Help! A Healthy Body Harbors Healthy Mana

"Help! 'A healthy body harbors healthy mana.' That's the famous quote left behind by my teacher and mother, Vain Crimson. Her footsteps were etched all over Triia, and having walked the path of magic longer than anyone, every word she uttered was like gospel to those learning magic."

A healthy body is a 'perfect incantation', healthy mana is 'magic'. Everyone knows that magic infuses a perfect incantation, but she wrapped the lesson of 'never forget the basics' in the form of a riddle. People praised her for it, and it's said that single line ignited the passion of mages across Triia.

I'd read that in her autobiography during my girlhood days.

......There was a similar saying in my original world, so I once asked her directly if that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was really the message she meant to convey.

And her response was...

"Huh? What kinda nonsense is that? Oh, you saw what those idiots twisted it into? Of course it's just their dumbass ramblings. Anyway, second sis, it's about time you started calling me 'Mom'..."

Yeah. Perfect incantations and all that jazz— the real meaning she wanted to say was literally 'a healthy body harbors healthy mana.'

Her theory was that the more you train a body infused with mana, the more mana-affine it becomes, evolving into a physique that handles mana more efficiently.

In short, her profound-sounding 'a healthy body harbors healthy mana' wasn't some deep mental philosophy—it was a blunt 'roll around in the dirt with your body' physicalist doctrine.

What's really mind-blowing is that she knew her words had spread wrong but just shrugged it off like, 'They'll figure it out eventually,' without ever bothering to correct it.

But the masses had long since swallowed the book version hook, line, and sinker.

I at least tried to spread the true meaning to the people around me, but...

These fools wouldn't believe it. "No way Master said something that simplistic," they'd criticize me. Even my baby sis, who I thought believed me, looked at me pitifully and snapped that I was talking crap.

"Tch, why won't anyone believe me? It's the truth though..."

"Hooeeek—!!"

"Ra-yoon, ten more minutes."

As I reminisced on those frustrating past injustices, Ra-yoon's dying wail echoed from the living room. She'd started squats there 30 minutes ago.

"Hah... hah... Ten... more...?! How long...!"

"Hey! If you got breath to talk, do one more. Get to it!"

"Magic...! Hah... hah... you're gonna teach me...!!"

"Yeah, and that's what I'm doing right now."

Ra-yoon, legs trembling as she spat out her complaints, shot me a resentful glare.

There was a good reason I was drilling her legs this hard.

Before teaching her magic, Ra-yoon had one critical issue: she couldn't sense mana.

The reason awakeners are stronger than normals is mana. Mana's like a backup battery.

No mana doesn't kill you—it just leaves you no different from a regular person. Right now, Ra-yoon's unconsciously burning mana alongside her stamina.

Put nicely, she's familiar with mana. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Put harshly, her body's so hooked on using it that it's degenerated into something that can't live without it.

So the only option left? Push her body to its limits, forcing it to crave more mana than usual.

In that process, mana will surge, and even dense Ra-yoon will have to feel it.

Hmm! No matter how I think about it, this plan is straight fire!

Thud—!

Ra-yoon collapsed right where she stood.

"Hah... hah... Sis... my thighs... feel like they're gonna explode..."

Sweat pouring like a waterfall, she'd finished the extra ten minutes as ordered and finally exhausted all her stamina and mana.

"Good. Now, try standing up."

"...No way... Hnggg... can't move...!"

Ra-yoon was already zoned out from exhaustion.

But I couldn't miss this chance.

"Hey! Up! If you don't get up now, we're doing it again?"

"Hngg...! It hurts...!"

I grabbed her hand and yanked her up. She wobbled like a newborn foal, legs shaking, but once she found her balance, I let go.

"How's it feel, Ra-yoon? Anything?"

".........I feel rage at getting tricked by you, sis..."

"No, I mean like something surging up from your body."

"Isn't that the rage?"

"Hmm... weird... even with low mana, recovery speed's about the same...

Ah."

Right... people here have slow mana recovery?

Normally, mana recovers faster than stamina, so it fills gaps first. That's what I was banking on with this method.

But in this world, even that's not allowed.

.........

.........

Busted? I just put Ra-yoon through hell for nothing.

"So... now that I'm up, what do I do?"

"Uh, yeah? Well..."

Ra-yoon, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still dazed and sweating buckets, waited for my answer.

Sigh... since we're this far, maybe I should infuse some of my mana into her to let her feel it?

Her body's nearly mana-free right now, so external mana should be easy to sense.

Time to act.

"Ra-yoon, hand."

"Haaand..."

She latched onto my hand with both of hers like a crutch, barely standing.

"First time, so I'll go easy."

"...Huh? Easy what?"

I trickled a tiny bit of mana into her hand and checked her reaction.

"......?"

Ra-yoon just stood there wobbling, eyes glazed, no response.

"Feel anything?"

".......Nada?"

"Hmm... crank it up then?"

I tripled it from the start. Her shoulders twitched.

"Huh? Sis, what was that just now?"

"Feel it now?"

"Yeah, like a lukewarm energy rising up, but it hits a block somewhere and can't go further."

"Blocked... where?"

"Um...... around the elbow?"

Then treat her like the Witch Academy elementary kids. And since Ra-yoon's dense, hit her with a full blast at once.

"Ra-yoon, focus hard from now on. Got it?"

I gathered and blasted mana through her hand in one go.

Whoosh—!

A short, intense pulse rippled out from where we stood. My mana raced through her body in a flash, then her body rejected what it couldn't absorb and spat it out.

"Ra-yoon, remember that sensation firm—...?"

Plop—

Her grip went slack, and she crumpled like a marionette with cut strings.

The suddenness left my jaw on the floor.

"Wha—?!"

I grabbed her shoulders and shook. Her head lolled limply.

Her brown eyes had rolled back—whites only.

..................

This is seriously fucked.

Slap. Slap.

"Ra-yoon!! Wake up!! Ra-yoon!!"

I slapped her cheeks repeatedly to snap her out of it, but no twitch.

At least her heart's beating and she's breathing? But she's still down!

"O-okay, calm down!! What we need now is... an ambulance...!!"

Wait, do ambulances even come to this rural spot? Sure, people live here, but it'll take forever.

No idea how far the nearest hospital is, but at least I wasn't dumb enough to think of carrying her there.

If only there was a car, I could drive...

"Ah!"

I snatched my smartphone and dove into contacts.

So-hee unnie said to call this mystery guy for anything tough or inconvenient. No issues till now, so this was my first contact.

First call's a massive cleanup job—sorry for the hassle—but Ra-yoon's condition comes first!

I hit call without hesitation.

[Riiiing— Riiiing— Riiiing—]

Over 20 seconds of ringing.

"Ugh... why no answer?! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Weekend vibes?"

I was about to hang and redial when—

"Phew... at least we've got a ride to the hospital!"

With the fire out, I sighed in relief and glanced at Ra-yoon.

She didn't look critical, but worry gnawed anyway.

Last time I knocked her out on purpose, so I waited it out no sweat. But here, no clue why she dropped—unavoidable anxiety.

Or maybe... I dumped too much mana at once.

Normal Ra-yoon might've shrugged it off, but she was mana-starved on the verge of passing out.

First time injecting into a mana-empty state.

What I did was like flooding a drought-stricken land.

"......Let's check the subspace for anything useful."

Ra-yoon's mana-deficient now. Gotta pray for some recovery item.