Zeldryn was still holding his forehead after Kera flicked it.
The small pain from the flick itself wasn't much.
What confused him was what Kera had said.
‘Huh?’
‘Kill myself?’
Zeldryn stared at the man in front of him.
Then he remembered what Kera had just said.
“Only absorb as much as you need, idiot!”
“...”
‘Only absorb as much as I need?’
Zeldryn slowly shifted his gaze toward the mana particles filling the forest.
Now that he thought about it...
Something strange really had happened earlier.
At first, Zeldryn only wanted to get rid of the empty feeling in his Mana Hole.
But the more mana entered...
The more comfortable it felt.
That strange thirst from below his navel gradually disappeared.
Replaced by the feeling of something inside his body being filled again.
And because it felt too comfortable...
Zeldryn had gotten carried away.
He kept absorbing.
And absorbing.
Until he stopped paying attention to how much mana was entering.
‘Don't tell me...’
Zeldryn frowned.
‘I absorbed too much mana?’
Rather than continuing to make theories on his own, this time Zeldryn chose to ask directly.
After all...
That was the whole reason he had gone looking for Kera in the first place.
Zeldryn stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
Hearing the question, Kera immediately let out a long sigh.
“Good grief...”
He looked like he'd just been given an incredibly troublesome job.
“Teaching an idiot like you is exhausting.”
“...”
Zeldryn held himself back.
‘Can you explain something without insulting me first, bastard?’
But he didn't say it.
For now, Kera's explanation was far more important.
Kera finally raised one hand.
“Think of it like this.”
He formed a simple shape with both hands.
“Imagine you have a glass.”
Zeldryn watched him.
“Then imagine mana is water.”
Kera moved his hands as if he were pouring water into a container.
“And that glass is your Mana Hole.”
Zeldryn gave a small nod.
So far, it was still easy to understand.
Kera continued,
“When you absorb mana from outside, think of it as pouring water into that glass.”
“A little mana goes in...”
“Your glass fills up a little.”
“More mana goes in...”
“Your glass gets fuller.”
Zeldryn continued listening.
Then Kera raised one finger.
“But there's a problem.”
“A Mana Hole doesn't actually work like an ordinary glass.”
Zeldryn frowned.
Kera once again made the motion of pouring water.
“If an ordinary glass is already full and you keep pouring water into it, what happens?”
Zeldryn immediately answered,
“The water spills out.”
“Smart.”
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Kera smiled slightly.
“At least you still understand something that simple.”
‘Bastard.’
Kera then pointed toward Zeldryn's lower abdomen.
“But a Mana Hole is different.”
“The mana that has already entered doesn't automatically spill back out just because your Mana Hole is full.”
Zeldryn's expression became more serious.
“Think of it as having some kind of door that keeps the mana inside.”
Kera closed his palm.
“Mana enters.”
“The door holds it in.”
“Then you absorb more.”
“More mana enters.”
“And if you keep doing that...”
Kera's gaze locked directly onto Zeldryn.
“Your Mana Hole will keep accepting mana as long as you keep pulling it in.”
“...”
Zeldryn fell silent.
Kera continued,
“The problem is, if you've already reached your capacity and you still keep forcing more mana inside...”
He pointed at Zeldryn's body.
“The consequences won't affect only your Mana Hole.”
“Your body will suffer too.”
Zeldryn immediately remembered something.
Last night.
When he first tried seriously absorbing mana.
At first, everything had felt normal.
Mana entered.
More and more.
Then...
The pain started.
From inside his body.
It grew worse and worse.
Zeldryn could still clearly remember how the pain kept increasing until he could barely think about anything else.
And after that...
He lost consciousness.
‘So...’
Zeldryn began connecting Kera's explanation with what had happened.
But Kera wasn't finished.
“If you want to release the mana already inside your Mana Hole, you have to do it yourself.”
Zeldryn focused on him again.
“You have to control that mana and use it.”
Kera pointed toward the tree Zeldryn had attacked earlier.
“Like what you just did.”
“When you move mana and create an explosion, you're using the mana you have.”
“The more you use...”
“The emptier your Mana Hole becomes.”
Zeldryn instinctively held his lower abdomen.
‘So that's what caused that thirst earlier?’
That made sense.
His first explosion had been normal.
Then the second explosion had used far more mana.
After that, his Mana Hole began feeling empty and dry.
Kera once again formed the glass analogy with his hands.
“So imagine your glass is already full.”
“But you keep pouring water into a glass that can't spill the excess out on its own.”
Kera smiled.
“What do you think will happen?”
Zeldryn fell silent.
He didn't need to be a genius to understand what Kera meant.
‘The pressure keeps increasing.’
And if the container couldn't withstand it...
‘...It could break.’
Kera lowered his hands.
“Understand so far, brat?”
Zeldryn slowly nodded.
“More or less.”
However...
That explanation only created another question.
Zeldryn remembered last night again.
‘Wait.’
It was true that he had tried absorbing mana back then.
At first, deliberately.
He focused his mind.
Let the mana particles enter.
More and more.
Until eventually, the pain appeared.
But...
‘I stopped trying to absorb it.’
Zeldryn still remembered that part.
Once the pain became too severe, mana was no longer something he wanted to think about.
He only wanted the pain to stop.
His concentration had already fallen apart.
Even maintaining his thoughts had become difficult.
But strangely...
The sensation of mana continuing to enter didn't immediately stop.
It was as if the absorption process kept going even though he was no longer focusing on it.
Zeldryn raised his head.
“Kera.”
Kera looked at him.
“Hmm?”
“I want to ask something.”
Kera immediately sighed.
“You ask way too many questions.”
Zeldryn ignored the comment.
“Can a Manholer absorb mana even when they're not focusing?”
“...”
Kera fell silent.
Several seconds passed.
Then the corner of his lips began to twitch.
“Pfft.”
Zeldryn frowned.
“Huh?”
And suddenly...
“BUAHAHAHAHA!”
Kera burst out laughing.
“...”
Zeldryn's face immediately hardened.
‘What the fuck is so funny?’
Kera laughed for quite a while before finally calming himself down.
“Your question is hilarious.”
Zeldryn became even more irritated.
“What's funny about it?”
“Alright.”
Kera was still smiling.
“Instead of answering you directly, I'll ask you a question.”
Zeldryn waited.
Kera raised one hand.
“Imagine you're fighting.”
“A real fight.”
“The enemy is right in front of you.”
“The mana in your Mana Hole is almost gone.”
Kera then closed his eyes.
He put on a serious expression and stood completely still.
“If every time you wanted to refill your mana, you had to do this...”
“Close your eyes.”
“Stand still.”
“Focus.”
“Then slowly absorb mana one particle at a time...”
Kera opened his eyes.
“What would happen?”
Zeldryn fell silent.
He imagined the situation.
The enemy was right in front of him.
His mana was empty.
Then he suddenly said,
Wait a second, I need to refill my mana first.
After that, he closed his eyes.
Concentrated.
“...Die?”
Kera's smile grew wider.
Zeldryn added,
“Or get beaten to death before I even finish?”
“Yup.”
Zeldryn frowned.
‘That's true.’
If every Manholer had to do what he'd just done simply to absorb mana...
That would be completely absurd.
They would become easy targets every time their Mana Hole started running empty.
Just wait until they closed their eyes.
Attack.
Done.
‘That would be fucking stupid.’
Kera nodded.
“It's rare to see you not being stupid.”
“...”
‘I'll ignore that.’
Kera then pointed at Zeldryn.
“That's one of the reasons why I still call you a Level 1 Manholer candidate.”
!!??
Zeldryn immediately paid closer attention.
“A Level 1 Manholer is at least capable of absorbing a certain amount of mana without having to close their eyes and focus their entire consciousness like you just did.”
Zeldryn frowned.
“So they can absorb mana while doing other things?”
“More or less.”
Kera shrugged.
“If you had to sit down and meditate every time you ran out of mana, what would even be the point of fighting?”
Zeldryn fell silent.
‘Makes sense.’
Even if he remembered the novel Life Really Is Happy, Right?...
That also fit.
The author very rarely explained the mechanics of mana in detail.
Usually there would only be sentences like...
The protagonist began gathering mana.
Or...
He replenished the mana he had used.
There was never a scene where the protagonist stopped fighting just to close his eyes for several minutes while absorbing mana.
If there was...
‘He'd die on the spot, damn it.’
Zeldryn sighed.
But several seconds later...
!!!??
His thoughts stopped.
‘Wait.’
His eyes slowly widened.
Something from Kera's explanation had just connected with what happened the night before.
A Manholer could absorb mana without constantly concentrating.
Which meant...
Zeldryn remembered that night again.
He had indeed started the absorption deliberately.
He closed his eyes.
Focused.
Pulled mana in.
But once the pain started...
He no longer wanted to absorb anything.
His concentration had already fallen apart.
And yet...
Mana kept entering.
‘So...’
Zeldryn stared blankly ahead.
‘Just because I stop focusing doesn't mean the mana absorption has to stop.’
His heart began beating slightly faster.
He started putting the pieces of information together.
That night, he initiated the absorption.
Once the process started...
He didn't know how to stop it.
Mana kept entering.
More and more.
The pain grew worse.
Until eventually, he lost consciousness.
And earlier...
When Kera told him to absorb mana to refill his empty Mana Hole...
Zeldryn got carried away again.
He kept pulling in mana.
More and more.
Until Kera flicked his forehead and forced him to stop.
“...”
Zeldryn stared at his own hand.
‘So all this time...’
One possibility began to form.
‘I really can start absorbing mana.’
But...
He hadn't actually mastered the process yet.
Being able to open the flow didn't mean he knew how to close it.
Being able to pull mana inside didn't mean he knew when or how to stop.
Zeldryn slowly looked at Kera.
‘So the reason mana kept entering that night...’
‘And the reason I almost went too far again earlier...’
His eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Is because I still don't know how to control when the mana absorption should stop?’