When Rowan woke up, the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon.

He laid there, planning what should be done. One problem stood out the most.

Where was he going to get food and water to survive?

Food and water were technically two different things, but they could be grouped together since both were essential necessities for survival. He wouldn’t be able to exist without the two. 

The very barrier that protected Rowan from outside threats kept him trapped inside. It was a pity he never learned the Almar’’s way of passing through the barrier. If he somehow carelessly broke through the wall of thorns, then that meant there was also an opening for future threats to come in. Rowan was not sure he could handle the beings that lived in the inner depths of the Forest of Death. Few people have ever made it past the middle layer. What chance did a ten years old boy have? There was also the fact that Rowan did not have full control of his arms yet. His best weapons consist of bow and arrows which he is terribly unskilled in. If Rowan walked out now, he would be slaughtered.

Perhaps it was a bit selfish to think of how to keep on living instead of mourning for his friend longer, but if Rowan did not find anything to sate his body, then he would not be able to live for long anyways. The boy would fail to keep his promise of taking care of the Mother Tree.

Speaking of the Mother Tree, Almar had said the tree would take care of the boy. The question was how? Hopefully when Almar said taken care of, he did not mean taken care of in the sense of beating up and getting rid of the body. For the tree, his body would work well as fertilizer.

That would certainly be a frightening thought.

Nonetheless, Rowan trusted Almar and thought there was more meaning to his words. The boy gave it some more thought.The Mother Tree did not provide any substance for him to survive. The only thing Rowan had actually received was during the exchange.

Wait a minute…

Rowan walked to the buried seed and stared at the ground. He had an idea, one that would have sounded crazy if it was just a few days ago. However it made sense in the boy’s head and it matched what Almar said. The only problem was that Rowan wasn’t too sure if it was the right answer.

There was only one way to find out.

Rowan sat down and began to carry out the exchange with the Mother Tree seed. Starting off as he usually did, circulating his mana and then pushing it outwards. Rowan never questioned the process, but this time he paid rapt attention. A lingering fear still remained in him after the traumatic first experience of him almost disappearing, but there hadn’t been a problem after performing so many exchanges with the seed.

The mana that was sent outwards was absorbed into the ground and raced towards the seed. That was when Rowan realized that there had been something off about the scene. 

Why did the mana head towards the Mother Tree seed?

There was no tendril or anything that sucked the mana toward the seed. The only explanation was that the seed was absorbing all the mana within a certain distance, just like a hungry tornado. How it was absorbing it was beyond Rowan's imagination. Was that why he felt like he almost lost his mind the first time? His senses had gotten too close and almost got sucked into the seed? Whatever the reason was, it did not matter to Rowan. What he currently wanted was the end result.

After waiting momentarily, the second part of the exchange occurred. Transformed mana was sent back to Rowan which begged the second question.

How did the Mother Tree seed know which direction to send the mana back? More importantly, who to send it back to?

The fact that the seed could send the changed mana implied there was some sort of sentience. Almar had treated the Mother Tree like a god. Rowan had not seen any indication of the sort. Granted the mana sucking property set it apart from most plants that Rowan knew of, but there was nothing else to show it was alive.

Perhaps the seed was still too young? As far as Rowan knew, the seed had not sprouted out of its shell.

When the altered mana entered Rowan's body, it swept through his body in its entirety. Fulfillment. Happiness. Rowan felt as if he was injected with positive emotions. HIs body was brimming with energy that it felt like he could run for miles. 

Almar had said life mana in his parting words. Was that the name of the transformed mana that returned to him? 

Life…live.

The words strangely connected in Rowan's head.

The Mother Tree will take care of you.

If Rowan guessed correctly, the life mana was enough to satisfy his body and more. It made perfect sense as if all the puzzle pieces had finally fit together.

 At the same time, it made absolutely no sense.

How does mana fill up hunger? Did this mana also strengthen the body? Rowan thought back when Almar was still helping him recover. The signs were all there. The elf helped feed him meals when his body was incapacitated, but began to feed him less once Rowan was capable of performing the exchange. His stomach growled less and Rowan had always thought it was because his body did not need as much nutrients to recover once his body became well enough. 

This type of mana would fall under the realms of gods and went against almost everything Rowan had learned. 

It would certainly explain why the elves were so strong. If life mana could nourish and strengthen the body, that would explain why they treated the Mother Tree as their god.

Nonetheless it had all been destroyed in the end, proving that the myths and legends about dragons were not false.

There was nothing for Rowan to do, but wait it out to test his idea. He would wait to see if his tummy became hungry. In the meantime, he would plan his next step.

If his survival necessities were needed, then what was the next most important thing?

The answer came immediately.

Strength.

There was no way for Rowan to survive in the inner depths of the Forest of Death if the barrier failed for some reason. There was no reason for the barrier to fall, but if it does happen, then Rowan would be a sitting duck. Afterall, the dragon was a once in a lifetime occurrence and it still happened to him.

Rowan nodded his head as a somewhat decent plan came together. 

The exchange would train his mana internally while he trained his body externally at the same time.

He would become strong enough to leave the inner depths without an issue.

Strong enough that he would never need to suffer another tragedy again.