Breath(1)

Talk - " "

Think + abilities/passives names - [ ]

System - ( )

Author thought - [[ ]]

Action - * *

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Somewhere in the Flora kingdom, deep in the forest, completely hidden inside some tall grass. Alex can be seen lying on the ground, completely still and quiet. Other than his chest occasionally rising up and down, he appeared to be dead. There was even a butterfly resting on his nose.

Taking a deep breath, Alex focused on sensing the mana within his dungeon core, located inside his elemental heart. He slowly allowed his mana to trickle out from his heart, letting it flow freely throughout his body. And guided some back into his core.

And with a slow exhale, he slowly guided his mana out of his body, 'watching' how it reacts with the environment. Using his own mana to try and feel the ambient mana around him. which is somewhat working. He could 'see' some bits of bright green and brown mana absorbing his mana.

With the loop of meditation on his left pinkie, Alex found it much easier to sense the flow of mana, as it helped clear his mind and enhance his focus. The small green gnome hat dangling from the tip of one of his antlers added to his perception, allowing him to feel a certain element underneath him more. Below him, he could see the brown hues of earth mana, representing the earth element

As he meditated in the forest, Alex could distinctly sense the two dominant elements around him. The earth element, manifesting as a brownish hue, pulsed beneath the ground, while the plant element, a vibrant bright green, thrived in the trees and vegetation.

With each cycle of breathing, the tall grass around Alex slowly grew more lush and vibrant. With every exhale, the initially pale green grass gradually and slowly darkened, as Alex's plant mana was infused into it. The mana flowed from him into the surrounding vegetation, enhancing its color and vitality. The once dull blades of tall grass now stood tall and healthy, swaying gently in the magical current.

With each inhale, Alex guided the plant mana he had released back into his body and toward his core. Although this caused the tall grass to lose some of its newfound vibrancy, it still appeared healthier than before he had infused it with his mana. The repeated process of breathing in and out, of releasing and absorbing mana, not only revitalized the surrounding flora but also helped with Alex's control and connection with the plant element. The tall grass was now more robust and vibrant than it had been initially.

By guiding the plant mana infused into the tall grass back to his heart, Alex was able to absorb both his own and a bit of the natural mana inside the plants. Although the amount he absorbed from the tall grass was minor, he was gradually learning how to take more of the mana the tall grass already possessed. He was slowly understanding the pathways the tall grass used for its mana.

These pathways, which he decided just to call mana veins, were quite simple. There was one major vein in the main stem, where most of the mana flowed, and numerous minor veins in the roots and shoots. He called it 'mana veins' because these pathways existed in a more spiritual sense rather than a physical one. He could only barely sense these mana veins when he was deep in meditation.

[[Should I try to do pathways for mana or should I use a different process?]]

Basically, the mana veins overlap the plant veins, and instead of moving water and nutrients, they move and store mana. Another example would be how humans have blood vessels to circulate blood. The mana veins in humans overlap the blood vessels, transporting mana throughout the body with a magic core acting as the heart.

Alex did discover that he could forcefully absorb all the mana the tall grass naturally had, but doing so resulted in the plant's immediate death as its insides were torn to shreds. To avoid killing the grass, he chose a slower approach, to improve his magic control by carefully drawing mana without harming the plants through its stomata.

As Alex guided the plant mana back into his dungeon core, he directed the stream of plant mana toward a very slowly, slow-growing green crystal within his body. This green crystal represented his plant affinity. By channeling the plant mana back into the crystal, it refines the plant mana, increasing its potency. This process also strengthened and expanded his plant affinity, making it slightly stronger as the green crystal absorbed the mana it purified, to grow.

Growing his affinity crystals enhances the refinement process in several ways. It improves the rate at which mana is refined, increases the purity of the refined mana, and allows a greater volume of mana to be refined simultaneously.

Even though he had to continuously spend mana with each cycle of breathing, as his plant affinity absorbs most of the plant mana, it was worth it. The longer he mediated and cycled his mana, the stronger his plant affinity became. Of course, the growth was subtle, but hey, the more it grows, the stronger he grows.

He did this for about an hour. Other than making the green crystal glow a bit more, there wasn't much of a difference in size before he started.

So with a big exhale, Alex opened his eyes and stood up. However, as he did, his body felt a bit restricted, and he heard something tearing. When he looked down to see what was causing the restriction, he noticed that his once pitch-black fur had turned dark green. There were even roots and grass intertwined all over his body.

He didn't know how he hadn't noticed it earlier, he guessed he had just been deeply focused on the meditation. With a quick shake of his body, pieces of grass and roots fell off, though some still clung tightly, appearing to grow out of him. As he rubbed his head in confusion, he felt flowers and vines wrapped around his antlers. The realization that his body was now nurturing plant life left him a bit nervous but also... intrigued.

He plucked a piece of grass to see if he could feel any pain. However, it felt no more painful than plucking a strand of hair. The sensation was strange but not uncomfortable, confirming his idea that the plants growing on his body were an extension of himself.

[[His body looks somewhat like this. I used AI for this]]

[Alexa, why am I green? And what's with the plants growing on me?] Alex was just confused by his body changing. One moment, he had pitch-black fur, and boom, the next second he was dark green with plants growing off of him.

[Due to the host's second body being an elemental, the constant use of a single element causes your body to slowly adapt to the needs of that element. Just like now, spreading your plant element throughout your body has caused plant growth.] Alexa said, letting this sink into Alex's mind before continuing again.

[If the host wants to revert this change, let your element less mana spread through your body. It will take some time but your body will change. This effect also works for all of your elements. However, the longer you let a certain element run through your body, the more you'll change to that element.] With that final bit, Alexa explained some new information about Alex's body.

Alex just thought about what Alexa said. I mean, it was actually pretty fucking cool. If an hour of cycling any of his elements, changes his body. It will open so many cool new doors for him.

But before he could even cycle more of his plant element to see what greater changes would happen. The smell of rotten eggs hit his nose hard. It smelled awful as his nose was really sensitive. But as he was about to switch back to his dungeon core form, he smelled a hint of... copper?

There was a copperish-like smell wafting through the air. And by focusing on that copperish smell with his passive [Wolf Scent], he was able to 'see' a reddish mist-like trail floating through the forest. Though the rotten egg smell was still there, it was just less overpowering as his nose was locked on the copperish smell.

He wasn't exactly sure what the smell was, but it kinda reminds him of... the smell of… blood.

So with a hazy path to whatever was causing that blood smell, Alex was unsure of what to do next.

Should he ignore it or should he investigate the bloody smell?

But it didn't take long for him to decide what to do next.

-------

Thanks for reading

Comment on any mistakes or changes I should make!