Now on her own, Chara quickly turned her thoughts on to her assigned task.

  To find an empty patch of fertile soil…

  Instinctively, she turned her gaze to the ground beneath her. It was rugged and uneven, littered with jagged rocks, sand, pebbles, and tiny crystal shards that shimmered faintly under the soft glow of the crystals overhead. It was the very picture of desolation.

  Of course, it wouldn’t be so easy…

  Knowing the urgency of the situation, the little spirit was on the verge of rushing out to find the most fertile soil on the planet, when she was struck by a worrying realization.

  Wait um… how am I supposed to tell whether soil is fertile or not? And how fertile does it have to be?

  Normally, she would not have cared about such minor details, but when she considered that the soil would be used for magic, she recalled a critical piece of information. Particularly that, for invocations to be effective, they needed to express the underlying principles of the intended effect of a spell: as clearly as possible. Meaning that, if the intended effect of the ghost sealing ritual involved growing some kind of plant—as she suspected—then it was of critical importance that the soil she procured not just embodied, but radiated the principle of fertility.

  In other words, she should aim to find the most fertile soil available.

  The issue was, Chara didn’t have a super clear idea of what constituted as “fertile.” Although in school, she had been taught that plants absorb “nutrients and minerals” from the soil using their roots, having never grown any houseplants or applied this knowledge in any meaningful way, her understanding of these concepts was nebulous at best.

  That was not to say she was completely ignorant. Obviously, if presented with two vats of earth—one sandy and the other filled with rich brown soil—she could correctly identify the one with soil as being more fertile. Yet, if asked to explain her reasoning, she could only admit that it was mostly based on vibes.

  While this type of vague notion may have sufficed for casual shopping, home gardening, and internet captchas; in her current scenario, where she had to locate the best quality soil in an unfamiliar environment as fast as possible; it was naturally far from enough.

  Uuu—what am I going to do?!

  Overwhelmed with anxiety, the little spirit floated around unsteadily, her mana rippling with thoughts as she considered how to overcome the current situation.

  Under normal circumstances, the most effective approach would’ve been to ascend far above the ground to observe the environment from a high vantage point. Given a large enough observation area, there was bound to be at least one patch of soil that was so unambiguously fertile that even someone as inexperienced as her couldn’t possibly fail to recognize it. The issue was, if she were to actually go through with such a plan, it would almost certainly alert the ghost again, throwing her straight back into danger.

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  She also considered simply wandering around randomly; relying on chance to stumble upon her goal. Unfortunately, given her lack of discernment, along with the numerous crystal flowers distorting and obstructing her vision like a house of mirrors… the music spirit was more likely to perish first.

  As the little spirit considered and discarded plan after plan, her movements grew increasingly more restless with each passing moment.

  Finally grasping at straws, she extended her awareness downward to see if there was anything she had missed. Unfortunately, all she received for her efforts was a fuzzy, indistinct cloud—one that left her with a uniform solid and stable impression.

  It’s… It’s all earth element mana… Chara couldn’t hold back her disappointment.

  Suddenly reminded of the original purpose of her outing, the little spirit couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated.

  According to Curiosity, whether its elements or essences, all variations of identity shared the commonality of representing distinct ‘outcomes.’ Although in theory, essences had the characteristic of being capable of representing any given outcome; in practice, it appeared that only outcomes that were at least somewhat prominent truly manifested as essences.

  With this in mind, Chara didn’t think that there was a single chance that an essence representing an outcome akin to “plant growth” didn't already exist. This, coupled with mana’s inherent tendency to shape its identity according to the surrounding context, led her to one, indisputable conclusion: any soil found near the manifestation of this (alleged) plant essence mana was bound to be fertile.

  Lamentably, even if her speculation turned out to be correct, there was absolutely no way for her to take advantage of this due to her inability to sense essence mana.

  Uuu… how come I can only sense element mana?

  A barrage of rumbling shockwaves echoed through the cavern. Plumes of dust shook free from their surfaces, and pebbles tumbled down from the ceiling.

  The battle between Music and the evil ghost had intensified!

  Chara felt suffocated.

  The music spirit was still out there, fighting valiantly against the ghost, risking her life, doing her best to buy time. The curiosity spirit was busy working on her part of the preparations.

  Meanwhile, all she could do was float there, unable to do or act, unable to help, unable to even manage a task as simple as locating dirt. She knew that she had to act, that she had to help, that almost anything would be better than nothing. And yet, every plan she considered fell apart, every plan she considered had latent issues, and the ones that didn’t—would almost instantly, unfailingly be revealed to be far out of reach!

  Why can’t I do anything? Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?

  Inexplicably, despite having woken up in a new body, in a new world, filled with magic; she felt as though she’d never left the hospital bed. She was still incapable, still crippled and useless, still a helpless victim of fate.

  She was still weak.

  Overwhelmed with pressure, expectation, helplessness, and guilt, the little spirit finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. She broke down crying.

  “Uuu, Uwaaaaa—…”

  Amid her sorrow, a small puff of reserved mana wisped off the top of her form, its iridescence gradually fading. But strangely, rather than taking on the usual dark and gloomy impression, it instead radiated a soft and refreshing feeling, albeit tinged with sadness.

  This unusual variation of mana, distinct from the ice, dark, and wind element mana drifting through the air, yet also unlike the earth and trace amounts of light and lightning element mana present within the ground, soon drew her attention.

  Almost instinctively, she grasped the identity of this mana.

  [Sadness Essence Mana]

  do feel that without those digressions explaining Chara’s thought process, her internal struggle might have come across as overly dramatic and unconvincing. After all, how can one feel helpless before at least trying and failing to do various things first?