Chapter 233 - Updated Legacy

Rynold gritted his teeth as immense pain surged throughout his body.

He wasn't sure as to what exactly was happening to him. All he could see were waves of Mana emanating from the elf's hands as the seed merged with his Mana Core. Each pulse of Mana gave Rynold a severe reaction, so much so that he soon woke up.

'What the hell am I doing here?!'

For some unknown reason, Rynold woke up standing. He was holding his hand out and firmly placed it against the bark of the Livingwood Tree. Unlike before, however, Rynold's Mana wasn't harmonizing with the tree. Instead, it was as if Rynold was absorbing it.

It was an odd sensation, Rynold noted, as he then looked down on the one arm he had out. But, even though that arm was his, Rynold didn't recognize it.

Out the sides of his forearms were thick vines that appeared to have sprouted out of him. Not only that, but Rynold tracked where the thick vines had grown and saw it wrap around the Livingwood Tree's trunk. He couldn't move his arm away no matter how much he tried.

That said, Rynold was even more confused now that he was conscious. But, Rynold couldn't even think about that problem as the surges of pain continued.

Each second passed gradually increased the pain he experienced. It started from tolerable to outright insufferable. Rynold couldn't understand what was happening as the numbing sensation kicked in.

What point was there to wake him up then knock him out a few seconds later?

Fortunately, the answer seemed more profound than what Rynold could think of at this very moment. He would only come to realize that not a few moments later.

The thick vines from his hands started to merge with the Livingwood Tree. Rynold, at the time, was too busy trying not to pass out to notice and had his eyes closed. Regardless, the thick vines turned from wrapping the tree to merging with it — like some form of forced cross-breeding.

Rynold struggled to stay awake throughout the process. It took much longer than Rynold had cared for, but he could only focus on staying conscious while the whole thing blew over.

"Ugh."

Pulling his hand away the moment the vines loosened, Rynold collapsed to the ground. His back landed on the green grass below as he excessively panted, gasping for air. Rynold didn't like what had just happened — not one bit.

Taking his time to recover, Rynold finally opened his eyes. The first thing Rynold noticed was that the Livingwood Tree had disappeared. Nothing, not even the leaves, had remained. It was as if the tree wasn't there in the first place. The only thing in its place now was a hole in the center of the green clearing.

'What?' Rynold thought to himself as his eyebrows furrowed. He felt conflicted as a part of his was glad that he had retrieved the Livingwood Tree. The other part was, well, puzzled.

As Rynold gathered his thoughts, a window suddenly appeared in front of him.

===

[The Forgotten Elf has bestowed upon you another gift, improving your Mana Core by another degree.]

[Legacy: The Forgotten Elf] has been updated!

[Mana Bond Established!]

===

Rynold's eyes widened in a glad surprise. He didn't expect the rewards to be this generous, especially considering how unplanned and impromptu it was. Rynold couldn't wrap his head around what had happened back then. But, as he clicked on his status, Rynold soon got his answers.

===

[Legacy: The Forgotten Elf]

You have fully understood and accepted a forgotten Legacy. The Forgotten Elf has bestowed you a part of his will, increasing your Nature Affinity by 15%.

Additionally, you have empathized with a part of the Forgotten Elf's struggles, allowing you to unlock another portion of his power. Your Mana Core now has the ability to absorb ambient Mana.

===

'Oi, oi!' Rynold thought to himself as his pleasant surprise turned to outright astonishment. He wasn't sure what the 'absorb ambient Mana' entailed. But, Rynold was sure it was valuable. Rynold had to test things out, of course, to measure its usefulness.

And that wasn't even all of it.

Rynold quickly opened his other windows to check what he had just Mana Bonded with a few moments ago. Even though Rynold didn't care for the forced Mana Bond, he was still eager to see what it was.

===

[Timber Sumbios]

Symbiotic Mana Gear Equipment

Equipment Requirements: Legacy: The Forgotten Elf, Mana Bond

A mutation of the Livingwood Tree, this Symbiotic Mana Gear attached itself to your Mana Core. It now lives and sustains itself with your Mana. Doing so also increases your abilities accordingly.

Additional Passive Skill: Symbiotic Relationship

- The Timber Sumbios rooted itself in your Mana Core, consistently draining Mana from it. It drains your Mana Core at a rate of 1 Mana per hour. Additionally, any spells' Mana Cost is also increased by 20%.

Additional Passive Skil: Rooted Manasynthesis

- The Timber Sumbios's roots encroached on your Mana lines, increasing your spell casting speed by 15%.

Additional Active Skill: Encompassing Serenity

- Consumes 60 Mana to heal 20% of missing Health on a target. Cooldown: 90 minutes

Additional Active Skill: Nature's Sustenance

- Upon activation, summons a large tree into battle, increasing Healing Effectiveness and Nature Damage by 15%. (Effect does not stack.) Effects last for 30 minutes or until destroyed.

- Cost: 80 Mana

- Cooldown: 4 hours

Additional Active Skill: Penultimate Overgrowth

- Under the direst of circumstances, the Timber Sumbios will act to protect itself and its host. It will forcibly consume its host's Mana and grow outwards, wrapping the host in itself. The Timber Sumbios and the host will then enter hibernation, removing any ailments and restoring the host's Mana, Health, and Stamina.

- The host cannot activate this skill. This skill will solely activate if the Timber Simbiosis senses its peril.

- Cooldown: 60 days

===

'It's this thing again, great.'

Rynold wasn't extremely pleased by what he had just read. There was no reason for him to be grateful, especially considering he had no Nature-type spells. Not only that, but the thing had leeched onto him forcibly, making Rynold the host without his permission.

The tree inside him was getting more out of this symbiotic relationship. The benefits that Rynold gained from this relationship were nothing but jack shit.

'Well, I guess I'm getting a healing spell out of this exchange.'

As he let out a deep sigh, Rynold stared into space. Now that this whole ordeal was over, Rynold now knew that it might have been more worth his time if he slept. Jumping into the hollow mountain in his sleep shouldn't have happened. Rynold didn't even know he could've done something like that without breaking his legs.

That said, Rynold felt perplexed as to what this all meant.

He thought that his experiences with the Forgotten Elf were already over. But, clearly, that wasn't the case here as he saw the previous Lord in his dream — the dream that made him get here.

Rynold had no idea how or why, but he had this feeling that the Forgotten Elf was watching over him. He felt as though the previous Lord had wanted Rynold to follow in his footsteps, to become the second coming of the Forgotten Elf.

'I'm probably just overthinking things.'

Doubting himself, Rynold knew that he was still too tired to think clearly. He had gotten out of bed without his knowledge, after all. And he even engaged in strenuous activity that nearly killed him. He wanted to get some sleep, considering what had happened to him in such a short time.

But, there was no way for him to do something like that. He wasn't in his tent or some comfortable place anymore. No, he was in the dark, hollow mountain, surrounded by white-colored trees.

What else could Rynold do now?

Pushing himself off the ground, Rynold took a look around. The Livingwood Tree was gone. Rynold thought that he had nothing to be afraid of anymore. The white-colored trees didn't drain his Mana anymore as there was no place for them to go. Or, so he thought.

Without putting much thought into where he positioned himself, Rynold accidentally made contact with one of the white trees. The Mana drain was at the same pace as before, and Rynold managed to get away from it without wasting another second.

'Huh. I guessed wrong.'

Rynold thought that the white trees served no other function than to deliver the Mana to the Livingwood Tree. But, apparently, the white trees still carried their absorption ability, even without a destination.

With that in mind, Rynold thought of what else was there. What else caused the trees to drain the Mana in the air?

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a straight answer to that question. Rynold could, at best, ballpark an answer. At that point, Rynold could only stare at the tree with a pointless gaze. That was until Rynold felt something move through the air.

'I didn't imagine that... right?'

Closing his eyes, Rynold tuned his senses to his surroundings. He focused on the ambient Mana in the atmosphere and noticed the subtlety of its movement into the white-colored trees.

Rynold hadn't sensed the subtle flow of ambient Mana before now. Is this what the system meant by absorbing the Mana in the environment? Does that mean he was doing the same thing the white trees did but at a less efficient pace?

Although Rynold had these questions in his head, his concentration didn't break. Rynold wanted to capitalize on this feeling and understand what the trees were doing. He stood perfectly still, like in a trance, and studied how the trees absorbed the ambient Mana. To which, Rynold then attempted to copy.

With his hands to his side, Rynold's breathing turned steady. He breathed in and out, consistently and determinedly. Rynold didn't dare move as he continued with his attempts.

In mere moments after his first attempt, Rynold felt that he was getting closer to his goal. The only thing in his way now was that he was failing at the second to last step. Rynold couldn't tell why that was, but he didn't stop — not for a second.

Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours. Rynold didn't feel the time pass as he kept trying.

A few hours later, Rynold opened his eyes, sweat on his brow. It was at this moment that he had succeeded. And, quite hilariously, Rynold also fell down on his back because his legs gave in.

'That's it,' Rynold victoriously smiled and looked at the white tree still standing as tall as ever. 'It took a few hours, but I did it. Hah. Haha! It's kinda shit, but I can't believe I can do that now.'

Rynold was smiling ear to ear as he felt glad as to how things turned out. He knew that the result wasn't all the great, but Rynold found some happiness in the small victory. Well, as far as small victories go, anyway.

The only thing Rynold could do with absorbing ambient Mana was to recover his own Mana pool at an exponential rate. By his estimate, the recovery rate increased tenfold. Rynold knew how useful that was in terms of long-term battles. Rynold had a way so that he wouldn't run out of Mana.

But that wasn't without conditions.

Throughout his trial and error process, Rynold learned a few things he had to do before he could start absorbing ambient Mana. He first had to stay completely still — no distractions whatsoever. Otherwise, it would only fail.

Not only that, but Rynold had to concentrate on pulling the Mana out of the air. It was like picking cherries out of a massive field. And, lastly, there was also the preexisting condition of having ambient Mana in the air.

Rynold, in his tired and sleepless stupor, managed to figure all of this out. It was an impressive feat, even though Rynold wouldn't admit it.