Chapter 234 - The Roots

'What should I do now?'

Rynold sat on the grass below his feet as he looked around, all by his lonesome.

There wasn't anything he could do here. Nor was there anything around him apart from the white trees. That said, he could continue studying these things. But, even if he did something like that, Rynold felt as though he wouldn't accomplish much of anything.

It was a valid excuse, Rynold thought, as it'll take him a long time to understand the white tree's absorbing properties. And, even then, Rynold might not make anything out of it. Not only that, but Rynold was also pretty damned tired.

'Maybe I should just find a way back up first.'

He didn't want to stay down here any longer than he should. Rynold wanted to go back to his slightly more comfortable bed. That said, he wasn't even sure if he could go back. Rynold just woke up down here. Going back to his camp didn't seem to be a valid option.

Rynold laid his back down on the ground as he sighed defeatedly. He looked up to the hole in the dark ceiling. Rynold realized how pointless it was to try and get out of here through there.

'Guess I'll just have to make do.'

At this point, Rynold made the decision of letting his guard down. As he lied down on the grassy ground, Rynold closed his eyes and proceeded to sleep. It was at this moment that Rynold's exhaustion had finally gotten the better of him.

As the hours passed, Rynold's slumber was undisturbed. Nothing managed to wake him up. No dreams. No communications with a divine being in his sleep. Rynold just slept. Nothing more, nothing less.

A few hours later, Rynold woke up in the same patch of grass he slept on, fully rested. He felt great, relatively speaking, as he pushed himself off the ground and stretched.

'Okay,' Rynold thought as he looked around, 'A new day. Although, there's really not a way to tell the time. Let's get to work then.'

Cracking his knuckles, Rynold stared at the same white tree as before. He had studied how to absorb ambient Mana from this tree. Now, Rynold set his mind onto something else.

'Let's see what makes you tick.'

Exhaling a deep breath as he focused on his task, Rynold extended his drill. He stared directly at the bottom of the trunk and aimed downwards. Rynold then sharply inhaled as he whirled his weapon to life. He was about to attempt something unusually.., overzealous.

In other words, Rynold started excavating.

Moving his drill around the best he could, Rynold tried to avoid the roots of the white tree. He excavated the dirt with each masterful swing. But, his control could, admittedly, use some work.

Regardless, Rynold managed to clear most of the dirt away. But, in doing so, Rynold also managed to destroy a significant part of what he was after. Rynold knew something like this was going to happen. But he didn't expect he would have ruined it to such a degree.

'I definitely could use some practice.'

Rynold stared at the ruined hole in the ground, jumping into it not long after. It was a small hole, but it revealed enough of the tree's roots for Rynold to examine. Which, at first glance, didn't seem to be all that interesting.

'Huh.' Knowing full well that things weren't always what they seemed, Rynold approached the roots. 'It's glowing. It's actually glowing.'

A tinge of nervousness rose in Rynold's heart as he approached the roots. They were glowing, quite ominously too. Rynold couldn't tell what they were, but he was still curious to find out. And, at any point, if things go south, Rynold would be both mentally and physically prepared to deal with the repercussions.

With his drill now hidden away, Rynold carefully extended his arm. Rynold swallowed a mouthful of dry air as he soon touched the glowing, white-colored root.

'It's rich.'

Weirdly enough, Rynold felt a wave of calm wash over him as he wrapped his fingers around the glowing root. It calmed him down instantly, like some instantaneous stress reliever.

The Mana inside the root was rich and pure. Rynold had no doubt that it was because of the absorption of the ambient Mana in the air. Which, consequently, made the Mana stored in the roots to be of this quality.

With that in mind, Rynold turned to look at the roots that he destroyed. Which, much to his amusement, were also glowing. Rynold found a potential gold mine here. But then again, he really wasn't sure what he could do with it.

Rynold harvested whatever roots that were salvageable from his initial harvest. All in all, he managed to gather a handful, not too much that would've made Rynold rich in plant roots. But, even after he collected them, Rynold wasn't quite so sure if he could use them for anything special.

'Hmm...,' Rynold thought as he punched the tree down, removing it from the rest of the forest, 'The leaves absorb the Mana in the air. The trunk processes them and delivers them to the roots while absorbing anything that makes contact with it. Then, the roots store them for energy.'

Considering that, the trees gave the impression of machinery. Then again, Rynold had seen some pretty weird stuff at this point. So, this wasn't really all that much of a bother.

Nevertheless, Rynold threw the roots into his inventory. All of it but one.

He decided to check things out first, see what this one root could do. Arguably, Rynold would've preferred to do something better. Unfortunately, he wasn't left with much room to do anything else. All he could really do was look at the root and experiment without reason.

Not daring to hesitate, Rynold willed his Mana into life. He quickly injected his Mana onto the root, studying what sort of response he would gain. Which, unfortunately, wasn't anything much.

'It just absorbed my Mana,' Rynold stopped infusing his Mana and clicked his tongue, disappointed. 'This thing really is nothing but a sponge, huh?'

Rynold threw the root in the air and caught it soon after. He kept doing the same as he sat on the trunk of the fallen tree, deep in thought. Rynold thought about the implications of what this thing could do, but the results would often fall short.

'Wait a minute, I...'

Suddenly standing up, Rynold proceeded to walk back and forth. His thoughts were a bit of a blur. But, he could tell that he was on the verge of something great.

'Shit,' Rynold's eyes shone with brilliance as he rummaged through his inventory to find something. He then pulled it out then slammed it on the fallen tree trunk. Rynold proceeded to flip through the pages and find something remotely what he was searching for: a magic array.

As he stopped on a specific page, Rynold reread the text on the book. It was the one that he had borrowed not too long ago. And Rynold only now realized the root's function.

'This... This should work.'

Rynold's thoughts bubbled with excitement. He found his second wind. But, even though there were still some uncertainties, Rynold still wanted to do something worthwhile.

'The root acts as a battery. But, since I got rid of the Livingwood Tree, the Mana has nowhere to go. So, in theory, it'll work. No, no. It should work.'

Passing the plant root from his right hand to his left, Rynold infused the tip of his index finger with his Mana. It was none other than a single, pinpointed output of his Mana. The result of which made his fingertip glow with a blue light.

Inhaling a sharp breath, Rynold stabilized his hands. He then got to work not soon after.

With the book as a reference, Rynold copied the magic array onto the plant root as best he could. Each wave of his finger left a mark on the plant root. Of which, Rynold's steady hands made each stroke masterfully.

'Done.'

Placing his right hand to the side, Rynold watched his handiwork. As far as he could tell, Rynold succeeded. The magic array seemed solid. But, Rynold wasn't that experienced with magic arrays. All he could do now was to test things and hope for the best.

Rynold activated the magic array by injecting Mana onto the plant root with his left hand. Following that, the magic array brimmed with a brilliant light. Rynold could sense the Mana within the plant root slowly dissipate. In other words, Rynold's expectations were met.

'Okay,' Rynold nodded as he stopped infusing Mana into the plant root, 'It's doing what I wanted it to do. But, now that I have this, I genuinely don't know what to do with it.'

Even if he were as excited as the first time he made something, Rynold felt stumped. He had a mobile way of holding Mana now, but Rynold couldn't really put it to any use.

'This thing is arguably a tier lower than the Mana Crystal. But, even if I had this or another Mana Crystal with me, I'm not really sure how I can use them. Huh. Well. The challenge was to gather materials first, right?'

Talking to himself in an almost insane manner, Rynold soon convinced himself to focus on gathering materials first. With that said, Rynold had to find a way to harvest the materials without damaging them. It'll be quite the pickle, especially since he had no way of making an item to do just that. Or, well, he might be able to cobble something together.

With a somewhat half-assed plan of action, Rynold turned to the fallen tree trunk. He then threw the marked plant root before lifting the log. Rynold dragged the piece of wood to the green clearing, using it as a base for his next creation.

'I wish I had more stuff than this.'

Rynold pulled a small box from his inventory. Containing a bunch of random tools, Rynold grabbed the toolbox from his workshop before he left for Ark City. He didn't think much about what he put in the toolbox. Rynold didn't think he needed them, after all.

Although now, in hindsight, Rynold should've brought more stuff.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Rynold extended his drill and separated a small chunk of the log. From there, he grabbed a chisel and hammer from his toolbox. To which, Rynold began his tedious work.

Tch! Tch! Tch!

Rynold shaped down the chunk of log into a small piece of wood. He then used the chisel to continue shaping it into a handle.

The process took Rynold about 20 minutes. After which, he set the handle down and grabbed a small piece of stone he found lying on the ground. Rynold then proceeded to do the same.

After a few more minutes which Rynold felt too embarrassed to count, he finished. In his hand was the fruit of his labor. Although, by the looks of things, it wasn't much.

'Whatever,' Rynold thought as he finally stood up after all this time, 'Let's just get some work done.'

Extending his drill once more, Rynold limbered up before proceeding with his plan. His next step now was to harvest the rest of the plant roots within the immediate area. It'll take some time, Rynold admitted, but the more he had of those plant roots, the better.

He circled around the forest with his drill, careful of hitting any plant roots. He gradually had better and better control of the weapon. Rynold stopped only after he finished a sizable part of the forest.

'Next up.'

Rynold pulled up his recent creation: a trowel. It was depressingly small, Rynold admitted. But, with it, Rynold had a much better chance of harvesting the plant roots intact. It was immensely tedious, but Rynold had to do it.

That said, Rynold started his work with the nearest tree to him. Little did he know that he wouldn't finish until early the next day.