No Longer Alone

[System Active – Chapter 00013]

Status: Rooted

Primary Objective: Survival

Secondary Directive: Data Acquisition

Mana Core Activity: Slowly Increasing

It’s been just over two months since I began shaping mana outside my body. Two months since I truly began training the vine.

And now? Now it’s begun to learn.

The results are clumsy, yes—but real. When I stretch out a fine stream of mana toward its branching tips, it twitches, echoes. Not perfectly, not even well. But the imitation is clear. It tries to mimic me. When I draw the filaments into a wide sheet—my Mana Sight—its own mana brushes the air like a novice's hand tracing fogged glass.

It can’t see color. Shapes come distorted, as if pressed through rippled water. But still… it tries.

That’s what matters.

Unlike me, it has no system. No forced clarity, no traits dropped into awareness. What it learns, it earns. But it listens. And in some quiet, root-deep way, it believes in me.

I still haven’t named it. I’m waiting. Watching. Learning what it wants to become—and what I’ll become if I name it.

The forest remains quiet. No signs of birds, no footprints, no new creatures roaming under my canopy. And yet, I no longer feel alone.

A presence emerged at the edge of my influence six days ago.

At first, it slithered just outside the reach of my outer ring—too low to the ground, too slow to be a wind disturbance, too warm to be falling debris. It circled. Waited. Tested. The mana around it bent slightly, like light over heated stone. I paid attention.

By the second day, I recognized the mana pattern. A beast. Alive. Intelligent, or at least careful.

It lingered.

Its movements were measured. Its body long, heavy, muscular. A snake—though far larger than any I recall from Earth. Ten meters? No—longer. Perhaps fourteen. Its hide is a muted, dusty green, patterned with faint bronze ridges that pulse in rhythm with its unstable mana. Its mana core hovered around thirty percent formed. Not stable, but not erratic either. Enough to make it dangerous. Or promising.

I did nothing for three more days.

Just observed. It never entered my second ring—never pushed into the truly dense zones. But it circled closer with each pass, drawn by something.

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On the sixth day, it paused.

For twelve hours it didn’t move. Then, it inched forward and stopped just short of the bushes that edge my second layer. Waiting. Watching.

I decided to act.

Not through roots. Not through vines. But through the forest itself.

I pulsed outward—not force, not challenge. A gentle wave of intent. Like sunlight pressing into skin. Calm. Open. The vines near its position swayed slightly. The bushes tilted forward.

The snake did not flee.

Instead, it lay its head flat on the soil, coils tucked around its own body. A gesture of rest—or submission.

And then… the system stirred.

> [New Trait Unlocked: Forest Pact (Passive)]

> When intelligent lifeforms enter core-aligned forest zones, they may be influenced by the ambient mana network. If the creature is receptive and partially attuned (≥30% core), it may enter temporary resonance. Continued exposure may result in subdued behavior, loyalty, or eventual subordination. Stronger effects apply to creatures without a core.

Exactly what I needed.

I pulsed again—more firmly this time. My mana soaked into the soil beneath the creature, easing the strain of its muscles, offering a quiet pressure of safety.

It accepted.

And now, for the past two days, it has remained at the edge of my second layer. Feeding, resting. Waiting.

It has not tried to flee, yet.

Meanwhile, my own progress continues—slow but steady. The deeper rock layers have become harder to pierce. Root growth has slowed to about fifty meters per week. Not insignificant, but no longer the leaps I once made. I adjust my expectations accordingly.

Mana saturation has become even more resistant. I am now at 74.1%—up just over a percent since a week ago. Still rising. Still pulsing. But the closer I get, the more stubborn my core becomes. Like trying to fill a vessel that changes shape to resist the liquid.

I’ve come to realize saturation is not just accumulation—it’s refinement. My core no longer just holds mana. It molds it. Reshapes it. Tests it.

And through it, I test others.

The vine has become more responsive. When I project Mana Sight now, it stretches a strand of itself outward. Its attempts are brief—less than a second, and always blurry. But each day, it lasts longer. The mana it uses thickens. Clarifies. I reinforce it when I can.

It is learning.

In two months, it has become more than a tool. It's become a limb I do not command, but suggest to. It obeys because it understands—or wants to.

A subtle difference. But important.

I’ve begun testing more refined applications. Directing my mana through the vine rather than just to it. The feedback is strange—blurred, indirect. But it works.

I can see through it. A little. In flashes.

It will be a long time before it can fully master Mana Sight. But that doesn’t matter. It will earn its vision one drop of clarity at a time.

We are patient.

And we are not alone anymore.

[System Summary – End of Chapter 00013]

Root Expansion: +411.6 m

Total Root Depth: 850.2 m

Mana Saturation Rate: +30.8 m/hr

Core Status: 74.2% Saturation

Trait Unlocked: Forest Pact (Passive)

Environmental Observations:

‣ Primitive vine shows early adaptation of Mana Sight

‣ First animal detected: large mana-infused serpent (31.6% core)

‣ Forest influence affecting behavioral patterns of fauna

‣ Root expansion slowed due to denser mineral strata

Time Since Rebirth: ~3 years, 2 months