Chapter 119: Multi-dimensional (1/2)
”So you have another dragony-thing?” Carol asked.
”You could say that. I found her egg by chance, and have been raising her ever since.” Mike answered. ”Despite her tendency to attack my summoned creature, she's quite harmless.”
The three of them turned to watch the little dragon continue to violently claw at Red's tail, accomplishing nothing of note in the process.
”I see what you mean….” The sheep beastman replied.
They continued to watch the spectacle quietly, until Melinda finally arrived about thirty minutes later. She ran up in her now trademark fashion, and stopped to catch her breath. After taking a few minutes to get herself in order, she faced her students. ”Good morning, class! I hope you are ready to learn. Before we begin, though, I'll need to speak to Mike privately for a moment.”
She pulled him to one side, and explained to him animatedly, ”So I did some investigation into that dragon of yours, and I have to say it is a miracle of magic.”
Mike found himself a little overwhelmed by the intensity of her excitement.
”As far as I can tell, it's been unconsciously converting your supplied mana into its physical structure, bringing it more fully into existence. I don't know if it's the way your spell was cast, or perhaps some strange quality of the record that the spell drew upon during its casting, but this is remarkable.”
”What does that mean exactly?” He asked, finding it a little hard to follow her explanation.
”To put it simply, the longer your conjured dragon remains here, the closer it will get towards a 'real' creature. It's almost like your Conjuration spell morphed into a long term Calling spell that allows for protracted mana provision rather than requiring it all at once. I don't know how you did it, but this could be the solution to a number of problems Summoners have been working to fix for generations!” She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him a little in her exuberance.
Laughing awkwardly, Mike replied while being thrown around. ”Haha…glad to help, I guess.”
”So, I need to ask, are you able to sustain the spell for a while longer? I know the mana drain must be severe, and I think I have a solution. Thanks to a special research grant I was able to push through this morning, I got access to the department's treasury, so that I could secure these.”
Melinda held up a small pouch as if it were a treasure of great value.
”Um, I suppose it's a nice pouch….”
”What? No, this is just a minor extradimensional sack. What's inside is the real treasure.” She opened the bag, and drew out a small metal vial, handing it to him. ”This is a mana potion, simply drinking it will restore a portion of your mana.”
Mike used Appraise immediately.
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{Tier 1 Mana Potion}
Magic Potion (Tier 1, Rank 3]
An alchemical product that serves as a reservoir of mana. Individuals who are able to use mana can consume this potion to restore a portion of their reserves. The amount varies by the tier and rank of the potion.
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[I was wondering when I'd run into something like this. I guess I can make them with Alchemy at some point in the future.]
”Go ahead. Drink up! There are plenty more where that once came from.” Melinda exclaimed pushily.
Since the mana he'd expended in his Elemental Magic class hadn't fully recovered yet, he went ahead and drank the potion. It tasted a bit like ginseng, and he found himself wondering if a mana potion had much in common with an energy drink.
A small surge of power flooded into him, almost topping off his mana reserves. It was a pleasant, rejuvenating feeling that he could get used to. Unfortunately, it seemed like the amount of mana provided by the potion was a mere drop in the bucket compared to his normal supply. If he had to express it numerically, he'd say it restored about 1% of his reserves.
”So? How is it? Do you think you'll be able to maintain the spell for a while longer?” Melinda asked hopefully.
”Yeah, I think I will be good for now.”
”Excellent, you can go ahead and take the rest of these. They only gave me ten, but if you stretch them out, it should let you hold out for longer.” She passed the pouch over, which he quickly appraised.
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{Minor Extradimensional Sack}
Magic Item (Tier 2, Rank 4)
A creation of Space Magic, extradimensional sacks are the most basic form of extradimensional storage, allowing their users to easily carry large amounts of material. The sack itself functions as a permanent portal to a self-contained dimension tied to the material realm. Storage space varies by item tier and rank.