part1 · 040-ep40
Episode 40: The True Nature of MP
"MP."
Ren stared at the numbers for a while.
《HP: 100/100》
《MP: 38/50》
"...I've got to find out what this is."
The name alone meant nothing to him. But he had an idea.
That fatigue he'd felt when using 《Appraisal》 over and over. At first, he'd assumed he was simply tired.
But now that he could see this thing called MP—
"...Is it connected?"
Ren decided to test it.
◇
Ren turned his awareness to the stone in front of him.
"...Appraisal."
《Name: Stone》
《Type: Material》
《Status: Normal》
Checking the information displayed, Ren closed the display once. Then he turned his awareness to himself.
"...Appraisal."
《Name: Kurose Ren》
《Age: 16》
《Race: Human》
《HP: 100/100》
《MP: 36/50》
《Skills》
《《Infinite Growth》》
《《Survival Adaptation》》
《《Appraisal Lv.2》》
"...Huh?"
Ren stared at the MP number. It had been 38 until just now.
He'd appraised the stone. And appraised himself, too.
If those two uses were what it dropped by—
"...It goes down every time I use it?"
Still no certainty. It might be coincidence.
Ren thought a little.
"Let's test it one more time."
◇
This time, there was no need to appraise anything else. He'd appraise only himself.
"Appraisal."
《MP: 35/50》
Ren checked the number displayed.
"Down one."
Once more.
"Appraisal."
《MP: 34/50》
"...Down one again."
And once more.
"Appraisal."
《MP: 33/50》
Ren stared at the numbers in silence for a while.
Down one on the first. Down one on the second. Down one on the third.
"...No doubt about it."
At last, Ren was sure.
"Every use of 《Appraisal》 costs one MP."
The fatigue he'd felt at the start was explained by this, too. Keep using it, and MP drops. And when MP drops, the fatigue gets worse.
"So that's why... I got so sluggish back then."
It made sense to him.
◇
But there was still one thing he didn't know.
"If it drops... does it come back?"
Ren stopped using Appraisal and decided to rest on the spot. For a while he did nothing, letting his body recover.
Before long, he appraised himself once more.
《MP: 40/50》
"...It's going up."
More time passed.
《MP: 42/50》
"Just as I thought..."
MP didn't only go down. As time passed, it recovered, little by little.
And in step with it, the fatigue in his body had faded as well.
"Use it, and it drops... rest, and it comes back."
Ren turned his awareness to the power inside him. The mysterious flow he'd felt for so long.
"Is this... MP?"
Still no certainty. But he felt like the power he'd never caught as anything but a feeling and the numbers before his eyes had connected.
"MP might be... the amount of magic I carry inside me."
That was what Ren concluded.
◇
And Ren looked at his status once more.
《HP: 100/100》
《MP: 42/50》
Looking at the numbers, a question surfaced.
"...Forty-two."
And he looked at the maximum beside it.
"Fifty..."
MP had a maximum.
"How's this fifty decided?"
Was he born with it? Would it grow if he trained it?
Or—
Ren's gaze slid to the skills entry.
《Infinite Growth》.
"..."
The skill's true effect, he still didn't know.
But if it lived up to its name—
"Would this fifty MP... go up, too?"
The answer, he didn't know yet. For now, it was only a question.
But someday, he might be able to test it.
"...I'll look into that someday, too."
Murmuring that, Ren closed his status.
The MP he'd just learned of. The still-unknown 《Infinite Growth》. And the mysterious power flowing inside him.
One thing at a time was fine. What he didn't know, he'd test and confirm himself.
That was the way Ren had learned over this past year of surviving.