I found Terry hunched over a makeshift worktable near the corner of the trees, while Rebecca was at the center, slowly growing a tree that had its branches wrapped around a claw from a lizard boss.
Not wanting to interrupt her attempt to improve her skill, I walked to Terry, who had a focused frown on his face, lips pressed together in concentration. His thoughts were apparent, and so was the row of plants in front of him radiating the familiar aura of decay.
He didn't only have a tree, however. There were several different types of plants, including reeds, mushrooms, and moss. Every single one of them radiated a faint yet discernible aura of decay.
I approached quietly, curious to observe his progress as he put his new skill and stats to the test as he tried to balance growth and decay together. But then, my dreams were enough to remind me that such a thing was not as impossible as I wanted to believe.
In my dreams, decay was as ubiquitous as electricity was before the Cataclysm.
As I approached, I watched him snap a piece and throw it toward the insects, watching their reaction, which was mostly indifference. Not a surprise, as the faint aura of decay dispersed the moment the plant had lost its connection.
"Looks promising," I commented as I approached, breaking the silence.
"Professor," he said as he jerked in surprise, but it was quickly replaced with sadness when his gaze dipped down. "I think there's something wrong with my approach. The plants are not as strong as I want them to be."
"It's nothing to be worried about. You just started experimenting," I said.
"But, it shouldn't be like that. Not with a Legendary skill. Your pillars are much stronger."
"You're forgetting that not only did I have much more time to practice, but also I have a significant stat advantage over you. Then, there's my familiarity with the concept itself. Altogether, it's inevitable that the decaying aura will differ."
"Yes," he said, dejected.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You have been sacrificing all this time to protect us, professor," he said. "You could have left us to die and left with the guards, but instead you stayed here. I had just hoped that I could pay you back."
"And you have," I said, patting his shoulder. "Even before the class upgrade, your help was already valuable. You helped to organize the farmers when they were panicking, and you helped me run several initiatives. They might not have had flashy results, but they helped me to understand the System better, which in turn gave me some very valuable abilities."
"Still…" he muttered.
"You want to have a more visible impact, at the frontlines," I completed.
He blushed. "When you say it like that, it sounds bad. Like I'm ungrateful."
"Not at all," I said. "The world is a dangerous place, and even without the suggestions from the System, it is easy to see the value of fighting against the monsters directly. It's one way to make an impact." He nodded. "You just need to remember that it's not the only way."
"Thank you, professor," he said, relief flickering in his eyes.
I smiled as well, surprised by my own performance when it came to giving a pep talk, which was something that I was bad at in the past.
But then, it was like the speech, wasn't it. He was affected not because of my words, but because of my achievements. I shrugged. It was an inevitable situation. "Tell me. What exactly is the problem," I said.
"They are not reacting to the presence of the plants the way I expected them to," he said.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"What if we empower the effect," I suggested. "Show me exactly what you are doing," I said. "Particularly, how are you using mana to raise the plants?"
"," he said and grew another reed, a choice I appreciated. Ultimately, the fifth floor was still a swamp, and reeds would fit the environment much better than the trees I was growing there forcibly.
I carefully watched the process, not caring much about the mana movement, as my aim was to design a nice container that would allow me to use Observe. After all, why waste the opportunity to involve my Perk?
"Did you get it, professor?" Terry asked.
"No," I said. I repurposed one of the many useless metal items I had lying around, turning it into a thin box. "Grow it again, here. The metal will allow me to use my Perk and watch it better."
He nodded, then grew another reed. This time, I closed my eyes and watched the process step by step. It was an interesting process. With forging, the main contribution of mana was to solidify into the crystalline structure, reinforcing it. However, the way Wisdom operated changed it somewhat, imbuing those same structures with a complicated web of features.
The growth of the plants was different. The mana didn't create solid structures, nor did it just turn into nutrients like Health did whenever it was blasted directly. Instead, it split into several smaller streams, and imbued the necessary concepts with the plants. It was elegant, but complicated.
"Don't try to change its nature. Just make it grow faster, use as little mana as you can manage," I said.
"I just need to refill my mana first," he said. Understandable, as the new classes came with pretty limited reserves.
I could have grabbed a shell, but I paused. "Wait a second," I said and focused a yard ahead of him. Since the dungeon replenished my reserves constantly, yet absorbed all the mana from the environment, I wondered if I could create a small area with the reverse effect.
I had to focus quite a bit, but it didn't work. Maybe I could try again with some kind of item, but for the moment, I had just pushed my mana out, turning it into a column. "Just absorb it," I said. It would have been wasteful, but since the dungeon recycled the rest, nothing was lost.
"You want me to grow it as slowly as possible?" Terry said, his brow furrowed. "Similar to how we did with normal crops back then?"
"Essentially, yes. I need to understand how Tend differs from Nurture, as well as where mana gets used in the process. I can't copy it without first understanding it. "
"Yes, professor," he said, and grew another reed.
He repeated the same process a few times, each repeat giving me a better idea. For one, the transformation was interesting. Mana transformed into something softer, reminding me of the way Health changed under the influence of Legendary Nurture, but different as well.
Ultimately, Health was — to the best of my understanding — a concentrated life force, which fitted perfectly with the plant. And, that assistance allowed the plant to devour the environmental mana alongside other fertilizers.
However, under the control of the Tend skill, mana operated differently. It was focusing on certain parts of the plant, melding with certain parts of the cellulose structure while ignoring others, assisting the growth of the plant in a more controlled manner.
Tend as a skill truly lived up to its name, granting a finer control than Nurture. Admittedly, it was probably overkill for a simple plant, especially if one was growing it ordinarily.
"Another, but this time, turn it into a spear as it grows," I said.
He paused. "I don't know if I can achieve it."
"Try it anyway," I said, once again watching the process. This time, mana not only focused on very different locations, but also maintained a much more significant activity. "Now, fire resistance," I switched, which was followed by several different tricks.
Admittedly, the details were too complicated to understand at a glance, which meant my understanding was limited, but with the memory enhancement from Wisdom, it didn't matter.
I just memorized the different methods, to be analyzed more in detail as I experimented.
I had many different tests, so before they were complete, Rebecca arrived, her previous task complete. "How was the improvement?" Terry asked.
"It has just reached twenty-five," she declared happily. "You were right. The more complicated the nature of the transformation, and the bigger the project, the bigger the reward."
"That's good news," I said, somewhat frustrated that my own skill was still lingering somewhat behind. But then, it was to be expected, as Nurture was easier to raise than Forge as well. "Do you want to take over for Terry while he takes a turn improving his proficiency?"
"Yes, professor," she declared happily, enthusiastic to help.
Terry looked reluctant to stop, but I spoke before he could reject the offer. "Go and improve your proficiency. The stronger your skill, the more you can guide me," I said.
"Yes, professor," Terry said, slightly miffed, but not enough to argue. He turned and left, leaving Rebecca behind.
"What's the task, professor?" she asked, excited.
"You're going to do your best to display various tricks of your skill to teach me," I said. "Boring, I know, but useful."
"It's an honor to help you, professor," Rebecca said excitedly.
I barely suppressed a frustrated sigh. As much as I appreciated their helpfulness, the overly respectful attitude was getting annoying.
Maybe it would get better as we interacted more.