"Okay, just don't toss and turn; otherwise, the process will shake your mana core," I muttered.
As I slowly turned the girl over, who was still sleeping like a rock, I then placed her on her stomach and spread my right palm over the center of her back.
I gripped my right wrist with my left hand and then closed my eyes…
Syncing my breath with slight pulses of mana, I slowly infiltrated her mana core, and upon appearing inside of it, I couldn't help my jaw dropping to the floor.
I was in a blue cavern that was taller than it was wide, and strings of white hung from each and every cliff that was created.
These white strings then had holes in them that let out drops of blue liquid which burned my skin upon falling onto me.
VWIP
"HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… Can I… even repair that? Also, what are those white strings?" I muttered to myself, and the only explanation I could come up with was that somebody had cursed this child.
It looked like a curse, but it was white when curses are normally a very dark color or just completely black at that.
"Hmmmmm… Well… I guess I should give it a go," I muttered, but now I was starting to have some new second thoughts.
If it really was a curse, it could possibly spread to me while healing her core because some are semi-sentient, but then there is the other possibility that it will spread anyway to the rest of the kids and single mothers here.
After groaning over the choices for a few seconds, I finally reached a conclusion… but the process wasn't going to be pretty.
"First, I need some type of source so I won't run out of mana," I muttered, and I soon returned with a small leather book in hand.
This will ultimately cause her to have the sludge attribute, but at least she'll live past her teens, and she won't have to worry about the pain anymore.
As I gripped the small book in my left hand, I placed my right palm on the child's back once again and tried to gather the mana from the book and have it travel through my veins, and out of my palm, into the mana core.
[Mana Mastery is being developed | 2% Complete]
[Mana Manipulation is being developed | 81% Complete]
Shut the hell up for a second, System, and stop ringing this shit in my ears! I need to concentrate as much as possible!
…
"Foooooo… That was a bit easier than I thought. It seems the curse is a bit underdeveloped, like a freshly born baby. It hasn't had any negative side effects besides sucking out mana from her mana core," I muttered.
As I wiped the sweat from my forehead, I noticed the small book had completely disappeared, so I expelled any of the sludge mana out of my hand in the form of a black liquid and walked out the door.
"She should be fine now. Just make sure she doesn't use any skills for the next week or so as her core is still tender from the process,"
"Thank you," The black-haired girl said with tears in her eyes and then ran to hug the white-haired girl who had just woken up.
I might've not acquired her mana core… but I did get something amazing.
[Mana Mastery is being developed | 68% Complete]
[Mana Manipulation has been completed | 100% Complete]
[Skill Granted]
『Status』
[Name: Cyrus]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Water Magician]
[Level: 13/25] (17/100) XP Needed
[HP: 35/35 MP: 1/10 SP: 4/15] - Normal Human
[Strength: 5] - Normal Human
[Defense: 3] - Normal Human
[Magic: 13] - Normal Human
[Speed: 3] - Normal Human
[Aether: 5] - Non Human
[Skills: [Tidal Strike] [Water Manipulation] [Water Ring] [Poison Murky Water] [Mana Manipulation]
[Passive Skills: [Water Body] [Trait: Lightning]
…
"Pretty good…" I smiled at my status but was rudely interrupted by a woman with brown hair patting my head again.
"Let's go have some breakfast," She said with a smile, and it was perfect timing cause I was actually starving.
That process practically sucked out all the energy in me, and I needed to replenish it in only one way… eating as much food as possible.
As the kids watched me devour all their food in horror, the woman right next to me didn't let up her warm smile.
"Eat as much as you want… Baby, you must've suffered so much," She said as she continuously patted my head, and though it was a bit annoying, I was too focused on eating to care to do anything about it.
After I had cleared the pantry without any remorse, all the kids looked at me with fearful eyes filling with tears.
"Did they eat already?" I asked as I turned towards the brown-haired woman.
"Yes, they did, but you just cleared our pantry, but it's fine. I can just go buy some more food," She responded before patting my head one last time and picking up a brown purse before exiting the building.
Is she seriously just going to leave these kids here-... Oomf... why do I feel so neasues? Was the food rotten? It almost feels like none of the food was even digested...
"Hey! You there!" A kid with a black buzzcut shouted, and as he stomped up to me, I stood up to meet him.
He seemed to be a bit older than me and kind of a leader among the kids, but that didn't mean he was any taller than me.
I might've even been a few centimeters taller.
"What is it?" I asked, and all of a sudden, the boy grabbed my collar and pulled me in with a face filled to the brim with rage.
"You just ate all our food, and now Mother has to go buy some more! Do you know how broke she is!? Now she has to go spend half of a year's worth of paycheck!" The boy shouted, and I was a bit impressed with his maturity.
I guess kids who are forced to grow and mature faster are actually real… maybe I should've paid more attention in my past life.
"And… how is that my problem?" I responded with a smirk, and the boy went to hit me with an overhand hook.