Chapter Nine

His bracelets flashed, prompting him to open his Ortus menu to find the slightly updated quest information.

An era long past (Legacy).

Survive the ancient forest below a forgotten civilization and uncover its secrets.

Time limit: 7 days.

Arden glared at it for several seconds, hoping more information appeared, but nothing did.

Really? That was all he had to go on? To be fair, the forest wasn’t that massive, at least as far as he could tell. He could probably travel to the other end of the cavern within seven days, but that wasn’t considering the dangers he was sure lurked down there.

So, he had seven days to search a dense forest basically at random and hope he stumbled upon what the quest wanted him to find. He should have chosen the easy quest. Not that he would have changed his decision. This was his best option. He just had to make it work.

Despite his misgivings, he moved on to the next obstacle. He wasn’t completing any quests without leaving the ledge. Was he ready to venture into the forest, though? His parents prepared him for desert environments, not forests. Still, the same rules applied. He just had to be extra careful.

His eyes landed on the pod laying in the grass near the dead patch of plants. Taking his words to heart, he inched toward the pod, eyes locked on the dead patch of plants just in case they had a second defense mechanism. Upon reaching the pod, he took his dagger and flicked the pod toward the platform, then waited several seconds to see if it did anything.

When nothing happened, he picked it up with two fingers but kept his arm extended and away from his face, just in case. Again, nothing happened. With his knife, he cracked open the pod to find dozens of little black seeds which he poured onto the platform, afraid to touch them.

Seconds ticked by, but the seeds remained inert, prompting him to try the next step. Like when he used his Accelerated Growth card, he grasped control of the stream, feeding his mana core, and redirected it back toward his bracelets. This time, he mentally selected what card he wished to use. Mana circulating through his brain rushed down to join the stream he sent through the bracelet to deliver his choice, streamlining the process.

It didn’t make sense to him that his mana delivered his desired card activation before he reached the grade one, but wouldn’t power it. He supposed it had something to do with the incomplete connection between his soul and mana core. So while he couldn’t manually control his own mana, his core could interpret his desire like when he moved. He had to power cards manually, though, as he needed to use variable amounts to power some cards.

His bracelets turned to a lighter green from their standard wood attuned deep green, showing he was using a plant attuned card. Once the mana left his body, he clamped down on it, losing a quarter of it in an instant, but he accounted for that. At least, he thought he did.

Just in case, he took several steps back, then directed the mana to one of the seeds with the desired conversion. Fortunately, his Vine Extension card gave him the knowledge he needed to convert the seed.

When the mana contacted the seed, it jumped then changed. The small black seed grew larger, then lightened in color, only to suddenly stop and blacken as if burned when the mana he sent ran out.

Not enough mana? He used over double what he used on the grass. It made sense though, instead of forcing a plant to grow how it already knew, he was changing the very nature of it. How much mana did he need then? Could he feed enough mana into it?

Arden’s face hardened. He had to. There was no other way to leave the ledge.

With renewed determination, he re-diverted the stream. This time holding it in his hand after it passed his bracelets for several seconds until his hands felt like they were burning.

Unable to hold it in any longer, he pushed the mana out, causing the air to pop at the sudden mana density change. Half of the mana dissipated into the air, but despite a headache building, he clamped as hard as he could on the remains and sent it toward the next nearest seed.

The seed jumped a dozen centimeters when the mana pumped in. Unlike the previous attempt, the changes happened much faster, as if he supercharged the process. Too fast, in fact, as a blink later, the seed exploded.

Hands clenched, Arden glared down at the seeds now scattered meters apart. First, not enough. Now, too much? He didn’t have time for this. He needed to get down into the forest.

Again, he redirected mana through the bracelets, but only held it in his hands until they felt warm, then released it. The moment the mana left his body, he clamped down harder than he ever did, but even then, he lost a third of it. He should have spent more time practicing external mana control, but he couldn’t go back now.

The chosen seed only jumped a few centimeters, making him worry he didn’t use enough, but he still held hope as he watched the seed change. It doubled in size and changed to a tan color before stilling.

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Eyes locked on the seed, he watched for any signs of failing, but nothing else happened. Still unsure he succeeded, he performed the process again on another seed, waiting until his hands grew warm before sending the mana forth. Fortunately, the same result occurred a second time bolstering his confidence.

Ever cautious, he converted the remaining eight or at least tried as by the sixth his mind grew sluggish, causing him to lose control of the mana. Six successful conversions was his current limit, well eight attempts. Still, six out of eight was a solid start.

At least he hoped they were successful. For all he knew, he made them inert.

He glanced at one of the two living patches of plants similar to the one that knocked him out, then back at the five seeds he hoped were vine seeds.

Instead of growing them right away, he dropped to the platform and sat cross-legged. Like his parents taught him, he took deep breaths and cleared his mind, allowing both his body and mana system rest.

As he fell deeper into meditation, he felt a faint connection to something just outside his grasp. He didn’t notice before, however, he instantly knew what it was. Though instead of trying to grasp the connection, even though the temptation presented itself, he let himself fall deeper, entering a sleeplike state.

An unknown time later, his eyes fluttered open. A content smile formed as he stretched his hands above his head, feeling refreshed. However, upon glancing at the class quest information in his Ortus menu, any relaxation vanished, replaced with urgency.

An era long past (Legacy).

Survive the ancient forest below a forgotten civilization and uncover its secrets.

Time limit: 6 days, 11 hours.

Instantly alert, he sprang to his feet, eyes locked onto the seeds where he left them. He sighed in relief upon finding them unchanged, though with the time ticking down any relief was short-lived.

Still, instead of rushing forward, he dropped back onto the platform, then sat cross-legged. Though this time, he didn’t close his eyes and descend into meditation.

With his eyes locked onto one of the seeds, he performed the now almost automatic process of activating a card, this time the Accelerated Growth card. As a test, he used the same amount of mana he used on the grass, directing it at the seed. He watched intently as the mana soaked into the seed, but after several seconds nothing happened.

Frown forming, he tried again, funneling the same amount which the seed greedily gulped down, but no visible effects came. He squashed the temptation to funnel more mana. Instead, he stared at the seed, feeling like he was missing something.

There was no way the seed wouldn’t sprout with that much mana. He didn’t think the seed was inert. If it was, why would it absorb mana?

It was almost as if it needed a trigger to grow. Something clicked in his mind, causing his bracelets to flash light green for a moment.

Excitement filled him as he funneled a tiny stream of mana to the seed. His mind automatically sent a signal strand of mana to the bracelets to tell them what he wanted, even though he didn’t consciously command it.

The moment the stream of mana touched the seed, it exploded upward. Out of the seed came a spindly vine that reached several meters before it ran out of momentum and flopped over.

Several heartbeats passed as Arden stared at his creation, frozen before snapping back into focus. When he did, a bright smile bloomed, warmth spreading through him from his accomplishment.

However, his serious expression returned as he stared at the vine. This was just the beginning. He had a long way to go before he shrugged off the novice label. Though that didn’t mean he didn’t revel in his accomplishment, however small in the grand scheme of things.

The uses of a seed trigger were endless. It would allow him to prepare ahead of time, which was crucial at his current level. Unless he found a card with direct combat potential, he needed to ensure he prepared for eventual conflict. It wasn’t a peaceful world, after all. If only he knew how to make more types of seeds.

He had a feeling the vine seed was only as easy as it was because he had a card related to vines. Though in the future, as he built up his deck and knowledge, new seeds should become easier. Hopefully, someday, he could create and grow plants of any type in an instant. He had a long way to go, but he could see the potential of this branch of magic and that wasn’t even counting his other attunements.

A nagging feeling drew his eyes down to his bracelets, which were flashing as if wanting his attention.

Curious, he activated his bracelet’s menu. His eyes instantly locking onto the flashing Accelerated Growth card. With a flick of his left hand, he brought the hologram card forward and inspected it. The picture wasn’t any different, but upon reading the description, a smile spread.

Accelerated Growth (Common) Level 2

Type: Ability Card

Affinity: Nature

Attunement: Plant

Effect 1: Use mana to accelerate the growth of any plant. Rate of growth dependent on the amount of mana used and plant. Must have a seed or plant to cast accelerated growth. Card must be in the user’s active hand to function.

Effect 2: Use mana to prime a seed for future growth. The more mana you prime the seed with, the more explosive the growth. Warning! If you input too much mana, the seed may explode.

Already level two on a card? The level up must’ve happened when it clicked. It did almost feel unnatural how he knew exactly how to trigger the seed, but he wasn’t complaining. He wondered if card research would improve their levels.

Unfortunately, his parents refused to answer questions on how to level cards.

Somehow, it didn’t seem like it would be that easy. It would be hard to replicate the eureka moment that caused the level up. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do research. Though his parents warned him against researching his cards too deeply pretty much every time he asked about card levels.

They were adamant he focused all his research on the science and magic behind what the cards could do but not the cards themselves. Not that there was a ton to research on the magic behind cards. They were simply a part of the world as far as anyone knew.

Now he could see why his parents forbade researching the cards themselves. If he knew his Accelerated Growth card could store mana in seeds to trigger later, the moment wouldn’t have been the same. Not that he would have researched the Accelerated Growth card if he could. There was no way he could have predicted he would gain the nature affinity.

Sometimes a lack of knowledge was a boon. Hopefully, he would stumble into more soon.

Though something within him rebelled against too many handouts. It was okay for his parents to give him a starting point, but they didn’t raise him to expect constant handouts. He had to rise on his own merit.

Still, it would be stupid to pass on offered gifts.