Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"What do you know about the source of the existing mana, Erni?"

Nina asked Eren who pondered on that question for a bit. He had finished up his Sativa stick by now. He didn't find it appropriate to light another stick in her presence right after he finished the first one, lest she thinks he had gotten addicted. He had gotten addicted to his vice. He just didn't want the Master ranker to know about it.

"From what I have learned so far about mana, the genesis of mana is a mystery. We don't know how the races came to harness the power of mana.

The source of this world's mana is bound to this world's residents. Maybe there are other worlds out there. Worlds that might be completely different or exactly similar to this one. But the mana those worlds would have would be different than what we have here. Am I correct in saying that?"

Nina nodded when she heard Eren's answer. She was glad that he wasn't obtaining any dubious information. She clarified it further.

"That's right, Erni. I don't think we should talk about the world at large at this point. Besides, even I am not qualified to talk about things at that scale. But let's talk about the source of mana itself.

You know that we communicate with higher consciousness whenever we are in a state of epiphany. This higher consciousness is often influenced by the world's will in general. The mana this world contains also has the world's imprint on it.

The difference between native and foreign mana is that both will have different imprints on them that would correspond to their respective worlds. There were heretics in the past who could tap into the foreign world's mana and use its power to gain an overwhelming advantage over their opponents.

The use of foreign mana is part of old paths of magic that are not practised anymore. At least not openly anymore."

Eren nodded his head and spread his mana sense in the room. He knew he was stretching his luck by asking questions like these on his dinner date with Nina. So he decided to move forward with his next set of plans before asking any more questions.

The array disk that had been kept in the middle of the living space was activated after Eren operated on it. Immediately the scenery in front of the duo's eyes was changed.

Nina noticed that her surroundings had changed visually. She found herself near a medium-sized lake that was reflecting the well-lit sky laden with sparkling stars. The blue hue of the sky made it look otherworldly.

Among the many sparkling sources of light, the half-moon was visible in the sky. She could see that there was a range of dunes surrounding the space in the distance. The lakeside where her dinner table and Eren were, was covered in light purple and blue vegetation along with a bit of regular green.

The pier by the lakeside tempted her to take a dip in the water. The entire scene looked gorgeous and had a touch of a fantastical vibe about it.

The array didn't rely solely on creating a visual impact. It also incorporated various other arrays based on multiple elements to add other effects to the scenery. Nina could feel a light breeze that carried the scent of the wild. The sound of the lake's mildly moving water was also added to the mix.

Only the elements of reality that Eren had chosen could make it to this fantastical land. The dinner table was one. The bed in the distance was the other.

This array created a real-life atmosphere in the duo's living room, causing them to feel like they were in an unknown land. Of course, if they use mana sense now, their vision would change and they'd again find themselves on the ground floor of their apothecary. Then again, Nina and Eren wouldn't use their mana sense here and ruin the mood for themselves.

This was not all. Eren operated the array disk again and immediately a soothing flute tune started playing in the background. The tune was soon accompanied by other instruments that complimented the flute tune while it was being played slowly.

This was a slow dance number Eren had played with the help of the array disk. The beats were apt for a romantic Waltz.

Nina flashed a very gracious smile after finding out Eren had taken efforts to arrange a date like this for her. A part of her knew that she was being a bit selfish by demanding something so "extra" from him. But she thought she should at least ask for something like this from the guy she was with.

Eren got up and walked near Nina. He asked for Nina's hand for a dance. The latter was already pleased with his arrangements. She didn't waste time in offering her hand while getting up from her seat.

"My my, Erni. This is quite a nice setup you have here."

Nina said and approached Eren. The latter placed his left hand over her waist while his right hand was locked with hers. Eren smirked before responding:

"Follow my lead."

Eren began a slow waltz. Nina followed his lead while smiling at him. The music in the background was soothing to hear. The gentle breeze produced by the array along with the overall visual atmosphere set a new definition of romanticism for Nina.

"M'lady, would you be kind enough to answer some of the last questions I have while we are dancing together?"

Eren asked Nina politely. The latter chuckled because Eren couldn't pull off being polite. The formal mannerisms and etiquettes would always sound awkward coming from him. But she didn't mind now that they were near each other– slowly dancing and touching each other.

She had also understood that instead of boring her by asking questions plainly, Eren had started this dance earlier than he had planned. So that she doesn't feel bored. The healer liked that her guy was aware of her moods and was taking measures to keep her mood uplifted. Therefore, she responded positively:

"Alright, Erni. Go ahead. You'd have as much time as this song plays in the background."

Eren grinned and asked his next question:

"How does using foreign mana affect a ranker?"