It's such a nice day, even this fleshy abomination on the floor won't ruin my mood. My mana doubled. The weather is as nice as it can be here on the third floor, and that improves my mood slightly. My mana doubled. I survived the first phase, floor, sorting test, or whatever of Beyond. My mana doubled. Thanks to that, my stats went up quite nicely.

I also improved my skills a lot, dealt with a few people, and gave Tess a gift. My mana doubled.

Did I forget something?

Oh yeah, my mana doubled!

Like, what the heck? It feels illegal. I am a measly level 123, and I know for sure that Lissandra, the person able to destroy an entire planet, was well over level 450, maybe closer to thousand? Who knows! It just feels super illegal to have an attribute upgrade that doubles my stat.

I love it, obviously, even though it threatens to tear apart my body. The system just wants me to put stat points into inferior stats such as constitution. Pff, what bullshit.

Anyways, send help.

This is dangerous, isn't it? The increase is too quick and out of nowhere, and it makes my mana 6 times higher than constitution. That's 6.4 mana to 1 constitution. Most of the mages around my level I met up until now barely went for 3:1.

So, why am I so happy? Is there something wrong with me? Why am I getting excited and drunk on all of this power? Maybe I'm not that normal?

It just can't be! Surely, I'm the most normal out of our group, right?

Reinforcement and Mana-Fortified Resilience, please hold on. I will have to rely on you once again, just for a bit. Damn, it would be kind of really bad if I didn't pick Mana-Fortified Resilience as my passive.

I have already tried Mana Regulator, but as expected, it doesn't work on that. The thing only regulates the amount of mana the kinetic heart is getting.

Another round of Active Tempering maybe? That doesn't sound like a good idea. I am still getting used to my expanded mana pool, and attempting to use it to temper my body could result in unfortunate consequences—by "unfortunate," I mean actively untempering my body out of existence.

“Natssandra, any ideas?”

“How did you call me?” the fleshy brooch asks threateningly.

“Lissthaniel, finally accept it, your imprint is imperfect and somehow you ended up affected by my personality. Real-fake-Lissandra would tear me apart multiple times already and wouldn't act so… inelegantly.” She was a psycho, but a formidable one.

“It was the first time I have ever tried to create an imprint. Some… imperfections… are to be expected. But little pup, I really dislike the tone you are using while talking to me.”

“I dislike that you killed Ruby, I dislike you throwing me into tunnels, so get used to it.”

“Little pup, did you seriously get attached to that fake? Ruby was just a shadow of her real self that is most likely dead for millennia. She would disappear the moment all of you left. Her dying by my hand is mercy in comparison to her just disappearing.”

Again, she and her twisted logic. Yes, there is some truth to that, but I don't have to like it.

“This tutorial, this place. Nothing here is real. So do not let emotions get in your way. Kill who you need to kill, use people, throw them away. Steal, pillage, cheat. Get as strong as possible. That's what you should be doing. Without a speck of regret and without any hesitation.”

For a moment, depressing silence fills the room.

“Do not let useless emotions get in your way,” the brooch finishes, and this time I don't know if it's the part that is Lissandra talking or the part that is affected by me.

“What I do will be decided by me and me only. But enough of that. Any ideas on how to deal with high mana, low constitution?” I answer her.

It takes just a moment, but I feel a single thin thread of mana reach towards me, touch me, and disappear, and that's all it takes for her to get enough information.

“Usually I would recommend slowly increasing your mana, but right now it's too late for that. Looking at your level of mana mastery, there are three options: Mana Venting, Mana Cycling, and Harmonic Resonance.” Lissandra then pauses for a moment, “Mana Cycling might be the right one for you.”

I then sit there quietly and listen to her explanations, once again feeling like cheating. As if other people are playing a game normally, and I'm reading advanced guides.

But hey, I will take whatever I can. Looking at the rewards I got, I think the next time I enter Beyond, it will be much more dangerous. Also, it's not like Hell became easy immediately. As before, there are always easier ways to clear a floor, and then there are some harder ones that are more rewarding when it comes to levels. I don't even have to mention which ones I prefer.

Anyways, Mana Cycling, to dumb it down, I just need to cycle mana through my body.

But that sounds too easy! Some people might think, and I would totally agree with them. Mana already flows through my body, and well, isn't that the problem? How would more mana flowing through my body help?

Well, as Natssandra says, control is key. Right now, mana is flowing inside me like a river - after the increase, and I have to control it, tame it if you will.

The main problem is that my mana is higher than my body can handle and I keep on going only because quite a big chunk of my mana gets taken away by Reinforcement and the rest is used through my newest passive to strengthen it. I blame the inferior constitution stat, which always holds me down.

But yeah, with Mana Cycling, I would regulate that flow, slow down my heartbeat, and throttle some mana.

Another step would be finding the best route through my body and guiding mana through stronger pathways.

Cycling mana through my body on my own would also increase the efficiency of passive tempering, and together with infusing my body with mana, it would make my body stronger faster.

So yeah, on the surface, Mana Cycling might just look like letting mana flow. But really, it's about taking control, guiding the flow, training my body, and managing the pressure. Not just letting mana flow however it wants, but doing it on my own. It's something I instinctively did on my own, but this will take it a step further.

It requires a lot of work. I need to have some part of my mind cycle that mana to the point where I get used to it so much it becomes as easy as breathing.

Another and the most annoying part is learning about mana pathways and a bit of their anatomy.

The heck? That feels like... studying? Even in a hellish tutorial, I'm not safe, and I thought I was done with it after finishing school.

Many hours later, I leave and Lissaniel stays behind. I still refuse to touch that thing so it stays on the floor of the house.

After returning to the hideout, I just lie down and stare at the ceiling.

Should I just give up? A little bit of mana running through my body can't be that bad; I'm used to worse, right?

Damn it, I hate studying, and even more when Lissandra is so goddamn annoying. I never met a teacher like her. "No, you can't move your mana like this. Why didn't you remember this pathway? I've seen animals with better mana control. Your control is trash."

The more I talk with her, the more I separate my image of her from the Lissandra I saw destroy the world. This Lissandra, made from my hand, is just not her, even if she bears some similarities and knowledge.

Now that I think about it, since she took something after me, isn't that telling a bit? Me being so annoyed by her personality… such self-disses are quite rare.

As always, when I'm in such a mood, Biscuit comes running. This time not even using mana arms. He just wobbles on his short legs, woofs at me, and puts his head on my chest.

Such a good boy.

I start petting him immediately, and he closes his eyes, and his tail slowly moves from side to side.

Should I have Biscuit eat Lissthaniel? Knowing the doggo, he might absorb all her skills and knowledge to rise up as the first absolute from the Earth.

"..."

Okay, that is too scary; let's not do that.

In revenge for making me think such scary thoughts, I pull his cheek, still keeping some part of my mind focused on dealing with my mana and awkwardly trying to cycle it.

While I'm laying down, another little body sneaks closer, lies next to me, puts her small head on my chest, and snuggles closer.

"What are you doing, Isabella?" I ask.

"I had a fight with Sophie," the little girl says, her mouth pouting.

Oh my, she is using her full name instead of "Soph"; it must be serious. Still, it's not my problem, so I just stay quiet.

"You're not going to ask me why?" Isabella complains.

"No," I answer simply. Knowing her, I'm sure she will tell me anyway. I spent enough time with her on the third floor to know that.

"I keep telling her to go and become friends with you, but she keeps refusing," she says.

As I thought, and what the heck, Izzy?

"You are strong, so we will be safer if we become friends." Isabella continues.

That's so shameless. Then, even without me answering, little Isabella continues to talk. I don't even have to talk, and she just reads my mood or emotions or whatever she does and reacts to that. It's something I got used to, and even though it's a bit annoying that she can read me, it's not that bad because it's a little girl that holds such ability.

"It's not like we would bring you nothing! We would be friends, so we could help you. Sophie is strong, and so am I!" Isabella defends her idea.

I pet Biscuit and still don't say anything, just letting her read me.

"We are not as strong as you, but... but..." she quiets down, and her eyes become a bit wet, the little girl seemingly close to crying.

But I know her! She is too devious; I know crocodile tears when I see them!

Getting a read on my reaction, she just sighs and stands up quickly.

Her tears are gone as if they never existed, and the little aspiring actress just points at me, "You will become friends with Sophie!" she stomps her small leg and then points at Biscuit, "And I will take the doggo from you!" she stomps again, and this time I notice she is even more serious.

The little girl then turns around and rushes back to her sister.

So that's it, the great Biscuit war has started. I did receive the official challenge, and now it's up to me to defend this burrito-like doggo.

I turn and look at Biscuit, who just continues blinking slowly, unbothered at all. The best doggo of the third floor then yawns, and before he closes his mouth, I put my finger into his mouth, and he bites on it gently as he closes it.

He blinks again, this time with a hint of surprise.

You are mine.