Well, to say the truth, I too didn’t see her move, and going by that fact she was much faster than the last time I tried to bathe her. It was kind of obvious that she would be faster than before, since back then her stats were normal for a mistreated child, but now, that she got stronger the amount of speed she gained from the title was surreal.

If I tried to put her in water again, I was sure I would fail spectacularly. With agility reaching a bit over two hundred, she was able to escape the sight of the ancient dragon, strong enough to probably break the speed of sound, which could mean, that while escaping from water she surpassed the speed of light.

I was shaking my head at that seemingly impossible thought. I was no expert in physics, but even I knew than by exceeding the speed of light, you could exceed the time itself. If you took the time dilatation into consideration, it was possible for the cat to briefly live in faster time, which could lead to her for example aging slower in relation to the rest of the world.

Remlin379

Not sure if that’s entirely correct though, well “fantasy magic” so I’m right.

Did I say that I’m no expert already? Anyway, I was pretty sure that wasn’t actually her exceeding the speed of light, and rather there was another trick to it. Since this system seemed to strongly rely on mana and magic to “buff” the included people, then a spell that made a time bending speed possible would likely be included.

I don’t know why I know this, but it’s nice to know that the system is purely magical in nature.

Going back to the training thing, I was very curious about how the dragon would help us get stronger. I certainly wasn’t willing to simply lift weights until my strength stat increased, nor would I want to run in circles or climb the mountains. What I hoped for, was something that could help us utilize our already owned stats and skills.

[“So, what level is your [Mana manipulation]? I assume the girl has it too?”]

I suppose it doesn’t hurt to say him… Wait a second, how did he know I had skills too? But again, I was using them rather bluntly when I tried attacking him, so maybe he guessed from that? Or is there anything else that betrayed my connection to the system?

Again, it doesn’t really matter so I quickly checked the current level Felicia reached.

Wow, just wow! I have no idea when, but she somehow managed to max out both her mana manipulation and detection, and the former actually evolved into [High mana manipulation], and level 3 at that. I was slightly confused, because she didn’t really practice, at least not when I was looking. Did she get these after defeating the duke? By redirecting energy I mean.

[“I have levels four and five in detection and manipulation respectively, while the cat, Felicia has them both maxed out and [High mana manipulation] on level three.”]

[“So, it’s going to be easier than I thought if you’re halfway to the level ten… Wait, did you just say maxed out?”]

I nodded with my head. Seriously, I thought that there weren’t a lot of things that could surprise an ancient figure, but when it comes to that catkin, she just makes this dragon freeze every time she does something, or something is said about her abilities.

[“Why did you ask.”]

[“Because it’s essential for what I want to teach you, namely the basics of using mana to increase your strength outside of the system, additionally utilizing it for movement and some other things”]

That sounded pretty useful, and if you took the movement part in, it could even become fun. If my theory from before was correct, and through manipulating density of mana you really could literally step on it in air, then it would be possible for me to move in every space. Maybe apart from liquids, but I was pretty sure mana could compensate the lack of air and overall mobility in water too.

[“First would be the ability to strengthen your body internally, by moving your mana in a way that is similar to moving the muscles, you basically emulate another set of them. Using that method not only you increase your strength, but also because you don’t gain any mass, you can increase your speed and agility.”]

So there was a trick like that huh. I was already using my mana to increase my and my thread’s strength, but all I did was to pump the raw mana inside. I had no idea you could actually move it inside the body to actually gain another set of muscles. Hmm, maybe in this way you could even emulate internal organs?

[“A precise control like that is difficult, so I’d like you to first start with just circulating your mana inside your body like a blood, to strengthen its flow. It won’t do anything in terms of increasing your stats, but thanks to this exercise it will become easier for you to use it inside your body.”]

Well, I could do an exercise like that, if not for the fact I was already getting a hang of this second set of muscles thing. Thanks to using my ethereal form before I understood everything about my body, and how it worked and was already using it to my advantage, just without this method.

When I succeeded, I didn’t feel any different, but I knew that it would change as soon as I tried to move. I looked at Felicia who sat on my side now, and saw that she too, was close to figuring it out. I’m sure the dragon wanted us to train a bit more, but I wanted to try it out now.

I strengthened the mana withing the auxiliary muscles, dropping my pool nearly halfway, and then started walking. Well, I wanted to just walk, but just moving my limbs caused me to jump forward. Not with an extensive strength, but I literally flew a couple of meters after doing what could be considered a single step before landing on my face.

I guess now comes the second part, learning how to actually use the increased strength.