To be able to draw the unknown mana, Auran had to create a mana sensation strong enough to outclass the natural mana sensation already present in his body. He could reduce the amount needed by avoiding spellcasting for the moment, but that wouldn't stop the empty mana from flowing through his body—it was a natural process that couldn't be halted.
So, in the end, what Auran needed was a concentrated mana sensation in his brain—or more specifically, in the area of his brain where the two circles were generating time-mana. This sensation had to be strong enough to surpass the rest of the body's mana signals.
And for that, Auran already had a solution in mind.
"Well... let's think, hmm, about the process of realizing how to... theorize the thing called love."
It was a complex subject for someone like Auran, and precisely the kind of mental stimulation he needed. As he delved deeper into the topic, his brain began to pulse under the strain of his thoughts, and the two circles began to vibrate violently, causing the time-flow between them to become unstable.
In the midst of his deep thoughts, Auran quickly took a moment to investigate his body. He could still see the movement of the unknown mana flowing from the object, but for the time being, the mana showed no sign of responding to the mana sensation coming from his head.
"It's still not enough... I need to think about something deeper and more mysterious... maybe something related to magic this time. Right—got it! There was a question I saw in one of the books. It's about finding a way to filter the Greed Luminous Toad's blood—to separate the poison from it and extract the pure blood, which can be used to create a cure for a hundred poisons."
With this new question in mind, Auran began working his thoughts harder. In the process, he continued observing his body and saw that the unknown mana was starting to stir—flowing in search of the mana sensation now building in his head.
"Great, it's working! Looks like all I had to do was think about something meaningful."
However, while doing this, he also had to be careful of the situation in his head. As he started thinking about these deep topics, the mana circles began to shake more violently—almost to the point of damaging his brain.
"Be patient for a few minutes until that thing gets here, and don't you dare shatter and kill me instantly," Auran observe the flowing time-mana and its constant spilling. Some of it managed to be absorbed into his brain. Then, suddenly, something unexpected came to Auran's mind—a solution to the problem he had been thinking about. It appeared as a random thought, making Auran momentarily doubt his own intelligence.
"Crap!"
Investigating his own body again, he saw that the unknown mana rushing toward his head suddenly slowed down—it had lost the signal it was tracking.
"Curse this. It seems that by absorbing the mana of time, I can find answers to the questions in my mind… but it feels like there's more going on than what I can see at the moment. Whatever. For now, I should focus on the task at hand.
Something similar to the previous question… Let me think. Although it's been a few years since I looked into those question books, I should still remember something."
In a matter of a minute, Auran found a new question: a method to make undead fire last longer.
It was a more serious problem than before, and the mana rushed into his head instantly. As the unknown mana arrived, it searched through Auran's head to find the exact location of the thought. At first, it failed—but as Auran started to think more deeply about a solution, the mana sensation increased. As a result, the unknown mana was able to accurately identify the location of the source of thought. It tore through the barrier between reality and imagination, entering Auran's mind to approach the unstable time-mana flow.
The moment the unknown mana got close to the time flow, it separated into two parts—one went to one of the mana circles, and the other to the second. Somehow, the unknown mana was ignored by the shield applied around the circles. Whenever the time-mana spilled outside, it triggered the appearance of a defensive shell to protect Auran's brain from destruction. This shield was also made from time-mana, which proved effective in defending against the profound pressure of time-mana.
Afterward, the unknown mana acted as if it were a physical hand, trying to hold the mana circles in place. It was a method that could instantly stabilize the situation with the flow of time-mana.
And it did prove effective, as the mana flow truly stabilized.
"Hmm, the unknown mana seems to look for the most direct and fastest method to block the mana and could not consider the mana user's situation.
Holding the two circles without letting them move seems to stabilize the situation in my head, but it also puts the two circles under great tension. When I think more, they begin to vibrate and shake again, but can't move as needed because the unknown mana is restricting their movement. If I don't find another solution, the circles could break under this pressure."
It was a success—but one that lasted only for a short time. The two circles were no longer shaking, and as a result, the mana flow also stopped moving wildly. Although the unknown mana tried to reach the time-mana again, once it made contact, it disintegrated like ash—proving, once again, the overwhelming power of time-mana to Auran.
The time-mana no longer spilled out from the flow, which, to Auran, was both a relief and a disadvantage.
"There seems to be some kind of mysterious effect that gives me the answer to my question whenever the mana of time absorbs into my body—which is literally a cheat-like ability. Now, I can't use that anymore."
But even so, Auran was satisfied with the result.
"For now, I should first return to my real body. If I remember correctly, the last time I woke up, I seemed to be in some unknown place… a malv flower field… maybe, yeah, that's the flower I saw.
But the question is—how do I wake up?"