Mika stared at the panther’s body, unsure what to do with it. 

Of course, she wanted to skin, cook, and eat it, but a few risks came with doing that. 

First, she’d have to drain its blood, which might attract potential predators. If she already had problems facing this panther, she didn’t want to even think about facing a beast that ate them. 

Second, she was out of mana right now, and it would be at least a few hours before she had any to spare. 

Three, she’s never used her mana to cook meat before. What if she burns it all to a crisp?

Lastly, the panther was giant! There was more than enough meat on it to last Mika several days at the very least! Where is she going to store all that?

“System, can you store this panther in your System Space?”

[I could, but I won’t, Host.]

“Sigh…I figured. Then, could you tell me why you won’t?”

[The System is not your personal depository, Host. Since the panther is not related to the System, I refuse to store it.]

“Then what about my sword, Chigatana? And those mana stones and serums?” 

[Since the sword, Chigatana, is linked to the Host’s existence, it is also connected with the System. And because the System gave you the mana stones and serums, they are linked to me too.]

“I see. I guess that makes sense. Then, in the future, will I be able to have access and use the System Space whenever I want?”

[That depends on you, Host.]

Mika grumbled at the System’s vague reply, but there was a glint in her eyes, excited at the idea of using the System Space.

After gathering her thoughts, Mika’s attention was returned to the panther.

“I’ll drain its blood for now. It’s already bleeding out, so I might as well try to make the most out of its corpse. It’d be a shame to leave it.” Mika thought aloud, then chopped off its head. 

She then went to pick it up, but it was much heavier than she initially thought. 

“Fuck! This thing must weigh almost 100 kilograms! How is that possible?” She exclaimed, and the most she could do was lean it against a tree to speed up the blood-draining process.

[You should harvest its Mana Core, Host. It will definitely be beneficial to you.] The System suddenly said.

“Mana Core? Do you mean this beast also has a Mana Core?” Mika asked, surprised. She thought that only humans could have mana cores.

[Correct. Nearly all sentient life forms have some form of Mana Core in this realm of power.] 

“Do beasts like this also follow the same Mana Cultivation System as me?” 

[For the most part, yes. However, there are exceptions.]

“How interesting! Then, how can this panther’s Mana Core help me?” Mika asked, getting ready to rip its guts out. 

[It’s filled with mana. Why don’t you guess what it can be used for, Host?] The System replied snarkily. 

Mika frowned but quickly brushed off its words and thought about the question. 

“I guess I might be able to use it to cultivate or replenish my mana, but I don’t know a Cultivation Technique, so I wouldn’t be able to make full use of its benefits. Hell, I’m not even sure how I should proceed to the 2nd Stage of the Black Core Realm!” Mika reminded the System. 

[You are correct, Host. You could use this beast core to help you cultivate and replenish your mana, but that’s not the answer I was looking for.]

[You might not know this, but your Mana Control is horrible. Can you guess why Host?]

Mika shook her head. Truthfully, she didn’t know her Mana Control was terrible. Just look at the attack she killed the panther with; it was so powerful! How could her Mana Control be bad?

[It’s because your affinity with Mana is too great. Do you remember the rank of your affinities? They are both [EX] Rank, the highest possible rank you can naturally achieve in this universe. Having an affinity so highly ranked, especially at your stage, is both a blessing and a curse.]

[On the one side, the quality of your mana and the potential power output is many times higher than someone with an [F] Rank affinity. However, on the flip side, your control over mana is terrible.]

Mika decided to pull up her Status Screen to take a look.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Status Window]

[Name: Mika Zoller]

[Titles: Body Of Mana(EX)]

[Species: Human]

[Class: Null(Swordsman)]

{Cultivation Techniques}

[Mana Gathering: ]

[Body: Absolute Sword Body Technique] 

{Attributes}

[Body Cultivation: Initial-Stage Absolute Sword Body]

[Mana Gathering Cultivation: 1st Stage Black Core]

[Affinities: [Fire(EX)] [Darkness(EX)]

{Skills}

[Mind Space Lv. 1]

[Meditation Lv. 1]

{Spells}

{Techniques}

[Volcanic Burst (Incomplete)]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stared at the screen and confirmed that both her affinities had a [EX] ranking next to them, but she still wasn’t sure what that meant.

Seeing how Mika still didn’t understand, the System explained further.

[Think of it like this. If you had to control the flow of a stream versus a raging river, which would be easier?

“The stream, obviously.”

[Correct. Right now, the power of the mana flowing through your pathways is like a raging river. Naturally, since you just started your path to power, you’d lack the control necessary to tame the raging river, which is why you must practice.] 

“Are you saying the panther’s Mana Core can help me improve my mana control?”

[Correct. If you can fully control the mana within the core while barely exerting any effort, you’ll be one step closer to taming that raging river of mana flowing through your pathways. When you’re mana control improves, you should be able to cast at least a few more Volcanic Bursts even with your current mana reserves.]

Mika’s eyes shone like stars when she heard that last part. One of the biggest problems with the Volcanic Burst technique is that it uses too much of her mana. If she could resolve that by simply improving her mana control, she would do so without hesitation.

She quickly cut open the panther’s gut and gawked at the 9 millimeters in diameter black sphere she pulled out.

“You’re telling me I need to use this tiny thing to help control my mana?! Impossible!! Forget about controlling it; I can barely sense the mana inside it!”

[That’s only natural. That panther was only a Stage 1 Black Core magical beast. Of course, its Mana Core would be small.]

“Ugh! Whatever! I’ll follow your instructions after I find a nice place to concentrate!” Mika yelled, pocketing the mana core.

Since Mika had already cut open the panther’s stomach, she went ahead and gutted and skinned the rest. 

After she finished skinning it, she moved to a different tree to wait for the blood to drain.

She was going to pull out the panther’s mana core and begin practicing until she remembered there were still a few more rewards from the last Quest she hadn’t claimed. 

Looking at her torn-up clothes, she decided to claim her personalized kimono first.

“Hey, System, can you give me my personalized kimono now? My current clothes are a little… messed up.” 

[Yes. What do you want your kimono to look like, and what features do you want it to have?]

Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of Mika where she could pick out all kinds of colors, styles, embroidery, and features for her personalized Kimono. 

The Rank of the Kimono was locked at [F], but that was more than enough for Mika. 

After half an hour of going through all the options, she finalized her decision. Immediately a kimono appeared in her hands, and a screen appeared in her mind. 

--------------------------------------------------------

[Clothing]

[Type: Kimono]

[Name: Mika’s Personalized Kimono]

[Grade: F]

{Skills}

[Adjustable Size: It will adjust to the Host’s body size.]

[Weather Resistant: It is slightly resistant to wind and rain.]

[Tear Resistant: Resistant to tears.]

[Effortless Washing: When it gets dirty, dunk it in some water, give it a good scrub, and it’ll be good as new.]

{Description}

[A scarlet-colored Kimono with a black obi (belt) and cherry blossoms embroidered on it designed by Mika Zoller and created by the System.]

--------------------------------------------------------

Mika nodded her head, satisfied with her decision. As the description said, the Kimono in her hands was scarlet red with a black belt and cherry blossoms embroidered on it. 

She picked red and black as the two primary colors because she didn’t want blood stains to be easily noticeable.

Cherry blossoms were embroidered on it to remind her where she came from; Earth. Cherry blossoms were a staple in Japan, something that was loved by everyone regardless of their status, and Mika was no exception. 

Although she only focused on swinging her sword, she usually took a day off from training when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. 

Mika quickly changed out of her torn clothes to adorn her new Kimono. She had a bit of trouble putting it on since she’s just a tiny toddler, but she eventually got it. 

With a relaxed smile on her face, she had the System give her the other rewards from the Quest. 

“I think now’s a good time for you to tell me about the voidlings that attacked Avalon yesterday.”

[Affirmative. To put it simply, voidlings are creatures born in the Void. They are nearly impervious to magic and have extremely durable bodies. The ones that you saw were just a scouting party of cannon fodder. Normally, they wouldn’t leave the void as that’s their home, but lately, there’s been a change. Something happened, something even I don’t know, which caused the voidlings to go berzerk and start invading universes, killing and consuming everything in their path.]

If Mika were being honest right now, she didn’t understand half of what the System just said. 

The Void? Universes? Their home?

She didn’t know what any of that meant. 

To the current Mika, this information was basically worthless. All she got out of this was more questions!

“The fuck are you saying? What’s the void? Why are they invading these so-called universes to consume things? What do they gain out of doing that?”

[Voidlings, while they can get stronger over time while staying in the void, can also grow by consuming matter filled with mana.]

“Then, it’s obvious why they are invading places: to get stronger!” Mika exclaimed.

[It’s not that simple. Voidlings shouldn’t even feel the need to invade a universe or get stronger. They have no enemies in the void. They can grow stronger simply by existing.]

“Okay, but what I don’t understand is how they can grow stronger by consuming mana if they are pretty much impervious to it,” Mika said, confused by this whole conversation.

[...]

[...You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you.] The System said after a brief pause.

Mika’s eyebrow twitched, “Are you calling me stupid?!”

[Ignorant would be the right word, Host.]

Veins started popping on Mika’s forehead, but she couldn’t refute that she wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed. 

She was always too focused on training her swordsmanship, and it’s not like her family had the money or connections to go to school when she was young in her previous life. 

When she got older, she saw no need to go to school. 

Her reason?

‘What good is learning math when I can just kill my problems?’

So, calling Mika stupid or ignorant isn’t exactly wrong, but that’s only regarding her academic abilities! She’s an expert on the battlefield!

Nevertheless, she decided to push all this nonsense about the voidlings to the back of her head. 

She might not understand any of this stuff right now, but maybe in the future, her knowledge will have expanded, and she’ll no longer be ignorant about the things the System talked about. 

Still, she couldn’t help but grumble, “You could just shove all that information into my brain, couldn’t you? Why don’t you just do that? Then I’ll be able to understand what you’re talking about!”

[No!]

A firm rejection!

Mika dejectedly shook her head but soon stopped thinking about this. She had one more reward to receive.

“Fine! Then, onto the bonus reward!!”