Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Alex made his way through the forest; each subsequent boar fight was smoother than the last.

I’m just lucky that they aren’t together in groups.

While moving between locations, Alex allowed his mana to regenerate. Each time it got close to capping out, he’d practice infusing mana through his hands. The use of the skill made it easy to move the mana within his body. After a few tests, he found that he was able to pull the mana back toward his Core if he didn’t push it outside of his body. Even though it was challenging to pull it back toward his Core, since he was switching from using the skill to infuse the mana to just using his own will and natural control over mana to pull it back in, it was great to not waste the mana each time he practiced. There was still a loss of mana overall, but it was better than letting it fully dissipate.

After killing the fifth boar, Alex decided to take a brief break. The sun was beginning to set and he put some thought into his timeline while in the Rift. He needed to meet with Mark and Sarah that evening, and he arrived at the entry location around 10:00am. But even though it was going to get dark in the Rift soon, he knew he’d only been in the forest for a few hours at most.

It was clear to him that time worked differently within this Rift.

I should leave in about 7 hours to make it to see Sarah and Mark. Red Beanie said that since it’s an Uncommon Rift, time would be dilated by 2x, so maybe it would be closer to 14 hours?

Mentally, Alex thanked the packing list from the AG app. Included in the list were some camping rations, a tent, sleeping bag and fire starter.

I’ve never been camping before.

Do I even want to try to sleep in here? What if there are things more dangerous than the boars out here?

Alex shrugged and figured he might have an extra hour or two before it got dark enough for him to be concerned.

If I really don’t want to spend the night in here, I can just walk back through the Rift and wait outside for a few hours.

He continued his way through the forest in search of his next boar but stopped a short time later when he came across something interesting.

“What the…” Alex trailed off.

From deeper within the forest, a purple and brown tendril seemed to snake its way along the ground, growing in the direction of the Rift entrance. Alex may not have noticed it at all, as it was beneath the large leaves and bushes of the forest floor, but there was a large round plant that grew out of the ground up to his head height.

Cautiously, Alex walked forward. Where he had begun to notice small sounds of life through the forest during his time there, now there were none at all. No bugs, no birds, nothing other than the sound of dripping rain.

The bulbous plant sat on a stem that seemed too small for it, keeping the majority of the plant off of the ground. It seemed like the roots of the plant had sucked all of the nearby life from the ground. No underbrush or greenery of any kind was within a five-foot radius of the gross-looking plant.

Alex followed the path of the tendril along the ground. To him, it looked like a large octopus tentacle reaching out across the forest floor.

He took a few minutes to study the surroundings and think of what he should do.

This must be the corruption that the quest mentioned. If I’m supposed to stop it from spreading, do I try to kill the plant?

Alex wanted to smirk. If he’d come into this Rift, like he had the first one, he wouldn’t know what to do. This time was different though, now he was more prepared.

He pulled off his backpack and fished the hatchet back out before walking toward the corrupted plant.

Thinking that the radius around the plant might be a trap, he stopped just outside of its range and poked the ground with the hatchet to see if the roots might move or if the bulb might do something. His mind couldn’t help but picture the worst-case scenario, where it might be like some sort of giant man-eating plant that would try to swallow him whole.

After several different tests, however, nothing changed.

Stepping forward, Alex avoided the roots the best he could. When he got to the stem, he began to chop at it.

He felt a sense of accomplishment as it spilled over on its side and felt the sudden need to yell ‘Timber!’ into the empty forest.

Pulling up his System window to check the quest, Alex was expecting to see a change in the Rift Quest, perhaps a percentage of his help or maybe a change in objectives. He stood, stretched, and wiped his brow as he looked at the window.

Huh, it’s still the same.

His thoughts were interrupted as a strange sound came from the plant that now lay on its side. Suddenly, a scratching noise erupted, followed by a loud crack. Before Alex could comprehend what was happening, three oversized centipede creatures came skittering out from the pod.

"Shit!" Alex shouted and backpedaled, but the creatures were too quick. The first centipede lunged at him as he swung the hatchet. He caught the monster in midair but mistimed his swing which caused him to half-punch, half-smack it with the handle rather than the blade. The creature crashed to the ground and landed on its back, its many legs twitching in the air as it struggled to right itself.

But there was no time to celebrate. He lifted his right leg and used [Mana Infusion] to empower the stomp that came down on the second centipede. There was a sickening crunch as the heel of his shoe crushed the carapace. As his weight shifted forward though, his feet were too planted and he had no time to move as the third centipede came and latched onto his left leg. Its sharp legs sliced through the fabric of his pants as it attempted to crawl up his side. Alex grimaced as he felt the sting of angry red lines form on his skin.

He used [Mana Infusion] once more to empower his fist and brought it down toward his hip. He felt a headache bloom behind his eyes and knew that he was getting low on mana. Despite the heavy impact on his own hip, he sought the notifications that popped up to signify the empowered punch had killed the creature.