At first I was wondering if that was a good choice. Wouldn't it be faster for me to just try and absorb it, like a plant or any other thing? Maybe more efficient?

After all, I was made out of crystal. Completely. So what was the difference between absorbing the mana from the fruit via the crystal that was my hand, or the crystal that was my mouth or tongue?

I never really thought about it, I have not eaten much, or really at all, since the change happened, I just always was absorbing mana by touching stuff.

Still, even if it was essentially the same, it was nonetheless a better choice. Not from the taste perspective, no. If we were to consider that, it was the absolute worst. As soon as I even touched the fruit with my mouth, it turned to ash, giving me a very unpleasant aftertaste and I started coughing, spraying the ash both from my mouth, nose and even via the hole in my neck. I can imagine that it had to look hilarious.

It was a good choice from the standpoint of efficiency though - after all, the wound was definitely closer to my mouth than it was to my hand. I could feel the warmth spread from my mouth to my neck in a span of a second, just to disappear almost instantly.

While it was pretty pleasant, it was overshadowed by the itching and overall aftertaste of just having eaten a bunch of ash.

Good news though - I was not glowing. So I went for another one.

Then another.

And another.

Until I finally ran out of fruit, without much of a change, to be honest.

It was strange. After a second or third I expected that something would’ve happened, but nope. The hole was still there, still large enough that I could put two of my fingers in without issue. Maybe it was slightly less jagged now, but that was it. Not much of a progress if you ask me. I even checked the shards of the Origin Crystal that I brought with me, thinking that I accidentally touched one of them and it was those that got mana instead, but nope. I would’ve felt it anyway…

Well then, since I was out of conventional means of restoring mana, I went for a more primal one, and the one I recently was relying on the most. After all, it was the reason I went outside in the first place.

And I leaned on the tree next to me, touching it with my head.

I already knew that trees in this place, or rather just plants overall, had a lot more mana than I considered “normal”, but even then, it was a lot.

Outside this island, when I touched a tree, I only needed a couple of moments to turn them into withered husks barely reminding what they were before, so I was surprised when the mana started pouring into me without the tree changing at all.

Hey, it was not a bad thing. More mana, less damage, quicker healing, right?

Well, I was not exactly wrong.

The truth was that I indeed started healing, or at least it felt like it. This time, the warmth that was spreading did not instantly dissipate, since I was provided with a steady, strong stream of magic power. The warmth was also accompanied by a feeling of itching, this time inside of my throat and overall on my whole neck. Trying to fight the itch to scratch myself I grabbed my neck, just to feel the hole slowly close.

Hah, quick and easy. Just how it was supposed to work - I thought to myself, happy that I finally succeeded in something without any side effects.

Too early in fact.

Just as the wound was about to be completely healed, I felt… something else.

Not another wave of itching, no, it was as someone was whispering inside my head. At first I thought that it was Jack, or Vendi, that snuck behind me, wondering what I was up to, but nope, there was no magic signature besides the ones I felt in the trees around me.

The trees…

The whispers started getting louder and louder, to the point where I started understanding them.

-Ju Douquwe Noli, mocisohu nop…

-Ju Douquwe Noli, mocisohu nop…

-Ju Douquwe Noli, mocisohu nop…

Not this crap again…

It was that stupid mantra that I heard from the elves that decided that suicide was the option to somehow solve all their problems.

But why in the hell was I hearing that HERE? Weren’t those people dead? They weren’t even buried here, so what gives?

I wanted to break contact with the tree, since I was already healed and even was starting to glow again, but curiosity took over and instead I started listening more.

It was… strange. It was the first time that I actually was able to literally hear the words, not just see images or have someone else’s thoughts projected to me directly, so I was more interested than I should.

The longer I was focusing, the more I started to feel and understand. The words were accompanied by a torrent of different feelings, most of them negative. Anger, disappointment, fear, you name it. But under that layer, somewhere further, there was hiding something else, another voice, with another mantra.

-Wowu, qsuvilvo nop. Wowu, jimqu nop. Wowu qsuvilvo nop…

Repeating again and again.

Hearing one word was enough to make me flinch. Besides the fact that the voice was seemingly messing with life again, it did not sound like a spell. It was more like a plea. “Life, help me. Life, protect me…”. A bit awkwardly worded, but still.

Even then, it was not the thing that caught my attention. The thing is, I actually recognized the voice.

It was Kon.

Now the question - why the hell would I be able to hear him? The tree I was touching was definitely not him, not even close.

-Kon? What in the fuck… - I thought to myself. - How in the hell…

As soon as I did that, the voices stopped. Both mantras were silenced, and instead they were now replaced completely by an overwhelming feeling of surprise and suspicion, just for me to hear a few seconds later:

-Mor…?

I barely was able to even notice that, because the feelings were not exactly very subdued and were making it hard to focus on something else than them.

-You can hear me? Where are you? Where is everyone? What happened?

He instantly bombarded me with a barrage of questions.

-I want to ask the same thing? Why am I able to talk to you after touching a random tree on the inside of the barrier?

As I mentioned the barrier, the barrage of feelings intensified. Now it was a mix of curiosity and fear in almost equal amounts. But, I could tell that only one of them was coming from Kon. The rest were from the other voices I’ve heard before, confirming my suspicion about who I was hearing, or rather connected to.

-I don’t know… I think I am moving… It’s getting dark…

That was not a good indication.

-Listen to me. Focus and stay where you are. We are going to get you back. Just don’t move.

-I can’t… it’s hard… something is pulling me… deeper…

Not good news. Very not good news.

-Wait and try to hold on. I’ll get help as soon as possible.

-I’ll try…

With that I broke contact with a tree. The feelings stopped, and I came back to my senses.

I was not paying attention apparently, because I never noticed that I was essentially blind and deaf that whole time. As soon as I moved away from the tree, I realized that I was now glowing pretty hard, my neck already fixed completely.

The tree still was intact though, which was unsettling me a little bit.

I stood up and started running towards the mansion.

On my way, just to be safe, I attempted to dump my excess mana into the shards I had on me. In hindsight, it was a bit reckless to do that on the run, but somehow it worked up. As I was running through the corridor and towards the kitchen, where I saw Jack last, my body already was a lot dimmer, meaning that actually was working. I doubled my effort to put even more magic into the pieces and broke contact as soon as I got to the staircase leading down to the broken bunker.

The final effect was that I was still not completely discharged, but the pieces were glowing hard, even more than the light crystals that were lighting up the places. I, on the other hand, was just slightly brighter, so it had to be enough for now.

Jack and Vendi were downstairs still, trying to break through the ice. They made some more progress, the ice block was mostly gone at this point, broken into multiple pieces. Two kids were here too, apparently helping to move ice to the storage room. As soon as I barged into the room, they yelped and hid behind one of the still not broken bookshelves.

-What’s going on? - asked Vendi, startled, seeing that I was in a hurry.

-Oh, you fixed your neck! - noticed Jack, stopping his spell, the vines falling away from the ice and flopping onto the floor. - I thought you said that’s going to take a long time!

-Quickly…! - I said and got surprised by my voice.

It was a lot more echoey, almost like I was speaking through the tube.

They both noticed the change too, but I did not give them time to comment on that.

-Something is wrong with Kon, we need to move!

-What? Where? Why? - his face instantly turned serious and Vendi also dropped his spell that was still prodding at the ice.

-No time, we’re going to talk on the move.

-Kids, to the rooms - Jack announced loudly, and the pair that was still behind the bookshelf darted away upstairs. - Lead the way.

First, I led them towards the tree that I just was absorbing the mana from while quickly explaining what exactly I felt.

-Can you hear anything?

After a second of focus, Jack shook his head.

-Not him. Only some mixed feelings, like you explained, but nothing more.

-Vendi?

-Nope. Not even those feelings…

-Hrg.

-But you are right, something like this should not happen. I have never felt a feeling from a tree before… I mean before Kon turned into one…

I lightly tapped the tree with my finger, to see what reaction I would get, at the same time putting my hand on the crystal, just in case.

I still was able to sense the feelings, but there were no voices.

-Kon…?

I did not get an answer, but instead I felt something like a groan. I mean, how can you even FEEL a groan?

At the same time, Jack, who was still touching the tree as well, flinched and removed his hand.

-So you felt that too?

-Yeah… what was that? - he looked concerned.

-I was hoping you would be able to tell me. You live here, don’t you know stuff about this forest?

-I have no clue… also, is that normal? - he asked, pointing at my, now glowing bright green, hand.

-Ah - I realized that I was still sucking the mana from the tree. - Well, sort of - I replied, pulling away.

But, even though I was no longer touching the tree, I still could feel the strange groan and overall that weird uncomfortable feeling that I had when I touched the trunk, along with some remnants of the emotions I felt before too.

That confused me immensely.

At the same time, Vendi, who was still trying to “listen” to the tree suddenly froze.

-It’s a lot more quiet now…

-What the hell? - Jack jumped forwards again, trying to feel out the tree, and soon nodded - You’re right. Like something just disappeared… or moved away… - he started muttering. - What the hell is this thing?

-Maybe another grave - suggested Vendi after a while. - Who the hell knows where exactly people were buried…

-You might be onto something, but fuck that for now! We need to check up on Kon.

-You’re right! Okay, I am going with you.

-I am not passing the occasion to learn more about whatever he is either - I added, trying to regain my composure. Lead the way.

Full sprint, we ran through the barrier without hesitation and only stopped after we reached the “graveyard”.

It was just as we left it. The trees that they grew were still intact. Hell, even the small scar that I left while trying to ascertain its mana was already healed.

Without hesitation, both of them went right towards the Kon-tree. Vendi touched it with his hand, while Jack almost hugged it.

I was still in the rear, trying to understand what I was feeling, and besides I did not want to accidentally drain this tree as well. On our way here I managed to pour a little bit of mana into the shards I had, but it was more difficult than last time.

The crystals were already charged quite considerably. But even then, they still managed to drain enough mana from me that both the glow and the random moans that I was hearing in my head subsided finally, so I could focus on the task at hand.

Both of them stayed in that position for a good minute. But with each passing second, I could tell that they were getting strained more and more - while their mana flow was not disturbed, their faces were contorted in…

Wait a damn second. Speaking of mana flow, I noticed that something was not right about that. Or rather was normal, and it was not normal for this place if you catch my meaning.

Before, when I first noticed that Kon turned into a tree, I was able to somewhat distinguish him from other plants that were in this area. While he was somewhat similar to every other tree, and especially to the one that I assumed that he turned the elves into, now it was not the case. Both the elves’ tree and the Kon-tree looked, in my mind’s eye, exactly as any other one that was surrounding us currently.

To add to my list of concerns, Jack started looking worried, and turned away from the tree he was hugging.

-I can’t hear him… or anything new for that matter - he announced with an unsure voice. - Vendi? What about you?

-Yea… I still can somewhat hear the… ehm, moans, I want to say and some scraps of other things, but nothing that would deem familiar.

-What’s going on?

I only replied with confusion painted across my face.

-Maybe he’s asleep? - said Vendi, even himself sounding unsure. - Do trees even sleep? Is he a tree?

-Can you try and do the same thing you did when we first found him? - asked Jack. - If he’s really unconscious, it might help!

-Last time I did that both of you barely managed to not break down and you want me to do it again? Besides, you’re not worried that I’ll hurt him?

-You managed to touch that other tree without any issue. Can’t you do that again?

-I did do that…- I suddenly realized that he was right. - Well, I hope you have your booze to drown out the pain you, and probably me as well, are going to go through right about now.

-I don’t but the cellar is open - he muttered, sitting on the ground. Try it.

Still slightly unsure about this idea, I unwrapped my hand completely.

-Well, you wanted this. Sorry Kon. Here goes nothing…

Just like before, I swiped slightly at the tree bark, expecting to feel an immediate reaction from the trunk.

But nothing happened.

Confused for a second, I tried again.

There was no mistaking it, something was wrong.

I definitely felt the mana flow into me, albeit barely, since I just smudged the tree, but there was not a single scratch on the bark, just like with the tree next to the mansion.

As if to add to the confusion, I also did not feel any different mana than just the green one that usually is found in plants - there was absolutely no hint of life mana that I already learned to associate with Kon.

I mean sure, it was possible that the first time I felt the life magic in the tree it was just the residue after the ritual and it had nothing to do with the person that we thought was trapped inside it, but nevertheless, there was no response from the tree.

I tried two times more, but to no avail. I just absorbed a bit more green mana, turning myself almost completely green - by now I already sucked up so much of it that I was already tinted slightly, but after these few attempts, I was as green as the canopy above us.

-Nothing?

I shook my head in response.

-Nope. Are you sure you’re not feeling anything? I mean… something should’ve already happened…

-No… besides, wouldn’t you feel that as well?

-Sure… but I am trying to keep the contact to a minimum. I am not exactly very pleasant to touch, if you catch my drift.

-You say that, but this time the tree is fine…

-Yeah, although…

I stopped mid sentence. Although what? I didn’t really have an answer for that. Maybe he was right, and I was no longer that destructive…?

Just to test things out, I stepped away from the Kon-tree and approached the other one, the one that was supposed to be made out of elves.

With those I was not that careful and placed my whole palm on the trunk. And, just like with the other ones, I felt the mana flow while the tree itself looked unharmed.

-Hell, you might be right… - I muttered, coming back to Kon-tree. - I guess I can be a bit more persistent.

Just as I said, I did. I pressed the full palm of my hand to the bark, and focused.

This time I felt something. Along with the flow of mana, I managed to again notice a weak flow of emotion. Bit different than before, but still.

-Kon? Are you there?

When I asked the question, both Vendi and Jack flinched, surprised. Huh. Apparently, since they were also in contact with that tree, when I pushed my voice towards it, they also managed to hear it. Good to know.

At first, I thought I wasn’t getting the answer. The voice was silent, there was nothing betraying any presence besides that strange and dissociated stream of emotions, somewhere far from us.

-Kon! Answer me!

This time I was the one who was surprised. It was Jack - he was the one asking along with me. I guess talking via plants is easier than expected. Maybe because it was also a part of magic that he was proficient with, who knows?

A second later I flinched again, because yet another voice joined us.

-Kon! Hello?

Vendi also wanted to add his own attempt. Talking via plants really had to be easy then.

Yet even with us three repeating the calls, both Vendi and Jack being more and more impatient and worried by the second.

After a good minute of calling him out, I had to finally remove my hand. Besides me thinking that it was just a waste of effort, I also did not want to destroy the tree by accident. I mean sure, even though I was absorbing mana - a lot slower this time, I tried to limit myself quite a bit, with a moderate rate of success - who knows how long that would last.

I was already overcharged to shit, so I placed my other hand on the broken pieces of Origin Crystal, to get rid of the overflow that was formed within me,

-What the hell happened…? - I thought to myself and was just about to sit down next to the tree to try and think the situation out, but just as I was about to do it, I felt a familiar voice in my head.

-I don’t know… It’s dark…