They seemed to have a limit as to how far they could reach, and judging from how calm and expressionless the woman was… she clearly wasn't aware of such an aura.
"Where did you find this?"
"I have an entire mine that my family built a business and living around. We sell it to Chinese warlords and, of course, the emperor, who loves this substance so much that he ingests it directly."
"Umm… That is not something he should be doing. This stuff is dangerous… it gives me a bad feeling."
"Well, it enhances medicine to such a potent degree that without the proper additives and suppressants mixed into the medicine you're trying to make, you could very well kill somebody. So, even if people get their hands on this substance, they can't do much without our secret technique… and that is what I will be teaching you right now."
I was a bit confused, but as she retrieved the crystal from my hand and tossed in a few other herbs, I could tell what she was attempting to do.
She was making a medicine right before my very eyes, and upon crushing all of these herbs into a thick paste, she placed the crystal on the table in front of her.
Small black hands, imitating the crystal's aura emitted from the center of the slightly clear stone, reached out towards the woman as she pushed her palms towards it.
They were about to connect when the woman flexed her forearms, releasing a gust of wind that blew back the hands and allowed her to grab the stone with ease.
From their wobbling position, the hands attempted to recover and reach back towards the woman, but it was too late as she crushed the crystal, crushing it instantly into several separate shards.
"Huh? Did you just-"
"Yes, I did just use magic, but that isn't even the special technique of my family… as this is," Wu smiled, waving her hands side to side, causing the shard's black aura to be sucked out of its shell, waving into the air with the sway of the woman's hands.
The actual crystal shard dissipated into black dust, emulating what seemed to be ash, but in reality, it was actually very fine and ground down the crystal.
Both this dust and the swaying aura, which seemed to take a tangible form, floated into the air, the aura moving like water with the dust swirling like a light gust of wind.
These materials converged in the air, folding into each other and entangling each and every molecule that was possible.
They weaved into something better, greater, stronger, and more beautiful. It had weaved into a substance that glimmered like a shimmering nebula in the pitch-black sky.
It was like staring up at the stars on a cool summer evening, feeling a light breeze brush over your body while a shooting star rushes through the atmosphere, only revealing itself to you and only for you.
This substance that was like the literal night sky almost disrespectfully mushed into a wet and tangible substance was pushed into a large open vial.
From the depths of this glass container, it attempted to crawl its way out, but a cork was soon placed on it, squeezing the substance down and taming it, at least for now.
Wu was sweating ever so slightly, but after knocking on the cork of the bottle a few times with her knuckle, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Okay, that was good. It took a bit longer than I would have liked, but this piece was pretty big… so… what do you think?"
She walked over to a counter nearby and picked up a refreshing glass of water, chugging it down and wiping the few lingering drops from her chin.
"You used magic? How were you able to use magic?" I interrogated her, completely aghast at how she manipulated mana without even chanting or showing any sign of activating a skill.
In fact, now that I could see mana… it was quite clear she used mana in how a skill would use mana… but without a chant or without a sign of activation.
Mana immediately begins to gather at the point where you activate your skill, so if it was a buffing skill, it would gather around your body.
On the other hand, if it was some kind of magic released from the palm of your hand, then it would gather in that one spot, concentrating the mass of mana into something even greater and more powerful.
Another example would be using magic apart from your body, like conjuring a pillar of blood or summoning a vampire.
This mana would gather at the spot in front of you but took much more of the mass needed and also took a bit of stamina.
"Hm… that reminds me…" I muttered, glancing down at my status and locking eyes on one singular skill: [Vampiric Creation].
"Hello~... Orion~... Are you alright~?" Wu quickly walked up towards me and stared directly into my soul through my eyes and then right through my body.
It was as if she saw everything happening inside and out… making me question who she really was.
"Do you know what a status is?" I asked, watching for any slight facial twitch, uneven blink, or even the slightest breath that might've been shorter than usual… but there was nothing. Completely nothing.
"Ummm… like how I'm a noble? Or maybe like how there is the emperor?" She responded, and seeing how her reaction was genuine, I couldn't help but likely chuckle. "What's wrong? Did I do something funny?"
"No, no, no," I laughed, shaking my head side to side before narrowly catching my breath. "Shit… there is so much more to learn about this world."
The woman stared at me yet again, but this time her eyes scanned me from top to bottom.
"What? Do you know magic or something? Do you know an ancient technique that is better than mine?"
"No, of course not. You're the master at medicine," I smiled back, and as the woman scoffed ever so slightly, I shifted my eyes over to the vial of purple and black medicine.
