So, for my next class upgrade, I'm pretty sure I will be offered a class called "Advanced Body Pillow."

Also, what the heck, am I making friends? Sure, I knew Tess from before, but our relationship is quite... well, complicated.

But here, I've noticed that I've started looking after Lily already, and it's not only because she's a healer. There's no love or anything; it's just that I'm weak against people who are nice to me without expecting anything in return.

Maybe Lily is doing it on purpose?

I squint my eyes and look at her. We're still alone, sitting in the hideout, and she continues to sniff and tries to dry her wet, red eyes. She's even blushing when I look at her.

"This is so awkward..." she complains, "I don't know why..." She then shakes her head.

I guess not. She's too silly to trick me like that, but I'll have to be careful! I already know how devious little Isabella is, even though she looks so cute.

Lily could be the next one.

Other than her, I also somehow take care of Kim. Not because he's cute or super nice to me, obviously. To me, he just looks like a puppy left outside in the rain, looking for a place with some warmth and looking for some people he could befriend. Desperately so.

How can I treat someone so pitiful badly?

Weak, so weak!

I reach out and pinch Lily's small, cute nose.

"Phwat are u toing?" she says with her nose blocked, looking at me with her big eyes.

I pinch a bit more and then let go, not forgetting to flick her forehead.

"Owch," she complains, but I already feel slightly better.

"Crybaby," I say to her, and her face becomes red in an instant.

"You... you!"

"Anyway, feel free to push yourself. Losing some limbs is fine if you can restore them, but be careful, okay? Talk with Tess; she's good with this kind of stuff. You can complain to her for hours, and she'll continue to listen. Bully Biscuit a bit, tease Isabella."

After each sentence, I poke her cheek; it's not quite as soft as Isabella's, but it's still fun.

"There's no need to be all serious and gloomy all the time, and there's no need for the fake-ass smiles you've shown, okay?"

I'm quite good at this, am I not? Maybe I could be a psychologist or something.

"What about you?" she throws a question at me.

"What about me?"

"C-can I talk with you, to complain?" Lily asks.

Isn't that obvious? "Nah, just annoy Tess; I'm super busy." The look on her face as I say so immediately tells me that it's not the answer she expected, and I pinch her nose again, "Only sometimes, okay?"

Maybe I'm not gaining a friend; maybe I'm becoming a mom to these kids. To Lily, Kim, Biscuit, who is also like a kid.

"Okay," Lily says, and I can see that she's happy.

Somehow it annoys me, and I pinch her nose again. Unfortunately, that makes her even happier, even as she tries to hide it.

Goddamn, Lily... at least you be normal.

"What is that for?" Tess just stares at the rare graded weapon I'm giving her. She tries to act indifferent, but I see it's quite piqued her interest.

Hehe, she might think I don't know, but I do! I saw how well she takes care of her uncommon javelin. How she carries it everywhere, cleans it, and always carefully checks if it's not damaged!

Tess is someone who likes shiny new stuff. She's totally someone who would compare her shoes to the shoes of a girl she doesn't like and then feel superior to the other girl without letting it show at all.

No matter how she tries to hide it, I see it. Her furrowed brows, the tiny excited steps she made towards the javelin, and the shine in her eyes after she inspected it.

"So, you don't want it? I can give it to Kim."

That makes her freeze for a split second, but she quickly hides it. She then shamelessly takes it from my hand and gives me one long, judging look.

I know she knows I know, and that seems to annoy her slightly, yet even her proud self can't resist a shiny new weapon. A rare weapon, something that's hard to get.

"I will make sure to pay you back," Tess says.

"Works for me," I tell her.

I then watch as she walks away. When she gets behind the corner of one of the houses, I switch to [Perception] and watch as she stops and starts observing the javelin up close. There's a small, happy smile on her face as she tests the item's weight and sharpness while also sending a few small sparks through it.

There are 3 possible upgrades for mana:

Mana Amplification: Enhances the sheer volume of mana you possess.

Mana Restoration: Accelerates the rate at which your mana replenishes itself.

Mana Potency: Boosts the potency and intensity of your mana.

And I like all of them.

Amplification would give me straight up more mana, maybe in the form of pure stats, or it changes my body a bit to possess more of it. It's something that could be quite good for me, and it would mean stronger spells. Heck, later I could improve the quality of my mana on my own or something. I don't know.

More mana = good. That's how my brain works.

Mana restoration is also something similar. Less mana, but faster regeneration, which also means more mana. The only difference would be that I don't have as massive a mana pool to put into a single spell in the future. So my damage could be lower than with amplification, but it could allow me to restore my mana faster and spam my spells more.

It's also good just for longer fights.

The last one, Potency, is quite a question. The intensity of my mana... does it mean my spells would be stronger? Would that mana be purer and already slightly concentrated even without me doing anything? If the mana is more potent, how does it compare to just having more mana?

Is, for example, 10 stats in potent mana equal to 20 stats in amplified mana?

System? Any hints?

"..."

Yeah, I thought so. Screw you.

But there are more hints: the stages! Obviously, after I pick an upgrade, I will be at stage 1, but stage 3, its name, could be a hint.

For Amplification, it's Limitless Mana, and that's something I really, really like. For Restoration, it's Unending Mana, and more questions arise. How does it compare to Limitless? So annoying! And what the heck is Supreme Mana, other than just sounding cool?

Whatever, I already know what I will do.

I will pick Amplification, get more mana, and then I will come up with ways to increase the regeneration of my mana. I already created a construct on my heart. The next step could be to create a construct that would help me regenerate more mana. Hell, it sounds difficult, but it's nice to set high goals, right?

As for Potency? It's also something I should work on my own, through my skills. I have one theory I want to try, and if it works as I think it should, it should be quite similar to Mana Potency, probably. Plus, I already have tricolored mana, don't I? It's probably something similar.

As someone smart said, you need to have strong basics before you start building. It's totally not only because I want to have more mana.

Okay?

Okay.

"Pick, Mana Amplification," I say and then close my eyes, ready to fight against the pain. And oh boy, does it come, and the world around me blacks out.

When I open my eyes and check the timer, I learn that it's a few hours later and my body, now slightly healed, still hurts. My mana pool feels bigger now, and I start examining it while turning my eyes to the item on the floor.

"Thanks for keeping watch," I say to the abomination lying on the floor of the room. A thing made from my flesh and bones with an imperfect imprint of Lissandra.

The fleshy abomination is quiet, probably too haughty to bother answering.

I open my status and immediately blink and stop with my mouth open.

Hehe, probably some bug.

My mana starts to move more and more, and the pressure of it on my body starts increasing. Something I haven't felt for a long time. Something that kept bothering me on the first floor and part of the second floor.

When I look at the status again, it's still there.

Okay, one more try. I close it and open it, and it's still there.

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 369 + 369

Plus 369. What the hell? Are attribute upgrades maybe much more important than I thought?

"I'm surprised you went with Mana Amplification, little pup. I personally went with Potency."

I listen to her only in the back of my mind and feel my constructs and passives work at full throttle, dealing with my doubled-up mana. I actively start taking control of my mana and help them to deal with a sudden and massive increase in mana pool.

It reminds me of the good old times.