We got to 40k views! I'm surprised by the popularity (yeah it isn't much, but it is a lot more than i expected)

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No fighting for now. Maybe tomorrow.

The rest of the patrol didn’t reveal any other danger to the forest. During it, Luke received a message from Steve that he would stay near the valley tonight just in case. Luke wasn’t worried about his companion, Steve was almost as good as him in stealth and considerable better at spotting hiding enemies. Must have something to do with enhanced senses. From the conversations they had, Steve could had improved night vision and a more sensitive nose. If you add his animal instinct, then you get an unpassable sentinel. Besides, the sylphs and tree sprites complemented his capabilities with a sharp magical sense. There was no way to hide a spell near them.

Luke returned to his house accompanied by Dahani and noted that the road that led to town had practically disappeared. He didn’t know why, but he guessed that the explosive growth of the trees made that available space necessary to accommodate their new dimensions. There was no way that that little road was enough, but it should have accounted for a part of the needed space. The rest was seen in the closeness between each tree. When before there were five meters distance between each tree more or less, now there were few places with more than three meters of distance.

Another interesting thing he discovered a few days back was that not every tree awakened. There existed a border that complied exactly with the one given by the notifications (5 km radius) that marked the last awakened tree. The forest for then onwards was normal (the creatures inside might not be normal, but the trees were). That border was pushed a few meters per day, increasing the number of trees at the same time. So, Luke’s forest was surrounded by forest on every side, except where the valley was.

Anyway, Luke went through with his usual afternoon routine: he checked the wards, worked on the skins he got and visited the spot where he planted the Mana Seed. He hadn’t know what to do with it, until he realized that the dangerous relic he had risked his live in snatching from the goblins was, well, a seed. So he choose a spot some twenty meters from the front door, made a hole in the ground and put it there. While he was covering it, he got a notification saying he had successfully planted the Mana seed, however, for the plant to mature, Mana was needed besides the regular needs of a common seed. So two times everyday he emptied his mana pool into the same spots with little results to the day. This time, though, was different. A little plant with two leaves (incredulously similar to a cartoon first sprout) was there. Luke shouted overjoyed to the surprise of Dahani who couldn’t understand what he was doing. In her defense, watching as a grown man lies in the ground to stare at a little plant was surprising if not outright delirious. Luke didn’t mind. Looking closely, he could spot blue lines like veins on each green leave. He stayed in that position for several seconds, then he sighed and got up. The success was invigorating, but there was still a long way before that little plant became something useful. He transferred all his Mana in three parts. He adopted this method due to his fear of being attacked while he had no mana. It went like this: he passed a third of his mana, recovered for ten minutes ( that was equivalent to 11% recovered) and repeated two more times to finish the transfer. This meant that after the last transfusion, he had a fourth of his Mana pool available. It took him a couple minutes past the hour mark to go back to full. So, all in all, it did make him vulnerable but not as much as being completely empty.

Dahani watched attentively while he did everything, and even though she didn’t ask, her curiosity could be plainly seen. Luke had other worries, so he decided to ignore the unasked question.

“Do dark elves use any kind of magic?” He asked suddenly. The question found her distracted delaying her answer. She pondered a bit more before saying thoughtfully.

“They don’t. They are magically inert. They don’t have an ounce of Mana inside their bodies. Along the way, they discovered non-magicals method to defend against magic, but they don’t have any of their own” Dahani.

“Then, how do they speak? I was told that the runic language was derived from the language of the gods, so even using it required to consume some Mana. Either they do have some, or they found a way of utilizing Mana without having it.” Luke said. The thought had suddenly appeared while he played with his now Mana Small Plant (Mana Small Sprout? whatever). He hadn’t been able to find a solution which resulted in the question.

“I have never thought about that, but you’re right. The elder that trained told me that he had the chance to check for Mana in a tiny Nuaga community and didn’t discover even a speck of it in them. They shouldn’t have been able to hide their Mana pool from him if they existed, so they should have some technique to manipulate the energy.” She commented thoughtfully. Then she closed her eyes and sat where she was. It seemed this revelations needed to be meditated on.

Luke wasn’t any better, the only difference is that he selected a more comfortable place to sit. Between the Mana Seed and the front door, there was a spot of trampled grass that Luke had been using for having his meals with Steve. There he could watch the forest and the seed while he ate. It wasn´t much more comfortable, but the grass was softer that the bare earth. He sat closing his eyes to ponder on the discovery. If Mana didn’t come from inside, there was only one place it could come from: the environment. He controlled some of his Mana forming tendrils and tried to grab or communicate with the exterior Mana to no success. ‘Wait, they don’t have Mana, so how could they grab it with the energy they have inside? They are working with no in-between. So, how do they consume that Mana’ Luke remembered the information he had about the Mana Control skill. ‘That skill works as a translator of sorts to allow me to ask the Mana to move in certain ways. So, why have I been talking just to the Mana inside me? If the skill truly works that way then there shouldn’t be any difference between inside and outside, it is all Mana. Then…’ Luke changed his approach. Instead of considering the ambient Mana, a different kind of energy that he had been using, he imagined it as if there were no limits between his pool and the world. It was like floodgates opened. Wave after wave of power painfully coursed through him and left as fast as they came. It didn’t go for long, but it left Luke sobbing in the grund. He made enough noise to break through Dahani meditation. She worriedly approached him wanting to know if he was fine. When no answer was forthcoming, she dropped to her knees and put a hand on his shoulder. She was trying to check his body for injuries. However, the moment her Mana tried to enter his body, it was instantly consumed, leaving her with no option but to wait.

Ten minutes of suffering later, the pain receded. Luke opened his eyes to find two silver mirrors staring back. Dahani blushed and retreated a few steps quickly. The action was so girlish that if Luke wasn’t distracted by the notifications he would have laughed.

DING

Mana Control has leveled up to Advanced lvl 1

Due to revealing one of Mana secrets you get:

+10 Wisdom

As long as there is Mana around you, your Mana repository won’t be used to fuel your spells.

Luke examined his inner self, discovering that the pain was a consequence of the new shape of his Mana pool. If before, it was a closed recipient, now the Mana was surrounded by a sieve that allowed it to go in and out without problems.

“Are you well?” Dahani asked, still worried about him.

“Yes, just discovered a new trick…” Luke.