Mushoku Tensei: Life and Strife.

I stretched at the big tree, yawning. I was lucky. If I had even stayed a little longer, then Lulu would have exploded in her face. God, I dread the possibility of her crying all over again.

And then again, it was thanks to her that I gained some insights, so I’ll leave her be as I reflect on my experiences.

Multicasting water, wind magic, and even earth magic while doing dramatic nonsense had taken a toll on me, so much to the point I broke character and forgot to meow at the end of the sentence. If I hadn’t been honing my skills, then it would have been impossible to achieve such feats.

However, it wasn’t enough. The cat was too fat. Way~ too fat. But it was worth the effort—an Easter egg change that only “Laurel” knew had happened. A little kindness in the world wouldn’t hurt.

I chuckled. How cute. One day, when she became an actual mage, she would realize how ridiculous the said encounter was. Partially, I was worried about her future due to her naivety. But then again, Orsterd claimed that in the timeline without Rudeus, she still became a high-ranked adventure, so she should be fine.

More importantly, I realize a flaw I hadn’t noticed before. Dual-casting different spells was far from easy. My skills only managed to keep things in shape, but I really need to hone my finesse as well.

Let’s say I have two hands. It’ll be easier to draw two circles at once than drawing a circle and a square. If I had ten arms and drew ten different things, then it would be inevitable that it would fail. Which led us back to magic circles…

Ugh. I groaned. Math. It’s always math. Even in the afterlife, I still have to do math. Frankly speaking, I can do magic circles. Of course I could. While it looks complicated, as if it were some unholy demon summoning circle, it’s just math, symbols, and runes.

But I don’t want to do it. I have to translate the linguistic version of a magic spell and turn it into a magic circle. Not impossible, but utterly troublesome. I rubbed my head. Is there a way to cheat through this?

Whatever the case, I threw it to the side. It wasn’t important right now anyway. It’s not like someone would die just because I don’t know how to draw a stupid circle.

I turned to focusing on my magic core. Unlike the muddy ocean depths of Rudeus, mine wasn’t bottomless. It was simply Tyrian purple. Now that I hit the limits, it’s time to pour mana out.

Mana flooded out like a burst dam, and the entire room was filled with purple… That said… What exactly am I supposed to do? I mean, theoretically, I needed to make something like a vessel to carry my excess mana. But how does that work? Mana can’t interact with the world until manifesting, so how am I to make a bag that carries mana? Oh. On second thought. Mana can interact with itself. Oh.

I smacked my face. How did it take me an entire day just to figure that out? Hah, gods, I’m growing dumber by the day. And I blamed it on Paul.

That said. A vessel was still needed. The original idea was to do magic circles and turn a box into a magic box and just store mana there. But due to the troublesome reality of having to not only find a box but also turn it into some miracle work, it was way too tiring, so the plan was ditched.

So now, I was going to make a mana bag and fill it with magic. That said, I did NOT want it to be a literal bag. I imagined pulling out a plastic bag every time I needed mana and shuddered. No. It was way too ugly. So, I spend hours just thinking of something that looks cooler.

I thought of the house. Within the house was nothing more than wooden utensils, utility items, and stuff. Outside there was nothing more than plants, fields, and vegetables. I had considered making an imaginary field of yellow wheat, but then again, how was I going to carry that around?

If I had to carry it, then it’d just be bothersome, so it had to probably fly. I stared at the fallen leaves of the giant tree on the hill. Should I make a bird? But I don’t like birds either. Maybe butterflies? I thought about trying to pour magic to create one.

The mana wobbled into the shape of one, but then it failed. Visualization problem. Ha. I really can’t think of anything. It’s been a whole week since then and no progress has been made. I lay down beside the tree, staring at the hideous neighbor.

There a tiny caterpillar was munching on a vegetable and ruining the harvest. Green with purplish-brown tones with a distinctive spotty appearance. It was as ugly as it was hairy. Well, not really. But still, it wasn’t to my taste.

Hah. While here I am suffering, there it was, living the time of its life. The grass truly is greener on the other side. If only Mana could just shape up like that hairy caterpillar there.

Suddenly, like an enlightenment, I pour magic in an attempt to make the said caterpillar. Life begins with small steps. It was probably because I was always successful with my exploits that I grew ambitious. Now was the time for the baby steps.

One day, from ugly caterpillars, the creature would metamorphose into something more beautiful.

…

It took me a whole day to finish making a single caterpillar. Still, I made progress. So that was something.

Underneath the blanket of the night, I walked down the road and returned to the house. I quietly hum to the tune of an old song.

“Nothing can dampen my mood tonight~”

I pumped my fist. For once, I felt like I finally accomplished something properly. And history shall know me as the greatest mage of all time.

I am really happy right now. How could I not, when I’m treading a path that no other character has ever walked?

However, what I had not expected was the looming shadow of someone standing in the backyard.

“Paul?”