Chapter 232 - Break Down of What's Important

"At this point, I'm free to do whatever I want. I'm the god here, remember?"

"So, you are," Rynold answered as he checked around the camp to see what it offered, "Still doesn't explain why you're bothering me about it, though. Your other Candidates might need your help more than I do."

Rynold spoke casually towards the Mech God, not caring about what the latter might think. He had his hands full, after all. Rynold didn't have the time to talk about nothing.

"I'm going in a round-robin type thing here," the Mech God answered, "And, right now, it's your turn."

"Must be nice to have so much time in your hands," Rynold mocked, "But, as much as I'd enjoy your company right now, I've got other things to do. I'm pretty sure you already know what they are since you're spying on us and all that."

Rynold acted aloof. Even though he knew exceedingly well that he could ask for the Mech God's help, he didn't. There could be a plethora of reasons as to why Rynold didn't want to do so. Stubbornness, pride, or outright pettiness. But, none of that was the case. No, Rynold didn't want to deal with the Mech God or owe him any favors.

That said, the Mech God seemed eager to help out anyway.

"Your situation is a bit of a doozy; I'll give you that. I'm sure you've developed conclusions based on what you saw down in the mountain. And, I can't really do anything but tell you what not to do. Aside from that, you're on your own."

Having heard that, Rynold knew that the Mech God was tempting him to ask for more information. It was like a pie left on the windowsill. Rynold, obviously, didn't snap the bait.

"I already know what I need to know. So, if you've got something to say, spit it out already. I don't care for the dramatic and indirect approach."

"Fine, fine," the Mech God said, irked, "The Livingwood down in the depths of the mountain is nothing you can harvest without putting effort into it. For the most part, it's going to be difficult. I've cultivated that area so that the Livingwood Tree can sustain itself."

Rynold placed both hands on the workbench as he processed what the Mech God had meant. It didn't take him very long to see what the god was getting at. But, Rynold's concern now was how he would deal with it.

"You're telling me that when I harvest the tree, I'll have to sustain it? The amount of Mana it'll drain from me when I remove it from that environment would be nuts. And, who's to say that it won't die once I uproot it? Thanks — for making the situation much worse than I had first thought."

The Mech God didn't care for Rynold's passive-aggressive response, but the human had reached the point the god was trying to make.

"Whatever," the Mech God tiredly sighed, "You have two days left to come up with a solution. I suggest you get to work."

With the Mech God's final remark, the line disconnected.

Rynold stood by the workbench, distraught. A part of him wanted to abandon this project, but a more significant part of him sought to accomplish this task. That said, where should he start?

Writing the conditions on a piece of paper he found, Rynold then stared at what he wrote. If someone saw him now, they'd think that Rynold had lost it. But, all Rynold was doing was to make his brain come up with a solution.

Unfortunately, that approach didn't yield any results as Rynold only got a headache not soon after.

"Maybe I'm just thinking about this the wrong way again."

As he sat down on a small stool beside the brick forge, Rynold thought deeply. He wondered if there was some other angle he didn't see. Or, perhaps, another alternate and out-of-the-box idea he could explore. At this point, he would take anything.

But, as luck would have it, Rynold didn't produce anything substantial. Every outward solution he came up with ended with a roadblock. Rynold couldn't think of anything else.

After suffering another defeat, Rynold tilted his head upwards. He watched the sunset over the horizon as his conflicted thoughts gradually ceased.

'I'll put a rest to it. For now.'

Without leaving the stool, Rynold grabbed an easy-to-make packet of food and cooked it on the forge fire. It was a bit crude and out of place, but the fire did its job as the boiling water cooked the food packet. Soon after, Rynold started eating.

'Good gods, this is shit,' Rynold thought to himself as he scarfed down yet another bite. He kept eating until there wasn't any food left, the stale flavor disappearing from his mouth once he finished. The food was lackluster, much like the state of this camp.

'This place could use a roof.'

Rynold kicked a small pile of snow out of the way of his tent. It was where he had to sleep for the night. Luckily, the small tent was big enough to fit his person. Otherwise, he'd have to sleep in the cold.

'Not bad,' Rynold thought as he rested his head on the pillow provided, 'It's not super comfortable, but I have slept in places far worse than this. And, it's got heating too,' Rynold noted the small Mana Crystal hanging from the center of the tent. It had an orange color and provided ample heat to the tent.

Taking in a deep breath as he laid his back to the ground, Rynold stared at the ceiling. There was no clock to tell the time. But even Rynold knew that it was still too early to sleep.

Despite that, Rynold still felt like he had to sleep, that he had to clear his head.

Throughout the day, Rynold felt a myriad of emotions. Exhaustion. Frustration. Terror. As logical as Rynold was, he was still human. And, no matter how much Rynold denied it, he felt grounded by his emotions. In order to move past things, Rynold had to clear his head.

That said, doing so wasn't as simple as it sounds. Rynold stared openly into the dark-colored ceiling of the tent. He kept to himself, thinking on the most random of things. That was until he placed a hand to his chest.

Rynold clutched his chest for some reason. It was unintentional, almost as if his subconscious took control of his body. He just did it without thinking about it much.

'My Mana Core...'

At this point, Rynold's thoughts landed on his Mana Core. The issues with his powers bugged him now more than ever. After fighting against hundreds of enemies, Rynold didn't realize how much work he had to put in to survive. It was only now that he felt weak — helpless at the impending threats ahead.

He wished this was the first time something like this had happened — that these internal strifes and wallowing self-pity hadn't come to him before. If only he were so lucky as to not come across this feeling.

However, Rynold knew the feeling of helplessness all too well. He encountered it multiple times before the New World started.

But, and he couldn't believe he admitted this, it was much simpler then.

The words 'ambition' and 'dream' weren't important to him. Rynold had fully acknowledged the responsibilities that landed on his shoulder. Time and time again, he would fulfill his roles. Even if it had frustrated him, killed him, Rynold would still fight for what he needed to do.

'After all this time, I'm still the same indecisive kid. Nothing about me changed. It's the circumstances that did, and I still have yet to rise up to it.'

Rynold acknowledged that this was the life he was living. That, no matter the circumstance, Rynold had to fulfill his roles — his responsibilities. Rynold was knee-deep in this cycle of purpose he had found for himself.

It's just that, at this very moment, Rynold broke down.

Deeply exhaling once more, Rynold closed his eyes and wished for all of it to go away. Not in the sense of cowardice, but one of fatigue. Rynold had enough of living like this. And, as much as he wanted to change things, Rynold didn't have the will or morality to do so.

He had to live with the choices he made, the responsibilities on his shoulders, the feeling of pressure and doubt he cast upon himself.

Rynold had to live with all of it, all of which were things he couldn't deny.

As Rynold's thoughts continued to go deeper and deeper into the abyss, he soon fell sound asleep. Rynold didn't get any consolation about any of his thoughts whatsoever. He just bore them all and kept it in himself. Or, at least, that was what he thought happened.

Almost as if responding to his burdened thoughts, a dream appeared in Rynold's sleep. It felt too real to deny as Rynold only stared and watched as the scene unfolded.

The dream followed the story of a hooded man who made his way through a dense forest. It was severely crowded, as far as Rynold could tell. The trees stood so tall that their leaves blocked the sunlight from passing. That said, the hooded man continued to walk forward, unbothered by his surroundings.

The hooded figure kept moving, almost as if he knew where to go. He didn't seem to stop for anything and kept walking on the ground at a consistently steadfast pace.

Soon, the hooded man stopped in a place no different than any other part of the forest. There was nothing of interest there that stood out. But, the hooded man didn't seem to be bothered by this and placed his bag on the ground.

Standing still for a few seconds, Rynold wondered if there was a reason for the man stopping here. But he couldn't move closer. He was stuck, watching from a specific third-person angle.

Then, suddenly, the figure removed his hood, revealing pointy ears and long, white hair. Rynold recognized the elf to be the previous Lord of the Tree of In-Between. Which, consequently, made him think why would he appear now.

Rynold didn't have the time to explore that thought as the elf suddenly kneeled down. He then scooped up a small patch of dirt with one hand.

The previous Lord then searched for something in the dirt with his other hand. The elf didn't stop until he picked up a white-colored seed and studied it. As far as Rynold could tell, there wasn't anything special about it and only observed as the dream panned out.

That said, he certainly didn't expect what happened next.

As he threw the rest of the dirt to the ground, the elf then injected Mana into the small seed. It glowed with a bright white light. Rynold watched in awe as the powerful and dense Mana went into the small seed.

While imbuing his Mana into the seed, the elf extended his other hand to the side. The elf then closed his fist in a grabbing motion.

'Huh?'

As soon as the previous Lord's hand closed a certain amount, Rynold was suddenly on the receiving end of the grip. But, instead of grabbing his neck or any part of his body, the elf held onto Rynold's Mana Core. Rynold could feel his Mana shake his very constitution as the elf stared at the Mana Core in his hands.

'What the hell?'

Rynold suddenly felt an immense pain shoot up. But, no matter what he did, he couldn't wake up. All he could do was to watch as the elf imbued Mana into the white seed with one hand and held his Mana Core in the other.

The previous Lord then moved the hand holding the seed to Rynold's Mana Core. Then, without any explanation whatsoever, the elf combined them together.