As it turned out for Rowan, turning his arms back to normal was an ordeal in itself.

No matter how much he willed it, the arms didn’t revert their appearance back to normal. They remained as rigid and deadweight.

Just like a regular tree.

In the end, Rowan had to ask Almar for help. The elf merely raised an eyebrow as he watched Rowan’s experiment the whole time. He took out a hunting knife and began to cut off the newly grown parts until Rowan arms looked like a regular arm again, albeit a bit more carved up.

Interestingly, Rowan discovered that even though the wood on his arms grew, the base remained the same. His bones remained in place even after the growth. 

Which was a good thing. Otherwise he would have to ask Almar to cut off his bones too. Rowan didn't think his bones would be able to grow back like the wood on his arms. Even with their appearance, he wanted the bones to remain as they were since that was the last resemblance it had to human arms. 

Through this discovery, Rowan had found out he could not transform his arms back and forth like beastmen could. Beastmen could change between humanoid forms and animal forms. Rowan could only cause his arms to grow to any shape he wanted, but changing it back would become annoying as he would have to cut off the extra parts. 

It was a pity. He had imagined transforming his arms midway through a fight. It would be such a cool scene, but the trouble after was not worth it. If anything, this would serve as a good emergency weapon. For now it was best to shelve the idea of  transformation until he figured out more about his new arms.

Rowan had gained another thing out of this experiment. He could move his right arm at will now. The movement was janky, but it was progress. The arms no longer just twitched and spasmed at his commands. He could move his hands and fingers when he wished, but there was always a delay between his thoughts and movements. His left hand had not gained the improvement that his right hand did, but it was getting there. Rowan could not wait until he could move both hands freely.

When Almar had discovered that Rowan’s hands were working, he began to put the boy through practical bow and arrow training. It wasn’t easy as his current hand eye coordination was atrocious. He needed to fully contrate on holding the bow, otherwise his arms would suddenly drop down and throw Rowan’s shot off. There were times when he wanted to release the arrow, but his fingers refused to budge.

“With your new arms, you’ll need to relearn how to do many things, “ Almar stated as he observed Rowan’s practice. At most he would just readjust Rowan’s posture and the way he held the bow and arrows. There wasn’t much else the elf could do as aiming required good hand eye coordination. Something that Rowan was still far from achieving. That would only improve with time.

The bow that Rowan used to train belonged to Almar and it was meant for adults. Rowan held it with no trouble, even drawing the string to shoot an arrow. Rowan had not noticed how strange it was until Almar had commented on it. It seemed that besides the outward appearance of his arms changing, he could wield a certain degree of strength that normally a human child muscles were incapable of.

Besides mediation and bow and arrow training, Rowan would try other exercises to get used to his new hands. With the materials Almar bought from outside, he could now craft arrows on his own. They were crude and simple, but they flew when he used them to train. 

As time passed, he became more adept at using his new arms and hands. He no longer needed to fully concentrate on moving them anymore. They moved as he wished with just a thought, but still not as dexterously as he wished. His arms still moved due to mana, so he needed to constantly supply, but now it was only an afterthought.

Rowan also saw improvements in mana manipulation which helped with the exchange with the Mother Tree Seed. The first time he managed to push his mana outwards, the amount was no bigger than an ant. At that point Rowan was not even sure if the seed registered that amount as the mana dispersed shortly after.

The second time Rowan was able to send out mana that would be considered a spoonful. This time the seed registered it as he actually felt something flow back towards him. The feeling of nourishment and fulfillment also came with the flow. Afterwards, Rowan had done the exchange several more times. Each with more success than the last. While his mana may be drained, his body felt the opposite after each exchange.

Rowan was not the only one who went through changes. His only companion in the camp, Almar Facon also went through some of his own.

However, the changes that the elf went through were not the positive kind. 

It wasn’t visible at first, but Rowan had noticed the elf becoming slower by the day. Whenever Rowan asked how Almar was doing, the elf would stoically say he was fine and continue whatever task he was focusing on. Majority of the time Almar spent was meditating in front of the Mother Tree Seed and donating his own portion of mana. Rowan’s worries grew each day, but he did not push as he thought Almar was an adult and knew better than he did.

How wrong that turn out to be.

It wasn’t until one day when Almar sat in front the patch where the Mother Tree Seed was buried that Rowan noticed something was wrong. Almar’s breathing was labored while the elf was looking increasingly pale. What gave off the strongest signal of wrongness was that the mana flowing from him into the ground was barely a trickle, but nothing was coming back in return.

It was as if Almar was sending his remaining mana into the Mother Tree Seed.

“Almar, are you alright?...Almar? ALMAR!” Rowan had to shout to get the the elf’s attention. When Almar turned to face Rowan, it was clear he was not alright. The boy could tell that he wasn't able to focus on the boy as he was in a daze.

“Rowan…is that… you?” Almar wheezed out. Every word that came out of Almar’s mouth sounded painful. 

“Yes, I’m here. You need to rest. You’re not well.”

“No…point. My time….has come.” Rowan’s heart turned cold as he heard those words. “ I’m …sorry…but …I can’t …bring you back…But you….don't…need to …worry. You have…all you need. The Mother Tree…will teach you…everything….I just ask… that you stay… with it …until it… sprouts fruits…. Promise me!” Almars voice strengthened at the end.His eyes regained a bit of strength and he glared at Rowan. As if daring the boy to refuse his request.

“Alright,I promise, but just rest. You can get better. You will get better!” Roan shouted urgently as if his words would make a difference and make Almar become healthy again.

"Good…Patience …will pay off …dividends... Bury… me by …Mother Tree.”

“Okay, I will. Stop forcing yourself! You need to rest!”

“I said… no point… Mother …tree …secret. Give… life mana. …Body… will be… fine…. Bag… find… coin… find.” Almar’s words became increasingly incoherent. His voice became lower and lower and Rowan had to draw closer to hear them. Rowan saw the elf’s mouth continued to move, but soon even that stopped.  Silence followed as Rowan put up a trembling hand on Alamars chest, confirming his worst fears.

Almar Facon, proud warrior of the elves, last of the Dark Forest tribe had returned to the earth.