Tundra lay on the grass, quietly feeling the mana flowing through the pathways Kuroa had created.
After a moment, a question came to mind.
He turned his head toward her.
"I'm not complaining," he said, "but why did you create the pathways for me?"
"I feel like that should be a natural process, shouldn't it?"
Kuroa sighed as she leaned against a nearby tree.
"Yes… it usually is," she admitted.
"At first I did it simply to save time."
She paused.
"But once I discovered the star in your chest, I realized something."
She shook her head slightly, still baffled by the memory.
"It would have been almost impossible for you to form stable pathways on your own."
Tundra nodded slowly.
"Oh."
After a moment he asked another question.
"But why pathways at all?"
"Wouldn't it be better if mana flowed freely through my body?"
Kuroa paused.
Her mind was finally beginning to clear after the mental strain of earlier.
"It's because you have ki," she explained.
"Mana and ki don't mix well."
"If one is overwhelmingly stronger than the other, the weaker one becomes suppressed."
She gestured lightly toward him.
"Your ki is extremely powerful."
"So if mana flowed freely through your body, it would likely be masked by your ki."
"The pathways allow mana to circulate without interference."
Tundra nodded.
His curiosity was satisfied—for now.
Kuroa sighed again and closed her eyes, taking a moment to rest.
Tundra did the same.
For about half an hour, both of them simply rested in silence.
Eventually Kuroa stood up.
The slight shift in her ki made Tundra open his eyes as well, and he began to stand.
As she walked past him, Kuroa gently pulled on his arm.
"Stay seated, please," she said.
"You're too tall."
Tundra complied immediately, sitting back down.
He didn't mind accommodating small things like that.
Especially after she had given him access to magic.
Kuroa walked several meters away before turning to face him.
"Alright," she said.
"For the final thing today, I'd like to see your mana."
Tundra nodded.
He tried to push some mana outward through the pathways in his arm—
Immediately, a sharp, searing pain shot through him.
He tensed and stopped instantly.
He didn't even know what he had done wrong.
Kuroa looked confused for a moment.
Then realization struck her.
"Ah."
"You can't push mana out of the pathways."
"You'll only end up hurting yourself."
She crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"You need to guide it along the pathways, like a liquid."
"And be very gentle."
"These pathways were just created."
"You don't want to tear them apart."
Tundra nodded.
He had assumed it worked similarly to ki.
"My mistake. Thank you for the advice."
He tried again.
This time he moved the mana slowly.
Carefully.
To his surprise, it flowed easily through the pathways.
Like water through a stream.
It felt very different from his ki, which was thick and viscous by comparison.
He softened the flow even more and guided a small amount out through his hand.
The mana dispersed into the air around him.
Kuroa stepped closer, observing carefully.
His mana looked… calm.
Almost peaceful.
Curious, she wrapped a tiny spark of her own mana around his to test its reaction.
The moment her mana touched his—
It exploded.
Her spark burst apart as Tundra's mana suddenly turned violent, tearing apart the surrounding mana with overwhelming force.
Kuroa immediately pulled back.
She stared at him warily.
"Well… that was unexpected."
She walked a short distance away before turning back toward him.
"Mana is a natural energy," she explained slowly.
"It's produced by all living things and by anything that generates energy."
"Because of that… it often reflects the nature of its source."
Tundra grimaced slightly.
He didn't like people seeing his true nature so clearly.
It made things… complicated.
Kuroa continued.
"Your mana appears calm."
"But the moment another will touches it…"
"…it tears everything apart."
She studied him carefully.
"I assume you're far more controlled than that."
"But… is that reaction close to your nature?"
Tundra sighed.
There was no point lying.
Not to someone who had already seen the truth.
In reality, he despised strangers probing into him.
Enough that he might tear them apart if circumstances allowed it.
"I am more controlled than that," he said quietly.
"But what it reacted to was the probing your mana was doing."
Kuroa looked at him for a moment longer before nodding.
The reaction had been incredibly violent.
Usually when mana displayed a trait that strongly, it meant the trait was deeply rooted in the individual.
"Very well," she said.
"I'll need to take that into account for our next lesson."
She folded her arms.
"But for today, the lesson is over."
"Rest up before the next one."
In truth, the violent reaction of his mana had startled her slightly.
And she felt a little embarrassed by that.
Tundra nodded.
"Very well."
"I'll meet with you again tomorrow."
"Make sure you get some rest as well."
Kuroa nodded in return.
With that, Tundra lifted into the air and flew back toward the engineering planet.