Chapter Fifty-Five

When she said reinforce defenses, she meant it. She turned the area just beyond the clearing into a hellscape.

Well, not quite as it didn’t look as deadly as it was. If he hadn’t watched her build, he wouldn’t have known how deadly it was.

Even knowing where every trap was, he wasn’t sure he could avoid them all. He wasn’t even sure if she could. Maybe in her snake form, but there simply wasn’t a safe route into the clearing for a human sized person. He supposed they didn’t need one as he could fly out.

Ring after ring of traps hidden in the budding trees, under the ashy ground. Really, she left no surface untrapped. More plants sprouted, many looking harmless if one didn’t look deeper at the mana radiating off them. If he wasn’t attuned to poison mana, there would be no way for him to tell they were deadly.

It was terrifying. He definitely wasn’t intruding on her personal space. It wouldn’t end well for him. On the plus side, he had a bunch of plants he could study to make use of himself. She wasn’t the only one who could grow less than friendly things.

He almost wanted to grow the only plant he had in his arsenal, but compared to what she planted, it was nothing. Better to just leave the defenses to her. If he tried to add his own sections, it may mess up her carefully planned deathtrap.

In a weird way, her defenses sped up the recovery of the surrounding forest. More plants meant more ambient mana, which fed the destoning trees.

Too bad no one could enjoy the recovering forest without risking death. He could slip through in his bird form, but no way was he risking himself. Better to just watch her add layer after layer from his safe spot in the pond.

On the bird front, the pond’s mana infused water did wonders for his worn-out bird body. It wasn’t as extreme as the liquid mana ponds inside the dungeon, but it still helped a ton. The pond was actual water, not purely liquid mana, though it had a high concentration of mana to the point it bordered on liquid mana.

It wouldn’t be safe for anyone below grade one, but above all it did was improve the healing rate while sending pleasant tingles through his body. He would make use of it a ton, especially while he mapped out their territory.

That would require a lot of flying time. On the plus side of flying time, every time he pushed himself and recovered, his bird body felt stronger. Maybe eventually he could fly all he wanted. He would need it to traverse their territory. As it was, it took him hours at full speed to reach the border. Hopefully, he grew faster, too.

As much as he wanted to laze in the pond for hours, he needed to make himself useful as well. One thing they lacked was food. Though since he left the dungeon, he hadn’t felt hunger.

Maybe the life mana which now reached levels on par with the trial dungeon helped with that. Still, they needed at least one source of food. No creatures reached them, so that left the fruit he stole.

With great hesitation, he shifted back and stepped out of the pond. His robe dripped water, feeling extra heavy. He probably should get rid of it or find a replacement. If he went out into public with it, he would look like a beggar. Not the best first impression.

For now, he took off his bow and set it on the ground before shrugging off the robe, though not before grabbing the fruit. Well, what was left of the fruit. Unfortunately, like the plants, it dried up and crumbled in his hand.

Pulse quickening, he dug in his pocket, sighing in relief when he found the seeds intact. Not taking any chances, he bent down a couple of meters away from the pond’s eastern edge toward the central tree. With his finger, he poked holes in the now moist and soft ground. It was a wonder how fast the ground recovered. Only a day ago it was ashy sand, now healthy soil covered everything not already blanked by plants.

Based on the distance apart, the fruit trees were in the planters, he planted each seed totaling six then activated his Resurrecting Growth card.

One by one, each tree sprouted from the ground with such ease he barely felt the strain. He didn’t even have to feed much of his own mana, as the thick ambient mana did most of the work.

Another surprise was they grew far larger than they were in the planters. Fortunately, most of it was height, not width, so they didn’t conflict with each other.

As soon as the palm sized green fruits grew, he felt an uptick in ambient mana and heard footsteps behind him. A scale clad form shot past him and hopped up to pluck one fruit, then began munching. In record time, the fruit turned to a core which she stored away, only to replace it with another.

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For the first time, he caught a slight smile, though it was soon hidden behind the fruit.

Unable to resist, he plucked one and ate it, eyes widening at the explosion of sweetness. It was on another level compared to the last fruit he ate. Not only did the flavor explode within him, but so did a surge of mana.

He paused mid bite and looked inward to find the mana went right to his core, expanding it slightly. The fruit slipped from his hands in his shock, but before it reached the ground, he caught it.

Maybe his original thought of them hiding the fruit was true after all. Very few consumables he knew of gave a direct effect to the mana core. Sure, some strengthened it when the mana core was already full, but the mana within the fruit went directly to his core with very little waste.

Though as awesome as that was, it wasn’t like they lacked mana so near the territory core, and the fruit didn’t do well outside of mana rich environments. Still, it would be a perfect supplement to their mana cores.

There were limits on how fast a core could grow, but if they used the fruit to keep themselves near the peak of growth, it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, he reached said limit before he finished the fruit. The infusion from the Ash Forest dungeon core already pushed him over three quarters of the way into grade one.

With nowhere to go, the infusion of mana from his surroundings pumped into his muscles and organs, further bolstering them.

The clearing was truly a marvelous environment for nature mages. It wouldn’t be impossible for them to push through the early grades just by sitting in the clearing. Especially since the clearing kept growing in mana density along with them.

At the thought of mana, he materialized his staff and looked inside, glimpsing a couple cards causing his heart to jump.

Before he could withdraw them, most of the mana ripped from the staff and entered the central tree. In a blink, the staff dropped to around the same capacity as it was before he entered the tower, but that wasn’t what he focused on.

Before his eyes, the tree gained a darker bark color, not quite black, more like a dark brown with hints of gray, but that wasn’t the only change. The now three-meter-wide trunk enlarged further, reaching four meters, then five before stalling out. Sun no longer glistened off the pond as the already impressive canopy extended over it and beyond.

Worry sparked that it would hurt the fruit trees, but it was the opposite. They also grew thicker and taller, along with all the other plants in the area.

The plants weren’t the only things affected by the change, a heat built within him, and it wasn’t from the sun. The mana density at least doubled, putting it well into grade two, maybe even higher.

Fortunately, the heat calmed soon after as his body adjusted to the density, not unlike his early days in the trial dungeon. His core didn’t grow with the jump in mana density though, as it needed time to recover from the last growth spurts.

Arden glanced at Solanine, who scanned the clearing, a tiny smile forming as she surveyed her vibrant and deadly garden flourish. The multi-colored plants grew so high he couldn’t even see past the deadly wall.

Now he understood why the dungeon donated it’s mana. It was an investment, not a donation. The stronger the central tree got, the better-quality mana it received back.

When the jump in ambient mana and growth of the tree settled, he eyed the tree. Could he make it a home now? He doubted it would be healthy for the tree for him to hollow out the entire circumference, but there should be enough to make a decent home. Especially if he made it multiple levels.

Arden glanced back at Solanine, but she was back to nibbling on fruits while inspecting her garden. Since she took control of the defenses, he could build the shelter.

Though did they really need shelter? The dense canopy protected them from the sun. Almost too well. Despite being early evening, it looked like it was dusk under the shade of the tree. Its canopy shaded the entire clearing and maybe a couple dozen meters past the budding trees.

His mind flashed back to the original reason he wanted to make shelter inside the tree. Safety. Yet again, safety wasn’t a big priority with Solanine’s colorful wall. Anything capable of making through that terrifying minefield could probably rip them out of the tree.

Still, ever since he was a kid, he wanted to make a fort inside the stone trees and now he had the opportunity to do just that, but with a living tree.

Any residual hesitation left him as he approached the tree with his Nature Manipulation at the ready. However, upon activating it and connecting it to the tree, something surprising happened. No mana left him, and his Nature Manipulation didn’t react, but an opening formed in the tree.

He hesitated for several seconds, unsure if he wanted to enter. What if the tree ate him? Well, if it did, he should be able to tunnel his way out, but that was only if it didn’t crush him. Why would the territory core kill its owner? He had to be in its good graces after providing so much mana.

Like he usually did when at a crossroad, he listened to the melody and, like usual, it was light vibrantly so. Another thing he discovered was the tree and territory core were one and the same now. He couldn’t hear the separate melodies.

Again, he glanced back at Solanine, but she wasn’t paying attention. Still, since it could be important, he opened communication. “What do you think about the tree? When I used my manipulation card on it, the tree opened on its own.”

Solanine paused and glanced up, eying the opening for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “Territory cores have a will of their own and as owners of the territory, it will follow our wishes to a point. Since we inserted the territory core into the tree, it is an extension of its body, so the same rules apply.”

Arden peered inside, but it was too dark to see anything. Well, too dark for a moment as the dark room within lit up as if reading his mind. That proved it really was following his wishes.

He almost felt bad not having to carve out the inside of the tree with his own magic, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t convenient for the tree to follow his design whims.

Before stepping inside, he looked over his shoulder at Solanine. “Do you want to join me in designing the shelter, then?”

She turned back to her colorful deathtrap for a few seconds, then grabbed another fruit before trotting toward him.

Without a word, she strode inside.

Arden grabbed his robe and bow slinging the bow over his shoulder and holding the robe in his arms before he followed her inside.