Ethel ate the fruit as quickly as she could. She was worried about holding that much power inside herself for very long. Unlike Frank, she was just a human with a magical core. Frank, though, was a creature of mana now, ready and willing to gobble down a plethora of energy, hopefully without any damaging side effects.

She released the mana directly into his body. She didn’t push or force it in any way; she just released it like dumping a bucket of water over someone's head. She watched the mana flow over him and pool into the dirt of his pot. It was slowly absorbed below the surface by his roots.

“Frank, don’t just store the mana. Guide it into your growth.” She instructed the plant using her stern teacher voice.

“I’m trying. Wait, something is happening.” Each word came slowly as though he was fighting to push them free of his mind.

Ethel saw just what that something was. Four arms were growing out of his trunk, which itself was also widening at a rapid pace. Good, this result was precisely what she wanted. She increased her mana flow, doubling the intensity of her release.

“You’re doing great, Frank, keep going. Think about what you need to go with your arms.” She didn’t want to guide him too much. Ultimately, it was his decision on how he wanted to grow up, but a little push wouldn’t hurt.

Frank let out a loud grunt of pain, but it was accompanied by the sound of his pot shattering. He fell over backward, likely unused to his new legs. Ethel readjusted her mana direction, making sure to continue targeting directly on Frank’s growing center.

Franks's grunts turned into actual sounds of pain. Ethel had to ignore her pleas for now. She would apologize later. Instead, she gripped her core and squeezed every drop left out. Frank would get it all. She was rewarded with effort. She saw a small head start to sprout from the top of his canopy.

She collapsed. She had nothing left in her to give. Maybe Cal had a point about how difficult emptying your core was. She closed her eyes and slept.

“Ugh, I don’t feel so good.” Ethel awoke to the sounds of Frank emptying the contents. Well, she had no idea what. He hadn’t eaten anything before.

“Boss, Frank, you two okay over here. It’s been a couple of days, and we’ve all been getting worried.” Ethel opened her eyes to see Gus standing over her.

“Gus, please help me up. I need something to eat, and I think Frank may as well. Not that I have any idea what he should be eating.” Gus grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet.

“I think Frank should take a dip in the mana spring. Actually, now that I get a closer look at him, he should probably stay within it for a while.” Oakbert had joined them.

“Okay, Oakey, can you help me get him there?” Ethel asked the spirit.

In response, Oakbert touched the ground around Frank, causing the plant life to grow under him and knit itself together into a makeshift sled.

“This should let us pull him, Gus. I think this is probably best suited for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The bird asked, his voice filled with annoyance.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Nothing, you’re just much stronger than I am physically.”

“Boys, please, we have things to do. Let’s get Frank to the pool. Then I need to sleep for another week, I think. My head is still swimming.” Ethel felt her feet sway beneath her.

The three of them carefully maneuvered Frank through the realm until they reached the pool. It took longer than Ethel would have liked, but she didn’t want to drag Frank through any of the small communities that had started forming in the realm. There were too many small creatures to risk any harm to them. So they pulled him the long way around.

It took some effort, but they were able to roll him into the mana water water with a plop. He noticeably relaxed once his body settled in.

“This feels much better, but I still feel very weird. Is this how you all interact with the world? Eyes are weird, and I don’t know if I like them.” Frank rambled on as he adjusted himself slightly.

“Frank, don’t worry about that right now, I want you to stay in the water and focus on feeling better once that’s done we will find you a tutor on walking.” Ethel used her gentle grandmotherly voice in an attempt to soothe the newly giant Frank.

“Alright, boss, it’s time for you to get some sleep too.” Gus reached out a wing for her to lean on as they walked.

“Thank you Gus. After I’m a bit more functional, we will all see to Frank’s training, and I still need to have a meeting with the various community heads.”

Ethel spent the next week in bed building her strength back up. She was kept company by a rotating series of guests who were all glad to see her. She had worked out that it took roughly two full loops for an animal to start being able to speak. A few of the animals she had brought into her realm on the loop she created it could already do so.

Once she was tired of laying around all day, she climbed out of bed and went in search of Frank. She found him being led around by Gus, trying to explain the concept of two-legged locomotion.

“Hello, mother. This new body is very strange.” Frank said to her.

“So I’m your mother now, am I? I suppose you are the closest I have to a son. And it could be worse. At least Gus isn’t here trying to claim I’m his father.” She smiled despite her words.

“Hey I just work here, don’t bring me into your family drama!” Gus squawked at them.

“Well, Frank, I think you are going to make quite the surprise once we get you back to the void house. I think you might be taller than even Ralth.”

“Perfect, now I need to learn to wrestle. Gus, is my suit ready?”

“It’s not. We have plenty of time to spare, though.”

“Fine.” Frank sulked.

*

Ethel had waited another month before gathering the elder animals together, along with Oakbert, Gus, and Frank. She had something in mind but decided it was best they voted on her plan. Mother Scrump, Old Alfred, Gretel, and Cindy Hopper sat around the room.

Old Alfred and Gretel were a pair of dogs Ethel had found near frozen two loops ago. In a last-ditch effort to save them, she brought them here, hoping the ambient energies would help, and it did. They became the two founding members. Mother Scrump was one of the older stray cats Ethel took care of. The veterinarian had said her cancer was terminal, so Ethel brought her here instead. Finally, there was Cindy Hopper, a small white domesticated rabbit that Ethel had stumbled upon hiding in a trash can, terrified.

Three of these were the reason she built the root network. She had willingly shrunk her core in order to place a large pool of mana into the world tree. With the help of Oakbert, she could control its growth into an organic computer. It was capable of saving the locations of animals on Earth and opening cracks to pull them through at the start of every loop. The resources needed to do so grew with every animal. This meant she added a portion of her core mana to the tree every new loop. She outpaced it now on growth, but it was still a considerable sacrifice. She didn’t regret it at all.

Hello everyone, I have a proposal for you all.