Chapter 166 Tell them I said hello
"Are you asking me to drink all of it?"
"Krrriiii!!!"
"Grrruu!!"
Flamey and Splashy nodded. The excitement of their faces couldn't be measured, even Vaan felt overwhelmed as the two fairies flew close to his face, looking at him with shiny eyes.
With a strange expression on his face, Vaan took another sip of the wine, the two fairies then flew behind him and placed their little hands on his back.
Then, suddenly, Vaan felt a strange energy moving all over his body, the feeling was awfully similar to when he circulates raw Mana through his Magic Veins.
"Krrri Krrri!"
Flamey spoke and for some reason, even though he couldn't see her expression, Vaan could understand what she was saying.
"You want me to absorb Mana?"
"Krrriii!" The little Fire Spirit nodded.
Vaan did as he told as he closed his eyes and started absorbing the surrounding Mana. Seeing the sudden change in his action, both Astra and Elara frowned in confusion, "What are you doing?" Astra questioned.
Vaan, however, didn't say anything and continued to absorb Mana before circulating it throughout his Body.
"Gurruu Gurrr Gruruu." Splashy spoke and again, as if there was a strange connection formed between the two of them, Vaan understood what the water spirit said and took another sip of the Wine.
Splashy then flew away, leaving Vaan's back to Flamey, she flew towards Vaan's face and placed her forehead on his. Then, she started 'eating' Vaan's Mana and told him to continue.
Vaan listened to the two spirits and in front of Astra and Elara's confused expressions, he continued to drink glass after glass, while observing the surrounding Mana in the process.
Splashy and Flamey took turns 'eating' Vaan's Mana before allowing him to absorb more.
"Vaan…"
Feeling that his actions were rude, Elara wanted to stop him, but before she could do so, Astra stopped her.
Elara turned towards her with a confused look on her face, however, seeing the solemn expression on Astra's face as she carefully observed Vaan.
"Don't stop him."
She spoke.
Vaan then grabbed the bottle of wine and poured it into his glass before taking another sip.
"W-What is he doing…?" Elara questioned with a confused look on her face.
"I do not know." Astra shook her head. "But I can feel that it will benefit him." She spoke.
The way the surrounding Mana was reacting, Elara might not have been able to notice the subtle difference, Astra, however, was different.
Therefore, she allowed Vaan to do whatever he wanted but soon, she noticed that the Bottle of Wine she had just opened was about to be emptied.
And other than a single glass, she didn't even get to enjoy it.
"Teacher…" Elara spoke with an unsure expression on her face. She didn't know how Astra would react.
Astra continued to stare at Vaan and then, she just shook her head,
"What a wasteful boy."
Her actions, however, were completely different compared to her words as she stood up, walked towards the same wooden cabinet, and took out another, similar bottle.
"Tsk, wasteful indeed." She snorted again before placing another bottle in front of her child.
Vaan momentarily glanced at his mother, then, a smile appeared on his face and,
"I knew my mother was the most generous."
Astra didn't say anything and simply sat on her chair.
Vaan chuckled, then, he uncorked the new bottle before pouring the content into its glass and continuing the process.
This continued for another 3 minutes, then, Flamey, who had placed her hands behind Vaan's back stopped and flew forward, Splashy stepped back, giving a place to her elder sister, Flamey then placed her forehead on Vaan's for a while, then, she turned towards Splashy and nodded.
"Gurru."
Splashy nodded back, the two seemed like they were having a talk, then, Flamey quickly turned towards Vaan and,
"Krrii Krri kRiiiii!" She spoke as she formed 2 circles around her, before forming the 3rd Circle next to the two she already formed.
"The 3rd Circle…" Vaan muttered with a shocked look on her face.
"Gurruu!" Both Spirits nodded.
Vaan blinked in surprise, unable to believe the two spirits…
This time, however, he dismiss the little creatures' words, they had never been wrong before… then…
"Mother…" Vaan called out.
"What is it?" Astra, who seemed to be waiting for an explanation from Vaan, questioned.
Vaan then extended his hands toward his mother and,
"Can you check if I can form my 3rd Circle now?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course no-"
Astra wanted to deny, however, seeing her son's expression, she narrowed her eyes before holding Vaan's hand and injecting her Mana into his body, checking his Mana Veins, and the moment she did, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"I can… can't I…?" Seeing such an expression appearing on his mother's face, Vaan understood that the two spirits were right, yet again.
"How…"
Astra questioned.
It had barely been a month since Vaan had become a 2nd Circle Mage…
Even Elara, the one whose Magic Talent is said to be even superior compared to Astra spent 2 years as a 2nd Circle Mage before being able to form her 3rd Circle…
Then how…
How did Vaan do it!?
Astra couldn't understand. How was his Mana Veins being cleared so rapidly?
"What did you do?" Astra questioned as she glanced at Vaan with a solemn look on her face.
Vaan, however, had no answer to his mother's question.
"Is it related to the Mystic Wine?" Astra questioned.
"It should be…" Vaan replied with an unsure look on his face.
Astra momentarily turned silent as she continued to stare at the wine bottle in front of her, then suddenly,
"Theoretically… it is possible."
She nodded.
"Hmm?" Vaan tilted his head.
"The Condensed Mana inside the Wine comes from 7th Circle Mages, a Basic Mage's job is to keep using Mana and slowly and steadily, clear his Mana Veins till he is able to form his 4th Circle. Theoretically, it is possible to do this by injecting condensed Mana into a Mage's body, trying to clear his Mana Veins in one go, making it possible for him to directly form his 4th Circle.
However, when implemented practically, this process is extremely dangerous since the Veins are not naturally strong enough to handle condensed Mana and need to grow with time, rushing the process through external help destroys these Veins and only 1 out of 1000 Mages have their Veins intact, and even those mages have extremely weak Magic Veins, killing their future potential and resulting in them being stuck in 4th Circle Stage for the rest of their life.
Of course, there were solutions to this problem, some suggested mixing condensed Mana into a consumable and giving it to the Mage, this was also how the idea of Mystic Wine came into the play and as you can see, it was a success. The effects of these 'consumables', however, were so weak that it was almost negligent.
Other than helping with Blood Flow and making them feel fresh, it had no other effect, the initial aim of clearing the Mana Veins and advancing to another stage was far from the reach.
Then…
How did you do it…?
You are not drunk even after you've drank an entire bottle, so I can tell that you used the Condensed Mana inside the Bottle to clear up your Mana Veins, what did you do? How did you separate the Mana from the Wine, and what role did the surrounding Mana that you continuously absorbed play in the whole scenario?"
Astra asked a series of questions. Vaan, however, had no way to answer them.
"Mother… I swear I would have told you if I knew…"
Astra narrowed her eyes.
"I just… received someone's help."
"Someone's help…? Who?" Astra questioned.
"Do you remember I once asked you about the existence of some Magic Fairies?"
"I do remember you describing some fantasy-like traits and I remember telling you that something like that doesn't exist."
"Well…
You are wrong.
They do exist, Mother.
Magic Spirits exists and I can see two of them."
"What…?" Astra narrowed her eyes.
"Mhm, they are the ones who help me form an Advanced Circle, they are the ones who help me optimize Instant Spells, they are also the ones who helped me clear my Mana Veins using the Mystic Wine and…
They are also the ones who are currently telling me to form my 3rd Circle, actually, they seemed to be quite excited about it as well.
Ah right, they also want me to say hi to the two of you from their stead."
Vaan revealed the truth and both Elara and Astra had absolutely no clue what he was talking about. This time, however, they didn't doubt him.
Not when what he was saying made so much sense.
Others believed that Vaan was hiding himself before and only came forward after he completed his Magic Circle research, but how could Astra and Elara believe that? They were the ones who knew Vaan the most, especially Astra, in the Vesta House, where nothing escapes her eyes, there is no way Vaan would ever be able to hide anything from her.
The existence of these spirits made perfect sense and also explained how Vaan changed so much.
"Then what are you waiting for? Do what those spirits are telling you to do, form your 3rd Circle, and,
Tell them I said hello."
