The mana roots kept growing, the more they fed on the mana pool that the team provided. Their mana pools were eventually emptied, which was alarming, but they still kept at it because they weren't in any direct danger right now.
The team kept pouring every bit of mana that they generated themselves, and at this point the roots had grown so big that even Gustav and the dragons who were above the water, were getting every drop of their mana sucked in by the roots! The dragons didn't have many points to spare to begin with, but they lost theirs as well.
Each root was as thick as a tree now, as most of them were four feet wide, while their ending tips were six inches wide! They were gigantic, and one could say that it was difficult to find roots like this under natural circumstances, no. The only other root that Tim and Ortana had seen, for example, was tiny in comparison. Eighteen of these thick boys were bound to make their mana quality godly!
“Just a few more minutes… the roots should be overloaded soon…” Arvena mumbled.
At this point she was getting uncomfortable, because the roots would steal her mana points the moment she generated them. There was no escaping this deep pit of mana munching that they walked in to, but she expected this, and knew for sure that this wouldn't kill her, or her friends. She was calm.
Arvena understood mana roots well, because she had explored the ocean long enough to have a few encounters with them. Furthermore, she read a bunch of books which only raised her understanding!
Mana roots had three phases; Sprouting, devouring, and hardening!
The roots were past the sprouting part here, they were in the devouring phase instead, and it was at this phase where the roots were the least dangerous to tamper with. They were considered too soft, so they couldn’t actually harm a mage.
The roots just kept devouring every point of mana that they sensed, and once they've had enough, the hardening phase would start. This was what amplified the roots, over a period of decades, or even millenia.
The more they laid dormant, the tougher the roots would become, and therefore more useful. A tough root was strong enough to kill an unsuspecting mage, because that a hardened root could expel could even help one ascend by a whole realm, rather than a couple of levels. Unless a mage had a virtually endless pool to fill, it was less than advisable to approach those old, hardened roots, because they expelled mana even if one didn't poke them!
In this case however, since Arvena and the team caught the roots just moments before they were about to harden, they could safely harvest its properties, at the very moment that the roots started hardening! This in turn, would give them back the mana they lost, more than tenfold, because the root was still considered premature. In other words, these patches of roots were harmless.
It was a sound plan, but she hadn't bothered to explain her plan to anyone, so the rest of the team were a bit worried. Gustav from above the sea water, had half a mind to jump in the water and try to save his friends as he was beyond worried, however, with his current declining mana pool, he would become fish food very shortly, because he wouldn't be able to protect himself all that much. Not to mention that he couldn't swim, it was just a bad plan for him to jump in the water, regardless of the context. Everyone was alarmed, after all, but they could only hold on.
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Timothy had plenty of thoughts running through his head, as usual, so he kept talking to himself. “These roots are starting to look like a cage, damn, I guess this is as close as I’m going to get to being locked in prison.”
Furthermore, he thought. “Let’s hope that Arvena knows what she's doing, because I sure as hell don't know what's going on. Screw the roots, I still don't understand why we're in the fucking dinosaur period here! The gods may be playing tricks on us again, I wouldn't be surprised if they were!”
Paranoia was a trait of those who were cautious, and such caution might keep him alive for a long time, especially since he was cautious only when he was paranoid. Otherwise he was like a live tornado, and didn't value his life more than that of a cricket's, and this was a bit paradoxical, but it served a point. He was really hoping that the portal he had managed to open, wasn't just another joke from the gods, or worse, a joke from some kind of demon! That would be worse.
Anyway, the team could only withstand the uncomfortable situation they were in right now. They did so for about ten more minutes, until finally, the roots stopped gnawing on the team’s pools of mana!
The relief they felt once they saw their mana points slowly going up, was otherworldly! Furthermore, they were happy that Arvena was by their side here, because she had likely done most of the work here, with her mana quality being a few levels better in comparison. She fed the roots. She had long escaped the God's Punishment Realm of mana, so it was her who fattened the roots to be up to five feet wide!
“Heh, if we hadn't run into these roots, it would've taken them hundreds of years to start hardening. Those bastarding fish above us don't have a single dot of mana to their name, they don’t have anything to give.” She muttered, after their little battle with the roots was over.
Arvena was perplexed by how mana roots could sprout here, where mana was practically non-existent, it was beyond confusing. The books she read didn't mention anything so paradoxal, so she didn't know what to think.
At this point, however, she didn't care as much, and just guided the team towards the next step. She yelled out for their attention, just in case the deep-sea water pressure was muffling her words.
“Shoot the root arms!” She yelled, “Shoot them one at a time, just to be safe. Use fireballs if you can, but a knife will do as well, you can just cut a hole in the roots with a knife! We'll start ascending soon!”
The team did as they were told. They could guess what was about to happen next, and by all means, it should not be dangerous.
Tim summoned a tiny, blade-like bit of fire on his palm, and managed to cut one of the thick roots with it. He cut it four inches deep, which apparently was enough to create a fountain of sorts as a result. He was drinking straight from this fountain of mana, he was close to it, so his pool suddenly accepted a huge amount of mana in a single second! Ortana was in the same patch of roots as him, so when she cut up a root branch as well, the mana he started receiving was groundbreaking!
[+412 mana points]
[+955 mana points]
[+789 mana points]
[+2,000 mana points]
Timothy was taking in vast amounts of mana every second, and he couldn’t be happier about it! Considering that he lost every drop of mana to the roots just a moment ago, he felt very happy to be rewarded now!
Less than a minute later, Timothy's mana pool was filled to the brim, which meant that he had to try and upgrade his mana quality, regardless of how painful it may be to do so! Before he could cast the spoken-word spell, however, something amazing happened!
The system suddenly announced, [Congratulations! Your mana quality ascended to level eight! You now bear Bubonic Mana!]