[Chapter:13][Meeting a big shot]

"Deep breaths Tanaka, panicking would exhaust more energy which would make you more tired which would make you want to sleep…which doesn't sound like a bad idea but I can't sleep yet."

I sighed as I came out of the 'vision' of sensing mana. Then, I attempted to once more enter that state, which according to the books is supposed to take at least twice as much time…

'20 seconds? Oh, scratch that, it didn't even take 3.'

At this point, I was even wondering if these books were all a conspiracy that the magician friend of Rias-chan, wanting to mislead her and let her suffer when it backfires.

Alas, conspiracy theories aside, I couldn't only recall one of the 'techniques' mentioned in the book.

'Basic Mana Expulsion Technique'

Probably in order to please Rias-chan as much as he could, just like she mentioned, the books went not only from the basics, to intermediate and advanced spells equivalent to mid and high class magic spells, to techniques that the magicians equivalent of Ultimate class beings use.

Obviously, this was suspicious. After all, no matter how much that magician wanted to please the heiress of Gremory and Lucifer's sister, they wouldn't give away such secrets, would they?

But then I figured it was probably her brother Sirzechs Lucifer's doing. As an overprotective sis-con, from one overprotective brother to another, I refuse to believe he wasn't monitoring all, well maybe not all but at least most of her actions, to prevent harm from befalling on her before it even appeared.

I have no proof, of course, but whatever. Not my problem, no use wasting energy thinking about all that.

The 'Basic Mana Expulsion Technique' is a special technique which is, as the name says, very basic. Yet very few magicians bother learning it, as this technique actually only had one use. To expel the mana within oneself outside without causing any harm.

Mana is, at the end, energy, and if expelled from one's body recklessly, it might cause accidents, like mana explosions, mana storms, and if one was especially unlucky, and accidentally attached some attribute to that mana, it might result in even worse disasters, especially if the expulsion is done in large quantities.

Besides, once mana enters a magician's body, it would be marked by them automatically. And such marked mana with a unique mana signature wouldn't assimilate with atmospheric mana easily, causing even more problems.

All in all, carelessly letting out one's mana is stupid. But in order to begin the process of generating one's own mana, a magician needs to empty his or her mana reservoirs first. Thus, this technique, which allows for safe and steady expulsion of mana, was created.

'Well, here goes…'

Deciding to start small in case some accident happens, I first 'expel' a sizeable portion of mana, which if compared to my reserves however is really no different from a bucket of mana taken from an ocean, and expel it slowly.

…

…

…

'You've gotta be kidding me.'

Then, I could only 'stare' speechlessly as within the three minutes it took to expel that bucket of mana out, my mana ocean became around a hundred buckets larger.

'This ain't working. Even if I can somehow find a balance, no way I'm spending hours and days doing this.'

I was already beyond anguished at having to sacrifice nearly 6 hours of my daily 18 hour quota of sleep, even more was absolutely impossible for me.

Thus, ignoring the possible catastrophic consequences considering the sheer amount of mana within me, I 'will' each and every last speck of it to follow the technique, removing my personal mana signature from it, and expel it all out in one swift motion.

And then…

…

…

…

Well, I'm alive. And the building didn't explode. So that's something I gue-

*crack!*

…ah, spoken too soon.

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

*crack* *crack* *crash!*

Opening my eyes, I witness the source of the sound.

"A crack…in space?"

I blinked in confusion, not forgetting to manually halt my body and soul's natural mana absorption, as I watched what appeared to be a colourful crack appear before me, or to be precise at the point where most of the mana I expelled was concentrated, and continue to widen slowly.

*crack* *crack* *crack!*

Space seem to be splintering as a thought of what was occurring appeared in my mind.

"The dimensional gap?"

And as if in response to my thoughts, a hand appeared from within the gap.

A tiny, doll-like hand, fair, smooth, delicate.

The hand was followed by its owner, a similarly doll-like little girl, dressed in black gothic clothing which left her upper body exposed, her nipples covered in two cross shaped pieces of tape each. Her face was completely expressionless, whereas her eyes looked around and then at me with clear confusion.

As she fully appeared in the building, the crack slowly recovered, disappearing from view as though it had never even appeared.

"You, strong."

I blinked in confusion as I pointed at myself.

"Me?"

"Yes."

The cute gothic lolita nodded her little head cutely.

"Help me fight baka red."

"Uh…"

I was honestly dumbfounded at being asked that. I mean, the moment she called me strong for whatever reason, I had expected it to be her next sentence, but still…

"What's your name, little girl?"

"Name, Ophis."

I knew it, but still asked as it was only polite.

"I see, nice to meet you Ophis-chan, my name is Tanaka. Why don't you sit here for a moment and I'll go bring something to eat?"

I got up as I patted the place next to where I had just been sitting, and then walked to the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Probably not a good idea to completely ignore a transcendent being who could kill you with a sneeze, but even if this world isn't entirely similar to the anime, I had a general grasp of her personality.

And to be honest, I find her rather pitiful. Powerful or not, she is but a child in mind. No, even a child is better off than her, having emotions and feelings. She, on the other hand, was like an empty husk, knowledgeable, yet ignorant, strong, yet in a sense, weak.

"Koneko-chan wouldn't mind if I take some of her sweets…right?"

Imagining the little kitty glaring at me with an angry pout, my lips curled up to form a smile. Finding her not-so-secret stash of sweets and candies wasn't that hard, and I set a few on a plate and walked back to find the Ouroboros Dragon God of Infinity and Void obediently sitting where I had asked her to while looking at me.

Cute.

"Here, have a taste. I'm sure you'll like it."

I sit next to her and pass her a candy. She looked at it curiously, then looked back at me.

'To think she doesn't even know how to eat a candy…sigh.'

I took it back from her hand and showed her how to unwrap it, before placing it before her lips.

"Say ahh."

Ophis-chan obediently opened her mouth, and I put it inside her mouth.

"!!!"

I could literally see her face glow like a bulb as her eyes widened and shone brightly. Then, her eyes shifted to the remaining sweets and candies on the plate.

"Well, why don't we have a talk while you eat?"