prepared a onesie for myself to wear. Quickly undressing and putting it on I did a little twirl, my long tail flicking around. On the top of my head, two pointy triangles extended from the hood.

"Perfect!" Just a little later a knock came to the bedroom door,"Can I come in?" Luna said.

"Come in!" When the door opened, she froze as she looked at me. I also froze. I didn't know before that I needed to see Luna in a raccoon onesie, but now I do. So, we both just sat there in silence for a moment silently checking out each others appearances.

"…Shouldn't you be the one wearing this raccoon onesie?" Luna eventually let out, "I thought you had two raccoon onesie's so you gave me one, but no, you have a completely separate animal—a cat."

"Hehe, that's the funny part. You'd expect me to be a raccoon, but I'm actually a cat! Meow!" I posed with cat claws.

"Hahah!" She started to laugh, "Right, raccoon is actually a kitty cat. I get it now."

"Mhm! You look good!" I said, "Do a little twirl!"

"Like this?" Her bushy tail flicked a little as she spun.

"So cute!" I immediately started taking pictures, "Can you do a pose?"

"Is this fine?" She lifted up two fingers.

"Perfect! How about a heart pose next?"

"…"

"Great! Now can you cup your cheeks?"

"…You better be prepared to do the exact same poses."

"No problem!" And so, she posed a dozen different times and tons of photos were taken. After I was finished taking pictures, she didn't let me off easy, instructing me to do the same poses I asked her to do. Then, we took photos together, doing poses exclusive for two people. After all was said and done, it was finally time to sleep. I felt satisfied. The quest I had taken on this morning was officially complete and there was plenty more opportunities to see Luna in a raccoon onesie. So, it was time to sleep.

The good news about the onesies is that they're incredibly soft and warm. The 'bad' news is, well, Luna became a body pillow. Though, she didn't seem too displeased.