Theo felt the network of roots underneath him pulse, as he saw the mana travelling through him, into the earth, and back. This feeling, this moment, this connection between him and magic and nature, it was all something he wanted to hold onto.

So, he did.

He had activated Tome of Memories, to make sure he could come back to this moment, partially because of how informative it would be about Natureborn cultivation…but mostly just because it was really nice, and a good memory that would be nice to have up his sleeve.

It was also a great place to challenge himself with Tome of Memories. Not only was he using its third step simultaneously with something involving mana, but it was also in a very serene area without other distractions, so it was a pretty safe area to do so.

“Okay, break time.”

Well, almost no other distractions.

Sparrow patted him on the arm, and Theo opened his eyes. He shot a sympathetic look at Francis next to him, as he brushed the dirt off his arms and person and stood up.

Francis’s neutral face belied the sweat that soaked his robe, or the way his arms trembled. He was trying to push mana into the powder to get it to grow into a plant once again. Beyond the fact that Theo had no idea if that was possible or how any of that worked (or frankly, how plants worked in general), he was trying to process the mana in the environment and guide it into the powder.

Which normally wouldn’t be too difficult for a little while – the mana would get thin, and you would wait and rest, or use your own (which wouldn’t be as strenuous as manipulating external mana). Of course, Theo had supercharged and almost saturated the area with mana, so Francis was pushing his limits.

Either way, there was so much mana after even an hour of Natureborn cultivation, that Eva was happy for him to spend the majority of his time not infusing mana into The Woods.

Which is where Sparrow came in. They were happy to spend their time teaching Theo in here (“who wouldn’t want to spend their time in one of the most mana-rich, serene areas close to Union City?”), and they had been sparring with him in between sessions of mana infusion.

“Right, let’s work on your punches again.”

As Sparrow led him through the technique of punching once again, Theo found his mind wandering.

Which didn’t help with his punching.

“Pay attention.” Sparrow clicked their fingers in his face, as Theo recovered from spacing out.

“Right, sorry.” Sparrow sighed as he mumbled an apology.

“For someone who knows so much internal magic, you really should be more co-ordinated. I mean…” Theo flushed at that comment, before waiting for Sparrow to finish their thought.

Which they did.

After a minute of silence, Sparrow continued as if they hadn’t just paused halfway through a sentence. “You’ve tried activating internal magic while learning how to punch, right? Have you tried activating Self Awareness while fighting? I know Tome of Memories might be a bit difficult, but Self Awareness might be worth a shot.”

Theo scratched his head, slightly sheepish. He had been focusing quite a lot on Tome of Memories recently. Nodding, he activated Self Awareness, felt his understanding of his body grow, and continued learning how to punch.

“There we go! Much better.” Sparrow praised, as Theo continued to punch, and learn how to best use his body and momentum to impact stronger punches.

“At this rate we can start incorporating action and internal magic into your sparring, now that you’re getting the basic down.” Theo nodded, looking down at his hands and marvelling at the sensation of punching properly (which, admittedly, might have been Self Awareness, and not some innately profound thing about punching).

A few hours later, when Theo had sweat about as much as Francis, Eva came into the clearing.

“You can resume your infusion now, Theo.” He nodded, circulating Endless Song to stop himself from gasping (but even then, he was barely holding on after so long). Sparrow dropped their stance, and went to chat with Eva for a bit, suit immaculate, without a single drop of sweat on their brow.

Theo didn’t expect that mana infusion would feel like his break. As he sat down next to Francis once again, they nodded at each other in greeting. Theo settled his breathing and closed his eyes, letting mana flow out of his hands and feeling the network greet him as well.

His eyes snapped opened, as he remembered what his mind wandered too, and something that he’d noticed that had been lost in the chaos of learning about Natureborn cultivation and the feeling of being one with the earth.

Eva. She was also connected to The Woods. Did that mean she was always cultivating? Theo cleared his throat.

“Eva?” She paused her conversation with Sparrow, looking over at him.

“Yes?” An eyebrow was quirked, and Sparrow looked over as well.

“Are you always cultivating as well?” Her eyes narrowed, and Theo suddenly worried that he’d broken some cultural faux pas by asking.

“Why do you ask?”

“When I feel connected to the network, I see Francis next to me, and I also see you. So I wondered, since we’re both cultivating, if you’re doing it too.” Eva started to laugh, and before she could respond, Francis beat her to the punch.

“She’s not cultivating. She’s a part of The Woods.” Francis murmured, eyes still closed and brow focused on the task at hand.

As Theo was trying to figure out how that worked, and what exactly Francis meant by that, Eva confirmed what he was saying. “Yes, I am a part of The Woods. I am its representative, and a dryad.”

And with that, she went right back to talking to Sparrow.

Theo shrugged his shoulders, and got back to cultivating.

---

It was many hours later, after a few cycles of infusing and sparring, when the sun had set already and the clearing was lit, partially by those glowing orange plants and partially by all the ambient mana swirling around like fireflies, that Francis let out a relieved sigh, and flopped onto his back.

Theo looked over at the sound, from where he was sparring with Sparrow, and got punched in the gut for his troubles.

“When you’re fighting someone, you won’t have the luxury of getting distracted. Focus.” Theo nodded, doubled over. “That does sound like something important happened. Good news?” Sparrow asked Francis.

Francis pointed at a patch of grass, carefully prying apart the tall strands. “Look carefully at that.” Theo and Sparrow crowded around, trying to see in the limited light. Sparrow ended up muttering under his breath, summoning a light to see better.

Nestled amongst towering blades of grass, was a tiny bud. It was a very pale shade of green, but that wasn’t the strangest thing about it. Motes of mana were gathering around it, wreathing it in an ethereal glow.

Sparrow looked at Francis. “Does that mean what I think it means?” Francis nodded.

Sparrow whispered and a plume of flame filled the sky.

An instant later, Eva rushed over, slightly panicked as she looked between the three of them.

Francis stared her dead in the eyes. “They grew.” The panic sloughed off her face, replaced by a mixture of elation and sheer relief.

“And that means you can grow more.”

Francis corrected her. “That means I can grow them faster. Now that I know that it works, I can be more effective with how I cultivate them.” He paused, looking down at the soaking cold robe clinging to his body.

“After I take a break.”

---

An hour later, after Francis had stripped off the wet clothes and meditated, Sparrow handed him his now-dried robe (courtesy of action magic).

“Okay, next week we will hopefully come back to the whole clearing filled with these buds.” Francis declared, standing up.

He immediately sat back down again, preparing to cultivate in a way that was identical to how he was doing before (at least, Theo couldn’t tell any different).

That was, until he started chanting.

Words in a language Theo didn’t understand started to spill from his mouth, and the mana in the space started to dance in a pattern, spiralling into and around the clearing.

He didn’t stop chanting, and fell into a rhythm (one could even call it a trance).

Theo was captivated.

After a moment’s hesitation, he sat down as well and joined Francis in cultivating.

Without opening his eyes, Francis nodded in his direction.

After getting comfortable, Theo also opened his mouth. He didn’t know what Francis was chanting, but what he was good at, was improvising. So he started making up a tune.

His voice whistled through the trees, picking up echoes and sounds and carrying them back, until it wasn’t just him and Francis, but the wind and The Woods, all singing together.

He felt mana stirring. More than that, he felt the earth stirring. A thousand new roots joined the network, and for a moment, the world sang with one voice.

It ended far too soon.

After an eternity, Francis’ raw voice grew quiet, and so did the world. Theo opened his eyes to silence, one not of wariness, but welcoming. It was a comfortable silence, and he couldn’t help but break out into smiles.

He looked at Francis, who was (finally) visibly exhausted, but also smiling.

He looked at Sparrow, who was watching them, arms crossed, pride on their face.

He looked around, and saw that the clearing had changed. Between the grass grew thick clusters of sprouts, all glowing with mana.

Theo furrowed his brows, as there was on glow that seemed to be coming from his pocket.

Reaching his hand into it, he gasped. The Coins of Unity were glowing and ready once again. He met Sparrow’s gaze, and nodded.