Chapter 3: Learning mana and first spell

The bushes rustled once again. Then there was more rustling. Then... hopping.

She turned her head slowly, already suspecting what she’d see. Sure enough, more horned rabbits emerged from the undergrowth, their beady little eyes glaring at her with primal bunny rage.

"Oh, come on." She muttered as she sighed. 

The rabbits bared their teeth, clearly out for blood.

She bent down and picked up the cracked horn left behind by the first unlucky rabbit encounter. With the book on her other hand, her lips then turned into a slow, yet evil smile.

"Hehehehe.... you guys saw what happened to your pitiful friend, right? It splattered! Literally. And oh, look, all it had left was this cute little horn." she said, voice dropping low and threatening as she raised the book like a weapon. "Saw that right, right??? Wanna be next?"

The rabbits froze. Their tiny noses twitched. Then, they go boing, boing, and boing. They all turned tail and bolted into a different direction like fluffy little cowards.

She watched them go on their way. For a moment, there was silence.

Then, she burst out laughing. 

"Pftt.... ahahah, HAHAHAHhahahah!!" 

Her laughter echoes accross the field. But moments later, it turned into a long sigh once again... 

Although it felt a bit wrong to hurt rabbits since they are at least kinda cute unlike pigs, cows, and chicken. They're a hostile mob now. 

She then stares at her own reflection that's covered with blood on the pond. 

"Wow, this is my life now. I just arrived and here I am, a mess." She stared for a few more moments. Her face that has been smeared with blood. "Well, I guess I'm also kinda cute with blood on my face. Like a cute innocent looking killer." 

Anyways. 

At last, she fully understood what that note meant. The book wasn’t just a magic guide. It was a temporary doomsday weapon. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And yet… she was alive.

"Thank you, God," she said sincerely, glancing up at the sky.

"I almost turned into rabbit food today." 

Although she's a mess. Basically everywhere. Though, somehow, except her book, which is still spotless and good as new. 

"…Why couldn’t this effect have applied to me too?" she grumbled.

Too exhausted to care, she plopped down on the grass, legs sprawled out. After a moment of sitting there, she decided at least to clean her face.

The pond water was chilly, but refreshing. She splashed her face a few times, then occasionally paused to admire her reflection.

"Still cute," she muttered with a small nod. Her face just underwent some refreshing, so it's wet. "Good job, God."

For a while, she played with the water. Splashing them with her hands.

"I kinda hope I can take a bath here." She said to herself. Then, she felt that her feet had blemishes too. "There too? Now it's kinda uncomfortable."

She removed her slippers and put them on the side. She then dipped her hands into the cold pond water, cupped it, and carefully poured it over her foot. The dirt and blood swirled away, rippling the surface.

"Haaah… that feels good," she sighed, rubbing her heel with her thumb.

She worked her fingers between her toes, scrubbing gently, then switched to the other foot, repeating the slow, deliberate motion.

With both her feet now just paddling on the water, she glanced left and right, scanning the field carefully. 

"...Okay. No perverts lurking around, right?" she whispered to herself, cautious. 

Satisfied, she slowly lifted the hem of her robe, exposing her bare legs.

They were pale, smooth, and slender, though lacking much muscle.

"I'm just checking if there's blood on my legs too, that's all." she said as she whistles. "Welp, another area explored. I can't wait to find a place where I can freely explore the rest of my parts." 

She is wearing black shorts. 

"Smooth, very smooth." she said, nodding approvingly. There was no touching, just looking. 

"...But, uh, maybe a little too skinny. Some meat would be nice." She shrugged. "Eh, can’t keep complaining again."

Wringing her hands dry, she sat back and stared at the book.

"Y’know, in other isekais there’s usually a magic spell that can clean you instantly," she muttered. "No mess. No wet clothes. Just… poof."

Curious, she flipped to the table of contents, which read:

'Table of Contents

1. Introduction: How to Use Mana – Page 1

2. Beginner/Daily Magic – Page 5

3. Beginner Combat Spells – Page 23

4. Intermediate Combat Spells – Page 56

5. Defensive Magic – Page 87

6. Advanced Magic Theory – Page 115

7. Forbidden Spells (Seriously, Don’t) – Page 142

8. Magic history – Page 150'

"... That's one hell lot of pages to study..." she complained. "But then again, I don't expect it to be that easy. Maybe this doesn't even cover all the magic in the world."

'Still, what's with that note in the forbidden spells? It makes it more bad at being forbidden.' she thought.

Her eyes widened as she spotted Cleanse, a spell listed right at the top of Beginner Magic, on page 6.

"Hmmm. Maybe this is what I need."

She eagerly flipped to the page, only to be immediately smacked with disappointment.

The very first instruction was that, 'Step One: Use Mana'.

"…Right. About that." She sighed and turned back to the introduction.

The first page greeted her with a casual, scrawled header. 

'How to Use Mana (For Total Newbies Who’ve Probably Never Done This Before)'

Beneath it were the instructions. 

'Alright, kid. Listen up.

Close your eyes. It helps you focus and visualize stuff.

Now, imagine little blue orbs or particles floating around you. That’s mana.

As you inhale, imagine those blue orbs flowing into you, like you’re breathing them in along with the air.

The more you practice, the easier it’ll get. Eventually, you’ll even see those orbs with your eyes open like they're fireflies.

But don’t freak out if it doesn’t work right away. You’re probably bad at imagining things. Most people are.'

"... seems like God himself wrote this." she commented. 

"And wow," she said flatly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Still, she tried. 

She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and imagined… nothing.

"Blue orbs, blue orbs, blue orbs," she muttered under her breath. Nothing happened.

Her brow furrowed.

She used to be good at imagining things back when she was a kid, daydreaming during boring classes.

But now? Her adult brain was filled with rent payments, deadlines, and internet memes.

The visualization just wasn’t coming.

"Ughhh…"

Then, an idea.

She remembered scenes from anime she’d watched.

Weird haired guy shooting blue beams. 

Yellow dude shooting blue balls. 

Skinny guy with blue flames.

Cool stuff. Everything blue.

She pictured them all at once, stringing the images together like a hype montage. In the hope that someday, she'll be able to cast magic like them.

It helped, well, kind of.

She sat there cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling in rhythm, looking like some monk deep in meditation... or that she's looking like she's constipated. Or that she's possessed or what. 

But still… nothing.

Finally, in frustration, she clasped her hands together like she was about to beg for a miracle.

"Please, God," she whispered, eyes still tightly shut. "Just… help me out, okay? Let me see the stupid orbs."

And then there was darkness. 

Not her regular, eyelids-closed darkness. This was a deeper void, vast and endless.

Tiny blue beads of light appeared around her, floating gently like fireflies on a summer night. The sight was mesmerizing, almost beautiful. Breathtaking. 

"…Woah."

She inhaled sharply. As she did, a handful of those orbs swirled toward her and sank into her body. A cold sensation spread through her chest, like menthol flooding her veins.

'Brrr, woah.'

Unsure what to do next, she hesitated. 

'What am I supposed to do again? Oh, right.'

Then she exhaled, and the orbs whooshed back out, drifting away into the void.

When she opened her eyes, the vision vanished. She was back in the field, sitting by the pond.

"…Woah," she said again, with her mouth this time. She goes silent for a moment, staring at a distance.

After a pause, she tilted her head to the sky and said, "Wait, does this mean I have to pray every single time I want to use mana?"

No response.

The sky was silent.

She sighed. "Figures."

Back to business.

She flipped to page 6 and reread the instructions for Cleanse.

'Cleanse Spell

Step One: Use Mana (you just learned this, right?)

Step Two: While exhaling, chant the following in a single breath: "Mist, cleanse me pure." '

"…That’s it?" She shrugged. "Well, simple’s good. Hope I'll be able to learn it as short as the instruction."

Closing her eyes again, she made a quick, whispered prayer. "Please, God, let me feel mana again." 

Mana beads bloomed in her inner vision like before, swirling gently.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled while speaking the chant in one go,

“Mist, cleanse me pure.”

The orbs didn’t float away this time.

Instead, they transformed into blue smoke, curling around her body like living ropes.

The mist slid across her skin, wet and cold at first, then windy and cool, like standing under a waterfall and then a fan.

When she opened her eyes, all the grime, blood, and stickiness were gone. Her robe looked fresh, her skin great.

She stared down at herself, stunned.

"Woah. That's cool."