Tim removed a huge barricade from the group’s way, he killed that snake! His work was appreciated by the other stingrays, by those who survived at least. They had one casualty so far, but as far as the main task was concerned, as of now, they could continue to progress!
The stingrays searched the area cautiously, as they didn’t want to get pounced on by another snake. Furthermore, they hoped that there were magical mana roots here to begin with, they hoped that Marlo’s speculations were dependable. If there wasn’t anything valuable here, then they risked their lives for nothing!
They weren’t sure if any mana roots were here, but odds were that they were going to figure this part out quickly. The stingrays were taking this task even more slowly and cautiously now, sure, but since there were six of them putting in some work, it was only a matter of time until they searched every nook and cranny of this fifty-meter wide area! They were bound to formulate a conclusion at some point.
In the meantime, Tim encouraged the utmost caution, as he yelled out. “Take care of your asses, guys, please! We don’t know what’s sleeping around here. Also remember, if you see a fish or a snake that you can’t fight yourself, just swim away, don’t be a hero, because we don’t need any more casualties! Be safe.”
What he preached was good and noble, however, a couple of stingrays weren’t so fond of it. They hadn’t contributed much to this task, and yet, they got a bit edgy when Tim micro-managed them.
Two stingrays, named Bob and Knob, searched the area together as a pair, and chatted with one another in the meantime as well. They were not happy.
Bob said, “Who put him in charge? We’re the biggest stingrays here, so we should command the group! It’s only fair.”
Knob agreed with him, he said. “Yeah! What you said! We should be the ones getting stingray vaginas, not him…”
“That’s not what I said at all,” Bob followed along, but their little chit-chat dissipated after that point.
Neither of them could confront Timothy about this topic, so their rage right now was just as soft as their bellies. They couldn’t fight well, and they definitely couldn’t lead anyone, but yet their ego was hurt! Such issues were common amongst teams, but as far as details were concerned, they were to follow Timothy’s guides to the letter. They had plenty of reasons to be obedient.
Bob found himself in a hole that turned out to be a tunnel. It stretched five meters below the ground, and there, he discovered what the entire group was after. He saw a bulge, or more specifically, a knotty collection of glowing roots, sandwiched and overgrown between a few slabs of neatly carved stone! It would make sense for these things to be underground, as they were called roots, after all.
Anyway, as Bob looked at the marvelous blue lights which the roots emitted, he couldn’t help but get greedy all of a sudden! He wanted the roots all for himself, and this urge of his defied all logic.
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He didn’t care that there were other stingrays around him that could find the roots as well, at any given time, no. He was willing to guard this magical treasure with his life, and believed that the roots would reward him with a bunch of mana in exchange for such loyalty!
Knob had followed him, so he also found the roots, moments after. He was amazed by how wide, huge and maze-like the roots looked, much like the roots of a fallen tree! He was mesmerized, and indefinitely distracted.
Bob used the other's stunned, distracted state, to his own advantage. He pounced on his friend Knob, and with the aid of his tail, stabbed the poor guy several times, and ended up killing him!
This was an act of mindless greed, and it was apparent that either his own greed, or the roots themselves, had influenced Bob's mind somehow. He killed a good friend, after all, which was beyond brutal!
"Mine… her majesty is mine!" He muttered, and then he floated away from Knob's carcass.
He wanted more mana! Bob's body had absorbed quite some mana by now, about two-hundred points of them so far, and yet he urged to reap more of them. For that matter, he swam closer towards the cluster of roots, and then just laid down, right over them.
The roots were very effective, especially when one was this close to them. Bob was filled up with another thousand points of mana, under ten seconds! He was as stuffed as a Thanksgiving goose!
However, Bob couldn't withstand this flow of mana any longer, as it beated on his body like a hammer. With that considered, he started shouting out an effective, spoken-word spell.
He shouted out, "My will is but mana, and mana is life! I call upon the gods to bless me with purity, even if punishment is the means to my end!"
Purity was an ironic word to use right now, considering that he just murdered a friend, but then again, purity was used as a formality in this procedure. He wasn't spiritual, rather, he was just casting a spell, and understood that mana responded well, when the gods were mentioned.
Mana and its quality came in realms, and each realm had several levels. The realm everyone in the group was currently in, was called the god's punishment realm, and it was called that way, because the dangers within each upgrade were pretty high. Any creature could die while leveling up, and this was said to be a punishment which was reigned down upon the lowest ranks of mortality, by the gods themselves!
Bob wasn't the most prepared stingray in the world, but he at least was aware of those few legends and formalities! He knew some spells.
Just like that, the quality of his mana leveled up! He had low quality mana before, and now, his mana was officially rustic! That name didn't sound so great, but in actuality, rustic mana was four times stronger than the former! A mage of any species who possessed rustic mana, could in theory, easily kill anyone below this level.
Bob wasn't looking to attack anyone right now, however. He was still greedy about the mana, and wanted to absorb more of it, so he laid down on top of the mana roots again, and greedily absorbed tens of points from it, every second!
This bundle of roots was far more powerful than anyone here had expected, and he wanted to reap every point of it right now, before anyone else got the chance to do so!