Chapter 265: Mana Output and Mana Occupation

After finishing the day's itinerary, Senior Cuique finally had time to go to the bathhouse and soak properly to relax, then lay in bed close to dawn, staring blankly with her eyes open for a while.

In the small, four-sided ventilated hut, evening breezes occasionally brushed through, carrying a faintly moist scent of green grass that could quickly relax anyone lying in bed; thus, the even breathing of Lin Xiaolu could already be heard from the adjacent bed, and Summer Cool, a bit farther away, had long since fallen silent.

Senior Cuique felt she too should relax a bit, but so many things had happened today, bringing so many worries; admitting the hidden dangers behind the fact that "Cuique" and "Lin Yun" shared the same birthday made her uneasy, and the matters discussed during her audience with Mo He similarly left her unable to set her mind at ease.

Yet she also knew that continuing to overthink like this would not solve the problem; what she needed now was rest. So she voluntarily closed her eyes, emptied her mind, and stopped herself from thinking wildly further.

This method did indeed have some effect; once the chaotic thoughts were blocked, exhaustion in both spirit and body rapidly swept over her, carrying her into deep sleep.

Yes, deep sleep.

Perhaps because the gem had been repaired, Senior Cuique had, over the past two days, been able to sleep unexpectedly in the form of a magical girl, rather than, as before, having to rely on severing her thoughts to actively induce mental dormancy.

Whether this was good or bad for her, Senior Cuique did not yet know, but for now, it could indeed ease her state of mind. So she did not resist this feeling, allowing herself to slowly sink into it.

Afterwards, Senior Cuique had another dream.

……

……

"Maintain the balance of your mana output, control it well with your soul and true form, keep this current state; good, that's it, just keep floating like that."

Making a gesture to signal "pause," Huang Shiyi indicated to the Nym before her to stop mid-air: "Do you feel it? The state of the mana within your body?"

A clear breeze swept over the hillside south of Chengnan in Runore, causing waves of green to surge across the vast grassland. As the newly appointed squad leader of the city guard, Huang Shiyi was teaching the youngest magical girl in her unit—Nym Kreigios.

Although she did not like the feeling of having troublesome matters pushed onto her, Huang Shiyi still did her best to fulfill the role of a teacher, and Nym was a rather obedient magical girl, so the process went smoothly.

"The state of the mana?"

Nym, being merely a Seed-rank magical girl, naturally could not learn any overly advanced combat techniques; thus, at this moment, she was simply following Huang Shiyi to learn the most basic mana control: "It feels… like, there's a sensation of constantly raising my hand, holding something up?"

And what she was learning now was a required course for magical girls on the battlefield, named "Mana Output and Mana Occupation."

"Your feeling is correct; that is because, under these current circumstances, you are using mana to maintain the state of 'flight,' so a portion of your mana output is occupied."

Nym's answer left Huang Shiyi quite satisfied, so she nodded and continued directly: "Keep it up; you can fire several mana bullets in this state, go all out, and try to launch as many attacks as possible."

"Keep it up, firing while flying like this?"

Upon hearing this, Nym paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, murmured words while raising her wand, pointing it forward; several streams of green mana immediately swirled at the tip of her wand, then transformed into bullets and shot forward.

Whoosh!

Their number was truly difficult to count, but at a glance, more than a dozen beams pierced the air, straight through several falling leaves; those leaves left not even a shred of residue, simply shattered into pieces.

"Like this… is it okay, Squad Leader?"

After finishing all this, Nym's figure swayed, nearly losing her ability to maintain her floating posture in the air, but she still turned her head, looking at Huang Shiyi's expression with hope.

— "Very good."

This was the evaluation Huang Shiyi gave.

While clapping to affirm her squad member's performance, Huang Shiyi further elaborated: "Among Seed-ranks, your use of mana bullets is undoubtedly mature enough; the power and speed are also excellent. I can see the effort you have put in."

"Ah, hehe, it's not that amazing."

Nym smiled somewhat shyly: "We've been learning this since we were in Silver Corridor; if we didn't do well, the Nannies would scold us… so I just learned it."

"Regardless of the reason, this is your effort; we should believe this effort will not be in vain."

Huang Shiyi cut off her modesty and continued: "However, do you have any further feelings? For instance, does firing mana bullets while floating in the air feel the same as firing them while standing on the ground?"

"Standing on the ground?"

Nym thought for a moment: "It seems different?"

"How is it different?" Huang Shiyi guided her gently.

"It feels… compared to usual, the mana bullets fired this way are fewer, and also a bit weaker," Nym summarized thus.

"Very good, then let us remember this rule. Now I ask you: if next I have you maintain flight while simultaneously activating a large-scale mana perception, maintaining awareness of the surrounding five hundred meters. Under such a state, if I then require you to fire mana bullets, what do you think will happen?" Huang Shiyi asked.

"Hmm, will they become even weaker?" Nym answered without hesitation.

"Exactly; it seems you have fully understood. This is what we call 'Mana Occupation'."

Huang Shiyi waved the wand in her hand, drawing a circle in the air: "To understand the concept of Mana Occupation, first we must explain what 'Mana Output' means. For example, let us assume all the mana in your body is 100. Then I ask: under the condition of releasing mana externally with all your might, how long would it take you to use up all 100 of that mana? Will it be used up in an instant?"

"This… surely not?"

Nym, hailing from Silver Corridor, undoubtedly possessed a richer reserve of basic knowledge than other Seed-rank magical girls: "I've had similar experiences before; it feels like using up all the mana in my body would take at least about 30 seconds."

"30 seconds… not bad, but have you thought about why it must take 30 seconds?"

Huang Shiyi tapped her wand into the circle she had just drawn, cutting out one-thirtieth of it as a small segment: "Is it because you didn't use all your might? Or is your mana segmented, unable to be used completely?"

"It feels like neither; I did use all my might, and I can also feel that the mana is within my true form."

Nym pondered slightly: "So, is it because of the 'Mana Output' you mentioned, Squad Leader?"

"Excellent reasoning; your learning ability truly astonishes me."

Huang Shiyi praised her in time: "Exactly; you cannot use up all your mana in one breath because your body has a certain limitation, and this limitation is called 'Mana Output'. Assuming all the mana in your body is 100, and you must take 30 seconds to use it all up, then if we calculate slightly, we can reach a conclusion: your Mana Output is 3.3."

Pulling out the small segment cut from the large circle and turning it into a small circle, Huang Shiyi continued to slice this small circle: "Then, let us continue the deduction: when you can only use 3.3 mana per second, maintaining flight will also consume 1 mana; so at this moment, when you go to fire mana bullets, what you can actually use is only 2.3 mana. In this case, what should we call this consumed 1?"

"…Mana Occupation," Nym answered, blinking her eyes.

"Correct; this 1 is your Mana Occupation while flying."

Huang Shiyi nodded: "It is also the reason your mana bullets become weaker."

"I see."

Nym seemed to understand something: "That is to say, if I want to attack an enemy with full force in actual combat, then I should stop flying, or even stop sensing, and put all my mana into the attack?"

"Indeed, that is the principle."

Huang Shiyi remained noncommittal: "However, in actual combat, we generally apply it in reverse."

"In reverse?" Nym was somewhat confused.

"When you are about to attack an enemy, it is best to use only 2.3 of your mana, leaving that 1 behind as a margin."

Huang Shiyi lightly tapped the circle before her, once again pushing out a small ring from it: "Only in this way can you have the margin to dodge when attacked by an enemy; otherwise, you will only be hit head-on."

"So that's how it is..." Nym wore an expression as if she had just opened the door to a new world: "I understand!"

"Mm, you understand, but understanding isn't actually enough."

Cornflower waved her wand: "Right now, you are only at the Seed Grade, but as you continue to bloom, you will gain Magic Gear at the Sprout Grade, and Spell Patterns at the Leaf Grade, and even later, the Mirage Realm... As your abilities increase, your resource consumption in combat will become increasingly complex. Often, you will even have to stop using one or two abilities to ensure your own safety. How to combine these abilities and plan your mana consumption is an endless field of study."

"I can ask you a question right now: suppose you reach the Bud Grade and your mana output is 5. The Mirage Realm you possess must be combined with Magic Gear abilities; using these two abilities together consumes 4 mana. Now, you have only 1 unit of spare output left, and your enemy is fleeing away from you. Tell me, should you use that 1 for flight acceleration, or save that 1 to guard against a sneak attack from the opponent?" Cornflower looked at Nym.

"Uh... chase after them?" Nym answered after a moment of thought.

"If I were your enemy, and we had been fighting for a long time, I would have figured out your mana consumption range, so I would attempt to sneak attack you at this moment." Cornflower crossed her arms: "Then you would be reversed by me and fall into a disadvantage."

"Then should I save 1 unit of output and slowly approach the enemy?" Nym herself seemed to have doubts about this answer.

"In that case, wouldn't you just let the person escape?"

Cornflower sighed: "The answer is to directly interrupt the use of the ability and chase the person first."

"Ah, like that..." Nym bit her lip somewhat awkwardly.

"So, a new question arises here: should one frequently use full power in combat?"

Like a true teacher, Cornflower continued asking: "When fighting Remnant Beasts, you don't need to consider these things, because Remnant Beasts are mindless monsters. But when you are on the battlefield and your enemies are experienced Interdimensional Soldiers, frequently outputting full power will allow them to predict your mana output, causing the battle to fall into a passive state."

"Ah, ha..." Nym was already starting to feel a bit confused.

"Plan your own consumption, hide your own output, simultaneously predict the enemy's output, and finally judge the actions they might take based on their consumption."

Realizing the content she was imparting was already somewhat beyond the syllabus, Cornflower finally stopped her explanation in time: "This is the conduct a mature soldier should have. In fact, when the enemy changes from Remnant Beasts to living opponents, only by achieving these things can you survive on the battlefield."

"Mm... I will work hard." Nym could only obediently nod her head.

"No need to worry too much, because the front line has not yet been pushed to our location; you still have plenty of time to learn."

Cornflower also comforted her, taking the opportunity to say: "Your talent is quite good; I believe you will learn these things very quickly."

"Yes!" Nym performed a military salute with great formality: "I will become a magical girl as amazing as the Captain!"

"Actually, you could choose a slightly more amazing goal."

Cornflower was somewhat helpless: "I am just a newcomer too; often, the things I say aren't necessarily correct."

"It doesn't matter; in my heart, the Captain is the strongest!"

Nym displayed a very brilliant smile: "Even if she isn't now, she will be in the future!"

"Stop learning from others to flatter."

Cornflower rolled her eyes at her: "You are responsible for cleaning the second floor of the camp this afternoon; that is unavoidable."

"I know that; I wasn't planning to say that."

Nym stuck out her tongue: "And I wasn't flattering either; that is the truth."

It must be said that Nym was indeed a very qualified team member.

Although she was still young and her strength and experience were somewhat lacking, her personality was very cheerful, and her thinking ability was somewhat precocious. Often, when Cornflower and Nym conversed, she would subconsciously forget that the person before her was only a ten-year-old child.

Unlike her older sister, who always appeared timid and trembling, this ten-year-old magical girl maintained an optimistic attitude toward most things, yet was humble enough toward the seniors of the same squad. Therefore, although many team members were dissatisfied when she first joined the team, as time accumulated and they interacted, everyone had gradually accepted Nym.

It was not sympathy and pity for a young child, but simply, equal recognition.

However, Nym also had many childish sides; for instance, in front of Cornflower, she would always display a very exaggerated admiration, often treating words spoken by her own Captain as the only truth.

And if it were only that, it would be fine, but she would often promote so-called "Cornflower Quotes" to other team members, and even to outsiders, so much so that she quickly earned the nickname "Cornflower's Little Guard."