Chapter 12: Ch 12 : Mana Stone, God of Manifestations

As Sunny meticulously experimented with the primitive humans he had made using manifestation in his personal God Space, his focus was absolute. The intricate dance of genetic code, the precise manipulation of nascent biological systems—this was his domain. The omnipresent God Chat panel was still open, a constant stream of divine chatter. It had been distracting at first, but now, Sunny had mastered the art of multitasking, allowing the endless stream of comments to flow past his divine awareness without disturbing his profound concentration. Suddenly, a particular set of messages pierced through the background hum. "I swear! If I find this person, I am going to punch him hard," typed one God, their digital fury palpable across the cosmic network. "What happened, brother?" typed another God, unable to contain their curiosity. "Someone just listed 100 mana stones for 1 Faith point each in the trading platform!" the first God retorted, the virtual exclamation points conveying a profound sense of injustice. "That is what trading is all about," chimed another God, clearly amused by the outburst. "Check the description of that trade first!" the first God snapped back. The chat went abruptly silent. Every God, it seemed, paused their cosmic endeavors and opened the trading platform. Even Sunny, engrossed as he was in his genetic research, stopped his experimentation. He wasn't particularly interested in the drama of the description, but the mention of mana stones—a tangible piece of the magic he couldn't directly wield—was profoundly enticing. Sunny navigated to the listing. There, he saw a stone shimmering with an inner light, radiating an undeniable sense of arcane energy as he observed it. "So this is a mana stone," Sunny mused, a flicker of excitement igniting his divine essence. Without hesitation, he initiated a trade, acquiring a single stone for 1 Faith point. He was about to close the trading platform, his curiosity satisfied, but then his gaze lingered for a moment, glancing at the description. His eyes twitched, a ripple of divine amusement and mild annoyance passing through him, as he read the brazen words: "For the fools who can't have the taste of magic." Sunny abruptly closed the trading platform, a wry smile touching his lips. The taunt, while childish, had solidified his resolve. Now that he possessed a mana stone, he was eager to see what this conduit of raw magical energy could change within his primitive humans. He immediately began manifesting new subjects in his God Space: a succession of primitive humans from his world, alongside an inexhaustible supply of the glowing mana stones. The true marvel of manifestation in God Space was twofold: first, it was entirely free of cost, allowing for limitless experimentation without depleting his vital Faith. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the more he practiced, the better his control over manifestation became. He no longer even needed to maintain physical contact with the manifested objects for them to retain their form; he could conjure and dismiss them infinitely, with perfect clarity. Sunny began his first, direct experiment: he attempted to infuse the mana from the mana stone directly into the primitive human's body. As he channeled the shimmering essence into the manifested form, the results were horrific. The primitive human began to convulse violently, vomiting forth its internal contents, before suddenly bursting into grotesque shreds, scattering pieces and blood across the void of his God Space. It was a gruesome, yet informative, sight. This was precisely why Sunny never conducted such volatile experiments directly on the living primitive humans thriving on Veridia. He had already witnessed similar explosive failures countless times on rats, gorillas, cats, and other creatures during his prior genetic research. Sunny dismissed the shattered manifestation with a thought and conjured a new primitive human. He noted in his mind, with divine precision, that direct, forceful infusion of mana into a biological body was a dead end. So, he changed his approach. This time, he started to infuse the mana very slowly, carefully modulating the flow to the precise limit where the body could handle the ethereal load without catastrophic failure. Slowly and painstakingly, the primitive human began to digest that mana. Its body, rather than convulsing, subtly transformed. It became more robust, imbued with an unfamiliar vigor and raw energy. Sunny was already aware of this specific use of mana; many boastful Gods in the chat often gloated about the incredible strength and resilience of their mana-infused life forms. Next, Sunny initiated an experiment with a different method. He manifested a new primitive human and began to induce the mana into its system through breathing. Why breathing but not direct infusion into the body? This was because, although Sunny could now accurately channel mana into a body without difficulty, for the primitive humans themselves, direct infusion was an agonizingly painful process. A creature would simply never choose it. To further test his hypothesis on mana absorption and resilience, Sunny manifested a fully grown elephant, a creature with an inherently sturdy, massive body. He began to infuse mana into it, slowly at first, then with increasing volume. The key observation was profound: the elephant could handle significantly more mana than the human, and its body was visibly becoming more and more robust, its hide thickening, its muscles rippling with new power. Sunny dismissed the elephant, satisfied. His theory was correct: animals, with their simpler metabolisms and often greater physical resilience, could indeed handle mana infused directly into their bodies, turning it into raw physical enhancement. He then returned his focus to the primitive human he was observing, the one slowly infusing mana through breathing. Sunny meticulously guided the mana, making it circulate through every vein and each minute body part. Each region where mana circulated became subtly sturdier than before, its tissues imbued with a low-level, continuous fortification. "So that's how mana works," Sunny exclaimed, a flash of profound understanding illuminating his divine mind. He wasn't so arrogant as to believe he had conceptualized all of this himself. He had gleaned these foundational ideas from the countless fantasy novels he had devoured back on the Blue Planet and from the endless, often boastful, discussions in the God Chat. "But how can I make it perform magic?" Sunny pondered, facing a new, frustrating barrier. He knew he couldn't use manifestation for this particular leap. Performing true magic, as per his novel-acquired knowledge and the subtle hints from the System, would require a soul, a spiritual core that his manifested constructs inherently lacked. "Should I start human trials?" Sunny thought, the gravity of using actual Veridian lifeforms for such dangerous experimentation weighing on him. But just then, a notification, as melodious as heavenly maidens singing in a celestial choir, resonated directly in Sunny's ethereal ear, piercing through his thoughts with an unmistakable brilliance. [Global Notification!] [Congratulations God Cosmos for gaining the unique title "God of Manifestations"] This resounding Global Notification instantly silenced all activity. Gods who were idly chatting ceased their conversations. Those who were valiantly facing their latest misfortune paused their divine interventions, their struggles momentarily forgotten. Even the most secluded Gods, who were meticulously leading their lifeforms towards steady, unhurried evolution, stopped in their tracks, their attention forcibly drawn to this singular, universe-spanning announcement. Sunny's secret experiments, conducted in the solitude of his God Space, had unexpectedly garnered cosmic recognition.