World’s Cutest Alchemist

“Haah…” I groggily sat up as my eyes slowly opened.

Glancing over, my phone had several notifications. But my eyes locked onto the time.

“8:26…”

It really was too early for a night raccoon like me. But, I had to get up at some point. Might as well get

it over with.

Standing up, I stretched my creaking body and grabbed my phone before heading to the bathroom.

There were several messages from Mouse.

[Luna: Just arrived home, are you already sleeping?]

[Luna: You must’ve been tired lol. Sleep well, goodnight.]

[Luna: (Sleeping mouse icon)]

[Luna: Good morning! Rise and shine!]

[Luna: (Stretching mouse icon)]

“Why does she have so much energy…” I mumbled, sending a reply.

[Me: Morning…]

[Me: (Groggy raccoon icon)]

After finishing my business in the bathroom, I headed over to my plants.

The fresh scent of greenery wafted through the air. I took a deep breath of it and smiled.

I never particular cared for the smell of plants before awakening. Only after I started gardening could I appreciate their value and realize why people bought nature-scented air fresheners.

Walking over to each plant, I made sure they were doing good and started to apply my skill to each.

“Grow~ Grow~ Grow up big and strong~” I sang to each plant.

As I was walking to the next plant, I sighed. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it was a little inconvenient. Currently, I was applying my skill to each plant individually, it’d be nice if there was a way to apply it to multiple plants at once.

“Grow, grow…” As I was applying my skill to the next plant, I had a thought.

Could I change the skill myself?

Instead of waiting for the system to do it for me, couldn’t I just do it myself?

I mean, it’s my skill, isn’t it?

“Hm…” I stepped back from the next plant.

“How exactly do I want to change it though?”

I just had the basic idea that I wanted to be able to use it on multiple plants at once.

I tapped my chin, in thought for several moments.

“Singing?” I mumbled, tilting my head.

I mean, I practically sang every time I used my skill anyway. Could I modify the skill to function when my voice ‘touches’ the plants?

Closing my eyes, I activated the skill but didn’t designate a target.

I felt the mana in my body start to stir and move throughout my body, starting from my core.

“So, that’s how it works, huh…”

There was a certain essence I could feel in the skill. Similar to how recovery potions have an essence of ‘Life’, the mana gave off a feeling of ‘Growth’.

The mana maneuvered to my fingertips, only to not find an outlet before dispersing shortly after.

With the idea in mind, I just had to figure out how to make it work.

Since it looked like this might take a while, I took a seat on the floor.

“First…I need to change the end location from my hands to my throat.”

To do this, I needed to use my alchemy knowledge. It seemed similar to how I sectioned off and drew out certain properties of materials. Just, instead of manipulating the mana in materials, I had to do so within my body.

Closing my eyes, I activated the skill.

As usual, the mana in my core started to stir and slowly exit through set pathways.

But this time, I wouldn’t let it. With all my focus, I forcibly grabbed hold onto the string of mana.

Instead of letting it follow it’s predetermined path, I slowly started to move it to a different path and-

Cough!

“Hoik!” I clench my chest in pain and spat out several coughs. My eyes burst open and my skill immediately dissipated.

The pain resided after a moment and all that remained was me sitting down, hunched over with an open mouth breathing heavily.

“What…just happened?” I finally mumbled after regaining my composure and wiping the drool from my mouth.

Did my skill fail and cause backlash?

After a few hypotheses, that seemed to be the only conclusion I could come to.

But then, why did it fail?

With the only way to know to be to try it again, I closed my eyes and straightened my back.

Activating my skill, I grabbed hold onto the string of mana.

But this time, I didn’t move it anywhere. I just let it simmer in my core.

I waited and waited, but the backlash never came. Eventually, the skill dissipated and I was back to the start.

“So…If I don’t move it, there’s no backlash.” I mumbled.

Once again, I activated the skill and took reigns of the string.

Slowly, carefully, I moved it upwards.

This time, the string left my core without issue and I slowly started to follow the pathway. But a few seconds later, the backlash came.

“Hoik!” I spat out, clenching my chest in pain again.

“…Why?” I said after several moments.

It seemed to be going well that time. Then, it suddenly failed? Why? I couldn’t understand.

Is it the system itself rejecting me?

That didn’t seem right.

But other than that, I couldn’t guess the reason.

“Haah…” I let out a deep breath before closing my eyes once again.

Activating my skill, this time, I didn’t grab hold onto it and let it naturally move. I observed it’s movements with full focus.

When the skill fizzled out, it clicked.

“Ah…”

“The pathways.” I realized.

When the skill moved on it’s own, it was extremely stable and steady. It moved perfectly along the pathways without stopping or colliding with the walls.

To test this theory, I closed my eyes again.

But I didn’t activate my skills. Rather, I drew a string of mana from the core myself and slowly maneuvered it through a pathway.

I didn’t deliberately mess up, but ended up hitting a wall-

“Hoik!”

I see…It’s the backlash from my mana itself, not the skill.

I felt relieved. If it was something like that, I could improve and work with it. However, if it were an issue with the skill itself, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Licking my lips, I took a deep breath and stood up.

I needed water. My mouth felt dry.

After grabbing a glass of water, I headed back to my plant room and sat down. This time, I got comfortable.

It felt like this would take a while.

Closing my eyes, I drew a string of mana and started to manipulate it.

…

“Hoik!”

…

“Gah!”

…

“Ow!!!!”

…

“Darn it!!”

…

“Hurts!

…

“Please!!!”

…

“I didn’t even hit anything that time!

…

“Waaah!”

…

“Ugh…”

On that last attempt, I flopped onto the floor, spread-eagle.

Hours had passed by and not a single attempt succeeded. The only thing I’ve achieved is a lot of chest pain and lightheadedness.

Sunlight wasn’t coming through the windows anymore. The moon had already risen.

I felt like I could pass out and fall asleep at any moment.

“Ah…It’s night already?” I mumbled, looking out the window.

I hadn’t even done my floor clear today.

My stomach rumbled in protest.

“Ah…I forgot to eat too?”

If there was any consolation, I did tend to my plants at some point. I figured that mana manipulation might take a while so I used my skill on them.

Standing up, I stretched my creaking body, hearing several cracks.

“I’ll just order something today…”

Looking at my phone, I saw several missed notifications.

[Luna: heyhey]

[Luna: wyd?]

…

[Luna: (Mouse ‘?’ icon)]

[Luna: you okay?]

It’s been several hours since I received those texts. I immediately sent some replies.

[Me: sorry, sorry]

[Me: just now checked my phone.]

[Me: I was practicing mana manipulation and lost track of time.]

[Me: all good here.]

[Me: (Raccoon smile icon)]

After I finished ordering food, Mouse replied.

[Luna: Ahhh]

[Luna: Gotcha, gotcha]

[Luna: You bought a mana manipulation machine though? Those are pretty expensive.]

[Luna: Alchemy is raking in the big dough, huh?]

[Luna: Anyway, funny that you replied now, I was just about to go to sleep lol]

[Luna: Tell me about it later.]

[Luna: goodnight!]

[Luna: (sleepy mouse icon)]

“…” I stared at the texts in silence.

Mana manipulation machine…?

What did I just read?

Silently, I opened the exchange and searched for one.

[Mana Manipulation Machine]

Search Results: 128

[Beginner’s Mana Manipulation Machine - 10,000,000 points]

Only after seeing the price for the cheapest and most basic option did I let out a sigh of relief.

I couldn’t afford one even if I had known about it.

Plus, isn’t doing it directly with your own body better anyways?

You get punished if you fail which drives you to do better. What’s it called? Shock therapy?

Yeah. I’m definitely not coping.

This is the better method.

For sure.

Shaking my head, I sent Mouse a reply.

[Me: goodnight!]

[Me: (sleepy raccoon icon)]

With that settled, I decided to take a shower before my food arrived.

I had a lot to think about.

Especially tomorrow’s schedule. I wasn’t giving up on modifying this skill no matter what.

But, I also couldn’t give up doing my daily routine.

Hm…

With a lot to think about, I turned on the water.

…

The next day I woke up to a good morning text from Mouse. Sending an apt reply, I continued with my regular morning routine.

I planned on getting everything I needed to do done before dedicating my attention to mana manipulation.

While I was eating breakfast, a sudden thought came to mind.

I remembered how I played that alchemy game at the arcade. There, I definitely manipulated my mana without using a skill, didn’t I?

If I remember correctly…

I drew mana from my core and seamlessly moved it through the pathway leading to my hand.

“…Huh?”

That was…Easy?

It flowed smoothly and steadily. But why?

Then, it clicked.

Whenever I used my skill, the mana would naturally move perfectly to my hand.

Subconsciously, I must’ve followed the same path.

Closing my eyes and activating my skill, I confirmed this theory as I watched the mana flow through the same exact pathway I just used.

“I see…” I nodded.

It was muscle memory—Or, mana memory.

This wasn’t something I could immediately apply, but it was useful to know.

After a few hours, I was ready to practice. I sent Mouse a text that I’d be busy practicing my mana manipulation before finding a comfortable seat and closing my eyes.

“Today’s the day…”

…

“Gah!”

…

“Ow!!”

…

“Why!?”

…

“C’mon!”

…

“I can feel the end!

…

“Wah!”

…

“Ugh…”

…

Yesterday was not the day.

But today is!

…

“Gah!”

…

It wasn’t that day either, but today is for sure!

…

I took a sip of water before closing my eyes.

This time felt different. If before it was practice, this time, I felt confident. This was the one. Just ignore all the past times I’ve thought this.

With a deep breath, I drew a string of mana from my core.

“Stable and steady…” I mumbled.

The string entered my pathway and slowly followed the path. From all my attempts, I’ve gotten better and better at manipulation.

With each attempt taking me further and further along the path, I was truly near the end.

It wasn’t just bravado. I was really close to reaching my throat.

A cold bead of sweat dripped down my head as I continued to maneuver the string of mana.

And then.

I stopped.

I succeeded.

My first success. I brought mana from my core straight to my throat.

Not wanting to end it here, I slowly manipulated the mana to wrap around my vocal cords. I briefly worried about the backlash, but my mana seamlessly started to integrate and comfort my vocal cords like a blanket.

“Ah, ah, testing…?” I let out and my eyes widened at my clear voice.

I felt mana empowering my voice. It wasn’t much due to the little mana I used, but it was there.

“Wow…”

The mana slowly dissipated and I burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

“Success!”

While I had the momentum, I closed my eyes again and drew mana from my core.

I needed to ride this wave. Hopefully, just like when using my skill, I could form some mana memory.

The next attempt succeeded.

As did the next.

And the next.

My skills improved and the mana started to flow faster and faster with every success.

And at some point, something clicked and my mana flow felt smoother than ever.

When I opened my eyes, I was met with something truly shocking.

[You have created a new skill!]

[Mana Voice] - Rank F (Bronze)

Empowers the user’s voice with mana.

“Eh…? Ehh?? Eh???” I let out what barely counted as noises.

“A new skill? Me? I just created a skill?”

“Eh?”

In disbelief, I quickly searched up the notification and learnt what it meant.

“Ah, I see.”

I didn’t actually ‘create’ a new skill. You could earn and obtain skills via repetition of certain actions. And Mana Voice is one of those you could create.

But, that didn’t detract the fact that I created a skill!

“Hehe!” I giggled, hopping around my room like a bunny.

“I did it!” I said to the mouse plush in my arms. Hugging it tightly, I rubbed my cheek against its soft belly.

Though not my goal, it was something to be celebrated.

I immediately opened a delivery app and ordered chocolate cake.

“Hehe!”