So, I almost had a heart attack.

The cause?

A fucking dog.

I was eating some dried deer meat when I felt mana activate close to me and instantly rolled backward, activating my skills.

But what I saw made me open my mouth like a goldfish gasping for air.

Biscuit was standing there, and from somewhere around his shoulders, two tentacles made of dark purple mana reached out toward me. When I rolled away, one of the tentacles continued trying to grab a piece of meat I had dropped but was unsuccessful. So, the corgi wobbled closer and ate it from the ground.

Then the tentacles disappeared.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Another strong suspicion hits me.

This can't be, right?

Not again.

There is no way he learned it because he can't jump up and grab food from our hands or if we put it in some high place to hide it from him.

“...”

Please, someone, tell me it's not because of that.

The corgi tilts his head and continues to look at me while breathing loudly with his tongue sticking out.

Biscuit…

Since then, I've had some fun by not telling anyone and watching people scream as the corgi tried it on them as well.

Hey, look, if it works, it works. Most of the time, they at least dropped their food, and the corgi ate it from the ground.

What I noticed is that for some people, he didn't even bother reaching out towards them with his mana tentacles. He just "spawned" them to scare people into dropping their food.

That's my boy.

Half a day passed, and my leg is nearly fully healed. I asked Lily to focus her healing there and ignore the rest of my wounds for now, and it did help a bit. As always, I continue to watch the way she uses her skill and the movement of her mana as it heals my wounds. It looks fairly simple at the start, but when I try it, nothing happens.

At this point, I am sure her mana is doing something on such a small, maybe even microscopic scale, and I can't ever observe it with my current skills.

Obviously, I will continue to try, but I don't think I will be able to replicate her skill anytime soon.

I check my skills:

Focus - Lvl 7Mana Manipulation - Lvl 9Mana Perception - Lvl 8Oscillation - Lvl 4Kinetic Redistribution - Lvl 5

So, [Mana Manipulation] is the closest one to level 10, and with a few days remaining, I am sure I will be able to complete the [Side quest].

Overall, it's not bad, but I will need some ranged attacks or something to shorten the distance between me and my opponent.

I already noticed it during the fight with the Spider Matriarch.

Sure, I am fast, really fast, but she was much faster, and I had trouble even getting to her. And what would happen if I got into a fight against someone with ranged attacks and good positioning? Yea, it would make things difficult.

Hmm, what are my options?

Tess's [Psychokinesis] or Kim's [Telekinesis] would be nice, but I tried them multiple times, and they seem to be similarly difficult to Lily's healing skill.

Kevin's [Combustion]? To be honest, I don't like it that much. Sure, I can grab some things, charge them up with skill, and then throw them, but it would feel awkward, not to mention the charging time needed before throwing.

Leon's technique, the stone spears, or something? I didn't even have time to check it out during the fight with the Matriarch, and somehow, I don't think he will be willing to teach me.

So that's it, I guess.

I will have to push through with my close-range combat and try to do something to increase my movement speed even more than just strengthening my body with mana.

Absorbing some kinetic power and using it to propel me forward is good, but what if someone throws fire at me or some magical nonsense?

Phew…Let's just continue practicing.

I move my body in various ways to get used to the altered balance I have right now with my missing left arm. My balance is off, but I know that I am exceptionally talented when it comes to using my body.

I've been told that since I was young, so getting used to it won't be such a problem.

Another thing is that my arm is not gone forever, and I just need to keep Lily alive long enough so she can level up her [Rejuvenation] and regrow it. It might take some time, but I am sure I will be able to get my arm back.

The problem is that I will be weakened until then, but that also might not be such a significant issue. The reason is mana.

Yup, this time, a human will learn something from an animal!

The gluttonous dog awakened his skill at the best possible moment.

I will totally copy it, yup.

Actually, I already started. I dangle food in front of him and ask him to use his skill to get it, and the best boy somehow understands.

Only after about thirty minutes of observing his skill, I realized that he is actually improving.

He learned to make the tentacles thinner to make it easier to grab small pieces of meat from me. It sent shivers down my back.

What have I done?

What monster am I creating here?

Huhu.

Anyway, the skill alone doesn't seem that difficult, but it will require a lot of mana.

Biscuit's skill takes care of efficiency and activation, and the dog only controls it, but I will have to push a lot of mana out of my body, manipulate it, make it denser, and shape it into the form of an arm.

Also, I will have to somehow connect it to my body, so it doesn't stay behind when I move…

Wait…

Sure, I found out that it's easier to manipulate my mana outside my body when it's connected to me at least a bit, but what if I improve enough? Won't it be possible to create objects that are not touching me and manipulate them?

Is that how Ethan's mana shield did work? Probably. More testing is needed!

Also, I will have to watch Maya a bit more. Her second skill, the translucent armor she used, might be a good inspiration for what I want to do and help me create not an armor but a translucent arm for myself.

I feel Lily's mana nearby, so I stop practicing and turn to her instead.

As she walks closer, she gives a small smile. "I got some mana back."

As I've done a few times before, I sit on the ground with my back against a tree, and she sits next to me. Then she places her hand on my knee, and I push my mana away so hers can enter and start healing.

It's warm yet refreshing, like a breeze on a hot day.

A minute passes as we sit there in silence, and I look at her hand on my knee. It's so small. Some of her nails are broken, and it's scratched up. Looking up close, I realize that most of the nails look as if she's been biting them off, probably out of distress.

Not everyone has skills such as [Focus], and it's not hard to imagine how much pressure it puts on someone like Lily.

She continues until she's out of mana, and I notice that she pushes to get the last bit of it out. Some sweat even appears on her forehead from how hard she's focusing, and her hand trembles a bit.

Why?

Just take care of yourself, you silly girl.

We're just strangers.

It all just makes me feel sour.

"Phew! That's it for now, I guess." A bright smile appears on her small face, but then we hear a twig crack nearby, and she shudders, quickly turning towards it. Fear flashes through her face, but she pushes it away as fast as it appeared.

I don't look there, as with my [Mana Perception], I know it's just a corgi passing by.

"Lily," I say quietly without thinking about it much.

She turns to me, smiling again, but there's still some stiffness in her body after she got scared.

"I can't promise you that everything will be fine, but know that I will help you if I can, okay?"

If it won't kill me, I'll help you. I can even risk some big wounds.

I don't mind it that much. They're just wounds that will heal.

I need you to get my arm back, that's why.

There... there isn´t any other reason.

Her face freezes for a bit, and she nods slowly.

She doesn't say anything, but as she turns around, I see that her eyes are wetter than before.

She leaves, and I let mana flow through my body while looking up at the sky.