After the Rain of Falling Stars struck Earth and brought Mana with it, the study of Mana and the meteorites from the Rain became the mainstream academic field of this world.
Electricity and nuclear energy still existed, but in terms of scope and application, they had long fallen behind Mana.
Research on Mana was still far from complete, and many unknowns remained. Researchers were not about to halt their exploration.
They discovered that the meteorites from the Rain of Falling Stars contained large amounts of rare metals—these were the special ores produced after Mana crystallization, known as Manadyte.
Within Manadyte, the portion of extremely high purity was called Urm Manadyte—a highly scarce and immensely valuable resource. After all, it came from space; once used, it was gone.
As a result, industrial products made from these ores were developed. The most famous among them were Lux-type weapons.
Weapons crafted from Manadyte possessed far greater strength than the war machines humanity once wielded. After years of development, these weapons had become widely used, and Genestella mostly relied on Lux-type armaments.
And from the highly pure Urm Manadyte came an even more powerful class of weapon—Orga Lux Weapons!
These weapons far outperformed ordinary ones, and each possessed a unique ability. It was said that they even had their own consciousness and would choose their own wielder.
After Elise dealt with the Integrated Enterprise Foundation's EP division, she immediately used their channels to acquire a Urm Manadyte—one of her current goals.
In the Lord God Space's panel, Elise had five talents and skills in total. Three were faith-related, and two were charm-related.
The charm-related abilities had little practical use in combat, while the faith-related ones required a vast amount of faith power to be effective.
Though Elise might be a top-tier powerhouse in the world of Asterisk, in another world, she might not be strong at all.
Even though she had her own world and followers, the restrictions on drawing faith across worlds were substantial. Being able to protect herself was already quite good.
Not to mention... the Lord God provided no rewards!
Elise couldn't grow stronger through the Lord God—she could only seek out opportunities for growth in the various worlds she traveled through.
And in this world, the key feature was Prana!
Although Elise had previously used Prana, it had only been converted from faith via her skills, fundamentally different from the real thing.
Even so, she had already felt the immense power of Prana and would not give up this opportunity to grow stronger.
If she could successfully absorb a Urm Manadyte, she might gain the permanent ability to use Prana—or perhaps even generate it within herself.
That would provide her with ample protection in future worlds.
"Lady Elise, the Urm Manadyte has arrived. Would you like to examine it now?" A nun entered the church and quietly reported to Elise.
"Of course!"
Elise didn't hesitate. The sooner she obtained this power, the more at ease she would be.
Moreover, in this world, she had amassed enough faith power to significantly increase her chances of successful absorption. Even if she failed, she could ensure she remained unharmed.
...
A golden crystal floated quietly within its container, looking like an unprocessed work of art.
Unfortunately, there was no one else present to admire its beauty—until Elise opened the prison that held it.
"So this is a Urm Manadyte? I can feel it's brimming with power." Elise studied the crystal in the box with great interest.
Although Urm Manadytes were considered exceedingly rare in the world, the Foundation's upper ranks surely had a considerable stockpile.
The crystal sent to Elise this time was the largest and finest piece in the Foundation's EP division!
Elise brought the Urm Manadyte to an empty church and quietly sat beneath the statue of the divine. The Urm Manadyte in her arms glowed brightly in the darkness of night.
"Alright now, no need to be nervous. I'm right here, aren't I?" Elise gently stroked the Urm Manadyte. The blindfold that usually covered her eyes had already been removed, revealing deep, unfathomable pupils that betrayed nothing of her thoughts.
The Urm Manadyte flickered as if in response to her words.
Orga Lux Weapons possessed consciousness, and since they were made from Urm Manadytes, could it not be inferred that Urm Manadytes themselves also had consciousness?
This had been a mere hypothesis before, but the moment Elise touched this Urm Manadyte, she knew it was true!
The crystal in her hand clearly had a consciousness of its own. It even seemed to be cheering?
Elise didn't know why, and she couldn't exactly communicate with a lump of mineral.
Sacred Speech!
"Devour."
A powerful pulling force enveloped the Urm Manadyte almost instantly. It had been joyful just a moment before, but now it froze in shock, clearly never expecting this living being to harbor such intentions.
But even so, it could do nothing!
It was just a crystal—it had no legs to run.
It couldn't resist the force drawing it in, nor could it stop the impending death.
It could only wait quietly for its own end.
Moments later, it seemed to come to terms with its fate. It gave up all resistance and even began to cooperate with Elise's devouring.
"..."
Realizing this, Elise parted her lips slightly as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately bit her lip and held back.
In the end, she didn't choose devouring.
Instead, she used a different method—a special one.
Sacred Speech!
"Assimilate!"
Elise wasn't about to pass up the chance to gain new power. But neither would she choose to kill another sentient existence.
After all, she was someone striving to become a true saintess!
Naturally, such a choice no longer suited her.
It was no longer a one-sided act of "devouring," but rather a mutual union—assimilation.
In that moment, a brilliant golden light erupted from both the girl and the crystal, illuminating the entire church.
For Elise and the Urm Manadyte, this would be a sleepless night—they still needed time to communicate.
And after the fusion, Elise would surely be influenced by the other party.
As for whether the influence would be good or bad, Elise had already made her predictions. There was no need to worry.
In any case, Elise would ultimately gain the power of the Urm Manadyte—and part of its abilities.
Surely, it would take the Saintess to an even higher level.
...
A golden figure and a purple figure stood side by side. It was hard to tell if they were human, but their bond seemed close.
Where am I? And who are they?
Elise sat in a theater seat, watching the blurry image on the screen.
There were no discernible faces.
No identifiable locations.
No useful information to be gathered.
Elise only remembered that she had been assimilating with the Urm Manadyte. But now she had suddenly appeared in a movie theater.
Did I awaken some sort of special ability?
She closed her eyes to sense her internal state, only to find nothing had changed.
Did I fail?
Before Elise could finish her thought, golden lights appeared beside her and coalesced into a glowing orb. It began circling around her, as if trying to communicate something.
At the same time, the image on the theater screen resumed playing in fragments—
It was a special world.
One inhabited by unusual beings that looked just like the golden light orb beside Elise.
"Is that you?" Elise asked as she looked at the golden orb. It nodded, almost like a human head.
On the screen, the golden orb and a purple one remained side by side—their relationship far closer than any of the others.
Then, the image began to tremble. A group of orbs appeared to be wrapped in something and were forcibly pulled from their world, landing on a giant sphere of blue and green...
Earth!
Though abstract, Elise could tell from the emotions emanating from the image.
Did they come here from another world?
Suddenly, humanoid figures appeared beside the orbs. These must have been the first humans they encountered.
The humans took the purple one away and processed it with some sort of special equipment, leaving the golden orb to be stored in a warehouse.
Was it turned into an Orga Lux?
The golden orb immediately nodded, confirming Elise's guess.
Based on what had happened and the story progression she knew, Elise made a bold inference.
"Could it be... you want me to help the purple orb return to your world?"
The golden orb froze in surprise for a moment, then nodded furiously!
It had planned to show Elise its story like a movie to explain its situation—but she had guessed everything right away.
Have you seen her? The orb seemed to ask.
"No, but I think I know who you're referring to. I'll grant your wish."
A true saintess would never ignore someone's kindness—she would always repay it!
Feeling the sincerity of Elise's "benevolence," the golden orb made its decision. It hovered over Elise's chest and began to slowly merge into her body.
Elise watched with gentle eyes and stroked the orb lightly. She appeared quite satisfied with the situation.
Ulsrh kiiys#&! Baspiq...
Just before the orb completely merged with Elise, it seemed to notice something and began to tremble violently. The force shook Elise's clothing loose, and her chest became fully exposed.
Thankfully, Elise was currently in a mysterious space. Other than the orb, there were no other beings around. Otherwise, she would have been completely seen.
If it had been the past, Elise might have gotten a little angry to show her disapproval. But now, she wasn't bothered by the exposure at all—instead, her concern lay elsewhere.
"I mean, this is exactly when you should see it through, right?"
Elise's voice rang out beside the golden orb—though how it had ears was anyone's guess.
"If you've already decided, then don't back out halfway."
Her hands grabbed the orb firmly and pressed it toward her body.
"Otherwise, nothing will come of it."
From the very beginning, Elise had resolved to obtain Prana—no matter the cost.
As long as her goal didn't conflict with saving others, Elise would often lend a hand along the way.
But acquiring the Urm Manadyte was a fixed goal. Elise would obtain that power.
She had her selfish reasons, and she would also go all out to preserve the image of a saintess.
So what would she choose when those two motives clashed?
As the orb fused into her, it seemed to begin understanding this creature before it. In the end, it charged into Elise's very core and fully merged with her.
"Then I suppose this movie is about to end..."
The theater scene shattered. Elise felt her world spin before returning to her physical body. The massive Urm Manadyte she had been holding was gone.
She focused inward, sensing her new strength, and let out a slightly helpless smile.
"Honestly, just one Urm Manadyte was enough to forcibly drag my consciousness away. I really am not strong enough yet."
"Oh well, I'll offer a prayer for it later."
With a graceful motion of her hand, Elise opened her Lord God Space panel without hesitation.
As expected, there were new skills listed.
Prana Core (Can generate, store, and use Prana)
This was the exact ability Elise had hoped to gain—just like in the original story, where Julis' friend was able to use Prana after undergoing experimentation.
With this power, Elise could now maintain her combat capabilities even in worlds where faith was unavailable.
But aside from the Prana, another new skill had appeared. Could it be a Strega-type ability?
In this world, special-powered individuals of the Starpulse Generation existed.
Males were called Dantes, and females were called Stregas.
Though Elise thought the naming was biased—"Magic Men" might be more fair.
As for Stregas… Elise's close friend Sylvia could use sound-based abilities for everything but healing and was known as Sigrdrifa.
The protagonist Julis controlled flame and was called the Witch of the Resplendent Flames—Glühen Rose. It was said that one of the Seidoukan Academy's Page One was an "Ice Fragment Dante."
These titles were always tied to the individual's ability. Ironically, those without Strega or Dante traits often had better-sounding names.
Like Ayato Amagiri's "Gathering Clouds" or Claudia's "Parca Morta."
Unfortunately, Elise's powers were already "exposed" in the eyes of others—so she likely wouldn't get any cool title at all.