I channeled life mana as I flew over the trees, my body was a mess and simply eating wasn't enough to restore it instantly. Thankfully life mana could use the energy generated from the food to fix me. My body was in such a sorry state that I was a little surprised that I was able to move as well as I was.

As the mana flooded through me, I pondered my nature. I had been consumed with curiosity for a week. I hadn't ever stopped passively absorbing small amounts of mana, that was as automatic as breathing, yet I was still reduced to skin and bones. The life mana allowed me to see how my body had torn itself apart.

I wasn't an expert but to my knowledge, most creatures wouldn't be feeling great after a week of extremely light rations. My body on the other hand, had started to literally consume itself, it was worrying. Hungry was probably partially to blame, but I had always had an oversized appetite that had only grown worse as my level had increased. I could only hope that things would get better when I moved to an area with denser mana.

There was one other thing I found interesting. I wasn't thirsty. I wasn't entirely sure I'd ever been thirsty. I drank when it was available, but it was more of a combination of habit, and a desire to wash down the food I'd eaten than thirst. I didn't know what to think of that realization, so I just shrugged it off.

It took me a few hours of hunting and consuming before I was fully restored, I was honestly impressed with the speed. Once I felt well enough I went after a monster that the life mana had informed me of.

There was a giant water attuned fish in the river, it was almost as bad for the local animal population as I was. Not only would I be doing the local fish a favor, but I could use its core.

The monster announced its presence by creating a giant wave of water that went over my true form's head and curved back to sweep me into the water. I had a few moments of panic as the mana infused water tossed me around underwater, but I pushed through.

I followed my gut and switched my core to earth, channeling the now familiar Aspect that the tree had. After that the fish could no longer toss me around. I did have an awkward moment at the bottom of the river where I sank deep into the sand, but with my aura I was able to stabilize my footing. After that I waited for the monster to attack and bit down hard on its head. It thrashed a lot, but died shortly after I dragged it fully out of the water.

The hardest part of the fight was dragging a fish that was nearly as large as I was through the trees. I ended up knocking more than a few trees down in the relatively few feet that I dragged the monster. Thankfully Torill stopped me from having to drag it all the way to camp by coming to meet me. I presented my giant catch to her, leaving it at her feet.

"I suppose that’s for me? Sweet of you to have noticed that I like fish."

I nodded and sat down, still as a statue, watching her. She paced the length of the monster before taking out a large knife.

"This is going to take a while, I'm sure you have more important things to do than watch me. There's a lot to do if you want to be heading home within three days isn't there? Don't worry, I'll be sure to save everything."

I was glad she understood that I needed the reminder. Without it I might have watched her until the nature of the earth mana I was channeling slowed my thoughts. I switched my core, thanked her, and headed towards the stone forest.

In the squirrelly form that the tree knew, I got to work tunneling through the forest with purpose. I widened my existing tunnels, and dug smaller tunnels to the surface periodically where I tossed the excess dirt, spreading it over the petrified leaf litter.

As I worked, I experimented with using my aura to pull whatever salt there was out of the soil. At first it was hard to sense and harder to separate, but as I practiced, it became easier. By the time I was closing in on the center, the walls of my tunnels were dusted white.

I paid special attention to the locations where monsters lurked underground. They hadn't moved, and remained still as I encircled them with tunnels. I wasn't sure how much it would do to them, but I figured I might as well give it a chance to work.

After the outer forest tunnel system was complete, I began to work my way into the tree's inner sanctum.The aura near the tree created a zone of earth mana so rich and dense that I had nearly infinite mana, and my ever present Concept prompted hunger faded to almost nothing.

I could feel the tree observing me the entire time, but it didn't respond until I started tunneling close to its roots, at which point it sent me confusion and worry. When I didn't respond right away, its aura became oppressive. I felt its willingness to protect itself from me if needed. It was a very clear warning.

I had prepared a response for just such an interaction. I could barely manage to skirt around the truth with words, so I knew there was no lying to the tree with the emotion and idea based language it used.

I pulled on kind and the protective Concept that I was channeling. Then I focused on the job Belua would give it in its next life. By doing so, I managed to honestly share the idea that the tunnels would give it the chance to protect something important to me. I was even clear that it wouldn't look like it was helping until I was done. I projected honest almost offensively the entire time.

The tree's demeanor changed dramatically, and it even seemed to be asking if I wanted help. I felt more than a little guilty when I shared a mental image of my plans for the tunnel system. I had no good reason not to, it wasn't like I could hide my work below ground from a creature that had such intense earth mana flowing out of it.

In moments the tunnels were complete, the tree even took the time to do a significantly better job than I could of coating the walls in salt. With that done, I moved out of its aura and began my work on the biggest tunnel yet. This one, I encased in stone and connected to the system under the forest in several places.

I dug and dug until I reached the river, at which point I exited the quickly flooding tunnel and climbed onto the shore. I shifted to my demihuman form, summoned my pack, and grabbed a handful of earth crystals that I had requested from Torill.

They weren't nearly as potent as fresh cores, having lost their embedded Concepts long before Nefen procured them for us. They still contained enough added mana to fuel the rather expensive act of raising stone in the river to direct the flow into my tunnel. The walls wouldn't last more than a day before the mana in them broke down and they started to crumble, but that was my intent.

When the walls were up, I switched my core to water, and did what I could to alter the currents to further direct the water into my work. The alterations would last even less time than the stone walls, but that was fine.

I was exhausted when I returned to camp late in the night. Thankfully Torill was waiting for me with a pile of freshly cooked fish for me to eat.

As I ate, I finally asked about the turtle and the petrified adventurers.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I wasn't comfortable having him around you considering the state you were in. He seemed trustworthy, but you never know. So I asked him to take the people further away for safety reasons. I know you've gotten a lot better at control recently, but what you have planned is going to be very dangerous for everything nearby. I do hope you know that."

I nodded, very grateful for her thoughtfulness. Not because I didn't trust the turtle, I did, it had shared exactly how much it appreciated its rescue. But this area might still be in the splash zone of my planned assault on the forest. I would in no way be in complete control of what I was going to create.

I did have one question though. "How did he take so many heavy stone statues anywhere?" I couldn't even imagine the tiny turtle being able to move one person.

Torill smiled. "He doesn't seem like he could do that does he? But he has the ability to make plants come to life. They carried the people. I sent a small observer spirit with him, it hasn't reported in, which means all is well."

"That's good to hear, I hadn't realized that he was strong enough to do that."

I pictured the various monster plants I knew I could create with life mana, and had an idea what he had done. It still spoke of a more powerful core than I had thought the little guy possessed, but it had been so empty when he woke up that it wasn't a surprise to find that I had misjudged it.

"Speaking of the dangers of being nearby. I want you to give me your protection from the tree's aura tomorrow, then leave for the day. Do you think you can do that?"

"Well, everything depends on the price that the spirit asks. I'll put out the request tonight before bed, we can plan around whatever it is. Are you sure you don't need backup? You'll still have to enter the forest when everything is done, and your plan is great for the tree itself, but I doubt the monsters will all be killed."

"If the price isn't too debilitating, you can come when the sky clears. I could probably use someone watching over me when I eat that core. I think I know how fully accepting and absorbing a core's Concepts into myself will work. But I don't know exactly how it will affect me."

"New Concepts do tend to go a little wild, but that is something you know pretty well by now. Have you decided if you are going to take them all? I know I probably wouldn't be able to resist if I was in your shoes. From what you said, they are all things you wanted."

"I'm worried about protective, you can see how that one twisted the tree's behavior."

"Yeah, you might consider skipping that one. Though you do know how to limit them, that one could act out in ways you don't predict. You'll probably want to be a bit wary of strong as well, it may have some mental effects."

'Yeah, I was warned, but I think I can limit its definition to the physical when I take it in."

"I hope you're right."

We talked a little longer. I reassured her that the advice on how to handle strong came from Randy. She didn't question it after that. Torill made me go through my plan again before she headed off into the woods for privacy while she petitioned the spirits. She told me to go ahead and get to sleep.

The System ping was not unexpected, the small number of levels was.

Congratulations

For taking actions in accordance with your class, you have been rewarded by:

Level up × 5

Strength + 20

Constitution + 25

Agility + 20

Dexterity + 15

Intelligence + 10

Wisdom + 5

Perception + 5

Free stats + 25

I blinked as the System mana barely tingled. It almost felt good as it worked on me. Just a small buzz, and it was gone.

Then it asked me where I wanted to put my free stats, and I chose charisma for the first time in a long while. When the System mana returned to do its work, the changes it made felt like they were far more impactful. I felt the bones of my face move, my entire body tingled, and my mind blanked for a worrying moment. It made sense, while it was only 25 points, it was 25 points in a stat that had been at 53.

When I sat up after leveling, I felt an impulse to hold myself differently. I was impressed, the urge wasn't terribly intrusive. For once it was like the System was giving me advice on my posture, it didn't force me to comply. I went along with it, because there was a little voice telling me that it would make me look majestic if I held my head just so, and placed my paws slightly differently.

I also decided to wait for Torill to come back, while I did, I looked over my stats.

Name Angel

Race : Spirit Beast

Level : 165

Class : Adventurer (Bestial Mana Shifter)

Str 556 Con 685

Agi 526 Dex 403

Int 510 Wis 458

Per 486 Cha 78

It wasn't much considering a week had passed since my last level. But I wasn't really going to complain. The week had taught me a skill that had little to nothing to do with my class. That was probably why I didn't receive much of a reward.

When Torill returned she looked troubled, but she mustered a weak smile when she saw me waiting for her.

"Is it bad?" I asked, worried about what the cost for my protection would be.

"I-it won't be debilitating. But it won't be fun."

"What is it?"

"It says that if I want it to protect you, it wants to know what it's like to care about you. It wants my feelings for you for three days."

She clutched her gut like saying it hurt. "I hate when they ask for things like that."

"I don't need the protection. It's definitely more of a nice to have than a necessity with my plan."

"Don't be a fool. It could save your life if something unforeseen happens. It is only three days. I have a system. I'll write myself a letter with instructions on how you should be treated. I'm pretty good at following those even if they don't make much sense to me."

I lowered my head, I couldn't argue with her logic. Survivor burned in the back of my head at the idea of declining the protection.

Seeing the look on my face, Torill walked over and pulled back the tent flap. As she walked in, she eyed me up and down.

"You put points in charisma didn't you? I like it. Come on in, let's spend some time together before I pay the price tomorrow."

I shifted to demihuman, I certainly wouldn't pass up her invitation. As I walked in, I followed the new gentle urges from my charisma for how to stand, and move my body. It got a hum of approval from Torill that made charisma temporarily my favorite stat.