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Late Evening - Early Spring : The Tree of Prayer | Siratha

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-What if I just.. fueled the tree myself?- It was a thought that obliterated the ever-encroaching cloud of drowsiness that was taking over my mind.

But the idea wasn't nearly as simple as it initially sounded.

The thing was, during prayers, the mana given by the worshipers was directed straight toward the top of the tree, causing the mana density to get higher and higher as it neared the rune, before eventually getting dense enough to naturally penetrate the tree trunk and individually fuel each layer of the rune within the Gods' Abode.

As it was, the rune was perfectly designed with that method and effect in mind, using a combination of mana flowing through the trunk to fuel the central runes, and a larger volume of mana from outside to fuel the outer rings.

It was the perfect rune to gather mana from the prayer.

However, for me to mimic that effect, I would have to either hollow out the tree and fill it with mana or plainly fill the air with a similar amount of mana to the prayer.

-But that'd definitely kill a bunch of people.

..- For me to fill the air with that much mana while not having to constantly replenish it, I would have to bury the entire base of the tree in a lake of liquid mana. -So I need a better idea...-

But it didn't take long for me to come up with one. -Hmm.. I wonder if I can do that...-

The idea was pretty simple, create a relatively small lake of mana deep underground, directly beneath the tree, and guide the mana up through the tree trunk with a long sequence of runes, essentially making it a giant mana vein.

In theory, it was totally possible, but as for whether the flow of the mana would be great enough, I could only guess. -It's worth a shot though...-

Deciding I would figure it out quicker through trial and error rather than purely theory, I hastily began carving out sequences of annoyingly complex runes that spiraled around the core of the tree trunk with my aura.

But the task quickly became even more daunting than I anticipated.

Adjusting and testing my theories as they came to mind, I ended up burning through tens of thousands of theories, ideas, and designs of runes over the course of a couple of days.

After a while, it even got to a point where I had to question if what I wanted to make was even reasonably possible.

But that was when I stopped worrying about efficiency or complexity, and realized one key piece of information...

It was that mana interacted with the fabric of space in the exact same manner as normal matter, but to a different extent.

In the process of warping the fabric of space in any manner, an enormous force is exerted on the matter within the fabric to try and keep it in line with the warp.

This force does not directly push matter in the direction of the warp like a shockwave, but rather tries to force the matter to take up a larger or smaller volume based on the direction of the warp, consequently expanding or compressing EVERYTHING in that space.

That meant the force was capable of literally ripping atomic nuclei apart, or compressing them to a density far beyond even the cores of neutron stars.

However, this force was only on the motion of the bend itself. As long as the warp in the fabric didn't change nigh-instantaneously, like with vector flipping, the forces within atoms would be able to adjust accordingly before they were ripped apart or compressed to such an unholy extreme... [1]

But that was where the difference with mana laid.

Unlike matter, mana didn't have those incredibly powerful atomic forces to resist the force resulting from the fabric of space being bent, allowing me to make a rune I would eventually call a 'warp rune' that could create a relative vacuum of mana, and then use mana's desire to expand and fill that less dense space as the main force pulling the mana up the tree. [2]

However, just moving the mana upward wasn't enough. I also needed a way to contain the mana so it wouldn't escape into the lower-density mana outside the tree trunk, as well as a way to spread the mana to the outer rings of the rune in the Gods' Abode.

But thankfully, there were easy solutions for both. -I need to make a pipe that can contain mana, and give it a cone-shaped top, then all I have to do is make the mana rotate in the pipe and it'll spread itself out as its given more space...-

But as with most simple-sounding things, the 'easy solutions' I had were incredibly time-consuming.

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By the time I finished, I had made a ring of three-dimensional runes, with the outside of them strengthening the tree with space mana, forming the shell of the pipe, and the inside being the warp runes to make the mana flow.

Then, by stacking and slowly rotating those rings to form helices as I passed down the tree, I could then give the mana in the pipe directional momentum to spread the mana out at the top, where I greatly expanded the 'shell' of the pipe in a cone shape so mana could reach the outer-most rings of the rune.

After that, all I had to do was sequence and sync each spiraled stack of runes, and finally give it all fuel.

"Hooh..." At the end of it all, it was quite the contraption.

-But it'll all be for naught if it doesn't work.

..- Letting out a slightly anxious breath as I finally finished, I got up from the center of the Gods' Abode and began walking to the edge, giving the runes one last look before casually hopping out of the tree. woooOOOOSH

Not cloaking myself at all, I instantly found countless gazes on me, from both the nearby treants and the few people on the ground praying. -First off, I need those people to leave...-

WOOOOSH Spreading my wings and stopping just above the ground, I used my aura to hold myself there before getting ready to speak through magic.

But before I could say anything, Lief came careening off the branch of a nearby treant, moving well past the speed of sound before reaching the ground and immediately kneeling in front of me. CRAAACK -It seems like she's getting used to her new strength...-

"M-my Lord!" She immediately spoke in a bit of a panic. "I thought you were going to nap. Is something wrong?"

But I just shook my head. "No, I've just had a change in plans for the time being. Can you clear everyone away from the tree for me? They can watch from the treants, but those who are extra sensitive to mana should be evacuated for a bit."

Lief's gaze shifted from worry and confusion to a mix of determination and excitement in an instant. "Of course! I will clear them out immediately!" Fwip-WOOSH Instantly darting off, she began issuing orders to people en mass, allowing me to continue to the ground.

Pat-Crackle Not paying mind to the endless gazes that landed on me, I quickly landed and began boring a hole undergound, going straight down before curving under the tree trunk, eventually coming up to a thinner tree root about a hundred meters wide.

It was the root containing the mana pipe I made.

Granted, the end of the pipe was much farther down the root, -But liquid mana will eat through this rock like its nothing...-

Quickly closing the hole I bored to keep the mana from having any way to vent, I cleared out a ring around the root, and immediately began vector flipping huge chunks of stone into the void, one piece at a time, until all the stone around the root between me and the bottom of the pipe was cleared.

WOWOWOWOOOM By the time I finished, the mana had cleared a whole cavern, easily a few hundred meters wide and over a kilometer tall with the single massive tree root stretching from the ceiling all the way to the ground where it was submerged in a shallow lake of glowing liquid mana.

It was honestly quite beautiful, with walls coated with crystals of crystallized mana and beautiful chunks of mythril, it looked like some ancient cave, glimmering with the glow of magic, while humming the melody of mana.

A mage's dream.

But the mana there was too suffocating, even for ancients. -This should be good though...-

Hopping down into the lake, I landed with a splash before immediately turning my attention to the runes at the base of the pipe.

It was time to see if my contraption would work. -Well.. here goes nothing...-

I was a little anxious, but as I removed the small pieces preventing the bottom runes from getting fuel, the whole thing instantly jolted to life and the entire place started gently vibrating with a hum. hhhhmmmm

The next thing I knew, the flow of the ambient mana in the cavern shifted, and my worries about the pipe's flow not being enough vanished.

When it worked, it fucking worked. With a flow rate so immense it ripped through the mana strengthening in the tree trunk before rearranging it in a less restricting manner, the flow rate, even at the top of the tree was immense.

"Haha..." -Holy shit...- With a slightly nervous laugh, a smile came across my face.

It was really working. -I just need to head up to make sure it's fueling the rune properly...- Vwoop

With a bit of disbelief, I quickly jumped through the void, nearly instantly entering and exiting it, not even staying around long enough to look around.

However, that instant was more than enough to send a spine-chilling fear through my body.

Although I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eyes, for the instant I was in the void, I was being watched... From deep within the abyss, there were two massive, glowing eyes that stared at me.

Vwoop By the time my gate above ground began dissipating, the excitement of my accomplishment had vanished in its entirety, and I found myself gently shivering with the warmth drained from my face. -W..what the fuck was that...-

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