Rune Matrix: Programming Magic After Transmigration-Chapter 125: Chop

Zephyr walked along the light path, approaching the tree with steady steps.

The form of the glowing roots, raised taller than his head, enlarged before him. The gentle yellow light it released was overwhelmed by the wisps he created.

’What is it?’

His curious eyes moved around the tree. It was the first time he had seen something so magical.

Bioluminescence was not unheard of. It must be something bioluminescent with some magical component to it. Watching it closely excited him for some reason.

’Let’s call it Lightroot for now.’

If the original Zephyr had seen something like that before, the memories of it would have surfaced in his mind. This meant the tree or root was not something he was familiar with.

Well, that made sense since the original Zephyr had never explored a dungeon before. And, the books couldn’t have captured a colourful, light-emitting image of it. Even if he knew about it, the memories wouldn’t have been significant enough to resurface.

Therefore, he decided to call the tree Lightroot.

It was an apt name considering how it looked.

A minute passed by. Zephyr walked up to the tree and stood right in front of it.

The Lightroot was larger than he expected. It was also twice as tall as him.

It was emitting a steady stream of light without any pause.

’Now what?’

The only thing he could see within the dungeon, devoid of any life, was the Lightroot. That was why he approached it.

Now, standing close to it, Zephyr was puzzled.

What was he supposed to do with it?

The question struck his mind.

The tree branches had furball ends that looked similar to an incandescent light bulb. The light it emitted was neither too strong nor too weak. It could be used as a torch if he could break a branch.

But would it work without being connected to the tree as a whole?

Even that was a maybe.

If it were a bulb, working similarly to an electric bulb, without a constant supply of electricity, it wouldn’t work, right? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

To have a constant supply of electricity, or in this case, mana, it would have to be attached to the tree’s body, right?

’In the case of bioluminescence, it’s a chemical process. Chemical lights can last a little longer. But its use would end when there are no more chemicals to react with. Either way, it’s not really useful to me since I can create light wisps.’

Zephyr looked at the tiny ball of light floating around him. These wisps could follow him if he wanted and could provide light for several minutes. Any way you look at it, the wisps were a superior source of light.

The thought of breaking a branch and taking it with him disappeared from his mind. However, his curious mind pressed on, asking him to see what would happen if he broke a piece.

Even though it felt like a bad idea, Zephyr wanted to try it.

’Now that I think about it, I have done stupider things. None can surpass me in stupidity...’

Zephyr muttered, convincing himself to take action.

He raised his left hand covered in armour, willing it to morph into a small sword. Just as he intended, the palm of the left hand morphed, taking on the shape of a slender sword. A small portion of mana disappeared from his cores to facilitate the transformation.

Zephyr flicked his wrist, perfectly moving the sword up and down.

’It worked.’

The mental image he provided was crude. The mask interpreted it and made something better.

’Can I?’ Suddenly, new thoughts emerged in his mind.

Zephyr, without saying anything, sent mana into the sword. The sword perfectly absorbed the mana, taking on a pale blue glow.

’Heck yeah!’

A wide grin appeared under his armour.

The sword was glowing pale blue. It meant it was reinforced by mana.

A sword reinforced with mana becomes sharper and sturdier. It was the perfect weapon to slice off a branch.

’There is no need for a blacksmith anymore.’

Zephyr glanced at the sword in awe.

’It also has high mana conductivity. I could turn it into any type of weapon I want. Even inscribing runes and changing portions to an artifact is not out of the question.’

One after another, ideas popped into his mind, making him grin like a fool.

’The mask is too cool. The liquid metal is too cool.’

Zephyr wanted to do an experiment. No, a ton of experiments. But he shoved the thoughts back into his mind as soon as they came.

The dungeon was not the time or place to conduct experiments. He needed to quickly explore the dungeon and find the rest of the people.

That was the primary reason for the dungeon expedition.

Shaking his head, he walked to the glowing roots.

Lifting the sword attached to his left wrist, he slashed. Because of the mana enhancement, it slashed through the branch in one single motion.

A glowing branch with a furball tipfell to the ground. Even after falling to the ground, the glow did not decrease.

Zephyr looked at the area where he had cut.

The branch was secreting a pale, glowing liquid. Both the inside and outside of the root were translucent with dense fibres. It reminded him of optical fibres used for internet connection.

’The branch is sturdier than it looks.’

Zephyr commented, picking it up from the ground.

There was a bit of weight to it. The root was denser than normal wood.

The bent roots at the bulbous tip sprang back to their original position as Zephyr played with it.

’I suppose I can use it to whack something.’

Zephyr swung it like a sword. Because of the weight, it felt great in his hand.

’Also good for dusting.’

The furball-like tip was springy and soft. It was soft enough for a librarian to use it over delicate books.

’Could also be used to make bows.’ He said, bending it.

While he was playing around with the branch, Zephyr failed to notice the tree growing ever brighter. The roots it had were lighting up, below and above ground.

A couple of meters away from him, tiny tendrils were emerging from everywhere within the giant cavern.

Above, on the ceiling, on the rocky wall, and on the ground, they were everywhere.

The roots slowly emerged, glowing pale yellow.