Once he recovered, and before he could quite get into a full sitting up position,
Gears running sound echoed in his skull,
KRRRRRR—CHCHHHK—TIK—TIK—TIK—!!
followed the same robotic voice spoke inside his head:
[You are now a being of mana.
Primary skill : Equivalent Exchange.
For continued instruction, say: 'Display Status'.]
Toka froze.
A being of what? Mana? Him? The same guy who tripped over, and accidentally swallowed a bead?
His mouth flew open.
"Wait — WAIT — did swallowing that bead actually turn me into some magical power bank!?"
The voice decided to ignore him completely, as if it were offended by Toka's stupidity.
[Say: 'Display Status']
Toka blinked. He looked around.
The kid was in front of him, the forest was still overly silent, and he was clearly not the only one hearing voices, other than his ancestors.
He swallowed hard, this time on purpose.
A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.
"Alright, so if I say whatever you want me too, you won't bore into my brain?"
No response, just silence.
Toka exhaled a huff, and lifted a shaky attempts to raise his hand.
His voice cracked "D-Display... Status."
A sudden sting shot through Toka's forearm.
He hissed and rolled his sleeve up.
Strange, glowing symbols, thin and mechanical-looking, were engraved all over his skin on his forearm, like someone had doodled on his arm, with alien circuit design.
Toka stared at all of them, as they pulsed once.
"…Yeah. Nope. No idea what any of this means."
He dropped his arm in defeat then the pain left.
In the meantime, the child had crawled closer, eyes wide and sparkling with curiosity. She looked at his arm as if it was some hot chicken soup.
Toka, glaring at her now.
"What are you looking at, brat? This is all your fault! If you hadn't scared the crap out of me back there, this wouldn't be happening!"
She made a scrunched face immediately—lips quivering ,eyes flooding with tears, wobbling nose and then—
"HIC—"
Toka started.
Wide-eyed, Terrified.
Not of monsters, Not even of death.
But of the imminent explosion of cry.
Because crying in this haunted forest was about like firing a flare gun and shouting:
"FREE SNACKS OVER HERE!"
Toka waved his arms at her,
"NONONO—WAIT—DON'T CRY—PLEASE DON'T—THIS FOREST HAS A 'NO REFUND' POLICY ON LIFE!"
The kid snuffled softly.
Toka sighed a relief of sweat that had nothing to come off.
It was slightly evening sky turning lightly black then
That's when he realized—
He hadn't even climbed to a height yet. He hadn't even found shelter.
He sunk down with a groan.
"…What sort of day is this…? aaaarghhhh"
Toka scanned the narrow clearing.
Food? Yes—spiky fruit.
Fire? Maybe—he had sticks and metal.
Shelter? Possible—if he camped as if leaves were walls.
But his sleeping gear?
Nothing at all.
No sleeping bags, No fabric, No mats, Not even a piece of cardboard.
Just dirt, leaves, and a rock that looked rude.
Toka scratched his dome.
"....Huh. I didn't get even a thing ready, did I?"
This was heavy in his chest.
He had food, fire, and scraps—but he had not prepared anything that was truly needed for their survival.
Not for him, Not for the tiny girl.
He sighed and looked at her.
She was sitting quietly—hugging her knees—looking back at him like a baby.
That's when it hit him:
He had called her "brat," "hey you," "pipsqueak," ; but never had he asked her what her name was.
Toka awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Umm... hey... brat—"
No, "—I mean, kid... what is your name?"
She looked at him.
Toka blinked.
Then she shook her head slowly.
Not because she was saying no, but because she didn't know.
Toka's heart felt anxious "…You don't... know your own name?"
She wrapped her arms around her knees more tightly, slow, little nod.
Toka looked at her with an expression that could only be described as pity.
He rubbed the back of his neck "…Okay then. Do you… want me to give you a name?"
She looked up, surprised, then, slowly, she nodded.
A soft yes.
Toka took a huge breath and attempted to look serious—he had no naming experience, other than machine naming like "Scrapbot No. 3."
Toka pointed at her gently.
"From today… your name is Ansu."
The girl blinked.
She whispered it back, with trembling lips "...Ansu."
She smiled, a small, shy smile.
For the first time since all of this nightmare began, Toka felt like he did one good thing today.
As watching her smile like that and small warmth was spread within him, then that warmth died instantly, reality hit his head.
They had no sleeping gear, panic pressed on his mine.
A thought sparked in his mind , His skill.
he thought "What is that again? Equivalent currency? Aaaah!! Equivalent Exchange"
then-
KRRR—TIK—CHRRK CLACK—!
Those gear sounds started inside in his brain, then Toka fallen to his knees-
"AAAAAHHH!!WHY THE FAK THESE SOUNDS AGAIN !!?"
A robotic voice followed:
[ Equivalent Exchange: Activated.Offer something to gain something]
Toka shocked "What the Hell?!- What kind of Heavenly Bullshit is this??"
"OK now the problem is not the skill, But how to use that"
The Robtic voice spoke again:
[Draw two large circles on the ground with a distance between them.
Connect the circles with an arrow.
Connect yourself to the first circle with an arrow.
In the first circle, place what you offer.
Stand at the start of the arrow, place both hands there, and inject mana while thinking of your desired result.]
He drew the circles on the ground, Then arrows connecting them.
In the first circle he placed:
His Worn out Hoodie, Bits of leaves , Branches and his bag.
He put his hands at the start of the Arrow "alright....Now !! Hey Bot how can I inject mana into this??"
Nothing happened in his Brain.
....SILENCE...
He tried so many things but they are not worked here, then he imagined pushing something from his body to the arrow and thought- "Make two sleeping bags"
suddenly-
FWOOOOOOSHHHHHH!!
The items in the first circle vibrated and turned into threads, these threads spun, twisted and weaved together as if invisible hands were sewing them at high speed.
PLOP! PLOP!
Two sleeping bags dropped in the second circle, Toka's jaw dropped at the sight of this "I—I actually made them…I made two sleeping bags. From TRASH!!"
Ansu's eyes sparkled with curiosity "Anna[1] ...Anna... Magic ??"
Toka replied to her "No, no, I don't even know what to call this!This is insane!"
He felt like from today, things were starting to change in their favor.
Then they slept near the Toka's tent after starting a campfire to drive off wild Creatures in forest.
But they are hearing swordfights and some shouting
"CLANG!!"
"RAAAAAH!!"
"YAAAHHH—!"
"TANG! TANG! TANG!"
"HAAAH—!"
"CHAKK!"
Toka realized something and put off the campfire.
SILENCE.....
[1] Means Big Bro in Telugu