Chapter 231 - The White Forest

Rynold instinctively took two steps back from the tree trunk he placed his hand on, wary of what it had just done to him.

'That's not normal.'

None of this was, really. This entire forest was like something out of a children's fairytale. In spite of that, though, Rynold found his experience with the tree trunk a lot more troubling.

Looking at the palm of his hand in disbelief, Rynold didn't know how to deal with the situation.

The tree trunk had sucked the Mana out of him. He felt the Mana drain from his Mana Core in a matter of seconds once he made contact with the tree. It was a surreal experience that made Rynold both confused and tired at the same time.

Luckily, Rynold was able to pull away in time. Otherwise, he would have most likely ended up a husk, dead and dried up.

'Interesting...'

Common sense aside, Rynold studied the tree. Instead of staying away, he got closer while making sure he didn't accidentally come into contact with it. Rynold proceeded to inspect the tree. He hoped to gain some insights as to what it was.

'Huh. As far as I can tell, it's no different from a regular tree. Even the Mana that it drained from me isn't in it anymore. But that doesn't explain what had already happened. The rate of the drain was fast for something like this. And, if that thing didn't keep it for itself, then...'

Rynold immediately ordered Axiom to scan for anything that exuded Mana. While the ambient Mana was thick for even Rynold to feel, there was a much more concentrated source somewhere.

'Ahead of us, huh?'

With results in hand, Rynold moved steadfastly toward his destination. He made sure to avoid what he needed to. Any more Mana out of him would get him out of the competition.

'Now, this just seems dumb.'

Once Rynold reached his destination, a part of him wanted to slap himself. He could certainly try to make some sense out of this. But then again, magic tended to elude any logical explanation. If that wasn't made clear for Rynold before, it certainly was now.

The source of concentrated Mana was none other than a small patch of green in the middle of the white forest. Using what Rynold could only assume to be the delivery system, the Mana brought this small piece of green to life. The atmosphere around it was brimming with life energy. Or, at least, that was what Rynold guessed.

In the center of the small field was a tree. From a glance, there wasn't anything special about it. The normal-looking tree was small and still in its infancy. But, Rynold sensed something special.

He took a few steps forward, wary of any dangers that might spring up. However, what actually happened was the contrary. For some reason, Rynold felt refreshed. It was as if any of his previous battles didn't happen. Rynold felt amazing.

That said, Rynold kept going and stopped just before the small tree. Its leaves were noticeably luscious and clean. As far as Rynold could tell, no person had ever set foot in this place. It was a pure testament to nature that Rynold felt bad to disturb.

'Man. The Mana in this thing is thick. Something about this tree is special.'

Rynold was nearly overwhelmed by the dense Mana as he got close enough to the tree to touch it.

He wouldn't do something so stupid, of course, as there might be unexpected consequences. But, Rynold did look at it from a much closer perspective.

'From afar, I didn't actually notice how the texture on its trunk is like the one back home. Are the lines on its trunk what I think they are?'

There wasn't anything he could do aside from making physical contact with the small tree. Doing so was the only way for Rynold to confirm his suspicions. It would be risky, but Rynold had to get some answers one way or another. He just hoped that it wouldn't kill him.

'Here goes nothing.'

With a sharp exhale, Rynold firmly placed one leg in front of the other. Rynold then slowly extended his hand. As he prepared for the worst, Rynold gently rested his index finger on a branch of the small tree.

The result of which was nothing like Rynold expected. Instead of sucking him dry, the tree harmonized and synced with his Mana. The tree felt like an extension of his own will, much like how he Augmented his equipment and how he formed the bullets of [True Caliber].

However, no matter how much he tried to shape his will, the tree didn't respond. It just synchronized his Mana and intent. In other words, the tree was nothing more than a delivery system without any losses. It was the perfect conduit, much like the crystal he used to make [True Caliber].

Suffice it to say: this material was nothing like Rynold has ever seen before. It felt like he had hit the jackpot, and Rynold felt his creative instincts tremble with excitement.

Rynold removed his finger from the tree as soon as he reached his conclusions. That said, Rynold felt satisfied by the end result.

He found two different materials: one that could absorb and soak Mana; and another that could harmonize and sync with Mana. These two contrasting properties seemed to have no correlation whatsoever. But, in the right hands, one can maximize both types of wood.

That said, Rynold had no idea how he would harvest them.

Even if Rynold had already formulated a bunch of plausible uses, that would have been all for nothing if Rynold didn't find a way to get them. He had to find a way to harvest them — delicately.

As much as Rynold wanted to cut each one down, he knew he had to preserve the ecosystem of the place. That said, grabbing the plot of land underneath the mountain was impossible, especially at Rynold's current level. Unless he had a way to shrink things, Rynold would have to think of another way.

'I have two days left. I guess I can spend some time figuring things out first.'

Formulating a plan in his head, Rynold walked about the white forest and gathered information. He inspected the size of the place to be as big as a football stadium. That said, it would be a shame to harm the delicate peace of this place.

Unfortunately, Rynold had no choice but to ruin it. He would, of course, preserve as much as he could. But, if he had no other options, things would have to get messy.

'I'd cross that bridge when I get to it,' Rynold thought to himself as he approached a tree in the outskirts of the forest, 'For now, though, let's just study you first.'

Rynold extended his drill and whirred it to life. From there, he swung at the tree and effectively chopped it down near its base. Rynold stood aside as he watched the tree fall down with a loud thud, its white-colored trunk still the same.

'Let's see... The insides are white, as expected. It's really just a gigantic circle of white wood. But, the question now is, does it still absorb my Mana?'

Just like before, Rynold reached in with his finger, ready to step back at a moment's notice. He approached cautiously, like poking a tiger with a stick, and soon placed his finger on the fallen tree trunk. But, contrary to his expectations, nothing happened.

'Hm...,' Rynold got closer as he inspected the log with both hands, completely unguarded. 'I guess it's one ecosystem. Cut off one part, and it's dead. That means I can't use it if I separate it from the source.'

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Rynold felt that the conditions to trigger the absorption were a bit difficult to replicate. This chunk of white wood was now useless to him, making the Mana-soaking properties disappear. He couldn't but feel disappointed by how things turned out.

Thinking back to his elementary school days, Rynold aligned the functions of a tree to the ones in the white forest.

The leaves served the purpose of absorbing the ambient Mana in the air. The tree trunk acted as pylons while the roots brought the Mana to the green tree. As Rynold connected these dots, he soon realized that things turned out to be more difficult than he had first thought.

'Maybe I'm way in over my head here,' Rynold thought as he went back to the green tree, 'But, that still doesn't explain where all the Mana goes. The white ones absorbed them while the green one accumulated them. There's still one missing piece to the puzzle.'

Rynold approached the green tree once more, turning his eye to whatever thing he might have missed. He decided to leave no stone unturned as he attempted to find a purpose for all that Mana.

'Think, Rynold. Think. Take note of every single detail there is and put it together.'

Looking into things, Rynold spent an embarrassing amount of time to reach a single conclusion.

'I'm looking at this all wrong. The Mana is being cycled, exactly like how an ecosystem would act. It's possible that the Mana is also purified in the process, making the Mana in the air so dense.'

Testing said theory, Rynold reached out and pulled a single leaf from the small green tree. Rynold felt the Mana from the tree once he touched the leaf. But, that feeling soon disappeared once he plucked the leaf off of the branch.

From there, Rynold purposefully injected Mana into the leaf in his hand. The leaf then acted accordingly and glowed with a dim, blue light. Rynold maintained the output of his Mana at a low rate. Rynold only stopped until a solid five seconds later.

'Okay,' Rynold watched as the blue light gradually disappeared, 'That checks out. The leaf distributes the Mana back into the air while the rest of the tree purifies it. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out.'

With this new information brought to light, Rynold knew now more than ever how valuable this small tree was. That said, he also knew how much more important it was to maintain the ecosystem. One couldn't function without the other, causing Rynold to deal with a big dilemma.

There was no way he could bring the entire forest with him. He couldn't cut one part out and take the other. Rynold had to find a way that could accommodate both.

That said, Rynold knew he couldn't do much of anything else down here. He gathered all of the information that he could from this place. All he needed to do now was to come up with a solution. Which, who knows how long that would take?

Regardless, Rynold walked back to the clearing where he first landed and reeled himself up using his grapple. The endless rope served its purpose once more as Rynold ascended the hollow mountain.

Rynold got out of the hole he made and walked on the snow that led to his camp.

"I trust that you're okay?"

The sudden voice came out of nowhere and made Rynold jump two steps back. After which, Rynold quickly looked around the place, tilting his head everywhere. Rynold didn't stop until he laid his eyes on the Mana Crystal in the center of the camp.

"Oh," Rynold calmed down, "It's just you. What do you want? I had a long day."

"Do you really have to put it like that?" the Mech God replied, obviously displeased, "Can't I check up on my Candidates?"

"You know very well what we're up to," Rynold said as he sat on the workbench, "I'm more than sure that you have drones up in the sky watching our every move. For a guy who's only job is to watch, you sure do love doing the exact opposite."