“So what can it do? It doesn’t seem all too powerful... and I can’t see it tasting too good either.” Kurobe ask as he attempts to sniff the ball of light

It refuses to stay still, however, so he struggles to do so.

“I wouldn’t really call it powerful. Durable might be a better word. Just about any attack under the sun should pass right through it.” I explain

“Does that have something to do with the abilities you mentioned it had?” He asks, giving up on sniffing it with a disgruntled expression

“No, nothing can hit it because there is nothing to hit. It has no physical body. It’s nothing but a mass of mana given life.” I answer

“Surely it must have some kind of physical body. I’ve never met a monster that didn’t have a physical weak point to attack. If it truly didn’t then it would be immortal would it not?” Kurobe says with obvious disbelief

“It really doesn’t have anything like that. Though it’s not without weaknesses. Since it’s nothing but mana that means it has no way of regenerating mana on its own. Along with that if it ever runs out completely it will wither and disappear. To counter that I gave it the ability to draw mana from the plants and animals around it. I was really worried that it would end up taking too much and killing the environment around it as a result, so I think it turned out well don’t you?” I ask as I proudly observe the forest around us

It might be too soon to tell, but for now, it doesn’t seem to be doing any real harm. I need to make sure to check up on it occasionally. If the damage shows up over a longer length of time then I need to do something about it.

Sigh “There is hardly any mana at all in plants and the like if you are worried about it doing harm to those that it absorbs from then there is no way it will have enough mana to fight. Even if it sucked up all the spare mana from this entire forest it would still only have one or two good attacks in it.” Kurobe criticizes with a look of disappointment

“Oh, it doesn’t have any offensive ability at all so that's not an issue,” I explain annoyed at his lack of faith

Geko! “Mano-sama! Do I understand you correctly?! Do you mean to tell me that you devoted such an incredibly large portion of yourself to a creature that doesn’t have a single attack?!” Gero ask in a panic

I stand there shocked for a moment, not answering his question. I’ve never actually seen Gero panic before. I didn’t really know he was capable of it.

“It’s not meant to fight. Just to survive. If it can’t do any harm then it won’t interest anybody to hunt it, and more importantly, the Yuusha won’t bother himself with it.” I explain after regaining my composure

The monsters I create all have one major weakness. If they are defeated by the Yuusha they will fuel my defeat. Not only will I have lost that part of me forever, but the Yuusha will grow stronger in turn. My first priority when making monsters is to assure that they are undefeatable at the hands of the Yuusha... which is a difficult proposition considering I don't meet those qualifications.

“I still don’t get it. Why make something that's just meant to “survive”. Wouldn’t a creature like this function perfectly as magical support? With no interruptions, it could even perform long castings without worry.” Kurobe ask confused as well

“I made it with such a simple purpose for two reasons. The first being that I can’t just show up in town toting around a never before seen monster. I need to fly under as many radars as possible for now, and something like that would have nearly every tamer, scholar, and curious idiot flock to me with a ton of questions. The second problem is that I need to be able to absorb it later.” I explain

Gero gero “Mano-sama should be capable of absorbing any creature she creates. What relevance does its lack of offensive power hold?” Gero ask cocking his head

“To assist me in battle it needs to be able to take orders... and I don’t think I can bring myself to absorb anything smart enough to understand those orders. I made this thing with less sentience than a plant. When my body is powerful enough to handle the power that I used to make this thing I’ll be able to summon it and absorb it without hesitation.” I explain as I watch the pink ball flutter around

Making it cute might have been a mistake in the respect though. It wouldn’t be hard to convince me to let it be simply because of that alone.

Gero gero gero “I see. I apologize for having doubted Mano-sama. I will record your wisdom so I do not make the same mistake in the future.” Gero says with a bow

“I still think you're loony. I can feel how much weaker you are after making that thing. You won’t convince me that it being useless was a good idea.” Kurobe says with a disapproving look as he begins walking away

“I suppose with all that nonsense out of the way, it’s time we finally go home. I’m going to sleep like the dead after killing so many monsters.” I say as I sprint to walk next to him

As we walk the pink glow of the Will o'wisp fades as the orange glow of the city grows. I slept soundly that night, prepared anew for Sishou’s training and the tournament that follows.