"Did you hear that?"
[Yes, Host]
"This-this sound....Where is it coming from?" Feeling perplexed and uncertain, Karna asked
[I can't find the exact location of the origin of the sound, but host, I think it came from the further part of the tunnel.]
The system had no senses of it own; it could only use Karna's senses to gauge their surrounding in a more advanced way.
'Hmm, I also agree.' Karna thought as he carefully walked further in the tunnel. Karna was still holding the mana crystal in my hand.
The system had told him that any monster living in this part of the mountain would be more proficient in seeing in the dark than in light, so keeping the glowing crystal in his hand was actually not a bad idea.
Carefully navigating through the tunnel, Karna held the mana crystal in his hand, allowing its gentle glow to illuminate his surroundings.
As he advanced, he soon reached the source of the sound—a distinct tunnel branching off to the left side of the main tunnel.
Unlike the one he had been traversing, this tunnel was different. Its end was visible, and from that distant point, a faint glow emanated, casting a dim light in the otherwise dark surroundings.
'System, why is there no such place mentioned on the map? And you also didn't mention anything like this.' He asked in his head, feeling worried about this unknown revelation.
Curiosity piqued, Karna cautiously approached the tunnel's entrance, his senses heightened. He observed the glow with intrigue, wondering what could be awaiting him on the other side.
Despite the uncertainties he had faced so far, he couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope at the possibility of discovering something new and perhaps finding a way out of this unfamiliar world.
[Host, this location was not present in the data I acquired from the Mana Archive.]
[Host, I recommend being cautious.]
'Hmm, it might lead to another cave or a monster's layer or a shortcut to leave this damn…No!' Karna stopped thinking about the tunnel, shook his head, and thought, 'I should probably ignore it. I can't just act like those heroes who would walk into a random, dangerous place and leave unscathed due to the plot armour. And I don't want to spend even a second more than required inside this place.'
As Karna turned away from the second tunnel entrance, he suddenly heard the rustling sound of leaves again, and this time it was clearer.
Karna hearing the sound, was sure this time that the sound had come from the other side of the tunnel.
Gazing with his dark pupils towards the tunnel entrance he thought about a quote he had once read: "In your most desperate moments, where you crawl on the ground like worms, sometimes you suddenly hear a voice, a voice that you want to believe that is your saviour, the voice will immediately carry you away, to the unknown stars! or toward the unknown abyss!"
Maybe it was due to how mentally and physically exhausted Karna was, but the sound of the leaves rustling was like a saviour's voice to him. For him the sound was hope of him getting out here sooner and maybe find something helpful.
Looking towards the dimly lit end of the tunnel, Karna made up his mind.
He walked inside the second tunnel with extreme caution, and as soon as he reached the end, Karna only slightly peaked inside. And what he saw was mind-blowing.
Inside was a cave; space-wise, it was smaller than the one he had seen before, but height-wise, it was way bigger than it. Inside the centre of the dimly lit cave was a tall tree of pure darkness; its trunk and leaves were of pure black colour.
Right above the tree was a colossal-sized mana crystal that was protruding out of the ceiling.
The crystal size was massive, nearly the same as the tree. But the light emitting out of it was way dimmer than the three crystals he had seen before. It was to the point that it felt like it might even lose its glow at any given moment.
Karna observed the surrounding area of the cave, thinking that there might be some monster or any kind of unknown entity in there, but to his surprise, there was nothing else but the ash-coloured stone walls in the surrounding area of the tree.
Hesitating for a second or two, he entered the cave. That's when he felt like the whole environment inside the cave was different, and just then the system's voice rang inside his ad.
[Host, I now know why this location was not present inside the Mana Archive database.]
'???'
[It's because the place is completely devoid of mana. Even the pure-grade mana crystal has only a tiny bit of mana left inside it.]
[If I am not wrong, I think it is because of the tree; I am getting no mana reading from it.]
Hearing the system's words in his head, Karna gazed at the tree as he slowly walked towards it, only stopping when there was a distance of 3 m (9.84 ft) between him and it.
Now that he was closer to the tree, Karna could see that a single black-coloured apple was growing on the tree.
Focusing on the tree, he asked the system what type of tree it was and what was that fruit.
[Scanning the object in front of the host.]
[Scan complete] [Data found in the Mana Archive]
[Tree of darkness: A tree that only grows in a dark, damp place under the purest form of mana. As it grows by slowly absorbing the mana from its surrounding mana sources, at the end of its 10,000-year life cycle, before perishing, it gives birth to a fruit called "Gift of Darkness," leaving it as tribute to the [???].]
[Gift of Darkness: A fruit that grows on the "Tree of Darkness". It only grows once in the tree's 10,000-year lifespan. It is a tribute from the Darkness to the [???].]
As Karna read through the description of the tree and the fruit, He exclaimed in amazement.
'Holy shit, this tree is 10,000 years old.'
'Hmm, the question mark must indicate that either the information is missing from the Mana Archive or it is one of the forbidden pieces of knowledge that the system had previously mentioned.'
[Ding!]
Seeing the suddenly appearing notification in front of me, Karna asked the system while sighing.
"Sigh, hey, it won't attack me if I try to take the fruit from it, or will it?"
[Host, I don't have enough knowledge about the tree to be able to respond to your query. However, the tree appears to be in its last stages of life based on the scan I made of it and will likely pass away within the next year or two.]
'Hmm, okay, let's try this.'
[Are sure? Host.]
'Yeah, I might as well gain something more from my misery.' Pausing, I spoke again in my head, 'And I can't just leave this thing in here after knowing its value; I remember you telling me that there are only a handful of things that can help someone awaken an elemental affinity.'
After saying that, Karna slowly walked towards the tree. Every step he took was taken with extreme caution.
In the end, it took Karna a whole 5 minutes to cover the small distance of 3m. He then inspected the tree closely before extending my hand towards the "Gift of darkness".
After plucking the fruit, Karna hurriedly ran away, expecting something bizarre to happen in the next second, but nothing happened.