Mika breathed a mental sigh of satisfaction when she heard the System notifications. It took her countless tries, but she finally managed to perfectly form her Mana Pathways and Mana Core! 

She didn’t need the System to tell her that her Mana Pathways and Mana Core were perfect because she could instinctively tell they were. Mika didn’t know how to explain it properly, but for some reason, everything felt right. 

If she could, Mika definitely would’ve let out a moan of satisfaction. She’d never felt so full, so complete, in her entire life! It felt like she had gained a new limb or a second heart!

She could feel tiny bits of Fire and Darkness mana coursing through her body. 

While Mika couldn’t exactly say that she was filled with power, she could say that her body felt full of energy and potential. 

Unlike her previous life’s body, which had a limit on how powerful it could become no matter how hard she worked or how she trained, this body no longer had a cap, and if it did, Mika couldn’t see it. 

She, self-acclaimed Earth’s strongest woman, couldn’t imagine how far her potential could take her!

Either way, Mika now had a bit more trust in the System. Although it didn’t help her much with creating her Mana Pathways and Core, it provided the knowledge and helped fix many of the errors she made along the way. 

‘However, I still don’t understand why the System latched onto me. Why does it want me to do these things? What’s its end goal?’ 

These questions plagued her mind, but she was nowhere near strong or knowledgeable enough to find out, but she couldn’t deny the results. 

Suppose she wanted to reach the pinnacle of Swordsmanship. In that case, although her Mana Circuit doesn’t have anything to do with Swordsmanship, it can increase her power outage along with other benefits when using the sword.

Soon, Mika shook her head and stopped thinking about this. 

‘At the moment, I can do nothing even if the System had ill intentions. All I can do is focus on building my strength, as only with absolute power can I overcome anything!’

Mika then sent her consciousness inside her body to admire her handiwork. 

So, she began looking at her newly formed Mana Circuit and couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

‘Wow~! It’s… it’s so beautiful! How did I, someone with almost zero knowledge of Mana, create something this amazing?’

She could see the web of Passive Mana Pathways leading all throughout her body, constantly circulating specks of Fire and Darkness Mana. 

While her Active Mana Pathways followed a similar path to her Passive ones, but they were more focused on her limbs, organs, and skin. There were also trace amounts of Fire and Darkness mana inside them as well, but they didn’t circulate.

Next, she observed her Mana Core and noticed that the entire thing emitted a pitch-black glow, and she could feel that all of the Fire and Darkness Mana from inside her Danitan had transferred into the shell of her Mana Core. The shell was also what faint mana wisps of mana inside her core into the Fire and Darkness Mana that flowed through her Pathways. 

Lastly, she was a bit concerned with the color of her Core but decided not to voice those concerns until after she finished her observations. 

Moving her consciousness inside her Mana Core, Mika saw that it barely had any Mana in it, only a few tiny illusory wisps. That wasn’t very surprising as she used pretty much all of the mana previously contained within it to not only properly form her Core but also her Mana Pathways.

Mika proceeded to double-check everything, and once she confirmed that everything was working as it was supposed to, she stopped observing her body and decided to voice her concerns to the System.

‘System, why is my Mana Core pitch black? At first, I thought it was because of my Darkness Affinity, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.’

[Your Mana Core is pitch black simply because you’ve reached the First Realm of the Mana Gathering Cultivation System, the Black Core Realm. Right now, you are at the 1st Stage of the Black Core Realm.] 

[There are 10 Minor Stages in each Major Realm; Stages 1 through 10.] 

[Once you reach the Peak of the Realm, with the necessary talent, you’ll be able to try and break through to the next Major Realm, the Red Core Realm, which will change your Core from Black to Red. Then it’d go from Red to Orange, Orange to Yellow, and so on.]

Mika was shocked when she heard the System’s reply, but soon that shock changed to excitement. 

‘Damn! There are so many Realms of power for me to cross! I wonder how strong I’ll be once I reach the Red Core Realm. What about the Orange or Yellow Core Realms? If I go far enough down this path, wouldn’t I be equivalent to a goddess?!’ Needless to say, the more Realms there were for her to reach, the more excited Mika was.

[That’s the point, Host. Cultivation is a long, arduous journey. A journey that will be your foundation for when you become a goddess.]

Mika knew the System wanted her to become a God, or in her case, a Goddess. However, she had no idea what being a Goddess meant. 

She could only imagine that gods are beings who have everything within their control, the power to wipe out countries with a wave of their hand and infinite lifespans.

What was the reason she was unable to continue improving her swordsmanship in her last life?

Her weak body and limited lifespan! 

However, with mana, she can increase her lifespan and reach heights that she never knew were possible!

It took a while for Mika to calm down her raging emotions, but she still couldn’t wipe the smile off her face and in her mind. Although she can’t really smile as a fetus, in Mika’s mind, she is smiling.

After she calmed down, she decided to ask the system about the [Title] and the [Unique Body Cultivation Power System] she received as a reward. 

‘System, what does this title mean, and what does it do? Also, what’s this about Body Cultivation?’

[The title, [Body of Mana (EX)], is a title given only to those that have formed perfect Mana Pathways and a perfect Mana Core before they’ve officially been born. The benefits of having this title are you start with the highest ranked affinities, easier to control mana, faster cultivation, higher storage of mana in your core, the ability to obtain more affinities easily, and more.]

‘Damn! What an amazing title! However, isn’t it impossible for anyone other than me to get such an amazing title? Unless a child is born with perfect Pathways and a perfect Core in the womb, there’s no way for a baby to do such a thing.’ Mika began to realize just how lucky she was.

Then, the System continued onto Body cultivation.

[Body Cultivation is just as the name describes. It’s the act of strengthening the body. Normally, this is done by repeatedly destroying and rebuilding one’s body, but there are other ways.] 

[Although body cultivators still use mana to strengthen their bodies, it’s a different form of mana that people generally call Aura.] 

[However, you are different. The System has offered you a reward of unlocking a new Body Cultivation Path that deviates from the normal Body Cultivation Path. Your path will be more focused on swordsmanship rather than simply bodily strength. That’s not to say that your body won’t be strong should you choose this path.] 

[There are 5 Stages in each Realm; Initial-Early-Middle-Upper-Peak.]

[Quite the contrary. Your body will be much stronger than those in the same realm because this is the best-specialized path created by the System to make you the strongest swordsman in the Universe. You can decline this offer and try and figure everything out yourself, but the System can guarantee you won’t find anything better.]

Mika inwardly frowned as she didn’t like the sound of having her future dictated by some unknown being with unknown intentions. She was a firm believer in the saying, “What is given can be taken away.” 

She didn’t want to suddenly have her powers taken away because she followed the System’s advice.

‘I-I don’t really like the sound of that. I thought everything was supposed to be by my free will. Why are you suddenly controlling my path to power now?’

[You are an unparalleled talent with the sword, Host. However, that does not mean you are an expert in Body Cultivation. The two are completely different. What the System is offering is something to help you transfer your sword talent into your body. Should you accept the reward, you’ll receive a special Physique optimized for swordsmanship and a Technique that can allow you to fuse your sword comprehensions into your body. Rather than a Technique, it’s more like a guide to help you infuse your understanding of the Sword into your body.]

Mika thought about it for a moment and felt what the System said made sense. 

Although she knew the definition of Body Cultivation, she knew nothing about it. If the technique really was how the System described it, she had no problem accepting it. In fact, she’d be happy to!

‘Alright! I accept, System! Do your thing!’

[DING! Command Accepted!]

[Initiating Unique Body Cultivation Path]

[Prepare for Evolution]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Evolution Commenced! Time Remaining until Evolution is Complete: ~4 months]

That was the last thing Mika heard before she lost consciousness.