Recovering from the worm dive didn’t take too long, as injuries in this space were much less significant as they healed fast. The pain was the same, however. Retribution came fast to Root in the form of tickling, which he was completely unprepared for due to being in his new form for the first time.

I employed a special tickle tactic my grandfather had used on me when I was young, called creeping fauna. All I had to do was imbue mana into the surrounding foliage to make it grow and manipulate it to wrap around the victim’s limbs. Then it would be easier to tickle the captured target, but if one was proficient enough, they could bind all the limbs and use more foliage for extra tickling. It was practically a war crime, so I only did it for a minute…maybe a bit longer than that… and then let go of Root.

Root’s giggles and squirms went away, and I stood victorious, proving I was superior in sibling warfare. Flexing my fingers and looking at the moss, I realized that my soul core was a great space for practicing mana manipulation. When forming the mana to grow the moss and then using it to bind Roots' arms, it didn’t take much overall, and the vegetation was more responsive. It wasn’t that it normally took a lot out of me to do that, but it took less than half of the normal energy usage now, and I was already passively regenerating it. Of course, I hadn’t used it since I was in Mid Gathering rank, and now I was in Early Formation rank, so there could obviously be a difference there.

The regeneration here sped things up. Normally, I had to gather mana by eating or another active absorption method, then transform it into innate mana for use. This space lets me skip most of that and get usable mana quickly, making it much simpler and faster to use mana compared to outside.

Even with faster regeneration, I still had to monitor my mana reserves. Gathering and converting mana was no longer a concern here, but the mana supply wasn’t endless. If I overused it, the space would run out, requiring time to refill. My limit was determined by my own capacity, but it still represented a significant improvement over the usual process.

I looked at the small sapling, now just waist-high because its roots had sunk into the ground, with a soft white glow emanating from its trunk and branches. It was connected to me, now full of innate mana, but with nothing to do with it. I did have a single function I could sense, and based on what Root told me earlier about trading information with it, I had a good idea of how to build it up from here.

“Root, what do you think about making this place function as a library? You said it traded some knowledge for its own, so it can already store it. We can use it as a hub for knowledge and go from there.”

Root sat up from lying on the grass, still giggling, and crossed his legs like me and put a finger on his chin in a contemplative expression.

“I think that would work. Since there is so much going on in the grove, I sometimes forget things, so if I can use this place to jog my memory, it would help me out. What if it could help keep notes or analyze stuff better?”

I grinned at how he acted a lot like me.

“Hmm, it would be useful to have a way to constantly record information we want, but I assume it would drain innate mana. Grandpa taught us it’s possible to set certain conditions to change how it functions. We can use that to our advantage.”

I paused for a second to look back at the sapling and the affinities that made it up.

“I can think of three conditions. The first, I suspect, is already implemented: any information with a nature, soul, or earth affinity takes less energy to store. Knowledge affinity wouldn’t apply since all information is already aligned with it, making that redundant.”

“The second is where one deposits the information from, which I don’t think has been clearly defined. It will take little to no energy to store information inside my soul core, and more energy to do so outside it. I assume it won’t be much different since my soul core is a part of me, but adding the condition to myself would grant advantages. I won’t add it yet; I’ll wait and see after using the ability without it for a while.”

Root looked over at me as we both sat on the moss in discussion, a contemplative look on his face.

“The first one makes a lot of sense, but the second could be bad in certain situations. What if you’re in a fight and need your ability to help win? If you’re already low on mana and need to expend more to use the library, you might get the info too late or lack enough energy. It’s good to wait on that.”

Root clicked his tongue a few times, then spoke again.

“I’m sure there are better ways to do the second, like making an ability that works in different situations and takes on that condition instead of the library. Besides those two, you said there was a third condition you had in mind?”

“Yeah, it would be binding the use of Worldspeech to my innate ability, allowing me to speak to the world and ask for information. In return, I wouldn’t be able to use Worldspeech without expending innate mana. It could be something else, too. I won’t decide on that yet.”

“That’s a good idea, but it could be improved or made less risky. Besides the extra conditions, shouldn’t you decide on establishing the storage functionality first and see if the info I mentioned is in the sapling? Also, you should give it a name!

“Haaa- You’re right, Root, I’m getting ahead of myself now.”

I sighed with a smile on my face, already glad Root was here to steady me. The pressure of wanting to get strong really quickly and go forward too fast was ultimately a product of my own anxiety. I had to take things one step at a time in order to get to a point where I could reunite with the rest of my village, revive my parents from their dormant state, find grandpa, get revenge on the invaders, and stay steady on my path. It was a lot, but I could do it.

“Alright then, I’m going to focus on the sapling to learn more from it and form the rest of my abilities around it. It’ll take me some time to work it all out and manipulate my innate mana to match my desires, but I think I can do it. For now, you can stay here and work on your abilities using the ambient mana. I’ll think of a name in the meantime. Is that fine with you?”

“Yeah, that works with me, Harvoth, take your time!”

I smiled at Root and then turned around to face the sapling, going down on my knees as I held my hands out to form a connection between us. This would take a while.

Root sat around 15 feet away from Harvoth as he gazed at his back, looking at him as he channeled his innate mana into the sapling. This had been the most fun he had ever had in the last seven years, and on top of that, becoming recognized as Harvoth’s little brother brought a spark of joy to him, larger than his soul body ever was. Looking down at himself, Root saw his real body as he squeezed his hands together, truly feeling what it was like to have a physical, fleshy form.

It made him realize that beneath the happiness, there was a faint sadness he couldn’t fully get rid of. Entering this space had shown him what a real body could be like, and indulging in physically interacting with his brother had shown him what he was missing. He knew that once he left this space, this body would be gone unless he came back here.

Having a body that could feel and smell was awesome, allowing him to experience the world very differently from the norm. Even in his wisp form, he could do both, but those sensations felt extremely muffled. Having a body like his brother's brought him a lot of happiness. Knowing he would lose it when he left this space, he sat like a stone in the middle of his excitement.

He did have a leg up on understanding how the bodies in this space worked, since he had been made of soul mana from the moment of his conception, giving him unique insights. The reasons this space gave him a body seemed to be two-fold. One was that it was aligned to how Harvoth perceived this space should function, allowing him to form a body. Two was that this was how Root had always imagined himself. If he didn’t imagine he looked like a younger version of Harvoth with white hair and verdant skin, he would look more in line with how Harvoth saw him. His own imagination and desires were powerful enough to affect this space.

It said a lot about how Harvoth viewed the world. If he were too controlling, Root doubted it would’ve mattered what he imagined himself as, but since Harvoth was kind and open, his soul reflected that.

Overall, though, Root was glad to have a body, as it gave him much more motivation to work on his abilities. He wondered whether he could pursue both soul and body specializations as his primary Origin of Self. If he did so, he could undergo a duo transformation ordeal to gain a physical body while continuing his already established soul strengthening. In his shared childhood memories with Harvoth, grandpa said it was possible for one to do so. The downside was that it was extremely rare and dangerous, and only certain individuals with unique lives could do it. While Root understood the dangers, he believed that he was one of those special beings and wanted to try despite the difficulties he would face.

Before, he had mostly been acting on what he was asked to do and did enjoy it, but now it was different. Harvoth had told him he was his younger brother, and Root wanted to experience life with his family in a body as well. He would get stronger, grow the grove, and eventually be able to live as he pleased, keeping those he loved safe. That motivation spurred him on to start working on his first properly made ability. Not the makeshift, quick ones he used before.

“Well, there was one ability I could only weakly use that I have been wanting to build on for a while. Let’s start with that!”

This is where the story is more inspired by Hunter x Hunter. Also fun fact - the manga is coming back soon as Togashi (HxH's creator) has gotten better and has posted about working on a bunch of chapters. Can't wait for peak to return.

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