Chapter 48: 49-Mana Pulse

Confusion was the first feeling that described Rowan’s current state.

Then terror hit him as he slowly figured out what was happening.

The Mother Tree had never acted against him before, so when he was sucked in, he was caught completely off guard. In fact, the Mother Tree had never taken the initiative to do anything after all these years. 

So, why now?

Rowan didn’t have the words to describe the feeling. Was it his mind being sucked in or the soul? Whatever it was, the Mother Tree hijacked his senses and he felt himself leaving his body.

Right into the current of mana that flowed into the Mother Tree.

This triggered the frightful memory of Rowan when he first carried out the mana exchange. The feeling of being swallowed and lost forever.

Just the thought absolutely terrified him. 

Trying to resist, Rowan tried to close off his senses and push everything into himself. He didn’t know if withdrawing himself would work, but he refused to give in without a fight.

However he could feel himself getting drawn in with each passing second second.

Was this it? Did the Mother Tree finally reveal its true self and decided to devour him?

Whatever Rowan attempted, it was futile as he could feel himself being drawn in even more.

At the last moment, he felt himself suddenly stop. The mana gave off a familiar pulse of warmth. There was no more pulling, nothing moving him forcibly against his will.

There was just nothing after what just happened.

Another wave of warmth hit Rowan as he froze with indecision, unsure what to do in this situation.

After some hesitation, Rowan decided to open up his senses once more. Rowan did not understand why he knew the feeling the warmth meant, but he somehow did.

Encouragement and follow.

The mana flow had stopped as if it was waiting for his choice. If he wanted to, Rowan felt he could step back and return to his body if he wanted. The decision was his to make, or at least the Mother Tree was allowing him to choose. He was under no illusion that the Mother Tree could have whatever she wanted right now and he was powerless to stop her.

While the memory of being devoured still haunted him, the boy decided to trust the Mother Tree once more. After all, the Mother Tree had never intentionally harmed him before. The only reason why he had been close to being swallowed up the first time was because of his amateur skills. He had learned his lesson since and never moved beyond what he was supposed to do.

The difference this time is that the Mother Tree was leading.

If this was a trick, then Rowan would let himself be tricked. Just this once. He would like to think that all these years of nurturing the Mother Tree was not in vain.

Rowan slowly moved his senses forward. Once he took the first step, he could feel the mana current also restart and began to slowly surge. He kept on following the mana flow, trying to figure out what the Mother Tree wanted to do.

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At some point, he felt himself being stopped. The mana was still flowing, but his sense of self was frozen somehow by the Mother Tree.

Now what did the Mother Tree want?

Rowan first tried to move forward, but to no avail. He tried to look around with his senses, but all he saw was the mana current moving along. 

He was stopped for a reason. The question was why?

Rowan looked around some more, but he wasn’t seeing any-

-and then he saw it.

The Mother Tree in its entirety.

Or at least the entirety of its current size. He saw the mana of vivid green color flowing from the trunk to every branch of the tree. There were no leaves, but with the way the mana was flowing, the leaves were about to start growing. He was able to see the mana structure of the Mother Tree. The Tree was filled with so much mana that it almost seemed ready to burst, and yet somehow the mana flowed smoothly through its entire being. 

From the top all the way down to its very roots.

And it didn’t end there. 

Rowan watched in fascination as the mana spread from the roots of the Mother Tree towards the barrier of thorns. Nurturing it and making it stronger. The vines had only taken a bit of mana, and visibly the vines didn’t become stronger.  The current barrier didn’t need to strengthen itself anymore so the mana was stored away. If the need ever arises, the mana could be used to heal the vines or strengthen them. Rowan somehow instantly gleamed this information as his senses continued to follow the mana’s path. 

He watched as the mana swept outwards like a pulse. All the surrounding trees drank in the mana through their roots to enrich themselves. The pulse grew so wide that Rowan lost track how far it went. Even though he lost track, it left a distinct trail behind. 

Rowan had a bird's eye view as everything happened. The mana trail showed how the Forest of Death was connected through an intricate web underground. Rowan could explore a part of the path for days and still not know where it leads to. Not only that, he was able to witness every plant that took in the Mother Tree mana. He saw how much mana was in every plant and how it flowed through each plant’s body. 

This was… amazing.

That was Rowan only thought as he watched everything happen. He also understood right away what happened so many years ago. He must have somehow got caught in the process of what the Mother Tree just showed him. At that time there was no control and he had only been a small ant. His senses were not as refined and he was not as skilled in controlling his mana back then. Now the Mother tree had taken a hands-on approach to show him the entire picture, or at least as much as he could follow. The boy could tell that the pulse probably covered the entire Forest of Death, but he was only able to follow the mana pulse for a couple of miles.

Rowan could still feel his mana leaving his body as he turned his senses back to the Mother Tree.  With his mana, another charge was created in a few seconds. Surprisingly after having just launched the first pulse of mana, the Mother Tree was ready to send out another wave. Rowan observed as the Mother Tree launched another wave of mana underground. Rowan once again observed  as the mana flowed through the barrier, and the surrounding trees. 

This time his eyes were able to follow the mana flow just a bit more than the first time, but soon lost track as it continued outwards. No doubt spreading from the inner depths of the forest to the outermost layer.

The whole process must have happened longer than Rowan thought as he watched the Mother Tree launch multiple waves of mana. He didn’t realize all his mana was drained until he felt himself dragged back to his body. As always, the Mother Tree had sent back his mana in a transformed fashion, but he couldn’t use it right away. He needed a few minutes for his body to ‘digest’ the mana. 

As his senses returned to normal, Rowan understood right away what he needed to do.

The Mother Tree had shown him a sensory technique, one that he desperately needed.

Now all he had to do was make it his own.

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