I Learned How to Supply Mana
I Learned How to Supply Mana
"Jjangryong-ah."
"Kya?"
"Spit it out."
Jjangryongi tilted his head.
He had an expression as if asking why I was suddenly saying such strange things.
"What you just ate. Hurry up and spit it out!!!"
I grabbed both of Jjangryongi's cheeks.
"Say ah—."
The little guy shut his mouth tight.
"Alright, I'll just take a quick look."
When I tried to slip my finger between his lips, Jjangryongi shook his head side to side.
I didn't know how such strength came out of such a tiny body.
"Hold still for a second!"
"Kyaa!"
After wrestling with him for a long time, I finally managed to open his mouth.
Sharp teeth.
A pink tongue.
Forget a mana stone, not even a single speck of black powder was left.
"Where did it go?"
"How can you eat a stone like it's jelly!"
Jjangryongi closed his mouth and patted his belly with satisfaction.
It seemed he had really digested it completely.
No.
It hasn't even been a minute since he ate it.
If it's right now, it might not be too late.
I grabbed Jjangryongi by his hind legs and lifted him upside down.
"Wouldn't it come out if I shake you a little?"
"Kyaaa!"
"Jjangryong-ah, I'm sorry, but just bear with it for a second."
Tal-tal.
Nothing came out.
Just as I was contemplating whether to shake him a little harder, Jjangryongi violently twisted his body.
Escaping from my grasp, the little guy climbed up my arm.
His slender tail wrapped around my neck.
"Wait."
The tail tightened.
"You're choking me."
"Grrrr."
"Alright. I won't shake you."
Only then did the tail wrapped around my neck loosen.
Jjangryongi sat atop my shoulder and looked down at me with a thoroughly furious face.
It was so unfair.
Jjangryongi was the one who ate it without my permission, so why was I the one getting scolded?
"Anyone looking would think I was the one in the wrong."
Jjangryongi pushed my cheek with his front paw.
I checked my phone screen again.
[Condensed Mana Stone]
[Recent Average Transaction Price: 84,000 KRW per 1g.]
Thinking something might have gone wrong, I even refreshed the page.
The price remained the same.
Eighty-four thousand won.
And that was per single gram.
The fragment was smaller than a fingernail, but it felt unnaturally heavy.
There was no way to know its exact weight.
Even assuming it was roughly ten grams, that was eight hundred and forty thousand won.
"Eight hundred and forty thousand won..."
The last balance stamped in my bank account was 320 won.
If I had sold that one stone Jjangryongi ate, it meant I would be a whopping two thousand six hundred and twenty-five times richer than I am right now.
The number was so huge that it didn't even feel real.
In times like this, it would be best to convert it into units I can understand.
I turned on the calculator app.
840,000.
Divided by.
2,600.
That was the price of the sausage I ate yesterday.
The calculation result popped up.
The number 323 followed by decimals.
I slowly looked at Jjangryongi.
"You just ate three hundred and twenty-three sausages."
Jjangryongi's body froze.
"Three hundred and twenty-three."
The little guy looked down at his own belly.
"If we split them in half, we could've eaten them over six hundred times."
Jjangryongi's wings drooped softly.
It worked.
Even if he didn't grasp the concept of money well, he was a dragon who knew that sausages were delicious.
"Now do you realize how big of a mistake you made?"
Jjangryongi peeked up at me.
He had a slightly apologetic look.
Seeing that face made it hard to keep scolding him.
I hadn't known that mana stones were edible either.
As for Jjangryongi, food just appeared in front of him, so he simply ate it.
Who would have known that thing cost eight hundred and forty thousand won?
"Next time, ask before you eat."
Jjangryongi nodded his head.
"Especially if it's expensive."
He nodded again.
"You shouldn't recklessly eat things that look expensive, got it?"
Jjangryongi tilted his head.
Come to think of it, there was no way he could know the prices of items.
"Just don't eat anything until I give it to you."
As if he understood this time, he raised one front paw.
I took that front paw with my finger.
"Is that a promise?"
"Kya."
As long as he didn't eat whatever he wanted from now on, it'd be fine.
However, a bigger problem than immediate money remained.
[Dragons require a large amount of mana for growth.]
The sentence that appeared on the status window wouldn't leave my head.
For Jjangryongi to grow, he needs mana.
And a stone filled with mana was 84,000 won per gram.
I scanned Jjangryongi up and down.
He was still only slightly larger than my forearm.
His horns were short, and although his wings were large compared to his body, he clearly still had the look of a baby.
There was no telling how big he would get in the future.
The problem was that I couldn't tell how much I'd have to feed him for that small body to grow.
"Don't tell me you have to keep eating stuff like that?"
"Kya?"
Jjangryongi had a face of total innocence.
I had an ill omen.
I thought that becoming a Dragon Master would get me out of poverty.
Instead, it looked like I'd go bankrupt trying to raise a dragon first.
'I'm poorer than when I was doing day labor.'
Back then, at least if I starved, that was the end of it, but now I had one more mouth to feed.
And a guy who eats gems as meals, no less.
Should I go into the gallery forum and ask?
Since I was told not to post skill info, I had to ask as normally as possible.
[WillTreatChickenIfAwakened: What do you usually feed a summon]
He eats human food fine.
Do I also need to give him mana separately?
Anon: You're even preparing kibble for an imaginary friend
Active F-Rank: Depends on the species
Active F-Rank: Some eat the contractor's mana, and some need separate feed
Anon: In line
While refreshing the comments, a familiar fixed nickname appeared.
8-Year Summoner: If it's a contracted summon, you can usually maintain it with contractor mana
8-Year Summoner: Eating separate stuff is usually to speed up growth or recovery
8-Year Summoner: Human food varies by species, so don't just feed it whatever
└WillTreatChickenIfAwakened: How do you give contractor mana?
8-Year Summoner: Think of it as passing it over while in physical contact
8-Year Summoner: If you have empathy-type abilities, it shouldn't be hard
8-Year Summoner: If you send too much from the start you might collapse, so just do a little bit
"You can raise it even without mana stones?"
Even after hearing my words, Jjangryongi didn't have much of a reaction.
It seemed the important thing to him was whether he could eat tasty stuff.
"Does this mean he can just eat my mana usually?"
I placed Jjangryongi on my lap.
He looked at my hand, seemingly curious about what I was trying to do.
"Give me your paw."
Jjangryongi raised a front paw.
He didn't bite my finger like earlier.
With his small paw pad resting on my palm, he looked up at me.
"Then here goes?"
"Kya."
I said I would give it, but I didn't know the method.
They said to just think of passing over mana while in physical contact.
The explanation was simple, so I should at least give it a try.
I closed my eyes and exerted strength in my palm.
Nothing happened.
This time, I exerted strength in my abdomen.
As expected, nothing happened.
"Hmm... Is this not it?"
Jjangryongi, getting frustrated, tried to pull back his paw.
"Wait a second. I'm almost there."
I had never done it before, but somehow it felt like I was almost there.
I closed my eyes again.
I breathed slowly with the feeling of searching for something inside my body.
At first, I felt nothing.
Then, a faint warmth was caught below my heart.
It felt like warm water flowing while tracing a small circle.
'Is this mana?'
I visualized drawing that warmth all the way to my fingertips.
Slowly, just a very tiny bit.
My palm grew hot.
Something thin escaped out of my body.
"Huh?"
When I opened my eyes, blue light was flowing between Jjangryongi's scales.
Surprised as well, the little guy looked down at his front paw.
"Did it work?"
"Kya!"
Jjangryongi suddenly bit my finger.
"Ouch!"
This time, he didn't bite it as a joke.
Nibbling lightly enough that it didn't hurt, he was sucking something out from my finger.
The sensation of mana connecting became clearer than before.
Jjangryongi's emotions were transmitted along with it.
It's warm, feels like my belly is filling up a bit, and the taste seems pretty okay...
I pulled my finger out immediately.
"Hey... Then go outside and find mana stones to eat instead of taking my mana."
Jjangryongi widened his eyes.
"You said mine doesn't taste good."
The little guy urgently grabbed my wrist.
"No way. I'm not giving you any."
This time, even his tail wrapped around my wrist.
Jjangryongi rubbed his head against my palm and licked the spot he bit earlier with his tongue.
"Acting cute won't work."
He rubbed his head even harder.
"I said no."
He even let his wings droop limply.
"......Alright, just a little bit more."
I placed my palm back onto Jjangryongi.
Channeling mana was easier than the first time.
The warmth inside my body traveled along my arm to my fingertips.
Jjangryongi's scales glowed faintly.
He pressed his belly against the floor and narrowed his eyes.
His tail wagged pleasantly side to side.
"For someone who said it tastes bad, you sure eat it well."
Jjangryongi closed his eyes, pretending not to hear.
I intended to stop after feeding him just a little bit.
Really, just a little bit.
But watching Jjangryongi eat so deliciously made it hard to pull my hand away.
There was also the guilt of not being able to buy him mana stones.
'This much should be fine, right?'
A little bit more.
Really just a tiny bit more.
At that moment, my head spun.
"Uh...?"
My vision darkened.
The floor suddenly rushed closer.
I frantically grabbed the dining table.
When my hand detached, the flow of mana snapped off as well.
Startled, Jjangryongi scrambled up onto my lap.
"I'm fine."
I said so, but I was not okay at all.
Strength drained from my entire body.
My limbs felt heavy, as if I had climbed a mountain after starving all night.
Only now did I realize why 8-Year Summoner told me to only send a little bit.
"Feeding you means risking my life, huh."
Jjangryongi examined my face.
The image of him pestering for more mana just a moment ago was gone.
He rubbed his head against my cheek.
After a moment of hesitation, I stroked his small head.
"I'm really okay. I'm just a little hungry."
Saying it aloud, it felt strange.
It wasn't just a little hungry, it felt like the inside of my stomach was completely hollowed out...
'Does feeding him my mana make me hungry?'
If so, Jjangryongi's meals weren't free.
It just meant my food budget was being spent instead of buying mana stones.
Still, it was cheaper than condensed mana stones that cost eighty-four thousand won per gram.
Probably.
I looked at my work clothes scattered on the floor.
If one fragment came out earlier, maybe there are more remaining.
"Jjangryong-ah. Let's look for them."
I spread the work clothes on the dining table.
I turned the pockets inside out, shook out the sleeves, and scraped between the seams with my fingernails.
Dust and small pebbles showered down.
Beside me, Jjangryongi flapped his nostrils and sniffed the work clothes.
"It's black and shiny."
The little guy flew toward the safety boots.
He shoved his head inside the boot and rummaged around for a good while before coming back out covered in dust.
There was nothing in his mouth.
"Nothing?"
Jjangryongi nodded his head.
I turned on my phone flashlight and scrutinized the dust fallen on the floor.
After staring at it for a long time, a black speck caught my eye.
"Found it."
It was a grain smaller than the tip of a needle.
There was another one next to it.
From inside a crumpled pocket, a slightly larger piece came out.
Even combined, all of them together were smaller than a single grain of rice.
However, Jjangryongi's eyes were already sparkling.
"Wait."
He took a step closer.
"You promised earlier, right?"
Jjangryongi stopped.
I placed the smallest grain on my palm.
"Just eat this one for now."
Jjangryongi looked back and forth between the grain and me.
"You can eat it."
The little guy cautiously stuck out his tongue.
The black grain vanished in an instant.
A blue light flashed very briefly at the tip of his horn.
Jjangryongi licked my empty palm a few more times.
"That's all."
His gaze turned toward the remaining fragments.
I quickly put the fragments inside the medicine paper bag I received from the hospital.
I folded the opening twice and securely taped it shut.
"These are for later."
Jjangryongi took off flying, following the medicine bag.
I put the bag on top of the refrigerator.
"If you steal and eat them, I'll never give them to you again."
His spread wings slowly folded back.
It was a perfect plan.
Normally, feed him my mana, and then occasionally feed him mana stone fragments if he behaves well.
Later, when I earn money, I can buy him proper ones.
Now Jjangryongi's meal problem was solved.
I pulled out the last pack of ramen I had saved to eat sparingly.
"Jjangryong-ah."
"Kya?"
"Since you ate my mana and the mana stones, this is mine."
Jjangryongi stared at the ramen package.
His gaze shifted to me, then back to the ramen.