"Attention please." The teacher spoke, interrupting the flow of work that had been silently pacing in the background.
Five minutes till the end of class, whatever he spoke of should be rather tame, a school club, some announcements he missed, or just some homework.
I turned my head away, looking out to the window, to the various staff sitting on benches and grading papers. Looks of absolute focus on some. Others just content to sip at their morning drinks.
"The inter school competition will begin in three months, however that does not mean that it is far away, not by a longshot."
And just like my attention was forcefully dragged back to the teacher.
"Sign ups begin today, and end next week. We expect those that sign up to be decisive, if you cannot decide then it is not for you."
With that she left the podium, leaving the class to the murmurs of ruffled backpacks and hushed voices.
"Emilia." I heard someone speak, and once more my attention was drawn, yet this time to the side.
What I saw was quite typical, a student acting like some sort of politician, trying their best to politic with Emilia. Currying whatever favor they could.
It didn't matter, what did was my strength. I wanted, no I needed to do this, to not only compete but to dominate this contest.
There was an order of things though, to compete and win, I needed strength, overwhelming strength.
And the way to that was through items.
I stood up, grabbing my bag as the bell rang, signaling the passing period. But I didn't care, I strode through the campus, barely noticing the strange eye on me.
Through the gates, and through downtown, with the measly money I had there was not much that I could buy. Yet that did not matter.
I needed something to start up my growth. It was why I was stood outside of the herb shop.
I entered almost immediately, absently noticing the bell that rang and the woman at the front of the shop. Her watchful eye keeping careful track of my movements.
I looked around, pressing my hand through the herbs and flowers. All until I found what I had came for. A smirk held its sway over my face.
All as I gathered the bunch and took it to the front desk. The clerk looked at me strangely but rang me up either way.
It was the last of my money, any more and I would have been flat broke. But it was just enough for the next purchase.
I found my way through a random mall, searching through shops and other such places. All until I found one that caught my eye.
It was a shop for cores, both to buy and sell. It was quite obvious that it was a scam seeing as the guild and government would gladly buy the cores at a premium.
But I didn't want to have to deal with the exorbitant prices. And so this place, and others like it, was my only option.
I made my way to the counter, and searched around, making sure not to draw too much of an eye.
But when I couldn't find what I was looking for I had to turn to the shopkeeper and ask for some direction.
"S'cuse me?" I asked, drawing the attention that I didn't want.
"Need something sir?"
I took a moment to take one more lookover of the glass display. Then sighed, all they had was really expensive stuff, things that I could not afford at all.
"I just needed something cheap… school project y'know"
He nodded before going towards the back. I just stood there awkwardly for a moment before he came back with a much smaller one.
From the looks of it, the stone was one from a slime or some other small monster, but even if it was just that it was good enough.
After all, it was just fuel for the item I was trying to make.
"Thanks" I gave him the exact amount before leaving.
I turned the corner, then turned once more, making my way over to a public park. It was seldom used and barely populated at all. Meaning it was perfect for my use.
Taking out the herbs and the stone I place them in front of me. Along with a bottle of water and some other things.
All to test and create the item I wanted.
I open the fusion space and throw in the bottle of water with some tea leaves. Then I click my fingers and send a spark of heat in.
If this worked then I knew what I needed to do.
[Fusing…]
[Bottle of Tea]
[It's a bottle of tea, what did you think… A bit warm too.]
I took the bottle of tea and opened it, the cap was the same, sealed as it was before, then took a whiff of it.
'Sure smells like tea.'
I took a gulp and practically moaned. It tasted so good, like it was perfectly brewed and stooped for just the right amount of time.
"Then…" I muttered, looking at the other ingredients I had.
…
…
…
The first thing I did after fusing the ingredients together was to just sit back and stare. Let the warm sun of the afternoon wash over me.
A grin on my face as I turned the bottle in my hand.
[Mana-Enriched Water]
[Fused with a certain herb, this water allows the user to temporarily increase their mana generation by two-fold.]
To anyone this was simply a miracle, and to me it was a godsend.
I hesitated for a moment before downing it, feeling the mana circling around my body.
The way that it ebbed and flowed, circling around my whole body. Through my head, down my legs, through my core, and back.
A complete circle that touched every part of my body.
Yet this time was different, because of the potion that I had created my mana was generating faster than I could circle it, faster than my body could ever hold.
But this was good, for mana had this natural property. It was different in all people, depending on the quality, the method, and even the conditions around their birth.
All of these things compounded to make this situation, for anyone, unpredictable. But I had studied for this, spent thousands of hours practicing my control.
All for this moment.