Chapter Two Hundred and Three - Do Science To It

Chapter Two Hundred and Three - Do Science To It

Chapter Two Hundred and Three - Do Science To It

Momma was a very humble sort of bun. She didnt mind at all when I suggested that we tell the others of our plan, if we could call what we had in mind a plan.

My reasoning for wanting to share was simple. The others knew more about magic and such than I did, by a whole lot. Amaryllis had a proper education, and Awen was clever, and Bastion probably saw all sorts of things as a paladin.

So, I said. Our plan is real simple. Well grab the root, and feed it full of mana that it doesnt like, then see what happens. Hopefully, we can weaken it enough to get it off the core, or maybe chop it apart.

Do you think that will remove the infection entirely? Amaryllis asked.

I shifted from foot to foot. I dont know. Its hard to tell where the root starts, exactly. I dont remember seeing a starting place for it in any of the dungeons I saw with Evil Roots, and this one is all over the place in there, itll be hard to see where it originates.

I dont think that would work on a plant, Bastion said. Now, keep in mind that Im no expert when it comes to gardening or horticulture, but I have spent some time in the royal gardens. Ive seen gardeners prune roots apart and the plants were entirely fine afterwards. Would trimming these roots do anything but slow them down?

I crossed my arms and frowned really hard in thought. I really, really dont know. I think that this is the kind of thing that will be really hard to remove. Maybe itll mean spending a long time working on it too.

Taking the roots away, bit by bit, every day, Carrot said. Until it gives up and dies for good.

Or until the thing we do to weaken it finally starts acting like a sort of poison, I said. Plants sometimes need really specific kinds of earth and dirt to live. Though, I guess weeds are different. Ah, I wish Oak were here, hed be good with this. Bet he knows a bunch about plants.

Well, he isnt, Amaryllis said. And I for one suspect that we dont have all that much time to lose with this.

I nodded along. We couldnt leave and just return, not when reaching this floor took hours and leaving would likely take a while too. Well, we call this plan A, and give it our all.

And if it doesnt succeed? Bastion asked.

Then we do as the World wants and break the core, I said.

He winced, but there was nothing to it.

We moved closer to the core room, but paused before entering. What kind of magic will we be trying? I asked.

Momma hummed. When did you gain your Cleaning aspect magic? she asked.

Uh, I said. Just after getting my first quest, I said.

I suspected as much. In that case, perhaps well use that to begin with.

Its nearly at rank up, I said. Then Ill have Cleaning at Rank S. Thats, um, Master Rank. I think that it might get stronger at that point.

Master Rank Cleaning, Momma repeated. Well, thatll be a first.

Hey, its a really versatile spell, I defended.

The bun nodded and patted me on the head. Im certain it is, she said over the sound of Amaryllis cackling. Now, lets go see about those roots.

We slipped into the core room again, trampling on the uneven roots across the ground. It was just me and Momma this time, the others waiting by the exit, and keeping fairly close to the portal leading back to the surface.

I went around the root, looking for a good place to start while I felt the mana in my body start to tingle. I found a bit of root sticking out from the rest. Just a handspan, but enough to grab onto.

My eyes narrowed, my feet set. I took a deep breath and pushed as much Cleaning magic as I could into the root, all the magic I was absorbing from the core and more. Nothing happened at first, but, like poking a finger into a tub of hardened grease, I broke through and the edges of the root started to fray and break apart, turning into dust the way that all grime and yuckiness did when my Cleaning magic got it.

Its... working! I said through clenched teeth.

After a moment, I stopped and pulled my hand free. The little stub looked as if a dozen caterpillars had been gnawing at it for an hour, dimples and bits missing all along its form. I looked at my work, then at all the roots around us.

The mana came out of me, spun around like the writhing tentacles of an octopus trying to hug an electric fence, then stabbed into the root from all sides. The magic then spread out, poking at the weakest, least dirty parts first, then racing in and suffusing the roots length with Cleaning magic that practically blasted the root to dust. Then even that dust faded, leaving the air smelling pine-fresh for a moment.

Whoa, I repeated as I looked at my empty hands. My palms felt as if Id just scrubbed them clean. It wasnt painful, exactly, but it was harsh.

That seems to have worked, Momma said. Hows the accuracy?

I licked my lips and fired a ball of Cleaning magic across the room. It zipped into a root-covered wall and managed to break a little divot on some of the roots. Its not bad, I said.

Well then, Momma said. Start with a circle around the pedestal, well free the core first. I suspect that the core will want to fight back, if only a little.

Alright! I said.

I got to work, walking slowly around the core and grabbing all the little roots I could and breaking them up with bursts of Cleaning magic. The bigger one needed some more time, with me basically grabbing them as if I wanted to choke them with my bare hands, and pushing mana into them.

Momma left to go waste her mana, and left me with Carrot as I worked, when she returned it was with a big smile on. I think its working, she said.

Oh? I asked as I rubbed the back of my hand across my brow. I was working up a sweat.

The roots on the exterior are looking a little parched. I suspect that the current root system is as big as it can be.

Hows that?

Trees will only grow according to the amount of water they have available. Starve them, and their growth will stall. Likewise, a little bun will only grow to be as good as a bun can be if there is enough love and attention and care around them. I think that this Evil Roots growth might have been slowing down. It grew too fat off the mana of this core and cant sustain any additional growth. Perhaps its next step would be to grow into something else, but I hope we dont need to see that.

I think I get it, I said. And now were cutting it off.

So we are, Momma agreed.

I got back to work, pushing myself twice as hard now that we knew it was working. I could hear my friends talking outside, but I had to focus on my hands and on my magic if I wanted things to work out.

Momma might have been right about the root. The little leaves on the roots around me twitched and it felt almost as if they were growing bigger.

I let out a bit of my Cleaning aura, making sure not to send it towards the core, and let the roots chew on that for a bit.

The leaves shrivelled, like someone taking a bite of something and realizing it was super sour.

My circle ended soon enough, and all the roots clinging onto the core itself were now loose. I stood up, grinning, and moved to the wall nearest the edge of the room. A hand pressing against the roots there, I pushed out more magic and started to walk in a long circle around the room. Seeing all the mean roots curl up and flake away was wonderful.

Nice work, Momma said. Buster, little ones, could you help us? Well be pulling these remains out. Drop them outside. Carrot, you try to burn them. No magic in the core room, and certainly no hitting or touching the core.

Once Id completed a circle of the room, my friends taking the cut-off bits of root with them and leaving those too entwined behind for later, I started to look at the ceiling. I didnt know where the roots came from, exactly, but it had to be close.

I used Cleaning magic like a flame-thrower, flooding the roots with it until they died and flopped to the ground.

And then, just as we started to clear up the very last of them...

Quest Completed!

Trim the Cruel!

The Core is saved!

I blinked at Miss Menu... was that it?

Of course, thats when Awen started screaming.

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