──୨୧──
Hayato woke to the turtle calling him nervously and was shocked to learn his mana had doubled since last night. A chill ran through him, knowing this might only lead to worse things.
──୨୧──
After thinking for a bit, the turtle answered with calm certainty, explaining the situation in a way that eased me, even if just a little.
Turtle:
"No, I don't think so. A normal human like you couldn't handle even a fraction of the mana you had yesterday, let alone twice that. There's something strange about you, like you're wrapped in mana but not touching it..."
Hayato:
"What do you mean exactly by that?"
Turtle:
"Well, I don't know, maybe, think of it like... you're wearing mana like clothing. It covers you, but never sinks in."
Hayato:
"Mana as clothing?"
It didn't make much sense, but then again, what had I truly understood so far? The turtle seemed better at analyzing things than I was. I decided to follow its lead and just try to grasp what I could.
Hayato:
"Okay, but... even if it's not hurting me, now I've got twice as much mana to hide. That just makes things harder."
Turtle:
"Seems so..."
Suddenly, my stomach growled like a pig with its tail stepped on. That's when I remembered I hadn't eaten for more than a day. Then the turtle signaled me to be quiet and looked around carefully, as if it suspected something.
Turtle:
"Shh... there's something here!"
Hayato:
"What... exactly?"
Turtle:
"Didn't you hear that horrible sound just now? Some kind of wild creature must be nearby... very close."
Hayato:
"Oh, sorry, that was just my stomach growling. I'm a bit hungry. Where can we find something to eat?"
Turtle:
"What, really?! Anyway... no problem, just a sec..."
As soon as it finished speaking, the turtle vanished. Moments later, it reappeared in the same spot, carrying two enormous eggs in its mouth. It carefully set them down, cracked one open, and drank its contents, holding it up to its head. Then, it nudged the other egg toward me.
Turtle:
"Do you want me to crack this one for you?"
Hayato:
"No, wait... where did you even get these?"
Turtle:
"There's a flock of giant ostriches around here. The other day, I saw them passing by, they were in the middle of their egg-laying season."
At first, it felt a bit wrong, but it wasn't much different from how we treat chickens in my world, so I didn't argue. But, I couldn't drink a raw egg like the turtle did. Standing under the hot sun, an idea came to me. I pointed at a round, flat stone across from us.
Hayato:
"Could you bring me that stone, please?"
The turtle didn't fully get it, but it picked up the stone and placed it by the egg. I guided it to crack the egg gently on the stone and pour it slowly. It wasn't perfect, half the egg spilled, but even a small portion was enough for me.
Hayato:
"Thanks... now we just need to wait a bit."
Turtle:
"Wait for what?"
I let the egg cook on the hot stone under the sun. In less than an hour, it began to firm up. The turtle watched in surprise. I had it move the stone into the shade, let it cool a little, and then tasted it.
It wasn't perfect, but we ended up with a decent, filling fried egg. The turtle loved it, eyes sparkling as it asked excitedly while we ate together.
Turtle:
"This is just amazing! But... I thought you couldn't use magic?"
Hayato:
"This isn't magic. It's cooking."
Turtle:
"Cooking? Do humans always cook things this good? I never thought an egg could taste this sweet! I love it!"
I watched in surprise as the turtle, tasting a fried egg for the first time in its life, declared it its new favorite food.
Hayato:
"Well, we usually mix things together to make new flavors. There are dozens of dishes you can make with just eggs. This is the simplest one-"
Turtle:
"Dozens? I want to try them all!"
After I was full, I stepped aside and watched the turtle eat the rest of the egg, making its mouth smack in delight. I hadn't had this much fun in a long time.
Once my stomach was settled, my mind started working again, and I remembered I needed to do something about my situation.
Hayato:
"Well, thanks for the meal. But now what? I still have this huge mana to deal with, or I can't enter the town. And I can't spend my whole life stuck out here too..."
Turtle:
"You're right, but I don't know how you'll handle it. You're not from this world, so any solution here might not work too. Maybe using magic techniques from your world could help, I'm not sure, though."
Hayato:
"No, there's no magic in the world I came from..."
Then I spent some time going over every fragment of memory I could recall, replaying every isekai story I had consumed in my mind.
But nothing came to me, no idea on how to get out of this situation. My mind felt frozen, and I started to feel like an idiot. So I decided to get more details from the turtle.
Hayato:
"Maybe if you explain more about mana and how it works here, it might help me a bit."
Turtle:
"Hmm, I don't fully understand either, but mana is... the source of everything. It's like a kind of life energy? I don't know..."
Hayato:
"A kind of life energy... where do I remember this from?"
I felt like I was recalling something, but it was distant and vague, like a memory I had pushed into my subconscious and was now struggling to bring back.
Hayato:
"Life... energy... hmm..."
I was sure I'd heard it many times before, but for some reason couldn't recall it. I strained my memory, replaying my whole life like a movie, determined to remember.
Then it hit me. I finally remembered where I had heard it from, and suddenly, excitement surged through me and I jumped to my feet.
Hayato:
"Yes! I... I think I've found a way!"