Mana Detection? Inspect? Those two sound pretty useful.
"Hey system, after this would you be so kind as to let me see what skills there are that I can buy?"
*Ding!*
[Certainly!]
"Thanks. Now, how much do these skills cost exactly?" I asked just to make sure. I only have 10 skill points after all so best not to waste it.
*Ding!*
[The skill [Mana Detection Lv1] costs 2 skill points and the skill [Inspect Lv1] costs 1 skill point with a total of 3 skill points. If the user is worried about their skill points being spent recklessly, the system shall let the user know that more skill points can be obtained through level-ups. Would the user like to confirm their purchase?]
Oh, wow. The system even detects my wariness about spending my skill points and tries to tell me how to earn more. How... convenient.
"Yes, I would like to confirm my purchase."
*Ding*
[-3 Skill points.]
The moment I said that I felt something enter my mind. It's like a forgotten memory that I just remembered. Like a muscle memory that I instantly know how to use.
"Mana Detection!"
The instant I said that my senses became heightened and sensitive. I instinctively closed my eyes due to this sensory overload and when I did, it was like I never did. I can still see but more clearly, and within my close-eyed vision, I saw darkness but in the darkness I saw tiny dust of pure blue molecular orbs, gliding in the air.
Shocked by what I was seeing, I opened my eyes and looked around with amazement. Now without the darkness, I could see the surroundings more clearly, and added to my vision were the waves of blue glowing dust. This whole scene looked like an ocean full of bioluminescent creatures swimming happily in the air.
That's when my sightseeing stopped. I was staring at my butt. It was exuding high amounts of mana. Most of the mana I'm seeing was coming from me!
"System! Do you know how to turn this off so I don't die?!" I asked in horror, thinking that a monster with high mana sensitivity would easily spot this giant beacon of an ass.
[Negative. The mana that's exuding from the user is naturally occurring. Therefore it can not be toggled off. The natural mana that's seeping out of the user also serves as a shield and a multipurpose barrier in which dark magic can be dispelled while also accelerating the user's self-healing capabilities. However, the user shouldn't fret as the mana that the user exudes is only visible to the user's kind. In other words, the user is "mana-less" in the eyes of others, but abundant in mana in the eyes of the user's species.]
Oh, okay! Hoo, got me a bit nervous there. I thought I was gonna die! If it wasn't the case then I don't know how I'll even survive in here. Also, "only visible to the user's kind"? Damn, so my mana is basically invisible to everyone now. After all, I'm the only one left of my kind! That weirdly feels relieving and kinda sad...
Now! Let's stop with those kinds of thoughts! I should probably check that odd compartment now.
Turning my head towards the burnt carriage, I saw dense mana seeping out of the loosened floorboard. You know, like the cold mist which seeps out of the fridge when you open it? Yeah, it looks like that.
Slowly moving closer, to the floorboard which looked like a wall instead of a floor due to the carriage lying on its side, I started to climb up, following the trail of leaking mana.
As I was climbing, I noticed that when mana touches the wood of the floorboards, it bounces off. Looking at the real wall which was in the far right corner, the natural mana was passing through the hardwood. Hm? What is up with this floor?
*Ding!*
[Would the user like to use the skill [Inspect Lv1] to see why the floorboards are repelling mana?]
Hm, you know what? While we're at it, let's test this Inspect skill when there's a chance.
"Inspect." I mouthed, directly staring at the floorboards as I slowly crept up. In an instant, a system message appeared in front of me. The whole layout and design of the message screen were different. Probably for me to easily distinguish between which is an actual system message and which is the message born from my Inspect skill.
*Ding!*
[Wood imbued with Anti-magic]: [As the name suggests, this type of wood is enchanted with anti-magic. It is naturally repellent of mana and is slightly more durable than normal wood.]
Oh? This makes sense. No wonder why mana kept on bouncing off of it. Now, the question is, why would they use anti-magic on this floorboard? For protection? Or to hide something?
Soon the answer was right in front of me. I finally reached the cracked open floorboard. Reaching two of my arms through the gap I pushed the floorboard away. Pushing the loosened floorboard, I eventually found what seemed to be a small box hidden safely in the secret compartment.
The small box, although small in size, exuded dense amounts of mana. It was carefully wrapped in hay and cloth so it was fairly easy to tear off from the small compartment.
Finally obtaining the box which was really light although being two times bigger than my size, I held it with one of my sets of arms and placed it in front of my stomach before sliding down.
Upon reaching the ground, I carefully got off of the small box and examined it intently. The box was most definitely exuding mana. It was made of hard and dark wood. It could easily be mistaken for a wedding ring box or a necklace box. Heck, it more or less looked like a matchbox to me.
Tsk, could there be jewelry inside? If so, it would be a waste since I wouldn't be able to use it no matter the amount of mana it's seeping from the gap between its lid.
Although a bit hesitant, I opened the box. Or you could say, I tried to open it.
"Hnggggh! What the hell?! It's so hard to open!" I screeched, still struggling. Pushing the lid up with all my might only lift a small portion of it. Seeing hope in opening the box, I slid the last pair of my stick-like arms on the present crack on the loosened lid.
Using my other four, I pushed up the lid really hard. Eventually, opening the box with a pop.
"Hoo! What an absolute hassle! Now, for the moment of truth!" Creeping back, I inspected the small box's contents. There lying neatly on a piece of fabric all alone was a diamond-shaped stone. It was light blue. It was also pretty shiny. The size of the stone was almost the same as the box's. There was no doubt about it.
This stone is the one responsible for the dense amounts of mana coming out of the box. Lifting the stone, I found it light. It was as if it was made out of styrofoam. But without a doubt, it was really durable.
The moment I touched the diamond stone something odd happened. Its exuding of mana completely stopped.
"What the— WOAH!" I screamed when the stone, instead of seeping mana out of it, was now sucking mana from its surrounding at an extremely rapid pace. I looked around frantically as I felt the glowing dust of mana around me become disturbed.
That's when I turned my head directly at my butt again. It was extremely hard to miss because the mana I was personally oozing out was being sucked by the stone.
"WAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" I screamed as I could only watch the stone in my stick-like arms eat up every bit of mana that was present in the surroundings, including the mana I was oozing myself.
*Ding!*
[Warning! High amounts of mana is being drained from the user by an outside force. Please retreat out of the area responsible for this occurrence immediately!]
[MP]: [24/30]
"WH-WHAT?! OKAY!" Quickly turning my head opposite the direction of the stone, I immediately crawled away. Or that's what I hoped I was able to do.
I tried to move my body but it seemed like it was stuck. My arms, which were holding the stone were stuck on it. No matter how hard I pull or push, the stone still stuck to my arms!
"SHIT!" I yelled, realizing that I was in a tight situation. I could feel my mana rapidly draining from my body, and it did not feel good at all.
"INSPECT!" I shouted, looking at the stone in front of me. Instantly, a message greeted me.
*Ding!*
[Lumina Wisp Core]: [The core of an ancient wisp that is extremely rare to find. It is currently in a state of suspension. Undisturbed, it emanates processed mana, signaling nearby kind to its location for salvation. However, if disturbed, it consumes mana from its surroundings, clinging to the intruder for survival. After consuming high amounts of mana, it will reveal its true form.]
[Consumed Mana]: [40/100]
"I CAN'T READ ALL OF THAT!" I shouted as quickly as the message appeared. There's just too much information to read at the moment—
*Ding!*
[To ensure survival, the system will automatically send all stat points on MP to prevent death from excessive mana depletion.]
[MP]: [4/30]
[...]
[MP]: [300/300]
Shit, this is getting out of hand! I might die at this rate!
[Consumed Mana]: [64/100]
After chugging almost all of my mana and the surroundings, it's still not full?! This is absurd!
[MP]: [209/300]
With that short amount of time?!
[Consumed Mana]: [76/100]
Oh, okay it's almost done now! But at what cost?!
[MP]: [127/300]
?!
[Consumed Mana]: [84/100]
...
[MP]: [68/300]
SHIT! I'M ALMOST DRIED UP! IT'S DRAINING ME!!!!
[Consumed Mana]: [90/100]
YAY!
[MP]: [24/300]
NO!!!!
[Consumed Mana]: [94/100]
IT'S ALMOST DONE! IT'S ALMOST DONE!!!
[MP]: [9/300]
I'M DONE FOR!!!
[Consumed Mana]: [97/100]
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
[MP]: [2/300]
I'M DEAD!!!!!
*Ding!*
*Ding!*
*Ding!*
*Ding!*
Ignoring the system, I proceeded to close my eyes. Bracing for the inevitable death, I hoped for the worst.
....
What?
I feel... fine? I'm quite dizzy and my head and whole body hurts but I feel alive!
Opening my eyes I saw the last system notifications.
[Warning! To ensure the user's ultimate safety, the system automatically purchased the skill: [Mana Absorption Lv1], costing 5 skill points.]
[The system has used up all remaining skill points to level up the skill: [Mana Absorption Lv1] > [Mana Absorption Lv3].]
[Automatically sucking mana in the surroundings.]
[MP]: [0/300] > [MP]: [2, > 5, > 9.../300]
Huh?
Did the system just save me again...?
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!!! Thank you! Thank you so much, system! I hope you know how thankful I am!
Looking back at the diamond stone, a new system message appeared.
[Consumed Mana]: [100/100]
This fucking Lumina Wisp shit core—! WOAH!
Before I could even curse it, the whole core vibrated out of nowhere.
[Warning! The Lumina Wisp Core is now transforming into its true form. The user should now prepare.]
"Ha?! What does that mean—!"
Again, I was cut off from speaking when the core stopped vibrating.
Rapidly, the diamond-shaped core shrunk in my arms before disappearing. It looked like it was being sucked by a black hole with the way it's rapidly melting, or fading— whatever! And the moment it completely disappeared, something mesmerizing happened.
Out of nowhere, a small light flickered in the empty space where the core once remained. Soon enough, a blue flame materialized in thin air. It was the same size as my body which made me flinch hard.
It looked like it was about to engulf me! Soon, the flame dimmed and shrunk.
Now in front of me was a flame-like creature who looked like a mix of slime and fire and also a blob of thick water. It had two white dots in front of it which looked like eyes.
The best way to describe it was that it looked like that blob that sinks and floats on a lava lamp. But it was more ghostly, and smoky. But it no doubt glows like a lava lamp.
Earlier it was the same size as me but right now, it's only a quarter-half of the size of my head. From the human perspective, this size is the same as an orange.
"What the...?" Noticing something odd, not from the creature but from me, I grew bewildered. Seemingly, all of the anger I had for this flame creature just vanished, instead, it's been replaced by awe and a familiar feeling. What is this feeling? It's like... like I'm seeing my pet dog after a long day of school.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations! The user has obtained their first companion. A Lumina Wisp! The user has learned a new skill: [Companion Telepathy: Lv1]
Due to half of the mana the Wisp has consumed before its revival is from the user, the Wisp feels a great connection towards the user! Making the user, its master. In return, the user will now be able to feel the feeling of ownership towards the Wisp since the Wisp's existence is made up of almost all of the user's mana.]
Oh my, God. There's no doubt about it. This odd feeling I'm experiencing is the feeling of affection! Towards this... glowy fire ghost creature?!