Dahani insisted that Luke should rest after what happened with his meditation. She was worried that she would lose the only ally, or the closest thing to one, she had in this new world. There was also a small part of herself that desired to spend more time with this mysterious being that have so many impossible things occurring around him. It could be considered as a mix of amazement, envy and attraction, but mainly amazement.

Luke composed himself by breathing slowly. A phantom of the pain remained untouched. It was a weird sensation to feel pain somewhere you can’t touch, very similar to having an itch in the back without being able to scratch it. He pondered about this new development reaching the conclusion that the bonus obtained looked awesome, but he didn’t know the possible negative consequence it could have. As such, his opinion would stay neutral until he could come to a more informed conclusion. Nonetheless, a benefit was that he could channel the ambient Mana now and quicken the growth of the Mana Seed. And he was decided to do just that. He felt that the increase in control of the Mana flow would allow him to transfer energy while resting (it may stop if he went into deep sleep, otherwise, it would keep functioning).

“Do you want to eat something? I’m starving! Oh right, what do you usually eat? Is there anything you don’t like eating?” Luke curiously asked Dahani. He had given her some fruits for lunch because he wanted to eat on the move, but now he craved for meat and he didn’t know if that might upset her. She hadn’t shown any repulsion when they skinned and stored the rabbits provided by the pack which made him believe she was fine with an omnivorous diet, but it was easier to just ask to make sure.

“Nature elves have to provide each meal for themselves, is one of our most basic rules. It could be through hunting, gathering or any other mean available. As this is your territory, the custom is for me to accept whatever you decide on.” She answered, dissolving his doubts.

“Then, we are eating rabbit. I don’t know how long you will stay, but if you want to go hunt or collect fruits, you don’t need to ask for permission. Be warned that you can only hunt as much as you can eat before the food rots. The same to fruits and herbs. I don’t want you to make a dent in either the animal or the plant life of the forest. Ah, also, don’t hunt the wolves, they’re allies.” Luke didn’t have an issue with Dahani roaming the forest. After all, with the amount of tree sprites and sylphs that inhabited the woods, he could easily keep an eye on her. He actually preferred for her to provide for herself. Luke did prefer his solitude.

“I’m most grateful for your offer and I will accept it.” There was more than a glint of gratefulness in her eyes. It seemed that depending on someone else for food was not high on her wishlist.

Dinner was an austere meal, not due to lack of food, but because of Luke’s natural tendency to squeeze every bit of resources he had. He blamed his father and the pseudo military upbringing imposed for this quality. It was quite useful considering the situation, but made Luke a well known miser in his circle of friends. The meal consisted of well cooked rabbit steak accompanied by a salad and fruit for dessert. It was a simple, quickly made and eaten dinner. In spite of this, it was more than enough to satiate their hunger. Conversation didn’t sprout easily between them (both were more of the silent type than the outspoken kind), but after awhile, they struck one about the forest, what they liked, tips for living in them and more. They got so entranced by the topic that the conversation lasted longer than the food.

However, it couldn’t go on forever. During a pause, Luke excused himself to do the dishes and everything he used to cook. When he went back outside, he found that Dahani was deeply asleep. It was no wonder as she had had a hell of a day. He retrieved a blanket for her and then went toward the Mana Plant (situation like this were the ones that made him really want an ability like identify so he didn’t need to name things himself), sat down in a comfortable positions and began transfusing Mana. He went with the pace he was used to, around fifty Mana per second. He could go a lot faster, but it was an unnecessary risk. He entered a calm state of mind. He had discovered in the week after his change that his physical needs had decreased considerably. He still ate roughly the same because he guessed that the enhancement the stats provided have to come from somewhere (the attributes modify the body in a fundamental level, it was not possible for it to be completely free. He assumed that it consumed some of his energy reserve, Mana or Stamina or something else, and so made sure to have three meals a day. He didn't want to find out if there could be negative effects), but rest was something he could control more freely. He loved to sleep so he didn’t alter his sleep time significantly. The difference was that he needed to rest deeply two hours less than before. He could also sleep the full time lightly and have the same result. This time, he was going to sleep lightly while he maintained the transference to the plant.

Everyday for the last week, he had given an average of five thousand Mana to the relic. In this single night, he was going to pass more than twenty thousand Mana(8 hours = 480 minutes = 28800 seconds x 50 Mana/second = 1440000 Mana). He was hopeful of the results. Even if they were as good as he hoped, the speed of growth should increase exponentially. He would conserve his Mana during the day, it wasn't worthy seeing as everynight he could transfer several more times more than what he used to give the Mana Seed.

Luke enjoyed the night rest without anything cropping out to attack him or to grab his attention. That changed with the first rays of the sun.

Brother, they are leaving Steve messaged him.

Luke was still drowsy, so he didn’t understand the report at first.

Who? Luke

The ones in the valley. They are going towards the mountains. Steve

‘The dark elves! They left? Why?’ Luke was thinking about this and several others questions. The news had woken him up entirely, though his mental tirade didn’t go on for long. Just a second after opening his eyes, he also opened his mouth agape. There, in front of him, was a young tree more than ten meters high.

“Well, at least something went favourably” Luke said with an incredulous voice.