First on the agenda.
How to properly use mana.
After searching for immediate boosts to power, besides items that I couldn't craft with my current situation of being confined to this place.
The solution that I eventually concluded upon was learning how to use mana.
I already saw how powerful the proper usage of mana would be, having experienced first hand the power of it either by seeing the plant woman, the Elite Slasher and the Vine Rune.
I also had a feeling that when I properly learned how to use mana that a new world would be unlocked for me.
Spinning the charcoal stick I fashioned out of a clump of coal and slowly began writing down things on the ragged cloth.
So far, I had an inkling of an idea what it was that I was dealing with.
Mana was something that was literally everywhere, and as seen as through the Elite Slasher, Mana could be used to power actions.
And through the Vine rune, it seemed that mana could also do other things.
'I should test things as well.'
Taking out a block of wood and placing it in front of me, I stared at it while recording everything before activating the Vine Rune.
Feeling the familiar feeling of what I now know is Mana, I focused and soon enough.
I saw the blue particles appear in my eyes again.
Watching them move through my veins and out of my hands, they swirled around the place where the vine rune was carved on and... changed.
It was hard to understand what was happening, but if I had to compare it was like someone was... commanding the Mana to do it's bidding.
Seeing the blue particles swirl in the palm of my hand and get changed by some unknown force, something that I hadn't noticed before was happening.
As the mana moved with my will, the block of wood started to morph and grow larger, branches growing off from the dead piece of wood suddenly revitalizing itself.
As I watched this growth that was happening right in front of my eyes a glimpse of movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye.
The orange particles that had no use except for just being there were suddenly moving.
'The hell?'
Curiously turning my attention from the block of wood that was growing larger and larger to the orange particles.
I watched as the orange particles was swept into the swirl of blue and was sucked into the block of wood.
'...'
Stopping my input of mana upon seeing that, I waited for whatever event was to occur.
'...'
'...'
'...Why is nothing happening?'
Just as that thought popped into my mind upon waiting for a minute, the piece of wood suddenly moved.
Feeling surprised the world of blue and orange disappeared from my sight, rolling backwards I prepared my hand to throw ice shards at the piece of wood.
Trembling incessantly the piece of wood suddenly stopped trembling.
And right before my eyes, the being was suddenly... Alive.
Staring at the wooden piece of wood that was suddenly moving and was trying to accustom itself to it's surroundings with sluggish movements.
Unknown to me, the long silver sword embedded in the grave of stones twitched.
Staring at the wooden being, upon sighting me it seemed to be sluggishly thinking at me as a large unblinking black orb of what I think may be it's eye stared back at me.
Taking this time to observe the strange wooden being, I felt immensely confused.
The Small being looked like a bramble bush without leaves suddenly sprouted legs and had one giant eye.
Staring at the bramble bush with confused eyes the being suddenly seemed to gain a moment of clarity and crouched down.
Watching it's actions with interested eyes, I was caught off guard when the bramble bush threw sharp sticks right at me.
Retaliating in kind with Ice shards, I stared at the wooden sticks that had stuck themselves in my flesh.
Grimacing I ripped out the sticks and turned my attention back to the thing that my system told me was a bramble eye.
'...Okay what the hell?'
The Creation of the Bramble weed from what was nothing but a piece of wood used for an experiment went against all the logic I knew.
But since this was a different was a different world, even if it went against the logic I knew.
All I needed to do was adapt to this new strange logic.
'I first need to find out what this logic is though'
Sitting back down with crossed legs, I opened my inventory and placed the wood while preparing to test everything that would come to mind.
Making sure to write down on the pieces of fabric like the demented mad man I am.
'Let's see...'
I moved the mana in my body and willed the block of wood to grow larger.
---
"So that's how it works"
I nodded to myself.
All around my sitting body were a variety of experimental subjects.
Morphed into strange shapes the Bramble eyes that were trying to attack me like all malaise infected monsters here surrounded me, frozen in icy coffins.
I slumped my back against the wall as I dragged the stub of coal against the fabric.
"I can't believe that it took me this long"
"It all makes sense now"
The Orange particles that hung all over the kingdom without doing anything was the Malaise.
Quite literally, the Malaise was like the mana and infected everything that it was put into.
'I've seen first hand how the malaise works'
Thinking back to the experiment that had the blue mana within it turn orange underneath it's touch, I sighed.
However, even though I knew what the malaise was now, I still didn't know what it was or even how it worked.
All I knew so far was that the Malaise infected things through principles I didn't understand and it was the main cause of the large batches of roaming corpses in the Kingdom.
But the reason that it spread was unknown to me.
A cold light glimmered within my orange eyes unknown to me.
However I had an inkling of who spread it.
The conqueror king who dreamed of becoming an emperor was the candidate that came to mind.
'I'm going to get rid of this malaise, if not for Cherry the last knight of this kingdom, than for the last king of this kingdom'
I was hitting the metaphorical two birds with one stone by solving the kingdom of it's Malaise crisis.
I looked at the grave that I had made for the last Knight of the Kingdom.
'If I don't do it, more deaths like that will happen'
Getting up from the ground with a new resolve burning within his heart, the dark recesses of my mind wondered why I had a sudden change of heart.
There was literally no reason to help this kingdom from the malaise, so why was I making a resolve to help it nevertheless save it?
'...I guess if I don't do anything it'll leave a bad taste in my mouth'
As the other voice in my head went silent at my own thoughts, I looked at the rest of the things in the small base I had made for myself.
It was time to experiment with my own powers and find out all their limits.
+++
Tree