Jen was pleased to note that unlike the rock, there seemed to be some resistance to pressing the mushroom into the sphere of magic. More tests would be needed, but she already had a suspicion that living matter would react differently to magic than non-living matter. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to state her hypothesis as living organisms contain mana that resists the influence of outside magic. Having both more spells and more materials to test would be necessary to further refine this concept, but the underlying principle felt reasonable enough.

Jen was so engrossed with her theories that she failed to notice a change in the mushroom’s behaviour. While she had thought the mushroom to be dead, having been torn from its roots several hours ago, this was not the case.

The mushroom was in fact thriving, spreading thin roots across the surface of Jen’s expended mana as it greedily absorbed the magic to fuel its own growth. As the mushroom grew rapidly it began to glow, letting off an acid green light that bathed the surroundings in sickly tones.

Realizing that something unexpected was occuring, Jen was brought back to reality. The roots, finished with consuming the concentrated mana, began to writhe, searching for both a place to anchor themselves as well as an additional source of nutrition. Jen’s hand was their solution to both. The larger roots worked their way through and around her fingers and palm, lending the plant leverage while smaller roots began to burrow their way inwards.

Jen quickly ripped the mushroom away, but it broke off at the stem, leaving the roots in place to continue their advance. They broke through the skin, and a white pain eclipsed her senses. For precious moments it was all Jen could do to fight to stay conscious. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Jen edged away from that precipice. As she regained control of her senses, she noticed that the external roots were all gone, knocked off by her spasms of pain. The thin roots remained, firmly anchored in her skin, writhing grotesquely as they continued to drain the mana directly from her veins.

The pain was similar to what she had felt when she had first tried eating the mushrooms, only more so. This pain was not spread throughout her body, but concentrated in her hand, pulling deeper than the poison by itself ever had. The pain also went beyond her magical system, the physical presence of the roots adding another level to the agony.

Jen had never closed her status screen, and a quick glance showed that her health was slowly decreasing at the same time as her magic was being stolen. This just confirmed what she already knew; if nothing was done to remove the parasite in her veins, it would be the death of her.

Jen tentatively grabbed hold of a single root, taking care to not snap it off. If the root was stuck beneath her skin it would be free to grow without end, with no method from her to stop it. Her only plan was to try and slowly pull the roots loose, never pulling hard enough to rip it.. Thanks to the pain, Jen was fully aware of exactly where the roots where, and put that knowledge to good use, carefully wiggling her hand to try and loosen their hold.

With dark humor, Jen noted that this was probably the slowest race she had ever had the pleasure of participating in. It seemed as if every millimeter of progress was almost matched by the amount of growth. With three other roots still growing freely, Jen frantically tried to come up with a solution. Since it seemed like the growth was tied to the amount of mana present, Jen tried to reduce that, desperately pulling her magic away from her hand in a strange mirror to her earlier actions.

Jen was supremely grateful that she had the opportunity to increase her stats before trying this experiment. Trying to win both the magical tug-of-war and the physical one at the same time took the entirety of her newfound intelligence. And without the increases to her willpower, composure, and resilience, she was sure that she would have given up far sooner.

It was still slow going, but denying the roots magic had turned the tide. The first root was soon extracted, and the second one followed without incident. The other roots had still been growing slowly, and the third root took far more time than the previous two.

With only one root remaining, Jen took a moment to catch her breath. The holes the other roots had made had begun to bleed, and she was worried at the possible loss of grip. In the end though, she had no other choice but to try, taking it slowly.

Inch by inch, she pulled, only going fast enough to just outpace the growth of the root. She was ever so tempted to try and rush, but visions of the horrible demise that would await her if she failed kept that temptation in check. With the small part of her mind not engaged with her task, she marvelled at her luck to receive Patience as a skill. No matter how much it bothered her to have her mental state altered, she knew that not having Patience and Endurance would have been the death of her. It was only the distance, determination, and calm assurance that they provided that let her work so meticulously.

Finally, the last of the root was pulled free. Jen held her breath for a moment, paying full attention to the sensations of her body to try and see if there was anything that had been missed. A moment, then another, but in the aftermath of that body-shredding pain there was only silence.

Jen slumped, relief flooding her body as she slowly began to cry.