Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Chapter 37: Claim one of the cardinal thrones (5)

Hours passed as Elena instructed me on how to properly connect with my mana. I had to treat my mana as if it was a part of me, an extension of my body of some sort. She said that mana and the body are different. Mana was connected to the soul, so I had to understand my soul first.

At first, I thought she meant something like emotional intelligence. But maybe I was wrong? If anything, I was probably the worst person when it came to emotional intelligence. I didn't even truly know myself. But, it was pretty easy for me to work with my mana for some reason.

"You're a natural at this. I'm surprised. Are you sure you're a newbie?" Elena asked with an amused expression on her face.

"I didn't even know magic existed before I came here." I answered while spinning a chair around using my psychokinesis.

"Tell me more about where you came from." She popped open a new bottle of beer.

"Only if you tell me about yourself, how does that sound?" I smirked. If she agreed, it would be a nice opportunity to dig up some information.

"Hm, interesting. What do you want to know about me, exactly?" she smirked back, "I'll even tell you my favourite lip product~"

"How about you and general Zhang's plan?" This time I picked up an orange and flew it around in the air, making a wonky '8' shape. I sucked at controlling fine movements, apparently.

"Aw, naughty kid. That one's off-limit," she laughed casually, "by the way, don't use your mana in bursts for fine movements. Think of it as if you're playing the piano, or as if you're a drop of water following a river current. Smooth, steady, but precise."

"I don't understand even one bit about what you just said, but let me try," I adjusted my mana according to her instruction, and sure enough, my wonky '8' shape wasn't so wonky anymore.

"That's it. Great job." She praised me with a smile.

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"If you can't tell me your plan, then how about you tell me where you came from? Equal exchange, right?" I asked again.

"Haha, sure!" She laughed.

Nice. People would usually agree to a smaller request if you ask them a bigger request beforehand. Thanks for teaching me this, Daeun.

"What do you think of my room?" She supported her chin with her hand while gazing around the room.

Her room? That was random.

"Well, I'd say it's very luxurious. It's the first time I've been--no, stayed, in a grand room like this. Why'd you ask?" I answered and asked her back simultaneously. What did her room have to do with her past?

"Same here. I used to live in one of the poor neighbourhoods in the town with my parents." She started explaining.

I silently listened while I picked up 2 pillows using my skill.

"Do you know what it feels like to grow up poor? We often don't have food to eat, and when we do eat, it's rarely a proper meal." She chuckled a bit.

"Yes, I do. I also grew up poor... Sort of, I guess?" I scratched my cheek. Well, it was half-true and half-wrong.

"Oh, so you do understand me!" She beamed, "it was not a pleasant experience, was it?"

I nodded.

"I was always searching for a glimmer of hope to get us out of that situation. Even though my mom worked hard every day, but my dad's medical bills sucked our savings dry," she continued, "and one day, I discovered that 'hope' by chance."

My ears perked up as I listened to her intently. I remembered myself being like that, too, back when I was little. Just a desperate little girl, trying her best to survive and be with her loved ones.

"My mother has always told me that I'm a bright child, but I figured that she was just being biased towards her child," she smiled, but her eyes were sad, "that was until my mother's boss asked me to work under the headmaster."

"Her boss? What did your mom work as?" I asked.

"That's still a secret for now," she winked playfully at me, "and thus began my career as a researcher."

"And after that?"

"Hmm, well... Let's just say that I was a naive little girl who didn't know better about the world. That little girl made one wrong choice, and that one wrong choice eventually led to this plan." She smiled as she told her story, but her smile did not reach her eyes.

"I feel like we skipped over a lot of important parts, but alright... I appreciate you telling me your story, even if it's just the 'trailer'." I sighed a bit.

"Haha! You have to pay to watch the 'whole movie', right? Don't forget that you have to tell me your story, too, as we agreed," she laughed amusedly upon my remark, "don't blame me, our plan is connected to our personal mission. That's why we can't tell anyone."

Right. I almost forgot about personal missions here.

"You guys have the same personal mission? I thought no personal missions are the same?" I tilted my head.

"Oh dear, you couldn't have been further from the truth. General Zhang's goal and my goal are completely different. Even our ways of carrying out the plan differ a lot. It just so happens that this time, we need to work together." She said as she drank a whole bottle of beer so easily.

"I thought you guys are buddy-buddy with each other." I said while I lifted up another pillow using my skill.

"Nah, we're just using each other," she laughed, "now, why don't you tell me about where you came from?"

'BOOM!'

Just as I was about to answer, the pillow I lifted burst into pieces, scattering the feathers all around the room.

"Oh no, I'm sorry!" I honestly panicked when I saw that seemingly fancy pillow ripped to shreds. How much would it cost!?

"You... How can your magic grow so quickly?" Elena observed me.

"What do you mean? Anyway, I'll pay you back, I swear, just let me save up first..." I sighed. Goodbye, future money...

"Hmm... Is this an exclusive feature for those who fuse? But this didn't happen in general Zhang's case," she squinted her eyes, "your mana flow is already stronger than when you first came here. That's why the pillow exploded without much effort. Do you have any idea what caused this?"

I paused for a moment to think, before opening my status window silently.

[Stat points: (Yoo Chaerin)]

[Strength: 23]

[Intelligence: 40 (+5)]

[Agility: 14]

[Physique: 25 (+5)]

[Stat points available: 0]

My eyes widened upon seeing the sudden increase in my stats.

Sure, the fight with the serpent and Eli may have increased them a bit, but how could my intelligence stat rose this high? Was it the side effect of fusing? Or because I had used my psychokinesis non-stop since coming here, even during bathroom time? ...Or maybe both?

...Either way, it seemed that I do have an idea why.