The next branch Andrew examined was the air-earth mixed branch. This one had a slight pale grey coloration to it, the exterior bark was cracked like the earth branch and so brittle that it flaked away in the wind. Andrew reached his hand out to touch the bark, preparing his siphon affinity skill as he did so, a tiny pop sounded out when he got within a few centimeters and he felt a little pinprick of pain zap his palm. He stopped, then turned his hand and placed the back of it against the branch. Nothing more happened. The thin brittle sheets of bark rubbed off a little as he brushed the back of his hand across the bark. He activated siphon affinity and poured a stream of mana into the tree, and was surprised to find that the air and earth affinities felt unchanged, weaker than usual even. The water affinity was still strong, and- and there was something else in there too, an affinity he didn't recognize. Electricity? Lightning or something like that maybe?

If this is really lightning affinity, then I'd bet Po's left arm the next circle in my journal is a set of lightning accumulation runes. Very exciting, and dangerous. I'll bet the mana expenditure is insane. Especially considering all I got out of this branch was a little pop and it's been running for a week and a half. I'm definitely taking it along with, but I suspect this one will be set aside for a little while, until I have the freedom and leisure to safely experiment.

Andrew grabbed the branch in one hand and pulled. It was incredibly brittle and snapped off the tree easily. He set it down near the others and easily peeled up the bark around the binding circles to destroy them, then found the other air-earth branch and repeated the process. The next four branches looked entirely unmodified, the only difference being the accumulation circles that circled one branch each. He examined the air-water branch first, cautiously placing a hand against it, to no discernable reaction. He activated siphon affinity and pulsing pure mana into the branch and feeling out it's properties. Once again the base affinities felt remarkably unchanged, slightly less air and water, slightly more earth, and a tiny pool of something else entirely. A little diamond of incredibly dense affinity. It must be the result of the two basic mana types mixing, like metal or lightning, but he had no idea what it was supposed to represent. With a shrug he grabbed the branch and tried to pull. It didn't budge. Not a single inch. He grabbed it with two hands, slowly putting more and more weight on it until he was just, hanging off of it. No movement whatsoever, even when he swung his way down to the very end. He let go. The branch remained unchanged.

Andrew grabbed the axe and swung at the crook of the branch. It bit into the wood easily, just as he would expect from a normal tree, though the rebound was harsher and the branch did not shake. He hacked away at the branch until it was cut clear of the tree. It remained disturbingly static as he worked, though now that it was seperated he could see it slowly begin drifting towards the ground.

Well not that slowly I suppose but- what the hell is this thing?

The branch was rapidly accelerating as it fell, unnaturally and exponentially gathering speed as it fell before it landed like a giant's footstep and dug a furrow in the ground. Andrew reached down, bracing himself as he tried to pick it up. It felt at first like lifting a branch of tungsten, his fingers strained to drag it up and out of the trench in the dirt it's impact dug. As soon as he got it to move though, it became remarkably easier, and easier. The branch picked up speed as he lifted it, until it was almost lifting itself, until it really was lifting itself and he had to put his full effort into stopping the branch before it flew off. He managed to stop it's movement, then he let go. It floated in the air for a moment, though unlike the air branch it was entirely unaffected by the wind. Then it began to fall, very slowly, then with ever increasing speed. Andrew caught it before it had a chance to pick up too much speed, and was still surprised by how much force it took to slow it's descent.

What in the absolute fuck is this thing doing? It's weight is all kinds of fucked up, or, well it's not weight. I can hold it in one hand, and I don't really even notice the weight. It just- momentum maybe? Force affinity? Fuck, this one might be beyond my understanding. I'm going to need a lot of time to test this thing too, though… it's applications for weapon development are pretty obvious from the jump. It's acting almost like a force multiplier or something, which is terrifying. This stuff could get really, really fucking dangerous, really fast. I'm not sure it's a good idea to share this with the others.

Andrew contemplated the plain looking branch in his hand for a long moment. It seemed like a waste to throw it away, and it was getting late, but he wasn't sure if it was time to let this particular cat out of the bag. Perhaps he could tuck this little piece away for later. Andrew sat down, pulling free the hammer he always kept at his out with one hand and resting it on his knee, the offending branch in his other hand. He activated his siphon affinity skill, and delved into the branch with his mana, questing out for the diamond of crystalline affinity and grasping hold if it. Trying to wrench it out of the branch. It did not budge. He tried harder. Nothing. He pushed even more mana into the branch, and tried again to no success. Though.. He did sense something else, tiny slivers of the affinity floating in the muck of natural manas that permeated the branch. He tried to draw in one of those, and had some success, dragging it out of the branch, up into himself, and through the other arm into the head of his hammer. The exertion nearly drained his considerable mana pool and he was soaked through with sweat. All that for a tiny sliver. He set the branch down and tried hefting his hammer. It almost felt like he was dragging it around underwater, but not quite. The effect was significantly less pronounced. He tossed it into the air and it hung there for a moment longer than typical before falling to the ground, with just a bit more force than it probably should.

[Mana Sense lvl 3 -> 4]

[Siphon Affinity lvl 7 -> 8]

[+ 1 Intelligence for pushing the limits of your mana control]

[+ 1 Wisdom for sustaining constant mana control]

[Runic Artisan Level Up]

That will have to be enough for now. It's good that it's difficult to work with, hopefully it will be a long time before anyone else discovers this stuff. Its getting late, I need to check out this last branch and get back to camp before anyone starts to worry.

Andrew dug a hole under a bush, easily snapped the branch into three pieces, and buried it, repeating the process with the other air-water tree. Then moved on to the earth-water branches, which were similarly unremarkable. Andrew cautiously pressed the back of his hand to the bark of one branch, nothing happened. He switched to his palm and activated siphon affinity sending the tiny sliver of pure mana he had left questing into the tree. He felt small the slightly below average earth affinity, and water affinity, and something else that-, the mana inside of the branch churned and Andrew's awareness of the mana inside of the tree went blank for a moment, it took him a second to realize that the branch was now filled with mostly pure mana, in fact it seemed almost as if the pure mana was getting even denser. It was getting harder to 'see' through the pure mana under his influence and he realized the other ambient mana types in the branch weren't just getting harder to sense, they were disappearing as more and more pure mana was formed. Andrew felt the branch begin to crumble under his palm and opened his eyes to see it evaporating into fine black dust, so light it was blowing off the branch like smoke. It was gone in less than a second. Leaving Andrew standing there, one palm out, a large, perfectly smooth crater carved into the tree where the branch and accumulation circles used to be.

…………Huh. Well then. I don't need to hide the evidence on that one I guess. Not sure what to make of that one. There was definitely something in there, then, it all turned into pure mana? I've never seen pure mana in an object before. In fact normal materials usually have a certain level of resistance to pure mana, at least in my experience empowering items.

Andrew sought out the other earth-water branch and was able to easily snap the branch off of the tree, with no notable differences to a typical tree. Then he sent a tiny pulse of pure mana into the branch and watched with fascination as it too went up in a cloud of fine inky black dust and a wave of pure mana. He still wasn't sure what to make of it, but whatever it was it wouldn't help them with a horde of hobgoblins, and that was his main priority. He shrugged, stripped the tree of it's runes, gathered up his collection of branches and hoofed it back through the fading twilight to camp.

Name: Andrew Neilson

Race: Human

Catalyst: Rune Mage lvl 3

Class: Scavenger lvl 45

Profession: Runic Artisan lvl 8

Titles: Pioneer, Goblin Slayer I, Martyr I, Raid Leader I, Savior I

Status:

HP: 1,180/1,180

SP: 800/1,180

MP: 267/1370

Attribute points: 28

Strength: 79

Dexterity: 130

Vitality: 121

Intelligence: 140

Wisdom: 157

Skills:

-Perception lvl 7

-Camouflage lvl 1

-Mana Control lvl 11

-Woodcarving lvl 4

-Rune Inscription lvl 11

-Adaptive Weapon Mastery lvl 6

-Empower Item lvl 10

-Rune Modification lvl 7

-Blood Infusion lvl 1

-Stone Carving lvl 4

-Auto Mana Inscription lvl 7

-Mana Smelting lvl 6

-Blacksmithing lvl 10

-Scavenger's Resilience lvl 4

-Lumberjack lvl 3

-Carpentry lvl 2

-Butcher lvl 1

-Pain Resistance lvl 4

-Fire Resistance lvl 1

-Siphon Affinity lvl 7

-Minor Translation lvl 3

-Mana Sense lvl 4

-Mend lvl 2