Chapter 16: Ch 16 : The Mana Bloom

Now that the fundamental problem with the usage of his unique title, God of Manifestations, was gloriously solved, Sunny plunged wholeheartedly into experimentation. His first and most pressing priority was to determine if his primitive humans could, in some form, directly harness his Faith points in lieu of mana. While his divine experiments progressed, the primitive humans on Veridia were already establishing their dominance. The remarkable aspect of the 10x evolution rate was that it seemed to primarily accelerate the body's development to its perfect physical condition—around 30 years of age—rather than merely aging them rapidly. Once they reached this prime, their bodies would not simply decay and die at an accelerated rate; instead, they would remain in peak condition. The human leader, Thorn, was currently in his prime, and his Super Strength (C-Grade) talent truly shone in these burgeoning days. Everywhere he went, the loud cries of vanquished animals wailed through the forests, signaling the ever-increasing prosperity of the human tribe. Thorn, as a charismatic and successful leader, had already taken many wives, and his children numbered a remarkable twenty. Sunny, as their God, observed Thorn's offspring with utmost importance, eager to discover if the coveted talent could be inherited. Out of the twenty children, sixteen possessed F, E, or sometimes D-Grade talents, while the remaining four were entirely talentless. This didn't deter Sunny's initial assumption; instead, it fueled the fire in his heart, making it burn even brighter. The reason for his renewed vigor? Five of Thorn's sixteen talented children had inherited some form of Super Strength, even if at a lower grade. As time flowed, the human populace swelled rapidly, growing from the first few hundred to many thousands. This burgeoning population generated a colossal amount of Faith for Sunny, constantly replenishing his reserves. "Failed again!" exclaimed a divine voice, frustration clear in his tone. He looked at the blood and flesh that still lay fresh in his God Space from another failed experiment. With a simple wave of his hands, both vanished into the vast cosmos. "Is it not possible to integrate humans with the power of Faith?" the divine voice whispered, disappointment creeping in. He had tirelessly experimented on countless manifested humans. Whenever he allowed his Faith to connect with the human body, it went smoothly. But if he then let that Faith roam wildly within their manifested form, the outcome was consistently the same: a gruesome, explosive disintegration of the body. Sunny had even consulted the System, but sadly, it remained silent this time, offering no answers. He sat back on his celestial throne, pondering his complex plans to truly empower the humans of Veridia. "All these worlds with mana have such strong creatures. If only my world had mana," Sunny said casually, his eyes wide, lost in thought. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open wider, a new realization dawning. "How stupid of me!" Sunny blamed himself for not conceiving this idea sooner. "Haha! Just manifest mana into the world!" Sunny laughed loudly, a booming sound across his divine domain. He first sought to test the waters. His Faith points were now over 360. He used 1 Faith point to manifest raw mana directly into Veridia. But as soon as it formed, it vanished into the cosmos, dissipating without a trace. "What? Is this not enough?" Sunny then used 5 Faith points. But the outcome was still the same—the mana dissipated too quickly. Sunny lost his cool for a moment, then calmly began to think of a better plan. "Mana, if released similar to air, just vanishes," Sunny mused, pondering the nature of mana stones he'd briefly seen. "What if it was solid?" He started again, using just 1 Faith point. This time, instead of raw mana, Sunny manifested 10,000 mana stones. To his immense satisfaction, they didn't vanish. Instead, they began to levitate gently in the sky of Veridia, a glittering constellation of condensed magic, slowly settling onto the land. "Hah! Finally!" Sunny sighed as his experiments were finally coming to an end. Sunny made many caves all around Veridia and filled each of them with 20,000 or 30,000 or 40,000 mana stones. He resolved that each time he accumulated a substantial amount of Faith, he would directly manifest more mana stones, continuously seeding his world with magic. After a full Godly hour (approximately 416 days on Veridia), there were now over 500 caves scattered across the vast continent, each brimming with these shimmering mana stones. These mana stones constantly released mana into the air, slowly but steadily saturating Veridia's atmosphere. This mana didn't simply vanish; it was absorbed through breathing and directly through the bodies of humans and other animals. Plants, rooted deeply into the mana-rich soil, absorbed the energy directly through their roots, arguably gaining the most significant benefit. Veridia's flora began to evolve frantically. Many new herbs with distinct functions started to grow, some developing potent toxic traits, others possessing beneficial properties that could dramatically increase strength or accelerate healing. Slowly, the inherent strength of every animal and human on Veridia began to rise. The increase in strength, however, was not uniform; it was directly related to an individual's talent. The higher the talent, the more pronounced the rise in physical strength and vitality. "These mana stones are enough for now, but as the population increases, I'll need even more," Sunny grimaced, realizing that a substantial portion of all his future Faith points would now be dedicated to manifesting these crucial mana sources. "This can't go on. I need Faith for solving misfortunes too," Sunny pondered, the long-term implications of this strategy weighing on him. "Hah! How stupid of me to think changing a type of world is easy," Sunny said aloud, acknowledging the monumental task. "In worlds with mana, how does mana actually form?" Sunny questioned himself. From various fantasy novels he had devoured back on the Blue Planet, he knew the answer: "mana veins" or "spirit veins." But he had never seen one, and simply knowing the concept wasn't enough to manifest it perfectly. "Should I consult someone from a mana world?" Sunny pondered, a novel idea for the reclusive God.