“Right then, gather up.” I say, looking over the lousy lot of students that remain now that the culling has finished. “We have a very serious battle ahead of us, but should we stand together it will be an easy victory.”

Some look at me with empty eyes, I’m not sure how many of my words are making it through to them. I have little hope for them so long as they remain in such a state.

Unfortunately for us all, I’m more likely to shit out a brick of pure gold than find a good psychologist around these parts.

It’s those who are eager eyed, those who have their brows knit with concern, and those who are practically pissing themselves in fear, that I look towards. They’re able to listen and think, thus they’re people I can deal with.

“I don’t know your ambitions in this life. I don’t know what it is that you wish to become in the days that come after tomorrow, but I believe that you and I can work together towards a better, cleaner future.”

I’ve got to wrap things up soon before they have a chance to disperse. Speeches must be kept short unless your goal is to torture your audience.

“Act out my will, and grasp for yourself a greater future.” I declare, snapping my arms out and sending my newfound cloak waving behind me, “Help me, to make this a future worth living in.”

Many of them have calmed down by now, they look to me with curious eyes. Wondering what the hell I’m up to, and whether I’ve gone insane.

At this point, I wouldn’t even deny the latter.

“Ah, here they are.” I say, noticing that Eshya, Vii, and Nel have now arrived with the equipment.

“Now, who will stand with me and clean this fucking barracks? I am not sleeping in a place the stinks of shit and piss tonight, but this is too big a task for me alone.”

There’re a few nervous laughs escaping the group as they realize my demands are so normal. That said not many step up to take any equipment, it’s not surprising, but it would be nice to see a little enthusiasm.

“I wasn’t joking, in case you didn’t realize. So does anyone have cleaning Skills, or spells, or anything?”

“I have a cleaning Skill,” Nel says, getting the ball rolling.

After her, some others start moving but I still have to separate them into groups to see any real change in them. Few of them are ready to act on their own, but most are ready to accept orders, even the dull eyed group do as I tell them to.

Some are cleaning sheets, some are scrubbing the floorboards, some are collecting the properties that were left by the deceased. I help all the groups here and there, dealing with problems as they arise.

When so many students were hiding in the barracks during the attack, they made a mess of the room. Though recalling the public toilet, shitting on the floor must’ve been a far nicer experience by comparison.

Still, we are not filthy animals, and I will not abide such behaviour in my empire.

With everyone working together, and using the borrowed cleaning equipment, it doesn’t take long for the barracks to be in a decent condition. The faint smell that remains will continue to haunt me regardless.

“Looks good to me,” Scara says, I was a little surprised to find that the lizard girl survived this long, and I’m glad she still has some life in her eyes.

“We did our best, but it still smells like shit,” I complain.

“The whole town smells like shit, Kyra.” Eshya laughs as she wipes her hands clean, “At least our place now smells a little less like shit.”

“So, we’re back to plan A then.” I say with a nod to Nel.

“Plan A?” Nel asks, confused.

“Burn this shithole of a town the ground. It’s the only way to be sure.”

“Oi, you lot. We’ve got a feast cooking up, you’re all invited.” Red says, interrupting our conversation by appearing out of nowhere as per normal. Everyone else backs away from her as soon as they notice her.

“It’s not going to turn into something fucked up, is it?” I ask, “We’re not the meal, are we?”

“The fuck do you think I am?” She asks, “No, we’re not eating you. It’s just the meat from the battle. It’s not good to waste good mana dense food, and this much meat will go bad quick.”

“It’s not good to waste mana dense meat… so that’s the twist?” I ask. The others seem happy for the offer and don’t hear or quite get the implications.

Red just sighs and smiles at me, the threat in her eyes suggesting that I don’t say anything.

“Well, fuck it. I’m not a supreme conqueror yet, just another idiot, and when in Rome...” I shake my head in disgust but follow her to the piles of cooked meat on outdoor tables.

The vast majority of it has been carved up to the point that I can’t really guess at what meat comes from what creatures. Still, knowing that any one of the dishes could be a former student does put a damper on my appetite.

The cold rage inside me has already carved its mark into my soul, and this mystery meat meal just adds fuel to the fires raging quietly.

Yesterday I decided to change this world, and I do mean to. Even if it means that I must become something of a modern Genghis Khan, though I think I would prefer to limit my brutality in comparison. I do recall something about him having quite a few wives though…

An idea that I really must return to later, as it does bring a smile to my face.

If I’m being honest, I’m most probably going to fail badly and end up dead. Though, that’s still better than bitching out and ending up dead anyway, so fuck it, I’m doing this thing.

How will I build my empire?

I’ll need people, but to get people I’ll need to be strong. This world respects nothing less.

So, it starts with training.

“Is there any faster way to develop my mana form?” I ask for cheats not two seconds in. Training is hard, and I’m hard-pressed for time.

“Eat.” Eshya replies with a handful of food for herself, “I’ve personally expended more mana than I’ve gained the last few days here and this feast is a step in the right direction.”

“There’s not that much mana in this,” I reply, shifting a morsel of meat around my mouth. I suck the mana out of it while wondering if this is part of that goat girl that I didn’t save.

“I don’t know about that; this is rather good meat mana wise. Good fresh meat like this isn’t exactly commonplace for most people.” Nel says.

“Even in the Unified States?” I ask, thinking back to the lovely meal I had… was it yesterday? The day before? It’s all becoming something of a blur.

“What’s commonly served isn’t so fresh or mana dense as this. Wild beasts tend to have more mana and retain it better than farmed animals,” Nel says.

“Is that so?” I shake further questions from my mind, putting myself back to topic, “Well what about storing my own mana then?”

“It’s easy, mana infusion it’s called, most people don’t even get a Skill for it, you just do it.” Vii says, “Lots and lots of different people use it for all sorts of things, like enchanting or potion making, or for growing plants, or using some tools, or…”

“I get it, so in theory I can dump my mana into this meat here.” I say, prodding the offending piece of food with a fork, “Then eat it and get my mana back.”

“I guess so. Why would you? You won’t get all of your mana back from it.” Vii asks.

“I’ll tell you if I succeed.” I reply, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. I feel like a kid who’s just come up with a get rich quick scheme, and I’m waiting for the adults to notice and call me a moron.

Since this morning my ability to draw in and convert mana into my own has increased significantly. The pains that had halted me before don’t feel like a problem anymore, so it’s just a matter of waiting for it to convert. The greater problem comes from relative mana pressure.

When I build up as much mana density as I have, pulling mana from the air becomes much harder. Before I was a vacuum and the mana would rush right to me, now I’m more like a bloated balloon you have to force more air into.

That said, I feel like there’s a helpful exploit right here. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from keeping up with modern politics, it’s that you should always use every loop hole and exploit available to enrich yourself off of what’s publicly available.

I touch the chunk of flesh and slowly start to push mana into it. The process is as described, and very simple, but the mana does start to leak out as I leave it sitting in there. It’s a poor container, and the amount of mana I’m pressing into it quickly becomes much denser than the air around it.

As soon as I’ve emptied myself of most of my mana, I take a moment to breath in all the stray mana that I can. It only takes half a minute before I have so much cutting mana inside me that I can’t draw anymore in.

Without waiting for anymore mana to leak out from my food storage, I eat it and swallow the energy down into the pit for reconversion. Even being outside of my body for only a few moments the mana isn’t considered mine anymore and needs processing.

The pain from the added mana is not inconsequential, but the truth is, my sense of pain has truly been numbed over the passage of the day. It’s not as if I don’t feel it, but maybe the part of my brain that turns a warning signal into suffering is broken.

If I’d known this was possible earlier I could’ve gotten out the old ice-pick and done some ‘modifications’. Though maybe that thought in itself comes from the broken part of me, it’s difficult to tell anymore.

Whatever the case I keep the mana crunching inside and eat a little more. I eat slowly to preserve my stomach for the next round. The table conversation is rather slow, but sometimes someone unfamiliar will stop by our table for brief chat.

Only ten minutes after I started, the mana has been converted and I’m feeling warmer and more powerful than ever before.

“Huh, it works…” I notice that my mana has boosted up to over the 100 units mark, “Nel is there a cap to mana density that I should know about. Something where if I push too hard, I’ll explode into flesh confetti, or whatever?”

“Nothing quite like that, normally. At 1000 units of mana density the mana will undergo a shift in its state. Going from gaseous to liquid, or at least that’s the common understanding of it.”

“Oh? Should I be careful of that change?”

“Not likely something to be concerned about today, but it can cause issues. The most important part is that once your mana converts into liquid mana, you can’t let your mana density drop so far that it returns to a gaseous state. Though maintaining mana density is a common necessity for everyone but you.”

As we discuss this topic I cram my mana into another piece of food, pull in more atmospheric mana and start chewing on the meat flavoured with my own regurgitated mana.

It’s a lovely spice, tasting of pain and the promise of great power. Like radiation in an old comic book.

“Nice, I should hold back from the thousand mark then. Just in case.”

“You say that as if you’re getting close to it.” Eshya laughs.

“I mean…” Roughly ten minutes for fifty, I’m converting to near a hundred and fifty now, it won’t really take very long at all, but I’m not going to say that out loud with so many people around.

I’m not keen on sharing this exploit to the whole town. If it’s something only I can do, I can see myself being turned into a mana battery easily enough ending my empire before it even begins.

That said, I’m not going to leave my friends completely dry. I’d rather boost their chances at survival, than hold back because of cowardice. I’ve read enough books where someone dies because the hero holds back that I’m not making that same mistake.

“You really can joke with a straight face, huh,” Vii says, “No one can do that unless they’ve got some really good mana potions or pills around.”

“What I wouldn’t give for something like that…” Eshya moans with a sigh.

“Nel,” I ask, “How good are you at absorbing mana?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand.”

“It’s painful to convert mana, right? Let say that this,” I wave a piece of my meal about on a fork, “Was incredibly mana dense, how much would your limit be?”

“I haven’t trained with such intense mana exercises before.” She admits with a blush, “I don’t really know how much I’d be able to take.”

“Try this then,” I say, pushing mana into it until I’ve dropped around 5 units of density.

As she accepts the food, she grows rather stiff, slowly working through the mana that I’ve sent her. Her difficult expression is rather cute, especially with her watering eyes. I wrap my arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

“You shouldn’t be wasting your mana like this.” She scolds me, “You’re the weakest of us.”

“What’s your mana density?”

“379 units.” She declares proudly, “I’ve been rather careful not to waste it, and I’ve boosted it in all the little ways that I can.

“Okay, not bad. Could be better.” I reply, leaning in to whisper, “I’m 139 and climbing. Give me an hour and I’ll be beyond you.”

She freezes and looks me over from top to bottom but doesn’t find a lie in my words.

“No mana shock,” I reply with a shrug, I don’t know how long it will take for my body to become accustomed to mana. I don’t know if the massive fluctuations that I’m putting my body through aren’t going to hurt me, in the short or the long term, but I need strength and an exploit like this one isn’t something to be easily ignored.

By now the feast atmosphere has decayed and changed. Most have eaten their fill and returned home, those still lingering are either warriors sharing stories or those looking for distraction of a more carnal sort.

I can hear a couple of mutts in heat, not too far away. I guess they have to replenish their population somehow, but I’d rather they do it away from me.

We gather some food to take back to the barracks with us, a common enough practice for those heading home, and walk through the dark grounds. We get back home and settle in where the air is a little fresher, and the company a little more pleasant.

“No mana shock… infusing food with mana… No, you’d take too long to convert the mana, and it’s just too much for someone with such weak mana form to handle.” Nel shakes her head, then looks at me again, dubious.

I run through another cycle, and I can feel the energy inside raging as it slowly converts. This time there is some significant mana leakage from what I put in the food. Though I shouldn’t be surprised considering I dumped all of my mana into it. The mana density inside the little morsel would be…

“Hey, Nel, what would happen if I shoved a shit-ton of mana into this little bit of meat here, would it change into liquid mana. Since it’s smaller volume than I am.”

“It would. You really are insane…” She mutters looking down at the meat in curious horror, “Anyone doing what you’re doing should be a corpse by now, a thousand times over.”

“So, that’s why I’m the first to think of it?” I reply with a hum, sucking up the mana that I can. Leakage is wasting far too much mana. I’m sure spreading the mana across more food would cause less leakage, but I can’t exactly eat that much that quick.

“Well, let’s get negotiations started,” I say looking to my friends. The other survivors have all gathered into their own corners or bunks as we sit around chatting, “How much mana do you think you can take?”

“How much can you give me?” Eshya is first to reply, a tense smile on her face.

“About 300 units worth, whatever that is for you.” I say, looking about in my Chip but finding no conversion system that I can use.

Her eyes widen, and her jaw is slowly working, she finally manages to talk at a whisper.

“The support device translates it well enough. Like when talking distances and the like.” She blinks a few times, “Or it’s supposed to. Can you say that again?”

“300 units.” I repeat, “How much can you take?”

“Hit me with 20.” She says, swallowing hard.

“Ah, but what will you give me in return?” I ask, putting on an obviously fake voice and attitude to make it clear that I’m messing about.

“Is that how it is?” She asks, her eyes thinning as a smile rises to her lips, “Okay, what do you want?”

“Hmm,” I rub at my chin like an evil genius, then move to shift my glasses up, “Your undying allegiance, you will forever be my property to do with as I please.”

“Sure, sure, just feed it to me, my eternal mistress.” She says, without acting the slightest bit demure.

“Fine. Now, here comes the aeroplane.” I say after packing the morsel with a little more than the agreed upon mana to make up for the leakage.

“What’s an aerop-gah,” I shove the food in her mouth before she finishes asking. I try not to think about the feel of her soft lips. Damnit, I need a girlfriend already.

“Vii?” I ask, she’s grown a little quiet, “How much?”

“10 units, mistress.” She bows her head slightly.

“See, Eshya, that’s the way you do it.” I give Vii her mana, and she quietly works to absorb it.

“Hey, if it get’s you horny who am I to judge?” Eshya replies shaking her head as her eyes water. She’s trying not to show how much trouble she’s having absorbing the mana.

“Nel?” I ask her, “How much?”

“10 units, I should be able to manage.” She says, “As payment, you will take me on a most lovely date.”

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to pay me?”

“You don’t want to?” She replies with a laugh.

“I accept, I accept.” I repeat.

The long discussion/doping session continues long into the night.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Classes & Skills

~Mana Form: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop your mana form.

Current mana density: 402 units

~Fire Magic: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for fire manipulation.

-Skill: Flame burst

~Defensive Techniques: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for reactive mana skin.

-Skills: Mana skin

~Combat Techniques: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for mana infusion.

-Skills: Mana shield.