After having a decent breakfast of foraged morsels, I decided to trek around the entire outside of the grove. I was just about a hundred feet away from the wall and was using Mana Pollination while on my hike. This would allow me to understand the forest deeper and wait for Root to wake up naturally, as I wouldn’t be doing anything strenuous. It would also allow me to practice my skills while I waited for Researcher’s Analysis to be done. Saturating the entire forest is a slow process, and it was an important step in expanding the grove, so I would need to start early. I would also need some help.

As I explored the forest, I saw how the native life around the grove had changed and had begun to be affected by the higher mana concentration that had begun to slowly spread. The vegetation was more vibrant, and in a few spots, I could see that they had undergone mana mutation. This was a process that occurs when enough mana enters an object or lifeform that previously lacked it, allowing it to go through an evolution to complete what it was meant to be. Plants and fungi are significantly more likely to undergo this process, but, compared to animals, which have a lower chance, they tend to grow more slowly and have a lower average ceiling for power. This phenomenon can vary wildly depending on the lifeform or object, and in this case, it was a small field of dandelions. They were glowing in the sun, having gathered enough mana to begin developing their latent affinity for light and healing.

Nearby, a colony of lean rabbits was munching on a few of them and had similarly begun to show signs of mana mutation, though to a significantly lesser degree. A few of them had begun to change from a gray and brown speckled coat with white accents to now showing spots of blonde fur that had begun to peak out. I could see that the mana inside them was beginning to take on signs of a light affinity, but it wasn’t fully complete yet.

Light affinity in plants was much more common than in animals, and it was fully possible that these rabbits were instinctually trying to develop one when they weren’t compatible with them. I had seen it happen before: when a higher concentration of mana was introduced to an area, evolution accelerated due to the energy's potency, and triggered lifeforms tried to get stronger quickly. It was definitely possible that it worked and created a new species of light-affinity rabbits, but it was more likely to fail. Doing something like this required opportunity, talent, hard work, and luck, often resulting in a very powerful new species.

Some of the rabbits that hadn’t developed any blonde spots or signs of a light affinity were seemingly pushed to the back of the group, with some of them even being sick or injured. Since the dandelions have a healing affinity, it would be good for them to eat some, but unfortunately, not enough to fully heal them. The more dominant rabbits, consisting of a few males and females, were clearly eager to develop a light affinity, even if it meant the suffering of others. It was life.

I was farther back from the group, at a slightly higher elevation, which allowed me to see more of the area and spot a fox creeping through the bushes near the injured rabbits. It had already begun to navigate and observe around the colony, identifying the weak links. It was interesting to see that the fox clearly had developed an affinity for darkness, as its form was extremely obscured even in a bit of shadow, and it made almost no noise.

Further up, in a neighboring tree on the other side of the dandelion patch, closer to the leading rabbits, was a burly hawk with white underfeathers and navy-blue, almost-black top feathers. It had a wind affinity and was currently using it to shift the air around it to make sure the scent it gave off was being diverted elsewhere, so the rabbits wouldn’t sense it. Two predators were readying themselves for the hunt, and it was clear that the hawk could see the fox, but the fox couldn’t see the hawk. I had no intention of intervening, so I also continued to watch.

After just a few minutes of patiently waiting as the injured rabbits relaxed their guard, the fox leaped out from the bush and pinned down a larger injured one and a small one with no visible ailments. At the same time, the dominant rabbits stopped eating, turned around with their ears back, and crouched to look at the fox in a challenging manner as mana began to gather at their feet. In a stalemate, the two sides didn’t move, but it was suddenly broken as the hawk swooped down, manipulating the wind to make it faster, and grabbed one of the younger rabbits that had been developing a light affinity.

With that, the fox bit down on the larger rabbit and, being greedy, bit down on the smaller one too, beginning to try and drag them both away. The largest, most dominant rabbit rushed forward as they had begun to channel mana in their legs and turned at the last moment to impact the side of the fox with a concentrated blow from their feet. The light mana within the strike reacted with the dark mana, causing it to sizzle, but the impact was strong enough that the rabbit won out.

The smaller rabbit was knocked from the mouth while the bigger one stayed in, and the fox ran away with a large bruise on its side. Sensing nothing else to be done, the dominant rabbits and the other ones took a few more bits of the dandelions and rushed away, presumably to their dens.

I approached the clearing after everything cleared away, looking at the area, and I took a few of the dandelions to put in a makeshift reed pouch I had made in the morning. I glanced over to where the hawk sat in the tree, tearing away at the flesh of the rabbit and directly consuming the mana within it, albeit not all of it. I looked back to where the fox had been, but it was long gone, gaining prey, but suffering a light-infused blow to the side. It would heal fine, but the meal wouldn’t be worth the effort it had put in, especially compared to the hawk. I then gazed down near the bush and saw the dead, smaller rabbit that the fox hadn’t taken away. The bite of the fox had pierced its neck, and it had quickly bled out, dying in just a few moments.

I kneeled down and looked it over, seeing if it was worth processing to eat. Though Forest Trolls seemed like they would naturally be vegetarians, we were omnivores, and I wouldn’t let a free meal pass by. After looking it over, I could see that the rabbit had been targeted because it was sick, with an internal virus that had slowed it down. If my mother were here, she would’ve been easily able to tell, but I at least knew it wasn’t good to eat. The fox had probably targeted it because darkness affinity often has a connection with sickness and disease, making it a better meal for it than other animals.

I was glad I hadn’t interfered, as culling the injured and sick was a predator’s job, as they could stop overpopulation, which would only become worse if the virus had spread. If predators in a region were all gone, herbivore populations would overconsume vegetation, decimating it and causing a rampant spread of disease. With this diseased rabbit dead, scavengers would eat it, and the rest would decay, fertilizing the forest and helping more dandelions grow. The process would repeat.

Nature would have its way, even as things gained more mana. The cycle of life and death would continue on.

The way the grove was set up was beginning to infringe on that, so now it needed to change. I already had a good idea of how to do that, and based on my current observations, it would work, though it would need to be on a large scale. For that, I needed to find another creature that could help me help the forest grow in a positive way. I continued my walk onwards.

Just a few hours into my walk, I saw what I needed: a hive of honeybees. They were farther up a large oak tree, and instead of a typical nest hanging from a branch, it was built into a large opening up the trunk. A large ray of sunlight perfectly made its way to illuminate its nest, a pond of water sat nearby with plenty of bushes and flowers, and the area wasn’t near one of the entrances to the grove, making it a perfect nesting site. A few honeybees flew around, and as I circled the tree, I found another entrance at the base of the roots, where the bottom opened into a large colony, where I could see hundreds moving around. As a whole, they were around Mid Gathering, which meant the queen was that rank. Creatures that were in swarms often grouped their mana together as a whole, allowing those born weaker to contribute and connect their own mana to the hive.

If I had to guess, the nest would’ve been assembled this way into the tree to stop predators from killing the hive by having at least two entrances and exits for a quick escape. Additionally, they had sunlight that warmed the nest, allowing a regulated temperature inside that prevented moisture from being trapped. The pond provided easy access to water and supported abundant blooming life, including flowers that offered amazing nectar. The location also avoided much of the traffic this area would get from other creatures entering the grove, but it was close enough to still enter it. One of the considerations Root had when constructing the Curling Walls was letting some creatures in to help the environment, and one of those was bees.

Overall, the entire setup was ideal for them, and the only reason they didn’t nest directly inside the walls was to get sunlight and water. Besides, they were close enough that it wasn’t a big deal.

There were also bees in the grove in different areas, with the main concentration in the garden in the center. I could’ve started with them with what I wanted to do, but there was a limit to how much I could achieve there. Additionally, Sifter already had greater control of the area and didn’t need me to saturate it with mana, not yet, at least.

After scoping out the hive and finding out where the honeybees went most often in the surrounding areas, I decided to start on my first idea. This was a process I had learned from a young age, and while I wasn’t the best, I was much better than any other non-troll. First, I went to a flower and began to gently feed it with my innate mana, which it happily consumed, processed, and began to coalesce into a thicker nectar. I took some of the nectar for myself to examine it.

Honeybees went off smell when seeking nectar to consume, and while some Forest Trolls had trained their mana to easily mimic the smells, I couldn’t. Instead, I had my own innate mana processed through the flower, then took the nectar it produced, which was now more potent than usual. My efficiency wasn’t ideal, and I would’ve definitely been told off by one of the elders for my poor technique, but it would have to do for now.

Then I used my mana to form the basis of Mana Nectar, a technique that condensed mana to a consistency similar to nectar through the nature affinity. It could be used not just for bees, but also for other animals we sought to bond with. My own was slightly watery in texture, not the correct viscosity, but I took my creation and added the flower's nectar. They mixed together, creating a much larger batch that had my mana signature, the flowers' signature, and their scent. I then went to each flower and put a drop of it within.

By the time I was done, my back had begun to ache due to the unfamiliar movements after being in a coma for so long, but that would go away over time. Now the honeybees would go to the flowers, find a new potent source of mana-infused nectar, eat it and get some of it on themselves, and begin to spread it elsewhere. This was basically letting the bees do the Mana Pollination for me, since I wanted to get better at it but had no hope of doing it myself in a reasonable amount of time.

All I had to do was come by every few days and add some more Mana Nectar. Every time I did, the bees would get more used to my mana signature, and eventually they wouldn’t need the flower’s scent to know it was fine to consume it directly. By that point, I would just need to form a glob in certain locations, and the bees would do the rest. However, I didn’t want them to become too reliant on me, because they would just look to me for food and stop traveling to other plants. I would just have to make sure I didn’t give them too much.

“Well, hopefully I can go around the entire grove by sunset and do the same, but if it takes longer, that’s fine. I can’t rush this. A shaky foundation will only collapse any future significant progress I make…ughh. I sound like Grandpa now.”

I continued on with pollinating the forest and befriending the bees, with Root still sleeping within my soul. I really wanted to rush into bigger things, but I was too inexperienced to do anything. It sucked and made me frustrated, but I couldn’t make any rash decisions. Especially if I wanted to.

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