Chapter Ten

Arden swiped away his bracelet menu, then returned his focus onto the vine only to see it wilting along the edges.

As an experiment, he sent a small stream of mana into the vine while activating his Accelerated Growth card.

In an instant, the leaves sprouted along the vine, perked up and greened while the vine grew a few centimeters longer. When the mana ran out, the vine went limp again, but unlike the grass, it didn’t brown right away.

This time, he watched the vine as it gradually browned along the edges of the leaves, then the previously green vine showed spots of brown.

Again, he sent a bit more mana into the vine, causing it to perk up and grew a little more. Apparently, he needed to keep his creations fed or they would die. It didn’t die as fast as the grass, maybe because he didn’t force it past its full size.

He would need to do more experiments, but on the clock, he needed to wait. Now that he knew he could create vine seeds, he could experiment in the desert, though the lack of ambient nature mana might affect things. Another thing he needed to test. Once he left, he needed to know he could use his magic.

Fortunately, once he broke into the first grade, he could produce his own mana, though his progress would be slow without ambient nature mana.

One problem at a time. First, he needed to reach the forest below, then figure out how to complete his class card quest.

After giving the vine another dose of mana, he picked it up, knowing it was safe as his Vine Extension card gave him the knowledge. The vine breed had high tensile strength but no offensive capabilities, like thorns or poison. Though the knowledge imparted to him hinted at being able to extend those vines as well. He wasn’t sure how useful the card was overall, but it might work for what he needed.

Like with his other cards, he used his Vine Extension card, feeding only a trickle into the vine. The vine instantly doubled in length, but the extended section turned brown and flaked off the moment the mana ran out.

Curious, he tried again, but this time with much more mana, almost to the point his hands warmed. The previously two meter vine extended to at least ten meters but just as quick browned and broke off.

A shiver ran through him as he imagined himself hanging from the vine when it broke apart. Did he want to trust it? He needed to climb down around fifty meters and pumping enough mana to warm his hands extended it to ten. Was it a fixed multiplication as in it would extend five times its length with that amount of mana, or was there a limit?

One way to find out. He needed to grow the vine longer. If he was lucky, the vine may grow long enough to skip Vine Extension.

Odd how his parents gave him cards almost tailored to his current situation. Well, not odd. They led him to the cavern, so they probably scouted it out, but that didn’t explain their little competition.

Maybe it was all for show just to keep him in the dark about their plans. If that was the case, they were right to do that. If they handed him these cards without the competition, he would have been suspicious.

Whatever their reasons, it didn’t matter now. He made his decision. Now he had to accomplish it. Mana ran through his bracelets and stopped at his hands until they grew warm before he sent it into the vine. As if hitting fast forward, the vine grew over a meter before the mana ran out.

What if he maintained a stream? He doubted he could keep the mana flow going if it left his body. It was hard enough to retain the mana he sent, let alone add more. However, maybe it was different when he held the vine. Worth a try, at least.

On the next activation of his Accelerated Growth card, he sent the mana through his hands into the vine instead of letting it build up. A smile formed as the mana absorbed into the vine. Maybe he was doing it all wrong. He wasted so much mana trying to feeding it from a distance. This way he didn’t have to worry about clamping down on the mana.

He kept half his focus on maintaining the flow, which became easier as the seconds passed while he watched the vine grow. Centimeter by centimeter it grew, far slower than the burst he sent, but it was consistent and far easier.

Soon the vine reached ten meters, then fifteen, but at the twenty-five meter mark a problem occurred. The tip coiled up at his feet flipped from green to brown, no longer growing. Did he reach the max length? Or did he need to add more mana?

Curious, he cut off the stream. A sudden dizzy spell hit him, causing him to sway as his vision blurred. Panic sparked as he saw sections of the vine brown, but he was helpless to stop it, as all he could do was stay conscious.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Fortunately, seconds later, his vision cleared, but his bracelets looked dim, as if they needed to recharge. The vine in his hands was already half dead, but with no mana coming through his bracelets to use, he may as well have been out of mana.

In a last ditch effort, he focused on the ambient mana surrounding him and compressed some into a ball. Another dizzy spell hit him, but he pushed through and sent the fist sized ball toward the vine. The moment the ball hit the vine, it disappeared.

However, the effect was obvious. Green returned along the entire length of the vine, but it was far from enough as it had restarted browning.

Mind pounding, he tried again, this time a little less forcefully. Instead of compressing a ball, he nudged mana into the vine. That was when something clicked in his mind. The vine couldn’t survive without mana infusions because it couldn’t absorb ambient mana.

Arden’s dim bracelets flashed light green before dimming once more.

He fed a steady stream of ambient mana into the vine, each time becoming easier as it attuned to the surrounding mana. Soon it didn’t need his input at all, as it fed on its own.

Though another problem presented itself soon after.

While it learned how to sustain itself, that didn’t mean the environment could handle it. The surrounding mana thinned by a small but noticeable amount, forcing Arden into action. He scooped up the remaining vine seeds and stashed them in a pocket in his knee-length cargo pants under the gray robe.

With his meager belongings accounted for, he returned his attention to the vine, then down at his bracelets to find them flashing. Worried he didn’t have enough time, he ignored them for now, having a pretty good idea what the flashing was. He most likely leveled Accelerated Growth again.

The card seemed easy to level, or maybe that was normal. It was a common rarity card, after all. He doubted he would level his rare cards anytime soon, but who knew?

Actually, he hoped he didn’t level his poison resistance card because that meant something poisoned him.

Instead of picking up the vine, he scanned the ledge, looking for something to tie the vine to. Of course, nothing stood out until his eyes landed on a raised section of the platform. It looked suspiciously perfect for his needs.

Arden picked up one end of the vine, finding it surprisingly heavy despite being only a couple centimeters in diameter. He really hoped the weight meant it was stronger than it looked.

To take one point of failure out of the equation, he wrapped the vine around the raised section several times, then quadruple knotted it.

Still not satisfied, he wrapped it around one more time, then tied it off before giving the vine a tug with all his might. Next, he leaned back while hanging from the vine, putting as much weight as possible on it, but both times, it held.

He glanced back at the ledge, but the now rapidly thinning mana snuffed out any ideas about preparing further. Probably for the best. He couldn’t waste too much time. Who knew how long it would take him to traverse the forest?

For all he knew, his target was on the opposite side, in some obscure location. He just hoped he knew his target when he saw it.

Before he could back out, Arden carried the vine toward the ledge and threw it over. Unfortunately, after his thorough anchoring, the vine didn’t even reach halfway down. He bent down and touched the vine and activated his Vine Extension card, this time using the same trick he did with his grow card. A steady stream of mana filled the vine, causing it to extend downward.

Just in case it couldn’t reach far enough, Arden maintained the flow as he peered over the ledge, watching the vine make steady progress toward the grassy plain at the edge of the forest. Fortunately, his fears proved unwarranted as the vine reached the bottom. In fact, it began coiling up on the ground.

He released a stuttered breath before grasping the vine with both hands, then climbed over the ledge. With his feet planted on the stone wall, he shimmied his way down while maintaining a trickle of mana on the vine.

The vine felt smooth but somehow grippy, sparing his hands from rope burn as he repelled down. A minute later, he touched down. Relief filled him as he let go of the vine, watching half of it disintegrate, leaving no way back up.

No turning back now, not that there was any turning back after he chose his class card quest.

He turned toward the forest but shook his head. Instead of entering the forest, he turned to the right and began walking along the wall of the circular cavern. If the gluttonous vine didn’t attract attention, it would soon. It wouldn’t be in his best interest to be nearby when something capable of sensing the disturbance arrived.

In an almost artificial looking uniformity, the strip of grass remained the same width between the cavern wall in the forest. Based on his quest, it might be artificial. It wouldn’t surprise him if whatever caused the growth was his target. If it was, that only made his quest harder. Whatever lurked within probably gathered around the source. That also meant the outer reaches should be safer. At least, he hoped they were.

He didn’t stop until he couldn’t see the ledge any longer. A glance at his quest description told him two hours passed. This cavern was massive. He doubted he traveled even a tenth of its circumference in two hours.

How was he supposed to find his target in something so massive? He released a sigh. No turning back now, he just had to trek forward. If he tried his best and couldn’t reach his target, it wasn’t meant to be.

Not wanting to stand out in the open, he turned to the forest, then marched forward. He had to crane his neck just to glimpse the treetops above. The trees towered over even the ledge far above, down on the ground. They were absolutely massive, though upon further inspection, they seemed smaller than the stone trees above. Still, the stone trees surrounding the villages looked like saplings in comparison.

Done gawking, he continued, though he couldn’t help but compare himself to the tree trunks. They were at least a meter wide, and that was on the outer edge of the forest they were probably bigger deeper in.

Upon stepping through a gap in the trees, he gasped as mana flooded his body, pushing his bracelets to their limit. They grew warm, then hot while shining like the sun.

Before they blew, he scrambled back, legs like rubber. He teetered several more steps into the grass before collapsing to his knees, gasping for breath.