Kevin returned to his room, the four walls of black stones. The minimalism of the room didn’t suit his taste, a bed, and nothing else. A sofa or a few chairs would be nice as sitting at the edge of the bed felt darned boring.

 

Come out.

 

A silhouette of dark violet came flying out of his clothes. She floated in the air as glittery dust shed from the flapping of her butterfly wings. 

 

Kassmeaa snickered at Kevin as if seeing him was enough to elicit laughter.

 

Why do you call me, Kevin, the pretender? 

 

Kevin, the pretender? 

 

He was confused.

 

Hihi, don’t try to slither your way out of this. Your amateurish trickster vibe is as visible as a Cottondee Treant floating in the Baskinrob Valley. Hihi. Said Kassmeaa.

 

So you know I’m faking the fun with you?

 

Of course, why do you think I choose you as my bond then. Said Kassmeaa.

 

She continued to snicker while looking at Kevin. The dark violet fae couldn’t help but be amused by the human’s appearance.

 

Wait, isn’t it weird that you will choose me, since you know I’m faking it? From what I know Fae dislikes the liars.

 

Then I made the right choice then, hihi. For the past millennium, the Fae had been forgotten by the people of this plane. It’s frustrating seeing how you people forgot us that easily. Said the pouting Kassmeaa with her little hands on her hips. 

 

You know, I’ve gotten really bored playing around with my kin for the past millennium. The only things in their head are just play, play, and more playing. I’m getting sick of it. Hihi. Said Kassmeaa.

 

Kassmeaa sounded serious. But the slight chuckle was a bit contradicting to her complaints. 

 

So that’s why I choose you. For the first people to call us out, you seem to be the most interesting out of the bunch. The hamastra is an idiot naive kid. The light-class alva is also faking it, but I can see the amazement in seeing us. But you. You’re different. Said Kassmeaa with her head tilted to the side.

 

I noticed you from the beginning, instructing the others on how to establish rapport with us as if you know us like the back of your hand. It’s rather interesting to see your lukewarm reaction to every incredible thing you had obtained, including Dunia’s Acknowledgement. So I’ve decided to choose you. I hope you show me more interesting things. Said Kassmeaa as she did another rolled in the air dispersing a bit of glitter dust.

 

It was a reasonable answer from Kassmeaa, but Kevin had his hesitation about all of this.  

 

Are you sure you’re a fae?

 

Of course, I’m Kassmeaa The Venomous, the legendary trickster from the Spirit Plane. 

 

She introduced herself with pride and confidence. 

 

If you compared me with my foolish kin, I’m definitely one head above them. What I seek is not the joy of playing but the joy of interesting things, so be a good partner and show me some, hihi. Said Kassmeaa.

 

So you’re a variant fae then, this is interesting.

 

Hey, you shouldn’t be the one who says that I’m the one who wants something interesting. 

 

Kassmeaa crossed her arms over her chest, pouting with her puffed-up cheeks. She said she was one head above the other faes, but it seemed like it was only a bit better rather than the extreme. 

 

Sure, sure, sure. I’ll try to find some. But first, you need to help me with something.

 

Kassmeaa giggled as she liked Kevin’s answer.

 

Certainly. What do you need?

 

You’re adept in Fine Mana Control, am I right? So I need you to circulate your mana into my body and do a single circuit and circulate it back into yours.

 

Kassmeaa, who had been giggling with smiley eyes, turned for the worse. Her jaw fell with her eyes wide open, staring at Kevin. 

 

Are you crazy? That’s suicidal. We Fae are attuned to the mana surrounding us, and coming into contact with your puddle like mana pool is like sending a tsunami over. 

 

The jolly vibe from the Fae disappeared as the Fae did have their serious side when it was needed.

 

Relax, you can do it. You just need to follow my instruction on where you should flow it.

 

Kassmeaa’s eyes narrowed down. She could hear the confidence in Kevin’s tone as if this suicidal action was something meager to him. In a way, it got her a bit interested.

 

I was asking for interesting things, but I’ve never thought it would be this quick. Since death is what you want, then death shall you receive, hihi.

 

The giggling returned as the worries this Fae once had disappeared in a flash as it had never existed. It was quite fickle of how her emotions turned that easily. But Kevin didn’t mind.

 

The man who planned all of this was smiling from ear to ear. He had remembered the day when he first discovered the Fine Mana Control skill of the Fae. It was a fluke when playing the game. A simple fae-related quest that he thought he would do just to kill some time. But the reward was something else. His bonded Fae learned Fine Mana Control, which was told to be a hidden inherit-ability of the Fae.

 

It was an ability that augmented the player’s mana regeneration rate, and at first, he thought it was nothing special. But an accident led him to discover something special. 

 

He once dozed off in front of the computer, while his character avatar had the Fine Mana Control on activation. He thought he would get some shut-eye until his character avatar filled up the mana points. But as he woke up, he noticed something was odd. 

 

For the game addict that was in love with Dunia Online, he didn’t miss the little details. With his half-open eyes suddenly bulged open, he saw the change in his mana pool increasing little by little.

 

He had played the game for a long time now, and he had discovered a few tips and tricks to raising MP without a level to a state where he could gain title out of it, but this new method beat the rest.

 

A game that was full of depth with many things still hidden for it to be discovered, yet he was one of the few who enjoyed these kinds of things.

 

Kevin also didn’t stop after discovering this new method. He tinkered with it and dug deeper until he found a mini-game through that shabby name ability. It was a sub-skill of that ability that also needed to be acquired from a quest. A mini-game that controlled the mana flow into the character’s body. Being the game nerd that he was, he discovered the best path of mana flow for the greatest effect.

 

Kevin instructed Kassmeaa to sat on the top of his head.

 

You know, Kevin, it still bothers me of how you know about our Fae’s hidden ability. The elders once said, only the truly acknowledge fae-bonders will gain knowledge of this ability. But since you already know about it, it made me wondered how you knew such things? Have you bonded with a fae before? But that doesn’t make any sense. Since it had been a millennium since the Fae had crossed the plane, the question is, what are you actually?

 

Kevin's bottomless knowledge about her kind made her questioned the existence of this man. In the history of her kin, the closest bond between a fae and the people living in this plane was those pointy ears alva. Human bonded with a fae was a rare case and almost non-existent, so Kassmeaa had every right to be curious about this man.

 

Can’t you see? I’m just a human.

 

Kevin smirked to the oblivious Fae, who sat on top of his head. 

 

Let’s put that aside for now. Come on, let the mana flows.

 

Fine, but don’t forget you need to tell me everything!

 

The dark violet fae channeled the mana in the surroundings, acting like a suction force flowing inside of her brimming her with energy. Kassmeaa placed both of her tiny hands on top of Kevin’s scalp as she controlled it with utmost precision. She let the mana flowed slowly into Kevin. Kassmeaa detailed the path within Kevin’s body as she depicted it similar to the mini-game he had played in Dunia Online. A wide grin etched on Kevin as things were going according to plan. He thought the mini-game won’t appear since it was a game. But Kassmeaa's image projection into Kevin’s mind showed a rather rustic image of the mini-game.

   

Kevin guided Kassmeaa as he tried to adapt to the sudden heaviness he felt. His back arched forward as he tried to straighten it back while guiding Kassmeaa.

 

Before he realized it, his whole body was sweating bullets. The difference in reality to a game was like day and night, and the difficulty was definitely different when compared to just sitting on a chair.

 

Ten minutes later, he exhaled loudly as the process was done. Those ten minutes he endured felt like an hour. But his effort paid off.

 

MP increased by +10

 

The result appeared much to his smiling face. But another surprise came. 

 

Intelligence and Wisdom increased by 1

 

Eh? This is unexpected. From my memories, I didn’t think there’s another effect of circulating mana. 

 

Kevin was intrigued. Nonetheless, he continued.