"Finally done..."

It took us quite some time until all the monster pets were fed. He had dozens of small pens filled with the most outlandish beings imaginable. The one that weirded me out the most was a monster that was called 'Shifter'.
Like the name implied, it was a creature that was shapeshifting, never keeping the same form for longer than a few seconds. What it didn't imply, was the kind of shapeshifting... It didn't do something like copying a different creature's form or something like that. No, it was more like... constantly mutating. It grew an arm and a leg, then it grew more eyes and mouths. The arms and legs devolved again, the mouths shifted to another place, something akin to wings grew in their place...
I was unsure whether it was disgusting or just weird. It also changed in mass, at times growing so much in size that it became a cube-shaped mass of flesh... because the barrier was formed like a cube... Then it shrunk so much in size it became invisible to the eye.
The fact that it jumped at the meat just like all the other monsters—excluding goblins and other humanoids—made it only weirder. It had perfect coordination between the limbs and its organs, showing no signs of issues at moving towards, and subsequently jumping at, the raw meat.
It gave me goosebumps.

"Thank you for your work, Yumi, Karen."
"Nn, you're welcome."

Now then, with this finally out of the way, it meant we could start asking that Professor.
I was a little excited, to be honest.

"... Lefa, where is that professor?"
"Eh? He's not here? Uhh... Let's look around, maybe he is occupied with some monster again."
"Haa..."

Quite the troublesome professor, wasn't he?
We walked once more through the dozens of pens with monsters. The goblins were still screaming at the wall and... busy pleasuring themselves with the barrier. The small pen became a mess of questionable fluids within minutes. How could this guy deal with that? I didn't even want to look at it. Heck, I didn't even want to know about this.

"Oh, there he is."

Karen pointed at a corner of the hall, where the professor stood, staring into one pen.

"Professor Marvim!"
"Oh, Lefa, Lefa, come, take a look!"

He motioned us, or rather Lefa, to come closer. He didn't even spare us a glance, watching whatever was happening in that pen.
We came closer and saw... A dozen small monsters inside, each barely larger than a mouse. They had a brown-skinned body similar to a hedgehog, with spines on their back, but they also had a very long tail, easily longer than their remaining length.

"Look, do you see those two."

The professor pointed at two of these hedgehog-like creatures in the far corner. One of them was a deep purple, contrary to its otherwise brown comrades.

"Ah, that manakin hoggy? What's with it?"
Hoggy? They're called Hoggies? Cute...
"Not that one, look at the other hoggy next to it!"
"Mh?"

We took a closer look at the one right next to it. It was brown like the others so... No, wait. It wasn't completely brown, some of the spines were... purple.

"Is that... a mana corruption?"
"Yes, Little Lefa, you are correct. During your trip to the fort, it started slowly turning purple and now it's already progressed this far! Incredible! Incredible, I say! Ah, I have to record it. Record it."

He scurried away to his desk leaving, leaving us behind again.

"He's a rather... energetic professor."
"He is. But he is still more bearable than many other professors. At least he doesn't keep staring at my tail or my chest. He rather keeps staring at the goblins'... you know what."
"..."

I very much doubted that was better, but... Well, it was less annoying for one personally, yes. But still, I worried about this man. Just a little.

"So, Lefa... What is mana corruption?"
"Mm, it's what we call a manakin monster corrupting the mana of another living being."
"Haa..."

That was... kind of what the name already implied. Thank you.

"Do you know how manakin are attuned to various kinds of mana?"
"Yes, I do."

After all, that was kind of related to me and Karen too.

"Then, do you know how monsters can manipulate mana outside their body?"
"Nn."

Which too, was kind of related to me.

"Then, do you also know that it is theorised that the actual body of a monster is larger than their physical body?"
"Nn... What? The body is larger than... the body?"

That made zero sense, dear Lefa.

"Ahh, you see. It's not their physical body that is larger but... How should I say it... Their existence? Soul?"

She was wildly gesturing, trying to find the correct words.

"I don't really understand it either. I don't think anyone does."
"Now, Lefa, are you implying that I, too, don't understand it?"
"Yes, I am, Professor."
"Correct!"

Lefa sighed and hid her face behind her hands.

"Can I leave? I can leave now, right?"
"Lefa, Lefa, Lefa, you can't just leave me alone here! There are still things that need to be done!"
"Can you please do them alone? I still have to study."
"Oh, how unfortunate. And here I thought I might tutor you over the evening today. Ohh, how unfortunate, and I even heard what material will be on the exams. Oh, wait, I am the one creating the exam! Right!"
"... Ugh."

Lefa sighed once more, raising her arms in defeat.

"I get it, I get it... I'll help. Haa... If only my nutcase professor would be able to teach I wouldn't have to do this..."
"He can teach, Lefa. After you placated him with food spiked with some sedatives, that is."
"..."

Somehow... Well... Good luck, Lefa.

"Anyway, dear Lefa, do me a favour and... Mm... Third floor, the second corridor on the right, second door to the left. Ms Arramari's place. Go and bring her these documents. Oh, and if you're already at it, bring me these books on this note. All of them. We'll need them."
"... That's a lot."
"I am sure my trust is well-placed."
"..."

She sighed for a third time before turning to us.

"You heard him. I'll have to run some... errands. Don't let him mess with you."
"... We'll try."
"Nn..."

Lefa walked towards the door, waved one last time towards us, and left.
Now, we were left alone with this rather... eccentric professor. Who was back to admiring the hoggies.

"Did you two know? The mana corruption is not limited to monsters," he suddenly said after a few minutes of silence.
"Not limited to monsters?"
"Yes, yes. Animals can be corrupted as well. And humanoids too. I even heard it works on other manakin as well. Yes, let's say... a humanoid manakin, a demonkin for example, would spend a prolonged time with another manakin, and the latter manakin exhibits traits similar to a monster, maybe they are even a monster themselves. What do you think would happen? Yes, the demonkin would slowly get corrupted! Oh, how I wish I could see such a case, oh, how I wish!"

A small gasp came from Karen.
This man... he noticed. He knew.

"..."
Odd, I thought I'd be more surprised. But I got found out by so many people already...

At this point, I barely cared anymore that people found out on their own. As long as they didn't turn it into a problem, which nobody did so far.
Although, I vaguely recalled being warned about letting the Academy find out... Let's hope this wasn't going to turn into a problem.

"But, alas, of course, such a convenient thing wouldn't happen. Right, right, it's far more likely someone was going to dye their hair. I heard it's a recent trend among lovers? Damn happy people."
"..."

He gripped the fence of the pen so strongly that the veins on his hands became visible.

"Ahh, I wish all those happy people would get caught by some ogre or a few goblins. That should teach them a lesson. Yes, that should do it! Hahaha!"

He did know... right? He wasn't just venting... He was... Maybe?
At this point, I was fairly sure of one thing: This professor had more than a few screws loose.

"Well, there are neither interesting monster nor happy couples here. I apologise for the random rant."
"... It's fine."
"..."

He exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders.
Honestly, I kind of wanted to say something, really, but... Was this his way of saying that 'he didn't see anything'? If so, then I really should hold back.

"Now then, I think I should keep up my side of our agreement, shouldn't I? Yes, yes, you two want to learn about monsters, a truly fascinating, deep and mysterious topic. So much we know, so much we don't know, so many questions, too few answers. I will happily answer any questions you have, assuming I am capable of answering them."

He walked back to his desk and set on his chair but not before pointing at a few chairs at the wall.

"Take a seat, take a seat. It'll become uncomfortable, standing for too long."
"Then... Thank you."

Karen went to the wall and brought two chairs over for us to sit down on.

"Good, great. Well then, let's see, what was your question exactly again?"
"We want to know what monsters are, where they come from and how they even live."
"Mm, those are some very basic questions. Let's see, we'll start with the first one, the most fundamental one. What are monsters? Now, what do you girls know about monsters?"
"Know? They have mana crystals, they absorb mana..."
"They are often aggressive towards humanoids and animals. They come in pretty much any form you can think of."

We both stopped, What else was there to say? Thinking about what we knew so far... It wasn't a lot. I was sure more things would come to mind if we thought for a little longer, but the Professor didn't wait for us.

"Mm, yes, that's about right. That's what most people would answer. Then, let's talk about the mana crystal. I am sure you both have seen them before, right?"
"Yes."
"Nn."
"Good. Then let's... Ah, wait, can you two see mana?"

We both nodded in response.

"That's good, that makes it easier. Okay, then you know that a living monster continually absorbs mana, right? Well, the lower-ranked ones, that is."

Once again, we both nodded. But... 'Lower-ranked' ones? Weren't the stronger monsters just hiding their mana?

"Mhm, then, do you both know what 'Mana' is?"
"What mana is?"
"... No."
"As expected. Ahh, that would be a long topic for itself but... Generally, imagine it as a kind of energy. Like, a fire is a kind of energy, a violent energy. The blowing of the winds is also a form of energy, usually a tame one but sometimes a surprisingly destructive force."

Energy. Well, that was already a little what I expected.

"Fire burns things. The wind pushes things. But mana is a little different. Mana is a very, very unique kind of energy. Mana is a 'potential energy'."
"Potential energy?"

I tilted my head in wonder. Why 'potential'?

"Yes, potential. Because mana by itself. Does nothing. Mostly nothing. High concentrations of raw mana can cause various interesting... incidents. Attributed mana and raw mana also differ heavily, but for the most part, mana has to be utilised by someone, or something, before it can turn into real energy. And that's what we call magic."

He took a sheet of paper, draped it over his hand and... Cast magic to make it float... A gentle stream of mana pushing the sheet up from below.

"We can talk all day and night about this, though. As long as you understand it as a form of energy, for now, that's enough. Then, the next question is. What are mana crystals?"
"... Condensed mana?" I suggested.
"A good guess. They are definitely materialised mana. But there has to be something else, something... more substantial. Like, let's see... A soul."

A creepy smile bloomed on his face.

"Yes, a soul. The core of every living being, understood by none, but proven to exist, simply due to the fact that magic exists to influence it. An odd conundrum."
"The mana crystal... houses a soul?"
"Exactly. A soul."

A soul.
That reminded me. That person, that monster Yumias, she hadn't called it a 'mana crystal'. Instead... She talked about a 'Soul Crystal'.

"That's what makes monsters so truly fascinating. They are living beings, like all of us, without a single doubt. But they differ in the simple thing that their very soul has been turned into a physical form with mana. This has very interesting implications, very interesting ones. For example... Immortality and resurrection."
"... Resurrection?"

Immortality I had heard about before. After all, that had been those hoodlums' goal, back in Arkesta. But resurrection?
Wait... If a monster 'died' and their crystal was left behind...

"Could you resurrect a monster with only their crystal?"
"Oho? Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly! As long as the crystal is intact, a monster never truly 'dies'. It is still alive, just dormant. Well, in theory. Nobody managed to actually resurrect a monster. Nobody really cares about trying either so..."
Seriously? You could, in theory, resurrect them?

He shrugged his shoulders.

"But there are monsters that are so powerful they can survive some of the most grievous wounds imaginable. Their hearts pierced, their heads smashed, their bodies mangled... And yet, they live and recover. They're incredible. It basically renders at a form of resurrection at that point. Most of these monsters only die when their mana crystals are ripped out of their body or the crystals are smashed. Thankfully, those monsters, those walking catastrophes, are rare."

Did my regeneration also fall under this kind of recovery? I wonder... What kind of wounds could I... survive? Well, nothing I wanted to find out. That was for sure.

"Nn, so I understand that mana crystals house the... souls of the monsters. But, where do those crystals come from?"
"I don't know."
"Eh?"
"I don't know. Not in the least. Nobody does. They just appear, out of thin air. As if someone was sprinkling them over the planet. They usually only appear in unpopulated areas, dense with mana, but it is not unheard of them appearing in the middle of a town square. The only thing we know is, that the denser the mana in the surroundings, the more likely a powerful monster will be born. So, the ones appearing in towns are small fry, often going unnoticed by everyone. But, that's all."

They didn't know...
How unfortunate, I hoped there was more they knew.

"It's the one question I honestly can't answer you because I simply don't know either. I wish I did, I truly wish."

He paused, staring at Karen, then at me. After a short silence, he stood up and walked to the nearest pen with monsters, the floating balls with eyes and mouths.

"But what monsters are, we know a little. Every monster has a mana crystal as a core. And then they also have a body that surrounds said core. Some monsters have surprisingly functional bodies, like goblins and ogres. They have arms and legs, they have mouths and eyes, they have genitals. They eat, they reproduce. And then you have monsters like these."

He squatted down and picked something up that was lying next to the pen. A long metal rod.
After picking it up, he reached through the barrier with it and... poked the floating ball.
It wobbled.

"Do you think this creature could live without its mana crystal? Without being a monster?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Neither do I. They're a living creature because of the mana crystal but without, they wouldn't live. Their body is unable to support itself. That's what makes monsters truly different. Their mana crystals support a body that would be utterly impossible otherwise. They are just... Like a child's clay figure. It's a mock creature. A fake."

The floating ball continued to wobble with every poke. It didn't react in any other way.
It was actually kind of cute. Grotesque, but cute.

"Haa... Anyway. That's about all I can tell you about 'what they are'. Any questions so far, my students?"
"We're not your students, actually. Nn, but... Why do they absorb mana then? And why did you feed them"
"Ah, right, right. The answer to that is actually quite similar. Mh, it's easier to show you. Could you get some more of that meat. Like, bring around ten pieces of those big ones for now."
... Ten?

I furrowed my brows, a little confused. Still, Karen and I stood up and walked to the huge refrigerator, retrieving the meat. It was quite heavy.

"Good, now. Throw all of it in there."
"... All?"
"All."

I exchanged a glance with Karen, who seemed similar unsure. Nevertheless, we followed his instructions and just dumped all of it into the pen with the floating balls.

"Now, watch. Watch and learn!"

The two balls immediately dashed towards the meat, burying themselves into the pile of meat. With astonishing speed, they devoured it and in less than two minutes, it was all gone.

"Mh, was this not enough? Okay, then let's bring some more me— Ah! Forget that, look!"

Before telling us to bring even more meat, he pointed at the floating ball with eyes. It... Grew. In length. Its shape turned oval, egg-like, then longer and even longer. Until.

Plop!

It split.
No, seriously. It split. Like... What the hell?

"... What?"
"Ahaha, isn't this awesome? It multiplied! When these monsters absorb enough mana, they multiply. If you gave them a large amount of mana, they could become an unstoppable swarm, burying everything!"
"... So, monsters... Split?"
"Mh, yes and no. These monsters do. A goblin wouldn't split."
"Nn? Then what does a goblin do?"

He paused.

"Good question."
"..."
"Now, now, don't look at me like that, yes? I'll properly answer. Some monsters change appearance, gain new abilities, grow stronger, there are a multitude of things that can happen. The only thing that always happens, though... Whatever it is, it becomes more dangerous."

More dangerous... So, if I absorbed enough mana... What would happen? I still didn't know. Would I become stronger? Or... would I split? Hopefully, not splitting. I had the subtle feeling that Karen would like the splitting but I sure as hell didn't. I could very vividly imagine myself fighting with my split parts about Karen...

"Ah, right, there is one thing we definitely know though, that always happens when they absorb mana."
"Nn?"
"Their crystal grows tougher. So tough it becomes impossible to break them by impossible means."
"Impossible to break? But, then, what do you do about that monster?"
"You can still rip out the crystal and deal with a monster that way. Of course, that's infinitely harder to do than smashing it. But the amount of mana those crystals contain... It's beyond comprehension. If such a thing were to be used as a weapon, forget destroying a country or two, you could easily sink the continent and probably the land on the other side of the oceans as well. Thankfully, there are only three recorded instances of such crystals. Although their whereabouts are unknown."

The continent and... The one next to it as well? Wasn't that likely half the entire planet you would wipe off the map? And such a thing was... lost? Somewhere? Whereabouts unknown?

"Mh, so much to that. Then, what else did you want to kno—
"Professor Marvim! Professor! I returned!"
"Oh come on, how is she back already?"

A red fluffy foxkin girl came into sight, pulling a small trolley with... Piles of books.

"Lefa, where the heck did you find the trolley?"
"Ms Arramari lent it to me."
"... How did you manage to... Haa... Whatever, thank you."

With a small scowl, she pulled the trolley past us and started unloading the books on the disk.

"That's not a very nice way to thank someone. Do you know how much I had to walk around for these books?!"
"That's exactly why I... Ahh, yes, thank you, thank you."
"One 'Thank you' is enough."
"That so? Thank me, thank me."

Lefa stopped, turned around and glared at the man.

"Maybe I should throw him to his goblins."
"Lefa, dear, I am not so fond of experiencing pregnancy as a man, so I'd rather you choose something else."
"The kobolds then."
"That's the same thing in green."

She furrowed her brows, then continued to unload the books, shaking her head.

"I really hope this is worth it... Why are all these professors so... Haa..."
"Lefa, Lefa, Lefa, do you not trust me?"
"You have given me no reason to trust you, I believe?"
"Now, you hurt me, I've done so much for you when your dear professor wasn't there to help!"
"Haaa... When it rains, it pours."

They were kind of lost in their own world now, completely ignoring Karen and me.

"Sis, what should we do?"
"I don't know... To be honest, we already learnt a lot. We should come back some other time to hear the rest."
"Nn, I agree."
"Also, it's hard to keep track of the time here... We shouldn't linger for too long."

True, it'd be really troublesome if we didn't return. I sure as hell didn't want my first experience being... collected... to be so quickly. Preferably, I never wanted to experience it.

"Lefa, Mr... Marvim."
""Yes?""
Quite in sync, aren't we.
"We were just talking about taking our leave for today. Would it be fine to come back another time?"
"Yes, yes, why, of course! Students willing to learn are always welcome, always! Especially if you want to learn about monsters. Ah, but remember to come with Lefa, you might run into issues, if not."

Issues?

"You already want to leave? Then, let me accompany you to the gate. Professor, I'll come back in a bit."
"Yes, yes, no need to threaten me, no need to threaten me."
"I will come back."

She threw him a last glare and walked past him with firm steps, not sparing him another glance.

"Ehh, then, until another time."
"Bye."

We said our goodbye and quickly followed Lefa.

---

"You didn't forget anything here, did you?"
"Nn, we should be fine, right, Sis?"
"We didn't really bring anything after all."
"That's good. Ah, if you come by again, I'll be either in class or in my dorm most likely. You can probably just ask around but... Avoid asking the guys if you don't know them, especially the male professors. They can get... quite touchy if you know what I mean."

I had heard from Lily and Karen that it would be bad and now even from Lefa as well, but... Nothing had really happened today. Not sure if I should take that as a sign that they are exaggerating or if it was just luck. Considering Lefa said it too, probably luck...

"Was that what that Mr Professor meant with issues?"
"Yes... There have been quite a few problems in that regard, especially towards the female students... So, do be careful, okay?"
"Nn, we will be."

Still, we said goodbye to Lefa with smiles.
Karen and I now walked along that long wall, returning towards the inner part of the city.

"That girl is really quite the hard worker, isn't she?"
"Nn. In her own way, she's quite incredible."

Despite her apparent lack of talent for magic, she still did her best at this place which was filled with magicians. And in such a serious manner too.

"Hey, Sis?"
"Yes?"
"Do you have some mana crystals with you?"
"I do, why?"
"Could you give one to me?"

She opened the small pouch where she carried some mana crystals—for whatever reason—and handed me a few. I had asked for one but... Well, a few were fine too.

"Are you curious about what that professor said?"
"Nn."
"You shouldn't do this on the open street, though."
"It'll be fine, I won't do anything conspicuous."

Even I wouldn't dare to do some weird things now in public.

"Mm... Dormant, huh..."
"Yumi?"
"Well, I just wondered. He said they're dormant, right?"
"Yes, he said that."
"But, can they really be resurrected?"

I honestly had my doubts about that. There were many things that made us out as a person and the thing that was important for this the most... was our brain. But, what was our soul then? What was it capable of? Was it carrying our personality? Our memories? Or would these be lost?

Memories, huh...

My memories of my old world were still hazy at best. Fragmented memories, general knowledge... That monster had said that losing my memories was not intended originally... She had said that, right?

Don't tell me I am already starting to have trouble remembering that too?!

Well, it had been a conversation and you couldn't expect me to remember all the details of every talk, right? Right...
Anyway, assuming she had said that, that would have meant that... Something went wrong. But what went wrong? Did she maybe mess with my brain and I lost my memories because of that?
Actually, that thought was super scary... I didn't want to imagine anyone messing with my brain.

"Resurrection... I don't know, it sounds so... unbelievable? That you could resurrect someone... Well, more like something," Karen murmured next to me.
"Even the part with immortality sounds too good."

Immortality and recovering from fatal wounds. Recovery bordering on resurrection.
Those were all heavy words.

"Nn... Well, I sure don't want to find out for myself if those are true or not."
"I won't allow you to!"
"Ahaha. I won't, Sis. I'm more interested in what he said about absorbing mana."
"Right... You said your crystal keeps absorbing mana, right?"
"Nn. It feels like it's a bottomless hole. Since I am hiding my mana it absorbs a little less, but it still absorbs a lot of mana from the surroundings."

Still, so far, nothing had ever happened.

"Also, I sure as hell don't want to split in two. One of me is enough."
"... But, I do wonder if something would happen if you absorb enough mana."
"Nn. Also... Sis, do you have one of the mana eggs with you?"
"Yes, I do."

She pulled a peculiar, pink mana crystal out of her pouch.

"... Doesn't it have more mana than before?"
"Does it?"
"... Feels like it does, but I'm not sure. Well, whatever. I just remembered but... Should have asked him about these at least."

A missed chance... Nothing I could do about now, though.

"I kind of want to see what happens if I pump a mana egg full with all the mana we can find."
"As long as it doesn't explode..."
"It won't... Hopefully."

Exploding eggs didn't make for a good breakfast. Ah, did people even eat eggs here? Hadn't seen any yet.

"... Should we return to the camp? To be honest, I feel like trying out a few things."
"If you want to, then let's do that. There are a few other things we should investigate about too. Like that."

Karen squished my upper arms a little. Did she... mean those? She did, didn't she?

"They're intended for... those purposes, right? I'm sure we can have some fun with those."
"... Lewd Sis."
"I don't mind being lewd if it's about you, you know."
"That's unfair."

A wry smile found its way on my lips.
Seriously, this girl...

I hugged her arm and leaned in close to her.

"Yumi? We're in public."
"I don't care."
"Yumi... Haa..."

Karen freed her arm and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me closer.

"Let's go back, shall we?"
"Nn."