Chapter 488

The power of highly refined mana reinforcement does not cause mana discharge. The blue energy that covers the body of those who reinforce mana is an incomplete combustion caused by mana that has not been properly condensed and is released externally. Therefore, proper mana reinforcement does not cause power discharge. The protagonist has succeeded in taking the first step towards complete mana reinforcement. With calmness and composure, they were able to compress the power to the extreme and achieve highly refined mana reinforcement without power discharge, even though it was only a very small part of their mana. Luna, who did not teach them anything, smiled slightly as if she had read something from their eyes. They used mana reinforcement not for the sake of combat, but to express their calm state of mind in their body. There was no visible change, but the feeling of mana circulating throughout their body was overwhelming. Luna watched as they succeeded in highly refining their mana reinforcement to the extreme. Suddenly, Luna hit their forehead with her thumb and index finger, causing their head to tilt back. They lost control of their mana flow due to the sudden hit and the mana was being discharged externally. They realized that they were not yet ready to use it in combat. They needed to maintain their calm state of mind and complete control over their mana flow to use it effectively in battle. Luna instructed them to maintain this state of complete mana reinforcement for the entire day, allowing their mental stability to manifest in their physical body. They needed to become so natural at using mana that they could forget they were even using it. "It should become so natural that it reaches a level where I don't even know if I'm doing mana reinforcement. If I can reach that stage, it means I have reached a stage where I can maintain a calm state of mind all day without any effort. I maintain a clear state of mind without even realizing it, without exerting any effort. I am entering the stage of Mingjingjisu (明鏡止水)."

"Yes."

Maintain mana reinforcement all day, and at a very refined level. You must maintain mana reinforcement all day, at a very refined level. Can I do that? "So, first of all, enduring a day is the beginning."

Of course, I thought so, but Luna's words that this is just the beginning sounded daunting to me.

* * *

What Luna asked me to do was a very simple task. Maintain mana reinforcement all day. There is no change in the fact that my mana amount is so small that it can be counted on the fingers of one hand in the world. That's why I could use mana reinforcement for much longer than most people. Even if I just output it as it is in the original way, I can maintain it for at least two hours. Despite the lower efficiency, it is still at that level. So, maintaining mana reinforcement, which uses only a very small part of my mana amount, should be an easy task. Of course, it was not easy at all. "Hey, what are you doing?" -Tuk "Ouch! This guy!" "What, what? Why are you suddenly angry?" Arta approached and tapped my shoulder fiercely, and I frowned as I saw the blue light of mana flowing from my body. It was not just maintaining mana reinforcement, but also maintaining a stable state of mind. Maintaining that state all day was by no means an ordinary task. * * * For a week after receiving the task from Luna, I was careful not to face any external stimuli. Of course, I knew that this was a misunderstanding of Luna's intention. What I had to do meant that I had to maintain a state of extreme mana reinforcement even while doing daily activities such as eating, talking to someone, or helping with farm work. However, I couldn't even reach that stage. I couldn't even endure an hour while sitting on my bed, maintaining that extreme mana reinforcement. After about 30 minutes, my whole body was covered in cold sweat, and eventually, I was exhausted and the state was released. Even though no one else touched me, it was difficult to maintain that state alone. When I poured all my attention into maintaining peace of mind, I ended up getting tired of it. I was actually feeling the strange threshold where maintaining peace of mind to maintain peace of mind was breaking it. If I thought that concentrating too much was the problem and tried to distract myself, the nature of mana reinforcement would inevitably change, and I would have to go back to the original mana reinforcement method where mana was released outward. Originally, the method of mana reinforcement required extreme concentration. It was already difficult to become accustomed to using mental power for mana reinforcement, but now the protagonist must become accustomed to a new method that requires even more concentration. After two weeks of trying, the protagonist could not maintain this state for more than two hours, even with minimal external stimuli. The protagonist meets with Arta and Lena, who notice the protagonist's exhausted state and ask about the new method. Arta is able to use the new method in combat, but does not have any specific tips for maintaining concentration. The protagonist and Arta end up practicing together. "The continuous maintenance means that the concentration is scattered and the mana is released to the outside at that moment. You can return to that state by concentrating again, but what Luna wants from me is to maintain this state all day long. ...Sigh, this is exhausting. I maintained that state for about an hour and got tired. Although I had enough magical power, it felt like my mental strength was being eaten away in real time. On the other hand, Arta sat still and concentrated without any movement. In the end, I also concentrated and sat next to him, repeating the situation where it was scattered for about three hours. 'Ah, I'm too tired to do this anymore.' Arta, who had almost run out of magical power, collapsed after enduring for about three hours. I felt like my mental strength was being eaten away for about an hour. Arta had no problem with his mental strength, but because of the limit of magical power, he could only endure for about three hours. That was each of our limits. 'I don't know, but Arta is really amazing, isn't he?' Lena, who didn't even know what we were doing in the first place, just nodded her head at the result. 'I don't want to admit it, but it's true.' 'Why do you say you don't want to admit it?' Arta laughed with a slack expression. I don't know how much actual magical power Arta has, but it's probably not that high. He's just using that magical power to the fullest. That means that when I make this method entirely my own, I can gain power and endurance that I couldn't compare to before. 'Anyway, I don't really know. The secret to concentration? I don't know. I really don't.' Arta lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. Lena, who had been watching me and Arta doing it for three hours as an outsider, said, 'Hmm, I don't know, but I think Arta and Reinhardt are different.' 'Really?' Arta asked. Lena nodded her head. 'Arta doesn't have any thoughts.' '...Suddenly?' Arta was taken aback by the comment that he was an ignorant fool. 'And Reinhardt thinks too much.' '...Is that so?' 'So, Arta is like, just do whatever, but Reinhardt is like, putting all his body and eyes into it...' Lena looked at me. 'When Reinhardt looks at you, I feel tired too.' 'Ah...' 'Even I'm tired of watching, how tired are you doing it?' 'It's natural for your mind to be scattered as you get tired.' Lena pointed at Arta, who was lying on the ground, and said nothing. A real example of someone who can concentrate even while lying down. I had nothing to say to Lena's simple observation. 'I also think about things...' Arta didn't seem to like hearing Lena say that he was a brainless person.