Chapter 780: The First Wisp of Mana
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 780: The First Wisp of Mana
Yi Rui stepped aside. Tan Han was currently reclining in the medical chair.
I didn't even need to look; I could feel the mana fluctuations triggered by the Self-Generated Mana Shaping Ritual.
However, these fluctuations were all mana leaking from the ritual's mana source nodes, not mana that was being "self-generated."
I had studied Self-Generated Mana for a long time, even tracing it back to its roots, all to understand exactly where this power originated.
A Mana Source was merely a technique for utilizing mana, and mana itself was something born naturally within a Witch's body. Furthermore, the Self-Generated Mana talent... could be shaped. What did that imply?
It implied that even Self-Generated Mana was not the ultimate "source" of mana.
But as the saying goes, names are rarely given without reason. I believed the Witch who named this talent "Self-generated" must have perceived something more fundamental to describe it that way.
Although the Mana Source was a technique born from the foundation of Self-Generated Mana, the two shared many commonalities.
Namely, the natural generation of mana.
In a natural environment, mana—this transcendent energy—hardly exists. Self-Generated Mana can produce it, and a Mana Source can do the same.
When a Mana Source is given to a Prospective Witch who lacks the Self-Generated Mana talent, their mana will still slowly recover after being depleted.
From this perspective, a Mana Source was practically a mobile, tradable, weakened version of Self-Generated Mana!
The only difference was that Self-Generated Mana prioritized quality and was a unique talent, whereas Mana Sources could be stacked infinitely until the individual reached their maximum carrying capacity.
This was the crucial point I had realized back then: these two structures could support and ultimately fulfill each other.
The Witch Major Research Topic stated that the Self-Generated Mana body talent preceded the Mana Source; Self-Generated Mana was the key to shaping a Mana Source.
But now, the Mana Source was the key to Witchification. This meant that a Mana Source could, in reverse, help achieve the Self-Generated Mana body talent.
It was a reciprocal architecture, a relationship where one could not be distinguished from the other.
Looking back at Tan Han's current situation...
If I had to describe it, she was rushing into the attempt before her foundation was fully solid.
I didn't mean to blame her, though. On any path to success, a foundation is a major factor, but it is never the whole story.
"It's fine... Have you already started trying to find the architecture points during the Shaping Ritual?" I asked.
"Yes, but our understanding of things like the Witch Race Concept and Bloodline Information is a bit fuzzy. It's not just Xiao Tan; we're all getting a bit turned around," Yi Rui replied.
"I see..." I nodded, feeling helpless. Many things simply cannot be described with plain language. The technical terms used in experiments exist specifically to solve these communication issues.
But if one doesn't understand the underlying reality, those technical terms are nothing more than the self-indulgent jargon of whoever coined them.
I had tried using Consciousness Communication Spells to bypass language and reach a level of pure understanding, and while it had some effect, it wasn't particularly significant.
So now... there was only one way.
Since the deep-level principles were incomprehensible, understanding the surface manifestations and behaviors would have to be enough.
Once I made this decision, I felt a sense of empathy. What was I feeling?
I was feeling "Ritual Architecture."
A ritual is a way to achieve a goal through a specific method—perhaps a unique structure, a specific arrangement of runes, or certain behaviors, sounds, and resonances. The concept of a "Ritual" belongs to a pseudo-mystical field that hasn't been officially categorized under "Mysticism."
Perhaps a ritual is a type of transcendent art that cannot be passed down through words or writing, yet it survives through these systematized surface manifestations.
Even "Runes" themselves fall under the category of rituals. Thinking about it that way... could Totems be similar to Runes? Perhaps they simply lacked a way to be passed down and studied in the same manner.
"Next, I will demonstrate the Structuring Ritual for Self-Generated Mana. This is a ritual similar to the Shaping Ritual, and they need to be constructed together," I said. My tone was flat; I wasn't annoyed by the need to repeat myself.
"I understand that abstract concepts like the Witch Race Concept and Bloodline Information might be hard to grasp. Just follow my lead. I'll explain the key points of the ritual, and you can record them as you would a standard Mysticism ritual architecture."
"Eh? Are we upping the intensity to the level of Mysticism this time?" one of the sisters whispered nearby.
"I'm just asking you to understand it through the lens of a Mysticism ritual. I haven't had much contact with the field of Mysticism myself, but that's the general idea," I explained patiently.
After answering a few more of their questions and clearing up their confusion, I began the formal demonstration.
"We are officially beginning. Currently, Tan Han has a total of exactly eight thousand Mana Sources. She has used the Micro-Operation Resonance Method to construct a complete Self-Generated Mana Shaping Ritual and has solidified this architecture using the Demonic Ritual War Dance..."
"The Structuring Ritual is what I will focus on next. It is distinct from the Shaping Ritual. As the names suggest, one is about creation, and the other is about placement. Both are completed upon your Soul Essence..."
Because our fundamental natures differed—I possessed a Soul, while they possessed Soul Essence—the form of the Structuring Ritual would inevitably deviate from my own understanding.
But that didn't matter. I had long since prepared for failure.
The method was what was important.
I went straight into the lecture, explaining the steps of the ritual without including the underlying principles.
This concise teaching style allowed Yi Rui and the others to memorize the steps quickly, but it also made them feel a bit uneasy.
Previously, whenever I explained a step, I would include a massive block of theory. Though it was long and made them drowsy, they could record it and digest it slowly. Explaining a single point would take a long time, and by the time we moved to the next, the overall rhythm was often hard to follow.
Now, while the rhythm was smooth and they knew exactly what to do, they had completely lost the ability to understand why they were doing it.
Though... this was indeed the way Mysticism was taught: describing methods, explaining logic, and listing taboos. As for why things were done a certain way, it remained a mystery. Even if there was an explanation, it was usually just another self-consistent system used as a mnemonic device rather than the actual principles of Mysticism.
"We've reached the final step, the ultimate moment of truth. The Shaping Ritual has also reached its final stage. At this point, you must pay constant attention to Tan Han's feedback."
The current experiment was a collaborative one. As the subject, Tan Han controlled the Shaping Ritual, while I managed the Structuring Ritual.
Communication and feedback were necessary to know exactly how the rituals were coordinating—at least for Yi Rui and the others.
As for me... I could control the rhythm directly. Not only did I have my powerful Spirit Vision talent as a foundation, but I also had a vast wealth of theoretical knowledge regarding the shaping of Self-Generated Mana to back me up.
However, it was still necessary to explain things during the demonstration. It was like a mentor in a classroom stating the precautions, then ignoring them himself while warning the students not to follow his example and to stick to the regulations.
I had a higher level of "error correction" and "safety net" capabilities; that was the capital that allowed me to be willful.
As Tan Han spoke to me, I corrected her phrasing. These things needed to be recorded; after all, only accurate expression could provide precise feedback.
"Finally, the ritual is arranged in this rune sequence and then guided to be structured upon the Witch Race Concept. If you don't understand that, just treat it as being structured upon the Soul Essence. If the ritual fails, the structure itself won't collapse; it just won't have any effect."
"Next, I will demonstrate how to verify the success of the Self-Generated Mana body talent. Self-Generated Mana is a talent rooted in the essence of life, which reflects onto the physical body to generate mana. However, because it is fundamentally structured upon the Race Concept, once it succeeds, it is nearly impossible to break through conventional means."
This was why, under normal circumstances, even if a Transcendent Witch fell from grace and became a Little Witch, it was only because their Race Concept had shattered and their bloodline power was depleted.
Because the starting point for a Transcendent Witch is the Transcendent level, only those who have reached the Transcendent level of Real Time are qualified to structure a complete Witch Race Concept and Bloodline Information. If they fall, it means the Race Concept shatters, but the Self-Generated Mana structured upon it remains.
Therefore, the verification method was simple: I would use a special "Filtering Ritual" I had designed to screen the subject's life essence.
If the Self-Generated Mana body talent had not been born, the filtering ritual would run normally.
But if the ritual architecture deviated or shattered outright, it meant the Self-Generated Mana talent had failed the screening—and had shattered the filtering ritual in the process.
This ritual was a very crude detection method that caused almost no harm to the life essence.
There was no need to fear that it would hurt the subject's essence or destroy the newly structured Self-Generated Mana.
"This testing ritual is very simple. It's run by these runes within this framework." As I spoke, runes condensed in my hand, forming a ritual array. This condensed array would pass through the subject's body.
"I'll demonstrate on myself first. This is to give you a clear look at how the test reacts when it encounters Self-Generated Mana."
The man-sized interface constructed by the rune ritual shattered instantly after passing through my body.
My Self-Generated Mana body talent, which was powerful enough to be near the peak, had directly smashed the filtering ritual to pieces.
"My Self-Generated Mana talent is quite powerful, so the disturbance from the ritual shattering is significant. If the talent has only just been born, the detection ritual will only show deviations and a certain degree of instability. Therefore, when constructing this ritual, you must ensure high precision."
"Alternatively, you can link this ritual directly to the information detection display of the Great Knowledge Seed. It's much more intuitive when presented as graphic data."
Everyone listening to my explanation nodded, their attention absolute.
"Now, let's test it using Tan Han as the example."
As I finished speaking, every eye turned toward Tan Han, who was still lying in the chair.
"Um... do I need to do anything to help?" Tan Han asked.
"Keep your mind and body calm. Breathe evenly. Do not make any small movements—no spellcasting, no meditation, and don't even resonate with the Mana Sources in your body."
"Okay, I'm ready." Tan Han took a deep breath, exhaled, and spoke.
"Good. Let's begin."
As I structured the ritual again, I moved slowly so everyone could see clearly. The array passed slowly through Tan Han's body.
"Wait... was there an anomaly just now?"
"It definitely moved. Tan Han... she has it?!"
"This... it couldn't be an accident, could it?"
Amidst the sudden flurry of discussion, I didn't tell them to be quiet. As the creator of the ritual, I naturally knew if there had been a reaction.
I pulled up the information monitoring map of the Tree of Great Knowledge, linked it to the filtering ritual, and scanned Tan Han's body once more.
This time, the anomaly in the ritual's information detection data was even more direct!
"It's real! There really is an anomaly!"
"Is it true? The very first demonstration, and it succeeded? Is that even possible?!"
The sight of the direct reaction triggered a wave of excited chatter among everyone present.
"Did it... succeed?" I muttered to myself, somewhat in disbelief.
The Self-Generated Mana body talent was structured upon the essence of life.
Whether I used Spirit Vision or any other means, if I wanted to observe it directly, the other party would have to unconditionally open their soul to me. Otherwise, I could only verify it through other means—which was why I had gone to the trouble of creating a filtering ritual.
Because of that difficulty, I had always said the success rate was extremely low.
At the moment when all evidence pointed to success, I remained strangely calm. To check if it had truly succeeded, there was an even more direct way: observing whether there was a way for mana to be born within Tan Han's body other than through her Mana Sources!
I immediately expanded my Heart State Domain, using a technique I had only recently mastered: "Mana Affinity Perception" resonating with Heart Sense.
Accompanied by the activation of the Power of Knowledge's Annotation Technique, the Depletion effect directly suppressed the energy fluctuations in the laboratory environment. Then, I prepared a temporary Sealing Art to lock down the eight thousand Mana Sources inside Tan Han.
"Tan Han, cooperate with me. Let's see if you really are that lucky person who succeeded on the first try!"
"How should I cooperate?" Tan Han trusted me unconditionally now. She was also incredibly excited as she asked.
"Lower your guard. Do not offer any resistance." After all, the Mana Sources I was about to seal were still inside her body. I needed to remove all interference to create an ideal observation environment.
The most obvious trait of Self-Generated Mana was the birth of mana without a Mana Source.
I remembered my own first time—how I had caught that very first wisp of mana fluctuation and witnessed the birth of my own Self-Generated Mana!
In that moment, the entire laboratory fell silent. Even the Witch Mentors, Belica and the others, stood quietly to the side to witness this historic moment.
It felt as if everyone could hear their own heavy breathing and racing hearts.
In that low-energy environment, devoid of external mana or transcendent energy interference, I felt for that unique fluctuation of mana.
Until...
I reached out my hand and brushed the empty air in front of Tan Han, then gave a light pinch with my thumb and forefinger.
For a split second, invisible mana condensed into a thread nearly invisible to the naked eye. It flashed once, then completely collapsed.
It was a mana fluctuation so weak it couldn't even form a single point of mana—even weaker than my own first wisp.
But no matter how weak it was, its existence proved one thing!
Tan Han had succeeded...
"Tan Han succeeded," I said. My voice was calm, as if I were announcing something trivial.
But as my voice rang out, the laboratory—after a single second of stunned silence—erupted into thunderous cheers and applause!
They had done it!!