Chapter Eleven

Arden kneeled on the grass, gasping for breath, eyes wide in shock. How was that possible? How could anything survive in there? The mana density was off the charts.

Several minutes passed before his Ortus bracelets cooled down. Fortunately, his pulse calmed as well, allowing him to think a little more rationally, though with clarity came the weight of his quest hanging over his head.

He needed to survive inside. More than survive, Thrive. How was he supposed to defend himself against creatures living inside if he could barely survive?

The problem was he doubted his bracelets could handle the mana, at least not as they were. It was like the mana was incompatible with them.

Did this place predate Ortus?

That didn’t make sense. If it did, why would Ortus give him a quest to enter? As far as he knew, every class card quest was possible for the recipient. Though he heard of horror stories about quests so hard, they may as well have been impossible. He wasn’t sure yet if his fell into that category.

As he turned back to the forest, an idea sparked, though it was a long shot. What if he pushed to grade one? Well, not pushed as forcing through the bottleneck at the peak of communion phase wasn’t possible, but if he focused, he might speed it up.

Did he have time to risk it, though? Few reached grade one within the first month of their initiation, let alone the first week.

To make it worse, he needed to accomplish it in at most a couple of days, and even that was pushing it. He needed most of the week to complete his quest, not spend it meditating.

What if something found him? Maybe the change in mana kept everything inside the forest. It would explain why nothing showed up, even after the disturbance he created with the vine. Though he saw fairies when he first arrived. Now that he thought about it, they didn’t leave the forest.

It was possible everything inside adapted to the environment at the cost of remaining trapped inside. Or maybe they didn’t leave because they were nature affinity attuned creatures living in the only oasis for their kind in thousands of kilometers.

Whatever the reason, if he was going to take the risk, he hoped they would stay inside. On the plus side, if he succeeded, he would be much more capable of defending himself.

Afraid to stay too close to the forest edge, he retreated as far as he could, which wasn’t far as the ring of grass only extended a couple dozen meters, if that, until it stopped at the unnaturally smooth wall. Still, it was better than nothing.

He dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged, fidgeting until he found a comfortable spot, then he leaned his back against the wall. While allowing his eyes to close, he took deep breaths and focused inward. He felt the vague partially formed tether deep within him only for his eyes to snap open.

That shouldn’t be possible. The only way mana entered the body was through the Ortus bracelets. How was he receiving mana from the forest? Was that why his bracelets burned? Still, that brought him back to his previous question. Why would Ortus give him a quest that the bracelets rebelled against?

Unless they weren’t. Maybe he was the one who needed to attune to enter. Similar to how he attuned the vine. It was worth a try.

Deciding to put off trying to advance to grade one. He stood up and tentatively approached the forest, but instead of stepping through, he poked his hands inside. A gasp escaped him as his bracelets instantly heated. but contrary to what he thought, the bracelets sent mana into his body just at a much slower pace, but each drop felt several magnitudes denser.

When the bracelets became too hot to bear, he retracted them and stumbled back a couple of steps, arms feeling like lead weights. As he waited for his bracelets to cool down, he dropped to the ground and delved inward, smiling as he saw the changes.

While he couldn’t access his mana core until he broke into grade one, just a glance told him the few seconds of forest immersion did wonders. His mana core appeared a shade brighter as it shifted between different shades of green slightly faster than before.

However, as his bracelets cooled down, the changes became less apparent, but if he looked closely, there was a potentially permanent boost. He couldn’t expect drastic changes from only a few seconds, but it gave him hope.

There had to be a point of diminishing returns where he could venture inside. His bracelets and mana were too far apart from the ambient mana inside the forest, but if he was right, that wouldn’t be a problem soon.

While remaining seated, he stuck his bracelets into the forest once more, finding they took a few moments longer to heat. That didn’t mean they lasted much longer inside.

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Like the previous cycle, he delved inward, but instead of focusing on his core, he looked deeper at the tether he could now see much easier, announcing another boon.

Time passed as he cycled through immersing his bracelets and letting them cool down. Unfortunately or fortunately, he couldn’t check how long he had left on his quest, as his bracelets were unresponsive on both ends of the cycle, though he could have checked before sticking them in.

Another unusual effect he found was he didn’t feel hungry or thirsty. While elves could survive without food and water longer than many races, not feeling any hunger or thirst was unusual.

Not that he would complain. One less thing to worry about.

He could now immerse his bracelets for over a minute or so his internal clock told him. On the other end of the cycle, it only took a few seconds for them to cool down. Still, a minute was far from long enough, so he kept going.

Falling into a trance, he continued the cycle, each time making small but compounding progress.

When he reached five minutes of exposure, something clicked into place as if he had passed a threshold, causing the next cycle to change enough to break him out of his trance.

Unlike before, where there was a brief delay followed by a quick heat up, then a plateau until becoming unbearably hot. Now they warmed right away, but much more gradually. Enough that he stood up after the cycle reaching much longer than the previous one, though it was hard to tell as each cycle blended together.

While waiting for his bracelets to cool, Arden checked his mana system. His veins running from his bracelets to his core were a little wider and probably tougher to accommodate the high density mana. The luminosity of his core far outshined what it was before he started, though the shifting of shades of green was only a little faster.

Without breaking into grade one, he couldn’t take a proper measure of his core, though. If he had to guess, the density of his mana must have skyrocketed along with its overall power. He wasn’t sure how that would affect his casting.

On the breaking through to grade one front, things weren’t as promising. While there was steady progress, he still seemed far from reaching grade one. Fortunately, he might not have to reach grade one to complete his quest, though he wasn’t sure he felt comfortable not having control of his own mana in a dangerous environment.

Despite his worries, Arden stood and stared at the forest just as his bracelets cooled to normal. He needed to make progress on his quest. That meant braving the forest. If he stayed near the edges, he should be fine. At least, he hoped. He had to take the risk, though.

A deep, steadying breath escaped his mouth before he stepped forward. In an instant, his entire body heated, not just the bracelets which fared better this time. Before it became unbearable, he walked forward.

As he wove through the forest, trying his best to avoid stepping on things or rubbing against anything, he kept his senses trained outward.

Fortunately, the dense canopy allowed for walkable gaps in the foliage, but that also meant he probably wasn’t the only one who traveled these paths.

Nothing jumped out at him as he ventured forward, but each step deeper caused his mana cooked body to grow heavier. Strangely, his bracelets felt cool compared to the rest of his body. Not that they weren’t smoldering as well.

Soon it became too much, forcing him to retreat. His body felt like lead as he struggled back, no longer able to lift his feet. The raging infernal engulfed his entire body. Only the grassy ring visible through the trees kept him going.

With one last push, he burst into the grass, then collapsed onto the ground bonelessly. A groan escaped as it felt like his body fell into an ice bath after a long day in the desert.

Like usual, his bracelets and hands cooled within seconds, but the rest of his body was a different story. Time ground on as his body returned to a normal temperature. Finally able to focus, he glance inward but didn’t notice any changes.

So much for exploring the forest. He barely made it a hundred meters. If he went any further, he wasn’t sure he would have made it out.

Until he knew for sure his body could handle it, he needed to stay near the edge. What if something attacked him? Even before the mana overwhelmed him, he was in no condition to fight.

Was his life worth completing the legacy quest? He wasn’t sure if he could answer that. If he failed, he would be far behind his peers even if he found other boons and just the fact he passed over a fairly easy quest would haunt him for the rest of his life.

No, he needed to complete this quest, no matter what. He couldn’t live a life full of regret.

Determination blazing bright, he climbed to his feet, then marched back toward the forest. This time, when he entered, he stayed near the edge as he walked to the right. He risked a glance inward, gasping when he found mana pouring into his body, not just through his bracelets but through every pore.

However, unlike the mana pumping through his bracelets, the mana didn’t enter his core. It instead cycled through his mana veins, nourishing his body. He didn’t feel any different, but maybe it caused his lack of thirst and hunger.

Far faster than his bracelets, he felt himself pass a threshold equalizing with his bracelets, allowing him to continue on. Soon the mana only caused a mild discomfort, allowing him to focus on his surroundings much more.

At the edge of the forest there wasn’t much besides trees and grass, making the walk much easier, though he kept his eye out for any unfamiliar plants or really any plant, as few plants were recognizable to him. Fortunately, like the lack of diversity in flora, he didn’t spot any creatures. Probably for the best. He was a long way away from fighting anything in the forest.

As if called, a sharp pain pierced his calf. His right leg buckled as numbness spread. With his left leg, he sprang sideways, diving out of the forest just as the numbness reached his hip. He collapsed to the grass, then spun, using his working leg and arms to face the forest coming face-to-face with emerald eyes of a similar shade to his own set in a scaly, dark green, almost black head.

Its tongue flicked out as it hissed in irritation, but remained at the edge of the forest.

Arden’s mind caught up with his body just as the numbness receded, pushed back by a rush of mana while his bracelets shined dark green.

He pushed himself up into a crouch as he stared down at the snake, who raised to its full height hissing aggressively. Too bad its full height was only a dozen centimeters.

Still, despite its tiny size, it refused to back down even when Arden stood. Numbness fought off by his poison resistance card.