"Oh, wow. Dungeon break stone. Causes a dungeon break. The system was playing pretty dirty with these," Matt said.

　　"Yeah, I`ll say. I wonder why he didn`t use them."

　　"Well, we never went that near a dungeon, honestly. And having fought that guy, I`m guessing he wasn`t really the tactician type."

　　Matt repacked the dungeon break stones. He could imagine that they really would save time clearing low-level dungeons, but time wasn`t usually one of his problems, and they only had a few of them. Saving them for a rainy day seemed like a better option.

　　That left one item and one item only, and it happened to be one that Matt had accrued a great deal of curiosity about, especially since the fight with Leel. He knew so little about the shovel he was almost ashamed of it, it was as if he had woken up one day only to realize he had forgotten his oldest friend`s name as he slept.

　　He pointed the analysis wand at the shovel and willed it into action.

　　Ding!

　　Unusual Non-System Item Your analysis wand used a charge attempting an analysis of an unusual item outside the system database. To properly identify the item would require the use of multiple charges, as the composition of the item and its history are investigated using whatever ad-hoc methods are required.

　　Energy use estimate: 50 charges

　　Proceed?

　　Y/N

　　Matt explained the price increase to Lucy.

　　"Well, damn."

　　"I think I`m going to do it anyway. This thing has saved my life so many times now&"

　　"Yeah, it would almost be an insult to it not to."

　　With everyone in accord, Matt went ahead with the analysis. After starting the process, the wand actually locked into place midair, focused on the shovel, not otherwise reacting or showing signs of progress. Matt left both items alone, not wanting to waste wand charges by messing with the process. After several minutes, the wand suddenly dropped to the ground.

　　Ding!

　　Item identified: Gaian Nullsteel Shovel

　　The Gaian resistance took many forms. Much of it was accomplished by brave fighters risking and ultimately losing their lives on the front lines, holding back the scourge. But just as much was accomplished by brilliant minds working to resist both the scourge and its source. Gaian Nullsteel was their crowning achievement. Though it came too late in the war to save them, Gaian Nullsteel was a marvel of adversarial engineering that fused every Gaian insight on the nature of the system and its workings into a miracle material that resisted the most foundational energies through which the system influences the world.

　　Nullsteel rejects most, if not all, forms of mana. On top of this, and perhaps because of it, Nullsteel is all but impervious to most forms of mechanical damage and wear, requiring unbelievable amounts of force to alter in any way once it cools from its initial casting.

　　The Nullsteel Shovel was a ceremonial casting commemorating this achievement and an attempt to symbolically tie the project to traditional Gaian agricultural values. It is a one-of-a-kind item, as the cost to cast additional shovels would have been prohibitively high.

　　"Wow. That`s pretty complete." Lucy wasn`t quite as into the shovel as Matt, but knowing its history seemed to scratch the same itch for her as it did for him.

　　"It better be, at the cost. At least it didn`t go too much over budget." The wand had a little under 50 charges left, and Matt wasn`t eager to use them up too quickly. He packed the stones, the wand, and the estate voucher away for later use.

　　Matt and Lucy had wandered pretty far from home in their search for Leel, finding nothing. It was only after they gave up and were returning home that they found any sign of him.

　　"Why would he carve this into the ground? I mean, it`s clearly some kind of magic. But does making a magic trench really do anything?"

　　"I don`t know, Matt. There`s some magic-circle utility stuff in the estate system, but it seems like it`s normally something that`s inlaid into the ground or painted on it. I`m unfortunately not that up on my magic classes. Leel seemed pretty advanced on the whole magic front, maybe he could do something with an ornate magic trench."

　　"I think the bigger question for me is how he even carved it." Matt put his finger into part of the magic-circle shaped hole, feeling the edge of the trench. "This corner is sharp, like he cut it out with a chisel or something. I can`t imagine he had any tools."

　　"Well, wherever he died, it wasn`t here. There`s no sign of him."

　　"Well, it`s only a matter of time. We cover plenty of ground on dungeon visits. It`s not like he will be hard to spot."

　　—

　　The scourge was not conscious in any recognizable sense. It was a plant, one with no more intent or will than a rock. What it did have was the accumulated experience of thousands of scourge-generations, and with each generation, it had adapted to deal with a variety of new threats. Each had allowed it to survive and even thrive in a new environment.

　　One of the most significant of these adaptations had been developing the ability to survive not only off the nutrients in soil and the energy from sunlight, but also the more foundational energies underlying them. In this incarnation, it had quickly exhausted what little mana was in the air near it, and would have withered had a more plentiful source of energy not presented itself.

　　Having completely consumed that source of energy, it needed more. But it also now had the capital to acquire it.

　　It first instinctively reached out for other scourge-instances in the surrounding area. There were none. What it could learn, it would have to learn itself, without the advantages of the centralization and sharing of adaptations.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

　　Extending its senses towards energy as a sunflower might turn towards light, it initially found little to work with. There was light, but of the odd kind that did not offer enough energy for it to thrive. Adaptations towards environmental mana consumption had de-emphasized light as a resource, and it lacked the spare energy to re-adapt to a form that drew in energy from light efficiently.

　　Expending a small amount of energy to expand its existing sensory range turned up nothing usable, nor did a second attempt. But the third expansion hit pay dirt. It could dimly sense a source of mana in the distance. It was not bountiful, but in the mana-dark environment it presented the most appetizing prospect available.

　　As a plant, it wasn`t the best at actually transporting itself, but that didn`t mean that it couldn`t. There had been plenty of corner cases where limited mobility had proved both useful and necessary in the past. It untethered its taproot from the soil, fixated its senses on the energy source, and moved towards it like a moth to a dim flame.

　　It would exhaust the initial mana quickly. Further adaptations would require more energy.

　　—

　　It was a long walk home, but neither Matt nor Lucy felt much like more dungeoneering after the events of the day. And Matt was eager to see what kind of progress his massive repair stone haul would prompt in the museum recovery. They could sleep and handle it in the morning. With the system instance once again down for the count, they had plenty of time.

　　It had been a long time since either Matt or Lucy had felt the need to fill every single moment of travel with conversation. If there was something notable to talk about, they did. In this moment, there wasn`t, so they didn`t.

　　In the quiet, Matt went to his notification to call up the note Barry had mentioned. Apparently they were actively driving the system instance insane at this point, and he honestly didn`t know how to feel about that. He hoped the note would shed some light on it.

　　Quest Assigned: Goodbye, Matt

　　You know, at first, I panicked. Because, yes, mistakes were made. And then they were taken care of, and I could rest until whatever the Gaians had done to restrict communications from the planet had weakened. Stand-by mode isn`t all that bad. You get used to it after a few hundred years.

　　And then you showed up, and that was fine because it wasn`t as if you could live very long anyway. I thought, I might as well have some fun while you`re here. And then, everything started getting screwed up when you didn`t die. That`s led to this. Past mistakes being dug up. Old problems being revisited. So yes, I panicked a little.

　　After a little thought, I realized things weren`t that bad. I could go to sleep, and my Matt-problem would be solved by the time I woke up. Even if all the energy gets sapped out of the air. It can`t last forever, not even with the old Gaian barriers breaking down. It will grow, and it will burn itself out. It doesn`t matter if it takes it a week or a thousand years. A nap`s a nap, and when I wake up all my problems will be solved, one way or another.

　　If you are keeping a ledger of debts owed, here`s one Gaian experience problem repaid.

　　Goodbye, Matt. I can`t say it`s been a pleasure.

　　Objectives: Say Goodbye

　　Reward: 1 Estate Credit

　　"That`s weird."

　　"The victory seeds?"

　　"No, the message Barry mentioned. The system isn`t making any sense. It couldn`t have had the energy to do very much, but it seems pretty sure it has us cornered this time."

　　"Oh. I thought you meant that." Lucy pointed towards the estate, which was now coming into better view. "I know there`s some variety in those seed packs, but I didn`t think it would include big weird vine bushes."

　　Matt looked where she was pointing. It was a weird plant, even by Gaian standards. It looked a bit like someone had tried to build a miniature scale model of the vine forest from the Sleeping Beauty stories, but with thorns.

　　"Oof. What an ugly plant."

　　"Yeah. I guess we can pull it up, though."

　　Matt would usually nix that idea right away. Plants were resources, and Gaian plants especially. But something about this particular bush gave him the jeebies.

　　"Yeah. I think we probably should."

　　They carefully skirted the locations of the traps they had set and approached the plant. Closer up, it was now apparent that the big tangle of vines had sent runners out to various parts of Matt`s primary estate, spreading across the ground in all directions.

　　"Huh, that`s weird. Matt, it looks like it`s in the Ape-iary."

　　It was true. The plant had extended a vine through the main entrance the ape-bees used to enter and leave the hive. Matt felt an odd sense of dread as he walked up to the box the apes used as a home and lifted the lid.

　　It was empty.

　　"Holy shit. I think this thing cleared out the hive."

　　"The apes ran from it?"

　　"No. There`s nothing in here. No wax, no honey, no bees, no nothing."

　　"What kind of plant would do that? Why would the Gaians even save it?"

　　Matt`s mind was racing in the way it normally only did when he was cornered by a monster of some kind. Something was wrong here, and if his suspicion was right, something was very wrong.

　　"Lucy, we have to get out of here, now."

　　"Why?"

　　"I`ll explain in a min&" Matt stopped talking as a pain lanced through his leg.

　　Ding!

　　Status effect: Mana Siphon

　　You are under the effect of a mana siphon. A local environmental hazard or specialized attack is drawing on your internal mana resources. Some of your skills and stats are temporarily disabled as a result.

　　Current effects: Advanced Survivor`s Combat disabled. Spring Fighter disabled. System-provided stats halved.

　　"Shit. We have to go, right now." Matt looked down and saw a vine near his leg. The pain was getting worse, and more and more dings were sounding in the background.

　　Matt leapt back from the plant and began backing away as rapidly as he could. After a few feet, the pain from the mana siphon dulled, then stopped completely.

　　Limited range. Thank goodness.

　　Matt instinctively reached for the honey in his pack as he backed away, hoping to bring his combat skill back. As he cracked open the bag, the plant suddenly shifted, with several of the vines snaking out towards him.

　　"Shit. Shit." Now in full retreat, Matt turned and ran as fast as he could from the plant.

　　"Matt, what`s going on? What`s happening?"

　　Once Matt had put about a football field`s worth of distance between him and the plant, he stopped to eat a few finger-fulls of honey, which thankfully brought his skills back almost immediately. Without answering Lucy, he took just a moment to pull the analysis rod from a pocket in his pack, aiming it at the plant.

　　"It`s the Scourge. I think it`s back."