"What idea do you have about mana?" Rivorio suddenly asked me.

"I don’t know ... but ..." Having no direct experience with this "energy", I focused on thinking about fantasy stories or video games from my world where it was present.

"Mana ... I think it is a kind of energy present in nature ...and which can be absorbed and fruited to do absurd things ... like spells or other ..."

"EHH, of course, of course, I was asking you more in detail ...". Rivorio muttered, "well, actually mana itself is hard to describe, as its nature is changeable and sometimes it behaves as if it were made of matter, other times it feels like something else ... mana, as you said, is present everywhere in nature, and sometimes it is also present in objects… ”. He paused with thoughtful faces, "For a human being, imagining mana is difficult, that's why first of all you need to learn to perceive it ... after you are able to perceive it, you will finally have an idea of what mana is ..."

'Oh … mmh, indeed, if I explain to a person what "yellow" is without his having ever seen it, until he sees it firsthand, he will never know what yellow really is... mmh ... or at least I think ... '

"I think I understand ... but how do I do it to perceive mana?" I asked doubtfully.

“EHH… actually the simplest way would be to fight and risk your life against magical beasts…. indeed ... you who have already fought risking your life twice, once with that errant bear and the other with that chimera hound ... don't you feel you are a little different? "

"Mmh ..." I tried to think but nothing came to mind.

"Strange ... usually the body becomes more aware of mana when it is in a life or death situation ..."

I wanted to ask him why, however, before I could ask, I answered myself.

'Whether it's because of the survival instinct ...' 

'Mmh ... ah-'

"Maybe ... the fact that after both the fight with the bear and the fight of the day before yesterday I recovered very quickly, is it because I become more conscious of mana? " I asked, in fact, it had been a while since I was curious as to why I recovered so quickly, compared to the injuries I suffered.

"EHH ... not really, that is due to the fact that you are a hero ... even the heroes before you had something special compared to us ordinary people," he air-quoted with both hands, "mana treats you differently, it's as if you involuntarily attracted mana to you… it's thanks to this that you recovered from that condition so quickly… ”he scratched his chin, “actually, you are a special case even among the heroes…” he added.

"Mmh?"

"Ehh, when they brought you to me that you were in very bad condition, the mana around you seemed to help you heal your wounds almost voluntarily ..." He said as if he was still incredulous about it.

'Hmm, so… maybe then it'll be easy for me to learn how to use mana, right?'

"Don't flatter yourself..." he added as if he had read my mind.

For a while Rivorio did not speak, as if he had lost his train of thread, then he got up from his chair and went to a shelf full of books.

Without hesitation, he picked up a book and carried it with him to the table.

'Ah, he managed to find the book he was looking for the first time in this messy room ...' I was almost more surprised by that than when he had made the cookies appear out of nowhere.

Rivorio handed the book to me, inviting me to take it.

The front of the book was quite sparse and damaged. It had only one writing in the center: the title of the book.

"Mmh ... be aware of what surrounds us ... what is it?" I asked.

"Read it ... it will help you sense mana around you ... and then ..." He walked on another shelf and picked up a sheet of yellowish paper, placed between a scattered pile of other loose sheets.

'How does he ...' I was incredulous to see how he juggled that mess.

"Here, this is a recipe for an herbal tea ... mmh, let's say it will help you broaden your horizons ..."

"Mmh ... one second ..." 'He gave me the recipe so ...' "Will I have to make the herbal tea myself?"

"Exactly, and ... wait ...". He took a book bound in dark green leather from the same shelf.

"Here, you will have to go and collect what you need in the woods ... this is an encyclopedia of the flora and fauna of the surroundings ..."

The fact that I should already have gone back to the woods made me a little nervous. However, part of me found something interesting about this. 

'It's almost like a treasure hunt ...' this thought made me smile faintly, however, that smile didn't last long.

"But ... that beast I met the other day ... you said it was a Chimera Hound ... but what is it actually, that is, is it an errant or something else?"

"What you have faced is none other than one of the exploration monsters of the first plague, the Chimera Plague ...". Rivorio answered.

"But then ..." I did not finish the sentence, however, Rivorio understood my concerns.

He went to a shelf and took a hemp parchment with him, which he then unrolled onto the table.

"Look ..." he pointed to the map, "this is the map of the region we are in now, the region of Sa°r, this region is partly conquered by the first plague to the north, while that tip to the east has been conquered by the second plague,” he pointed with his right index finger at the easternmost tip of the region. A region, that of Sa°r, with a shape that vaguely resembled a parallelogram.

"Until now, this part of the region in which we are has never been affected by the plans to conquer of the Plagues… in fact, this could be considered the safest area in the world ..." he said, pointing his finger to where we were on the map.

"Mmh ..." a theory came to mind about it, “maybe it's because this is the place where we heroes appear…” calling myself “hero” still made me feel a little weird.

"Ehh, I thought about it too ... however, think about it, what sense would it make for the Lord of the Plagues to leave the area where its greatest threats appear, that is you heroes, as last in its conquests? ..." he said in a perplexed tone.

"Mmh ..." 'Indeed ...' 

I was about to ask him about the cities that were marked on the map, however, we were stopped by the call of a familiar voice, it was Marie's voice coming from outside Rivorio's house.

Both Rivorio and I went to the door to see why she was calling us.

We found her waiting for us in front of the door. Although her eyes still hid some visible psychological wounds, she had a smile on her face.

"We would like to thank you with a lunch ..." She began to speak without preamble.

"Mmh?" Rivorio and I reacted at the same time.

"Yes, well ... both Tom and Lilya, I and other regulars of the inn ... we would like to thank you for your deeds ..." Her gaze turned to me.

"EHH ..." Rivorio grunted, "well, you go Eizo, I don't really want to ..." he grumbled.

"Huh ?! No no, you come too!" Marie insisted, however, Rivorio heard no reason and went back to the living room.

"R-Rivorio?" I tried to call him. 

He turned his gaze to me

"Have fun, this is also part of being a hero, don't think about me, I'm not made for this kind of thing ..." he said, face dull, and then turned back to the chair he had previously sat on.

"But ..." I didn't know how to make him change his mind, even Marie didn't seem to understand his behavior well.

"Well ... will you come?"

“Y-yeah…” I wasn't made for that sort of thing either, however, I felt I couldn't turn down her invitation too.